Al Anderson [re~born]

Moot or Mute?

I was talking to K. and she used the expression “thats a mute point.” I corrected this by explaining that it was actually a “moot” point. She believed me but challenged me to find out how many people actually think that the expression is “mute point” because mute means unable to speak and moot can also mean worthy of discussion in a meeting, since a moot was an old word that means “meeting”.

So, without any of this discussion, what did you think that it is? “Moot” or “Mute”.

Is the point Moot? or Mute? [5]

Dumb Crooks Win One...

We all know the story of the dumb crook that got caught, what about the one that pulls off the dumb crime of the month.

Michelle Hunter of the Times Picayune reports on a dumb crook that found the right place to stage a daring scheme while dressed in a pillowcase with holes for his eyes.

_{Dateline: Metairie, Louisiana; January 22, 2005.}

Man robs doughnut business with laser.

Worker feared it was attached to firearm

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office was looking Friday for a man who held up a Metairie doughnut shop wearing a pillowcase with eyeholes cut out and armed with a laser pointer, authorities said.

The robber walked into Tastee Donuts at 4301 Veterans Memorial Blvd. on Tuesday about 1:30 a.m., a Sheriff’s Office report said.

Behind the counter was a 61-year-old Metairie woman. The robber waved a red laser pointer at her and demanded money from the safe, threatening to kill her if she didn’t comply, the woman said Friday.

“I was very frightened,” she said. “I have heart trouble, and it really upset me.”

A second employee told a deputy that the man had flashed the laser at him also, the report said. The woman unlocked the safe and handed the money to the robber, who then ran south on Houma Boulevard, the report said.

Other than possibly damaging the retina of the eye, laser pointers can’t cause any injury, said Kristen Dean, spokeswoman for East Jefferson General Hospital. But criminals use the pointers to trick people into believing the pointers are attached to something deadly such as a gun, said Ernest Davis, sales manger at Lasermate Group Inc., a California manufacturer of laser pointers.

“There is a built-in fear. When someone sees that dot come on them, they think they have a laser sight on them,” Davis said.

That’s what the Tastee’s employee believed. The robber, she said, was holding the pointer as if it were taped to something. Afraid that it could have been a gun, the woman said, she did as she was told.

The robber was wearing a black and gold Saints jacket and dark pants, the report said. He was described as 19 to 25 years old, 140 to 160 pounds and 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall.

Anyone with information about the robbery should call the Sheriff’s Office investigations bureau at 364-5300 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111. Callers do not have to give their names to be eligible for a reward of as much as $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of a suspect.

Thats right. He robbed a Doughnut Shop with a laser pointer. Where were the Metaire Police? doesn’t he know the odds of a policeman in a doughnut shop are just too great. Anyway, whats next, rob the pawn shop? they have real guns there.

Comment

Jet Blue Redefines "on Hold"...

Jet Blue Redefines “on Hold”

“Clive sez:

I was supposed to fly to San Francisco on Jetblue this morning, but the northeast blizzard has grounded all flights. So I’m on the phone to Jetblue trying frantically to get rebooked—when I discover they have the finest ‘hold’ message on the planet. Here’s my transcription of it:

‘You know, everyone seems to think being on hold is a bad thing. Let’s re-examine this, shall we? Don’t look at it as being on hold. Look at it as being held! Because we all like to be held—don’t we?

For example, when you’re sitting in front of a fire with someone special, being held is very comforting. Or when you’re upset about something, being held can make you feel a whole lot better. Or when walking in the park with our significant other, we like our hands to be held. Or even coming home from school and having your books held.

You see? It’s not all that bad. So remember. Don’t look on it as being on hold. Look on it as being held!’” [Boing Boing Blog]

Wow, can my flight be delayed a little longer? I like being held.

Technical Difficulties

Technical Difficulties

In class last night one of my class mates pointed out the tribunals and the Muslims detained without a trial. I thought that these were media exagerations but she assured me that they were not that she had researched every accusation.

If we are “supposed to be the good guys”, we are a bit off of the mark. Sure, we’ve put a stop to other people terrorizing us. But now we just terrorize ourselves.

Biometric face scanning in the airport?
A reading list from the library sent to the FBI?

Freedom is a right in this country. The price of freedom might be that the FBI has no more right to break down your neighbor’s door than they do to break down yours. If this means that US law enforcement has to work harder to gather evidence and some secrets stay secret then so be it.

Comments [3]

Han Solo Switches to Apple

The Force: Han Solo, Switcher

Han Solo has to pick an OS for the Falcon. Will he choose a Mac??

[The Shifted Librarian] -> [Backup Brain]

New Indian (Native American) Names

Now that the traditional hunting ground is now the casino floor I would like to suggest some new names for today’s modern American Indian. The conversation started with a joke about the cook at the casino buffet, “Standing Bear” in the kitchen. Despite the fact that I have a tiny bit of Indian heritage I find this funny. Many mornings you can find me emulating Mr. Bear in my own kitchen.

Standing Bear (in the kitchen)
Shuffling Cat (at the card table)
Roaming Pit Boss
Seeing Cheetah (in security)

This is not meant to be derogatory I think that American Indians have taken a tough situation and have come up with creative solutions. It was clear that they were not going to survive on native crafts. The Indian Casinos fund many programs in the community and it provides entertainment for many. I do not personally gamble but I like to see an occasional show.

Word of the Day: circumambient

Dictionary.com/Word of the Day: circumambient

circumambient sur-kuhm-AM-bee-uhnt, adjective:


Surrounding; being on all sides; encompassing.

The self owes its form and perhaps its very existence to the circumambient social order.

—Rom Harre, Personal Being: A Theory for Individual Psychology

Facing reality, then, implies accepting one’s essential powerlessness, yielding or adjusting to circumambient forces, taking solace in some local pattern or order that one has created and to which one has become habituated.

—Yi-Fu Tuan, Escapism

It’s a voice that does something physical to me, that jumps out of the circumambient air and seizes hold of me like a thing that lives off the blood of other things.

—T.C. Boyle, A Friend of the Earth

Romantic love . . . rarefies lust into an angelic standoff, a fruitless longing without which our energizing circumambient dreamland of song, film and fiction would be bereft of its main topic.

—John Updike, “The Deadly Sins/Lust,” New York Times, June 20, 1993

Circumambient is from Latin circum, “around, round about, on all sides” + ambire, “to go around, to surround,” from amb-, “on both sides, around” + ire, “to go.”

Word of the Day

Dictionary.com/Word of the Day: paroxysm

paroxysm PAIR-uhk-siz-uhm, noun:


1. (Medicine) A sudden attack, intensification, or recurrence of a disease.

2. Any sudden and violent emotion or action; an outburst; a fit.

But when he’s on target—and more often than not he is—he can send you into paroxysms of laughter.

—William Triplett, “Drawing Laughter From a Well of Family Pain,” Washington Post, June 13, 2002

Dickens had a paroxysm of rage: ‘Bounding up from his chair, and throwing his knife and fork on his plate (which he smashed to atoms), he exclaimed: “Dolby! your infernal caution will be your ruin one of these days!”’

—Edmund Wilson, “Dickens: The Two Scrooges,” The Atlantic, April/May 1940

Mrs. Bumble, seeing at a glance that the decisive moment had now arrived, and that a blow struck for mastership on one side or another, must necessarily be final and conclusive, dropped into a chair, and with a loud scream that Mr. Bumble was a hard-hearted brute, fell into a paroxysm of tears.

—Dickens, Oliver Twist

Paroxysm is from Greek paroxusmos, from paroxunein, “to irritate, provoke or excite (literally to sharpen excessively),” from para-, “beyond” + oxunein, “to sharpen, to provoke.”

... The Arrow of Time Passing By.

Time

Family Portraits. One at a time for 25 years. interesting to see the children become so much like their parents.

Comments [1]

Giovanni Ribbisi On An Elevator With Five People Wearing Vintage Artsy Shoes

dooce: the longest elevator ride of my life