Einstein the Amazing Parrot

WWW: Deadly Religious Tradition

In this edition of Weird World Wednesday, I submit to you excerpts from this disturbing article titled

"Pakistan: Three teenage girls buried alive in tribal 'honour' killing":

Three teenage girls have been buried alive by their tribe in a remote part of Pakistan to punish them for attempting to choose their own husbands, in an "honour" killing case.

After news of the deaths emerged, male politicians from their province, Baluchistan, defended the killings in parliament, claiming the practice was part of "our tribal custom".

The girls, thought to have been aged between 16 and 18, were kidnapped by a group of men from their Umrani tribe.
...
In Pakistan's national parliament, an MP from Baluchistan, Israrullah Zehri, said on Friday that "this action was carried out according to tribal traditions", a view backed up by some other male lawmakers, who attacked a woman senator who had raised the case.

"These are centuries-old traditions and I will continue to defend them," Zehri added over the weekend.

25 Questions Later

My Issue Profile: 56% Obama, 44% McCain

• Truth be told, you're not really satisfied with either of the candidates.
• You could vote for either of them. You are the typical coveted swing voter.
• You may want to narrow yourself down to a particular set of issues in order to pick your president.
• Or start looking at third party candidates. One of them might suit you better.

I was probably two questions away from a reversal of the percenatges.. I really wasn't sure how it would come out.

Try answering these 25 questions and let me know where you come out.. I know that you will not be as wishy washy as me :)

Peugeot Sylight Concept Car

Bulgarian Ognyan Bozhilov's Peugeot Sylight concept looks retro while being fuel-forward with this three-seater.

The city car would be powered by a 1.6-liter HDi engine and an electric motor. Purple interior isn't its only fashionable touch. The brake lights are designed to glow brighter, the harder you slam on them. That should make for quite a festival of lights in stop-and-go traffic.

Happy Labor Day

This picture is a bit too real for me.
HT: Bill

Finish the Sentence

Great leaders always _______.

America the Beautiful

A few videos to consider on this Labor Day weekend.. even if you just catch the first minute of each. The renditions are so unique.. each uplifting in it's own way. Please let me know which version you most enjoyed. Gotta admit that I am partial to Ray :)

Here is the story behind the song from the wiki:

The words are by Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College. In 1893, Bates had taken a train trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to teach a short summer school session at Colorado College, and several of the sights on her trip found their way into her poem:

• The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the "White City" with its promise of the future contained within its alabaster buildings.
• The wheat fields of Kansas, through which her train was riding on July 4.
• The majestic view of the Great Plains from atop Pikes Peak.

On that mountain, the words of the poem started to come to her, and she wrote them down upon returning to her hotel room at the original Antlers Hotel. The poem was initially published two years later in The Congregationalist, to commemorate the Fourth of July.

RonStock 08

According to this AP article:

There's no room at the Xcel Energy Center for maverick Ron Paul, so his acolytes have packed their cars, hitched rides on "Ronvoys" and will pitch tents at Ronstock '08 in defiance of next week's GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Almost 9,800 tickets had been sold for the Rally for the Republic, being held in Minneapolis, which seeks to bring together activists who are anti-war, anti-government regulation, anti-immigration, anti-taxes, anti-Federal Reserve, anti-outsourcing, pro-individual liberty, pro-civil liberties and pro-Paul.

The Ronvoys — fleets of buses and vans carrying Paul's loyalists — were to begin arriving Saturday. A few rally-goers planned to walk from Green Bay, Wis., and join up with Paul for the final miles of their Walk4Freedom. Other attendees are driving, carpooling or flying in for the convention alternative.

Doesn't surprise me too much.. Ron Paul is the real Republican maverick :)

Unspecial Occasions

Can anyone relate to this cartoon?

Or wanting to make someone feel special?

And making their occasion so unspecial?

Top Ten TV

According to The Classic TV Database these are the top ten TV shows of all time:

1. I Love Lucy
2. M.A.S.H.
3. Star Trek
4. The Andy Griffith Show
5. Cheers
6. The Dick Van Dyke Show
7. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
8. Bewitched
9. The Twilight Zone
10. All in the Family

Not to be outdone I give you the KB top ten:

1. Seinfeld.. I still laugh out loud at reruns.
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation.. I know.. I'm a geek.
3. Happy Days.. classic Americana.. 50s style
4. The Twilight Zone.. grew up on this one.
5. The Andy Griffith Show.. heartwarming TV.
6. Mission: Impossible.. high tech mystery
7. The Avengers.. aaah.. Mrs. Peel
8. The X-Files.. I am seeing a sci-fi theme here.
9. Columbo.. Peter Falk at his best
10. The Cosby Show.. outstanding family TV

I could have added a few more like The Waltons, Frazier and others.

So fess up.. what are your top ten?

Sarah Palin

Here is the Wiki on the newly announced Republican Veep Candidate:

Sarah Louise Heath Palin (born February 11, 1964) is the current Governor of Alaska, and the presumptive 2008 Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States. She will be the first female Vice Presidential candidate representing the Republican Party and the second female Vice Presidential candidate representing a major political party. She will be the first politician from Alaska to be nominated for Vice-President.

Palin was born in Idaho and raised in Alaska. In 1984, she was the 1984 runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant, receiving a scholarship that allowed her to attend the University of Idaho, where she received a degree in journalism. After working as a sports reporter at an Anchorage television station, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, City Council from 1992 to 1996, was elected mayor of Wasilla (population 5,470 in 2000) in 1996, and ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor in 2002. She was elected Governor of Alaska in 2006 by first defeating incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary, then former Democratic Alaskan governor Tony Knowles in the general election.

Seems a bit light on the leadership experience that McCain regularly blasts Obama on. I guess that in the end it might be a bit more about idealogy than I thought. This should be an interesting few months.

Obama, The Elitist

This is pretty funny :)

Exercise

This cartoon reminded me that it has been a year since Ann and I stopped doing water aerobics at the YMCA.. kind of depressing. These days Ann pedals a Theracycle 100 and I work off the calories typing as fast as I can.. actually I am hoping to soon get disciplined and use my Schwinn Aerodyne Bike.. maybe I'll start twittering about it.

Any suggestions for me? What motivates you to exercise?

Beau Biden

Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III (born February 3, 1969) is an American politician, soldier and lawyer from Wilmington, Delaware. He currently serves as the Attorney General of Delaware and a Captain in the Delaware Army National Guard. He is a heading to Iraq with his Guard unit in October.

I was moved by his introduction of his father (veep candidate) Joe Biden last night at the Democratic national convention. It was a touching and heart warming account of a son's love and admiration for his dad. Take 5 minutes and watch the video - you will be glad that you did.