Dispatch From Red America

Ken AshfordCrime1 Comment

Life in NC is a Del Shores play: NC man shot by his stepfather ends up in same jail JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – A man who police said was shot by his stepfather ended up in the same jail with him after officers discovered outstanding arrest warrants against the victim. Police told The Daily News of Jacksonville that 37-year-old Richard Hayes … Read More

Breaking The Species Barrier

Ken AshfordScience & Technology, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

Richard Dawkins wonders: We've mapped the entire human genome; we've mapped the entire chimpanzee genome.  We know they are 98% identical (sorry, evolution opponents).  It shouldn't be hard, therefore, to literally create some sort of interspecies.  Another "missing link".  Lucy the Second, not from the archeological ground, but from the laboratory. It would, he speculates, change the nature of the discussion … Read More

The Top 500 Worst Passwords

Ken AshfordScience & TechnologyLeave a Comment

The top 500 worst passwords of all time, not considering character case. If you use any of these, you better change it, because a hacker can easily write a program to feed this in and get at your… whatever. NO Top 1-100 Top 101–200 Top 201–300 Top 301–400 Top 401–500 1 123456 porsche firebird prince rosebud 2 password guitar butter … Read More

Obama Plans Tax Cuts, Contra The West Wing

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & Deficit, Obama Opposition1 Comment

Yeah, I know.  You're happy about this: President-elect Barack Obama plans to include about $300 billion in tax cuts for workers and businesses in his economic recovery program, advisers said Sunday, as his team seeks to win over Congressional skeptics worried that he was too focused on government spending. But you shouldn't be. Listen, your economic problems are (or will … Read More

Who Is This Guy?

Ken AshfordBush & Co.Leave a Comment

A look at George Bush in 2000.  And get your anti-ironic tablets, because what he says here is 100% right.  Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with what he did as President.

Common Writing Mistakes (With My Comments)

Ken AshfordRandom MusingsLeave a Comment

Avoid run-on sentences they are hard to read.   Agree, Not Guilty Never use no double negatives.  Agree, Not Guilty Use the semicolon properly, always where it is appropriate; and never where it is not.  Agree, Not Guilty Reserve the apostrophe for it's proper use and omit it where it is not needed. Partially Agree, Not Guilty Verbs has to agree … Read More

Almost Alanis

Ken AshfordIn PassingLeave a Comment

From Ironic: An old man turned ninety-eight. He won the lottery and died the next day. Well, close.  The guy, Donald Peters of Connecticut, was 79, and died the day he bought the tickets: Peters bought two Connecticut Lottery tickets at a local 7-Eleven store on Nov. 1 as part of a 20-year tradition he shared with his wife Charlotte. … Read More

Dramatic License

Ken AshfordHistory, Popular CultureLeave a Comment

Interesting discussions (here and here) over at Mother Jones regarding films depicting historical events.  Just how much liberty with the historical facts will viewers tolerate?  Or does anyone care? There are a few historical films out now.  Valkyrie for one.  Frost/Nixon for another.  And Milk. Frost/Nixon is Ron Howard's third historically-based film, having done Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind.  I knew there were … Read More