h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

From the Globe and Mail "Social Studies" column:

Armed Americans
Today, the Hanna Springs Intermediate School in Lampasas, Tex., will raise money for a new fence by raffling off a couple of rifles. Winners must be at least 18. One of the mothers organizing the event successfully lobbied the state legislature in 1995 to pass a concealed-handgun law.

Excuses for speeding
In the past year, British motorists photographed speeding have offered these excuses, says the Northumbria Safety Camera Partnership:
-Fainted after seeing a UFO and was only brought out of trance by the flash of the speed camera.
-A passing jet, heading for Newcastle airport, actually triggered the camera.
-A strong tail wind pushed the car over the speed limit.
-It was a mercy dash for a dying hamster.
-Rapid acceleration was the only way to demonstrate faulty clutch to mechanic.
Source: The Guardian

How can I give my cat a memorable Christmas?
Cats, as many owners will attest, rarely get caught up in the holiday spirit, says The Washington Post. Seasonal chores and festivities disrupt their schedules and "then a live tree shows up in the middle of the living room that they're supposed to ignore. A little rebelliousness is bound to set in." To protect trees from climbing cats, Contech Electronics of Saanichton, B.C., has made the StayAway canister. A battery-operated motion-detector senses a pet prowling nearby and activates a burst of compressed air and a one-second warning screech. Animals run for their lives. Contech, whose motto is "promoting harmony between animals and humans," also makes bird feeders that whirl to fling squirrels through the air, and mats that teach "good house manners" by zapping pets with a mild electrical pulse.

Man in a tree
A 46-year-old Italian who believes he's a cat had to be rescued by firemen when he got stuck up a tree, says the news website Tgcom.it.

Shoppers in Milan spotted the man mewing for help and called rescue services when he was still there more than an hour later. Attempts by local children to coax him down with a saucer of milk failed. The man was carried out of the tree and taken to hospital for tests.

Thought du jour
"It is true that we are weak and sick and ugly and quarrelsome but if that is all we ever were, we would millenniums ago have disappeared from the face of the Earth." -- John Steinbeck

I should mention that the Conservative Party voted against the bill.


(bigots!)

my post was about the vote in the House of Commons on the Tlicho agreement, not about Paul's post.

Here are some sounds of celebration: http://north.cbc.ca/clips/North/ram-audio/bellemare-pass.ram (particularly the last minute of the clip)

"Christian leaders on Wednesday denounced a Nativity scene at a London wax museum featuring soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria, a former Spice Girl, as the parents of Jesus." http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/12/08/773608-ap.html

Video.... http://video.msn.com/video/p.htm?t=1&p=News_NBC%20News&i=6dab1ec8-5aae-44ea-a2e7-c7768dff0137

Now, all this begs the question.... Why does the church not make such a stink when they make a movie (well, one that isn't banned because it shows Jesus in an unflattering light) using live-actors? For pity's sake, is it more important to protect the "Mystery" of the birth of Christ, ot to get people thinking about it?????

Some people ought to just grow up.

I am more offended that they chose GWB, Tony Blair and the Duke of Edinburgh as "wise men". It is a ludicrous oxymoron (or morons) to have three of the worlds least wise men cast in the roles. However, it is worth a laugh.

Deliberate digression to clarify to Paul H!

"They're your cousins, though."

So are the Swedes, Norwegians, Danish, Germans, and probably everyone else in Europe, and half of America.

Back around the year 1000ad kings were interchangable from country to country. The Kings of England and Scandinavia were all feuding Brothers/half brothers.

The duke of Normandy (William the Conqueror) was a Norman, not French. The Normans were Scandinavian war lords who captured what Normandy from the French, and held on to it from the might(?!) of the French army.

I don't think the 'Duke of Normandy' ever sat on the throne of France, otherwise he would be the King of France?

The Scandinavians already held the North of England, and the Saxons held the south. So in effect we were not conquered by the French in 1066, but by Northern Englishmen who lived in France.

Hurrah for the Tlicho - Dogrib bands! More power to 'em

(and intercourse the tories!)

"The Scandinavians already held the North of England, and the Saxons held the south. So in effect we were not conquered by the French in 1066, but by Northern Englishmen who lived in France."

I must admit I've never heard that one before!

*what kind of state am I in when I make these calls?*

Stone-cold sober and bored silly, usually, although I could be on a chocolate high if the young woman who usually sits next to me and I are eating chocolate chip cookies.

I really need to get a real job

Will this be your first winter here, Barney?

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F570E642-BF35-4034-94CC-175E7365A837.htm

Now, let's get the job finished and then move on to living our lives. I, for one, am very tired of a minority of straight married people who are so insecure and have so little faith in their own relationships that they have had to rant and rave (and lie) in thier fight against everyone who is more firm and content in their relationships than they are.

OK, OK......and advances in battlefield medicine relate to same sex marriages how?

It's early here but I know it's not earlier there.........

Oh crap. Wrong link.

Here's the right one. http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/12/09/scoc-gaymarriage041209.html

Hi, Bold_Ferret.

Sorry, I wasn't around in 1066, so my grasp of who owned what is not as great as I would like. The genealogical sites that I visited merely specified that William the Conqueror was descended both from a Viking King and from Charlemagne via King Coel, etc., etc. Like the rest of us, he two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents and so on.

I had seen some other sources regarding William, and it said that he divided his time between France and England, particularly when rebellions occurred that had to be put down.

Since we are talking about Italian men who think they're cats, I could throw in some tidbits from the lunatic fringe of genealogy:

Some have speculated that the Charlemagne-King Coel line included descent from Joseph of Arimathea, who played a prominent part during the crucifixion of Jesus. Other sources have speculated that Joseph of Arimathea was actually Jesus' brother James. So, we may all be descended from Jesus' closest living relative.

Is it my first winter here? No, I was born here. I just refuse to get used to a Manitoba winter. I hate my job, and I'm bitter.

I always say, when the settlers first got to Winnepeg, why did they stay after a year? Did they think that mozzies so thick you can't see 10 feet and winters so cold that thermometers freeze was the best this country had to offer?

Wot's yer job?

Oh, look. The loud-mouthed minority is squealling already: http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/12/09/samesex-reax041209.html

"Young says if the definition of marriage is redefined to two persons, what is to stop a father and a son, or two brothers from marrying."

I'll tell you what, Mr. bigotted , loud-mouthed, scaremongering Young: The Criminal Code of Canada will stop it: http://www.canlii.org/ca/sta/c-46/sec155.html

(I hope I got those links right.)

It's really sad when somebody who has no legal or moral leg to stand on has to fall back on lies to support their position.

I work for a research company, doing polling, telecommunication and agricultural surveys. Some are interesting, especially when we polled for the US election, but its still a mind-numbing job. If it wasn't for our supervisor, who's also a stand-up commedian, and secretly eating at our cubes, (No eating at your cubes-2 of us nearly got caught with popcorn last night)it would be no fun at all.

By profession I'm an industrial buyer, but there aren't many jobs out there for buyers, so I'm doing what I have to do.

I think my ancestors must have come to Manitoba in either April/May or September/October. If they'd come here any other time, they'd have headed right back to England and Scotland!

I could go on for days about how much I hate Winnipeg, and feel stifled here - can't create, but that's too much negativity for today. If I ignore it, I can pretend its gone away.

I met someone else from Winnepeg here some time ago. Stragely enough I can only remember her real name since she left Hootoo last year. She loves it there but then she's in love and all her family lives there. I have several friends here who are from there and they are very good friends indeed. I guess all the stories about the famous beach there (I forget the name), the Francophone and Jewish communities, the great food, and the Icelandic communities nearby I thought Winterpeggers made the best of the weather and bugs and made their own fun. I don't know a lot about it though since it's actually one of the few places in Canada I haven't visited. Take heart and soldier on!

I just hope you aren'e one of those polsters I've hung up on or been rude to when they've called me!

And Anhaga, the Supreme Court has spoken, now the only thing that can go wrong is the federal government screwing it up. And that never happens.....

Let the loudmouths talk, they can't do a damn thing. I don't know who would have been stupid enough to think that any government level in Canada could legislate anything other than civil ceremonies. The religious ones (or *sanctification* ceremonies) were never under the law or government unless they broke common law. So unless you have human sacrifices, blood drinking, and random gunshots at your *sanctified* marriage vows, you could marry your same sex third cousin while lying under a goat! (If your particular religion allowed that, of course......)