If you know anyone who is even considering voting for McCain because they think Obama will raise their income tax (and they're not making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year), PLEASE point them to this website:
http://alchemytoday.com/obamataxcut/
More than half of Americans think Barack will raise their taxes, and that's not at all the case. Republicans repeat their bullshit lines often enough, and people start believing it.
Enjoying a beautiful day in Summit County.
THIS WOMAN ROCKS!!
Interesting story about how bike commuting isn't catching on all that fast in the US. Look at this cool bike-storage facility in Tokyo!
Testing the moblog capabilities on my new Blackberry Curve.
Some quick thoughts about the convention, and working downtown during all the mayhem:
- First off, we saw Barack drive by us last night! He was smiling and waving out the window, and all the people on the 16th Street Mall went crazy. Jen was about 5 feet from him. It was quite cool.
- This does not feel like Denver. It feels more like New York, what with the thousands of extra people and media from all over the world.
- There are cops everywhere. They set up a temporary command unit underneath the library. Many of them are carrying machine guns, or dressed in riot gear. They look ready to bust some heads.
- Every single leftist organization is represented in full force. Some right-wing nutsos, too. The protesters all hang out near the library, which is pretty cool.
- MSNBC is broadcasting live, outdoors, right across the street from Union Station. Quite odd. I'd love to grab a beer with Keith Olberman.
- A fellow librarian gave Sean Penn a cigarette.
I just saw Obama leaving the convention in his motorcade!
At some point I plan on writing about my great backpacking experience from a few weeks back (including getting stuck on an exposed ridge in a horrible thunderstorm), but for now, here's a picture of an elk we found at a stream:
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This one isn't from my section- a coworker came across it (153.14). Mnemonic devices are so handy for remembering things! There are the well-known ones, like Roy G. Biv (colors of the rainbow/spectrum), HOMES (the Great Lakes), and "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." But this book doesn't stop there! It has hundreds of handy tips for remembering "all the stuff you ever wanted to know," in nearly 50 categories. For example:
The Original 13 Colonies (in Order of Admission)
Del, Penn, NJ
Led the way.
George, Conn, Mass-
Next in class.
Seven, Mary;
Eight, South Carrie.
New Hamp, nine on
The founding state.
Virginia, ten;
New York was late.
NC, RI,
They cast the die
And saved the day
For the USA
I bet you think it can't get any better than that. Just wait!
The 10 Largest Bodies in the Solar System (in Order of Decreasing Size)
Sunny J-SUN eventually visited Mars gratefully today
(Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Mars, Ganymede, Titan)
This one is profoundly brilliant. Not only is it completely nonsensical, employing the phrase "sunny J-SUN," it actually uses the word "Mars" to signify the "M" beginning the word...Mars!
Baseball's last .400 Hitter
.41 in '41
Ted Williams hit .406, which (obviously) you're supposed to round up to .41 to make this one work.
The 10 Categories of the Dewey Decimal System
Generally, philosophical religionists see language symbolically to favor literary history.
(000: generalities; 100: philosophy & psychology; 200: religion; 300: social science; 400: language; 500: science; 600: technology; 700: fine arts; 800: literature; 900: history)
Yes! Love for the library. It's soooooo much easier remembering that awesome sentence than just memorizing the 10 headings. Of course, there's really no reason to memorize the headings to begin with. Also, the computer software & programming books are in the 004s and 005s, which certainly ain't represented here.
Bears: Cubs at Birth
Bear bear bare bears.
(Newborn bears are hairless. And this is important to know. I'm amazed at how often this comes up, and I always forget whether cubs have fur or not. Never again will I forget this essential bit of information!)
Alligators vs. Crocodiles
Now, a crocodile is hardly a runt,
But the alligator's snout is shorter and more blunt.
These two reptiles are in the same group-
If you meet them both at once, then you're the soup.
(But, what if the alligator and crocodile attack each other? Then you'd be home free, eh?)
Pi to 8 Places
May I have a large container of coffee?
3.145926
The number of letters in each word represents a digit in Pi. Again: much, much easier to do it this way, than to simply remember 3.145926, right?
I could go on all day. But I'm worried that Rod L. Evans, Ph.d. might sue me if I steal too many of his ideas (not that he actually came up with any of these himself). Last, but certainly not least, we have a mnemonic device for all 27 Amendments to the US Constitution. Again, more profound beauty. Here are a few of them:
Amendment 2
2 arms; I have the right 2 bear arms, not to arm bears.
Amendment 3
No housing troops
(Device has 3 words, so it must be amendment #3!)
Amendment 6
Public speedy trials
(Each word has 6 letters. Of course, the astute reader will also notice that it has 3 words...)
Amendment 8
My horse 8 a "bail" of hay.
(Fair bail and fines/preventing cruel & unusual punishment.)
Amendment 18
You can't drink at 18.
(Prohibition. May I point out that you also cannot drink at 16, 20, 12, and every other number between 1 and 20?)
Amendment 23
2 + 3 = 5
(The Pentagon has 5 sides, and this amendment allows people in DC to vote for President.)
And, finally, my absolute favorite:
Amendment 24
The busiest place on Earth on Dec. 24 is the North Pole, which will be abbreviated to No Pol.
(This Amendment prohibits charging people to register to vote.)
Now, rush out and buy this incredible book! Amazon is selling it for under $9. And there are another 50 pages of spelling tips I skipped over, too!
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