Regular News
Well, I feel a little guilty that I didn't partake in any of that good old-fashioned Maggie's Farm-style California bashin' yesterday, so let's get right to the good stuff:
How Arnold Schwarzenegger's California dream soured
Californians now cursed by all humanity
Times so bad California lawyers only getting $10/hr
California women now have triple the nation's fat rate
In unrelated news, New York state is now forcing DWI drivers to
install a device on their car that forces them to pass a breath test before it'll start:
Blowing more than a .025 percent blood-alcohol content -- less than a third of the legal limit -- will make the car go haywire. The horn starts honking and the car's speakers emit a high-pitched shriek that, according to state probation director Robert Maccarone, "increases in volume until it's intolerable -- you'll have to pull over to the side and stop the car."
Failing an immediate follow-up test then locks the ignition.
The law requires the devices even in the family cars of drunk drivers, meaning that spouses will have to submit to the same tests.
Exit questions:
— How much does it cost to have an emergency road service come out and unlock the ignition?
— How much will the first family sue for when someone's car breaks down on a lonely road in the snow and they freeze to death because the car wouldn't start because the system malfunctioned? Or it locked the ignition because of the (A) breath mint the person was sucking on, (B) unique medicine they were taking, not to mention the (C) swig of whiskey they took for warmth?
The pic: Some guy mapped out a road course that would spell out the message and then turned his car's GoogleMaps GPS tracking device on when he hit those stretches. Not only a damn clever idea and great implementation, but, given that, not a bad message, either. I loved Anthem.
Turning our attention to some serious issues (yes, I know it's a shocking change), here are a few I've filed away:
Is Obama Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab and Muslim World?
Giant Mecca clock seeks to call time on Greenwich
Related:
10 Things You Must Know About Malware
Hold on a sec...
It worked! I did it!
I just invented a time machine that can reach 10 years into the future and snatch a headline from the New York Times. It can only work once, so let's hope it's a good one!
BZZHZHHZGHZZZTTZT!!
Axe falls on ObamaCare services
Well, at least it's still ten years away.
A lot of columns have some kind of "Life imitates..." feature. Usually '...the Onion', not coincidentally. Well, if you have a few minutes to read some silly humor (Glenn Reynolds once linked to it so it can't be that bad), I've got one of my own:
Life Imitates Dr. Mercury's Wildest Hyperbole
First read this.
Then look at the title of this.
Political News
Obama and daughter take plunge, swim in gulf
