How Short Can You Go? 50 to 100 Word Stories

How Short Can You Go? 50 to 100 Word Stories

For some reason this post caught my eye. Let's see if I can come up with something.

Holding aim as steadily as tiring arms and aching back allowed, he waited patiently for the perfect moment. Steadying the sight image by yet another tug of the butt into his shoulder, he despaired, realizing the cub might never get out of the way - that the shot might soon be but a memorable possibility.

Suddenly... Cub gone! Sight picture perfect! Mama's head turning... Trigger gently squeezed. Click! Another National Geographic moment? Big smile!

I think that's 73 words. Worth a damn?

'PreTeena' Comic Will Be Ending Next Month

'PreTeena' Comic Will Be Ending Next Month

I was wondering why I wasn't seeing any new PreTeena strips. It was discontinued last week.

I will miss PreTeena, one of my favorites.

More power to Allison Barrows.

Brownback Internet Radio Equality amendment

Webcasting, which has become virtually the only way I gain exposure to new and different music, is in danger of going away because the music industry wants double the royalties they negotiated with satellite radio. [SaveNetRadio.org]

I mostly listen to Pandora, so, for what it's worth, I sent this message to my Senator, Jon Kyle, who sits on the Judiciary Committee.

Dear Senator Kyle,

As a somewhat hearing-impaired person, I find that virtually the only time I am able to enjoy music is if I am in a quiet location and wearing headphones. I am able to enjoy music best if I am sitting at my computer.

I have come to appreciate music webcasting as a good source of exposure to new and different music and, contrary to over-the-air radio, a means of identifying and sometimes handily purchasing music new to me.

I understand that music webcasting's existence is threatened by unequal treatment at the hands of the recording industry vis-a-vis other music transmission services such as satellite radio, and that Senator Brownback's amendment is intended to rectify this situation.

Please lend your support to the Brownback Internet Radio Equality amendment. Thank you.

Sincerely,

To the music industry: I am FAR more likely to purchase new music if I'm exposed to it than if not. It is in the interests of musicians and the music industry for me to continue to listen to Pandora. Deal in good faith.

Murdered boy 'turned down fight'

BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | Murdered boy 'turned down fight':

She said she had no anger for his killer.

I suppose that's admirable. The poor lady sounds like a good person and a good parent. The loss of her son this way was... What can I say?

She said: "I feel for the parents of this boy."

I suppose that's admirable, too, but a bit hasty. Some parents may be completely innocent of the misdeeds of their offspring, but some of them are guilty of irresponsible, uncaring, negligent child rearing. Some worse than that. Some parents are guilty as sin.

Leaving aside the details of this particular case, the thing that frustrates me is the inability of societies to rid themselves of members whose characteristics, by being tolerated, lead to this sort of thing. If we were smarter, we'd be able to act decisively on proven facts about people, such as that they are violent predators by their nature, as conclusively demonstrated by their repeated acts.

But no.

Bio Hunger?

It's not the ethanol that should be coupled with world hunger, Glenn.

Corn ethanol is a bad idea, sure, but world hunger has much more to do with TOO MANY PEOPLE!!!


Humanity has not devised a means of dealing with overpopulation because we are apparently incapable of doing so (or even of recognizing the problem). This means, unfortunately, that our population is just like that of any other species: subject to control by external forces.

If it is true that electronic and biophysical sciences and technology are accelerating and melding to evolve greatly enhanced human intelligence soon, I can't escape the thought of the first batch of suddenly-smarter ones arranging to reduce our numbers to whatever is sustainable. Maybe they'll be smart enough to figure out how to do this more gracefully than by simply killing off the excess.

If human numbers aren't somehow reduced along these lines, I also can't escape the image of some thin, global layer in future geological strata marking the boundary between pre- and post-human eras, but absent any possible explanation such as the Chicxulub impact crater.

In the meantime, Obama for President!

Obama Says Clinton, McCain Are Wrong on Gas-Tax Plan - WSJ.com

Obama Says Clinton, McCain Are Wrong on Gas-Tax Plan - WSJ.com:

Mrs. Clinton says

'Some people say we don't need to get a gas tax holiday at all, it's a gimmick .. I want the Congress to stand up and vote. Are they for the oil companies, or are they for you?'

OK, that does it. Unless something unexpected happens between now and election day, my vote will go to Barak Obama even if I have to write it in.

Are they for the oil companies, or are they for you? Give me a break. This woman is pissing me off more and more each day. I used to admire her quite a lot, but now, little things like dropping the g's in "*ing" and taking shots with the boys, and big things like this bullshit pandering with the gas tax, things have changed. To hell with Hillary Clinton the Fake.

And hey, Wall Street Journal / Associated Press, you say

The proposed federal gas tax holiday is a rarity in the marathon battle for the Democratic presidential nomination -- a clear-cut policy difference between Sens. Obama and Clinton.

Surely you can do better than credit Clinton's pandering with the label of "policy". The summertime gas tax holiday is not a policy. It is unprincipled pandering, nothing more.