Unspeakable

This happened yesterday, but I refused to sully Memorial Day with this. How brave you are, little rebels, to desecrate the graves of veterans. Not just once, but twice, so I would advise against claiming any of the hardy perennial defenses like "being drunk" or "momentary passion." Waiting for the guard to leave to rip out flags and leave swastikas in their place -- again -- demonstrates intent and planning.

Just for reference, you contemptible worms, this is what real fascist governments do to people who Speak Truth To Power. They execute them by guillotine for the heinous crime of distributing pamphlets. If they really don't like you, you get hung. With piano wire. None of which will happen to you when you get caught. Yes, I said when. Orcas Island isn't that big. You were seen. You will be found. You thought it would be safe to attack the dead, forgetting that they are not forgotten.

A few items of note

Having but recently returned from a visit to the Snarkish Progenitors, there is unpacking and cat-soothing and such to do --but there are still tidbits that must be shared with my precious five readers!

• The Great Bee Massacre Evidently there is something killing off bees, possibly a fungus but the implication that Bush/Halliburton/Global Warming/Wearing Unmatched Socks is *really* to blame. I am pleased to announce all the bees are alive and well and trying to suck the juice out of my giant rhododendron. It was amazing -- the whole tree sounded like a giant hive, and they were scrambling to get to each and every flower.
• Air Travel Sucks I now have the serial number for the seat armrest permanently embossed in my hipbone. And if I see another little package of crackers I may scream. On the other hand, I learned from my neighbor in the We Get to Exit First When Crashed row that if you are given Row 42 by the gate agent, they don't like you. Unconfirmed as of this writing.
• It's a Beautiful World
  

Random Snarkage

• OhPleaseohpleaseohplease Dept. : Iran wants the UN out of the corrupting presence of the United States. Other than switching the modifier around a bit, I'm in complete agreement. Especially since it appears moving the UN would require rewriting the framework that created it, and I have several suggestions for additional changes. Like them what pays the bills gets the votes. Or even, all UN funds must be raised via bake sale. Or any UN official or peacekeeper found guilty of, say, rape under cover of authority gets airdropped into North Korea in a box labeled "Food."
  
• I Need to Invest in More Heating Dept. : A possible reason for the current frantic hysteria in the human-generated Global Warming ranks -- we may be headed for another Little Ice Age. Did I mention I hate being cold? At least I have some time to super-insulate the house and dig my own oil well.
  
• The Internet is a Good Thing Dept. : Webcomics are rapidly removing the only reason any sentient being would buy a physical newspaper. My recent discovery, Lackadaisy, features jazz cats running speakeasies during Prohibition. Actual cats, that is.
  

Library Research

The local library system in King County (the county in which Fair Seattle resides) is quite nice. It has a very handy online search site which lets you, in addition to seeing what books are at what library and their current status, place a hold on a book so you can just go pick it up whenever it gets back to the stable. They even send you a handy email to let you know when it does.

Now, because data is useful, they *also* include, so you have some expectation of when you might actually get your paws on the volume, how many (total) copies they have and how many holds have already been placed on it. Being bored, I did a little research. If any of my five readers (who I cherish deeply) have other suggestions for titles, please leave a comment and I will update.


America, the Last Best Hope vol. 1 (William J. Bennett): 8 copies, 18 holds, ratio 2.25 holds per book
America Alone (Mark Steyn): 20 copies, 69 holds, ratio 3.45
Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore): 25 copies, 20 holds, ratio 0.8 (this is the book, not the movie)
Audacity of Hope (Barack Obama): 116 copies (!) 347 holds (!!), ratio 2.99

They actually have 10 copies each of Unfit for Command (O'Neill), Unhinged(Malkin), and How To Talk To A Liberal (Coulter), but no holds on any of them.

I find it interesting that the highest hold/copies ratio is for a conservative, topical book. Poor Mr. Bennett has fewer copies than older, arguably more controversial books. And even the book version of Al Gore's Powerpoint extravaganza has more copies than any of the conservative books I list, and it has the lowest hold/copies ratio!

So, what else shall I investigate?