MatthewMaynard.net

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How weird? Take a look at this photo I snapped yesterday on the way home.

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• {{link http://www.cyberussr.com/rus/insults.html Commie Insults}}
• {{link http://www.reaganlibrary.com/welcome.asp Reagan Library Online}}
• {{link http://www.howevilareyou.com/us/ Yay, you can now try and kill James Bond}}
• First Alaska, {{link http://www.news4jax.com/news/3633148/detail.html now Florida}}.
• Mazda should use {{link http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0922042speed1.html this guy}} for their Zoom Zoom Zoom commercials.
• Mmmmm, {{link http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/EarthObservatory/TucsonArizona.htm aerials}}.
• Mmmmm, {{link http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3526586 sugar}}.
• Martha Stewart is Federal Inmate # 55170-054. {{link http://www.cafepress.com/matthewsmaynard.10855294 You are not}}.

Quote:
“We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know” – Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defense (and part-time Zen poet)

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{{link http://www.nypost.com/gossip/29289.htm Jack Daniel’s: Lemonade Next?}}

September 28, 2004 — Jack Daniel’s has sparked outrage among serious drinkers by unceremoniously lowering the proof of its famous Tennessee Whiskey from 86 to 80. The change – which means the hooch has 3 percent less alcohol – has riled those still smarting from the “betrayal” of 15 years ago when the company lowered the strength of its 90-proof, 138-year-old original recipe, to 86 proof. Frank Kelly Rich, editor of Modern Drunkard magazine (and a contributor to The Post’s Sunday books section), has taken up the cause along with “alert drunkard” Chris Sharp, who was apparently the first to notice the switch. Sharp has started an online petition and boycott with the magazine’s backing “designed to right this grievous wrong.” Distillery rep Roger Brashears told us, “We researched it and decided the majority of people wanted a less potent drink.” Rich writes, “Jack Daniel’s is, of course, a private corporation and they can do whatever the hell they want,” but called the alcohol dilution “unfathomable blasphemy. They can lower the proof to zero and call it lemonade if they like. But that doesn’t mean we have to drink it.”

Ack. And to think, I’ve always thought the stuff I’ve been drinking has been the “traditional” stuff. A 5% drop in alcohol content in 15 years? Egads. Too bad private distilleries are illegal.
Hat Tip: {{link http://vodkapundit.com/archives/006803.php VodkaPundit}}

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Linkage for your perusing pleasure.
{{link http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=901 Snipers in Palestine}}.
{{link http://www.kimdutoit.com/dr/weblog.php?id=P3682 Helping out some US Army snipers directly}}.
{{link http://www.adoptasniper.org Adopt-A-Sniper}} – more help for more snipers.
{{link http://www.fmft.net/archives/cat_military.html#000439 A sniper story}}.

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{{link http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/breaking/092804impact.html Tucson City Council charges Impact Fees for new homes}}.

The fees amount to $2.80 per square foot and take effect in a year. What’s the total impact? A 1601 square foot house (like the one Jen & I just purchased) would cost an additional $4482.80. A 2000 sf house: $5600.00. The fees are capped at 3000 square feet ($8400.00).

I don’t like it, though the fees are earmarked for improvements needed because of the expansion. It does not guarantee that the fees will be spent to the benefit of those charged. Also, the development we are moving into would get charged approximately $192,542 were the charge on the books. That is barely enough to build the water & sewage lines, so why charge that much? If you charge more you slow down expansion too much. If you charge less its petty, and you can’t guarantee that the funds will be used for our benefit. Why charge us for building our property? It seems baseless. I can see the need, but I think the justification is weak.

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The one thing I like about detective literature in general and Dashiell Hammett in particular is his abundant use of the adjective. The Maltese Falcon is one of those books that reads very quickly and engages your imagination as it spins along.

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{{link http://www.afa.org/magazine/April2004/0404FA22.asp The F/A-22 Force Forms Up}}
The 27th Fighter Squadron – my grandfather’s squadron in WW2 – will be the first to get the new bird. Yay! This is one hot plane, except for its graphics for the avionics package – it keeps crashing in mid-flight. That would really ruin your day.

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Here are a few lessons and pointers I’ve learned over the past few years.

• Link-trading brings traffic. New content brings readers. Bring readers.
• Never offend when you don’t have to.
• When you feel the unbearable “need”, never offend with style when you can offend with substance.
• Check your spelling.
• Check your grammar.
• Rewriting is the best kind of writing.
• Be careful with the personal info you release.
• Don’t steal other’s bandwidth by using their image source url in your image tags. Copy the image to your server/account.
• Don’t litter your site with useless cruft. Add stuff that is useful to you and others.
• Don’t bleg (blog beg) obnoxiously, either for money or links.
• Use the ban feature of your blogware judiciously.

Anyone else have ideas/rules for blogs?

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Verizon, my cell phone service provider, sold me a high quality Kyocera Smartphone 6035 several years ago. Despite fumbles and general wear, it has held up remarkably well throughout its use. Kyocera knows how to put together a good piece.

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• Steelers won. Yay!
• Eagles won. Yay.
• Cowboys won. Yay.
• Broncos won. Boo.
• U of A lost. Indifferent.

My Football Life is 75% good.

If you are wondering why I am indifferent to my own alma mater losing, it is because there is only one game that matters to the U of A. We could have one win and lose to everyone else, but as long as the one win was against ASU, things would be good.