NeoLibrarium Takes Over

I had initially intended this to be updated more often, but I find that I've never really found a reason to use this blog when I have NeoLibrarium, so if you want to just follow the link to see my book reviews, discussions, and so on. I promise it'll be much more rewarding than visiting this page.
~NH

FROSTY THE SNOWMAN KIDNAPPED!

42-foot-tall inflatable snowman stolen in Tyler

03:06 PM CST on Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Associated Press

TYLER, Texas – "Frosty" the snowman has been swiped.

The 42-foot-tall inflatable holiday decoration is missing from a tree farm in Tyler.

Officials at Dixon Farms say Frosty, worth about $10,000, was last seen Friday night. No arrests have been made.

Lot owner Royce Wisenbaker believes Frosty was hoisted over a fence.

A $1,000 reward has been posted for the safe return of the towering decoration.

Frosty is described as a white male, sporting a red hat and scarf, with a pipe in his mouth.

Wii

I went over to a friend's house last week and ended up playing video games in his roommate's Wii. Now, the wii is a wonderful piece of technology and possibly one of the most advanced gaming stations on the market. I honestly wish I had the kind of money it would take for me to buy one and not go into debt or have my conscience screaming at me. But after playing, I felt a little less guilty...
You know what game we played?
Mario Brothers; a game that came out in the 80s.
Let's hear it for advanced technology!

Snowflakes

I thought this deserved a re-post. The last one, sadly refers to people about my age, and younger. I call us Gen-Me, becayse that's what this generation is all about: "Me, me, me, me, me,"
Without further ado: the repost...


Boomers.
We the latch-key kids of Boomers’ first marriages were left at home while the Boomers fleeced the job market and raped the banking industries. We left school to high unemployment, high interest rates, and a cloudy future. And there are so many of you that by the time I’m 45, half of my paycheck is going to pay for your Social Security.

Gen-X
Gen-X created the computer boom. You can say it was Bill Gates, but it was we, the disciples of the Atari2600, we who had Apple IIe’s, who truly created the revolution. We had the chance to really change the world, and we blew it. Maybe we can burn the Pets.com sock puppet in effigy.

Gen-Y
Oh Gen-Y, where to begin. You are all beautiful, special little snowflakes, and no one can tell you differently. You are spoiled little brats. Things have been so good for you for so long, you are not going to have any idea how to deal when things turn to shit, and mommy and daddy can’t bail you out. And it’s coming. I know, I know, I am a mean person, a “hater”, for not presenting life as anything but rosy. Don’t worry, you are all special, beautiful little snowflakes, and I want to kiss you all on your precious little heads. All I ask is that you don’t cry to me when your H3 is repo’d when things go to hell.

JimBobJoeBobJim, in Exurbannation

Library Late Fines: Transcending Death and Taxes

Apparently, a woman returning a book to the library after finding it in her mother's home after her mother had died of a massive stroke was asked to pay a late fee for the delayed return of the book. The woman in question noted that her mother had been an avid reader and frequent patron of the library; reading at least two books per week.

The woman was quoted as saying:
"I told him that maybe he didn’t hear me right, that my mother had just died, otherwise I’m sure that she would have returned it on time...His only reply was that, 'That will be 50 cents.'"

This just shows that you can't escape library fines, dead or alive.

The Story

Shoplifting Seagulls...No, Really!

Snopes.com - Shoplifting Seagulls

Apparently, a seagull in Scotland, now dubbed "Sam" by the locals has a penchant for cheese-flavored Doritos that has led him to a life of crime. Sam the Seagull is patient, and crafty. He waits until the customers have left the store from which he prefers to get his chips, and when the moment is right, he dashes to the rack just inside the door, snatches the chips and makes with the getaway.
Sam isn't selfish though. Once he's safely away, he and his buddies rip open the bag and share the booty.
You can even find a video of it on Snopes.com

Little Rock Nine mark 50th anniversary

By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press Writer Tue Sep 25, 7:55 PM ET

LITTLE ROCK - The Little Rock Nine, who as students were escorted by federal soldiers into the all-white Central High School because they were black, marveled at the celebrity-like fanfare they received on the 50th anniversary of the event Tuesday. But they cautioned that racial divides still exist.

"In spite of the progress that's been talked about today, it is not nearly enough for me," said Terrence Roberts, a member of the group greeted with cheers and standing ovations.

About 4,500 people gathered on the front lawn of the city campus, where the high school is now 52 percent black, to commemorate one of the key moments in the civil rights movement. The gathering was one of a series of events celebrating the anniversary this week.

The two-hour ceremony included brief remarks by each of the Little Rock Nine, including Roberts, Melba Patillo Beals, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Carlotta Walls Lanier, Jefferson Thomas, Minnijean Brown Trickey and Thelma Mothershed Wair.

Former President Clinton, who held Central's doors open for the group as they arrived, challenged this year's senior class to address inequality in health services, economics and the justice system.

"What do you wish the story of the next 50 years to be?" Clinton asked.

Cameron Zohoori, a senior at the school of 2,400 students, said he believed that while Central isn't truly fully integrated, the campus is more diverse than ever.

"You look at the students here and look at the diversity and see that this is not the same place it was," said Zohoori, who is Iranian-American.

For three weeks in September 1957, Little Rock became the focus of a showdown between then-Gov. Orval Faubus and President Eisenhower. used the Arkansas National Guard to keep Central all-white, telling a statewide TV audience that court-ordered integration would spark mob violence. When Faubus pulled the Guard away, a crowd gathered outside the school.

Eisenhower authorized the use of federal troops to enforce the desegregation order, and members of the 101st Airborne escorted the Little Rock Nine to classes on Sept. 25, 1957.

Clinton said Eisenhower had a duty to step in after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling that said segregated schools were unconstitutional.

"I'm grateful we had a Supreme Court that saw 'separate but equal' and 'states' rights' for the shams they were, hiding our desire to preserve the oppression of African-Americans," Clinton said. "And I am grateful more than I can say that we had a president who was determined to enforce the order of the court."

Clinton said he was grateful that the Little Rock Nine took action rather than looking to others to pave the way.

"We were nine teenagers who thought this was a place that would accept us, where we would belong," said Green, Central's first black graduate in 1958. "You know what? Fifty years later, I think we were right."

Karlmark said she and her fellow students relied on their parents and the community to support them through the harassment and taunts they endured within the school: "It was difficult for us, but we would show that despite the discrimination, we could excel."