Sad day, PittGirl hangs it up

How sad that I should break my silence with news that one of the brightest, most talented, and entertaining bloggers I've had the pleasure to read has abruptly closed her blog.
The burghblog has been taken down.
Here's a portion of PittGirl's final post:

I don’t know what I want to say here, but I know I have to say something so I’ll just start writing and you guys read along, okay?

I’ve got to say goodbye to you all.

And that really sucks and I’d be lying if I said I’m not incredibly sad about it because I didn’t realize how much a part of my life this blog has been for three years. It seemed like a little side thing I did and not a very important thing, but now that I’m cutting it away, I’m realizing what a big cut and a deep cut it really is. And how much it is hurting to let it go.

I hope you’ll trust me that I’m doing what I must do, for my comfort level, for my privacy and for my life.

Her perspectives on all things Pittsburgh will be missed. It may be her success that led to this sudden end. Pittsburgh Magazine featured her in a recent cover story, and she was to have been the focus of an article in another Pittsburgh-themed site, Pop City, from where we learn more about why the anonymous PittGirl called it quits:

I don't know what I can tell you other than my identity has been compromised and that means shutting it (the blog) down because of my job. It's important that I be proactive in removing all traces of my writing from the web if there is any risk of my identity becoming public.

Therefore, the blog was nuked this morning after five days of deliberation on my part. It wasn't an easy decision, but I know that it was the right decision for me. I can't say who learned my identity because I don't want that person being the subject of inquiries as to his/her knowledge. It's better this way.

Dennis Roddy, a writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a journalist I've known for decades offers this succinct recap:

In a retirement worthy of Greta Garbo, PittGirl, the sassy and clued-in high priestess of Pittsburgh blogging, called it quits yesterday in a bid to preserve her status as an anonymous celebrity.

I, for one, enjoyed the fact that she chose to remain anonymous. What is most surprising, I guess, is that she managed to retain that status for so long.
We'll miss you PittGirl. I do hope you find a way to share your voice with us on your terms.

I for one welcome our Robot Overlords!

Politicians and pundits are quick to rail against the migration of American jobs to other countries where labor is less expensive. But what about the jobs now being done by workers who demand no paid time off, no sick leave, no pension benefits, and no overtime?
Watch out Sarah Conner, the robots are here! Are we doomed? Drew Carey opines over at Reason.TV. (h/t to Allison Kasic at IWF's Inkwell)




Photo © 2005 Robert Armstrong and blatantly used without permission

Robots of the world, unite!

Two video clips here for your viewing pleasure.
Use comments to tell me which one you find creepier...
First one:



Second one:

Remember them as they fight for you!

My niece, who is stationed at a hospital in Iraq, passes this story along:

For those who are unaware, the National Anthem is played before every movie in military theatres in the U.S. and abroad.

This is attributed to Chaplain Jim Higgins, who offers this example of why our service men and women serving in Iraq are among the best America has to offer:

He writes, "I recently attended a showing of Superman 3 here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies, as well as for memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom back in the States, we stood and snapped to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature.”
The chaplain’s story continues, “All was going as planned until about three-quarters of the way
through The National Anthem the music stopped. Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments; and everyone would sit down and call for a movie. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first place.”
“Here, the 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward. The music began again. The Soldiers continued to quietly stand at attention. And again, at the same point, the music stopped.”
“What would you expect to happen? Even here, I would imagine laughter, as everyone finally sat down and expected the movie to start.”
“But you could have heard a pin drop. Every Soldier continued to stand at attention. Suddenly there was a lone voice, then a dozen, and quickly the room was filled with the voices of a thousand soldiers, finishing where the recording left off:
"And the rockets red glare,
The bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free
And the home of the brave?"

The chaplain concludes, “It was the most inspiring moment I have had here in Iraq . I
just wanted you to know what kind of soldiers are serving you here. Remember them as they fight for you!”

Let us remember to be ever in prayer for all our soldiers serving us here at home and abroad.

The above photo shows Airman First Class Deborah Korenoski briefing Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne on the work of medical staff at the USAF Hospital in Balad, Iraq.

Troops in Iraq starved for entertainment?

A strange congruence of events has led me to change the topic of today's post. Originally, I had planned to discuss the issues surrounding the soon to be former Governor of New York.
But then I received an email from my niece, a member of the U.S. Air Force, who is deployed to a hospital in Balad, Iraq.
It seems she and some of her fellow service members have managed to find entertainment of an adult nature - a peep show. Here's the photographic evidence:














It's okay to laugh.

Anybody know how to trim the wick on a whale oil lamp?

Anybody remember how to use a slide rule? Do you even know what a slide rule is? Back in the days of rotary telephones, manual typewriters, and choke controls to help start cars on cold mornings, slide rules were essential tools in the physics classroom.

Today they are obsolete, as are these:
1. Dialing a rotary phone
2. Putting a needle on a vinyl record
3. Changing tracks on an eight-track tape
4. Shorthand
5. Using carbon paper to make copies
6. Basking in the lilting aroma of freshly "run-off" mimeograph paper
7. Changing the ball or ribbon on your Selectric Typewriter
8. Getting off the couch to change channels or adjust the rabbit ears on your TV set
9. Popping popcorn over the stove in a pot with oil
10. Changing the gas mixture on your car's carburetor

I recall them all, and had those mad skills (except for the shorthand, although many people thought my
handwriting looked like shorthand) back in the day. Some other obsolete skills are of more recent vintage.

Do you recall:
11. Editing an autoexec.bat or config.sys file
12. Calling "collect" and/or "person to person" on a payphone
13. Transferring files with Zmodem
14. Parking a hard disk
15. Cleaning the head of a VCR
16. Aiming a C-band satellite dish
17. Degaussing a CRT monitor
18. Lotus 1-2-3
19. WordStar 2000
20. Winding a watch

The point of all this is to illustrate not only how much things have changed over the past couple of decades, but
how much the velocity of change is increasing. I shamelessly "borrowed" these from the obsolete skills wiki and
a posting by Robert Scobel.

Now I feel old. Guess I'll brush up on my DOS command line syntax before saddling up the mule for the ride home.

Hyperbole made simple

Wendy at Girl on the Right has an excellent post comparing today's definition of "crisis", "quagmire", "disaster", etc with the definition of a couple generations ago.

Both 9/11 and Katrina were mere blinks of the eye of time. The terrorist attacks lasted an hour or two (though the fires burned for 90 days). The hurricane and flooding lasted a day or so. Neither of them could be compared to the lasting hardships of the Depression or even the sacrifices of WWII.

Go on over and read the entire post at GOTR.

Idaho's Dud Stud .. er .. Spud

At risk of being classified as a Still Stacy Stalker, I must once again direct your attention to a very well written opinion piece posted by that witty and talented Colorado consumer of copious caffeine.
Stacy offers us an essay on the sex scandal surrounding Idaho Senator Larry Craig. Actually she covers much more ground regarding the whole subject of sexuality in our culture. Here's a sample, "Every time I walk out my front door, I’m at risk for sexual harassment. In my years I have had some very lewd and repulsive things said to me. In time, I developed my thick skin and “the look” as my husband calls it."
Good reading. Read the entire article here, then do some thinking. I am.

Aborting an entire society

What she lacks in quantity, she more than compensates with quality.
Still Stacy offers a well reasoned, tangible argument on the essential immorality of abortion: "Congratulations; Procreating 101; sperm, meet egg. But one needs to take a deeper look into why Russia is suffering from this population crisis. .. Russia needs far more than monetary motivation to increase it’s population. You remove religion from a society with no one but a socialist regime to answer to, and this is what you get. A historically great country, literally, disappearing citizen by citizen. Whatever your feelings are towards abortion, there is one thing you should accept as the truth; abortion kills people; not potential people; real, live people."

Anyway, go visit her blog and read the entire post.

"Common Sense" - Can you use those words in the same sentence?

It's head scratching time again.
Betsy Newmark opines on the wit and wisdom (specifically the lack of both) of the prosecutor in Yamhill County, Oregon who had sought to brand two middle school students as "sexual predators" for slapping female classmates' bottoms and playing "boob tag". Betsy asks, "Can't we have some return to common sense when dealing with children?" (Her article here)
It does seem common sense is none too common these days - or perhaps it never has been; we see more of it thanks to all this communications/information technology.

People of Good Will

The Anchoress is back at the keyboard, much to the delight of many. Her latest post, Dave Gorman and Men of Goodwill is a particularly timely missive. This passage, in particular caught my eye: “People of Good Will are the people who take another person at face-value, who do not immediately label, categorize, and quickly shelve those they encounter based on their perceived income, politics, philosophy, or appearance. People of Goodwill give the other guy the benefit of a doubt, they choose to receive another person with the expectation that that person is someone worthy of respectful attention and friendly regard - until that person proves otherwise.”
Read the entire article over at her site.