Another Outstanding Meal...

...at the Descanso Junction Restaurant.  This time it was fish tacos, the $8.99 special for the night. 

These were not the dainty, fussy, tiny little things you'd get from Rubio's.  These were studly fish tacos, with a serious quantity of excellent fish in them – chunks the size you'd get with a generous portion of fish ’n chips.  These were in tasty corn tortillas, drizzled with an excellent sauce, embedded in chopped greens and all the veggie bits you expect with fish tacos.  Rice and refries, of course.  The usual sass from the waitress and smiles and greetings from everyone who works there.  As comfortable as being home, with great food, and someone else does the dishes. 

Simply outstanding!

Happy Tool Valley...

This evening, in the parking lot of our favorite restaurant, we saw “Happy Tool Valley” emblazoned across the doors of a pickup truck.  Took us a few moments to realize what we were seeing: a pun that only a local would recognize.

Because, you see, "Happy Tool Valley" is pronounced very much like Japatul Valley (HOP-a-tool VAL-ee), which we drove through to get to the restaurant!

How's That “Stimulus” Plan Working Out, Oh Wise One?

Not so well.  This chart summarizes it nicely:

The World's Shortest Book...

I wonder what the advance was on this one:

The Things I Love About My Country

by Jane Fonda & Cindy Sheehan, illustrated by Michael Moore

Kimberly Munley, Heroine...

This woman is credited with stopping the shooting rampage of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, by shooting him four times. She was wounded herself, and continued shooting after she was hit. Quite a gal, is Kimberly Munley:

A police officer and mother of one was hailed a heroine yesterday after it emerged that she almost single handedly ended the massacre at America’s biggest military base.

Kimberly Munley does not look as if she would be much of a match for a heavily armed US soldier on a murderous rampage. But the slightly built 34-year-old civilian officer was first on the scene after Major Nidal Malik Hasan began firing on comrades at Ford Hood in Texas as they prepared to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq. The 39-year-old psychologist killed 13 and left 31 others with serious injuries.

May she recover quickly and without permanent effect...

Cultural Relativism’s “Happy Face”

Roger Simon has an interesting discussion...

Spelling and Comprehension...

I've seen variations of this several times over the years:

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

I have no trouble reading the above, and I've been unable to find anyone who did.  Today I decided to go on a search to find the origin of the story, and the associated research.  I soon discovered that there was no such research.  The story above is a hoax.

But it is nonetheless interesting, and a very clear demonstration of the remarkable capabilities of our brain.  I found a short, readable paper that explained a bit of the above phenomenon.  It didn't take me long to convince myself (by constructing my own scrambled or substituted passages) that this paper was onto something...

Genuine Caring...

There are many things I don't miss about George W. Bush.  But one thing I do miss is the man's genuine, selfless caring and warmth:

Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States.

The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood's Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night. Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood's military leaders and hospital staff for the "amazing care they are providing."

No cameras, no publicity.  Just showing up and offering comfort...

PelosiCare: the Bureaucratic Chart...

Click to enlarge.

I do believe that no further discussion is required...