12/27   Is Age of Empires 3 (AoE3) any good? It's only $25 at Costco.

12/26   1/6 women are victims of [attempted] rape, compared to 1/33 for men.
        Wow, never realized that it's that high:
        http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16361153
        \_ I don't think it is.  They cite the U.S. Department of Justice
           for their statistics, so here's some data from them:
               http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cvus/current/cv0502.pdf
           According to that, in 2005 there were about 115,000 rapes or
           attempted rapes (including verbal threats) of women in the U.S.
           age 12 and over.  Even assuming each one of those was a different
           victim, which seems unlikely, that's a maximum of 0.09% of women
           who can be victims each year.  That can't possibly add to one
           in six (17%) over a lifetime.
           Also, the article says "experts say men are far less likely to
           report a rape to authorities".  But according to the USDOJ the
           reporting rates are nearly equal, at least if you lump together
           rape and sexual assault:
               http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cvus/current/cv0593.pdf
           They estimate a 36% reporting rate for men and 38% for women.

12/27   Gerald Ford, Jr. dead (formerly Leslie King Jr.)
        http://www.ford.utexas.edu
        \_ How history would have fared had he been in power instead of
           Carter who sold out the Shah. Sure the Shah was corrupt.
           But Ford would not have been forced to sell them out as he
           was to the South Vietnamese. Now we get to deal with a nuclear
           Iran. I'm glad the 4th estate is so objective vs. how history
           ultimately judges. Hopefully it'll still be in English.
           \_ You speaky English? How fuck you got into Berkeley?
              And next time I catch you responding to your own post
              it'll be deleted automatically.
        \_ When people die, regardless of what they have and have not
           done in the past, do we EVER say anything bad about them?
           \- in re: nil nisi bonum, judge for yourself:
              http://home.lbl.gov:8080/~psb/Articles/Politics/NixonObit-HST.txt

12/26   The panic and confusion were as great as if it had been the City
        and  not the  camp that  was invested.   The consul  Nautius was
        summoned home,  but as  he did nothing  equal to  the emergency,
        they decided  to appoint a Dictator to  retrieve the threatening
        position  of  affairs.    By  universal  consent  L.   Quinctius
        Cincinnatus was called to the office ... The novelty and mystery
        of the thing drew the  attention of the plebs towards him whilst
        those who  knew nothing  of the plot  asked what  disturbance or
        sudden outbreak  of war  called for the  supreme authority  of a
        Dictator  or required  Quinctius, after  reaching  his eightieth
        year, to assume the  government of the republic.  Servilius, the
        Master of the Horse, was despatched by the Dictator ... with the
        message: "The Dictator summons you."
                 --History of Rome, Book III, IV
                   Titus Livy

12/27   http://horoscopes.aol.com/fengshui/feng-shui-fiascos-mistakes-fortune-home
        It's obvious a woman wrote this: "Leaving the toilet seat down is good
        feng-shui." What a bunch of crock.
        \_ It does keep things from falling in.
        \_ I'm not really sure how feng-shui applies to an item that didn't
           exist at the time the principles were laid out, and it's not really
           easy to extend from the obvious ones like don't sit with your back
           to any doors. -dans