1/19    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100118/ap_on_re_us/us_us_haiti_gates
        "(US ambassador to haiti) Merten ... described downtown Port-au-
        Prince, the capital city, as resembling "Tokyo at the end of the
        Second World War."
        What kind of stupid remark is that!?  He could have said London or
        Paris or any other city on the Allies side.  "Hey Haitians, your place
        looks like that other city that we once bombed the hell out of."
        \_ are you an idiot?  London and Paris didn't have the crap bombed out
           of them at the end of the second world war.  -tom
           \_ "The Blitz and other bombing by the German Luftwaffe during
              World War II killed over 30,000 Londoners and destroyed large
              tracts of housing and other buildings across London"
              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London#Late_modern_and_contemporary
              \_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo
                 "...the most destructive bombing raid in history."
                 Paris was not damaged at all during WWII.
              \_ OK, thanks for answering my question.  ("yes.")  -tom

1/18    My car needs smog test but I think it may fail. I heard from someone
        that if I fail, I can get a state rebate for repair or something
        like that. Where can I find more info on this?
        \_ smogcheck.ca.gov
        \_ http://www.smogtips.com/test_only_eligible.cfm
           I don't know anything about CAP but from what I heard you can
           get up to $500+$100 repair on emission problems if you fail
           your test. Please let us know what happens!
        \_ There is (was?) also the other option of retiring your car and get
           some cash back after it fails the test.  I don't remember the URL
           though.
           \_ this is also correct. see smogcheck.ca.gov, same program
                there is also a baaqmd program for vehicle buyback

1/19    I know I should be mourning the death and contributing to the relief
        effort and such, but this is nonetheless an eye-catching picture:
        http://www.csua.org/u/pxy
        Hot!
        \_ That's my old unit!
        \_ fat in 2 years
        \_ And the GI is staring right down at *them*.