Amusing, Amazing and Sad Story about a 6-Year-Old

Va. 6-Year-Old Takes Family Car After Missing Bus

Thanks to Jill for the link.

Desperation

Car dealers ARE getting desperate. Today the mail brought a first class envelope from a local Jeep-Chrysler dealer addressed to the guy who used to live my house.

I bought the house 10 years ago!

That’s REALLY working the Rolodex.

Does BCS violate anti-trust laws?

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah’s attorney general is investigating the Bowl Championship Series for a possible violation of federal antitrust laws after an undefeated Utes team was left out of the national title game for the second time in five years.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff contends the BCS unfairly puts schools like Utah, which is a member of a conference without an automatic bid to the lucrative bowl games, at a competitive and financial disadvantage.

Shurtleff said Tuesday that his office is still in the initial stages of reviewing the Sherman Antitrust Act to see if a lawsuit can be filed. To succeed in a lawsuit, Shurtleff would have to prove a conspiracy exists that creates a monopoly.

SI.com

Epiphany

Today is the Epiphany, one of the three major Christian celebrations along with Christmas and Easter. The Epiphany is celebrated by most Christians on January 6 to commemorate the presentation of the infant Jesus to the Magi or three wise men.

The celebration of the Epiphany began in the Eastern Church and included Christ’s birth. However, by the 4th century, the various calendar reforms had moved the birth of Christ to December 25, and the church in Rome began celebrating January 6 as Epiphany.

Epiphany is derived from the Greek epiphaneia and means manifestation or to appear. In a religious context, the term describes the appearance of a divine being in a visible or revelatory manifestation.

In Latin America, today is Día de los Santos Reyes, the day to exchange Christmas presents to coincide with the arrival of the three gift-bearing kings or wisemen.

Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi
The Adoration of the Magi, c. 1445
Samuel H. Kress Collection
National Gallery of Art

Today is the wedding anniversary

… of George and Martha Washington, married on this date in 1759.

… of George and Barbara Bush, married on this date in 1945.

George and Martha had no children (she had two surviving children from her previous marriage).

Alas, George and Barbara did have children.

New Mexico

… was admitted to the Union as the 47th state on this date in 1912.

Oh crap, I feel about 100 years old

Yes, that’s Patty Duke reprising the Lane cousins.

The Blu-Ray Problem

James Surowiecki takes a look at The Blu-Ray Problem. He begins:

With the Consumer Electronics Show starting this Wednesday in Vegas, we’re seeing another raft of predictions of the inevitable demise of Blu-Ray, Sony’s high-definition video disk technology. The most common prediction is that Blu-Ray is doomed because it will soon be eclipsed by streaming video and downloadable movies.

Surowiecki disagrees, “Blu-Ray’s real problem, it seems to me, is much simpler: it’s too expensive.”

He makes a good case.

Photo Contest

Check out Avelino’s coolest photographs from 2008 (And Maybe You’ll Win a Free Print)