Apparently the scumbags who trashed and burglarized a woman’s house in Florida felt bad when they discovered that among all of the swag they’d carried off was a vial containing some of the ashes of her son.

Apparently these were scumbags with a conscience, because they returned the vial so she wouldn’t lose her son twice.

It probably didn’t take long for them to realize what they had. Ashes don’t look like coke or smack, but I hope they didn’t taste them to see if they were drugs of some sort.

Anyway, it’s good they returned the cremains. Now they need to work on that whole home invasion habit.

I don’t need this one, because my neighbors don’t want to ban guns, and I’m pretty sure that if the zombie horde comes over the ridge, at least one of them will be at the firing line before I am.

But if more people had this, then maybe people would get the idea that not everyone think that inanimate pieces of metal are evil and must be kept away from everyone.

H/T to John Dvorak’s blog for the belly laugh.

Did you ever notice how a toddler who wants to get out of his high chair can make a sound that would put any car alarm to shame.

I just did.

Some jackass is suing and frightening an 80 year old Holocaust survivor.

Mrs. Zisblatt lived through the death camps, and decided to write a book about her experiences in her twilight years. You know, so the rest of us might remember what happened and try to not let it happen again or something.

A jerk by the name of Erik Hunt has decided that an old woman telling her story of survival is libel against him and is suing her in federal court. I guess in his many years of study on the subject on the matter that he’s crammed into his 25 years of life, he’s come to the conclusion that the whole thing was a hoax and a lie.

This is the same crazy who beat up Elie Wiesel, another Holocaust survivor and a Nobel laureate. Apparently he’s been let out for good behavior.

I’ve been to Dachau. I’ve seen the ovens, the barracks, the piles of human ashes. I’ve seen the documents from Auschwitz that detailed the humans who were killed like cattle. I’ve met survivors, and I’ve spoken to soldiers who liberated camps. The Holocaust happened.

If you don’t believe in the Holocaust, then I guess you’re entitled to your opinion. But don’t expect the rest of the world to think you’re worth the protein that has been wasted on your existence. Leave the old ladies alone.

Apparently, the air quality in Detroit is pretty bad due to a tire fire.

Having visited Detroit a couple of times, I have to ask how they noticed? It’s one of those places where you can get your daily dose of minerals by taking a brisk walk around the block.

Well, I was 6 and 10 this weekend. Ouch.

I didn’t think Tennessee would win, but I at least thought they would score.

I’m 48 and 48 for the year. That wonderful tipping place called .500.

Tune in next week where you’ll see me making one bad pick after another. Same bat time, same bat channel.

OK, here we go. I’m still over .500 overall, and I’m hoping to open the gap up a little. I’m due to have a horrendous week sometime this season.

Houston and Cincinnati – Cinci
Detroit and Green Bay – Packers
Saint Louis and Jacksonville – Jacksonville
Baltimore and Minnesota – Vikings
New York Giants and New Orleans – Giants
Cleveland and Pittsburgh – Steelers, and I’m proud to say I finally learned to spell Pittsburgh
Carolina and Tampa Bay – Bucs
Kansas City and Washington – Redskins. They have to win sometime.
Philadelphia and Oakland – Raiders!
Arizona and Seattle – Arizona
Tennessee and New England – Tennessee, but it’ll be a miracle.
Buffalo and New York Jets – Jets
Chicago and Atlanta – Da Bears
Denver and San Diego – San Diego

In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck San Fransisco. Damage was heavy, and there were a few casualties.

At the time, I was in the final days of basic training. That means no contact with the outside world that my leadership didn’t provide. No newspapers, no CNN.

So we were unaware of what had happened.

At morning formation the day after the earthquake the senior drill sergeant stepped out and shouted:

“Are any of you brain dead individuals from the San Fransisco Bay Area”

I and about 10 others raised our hands. I’m not from the Bay Area, but my family moved there a couple of years previously and I’d finished out high school.

“There was a massive earthquake last night. San Fransisco is in flames. Your families are all dead!”

Of course, that caused quite a stir. We were reminded not to talk in formation when 3 or 4 guys got dropped for pushups after they said some variation on “Oh,crap”.

“All of you guys from San Fransisco have 15 minutes to call home. Move!”

Of course, all the phone lines into the Bay Area were down or busy, so none of us had any luck. This did nothing to ease our worries.

Luckily, the chaplain took pity on us when he found out what had happened, and he contacted the Red Cross to contact our families and make sure they were OK.

Noone lost anyone, so it ended up being no harm no foul.

However, if I ever have to break bad news to someone, I’ll use that as an example of what not to do.

I recently watched the new BattleStar Galactica series. A friend of mine had the first 3 seasons on DVD and allowed me to watch them, and I watched the rest through Netflix.

Overall, I’d give the series an A. It was engrossing, interesting, and fun to watch. Yes, it got a bit melodramatic at times, but it didn’t make up for that with a lot of gratuitous explosions and such.

I was told when I started watching to be prepared to be disappointed in the end of the series.

I was actually happy with the way the series ended. Do I think it’s plausible that 10’s of thousands of people would give up all of their worldly possessions to live as subsistence farmers and gatherers after 4+ years locked in a tin can? I’d certainly go for it if the alternative was to live as a fugitive until I either starved to death or the ship quit working. That ending was better than a Gotterdammerung of a fight to the death with the Cylons.

Anyway, I enjoyed the series from start to finish. I’ve put “Caprica”, the pilot for the prequel series in my Netflix queue, and “The Plan”, which comes out later this month, is supposed to explain the series from the standpoint of the Cylons. I’ll see if these other two are worth the watching.

Well, not too bad. Not very good, but not too bad.

I was 7 and 9 this week, which brings me to 42 and 38 for the season so far.

I would have been 8 and 8, but the Dolphins made a go of it in the 4th quarter and pulled it out at the last 20 seconds. I hate to be wrong on a game, but that was a great game to watch.