Chris Range of Celtic Grove emails:

After having the worst headache in my life all day Saturday - you know the one the medical home reference books tell you may be a tumor and to seek help immediately - after having one of those until 3AM - I fell asleep and woke up at 10AM - rushed off to church, groggy, un-coffied, and generally a lot grumpier than Jesus would have wanted me whilst I was engaged in the meal of transubstantiation. But I digress..

The real joy of the day came when we went to the [Knoxville] zoo. The billboards for the new Meerkat exhibits read something like:

"MEERKAT MADNESS - Come see the new Meerkat exhibit - It's EXTREMELY NOT BORING"

Well you know that can only mean one thing - Meerkats are the most boring animal on the face of the earth.

Yep, just like Joel Sposky says about marketing - you take your product's worst characteristic and swear that the opposite is true.

CITY BUS SERVICE: Cavort with New York's elite as you inhale the heady aroma of success from your busmates, who are homeful and certifiably sane.

DOLLYWOOD: We're a bucolic center for environmental education and the fine arts.

AUTOMOBILES: Paying a note on a $40,000 car will make you happy and serene, and won't be seen as a sign of mid-life crisis or flagrant status-seeking.

SODA: Drinking Sprite will give you the slim build and energy you need to dunk like a professional basketball player. Need a slimmer build? Drink more Sprite!

POLITICS: George Bush is the compassionate candidate who would never compromise Grandma's social security check with insane deficits.

PS When I go on my honeymoon in August, I think I'll invite Chris to guest blog. Celtic Grove is not enough of an outlet for his creativity. Also, everyone needs to encourage Chris to post his artwork online.

PPS Speaking of Sposky, if some Induhvidual ever starts talking about setting down a set of Core Values for your company, show them this Joel on Software article. Then show them the Mission and Values Statement from this fine, upstanding company with high ethical standards.

PPPS. I didn't invent the multi-level postscript gag, Dave Winer did.

Forest Hills Church update. The Underground Church page has been taken down, but SouthKnoxBubba found a Google cache of same.

Secret City Sister blogs on the Oak Ridge Mall:

We in Oak Ridge have a Dead Mall. The only two flourishing businesses down in that shopping center very wisely decided not to be physically attached to the mall proper. Thus, the rot that killed the mall has not spread to their healthy limbs. The movie theater---well, that was so it could get parking on more sides of it, I think. But the Super Wal-Mart---that was more of Sam's savvy, I suspect.

Jay and I were in Oak Ridge one day and stopped in the mall. It was like ground zero of a neutron bomb explosion. The building is still there, but all the people are gone. I'd estimate that a half to two thirds of the retail space is empty. Skippy called it the Dirt Mall.

The Volokh Conspiracy points to a difference between Arabs and Israelis. Another difference that's often cited: the Israelis have the capability to kill all of the Palestinians if they wanted, but they don't. The Palestinians would kill all of the Israelis if they had the capability, but they don't. That's why giving the Palestinians their own state where they could develop that capability is mad.

SayUncle points to more journalist ignorance of firearms. The NRA needs to organize events to teach journalists about guns. Rifles for Reporters, maybe, or Handguns for Hacks. Bullets for Bloggers?

A Nashville rally to encourage Al Gore to run in 2004 drew "just over 100 people."

Bill Hobbs predicts that the state of Tennessee will meet its revenue goals.

Clayton Cramer has posted part 9 of his series on accumulating wealth, and has started an archive of the series.

James Lileks on JFK assassin nut James Fetzer's nutty views on Israel.

I haven't had a reason to mention it on the blog before, but I've studied the JFK assassination a fair bit. After reading a number of pro-conspiracy books I read Gerald Posner's anti-conspiracy book, "Case Closed," and followup material. I came to the conclusion that Oswald, acting alone, shot Kennedy from the Texas Schoolbook Depository, pretty much like the Warren Commission described it.

Modern JFK researches have one major nit to pick with the commission's findings: the first shot occured much earlier than the commission described, and is closer to Zapruder frame 155 or 160 than 190. Evidence for an earlier shot includes President Kennedy and Governor Connally turning towards the depository, "jiggle" in Zapruder's film, and 10-year old Rosemary Willis - who had been running - who dramatically slows and comes to a complete stop by Zapruder frame 190. Instead of shooting three rounds in 5.6 seconds, Oswald actually shot three rounds in 8 seconds, which is much easier. With those extra seconds, it's all the more plausible that Oswald could get off all three shots without a conspirator.

For lots of good anti-conspiracy material, see John McAdams' site. You can also search McAdams' site for excellent debunking of Fetzer. I ran across Fetzer's JFK conspiracy books before, and found them implausible on their face. Fetzer also thinks the moon landings were faked. He's one of those guys.