In his book Kids as Consumers (1992), [James U.] McNeal provides marketers with a thorough analysis of "children's requesting styles and appeals." He classifies juvenile nagging tactics into seven major categories. A pleading nag is one accompanied by repetitions of words like "please" or "mom, mom, mom." A persistent nag involves constant requests for the coveted product and may include the phrase "I'm going to ask just one more time." Forceful nags are extremely pushy and may include subtle threats, like "Well, then, I'll go and ask Dad." Demonstrative nags are the most high-risk, often characterized by full-blown tantrums in public places, breath-holding, tears, [or] a refusal to leave the store. Sugar-coated nags promise affection in return for a purchase and may rely on seemingly heartfelt declarations like "You're the best dad in the world." Threatening nags are youthful forms of blackmail, vows of eternal hatred and of running away if something isn't bought. Pity nags claim the child will heartbroken, teased, or socially stunted if the parent refuses to buy a certain item. "All of these appeals and styles may be used in combination," McNeal's research has discovered, "but kids tend to stick to one or two of each that prove most effective...for their own parents."

In his inaugural Letter From California, "Manhunter," Tad Friend introduces us to Mackenzie Green, a five-foot tall, sixty-year-old bail-bond agent and bounty hunter, who works out of San Francisco. Searching for an alleged car thief named Juan Zabala, Green focusses her attention on Rodrigo Hernandez, explaining to Friend, "Rodrigo's the best friend, so he'll know where Juan is. We threaten to cuff him, search his room, violate his rights. Maybe he has dope, maybe he's illegal. Tell him, 'You can talk to us or I.N.S.' " Green loves her work. "When she fills out a bail application," Friend writes, "she often jots down the barest of information, no more than the defendant's name, address, and phone number—seeming not only to dare her clients to run but also to give them a sporting head start." Green says, "Writing bonds is really boring. But chasing skips is an incredibly exciting head game," adding, "They—the courts, the cops, the phone company—have all these rules, and if you're an adrenaline junkie like me you have to beat them to get your high." Once, Friend reports, "when a man named Tomas tried her patience by insisting he had no idea where his fugitive brother Rojilio was, Green had her guys drive Tomas to Oakland and hand him over to the cops as Rojilio. "They don't check fingerprints over there," she says. "So I punished him by keeping him in jail for a few days." Toughness isn't everything, though. "People trust you more if you're a woman," Green tells Friend. "Would you open the door if I knocked? Sure you would. But women are much tougher than guys. A woman who's been on the street is mean in a way a man could never be."

An exact chronology of Bosch's surviving work is difficult because, of the approximately 35 to 40 paintings attributed to him, only 7 are signed and none are dated....

      Giants Tickets                    $40
      Lunch at the game                 $20
      Parking here                      FREE
      Finding your car at city towing   PRICELESS

Marc writes:

Pretty cool ... How is the healing brush's general function described?

I replied:

It's sort of a painting tool that draws info from a corresponding point at a fixed displacement (x,y) from wherever you're painting. So if I had chosen the displacement incorrectly, say straight above, I would have painted your head over the picture. You can see the displacement point as you use the paintbrush so it is easy to stop before you make a mistake.

John
Denver

Tori
Spelling

"I have always thought that some day, a person would be bound to suddenly appear, one called to articulate in ideal form the spirit of his time, one whose mastery would not reveal itself to us step by step, but who, like Athene, would spring fully armed from the head of Zeus. And he is come, a young man over whose cradle graces and heroes have stood watch. His name is ______________, and he bears even outwardly those signs that proclaim: here is one of the elect."

[[who wrote it, and about whom?].

Low Condition (Green)
Guarded Condition (Blue)
Elevated Condition (Yellow)
High Condition (Orange)
Severe Condition (Red)

As the [FBI] searchers continued their inventory [of Kaczynski's cabin], they found tableware, a pillow and blanket, three mittens, two scarves, a container of salt, a metal frying pan, a radio, waterproof matches, four measuring spoons, a red hat, a straw hat, a flashlight, and a bottle of Trazadone antidepressant. And they found notations in Kaczynski's handwriting, in which he outlined a carefully structured security classification system:

Class 1. Hide carefully far from home.
Class 2. Hide carefully far from home, but can be destroyed in a pinch.
Class 3. Hide carefully, far from home, but can be burned in a pinch.
Class 4. Burn away from home.
Class 5. Burn in stove, eventually.
Class 6. Burn with glass jars.
Class 7. Destroy.
Class 8. Treat to make safe.
Class 9. Burn in stove, then dispose of remains.
Class 10. Dump in trash far from home.
QQ Super Queer.
Q Very Queer.
R Moderately Queer.
S Slightly Queer.
B Burnable.
NB Not burnable.