Become a Gas Spotter!

Want to know the price of gas at stations in your neighborhood? Want to help out by checking gas prices and adding them to the data base? Well, here's an interesting and unusual site that will help you get that information. Then, when you get ready to go out to get some gas, you just have to enter your zip and a radius and up will come all the gas stations in your area with prices and when they were updated. They've got some 82,000 spotters now - of course, it's only as good as how frequent these spotters report back. Heard this guy talking about it on CNN this morning, so suspect they will quickly have more spotters (like me). Of course when I checked in the boonies where I live, none of the gas stations were even listed, so I added them. You can do the same. If you're in the big city, this is a nice way to find the cheapest gas quickly. If nothing else, interesting to see what gas prices are like across the country. So go check out GasPriceWatch.com.

Quote of the Day
"If you can give your son or daughter only one gift, let it be enthusiasm."
Bruce Barton

From the Odd World
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German hamster called "Teddy" has sparked a police rescue mission after he climbed inside a computer printer and got stuck because he was too fat to get out again. "Contrary to his normal habits, Teddy climbed inside a PC printer and was unable to get out because of his corpulence," police in the northern city of Flensburg said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that they initially thought it was an April Fool's joke.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man has been arrested for credit card theft after trying to buy 76 euros (51 pounds) worth of beer and cigarettes at a gas station with a stolen card that belonged to the cashier. "When I looked at the credit card I saw it was my name," the 33-year-old named Heiko told Berlin's B.Z. newspaper. He locked the man inside the shop and called the police. He said he had recently ordered a credit card but it never arrived in the post

SAT Scores - How important are they in the Grand Scheme of Things?

College
There isn't much I usually agree on with David Brooks, but this might be the exception. I can't find a whole lot to disagree with in this article. Worth a read and some reflection if you're one of those poised on the brink of "collegehood". Since the admissions process has gone totally insane, it's worth reminding yourself that this is not a particularly important moment in your life. You are being judged according to criteria that you would never use to judge another person and which will never again be applied to you once you leave higher ed.

Kerry starting to trail?
The latest CNN poll had Kerry falling behind Bush. The Bush "money" juggernaut is beginning to roll. Time to gear up for that $25 donation to the Democratic party! I still continue to find it amazing what the appeal is to those 50%+ of Americans who voted for Bush and would vote for him no matter if he annihilated every country on earth, let the planet sizzle from overheating, and even drove a big Caddie around with a mini oil derrick as a hood ornament. Do they think that represents "values"??? How can one continue to listen to the litany of lies and still keep the faith? Is it because he claims to be religious? How important does that need to be in the running of our country? It certainly hasn't prompted him to be compassionate (wasn't that anywhere in the Bible?). Nothing worse than a hypocrite. Or is it that he just promises not to raise taxes (while he gives every fat cat a huge tax break and runs our country into trillion dollar deficits)? Seems like this country did pretty well under Clinton - no deficits and a rip-roaring economy. But then the puritans were out in force back then making sure that the ONLY issue in America that mattered was what your sex life was like and frowning disaprovingly while doing God knows what in their own bedrooms (or someone else's). Check out Krugman's article today - This Isn't America

Last week an opinion piece in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz about the killing of Sheik Ahmed Yassin said, "This isn't America; the government did not invent intelligence material nor exaggerate the description of the threat to justify their attack."
So even in Israel, George Bush's America has become a byword for deception and abuse of power.

Getting more than you Bargain for in that Tuna Sandwich?

Yep, it's the ol' mercury problem surfacing again (not that it ever went away!). Getting worse all the time. One of the big culprits? - coal-fired power plants - yep those babies pump the stuff out and it plops down nicely upon the sky-blue waters, the little "Chicken of the Seas" of the world's oceans suck it down and grow up to be big fat tunies with lots of Hg just waiting for our tummies. Of course, our leaders in Washington are doing everything in their power to get this under control. From Arriana Huffington's column - Without getting shrouded in a toxic cloud of technical mumbo-jumbo, the bottom line is that current technology offers a way to reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent over the next four years — but the Bush administration has opted for a plan that would, at best, lower the noxious output by just 50 percent over the next 14 years, while setting no meaningful limits on the tons of mercury released by the chemical industry. All of which will save the power, coal and chemical industries billions.....Choke on that for a minute: Big Power gets a tasty multibillion-dollar treat, while everyone else is served up a Toxic Tuna Surprise

And make note of this. This is where the world of Washington lets off it's own noxious odors: It turns out that two of the key EPA regulators overseeing the development of the mercury guidelines, Jeff Holmstead and William Wehrum, used to represent utility industry clients before Bush tapped them for high-ranking posts in the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. They were both attorneys at Latham and Watkins — a high-powered D.C. law firm that’s been lobbying the administration to adopt the less stringent mercury standards, and which authored one of the memos cribbed in the EPA proposal.

To write to the EPA and your congressman, please take a moment to fill out the form from moveon.org. It only takes a second and the more voices that speak up the more powerful the message. I would prefer to eat my wild salmon, knowing that it's chances of absorbing mercury, are diminishing, rather than increasing.

Want to get more involved? Check out Move On's "50 Ways to Love your Country"

Something to think about

From Al Gore: (from an introduction to the section entitled "Every Vote Counts" of the book 50 Ways to Love Your Country .

Woody Allen has famously said that 90 percent of success is showing up. That’s true of democracy too. I’d argue that the other 10 is making sure you’re registered beforehand.
It’s easy to be cynical about politics and to believe that one vote barely matters. But consider these facts: John F. Kennedy’s 1960 victory over Richard Nixon—a victory that ultimately led to sweeping changes in civil rights laws, the first great wave of space exploration, and the creation of Medicare—was decided by just 100,000 votes nationwide. In 1994, the year Republicans won both houses of Congress, the redistribution of about 10,000 votes nationally would have kept Congress in Democratic hands. One of my former House colleagues, Connecticut Democrat Sam Gejdenson, won reelection by twenty-one votes that year. (“All you need is one,” he remarked; “the rest are for your ego.”)

The democratic political process isn’t perfect. Winston Churchill once said it’s the worst system for governance “except for every other system that has ever been tried.” Often, you may find no candidate who completely reflects your views. But as voter participation has declined—from nearly two-thirds of eligible voters in 1960 to less than half in many national elections today—strong and decidedly undemocratic forces have stepped in to fill the void.

In a democracy, the future isn’t something that just happens; it’s something we shape for ourselves, together. Special-interest lobbyists get the government they pay for only when we stay home from the polls—only when we abdicate the electoral power that is mightier than any soft-money check, more decisive than any million-dollar ad blitz or corporate misinformation campaign.

Word of the Day
perfidy Deliberate breach of faith; calculated violation of trust; treachery: The act or an instance of treachery. Usage: "Stories of Al Jazeera's perfidy now circulate among the troops with the tenacity of urban myths" ...... "And yet Gibson has seeded his film with images of Jewish guilt and perfidy that will fall on fertile anti-Semitic soil around the world"

Quote of the Day
"On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does."
Will Rogers (1879-1935)

Something to Think About...

Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Only in America.....do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries,
and a diet coke.

Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the
pens to the counters.

Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Only in America......do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.

Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.


EVER WONDER ....


Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?

Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes?
Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

NCAA Basketball!

Have you been tuning in? Some good games recently. Saw a great game last night between Wake Forest and St. Joseph's. Right to the wire. The one thing I notice about really good teams, that I certainly didn't notice about my school (Indiana) this year, is that players on good teams know how to move without the ball. No one just standing around - these guys are constant motion, looking for the quick advantage. I can't figure out how coaches of teams that just aren't cutting it, can't see this. It's all so obvious :)

Duke/Illinois and Texas/Xavier should both be great games tonight. Better tune in!

Quote of the Day
"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."
Mother Theresa

Word of the Day
pulchritude (PUL-kruh-tood)That quality of appearance which pleases the eye; beauty; comeliness; grace; loveliness. (Pulchritude comes from Latin pulchritudo, from pulcher, "beautiful." The adjective form is pulchritudinous) Usage: "Where Linda has her infectious charm, Polly has only her empty pulchritude"

(hardly a word that comes to mind when thinking of beauty and loveliness, is it? - you would almost guess it means something foul smelling - like putrid. LOL)

Oddball Story of the Day

Hot oven shoots woman

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - A woman heating fish fingers has been shot in the leg by a gun that had been stashed in her oven, police say. Roxanne Perez, 29, from Texas, was taken to hospital on Friday where she was in good condition, they said. An acquaintance stored the gun for safekeeping in the bottom drawer of Perez's oven about two weeks ago, then "completely forgot about it" according to a police report.

Perez, who said had no idea a gun was in the oven, said she heard several shots then felt a sharp pain in her left hip.

Change your font size

Here's a neat tip:
Quickly change the font on Web pages (Win XP)

You may already know that you can change the size of the font appearing on Web pages by opening Internet Explorer, and choosing View | Text Size, and then selecting either Smallest, Smaller,Medium, Larger, or Largest, depending on your preferences. But ifyou have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can accomplish the same task without having to access the View menu at all.

All you need to do is hold down the [Ctrl] key and then scroll the wheel down to enlarge the text on the Web page, or scroll the
wheel up to reduce the text size. I've noticed that this works on many web pages, but not necessarily all.

Want to see Cuban Performers? Tough!

Jackson Browne protests the US Policy in an article from the NY Times. Visas have been denied to other Cuban artists because their visits are "detrimental to the interests" of our country. In essence, the government says that if Carlos Varela plays concerts in the United States, the money he makes would go to Fidel Castro. This is untrue. In Cuba, renowned artists keep much of what they earn, because the government does not want them to leave the country and live somewhere else. Yet, the Bush administration used the same reasoning to keep Ibrahim Ferrer, of the Buena Vista Social Club, and Manuel Galbán from attending the Grammy award ceremony in Los Angeles last month. (Both men won awards.)
Jackson Browne, a singer-songwriter, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15

Close Call

Space Shuttle
It appears that those brave souls riding the Shuttle space missions were damn lucky over the years. Mr. Parsons said he could not explain why a critical part like the speed brake actuator had not been inspected for more than two decades, despite the major overhauls and examinations each shuttle underwent every three or four years.... Mr. Parsons said finding and fixing the speed brake problems had resulted from increased safety awareness after the Columbia disaster. The Columbia and its crew were lost on Feb. 1, 2003, in a re-entry accident, and the remaining shuttle fleet has been grounded ever since.

The brake issue was not found as a result of the Columbia investigation, but corrosion and other problems found on another part of the Discovery led NASA engineers to look at similar machinery, like the brake actuators, officials said.

And you want to vote for this crowd?
Did the Bush administration ignore terrorism warnings before 9/11? Justice Department documents obtained by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, show that it did. Not only did John Ashcroft completely drop terrorism as a priority — it wasn't even mentioned in his list of seven "strategic goals" — just one day before 9/11 he proposed a reduction in counterterrorism funds. .....Did the administration neglect counterterrorism even after 9/11? After 9/11 the F.B.I. requested $1.5 billion for counterterrorism operations, but the White House slashed this by two-thirds. (Meanwhile, the Bush campaign has been attacking John Kerry because he once voted for a small cut in intelligence funds.) . For more on this, read Krugman's article in the Times. Better yet, watch the 9/11 hearings on CNN - they're going to be veryinteresting. Richard Clarke appears tomorrow before the commission. Will Condi Rice appear? Looks like she is trying the big dodgeroooooo - gee, Condi, don't you want to get to the bottom of this mess? hmmm......

Freedom Tower - Irresponsible?
The total amount of energy released by the two 767's that struck the Twin Towers equaled that of a tactical nuclear weapon — almost a quarter of a kiloton. In 2006, two years before Freedom Tower is scheduled to open, a new generation of aircraft, led by the Airbus A380, will begin entering service in the world's airlines. The A380 will carry almost 82,000 gallons of fuel, more than three times as much as a 767. One hardly needs to do the math........ Dangling an iconic and indefensible target in front of terrorists is inconsistent with a strategy of reducing our vulnerabilities wherever possible. A thought provoking article - I couldn't agree more. How about a nice park? A few trees blown up sounds bettter than thousands of people.

Quote of the Day
"If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name in a Swiss bank."
Woody Allen

How fast can you Read?

This is fun and rather humbling. Go to this web page and find out how fast of a reader you are. Then come back here and post your speed in the comments section below this post. No lying!

Google goes Local

Google now has a neat new tool. Just got to http://local.google.com type in for example pizza+your zip code and check out the results! Click on the little compass that will show up. Try bookstores, restaurants, you name it. Very neat way to find something quickly. You'll get a map to find the place, phone numbers, directions from where you are, etc. Way cool. This would be quite handy if you were on the road traveling. If you're not all that familiar with all the tools Google has , you might want to check out this page. It might surprise you.

Clarke drops a bomb on the Bush Administration

A rough day for the Bush folks. Richard Clarke debuted his new book on 60 minutes (he was Bush's counter terroism expert - and Reagans, Papa Bush and Clinton's) and poked a damning finger at how Bush and his administration have handled the war on terror. Knowing this fixation the current administration has on Iraq, I have the sickening feeling, he is dead-on. At the same time Joseph Biden was saying on This Week, ""I am much more concerned about the safety of my granddaughter in school here in Washington because of al-Qaeda than I am with 10 Saddam Husseins. And we took our eye off the ball because of a preoccupation with Iraq,". Even Chuck Hagel (R) commented on the program that "he is concerned by Mr. Clarke's allegations that the Bush administration did not give adequate attention to al-Qaida. "Without bringing this to the highest levels of government and putting the appropriate focus on it, with the responsible players, then it is going to get lost. And according to Clarke's book, or at least what I read of it, that's much of what he charges here, that it did get lost, that it wasn't a priority, and that's a very serious charge," he said. "

I have a growing concern (as was espoused on This Week) that come June 30th when it is time for the Iraqi's to govern themselves, and we start some kind of exit move, that Al Qaeda is going to find that a fine time to attack. Bush needs to go to Nato and to the World Community now and doing some major fixing up or I shudder to think.... I think this country is at a crisis point in this war on terror and if we reelect this administration that still hasn't awoken to the real threat of terroism, we are in for some damn rough times. Your choice America - if you don't vote, don't blame me.... (For a refreshing look at what a Kerry Administration might bring in dealing with the countries of the world, read this article in the Wash. Post.

Hey Paul - think there might just be a better use for all that money?
Here's a guy blessed with gazillions of bucks and he's going Alien chasing. How bout spending that 13.5 million on schools or something? Chump change to you Paul, but might keep some teachers from having to buy their own crayons. Get a grip, buddy. Nothing wrong with space exploration, but we have a few more pressing problems at the moment, don't you think?

Basketball
On a brighter note, the state of Alabama must be going nuts. First Alabama upsets top seed Stanford, then little Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham rises up and smites the big boy Kentucky, another #1 seed. This is one of the really great sports that one can watch during the year - the NCAA basketball finals. They're not yet making the obnoxious bucks and the little guy can rise up and smack the big guy - great fun.

Word of the Day

red herring

A smoked herring having a reddish color.

Something that draws attention away from the central issue.

Usage: The White House is dismissing as a "red herring" charges from the administration's former counter-terrorism coordinator that President Bush has been more focused on Iraq than al Qaeda.
Idomatic Note: Something that draws attention away from the central issue, as in Talking about the new plant is a red herring to keep us from learning about downsizing plans. The herring in this expression is red and strong-smelling from being preserved by smoking. The idiom alludes to dragging a smoked herring across a trail to cover up the scent and throw off tracking dogs. [Late 1800s]

Quote of the Day
"America has always been an argument about wilderness, what it means and how it is measured and defined. The old idea is that wilderness defines a place out there, an amplitude of emptiness that can easily accommodate the human imperative. After all, it was once commonly predicted that it would take centuries to populate this vast land. But in our world wilderness is sharply demarcated, surrounded and, in logistical terms, not really wilderness at all, like Yellowstone. What preserves it isn't its amplitude but our restraint." ... a quotation from "Stumbling Upon Wolf Tracks in the Northern Reaches of Yellowstone" by Verilyn Klinkenborg (New York Times 10/5/03)

Geez, Time for new Vacation Plans

Here I was going to go somewhere probably lame this summer, and then I stumble across this article The city of Berlin is moving quickly to decriminalise possession of small amounts of cannabis in what is called "bowing to reality", even as federal law in Germany still outlaws production or sale of the drug. The legislation to permit possession of up to 15 grams of pot or hashish "for personal use" is backed by the overwhelming majority of lawmakers in the city council chambers

- shades of the 70's. Seems like the ideal time to brush up on my German! I think the Berliners, who are pretty liberal when it comes to drinking,smoking,etc (like most Germans) are making sense with this idea. Better than running around through peoples' gardens wasting taxpayer money, in the hopes to gather up some kid growing a weed or two in the backyard. Actually, during my college years, I lived with a German family for 3 months, who had a garden and unbenownst to them, their son was growing the "evil weed" in the garden and then drying it in their attic. He used to tell them he was experimenting with a new tea leaf. Ho,ho,ho! Had some good times in that house! LOL

What is a more troubling problem for Germans is the very high percentage of kids smoking, something I noticed even back in the late 60's and early 70's. Wonder what their rate of lung cancer is over there?

And perhaps even more thought provoking - Beer is sold at fast-food outlets such as McDonald's and Burger King. Beer and wine are sold at cinema snack bars. Many autobahn service stations make more money selling beer than they do selling fuel. Boy, now that's comforting to know that somebody is tooling down the Autobahn at 150mph after quaffing down a few liters at the last rest area. Of course, it's not a whole lot different here in the States, except that in Germany, Beer is truly KING! (In fact a nice big Liter from the ol' Herbst Brauerei in the Marktstrasse in Krefeld would suit me just dandy, about now! :) Wonder if it's still there?

Computer Tip

Running XP but don't like the way it stacks up different windows in the task bar? A friend of mine who uses Win98 says that is one of her peeves about XP. Well, you can fix that if you don't like it that way. Right click on an empty area in your task bar and make sure "lock the taskbar" is unchecked. Then click on "Properties" and make sure "Group Similar Taskbar buttons" is unchecked. That's all there is to it. XP comes with the default set to "group them", but by using the above method, you can fix that. Of course, if you open tons of windows, you may see the reason for XP's default setting, particularly if you are still in the stone ages and are not using a browser with a "tabbed windows" interface such as MyIE2 or Mozilla. 

Palms/Hiking/Computers/Books

Palm
Just added a new link to in the blogroll on the right side - Palm Addicts. If you own a Palm, this is a cool site. You will definitely be in the KNOW!

Hiking the PCT
Just got a note from "Nocona" re: her new attempt to complete the PCT (as well as news of her recent wedding! - Note the picture to the left - this was on top of their cake - the summit of Katahdin on the Appalachian Trail and the completion of a Thru-Hike for both her and her husband "Bald Eagle" - hikers take their hiking seriously, as you can tell! :) . She started the Pacific Crest Trail once with her new husband (boyfriend back then) , but developed high altitude pulmonary edema and had to get off. Janet and I know Bald Eagle from our hike of the AT in '95 - we hiked with him off and on and I remember my Dad (who in his 80's came out to hike with us for a few days in the Shenandoahs), being quite impressed that Bald Eagle was a Texas Aggie (as was my Dad - Civil Engineer - class of '34). I am, of course, digressing as I usually do, but had to point out the pertinant facts! :) Anyway, check out Nocona's journal. She's a great journal writer and you can follow along with her as she hikes the PCT. I feel like I somewhat know the PCT from having transcribed "Simply Seekings" journal for her when she hiked the PCT, so it will be interesting to compare their experiences. (for those of you unfamiliar with the hiking world, a transcriber is someone who types up a hiker's notes from the trail. The hiker periodically mails them to the transcriber, who types them and then posts them on the Net).

Computer Tip
Want to compress your images (jpeg) before transmitting them over the Net so that they won't take up so much bandwidth? There used to be free programs for this, but now many places charge. I recently found an online one that you can bookmark. Simply upload your picture and in a few seconds, you'll have a much compressed picture file (actually they will give it you in a number of different compressions) and then you can save the one you like back to your hard drive and use it to send in your email or post to a web page if you have one. Quite slick and does a good job. Nice to see that you can still find a free one out there.

Booklovers
Remember the Bookcrossing web site I talked about the other day? Well here's another good reason to join - a completely free book! Even the shipping! Take a look at this free book offer . You can thank me, once you get the book. :)

Related Links:

The karma of virtual libraries

Read and Release

Find This Book

A Global Book Club's Traveling Titles

A Novel Approach to a Circulating Library

Die ganze Welt als Leihbücherei For my German Readership!

Quote of the Day
"I think high self-esteem is overrated. A little low self-esteem is actually quite good…Maybe you're not the best, so you should work a little harder."
Jay Leno 

Audible Billboards

As most of you know, I'm a big fan of audible.com and audio books (as you can see from the ad at the top of the page and the links in the right sidebar). It's a company that has taken off once Ipod included it on it's nifty little music player (you can get $100 off an Ipod by hitting the link that advertises that in the right column - with a 12 month membership to Audible). People on an Audible business forum I regularly read are always try to find a way to promote the company. Here's a neat idea that Audible uses out in San Francisco that I would think could be used in any major city. Sure could have been used on I-285 in Atlanta where I sat many an hour trying to get home at night for about 8 years. Check it out!

Sports
Lots to keep your attention this week. NCAA Basketball Tournament starting Thursday - the ol' tube will get a workout. Should be a good tournament - don't think any of the top teams are unbeatable. On the golf front - Tiger goes for 5 straight wins at Bay Hill (Arnie's tournament). Something no golfer has done in history. Bet he'll be pumped for this one. If he has a good first round, look out.

Iraq
Would $5000 be enough if your wife and 3 kids were killed by bombs from an invader? Seems like a pittance to me and more so, an insult. You couldn't pay me to have this Capt. Tracy's job. What does one country owe another for the lives of civilians in a war? Read the story . Your thoughts on what should be done? Post in comment section below. (Did German civilians get any money after WWII? How about VietNam? Korea? - anybody know the answer to that? ) And finally - the Iraqis should appreciate this quote - ""And there is, I am certain, among the Iraqi people a respect for the care and the precision that went into the bombing campaign." - - Donald Rumsfeld, defenselink.mil, 04-09-03



Quote of the Day
"We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown and when strawberries bloom in Israel."
-- Golda Meir (someone should remind Sharon of this quote?)

Word of the Day
perfidy \PUR-fuh-dee\, noun:
The act of violating faith or allegiance; violation of a promise or vow; faithlessness; treachery. Usage: "To ordinary Algerians, the news that chemical tests did not end until 1978 was renewed proof of the hypocrisy and perfidy of the military who have misruled them since independence in 1962. "
--"Bombshell that rocked generals in Algeria," Irish Times, October 25, 1997 (Perfidy comes from Latin perfidia, from perfidus, "faithless, treacherous, false," from per-, "through" (perhaps connoting deviation or infringement, or perhaps explicable by qui per fidem decipit, "who through faith or trust deceives") + fides, "faith.") 

What's new with XP Service Pack 2?

Here's a lengthy and well written article on the changes that will be forthcoming this summer for XP. In my review for Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1), I noted that that release wasn't your average service pack. That description is even more apt for SP2, which is in effect a major update to Windows XP, one that will likely replace existing XP versions on store shelves when it ships in mid-2004. XP SP2 is laden with much-needed security features, and a must-have upgrade for all XP users. I recommend that all Windows XP users upgrade to this service pack as soon as possible.

--Paul Thurrott

Sure hope this is an easier install than SP1 (one I never have tried to do). For that service pack, you had to go through a lot of steps initially to make sure you had a clean upgrade. Maybe they'll improve on that with SP2? For those of us with modems, it's probably worth ordering the disk. I'm sure this thing will be huge.

Computer Tip
Ever get frustrated when trying to print a web page in IE and the right side of the page gets cut off? (happens to me all the time). Well, you can go in and fiddle around with margins and all that, but an easier way is to just copy the URL and then open up Mozilla (that's an alternative browser to IE and can be downloaded at www.mozilla.com and paste the URL (that's the web site address) into Mozilla. That will open up the page and then you can print it and no more chopped off right margins! Why IE hasn't fixed this, is beyond me. I'd like to say MyIE2 (a browser that uses IE as it's core engine and my favorite browser) gets around this problem, but alas, it doesn't. So if you want to print web pages without disappearing right margins, download and install a copy of the Mozilla browser.

Word of the Day

pejorative
adj. Tending to make or become worse. Disparaging; belittling.
n. A disparaging or belittling word or expression.

Usage: "The GOP spent millions of dollars and many years making the word "liberal" a wicked pejorative" and "The neighborhood is filled with dilapidated duplexes -- earning it the pejorative moniker "Duplex City" 

Seabiscuit and Iraqi Children

Just when you think all you ever read is bad news (thanks to news services who think all we want are Gladiators and Lions ripping at each other), along comes a very nice story from the author of Seabiscuit (Laura Hillenbrand) and actor Gary Sinese. Check it out and make a donation if you so desire. And if you haven't read Seabiscuit, do yourself the favor and do so (the book is much, much better than the movie).

Quote of the Day
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
Scott Adams  

Back Again!

Well, after a week's stint cleaning out my parent's house in preparation for a sale, I have returned to the mountain. If that isn't thrilling, I don't know what is! My only comment on cleaning - give some thought to your future heirs on what really has meaning or might have meaning in the future for others and toss the rest of the stuff. Does it make sense to save notecards for 50 years? I don't think so, unless there are good letters included inside of them. I've learned a lot from this little experience and it has renewed my resolve to dump all the useless stuff I have - Ebay, here I come! :)

News Aggegrators
I keep coming back to this topic, because I think for many readers they are still unaware of the merits of this type of news browsing for the Net. Here's a nice tutorial that explains it in simple fashion and allows you to register and have your own free web-based aggregator (seems like they could have come up with a more user-friendly word, other than "aggregator". That word would spook anyone). It also mentions pc-based aggregators so that you can take your news with you and read it offline like on a laptop or tablet pc. I use FeedDemon on my Desktop which I really like, but there are others as well. One other nice feature of news aggregators is that once you have your list of feeds, you can export them via an OPML file (who cares what it means?) to another user and then they have a nice set of ready made feeds. (OPML - Outline Processor Markup Language (XML-based format for exchange of outline-structured information - now aren't you sorry you asked?)

Change for a Million?
Did you hear about the woman in Covington, Georgia, who went into Walmart and purchased some $1600 worth of merchandise and then presented a forged million dollar bill to pay for it? Think someone should have told this poor soul that there is not such thing as a million dollar bill. Geez, I wonder if she contemplated how they were going to give her change for this large of a bill, anyway? Takes all kinds - but hey, if you want to make the news, not a bad way to do it. Will be interesting to see what her sentence is.

Family Genealogy
Have members of your family flung out across the country or globe? Trying to find a way for everyone to stay in touch? You might want to check out www.myfamily.com . I've been using this for about 3 years now and is an excellent site for sharing photos, news, family trees, files and much more. Of course, it may take some cajoling to get your family members to become active, especially if they are not Internet junkies, but if you can get them to become active, there's a lot of good that can come from it.

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Word of the Day
Lagniappe n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi.
A small gift presented by a storeowner to a customer with the customer's purchase.
An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called boot. Broadly, something given or obtained gratuitously It could be an additional doughnut (as in baker's dozen), a free one for the road drink, an unanticipated tip for someone who provides a special service or possible a complimentary dessert for a regular customer. REGIONAL NOTE Lagniappe derives from New World Spanish la ñapa, “the gift,” and ultimately from Quechua yapay, “to give more.” The word came into the rich Creole dialect mixture of New Orleans and there acquired a French spelling. It is still used in the Gulf states, especially southern Louisiana, to denote a little bonus that a friendly shopkeeper might add to a purchase. By extension, it may mean “an extra or unexpected gift or benefit.” Pronounced like "len-yep". Usage example - "Two lagniappe seminars also are offered this spring, free to anyone enrolled in at least one of the other classes"

Laptopping it

Giving the ol' laptop a whirl for awhile. Heading back to my Dad's house to clean it out and put it up for sale - about a 10 hour drive, so at the moment am letting the wife drive while I tap away to keep myself amused (I hate riding). Now if I just had a Bluetooth phone and a bluetooh enabled laptop (actually I think I can buy some kind of bluetooth dongle for my laptop for cheap), i could even be cruising the Net! Oh well.... Decided to fire up bloggar which is a very handy offline tool that allows one to compose blog material offline and then easily post it to one's blog - free program and it can be found at Bloggar. Fortunately I have one album on this laptop - Oystein Sevag's Global House. Just unplug my earbuds from my little Otis audiobook player and plug them into the laptop and high quality tunes! Nice background music - New Age music is good for that.

Stopped for a moment at at Flying J truck stop to grab some grub off the buffett. Didn't have time to try out the $1.95/hr. wi-fi access, although I did fire up the laptop before leaving the parking lot and it grabbed the signal and sent me to a browser screen where I could pay up to get online, but didn't have the time, so...... Don't think Janet wanted to sit in the parking lot waiting on me while I endulged in such important work.

Saw a very cool wide screen (oxymoron?) 10.25" Sony laptop today at CompUSA.. Had built in web cam, gorgeous, highly reflective screen - 40 gig HD, 512mb RAM, wifi 802.11G built in - not sure of the weight but had to be under 3 lbs - slick. Just past $2000 mark. Then stumbled over to gasp and pee my pants over a 23" Apple active matrix LCD screen - good god was that gorgeous! A mere $1999. After seeing that , it made you want to buy a Mac on the spot! Off to the Handhelds - played with a Palm Tungsten T3 for awhile - liked it - slides open to reveal large screen - beautiful screen, seemed very fast. Wanted to check out the new Toshiba 850 with the 640x480 screen, but unfortunately someone had screwed with it and the screen wasn't functioning correctly. Built-in wifi though and also took CF I/II cards which means I could use my microdrive cards in it. Sure wish that screen had been working!

Meanwhile the little '92 Accord is humming along I-65 at a nice 75mph and still getting 30+mpg. Has been a very reliable car since buying it some 60K milies ago. And that's the news of the day - bet you can certainly rest peacefully now. :)

Booklovers

If you consider yourself a lover of good books, then check out the link on the right side of this page that sends you to BookCrossing.com. Spend some time exploring the site and join up, if you like. I think this is such a cool idea and a great way to open up reading to lots of people. I'll not say more, as it would not do justice to all the good words at BookCrossing.  

Anty Up Time

Time to anty up a few bucks to help the Kerry folks defeat GW in the Fall. He'll need all the money he can get and then some. You can contribute here . Just $25 will help but if you're one of the fat cats, a few more bucks might help even more. :)

Word of the Day
scuttlebutt Half of a barrel, filled with soapy water and kept next to the main mast, where crew members went to clean up. Since each crew was often restricted to a particular location on the ship, this was the only location where members of different gangs could exchange information 

Time To Hit the Appalachian Trail Again!

Thruhikers have started up along the Appalachian Trail again. Some 40 had left Springer Mountain, north of Atlanta as of Feb. 20th. 1750 northbound thruhikers started the trail last year, down somewhat from the peak back in 2000 when some 2875 started. Of those 1750 who started last year, 352 made it the whole way. 291 went southbound with 45 finishing the whole trail. The trail covers 2174 miles and crosses 14 states. Janet and I hiked some 1800+ miles of it back in '95 and if we ever get healthy again, we might just finish it! For a bit of history:

First reported thru-hiker
In 1948, Earl V. Shaffer became the first to report a thru-hike, walking the entire Trail from Georgia to Maine. He hiked again—this time from Maine to Georgia—in 1965. On his third thru-hike, 50 years after his first, he became the oldest thru-hiker at age 79.

Youngest thru-hiker
A 6-year-old boy became the youngest person to hike the A.T. when he completed a flip-flop thru-hike with his parents in 1980. Twenty-two years later, in 2002, another 6-year-old boy completed a flip-flop thru-hike with his parents and 8-year-old sister

Youngest female thru-hiker
The youngest female to thru-hike the A.T. was 8 when she completed hiking the Trail in 2002 as part of a family group.

Oldest Female Thru-Hiker
Emma Gatewood, better known as "Grandma Gatewood," mother of 11 children and grandmother of 23, was 67 when she first hiked the Trail in 1955. She completed her second thru-hike in 1957 and became the first person to complete the Trail three times when she finished a section hike in 1964. Yep, she carried that sack and wore Keds!

Multiple hikes
Approximately 100 people have reported hiking the A.T. two or more times; about 25 have reported hiking the A.T. three or more times.

For some good links to trail stories, forums, pictures and ongoing events, try some of these.

Appalachian Trail Conference

Daily Trail Journals of this and past year's Hikers

Wingfoot's Trailplace (WF has hiked the entire trail 7x)

Our Trail Journal from '95

Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association

The Thru-Hiking Papers

Frank Logue's AT Page

Appalachian Tales An Appalachian Trail Education Project 

For the Lover of Words

Dictionaries
Check out this interesting compendium of dictionaries - you'll surely find something good in here!

Pompeii
Just finished my latest audio book Pompeii . Wonderfully narrated with appropriate Roman voices. Full of suspense, even though you know what will eventually happen - actually that increases the drama. Meticulously researched , you'll learn a lot about aqueducts and volcanos, all while having a great time. From an Amazon blurb about the book

All along the Mediterranean coast, the Roman empire’s richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas, enjoying the last days of summer. The world’s largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum, and Pompeii.

But the carefree lifestyle and gorgeous weather belie an impending cataclysm, and only one man is worried. The young engineer Marcus Attilius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay of Naples. His predecessor has disappeared. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta’s sixty-mile main line—somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

Attilius—decent, practical, and incorruptible—promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. His plan is to travel to Pompeii and put together an expedition, then head out to the place where he believes the fault lies. But Pompeii proves to be a corrupt and violent town, and Attilius soon discovers that there are powerful forces at work—both natural and man-made—threatening to destroy him.

If you want to get started on Audio books, just click the link at the top of the page and you can get a free audio player (will also play .wma or mp3 music files) with a year's subscription to Audible. 2 books a month for $20 - cheap when you consider what you would pay for audio books in a bookstore. Books on tape or on CD often run between $25-$50 each. (or click the link on the right side of this page and save $100 on an Ipod). And with an an Audible audio player, you just download books - no tapes or cd's to lug around. You can check out some of the books I've read in the last year on the right side of this page - click on the links and you'll see what the price is, if you are not an Audible listener. Then imagine getting that book for just $10! A wonderful service - especially useful if you are driving lengthy distances to work or are working out at the gym on treadmills or anywhere that you are doing something mindless and could be enriching your mind at the same time.

Master and Commander

Now on to the Patrick O'Brian series and the first book in his series. Wonderfully narrated by Patrick Tull, an old salt if there ever was one, great prose and a whole new world of terminology. I'm already prowling the Net for naval terms. Did find a great sight at this link describing his books and so much more. Most of you are familiar with the recent movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, starring Russell Crowe. That was the 10th in the series, so I've got some reading to do before I go see the movie. :) Check out the book jacket covers and an interesting article by Robert O'Harrow in the Washington Post.

Back to brushing up on my naval terms!

Word of the Day:
Gerrymander - To divide (a geographic area) into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one party in elections. And for a bit of word history regarding this strange word:

WORD HISTORY “An official statement of the returns of voters for senators give[s] twenty nine friends of peace, and eleven gerrymanders.” So reported the May 12, 1813, edition of the Massachusetts Spy. A gerrymander sounds like a strange political beast, which it is, considered from a historical perspective. This beast was named by combining the word salamander, “a small lizardlike amphibian,” with the last name of Elbridge Gerry, a former governor of Massachusetts—a state noted for its varied, often colorful political fauna. Gerry (whose name, incidentally, was pronounced with a hard g, though gerrymander is now commonly pronounced with a soft g) was immortalized in this word because an election district created by members of his party in 1812 looked like a salamander. According to one version of gerrymander's coining, the shape of the district attracted the eye of the painter Gilbert Stuart, who noticed it on a map in a newspaper editor's office. Stuart decorated the outline of the district with a head, wings, and claws and then said to the editor, “That will do for a salamander!” “Gerrymander!” came the reply. The word is first recorded in April 1812 in reference to the creature or its caricature, but it soon came to mean not only “the action of shaping a district to gain political advantage” but also “any representative elected from such a district by that method.” Within the same year gerrymander was also recorded as a verb. (Word history courtesy of Gurunet)  

And in the Techno World

Ah, will be hard to resist this new printer from Canon. Due out in May. Borderless 13x19" prints in under 3 minutes. 8 inks, 6,144 nozzles, 2 picoliter droplets, Firewire and USB 2.0. Not bad. Will have to upgrade to XP's SP1 (dreadful thought), but will be worth it I guess to have this baby crank out some monster prints. May just wait until SP2 comes out and do it all at once. Think it is due out in the not too distant future. May jump yet at that new Nikon D70 - will wait and see what others experience with that first though.

DxO is a hot new product that looks quite promising. Noticed it in a newsletter from Imaging Resource. Promises to dramatically enhance image quality by automatically eliminating chromatic aberration, blur, vignetting and noise. You can try it out on a few pictures at the DxO site.

Trillian Pro has a new patch out 2.011. It doesn't get any better than Trillian for an IM, especially if you take advantage of all the plug-ins (stocks, weather, newsfeeds, to do tasks, and on and on). If you don't know what an IM is, just skip this. (They also have a free version with less features - Trillian lets you connect to your friends at msn, aol, yahoo, icq all through the same IM).

Roboform Pro is now up to version 5.61. The pro version will set you back $30 (a pittance for a program used this often) which will allow you unlimited passwords. The freebie version will grant you 30 passwords (if you're a light user of the Internet). Offers encrypted passwords as well. This really is a highly useful tool - used to be totally free, but that has kind of gone the way of the dinosaur. 

You do have the Google Toolbar , don't you? I would hope so. Another one of those indespensable tools. Free and this newer version offers a pop-up blocker, in case you are using IE as your Internet browser (IE is a bit slow to come around to the times). You can also look at all the other tools Google offers by clicking here You can also get a popup blocking browser by using Mozilla or by using MyIE2 . MyIE2 gives you all the advantages of IE with all the tools of Mozilla (surely debatable to those who use Mozilla). The popup blockers and especially the tabs features of these 2 browsers make your Internet experience completely different and better. I've used both Mozilla (1.3.1) and MyIE2 and have gotten used to MyIE2, but either will do the trick. Some things display better in IE than in Mozilla, which is why I stuck with MyIE2. Your choice.

If you have one of these "tabbed browsers" set up to open links in new "tabs", then as you've been reading these paragraphs, each time you could click on one of the links and a new tab would be opening with that window's information, all the while you continued to read here. By the time you finished reading here, the information is downloaded and ready to be read in the new tabs. All you have to do is click on them. Absolutely wonderful (ah, the little things that get me all excited!). All of these programs are easy to download and install.  

Like Free Magazines?

Check out Free Biz Mag.com It asks you to fill out some information about your job (generic info). Make something up. Once you're signed on, then periodically you will get emails asking if you would like a free year's subscription to various magazines. I've gotten everything under the sun - from Sports Illustrated to Stuff to Newsweek, Saveur, etc, etc. No credit card info required. Once the year's subscription expires, then you'll get a renewal notice which you can choose to use or disregard. They also offer from time to time free digital magazines (I'm currently getting Barrons, Foreign Policy, US News and World Report, Handheld Computing, PC magazine). They're identical to the print magazine, except you download them and view them in a slick free viewer. If you use a spam filter on your email, you may want to watch it carefully for a bit to make sure it's not disgarding these free offers. Once you see one, if you mark it as "Friend", then you won't have a problem. If you don't use a spam filter, disregard this.

Each time they send you an offer , you have to go to the website and go through the same ol' questionaire asking about your job, etc. They'll offer you some other stuff, which 99% of the time I say no to. You have to look closely to find the "no" buttons sometimes (watch out for the Literary Guild offers). But all this is a small price to pay for the free mags - in my case, they are passed out to Guests at our Inn, so I'm sure that is of benefit to the magazine publishers. It's peanuts to the publishers and good advertising. So, enjoy your reading! (I get nothing out of this, so don't think I'm hitting you up for something. :) I'll save that for my wild salmon offerings and audio books. :)  

Your Choice for VP?

Politics
-- Assuming Kerry is chosen at the Convention, whom amongst the following 3 do you think would be the best bet? Edwards (lack of experience and foreign policy experience, but strong with common man) ? Bill Richardson (Gov of NM) - strong on Foreign Policy - speaks fluent Spanish (raised in Mex.City) - would bring possibly very strong Hispanic vote (Florida) or Dick Gephardt (strong on jobs - could bring Missouri, Ohio and similar states that have been hardhit by job loss into the fold) ? Or perhaps someone else I haven't mentioned? Click on the comments link below to post your view.

-- Paul Krugman discusses The Trade Tightrope - The point is that free trade is politically viable only if it's backed by effective job creation measures and a strong domestic social safety net. And that suggests that free traders should be more worried by the prospect that the policies of the current administration will continue than by the possibility of a Democratic replacement.

Put it this way: there's a reason why the two U.S. presidents who did the most to promote growth in world trade were Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, while the two most protectionist presidents of the last 70 years have been Ronald Reagan and, yes, George W. Bush.

-- Dennis Hastert today is calling on a curtailment of the 9/11 commission. Bush is saying that he approves a 60 day extension, but many are suspicious that Hastert is doing the "heavy lifting" for GW on this one and is trying to prevent further disclosing. Bush has agreed to sit down with the 2 chairmen of the commitee for 1 hour, but not before the entire panel. Hate to tell them, but 1 hour goes pretty quickly, when about all you can say is , well, uh, duh...., well, let's see - what date did you say this thing happened?

Money
Harry Potter author becomes a billionaire. Not bad for someone who started writing these books at the corner cafe, because she couldn't afford heat in her apartment. The list of billionaires has now grown to 587, an increase of 111. There's hope for me yet! Just a few more investments and I should be there. LOL

Richard Grasso says no way is he giving back 139 million to the Big Board. Hey, if they were stupid enough to give it to him, why should he?

Social
-- Bob Hebert makes some good points with his Bliss and Bigotry article in the Times today. In a world beset by ignorance and poverty and suffering, a world wracked with wars and terror attacks and ethnic strife of every kind, it seems crazy to be twisting ourselves into knots over the desire of good men and women to transcend the prison of themselves and affirm their love for another by marrying.

That kind of desire is a good thing, isn't it?

--- Before we keep pouring money into schools and "education", maybe it's time we realize that it's not so much the physical things our kids need. Sure computers for everyone are nice, bright and shiny buildings, all that stuff. But that's just what it is - stuff. What kids really need are quality teachers. Kids in America can be just as bright as elsewhere, but it requires top-flight teachers like Rosemary Fryer . America needs to spend that money on finding and encouraging great teachers first and foremost. Anything else is lip service to education. Ask yourself how many truly great teachers you had? I suspect you can count them on one hand. (I can count 2 truly great ones).

-- Going to England anytime soon? Even if not, you should check out this site which will tell you all about English Pub Etiquette . You'll be a bloomin' expert!

Health
-- Need your Sinuses sucked out? Ask your pharmacist! Yikes! How about an arterial aneurysm? No problem - take a seat buddy!

Link of the Day:
Can't get enough of photography? Check out these Photo Blogs . 

Stick a Pin in It!

Just thought I would remind all my visitors to click on the little button above this post and place your pin on the map. You can remain anonymous or post your website/blog so others can pay you a visit! Would like to know see where all my visitors are coming from!

News

Tune in to CNN tonight to see Larry King moderate the Dems debate from LA. Kerry, Edwards, Kucinich, Sharpton - the field narrows. Maybe it will get more interesting now. But most likely, Sharpton will once again carry the night - he seems to be the only one who puts a fresh face on each debate. Maybe we should be voting for Dave Barry instead?

Thomas Friedman points out that there's some good things about Indians having all those jobs, too. Read the flip side . JadooWorks has decided to produce its own animated epic about the childhood of Krishna. To write the script, though, it wanted the best storyteller it could find and outsourced the project to an Emmy Award-winning U.S. animation writer, Jeffrey Scott — for an Indian epic!

Rosie O'Donell is getting hitched in SF today. Good for you Rosie. I'm not a big fan of Rosie, but she will draw some attention to the absurdity of these discriminatory actions.

And on the weird front:

-AP - German prosecutors said Thursday they are investigating a student for stealing electricity after he plugged his laptop into a train station electrical socket and used 0.2 euro cents, or a quarter of a U.S. cent's worth, of power.

Now it's time to go stock up the fire as another blizzard hits the mountains - damn those caterpillars anyway!

Quote of the Day:
"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."
Steven Weinberg
-

Snow on it's Way Again

Just noticed that the Thursday forecast is calling for 6-10" of snow. Man, just when the driveway finally got cleared off and here we go again. I can't tell you how many times this has happened this year. Was going to go to the movies today and see the "Passion", but decided not to at the last moment. Looks like I won't be going anywhere tomorrow, either.

Health
You ever get a bad burn? Next time, dip it in mustard! No mustard handy? Try iced tea! Crazy? Don't knock it till you've tried it. Picked up those tips from Terry and Joe Graedon of the People's Pharmacy fame. Joe's like a God to me. (I picked up a tip from his book years ago that 4 aspirins every 3-4 hours would kill the pain of a severe sunburn and that's the truth! After being flayed alive on the white sand beaches of Florida a number of times, you can appreciate why I feel this way!) Caught them for a few moments on an NPR fund drive. If you want to know more, you can check out their web site .

News
Watched a very good Larry King Live last night. They had SF Mayor Newsome on along with Senator Musgrave of Colorado, a Minister and a gay Actor/Producer. I'm telling you - this gay marriage debate drives me bonkers every time I see it. We're going to amend the Constitution so we can encourage discrimination? Give me a break. If the Church wants to drive away more people, sure seems like this is the way to do it. They make themselves out to be hypocrits. The Constitution has been amended over the years to bring women, blacks and young people into fuller citizenship. President Bush's amendment would be the first adopted to stigmatize and exclude a group of Americans.... a majority of Americans understand what President Bush does not: the Constitution is too important to be folded, spindled or mutilated for political gain. (Editorial - NY Times)

Cut Social Security? Yep, that's what Greenspan thinks is the thing to do. Boy, reduce taxes on the rich and then whack social security benefits. Yep, seems like a compassionate thing to do.

And on the Strange Side Today: (courtesy of Yahoo News)
- BUDAPEST (Reuters) - A Hungarian TV hostess sat naked Wednesday to announced she is running for a seat in the European Parliament as candidate of the upstart Union Party. (Think Hilary's up for this?)

- AP - A young scientist says cat drool appears to be cleaner than that of dogs. Lacey Lafromboise, a fifth-grader at Turtle Mountain Elementary School in Belcourt, earned a trip to the Native American Science Fair in Albuquerque, N.M. by proving that her two dogs have more bacteria in their mouths than her two cats. (My cat's fur smells great after a good lick job! :)

-AP - Put this one in the "there-oughta-be-a-law" category. A bill introduced in the Georgia House Wednesday would require twice as many toilets in women's restrooms as in men's rooms (Yep, our lawmakers at work!)

- Vietnam's largest city has seen a surge in fish bone choking incidents after an outbreak of bird flu made chicken scarce and increased consumption of seafood (They should stick to sardines)

- A 64-year-old priest pleaded guilty Wednesday to criminal possession of $50,000 stolen from his Long Island parish — cash police found at his apartment along with a pistol, pornography and Nazi paraphernalia. (Bet his sermons are interesting!)


Quote of the Day:
"We live in an age when pizza gets to your home before the police."
Jeff Marder  

Blogsnob

You'll notice at the top right of this blog where it says "Blogsnob Random Blog", there is now a link to a random blog that will appear each time you load the page. So click on it and be surprised! Sometimes you find some pretty cool blogs, sometimes they're in a language, you won't even understand!  

Bush Moves to Shore up his Base

GW today struck out against gay marriages today asking for a constitutional amendment to ban them. "On a matter of such importance, the voice of the people must be heard." Voice of the People? How about the voice of GW and his conservative base?

"Decisive and democratic action is needed because attempts to redefine marriage in a single state or city could have serious consequences throughout the country" Serious consequences? Such as? Once gays are married, what are they going to do? Protest, picket the White House, start attacking heterosexuals? Gee, how many times have you heard of homosexuals attacking heterosexuals? And now that they're married, I suspect their rage will know no bounds. Yeh, right.

"Ages of experience have taught humanity that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society. " Please explain to me how gay marriages destabilizes society? Gay parents can't raise children? Oh yes, I forget - gay behavior is learned and thus there will be even more gays running around! Yikes, can't let that happen! If it is learned, wonder how a kid growing up in a heterosexual household, turns out gay? Maybe the tooth fairy really was a fairy? Damn, better come up with a new fairy tale.

"Government, by recognizing and protecting marriage, serves the interests of all." No, it is meddling in peoples' affairs and it sure as hell doesn't recognize the interests of the gay community. "Our government should respect every person and protect the institution of marriage. There is no contradiction between these responsibilities. We should also conduct this difficult debate in a matter worthy of our country, without bitterness or anger. In all that lies ahead, let us match strong convictions with kindness and good will and decency." Oh yes, I like that last part especially. I'm sure gays who have had their basic rights denied, will feel the same way.

Let's face it, GW is just trying to turn the heat away from his other failed policies and is trying to shore up his conservative base before the election. (It does disturb me though that polls suggest that most Americans don't want gay marriages - we are so afraid of people different than ourselves, whether they be minorities, homosexuals,etc - nothing new since the beginning of time , of course, but sad, nonetheless). Pretty much the same way as he seated Pryor on the bench the other day. And he's probably hoping he can drag the Dems into this debate and get them off of his failed jobs program, his mess in Iraq, his attack on the environment and on and on. I would get a very good chuckle if this all backfired in his face. Sorry, but in my book , the government doesn't belong in this issue. For a very well written argument written about this, look at Clark Schpiell's commentary . And for a rather biting and funny look at the Bush program, check out Arianna's column . 

Social Responsibilty - Taking Away Dad's Car Keys?

If you have an older parent who is still driving, do yourself a favor and read this article in the Christian Science Monitor . I and my brothers made the mistake of not taking action some years ago and had to listen to the tragic news that our Dad had crossed a busy highway and had not seen someone coming. My mother, riding as passenger, was killed and my father injured.

Fortunately, no one else was killed. But the driver of that other car now has to live the rest of their life knowing that they killed someone, even though it wasn't their fault. My Dad had had other accidents in the past and had even totaled his own car , pulling out into traffic when he didn't have the room to do so. We had all ridden in the car with him and had witnessed scary moments of bad decision-making and poor reflexes. Yet somehow none of us thought we could tell him, that enough was enough. We hoped his doctor might stop him - after all, he complained of double vision and was on heavy dosages of prednisone for an illness. It would have been nice if the doc had stopped him, but we should have taken action, as well. I think we also figured (hoped?) he would just be lucky enough to somehow not hurt anyone - Wrong.

I think part of it was that my Dad had always been a very capable person and we all knew his car was his lifeline to his independence. We probably also were concerned for my mother's sanity, should he now no longer be able to drive and be forced to spend all day in the house! I think my Mother probably feared that taking those keys away would also rob him of his independence. To those of you with older parents, forget that! They'll learn to cope (and you may be saving countless lives). It was a mistake not to take those keys away. Had we been firm enough, I think he would have stopped. It would certainly have spared us all a tragic loss. So, for those of you who read this, honestly assess how your parents drive and if they're no longer skilled and possess good judgement, do yourself, them, and many others a big favor and take those keys away.

From the article:
Several years ago, as my own father approached 90, I worried about such accidents and that my dad, licensed in 1927, might cause an accident. I believed this after dozens of erratic rides with him in the driver's seat, brushing up against curbs at 30 mph, taking corners from the middle of busy streets, and cruising past stop signs. I was scared for him - and for others. I wanted him out from behind the wheel. I believed it was time.

The author of the article was lucky, as he didn't take action to take those keys away. Instead , his father decided on his own at age 90, that he had had enough. Of course, I reasoned, he'd had one too many close calls. Maybe he was scared, some near-miss forcing his decision. Certainly, I believed, it wasn't my hectoring. I'd been passive when I could have acted because I couldn't turn stool pigeon. In hindsight, I was thinking of myself when I should have been thinking of my dad - and so many other fathers, sons, and families on the road. 

The other side of Outsourcing

"I took him to a factory outlet center. In the back of the Rockport store they were having a clearance of shoes made in China or Indo-someplace. I bought him a pair of fine leather shoes for $24. You shoulda seen my boy's face light up."

Free trade is helping that lady make ends meet because her hard-earned dollar now has more buying power. If those fast-talking protectionists had their way, the high cost of living would deny her boy those shoes.

Just wanted to be somewhat balanced here and present the other side of the argument as suggested by William Safire - arch conservatist pundit for the NY Times. As you can see, it is a complicated issue.

Quote of the Day:
"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside."
Robert X. Cringely, Info World Magazine 

Factoid

The Motley Fool's Credit Center features several mind-blowing statistics:

-Total consumer credit: $1.7 trillion.
-Credit card debt carried by the average American: $8,562.
-Total finance charges Americans paid in 2001: $50 billion.
-Percent of U.S. households deemed credit worthy by the lending industry: 78%.
-Number of credit card holders who declared bankruptcy last year: 1.3 million.

Now I would recommend you pay off your credit card each month in full and then you wouldn't owe any interest. Also a heck of a way to control your spending habits. But note this latest little twist on that - GE Rewards MasterCard holders who pay off their entire balance in a timely manner are actually penalized $25 per year. As this Yahoo! Finance article explains, a full 75% of credit card company revenues come from finance charges and responsibility is not profitable. Apparently other credit card companies are possibly expected to follow GE's lead. They sure want our moola, don't they? 

Sunday AM News

Kerry and Edwards
George Stephanopolus had Kerry and Edwards on discussing each other's programs. Too bad they weren't in the same room at the same time. It's hard to say who has the better plan - the problem will be pushing them through a congress. I think if folks expect the world to change dramatically overnight because Democrats are elected, they're probably setting themselves up to be disappointed. George did make the interesting point that even if Edwards should win all the rest of the States, it would be hard to beat Kerry. Why? Because in Democratic primaries, unlike Republican ones, delegates are based on a % of the vote. So if they run close, Kerry will get just about as many delegates as Edwards, making it impossible for Edwards to catch up. Of course if Edwards were to sweep the rest of the States, it might be close enough to lead to a brokered convention (which is what happens if neither candidate gets 40% of the delegates necessary to win on the first ballot). In Republican primaries, winner takes all. For more about how all this works, look at Vote Smart's web site.

When it comes to Edwards vs. Kerry, I think it will come down to experience vs non-experience and how the public views those two items. If you think experience is a positive, you'll vote for Kerry. If you think experience means only that politicians have been corrupted too long in Washington, then you'll vote for Edwards.

Nader
Well, of course Nader had to run, didn't he? Guess our write in campaign didn't pull it off. Ralph huffed and puffed about the audacity of the liberals to ask him not to run and basically I couldn't disagree with anything he said, except that he isn't facing reality, no matter how important it is to let an independent run. Are the Dems beholden to special interests just like the Republicans as Ralph suggests? I'm sure they are. Is it going to change soon? I doubt it. But I'll still take the "vision" of the Democratic party over the "blindness" of the Republican party. He obviously does not see a danger of 4 more years of Bush. I personally don't think it's worth risking. It will be interesting to see where Dean's "angry left" supporters go. That probably has MacAuliffe (Dem Nat'l Party chairman) sweating. Ah, politics - endlessly fascinating and frustrating at the same time.

Friedmann goes to Bangalore (India's Silicon Valley) and Meets the Zippies
What are zippies? Find out here. They won't put any zip in your life, I can tell you that! Well not at the moment anyway! Either way, managing this phenomenon (outsourcing) will require a public policy response — something more serious than the Bush mantra of let the market sort it out, or the demagoguery of the Democratic candidates, who seem to want to make outsourcing equal to treason and punishable by hanging. Time to get real.

Quote of the Day:
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Dr. Seuss 

The Latest Hot Issues

Nader
Noticed that the Ralph Nader issue is picking up steam. Supposedly he will announce this Sunday on Meet the Press what he plans to do. Democrats are going all out to convince him otherwise. One on his long time friends made this comment: Mr. Green said that he, in turn, told Mr. Nader that during a talk Mr. Green recently gave about his new critique of Mr. Bush, "The Book on Bush," 93 of 100 audience members who said they voted for Mr. Nader in 2000 said they would not do so again. "I relayed that as a way to say, a) It may hurt Kerry and help re-elect Bush and b) It won't help you given how much more you have to contribute." Joshua Marshall points out in his Talking Points Memo :A reader notes that since Nader now isn't even running as a Green, he has apparently abandoned even the pretense that he is in the race to create a viable third party in American politics. If he runs, it would now be strictly on a platform of vacuous moral posturing and self-aggrandizement.

SF Marriages
A judge blocked conservative groups from denying gays the right to marry . Gee, guess these groups won't have the chance for a few days to further their bigotry. I know, I know, there are 2 sides to this issue, but I'm sorry, I still don't get the side that thinks this is harming the "sanctity of marriage". Gov Schwarzenegger weighed in with this comment: saying that "San Francisco's actions are directly contrary to state law and present an imminent risk to civil order." What? The conservatives are going to rise up and wage war on the gays in the streets? Actually, that wouldn't surprise me. Update: Here's an interesting article on Mayor Newsome and his reasons for taking on this issue.

GW slips Another One by
George installed Willaim Pryor Jr to a Federal Appeals court during a Congressional recess. First we get Pickering, now we get Pryor. Pretty slick - you just get tired of Democrats filibustering, so you appoint them while the Congress is out. Fortunately they can be removed in the future when the Senates gets to vote on them - all the more reason to elect Democrats to Senate seats, who will rid the court of all these ultra-conservatives.As a state official in Alabama, Mr. Pryor, 41, gained prominence as an outspoken opponent of legalized abortion and as an advocate for a greater Christian influence in government Furthermore, Mr. Pryor is also known for defending the right of high school athletes to pray "spontaneously." And, in a brief before the Supreme Court, he argued that if a law in Texas outlawing sex between homosexuals was overturned, it would open the way for legalized "prostitution, adultery, necrophilia, bestiality, possession of child pornography and even incest and pedophilia."

Staring Into the Mouth of the Trade Deficit SEATTLE - Huge container ships steam into this port every day loaded with clothes and shoes, furniture and video games, electronics and aircraft parts made in Asia.

On their return trip, those same ships often cross the Pacific half empty, bearing chemicals, meat, grain and engines and routinely stuffed with hay or scrap paper. "This is what the nation's trade imbalance really looks like," said Mark Knudsen, the deputy director of the Port of Seattle. "We've got so much empty cargo space, it pays to ship over hay for Chinese animals, or scrap paper to be recycled into packaging for Barbie dolls."

Obviously the trade debate is going to be a big issue in the upcoming election. Many think that outsourcing to other countries is hurting us, but there are others who don't see it that way. Will be an interesting debate. As I've said before, if you want to watch someone who really is outspoken about this, watch Lou Dobbs on CNN.  

Bill Clinton - A Speech shortly after 9/11

This may take you awhile, but it's always interesting to listen to Clinton talk. Smart minds like his don't come along every day. This is the text of a speech delivered to Georgetown Univ. students , not long after 9/11. Interesting viewpoints on terroists, Muslims and how we should view the world. Worth a read.  

Please Ralph, Don't do It!

There's a possiblity that Ralph Nader may run again - he's even got a web site testing out the idea. Now I know anybody should have the chance to run, but in Ralph's case, he actually made a difference which cost the Democrats the Election. He sucked up 80,000 votes in Florida when the difference came down to some 500 votes. And he sucked up 4% of the vote in New Hampshire where GW won by 1%. It would be one thing if Ralph really had a chance, but he doesn't and I can't believe he can sit back and see what the Republicans are doing and think that what he is doing is of some benefit to the country. You can email Ralph at info@naderexplore04.org . Do us all a favor and take the time to click on that link and jot Ralph a note telling him to cease and desist.

Quote of the Day:
I think it's about time we voted for senators with breasts. After all, we've been voting for boobs long enough.
Claire Sargent, on women candidates, The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1993 

By Golly, The World may not End!

Electablog* Campaign News with all the Carbs: An amusing quote from Electablog this morning - "I live in San Francisco and can report with some certaintly that our city did not sink into the sea over the weekend, nor did a single person turn into a pillar of salt. There were, however, hundreds of joyous unions. I suppose everyone has a right to their opinions on this, but you've really got to wonder about people and organizations who took the weekend off from their Janet Jackson nipple-related letter writing campaigns to dedicate themselves to stopping people who love each other from getting married."
Quote of the Day:
Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
George Carlin (1937-) 

SF Mayor takes a brave Stand

Gavin Newsome did the right thing in my book. It was nice to see all these people who have been discriminated against for so many years, finally achieve some happiness in their lives. Newsome: "There's also a constitution in the state of California that I swore to uphold just 39 days ago," he told CNN's "American Morning." "The bottom line is I took an oath of office and read that constitution, and nowhere in there did it say that I should discriminate."

"I see a world that I saw over the course of this weekend where people were literally coming, from states across this nation, coming together because they have been in a loving relationship for decade after decade, and they want the same privileges and rights and obligations that were extended to my wife and I," Newsom said.

"That's the kind of world that I want to live in," Newsom said. "That's the kind of world that I think the constitution of the state of California, for that matter, the U.S. Constitution, provides and protects."

Whereas I'm sure the courts will find a way to strike this down, I salute brother Newsome for his act of HUMAN decency.  

Summing Up

Nascar and GW
Spent Sunday catching up on the boob tube. 2 or 3 morning News Shows , then got to watch GW strut his stuff at the Daytona 500 (was surprised he didn't come blasting onto the track in full driver regalia, doing a few spinouts in the infield or something - must be losing his touch. He did wear a Daytona 500 jacket and made sure he got all the requisite photo ops with various military personnel present. I'm sure the WH was all over that. And of course he enjoyed the jets streaking overhead (even a Stealth bomber) and upward camera angles to reflect his beaming face against the blue skies was just added wizardry. Laura was close at hand for this one - wonder how she liked the race? She doesn't strike me as Nascar material. Had to suffer through another rendition of Lee Greenwood singing his America song - time for some new material maybe? Earnhardt Jr won the race in a rather boring final 10 laps or so as Tony Steward just didn't have the juice to catch him. Of course I walked away from the race during one of the major pileups - that's usually the way it works. Like most Americans, I'm there for the blood and guts. LOL

Big John returns!
John Daly cranked up a win on the PGA tour after being winless since the '95 British Open. Was nice to see the big ol' sot back in the saddle again. Made a fabulous bunker shot on the first hole in the playoffs to come within a few feet of the hole, then got to watch his opponents both flub their 3' putts. Some are just destined for great things and others have to keep sucking it up for another day. Wonder how it feels to have your wife and her parents up on criminal charges? How does he keep himself removed from that mess?

HBO and Women's Suffrage Movement
Watched Iron Jawed Angels on HBO , the story of Alice Paul and the Women's Suffrage Movement during the Wilson Presidency. Excellent performances - sort of a modern approach put on a historical movement - was done quite effectively I thought. Sure made Wilson out to be a jerk. The force feeding scenes were rough to watch though during her days in the slammmer. The show repeats itself this week. For the schedule click here . HBO and Showtime often turn out quality TV, unlike the rest of the normal crap on the major channels. Thank God for satellite dishes out here in the boonies.

Chickens for RA?
Wandered off for my usual 4 month visit to the rheumatologist - looks like I'm gonna live a few more years. :) Same ol', same ol', they don't have anything really to offer except for drugs and some of the new "biologicals" like Enbrel and Remicade are not completely without flaw. Rheumie mentioned he was starting to have problems with some of them , even having one of his patients contract MS. Think I'll stick with my RA and save a few bucks (Enbrel and Remicade run about 12K/year) and avoid the MS. A friend reports that she is having excellent success with undenatured chicken collagen in a trial being run by Dr. Trentham in Boston. Apparently he has found a new pill form vs. the liquid form he used back in the mid 90's in similar trials. I'm not sure of the exact dosage one would start on and am trying to find that out. Not being a toxic drug certainly sounds encouraging.

Politics
For an amusing look at the Democratic Debate Sunday Night, check out Electablog . The comments in parentheses are great.

Movies
Just finished watching Finding Nemo . Wonderful movie - surely seen by the entire planet already except for me. Hilarious dialog - great animation - a 5 star effort.  

A Follow Up to "Daughter from Danang"

Thought I'd add a few links to this very throught provoking documentary. Hopefully you've added it to your list of movies to watch. Once you've watched it, you should read this interesting interview with the two producers. Then I'd move on to the section where people have written in to express their opinions of the movie. There are some very thoughtful comments here - as you can see, opinions differ widely. This would be a very good movie for families to watch and discuss with their kids. It is interesting that we alone seem to be a culture that does not venerate one's elders. Wonder what that says about us? That we're selfish? I'll leave that for you to contemplate. It will be interesting to hear what Heidi decides to do in the future.