Pray for our country

Our country has been overrun by so many illegal immigrants that it’s “not practical to send them all back” and enforce the laws.

There are demonstrations taking place by groups of people who don’t even understand what they’re demonstrating for or against. They don’t have a better/workable plan or alternative, either. They’re just against whatever solutions are being proposed or discussed.

The Mexican flag is being flown ABOVE the American flag in some places.
There are banners stating that it’s really Mexican territory anyway.
Illegal immigrants are being referred to as “the backbone of this country.”
Amnesty is being seriously considered. AGAIN.

And through it all, even though it a country-wide issue and effect, politicians are making it into a grab for votes instead of watching out for the best interest of our country and the states most effected by the costs of turning a blind eye to the problem for so, so long.

It’s Bush’s fault. It’s the Republican’s fault. It’s racism. It’s not fair. It’s too hard to fix.

What a mess.

And there isn’t a leader in sight.

More Useless Poll "News"

This make-news will certainly be found helpful in settling the whole immigration issue.

What a bunch of crap these Polls are.

Eighty percent of people find the data from these polls useless.

Poll: Illegal Immigrants May Help Economy

LOS ANGELES - A majority of immigrants who came to the United States legally think undocumented workers help the economy by providing cheap labor, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Eighty-one percent of those surveyed said illegal immigrants accept low-end jobs that Americans don't want. Some 73 percent said illegal immigrants aided the economy by supplying low-cost labor.

"By an overwhelming percentage, legal immigrants don't have bad feelings toward the undocumented," said Sergio Bendixen, whose firm Bendixen & Associates conducted the poll.

Seen on a Saturn w/MN plates

And one SUV rear-ended.

Yet, another answer.

The Innernet explained.

Eye Can Relate

Three men were sitting together, bragging about how they had been giving their new wives duties. The first man had married a woman from Indiana, and bragged that he had told his wife she was going to do all the dishes and house cleaning that needed done at their house. He said that it took a couple of days, but on the third day he came home to a clean house and the dishes were all washed and put away.

The second man had married a woman from Utah. He bragged that he had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes and the cooking. He told them that the first day he didn't see any results, but the next day it was better. By the third day, his house was clean, the dishes were done, and he had a huge dinner on the table.

The third man had married an Ely girl. He said that he told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed, and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything. The second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day most of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, just enough to fix himself a bite to eat, load the dishwasher, and telephone a landscaper. Gotta love those Ely girls!

Goodnight Goodnews

I may live forever!

Sleep Deprivation: The Great American Myth
Robin Lloyd
Thu Mar 23, 12:00 PM ET

People who get only 6 to 7 hours a night have a lower death rate than those who get 8 hours of sleep.

"There is really no evidence that the average 8-hour sleeper functions better than the average 6- or 7-hour sleeper," Kripke says, on the basis of his ongoing psychiatric practice with patients along with research, including the large study of a million adults (called the Cancer Prevention Study II).

And he suspects that people who sleep less than average make more money and are more successful.

The Cancer Prevention Study II even showed that people with serious insomnia or who only get 3.5 hours of sleep per night, live longer than people who get more than 7.5 hours.

I'll sleep better tonight after reading this article.

POTENTIAL UPGRADE

This would be a steal for anyone with an island cabin Up North, eh?
2-holer and all......

Nestled ever so calmly amidst the ancient cottonwoods of northern North Dakota, not far from the Minnesota border, lies a little piece of yesteryear, a simpler time and place, just awaiting your arrival.

Let's go back to the 1930's, when our farmhouse was built and when we believe the OUTHOUSE was also built since there was no plumbing in the home until the 1960's. The farmhouse is small and was very simply built. The OUTHOUSE, however, was another story. No expense was spared and attention was given to it's finest details.

A TRUE CREME' de La CREME' of OUTHOUSES!

With it's cement floor and shingled roof, this "2 Holer" ...... blah, blah, blah.....

Read more here if you have more than $151.00 to bid

Another Question Answered

It's "Pop".

Any questions?

http://www.popvssoda.com/countystats/total-county.html

The Third Onsite Service Call

Tech:

What's that?

Your monitor's still having a little trouble, is it?
The colors still don't quite "look right" to you.?
Well let's just fix that for good this time.

There's a New Liberian in Town

President Bush was heard to say, "You're not still mad at me about bringing those books back late, are you?"

President Bush welcomes Liberian President Sirleaf to the White House

Fin-Tastic!

I betcha, some lucky bass turd is gonna win this contest by beating out the other three entries.

Toivo says if he had $10 to blow on this kinda crappie, he'd string up a couple of trophy lawyers from the light pole downtown as his entry.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Fin-Tastic Fish Construction Contest opens; $1,500 in prizes
by Anne Swenson

A furry cat fish? An armored fish tank? A whimsical walleye? A cold fish? A Bobby Fish-er?

How about a jelly fish with scales made from Smucker's lids?

All these ideas and more are invited to compete for cash prizes in the first ever Fin-tastic Fish Construction Contest for Reel Art.

Materials may be welded metal, plastic, fiberglass, wood, combinations thereof, or any materials which will last outside when exposed to weather.

Unlike the milk carton boat contests, however, these piscatorial Pisces will be floating on air when completed.

The top prizes will be $500 each awarded in three categories: Best Use of Materials, Most Unusual and the Mayor's Tackle Box Award will go to the Best Team or Family creation.

So bob on out to the garage and see what scale of bait you can lure to make a splash with your creation of Reel Art!

Inspired by the Ely Chamber of Commerce's Obsessive Compulsive Fishing (OCF) campaign, the plan is to use the fish creations throughout the downtown area during the 2006 summer season.

There will be fee of $10 per piece for adult entries with children under 12 having a $5 entry fee in the "Minnow" division. Adult entries must be a minimum of three feet and a maximum of six feet. Children's entries may start at two feet.

All entries must be capable of withstanding an outdoor environment for the summer months. All entries will be juried by and become the property of Ely Greenstone Public Art to be auctioned off during Art in the Park August 26-27. Funds raised will be used for the group's ongoing educational programs.

http://www.elyecho.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=7590

They was in trouble!

But it comed to a happy ending!
That there was close.

Missing Family Found After Two-Week Ordeal

By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER, Associated Press Writer

GLENDALE, Ore. - Six family members who disappeared more than two weeks ago after leaving for a trip to the coast in a recreational vehicle were found alive Tuesday in a remote area of southwestern Oregon, surviving in their snowbound vehicle on dehydrated food and other provisions.

Two parents were found first after they had left the recreational vehicle — which had become stranded by snow — on Monday to seek help, and hours later rescuers located the RV and the four others, who include two children.

All six were reunited Tuesday afternoon in this southern Oregon community.

Peter Stivers and Marlo Hill-Stivers and his wife ran up to a van as it pulled into town with the two children and with Stivers' mother and stepfather.

The reunion was carried live on KGW-TV.

"I love you baby," Marlo Hill Stivers told her daughter, Gabrayell, 8.

"I love you too, mommy," she replied.

Peter Stivers rested his hands on the shoulders of his 9-year-old son, Sabastyan.

"He had fun. They enjoyed it," Peter Stivers said. "They didn't know we was in trouble."

It’s more gooder if you just goes ahead and reads the rest of the story youselfs. If’n you can’t read too good, well then just skip hitting the link, cause there ain’t no pictures to look at, anyways.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060322/ap_on_re_us/missing_family

Under the Radar

Here's a bull**** deal if I ever heard one.
Selling your tax return information?
Be careful what you sign!!!


Critics said the proposed regulation could lead to a loss of privacy for clients.
By Jeff Gelles

The IRS is quietly moving to loosen the once-inviolable privacy of federal income-tax returns. If it succeeds, accountants and other tax-return preparers will be able to sell information from individual returns - or even entire returns - to marketers and data brokers.

The change is raising alarm among consumer and privacy-rights advocates. It was included in a set of proposed rules that the Treasury Department and the IRS published in the Dec. 8 Federal Register, where the official notice labeled them "not a significant regulatory action."

IRS officials portray the changes as housecleaning to update outmoded regulations adopted before it began accepting returns electronically. The proposed rules, which would become effective 30 days after a final version is published, would require a tax preparer to obtain written consent before selling tax information.

Critics call the changes a dangerous breach in personal and financial privacy. They say the requirement for signed consent would prove meaningless for many taxpayers, especially those hurriedly reviewing stacks of documents before a filing deadline.

"The normal interaction is that the taxpayer just signs what the tax preparer puts in front of them," said Jean Ann Fox of the Consumer Federation of America, one of several groups fighting the changes. "They think, 'This person is a tax professional, and I'm going to rely on them.' "
Criticism also came from U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.). In a letter last Tuesday to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, Obama warned that once in the hands of third parties, tax information could be resold and handled under even looser rules than the IRS sets, increasing consumers' vulnerability to identity theft and other risks.

Wu and other critics said they were uncertain who or what was behind the proposed changes in IRS privacy rules, which currently prohibit tax preparers from selling returns to third parties for marketing purposes, and require written consent if they want to use it for marketing by companies under their own corporate umbrella.

Officials at H&R Block and Jackson-Hewitt, two of the nation's largest tax-preparation firms, did not respond to requests for comment. Cressman said the IRS had so far received only about a dozen comments on the proposal.

"I think this just flew under the radar screen for so many people," McConnell said.
Although the formal comment period ended March 8, Cressman said late comments "may receive consideration if they are sent to the IRS promptly." Consumer advocates are urging taxpayers who oppose the changes to contact the agency and Washington lawmakers.

It's Hillary time, now?

Political makeover?
Handlers?
Why can't she just show us who she REALLY is?
(because maybe she wouldn't have a chance of getting elected as dog-catcher!)
What a sham.

Senator's word is now 'final,' says the ex-Prez

BY KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - After being surprised by her husband's role in the Dubai ports deal, Sen. Hillary Clinton has insisted that Bill Clinton give her "final say" over what he says and does, well-placed sources said.

The former President agreed to give his wife a veto to avoid his habit of making controversial headlines that could hurt her chances of returning to the White House, multiple sources told the Daily News.

"He knows it's Hillary's time now," said an adviser close to both Clintons who expects to play a key role in her likely 2008 presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton's handlers are keeping a close rein on the former President's schedule to try to prevent another embarrassing screwup like their competing roles in the Dubai ports deal.

While she was blasting the Bush administration for allowing Dubai to run six of the country's ports, he was advising Dubai on how to sell the deal.

"Hillary has final say," said the adviser, and the ex-President's staff has been warned not to do or say anything without running it by the senator's handlers.

"That was true in the White House during the [2000] Senate campaign," recalled another longtime aide who stayed close to the ex-President after he left office. "If he said the sky was blue and she said the sky was purple, then the sky was purple."

Hillary Clinton's aides denied that her husband's comments have been a liability but concede she is calling the shots.

"Since she got elected five years ago and given their hectic schedules, it is more interesting how little there has been of this," said the senator's campaign spokeswoman Ann Lewis, referring to their contradictory statements.

"She is the elected official. She makes the ultimate decisions," Lewis said.

Bill Clinton's spokesman Jay Carson added, "Anyone who says he is doing everything he can to help her get reelected is absolutely right."

The Hillary camp recognizes the 42nd President's enormous political value to her race for the White House.

To boost his spouse's Oval Office bid, the former President is hosting several get-togethers around the country with ex-staffers and is planning some regional town hall meeting and panel discussions to talk about success stories from what Hillary Clinton likes to call "our administration."

Bill Clinton will cite expanding the earned income tax credit and balancing the federal budget, Clinton insiders say. He's also a star attraction at fund-raisers for his wife.

Still, the senator's advisers are trying to put a muzzle on her husband's more controversial comments and actions that have hindered her effort to paint herself as a national security hawk - a crucial part of her political makeover.

The Dubai port controversy was the latest episode that allowed her critics to charge she was being politically duplicitous. Because of their contrasting actions, the Clintons were lampooned by conservatives, and Hillary Clinton faded away as a leading voice of criticism for the ports deal.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/401528p-340108c.html

Political News from Back Home

This could be interesting little development for some Minnesotans to watch. Funny. It'll be entertaining to watch how this guy wiggles his way outta this hole. Or how they make this "go away". Or whatever.
Best use of this little news bit might be while visiting relatives someday.
From CQ's blog.

Minnesota DFL Endorses Lying
The Minnesota Senate DFL caucus rallied around their beleaguered leader, Dean Johnson, who claimed in a conversation with clergy that three state Supreme Court justices assured Johnson that they would not rule in favor of same-sex marriage. The Majority Leader had tried to convince the ministers to drop a push to put a constitutional amendment banning gender-neutral marriage up for a referendum with this inside information, but was unaware that the conversation had been taped. When the ministers released the tape, Johnson told the press that he may have "embellished" the conversation, but the members of the Court are having none of this:

In a rare conversation with reporters, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Russell Anderson today said flatly that no member of the court -- including former Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz -- ever spoke to Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson about the state's marriage laws.

(Then there’s some more details worth you reading, but not my cutting/pasting to this blog.)

The Minnesota DFL should pat itself on the back. It's given its vote of confidence to a man who lied to ministers in order to gain a political advantage in a fight that already bodes ill for his party. Now he has to explain why the DFL won't allow the voters of Minnesota to decide on this amendment, and he has zero credibility with which to make the case. Thanks to their silly and short-sighted action, his caucus has taken Johnson's credibility deficit and made themselves a part of it. For some reason, the DFL felt it necessary to endorse a man who just got caught lying to his constituents for his political gain -- a position that the GOP will ensure remains in the public debate in the fall elections.

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/006569.php

What A Weekend

Spent the entire weekend preparing my 2005 Tax Return.
I still can't, or don't want to, believe the results.

Friggin Politicians, Anyways

Political offensive targets Bush
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
March 18, 2006

Senate Democrats have mapped a political battle plan for the March congressional recess that calls on lawmakers to stage press events with active duty military personnel, veterans and emergency responders to bash President Bush on virtually every one of his national security policies.
The game plan, devised by the office of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, is contained in a six-page memo distributed to Democratic senators on Thursday at a closed-door meeting at the Capitol and provided to The Washington Times by a congressional staffer.
Titled "Real Security," the political document calls for staged town hall events at military bases, weapons factories, National Guard units, fire stations and veterans posts.
"Ensure that you have the proper U.S. and state flags at the event, and consider finding someone to sing the national anthem and lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the event," the battle plan states.
However, the Defense Department prohibits political events on military bases. The rule states, "commanders will not permit the use of installation facilities by any candidate for political campaign or election events, including public assemblies or town hall meetings. ..."
Jim Manley, Mr. Reid's spokesman, said yesterday the planned events are not part of a political campaign. They would involve only incumbent Democratic senators, some of whom are up for re-election, but not Democratic Senate challengers, he said. Democrats hope to capture Senate control in November's election.
"These are events to highlight the need for increased funding for the troops," Mr. Manley said. "It's an effort to paint the White House and the Republican Congress as having a failed effort on national security issues, which is a direct result of their misplaced priorities and mismanagement."
The Senate plan urges holding town hall events to "draw attention to the security vulnerabilities caused by the Bush budget and explain how Democrats fought to restore programs that keep America safe."
The plan is the latest attempt by Democrats to criticize Mr. Bush on national security issues in the aftermath of the Dubai ports deal dust-up, which Republicans conceded was mishandled by the administration. One of the few areas where Republicans continue to poll well versus Democrats is on fighting terrorists.
In almost every issue in the Reid memo, Democratic lawmakers are called upon to criticize the president for not spending enough federal dollars.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060317-110209-4097r.htm

"Not spending enough"?????!!!!!!
Just in time for tax return season.
Good plan, Harry.

Greaaayyyyyt.

According to Site Meter, someone in California searching the net via Google, using "snopes, tribute, moment of silence, hollywood, islamic terrorists, stand up for gays" brings them to this site. Greaaaaayyyyyyt.

Location Continent : North America
Country : United States (Facts)
State : California
City : El Cerrito
Page Views 1
Referring URL http://www.google.co...s&btnG=Google Search
Search Engine google.com
Search Words snopes, tribute, moment of silence, hollywood, islamic terrorists, stand up for gays
Visit Entry Page http://disunreconnected.blogspot.com/

Happy Sanit Urho's Day

The legend says St. Urho chased the grasshoppers out of ancient Finland, thus saving the grape crop and the jobs of Finnish vineyard workers. He did this by uttering the phrase: Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen" (roughly translated: "Grasshopper, grasshopper, go to Hell!"). His feast is celebrated by wearing the colors Royal Purple and Nile Green. St. Urho is nearly always represented with grapes and grasshoppers as part of the picture.

http://www.sainturho.com/

PS: It's also the 24th birthday of a very, very special princess.
Happy Birthday, kid.

Port Whine II

I called this one in an earlier Port Whine post.
Didn't take too long.
Screaming rumors of Halliburton taking over the ports.
Evil and 'controversial' company, which was, as you all know, previously associated with Cheney.


Norm Ornstein: Dubai Ports World Is Considering Selling U.S. Operations To Halliburton
Today Dubai Ports World announced it would “transfer fully the U.S. operations…to a United States entity.” This evening on the PBS News Hour, AEI scholar Norm Ornstein said that DP World was considering selling its U.S. operations to Halliburton:

If this is done now through the backdoor, where D.P. [Dubai Ports World] has any role at all, Congress is going to go ballistic, and it’s going to be a disaster, I think, for the administration.

They have got a dilemma now, because there simply aren’t American companies that have the know-how and the breadth to do this. Interestingly, and perhaps ironically, what I had heard earlier in the day, as they were looking at those that have the — the kind of resources, Halliburton was a name that came up.

Very interesting.

UPDATE: Halliburton denies the rumors.
From today’s New York Daily News:
DP World did not say. And scratch Halliburton off the list.
Melissa Norcross, a spokeswoman for the controversial U.S. company once headed by Vice President Cheney, called suggestions circulating on the Hill that they might take over “false and baseless.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/03/09/dpworld-halliburton/

"False and Baseless", but makes for good Bush/Cheney bashing!
The best part of spreading this rumor is that it won't have to be officially corrected by the sources. Ever. No matter how many people read/hear about it and believe it's factual.

See ya.

Booked. Breckenridge,CO.
Saturday through Thursday.
Friends. Skiing. Toddies. Hot tub.
Should beat working.

Unintended Consequences

Lots and lots of people I know, were probably just waiting for Bob.......
in Hell........ with a gun.

Cubicles: The great mistake
Even the designer of the cubicle thinks they were maybe a bad idea, as millions of 'Dilberts' would agree.
By Julie Schlosser, FORTUNE Magazine
March 9, 2006: 11:22 AM EST

NEW YORK (FORTUNE Magazine) - Robert Oppenheimer agonized over building the A-bomb. Alfred Nobel got queasy about creating dynamite. Robert Propst invented nothing so destructive. Yet before he died in 2000, he lamented his unwitting contribution to what he called "monolithic insanity."

Propst is the father of the cubicle. More than 30 years after he unleashed it on the world, we are still trying to get out of the box. The cubicle has been called many things in its long and terrible reign. But what it has lacked in beauty and amenity, it has made up for in crabgrass-like persistence.

Nerd, Geek or Dork?

Me?

Joe Normal
13 % Nerd, 4% Geek, 13% Dork
For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored less than half in all three, earning you the title of: Joe Normal.

This is not to say that you don't have some Nerd, Geek or Dork inside of you--we all do, and you can see the percentages you have right above. This is just to say that none of those qualities stand out so much as to define you. Sure, you enjoy an episode of Star Trek now and again, and yeah, you kinda enjoyed a few classes back in the day. And, once in a while, you stumble while walking down the street even though there was nothing there to cause you to trip. But, for the most part, you look and act fairly typically, and aren't much of an outcast.

I'd say there's a fair chance someone asked you to take this test. In any event, fairly normal.

Congratulations!

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=9935030990046738815

Port Whine

What if…….

Bush had said "No friggin way are any rug-heads going to run any of our ports!"
The opposition and extremists on the right and the left would have all cried:

"Racism"
"Fear-mongering"
"Other foreign countries already have control of many ports and air cargo operations within the US"
"DPW has a blemish-free record of controlling the contents of cargo"
"Terrorists routed monies through Britain, too"
"Maybe DPW can help to control our borders, too"
"Bush just wants Cheney’s Halliburton to have the contract instead of DPW"
"Let’s push the deal through the legislature and dare Bush to veto it"
"He just thinks he’s the King and can stop them from buying a British company’s contract"
"UAE is our strongest ally in the Middle East"

Now that DPW/UAE has stated they’ll divest themselves from the US portion of the deal, we’ll be hearing:

"The Republican leadership stopped this terrible deal and saved the country"
"No you didn’t, either! We, the Democrats, put a stop to this Bush bungle. We did, not yous guys! Take it back!"
"Security and foreign company operational control at other ports is not the important issue of the day. It’s ________ (fill in the blank). Healthcare, deficit, elections, welfare, education, budget cuts, border control, illegal immigrants, Iraq, Osama, disenfranchised voters, free meals from lobbyists.
"We can make some political hay with having stopped this deal"
"My husband might have been for it, but I was against it, even before I understood anything about it"
"The French are still importing port wine into the US, even though we can grow our own grapes"
"The Muslims have a right to hate us now that we’ve discriminated against them"

What SHOULD happen now:
Kick out any other foreign company currently in control of any of our ports and air cargo operations.

UPDATE
And isn't this just perfect?
Just exactly the WRONG message to send the Muslim World.
"A house divided can not stand for long" -- Abe Lincoln

Arab ally senses Bush no longer has control in Washington

By Edward Alden and Holly Yeager in Washington
Published: March 9 2006 22:00 Last updated: March 9 2006 22:00

More than four years after the September 11 attacks, it brought together a toxic combination of anxieties over America’s place in the world. Traditional protectionists, worried by foreign acquisitions of US assets and the outsourcing of jobs to distant and little-understood countries, lined up alongside security hawks who warned that even a close Arab ally such as the UAE was vulnerable to terrorist infiltration.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/aaf675ba-afb6-11da-b417-0000779e2340.html

ALERT!!!!

Latest scam, and according to Snopes.com, this one is real.
Be careful.

I became a victim of this scam last week, which is happening in
shopping mall parking lots.

Two good looking young women come to your car as you are parking.

One starts wiping your windshield with a rag and the other comes to your
window and bends over so far her breasts just about fall out of her
blouse. While you're distracted, the other one lets herself in the
backseat. Then both are begging you for a ride home.

Be very wary, because as soon as you start driving, one of them will take off her
shirt and rub her breasts on you while the other climbs over the seat
and unzips your pants. This is when they steal your wallet.

I was robbed last Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

I couldn't find them on Saturday.

Intelligent Design?

A Hubble Space Telescope image of Messier 101, the gigantic Pinwheel galaxy.

I missed the show

But Ben Stein's wife watched the "big show" and he comments on it, far better than I ever could.

Another Perspective
Missed Tributes
By Ben Stein
Published 3/6/2006 2:08:21 AM
Now for a few humble thoughts about the Oscars.

I did not see every second of it, but my wife did, and she joins me in noting that there was not one word of tribute, not one breath, to our fighting men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan or to their families or their widows or orphans. There were pitifully dishonest calls for peace -- as if the people we are fighting were interested in any peace for us but the peace of the grave. But not one word for the hundreds of thousands who have served and are serving, not one prayer or moment of silence for the dead and maimed.

Basically, the sad truth is that Hollywood does not think of itself as part of America, and so, to Hollywood, the war to save freedom from Islamic terrorists is happening to someone else. It does not concern them except insofar as it offers occasion to mock or criticize George Bush. They live in dreamland and cannot be gracious enough to thank the men and women who pay with their lives for the stars' ability to live in dreamland. This is shameful.

The idea that it is brave to stand up for gays in Hollywood, to stand up against Joe McCarthy in Hollywood (fifty years after his death), to say that rich white people are bad, that oil companies are evil -- this is nonsense. All of these are mainstream ideas in Hollywood, always have been, always will be. For the people who made movies denouncing Big Oil, worshiping gays, mocking the rich to think of themselves as brave -- this is pathetic, childish narcissism.

The brave guy in Hollywood will be the one who says that this is a fabulously great country where we treat gays, blacks, and everyone else as equal. The courageous writer in Hollywood will be the one who says the oil companies do their best in a very hostile world to bring us energy cheaply and efficiently and with a minimum of corruption. The producer who really has guts will be the one who says that Wall Street, despite its flaws, has done the best job of democratizing wealth ever in the history of mankind.

No doubt the men and women who came to the Oscars in gowns that cost more than an Army Sergeant makes in a year, in limousines with champagne in the back seat, think they are working class heroes to attack America -- which has made it all possible for them. They are not. They would be heroes if they said that Moslem extremists are the worst threat to human decency since Hitler and Stalin. But someone might yell at them or even attack them with a knife if they said that, so they never will.

Hollywood is above all about self: self-congratulation, self-promotion, and above all, self-protection. This is human and basic, but let's not kid ourselves. There is no greatness there in the Kodak theater. The greatness is on patrol in Kirkuk. The greatness lies unable to sleep worrying about her man in Mosul. The greatness sleeps at Arlington National Cemetery and lies waiting for death in VA Hospitals. God help us that we have sunk so low as to confuse foolish and petty boasting with the real courage that keeps this nation and the many fools in it alive and flourishing on national TV.

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=9495

Mates sometimes misunderstand and/or won't take the time to listen to the entire explanation.

I can relate.

More of the truth surfaces

Popular Mechanics debunks ten Katrina myths.
This trusted source can't possibly have a political agenda.
Maybe by far the most unbiased and factual report.

Now What?
The Lessons of Katrina

Published in the March, 2006 issue.

NO ONE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SURPRISED.
Not the federal agencies tasked with preparing for catastrophes. Not the local officials responsible for aging levees and vulnerable populations. Least of all the residents themselves, who had been warned for decades that they lived on vulnerable terrain. But when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, it seemed as though the whole country was caught unawares. Accusations began to fly even before floodwaters receded. But facts take longer to surface. In the months since the storm, many of the first impressions conveyed by the media have turned out to be mistaken. And many of the most important lessons of Katrina have yet to be absorbed. But one thing is certain: More hurricanes will come. To cope with them we need to understand what really happened during modern America's worst natural disaster. POPULAR MECHANICS editors and reporters spent more than four months interviewing officials, scientists, first responders and victims. Here is our report.--THE EDITORS

The whole article is worth a read, in case you ever need to discuss this with a liberal family member or neighbor.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/2315076.html?page=1&c=y

Slide Safely Home, Kirby

After suffering what turned out to be a massive stroke yesterday, family members removed Kirby Puckett from life support today and he passed away at 44:

Twins Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett died tonight.
Puckett suffered a massive stroke Sunday morning at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., and underwent surgery. He had been transferred to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.

Family members assembled at the hospital Monday to make the decision on life support. The people with knowledge of Puckett's condition said he was expected to be removed from the life support sometime Monday.

Puckett had two children and was engaged to be married this summer.

http://www.startribune.com/10017/story/287541.html

You left an indelible impression on a young boy I know, one day.
Thanks, and Godspeed.

Interesting meeting today

And as you can see by this chart, the chili kicked in around 9:00am this morning.

Mr. Cranky Crack says... "That's stupid."

Raven Watch camera

What really happened to Jimmy Hoffa?

Giving Back

I ran across the article below which has sooooo many good hints about this Internet thing.
Thought I'd post it here so you ALL can reference it anytime you need.
My little way of giving something back in return for all you have given me.
Life is a never-ending eductation like this.
Enjoy.

Shortcuts for Online SearchingBy Ric Romero
Search engines are the workhorses of the web. Google alone gets several hundred million queries a day. How do we know? We Googled it.

Google has plenty of tricks up its cyber sleeve to find answers in a millisecond. Are you heading to Las Vegas for the weekend and want to know the weather?
You could go to MSN or other search engines and type in "Las Vegas weather," that'll take you to several links including weather.com. If you click on that link, you'll get the day's forecast.

Now, for a quicker solution, type in "Las Vegas weather " on Google. In a flash you'll find charts of the current temperature and the forecast for the next three days.

If you're looking for directions, many people are searching for the fastest route on sites like mapquest.com

But, if you type the address for the Staples Center in the Google search box, it takes you right to the links for MapQuest, Yahoo Maps, and Google Maps. With another click, the map appears. You can also hit the satellite image for an aerial view of the home of the Lakers.

Want to know where the hit movie "Eight Below" or other films are playing in your city?

On Yahoo, just type in "movie showtimes" and your city. A mouse click later you'll find a list of local theaters, movies and their showtimes.

Math problems have you stumped? Before you search for your calculator, search online from the Google bar.

And, if the dictionary is just too slow for you to look up the meaning of a word, try Google.

Type in define and let's say the word "heteronym" and an instant dictionary pops up. The meaning - a word identical to another in its written form, but different in sound and meaning.

Wanna read the rest? Just click your left mouse button on the line below, known as a “link”.
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=consumer&id=3953286

Can you spot the girl from Minnesota?

Finished this book

Now it's on to
"Holes In The Mattress" by Mr. Completely

Give a hit.

Help the guy win his bet.

My name is AJ, I'm 26 years old, I have been making sites since the age of 17, I don't have a degree, not a a-level, not even a gcse, everything I know is self taught, I believe that the internet is the greatest invention of the millennium, the door is wide open for me...
"I recently made a website that grew from nothing to 200,000 hits in the first week, over a game of snooker, I just happened to be boasting about it to my friends, which then turned into a debate on how websites work and how to promote them... one of them challenged me, and I love a good challenge, they bet me and said they would gladly give me £1000 if I could make a site that gets One Billion Hits! There was one major clause, I cannot spend a penny in marketing the website, just me, my laptop and nothing else! We all know I could simply put a refresh tag in and leave my laptop on for a month... so I told him I would get 1 billion unique hits just to prove it can be done!"

http://www.onebillionpageviews.com/

More on Dubai

First it's our cargo planes into JFK.
Then it's control over our cargo ports.
Now, it's our beloved colts!
What's next? Our auto manufacturing?
Dubai is going to buy this whole country from China and Japan and Saudi and Soros and Gates and Big Oil and etc.
Where does the madness stop?!

2-year-old colt goes for record $16 million in auction at Calder
February 28, 2006

MIAMI (AP) -- A 2-year-old colt who has yet to run a race drew a world record sale price of $16 million at auction Tuesday at the Fasig-Tipton sale at Calder Race Course.

Demi O'Byrne, an agent, was the bidder and purchased the colt for a team headed by John Magnier and Michael Tabor.

The sale broke the record of $13.1 million paid in the mid-1980s for Seattle Dancer, a half-brother to Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. The previous record for a 2-year-old was $5.2 million for a son of Tale of the Cat, who was sold at this sale last year.

"You don't expect to sell a $16 million horse," said Boyd Browning, chief operating officer for Fasig-Tipton of Lexington, Ky. "I don't know if it will happen again in my lifetime."

O'Byrne and John Ferguson, who represents Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai, pushed the bidding into record territory.

"The two major buyers in the world got hooked up in an emotional bidding situation, and sometimes logic doesn't prevail," Browning said. "An auction bid is not always a rational decision, but sometimes an emotional decision. Both people involved in the auction want to own the best horses in the world."

The colt's sale price last year at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July select auction now looks like the bargain of a lifetime. Randy Hartley and Dean De Renzo of Florida bought the yearling for $425,000 for the purpose of reselling him, a practice known as pinhooking.

The colt, the second foal out of Magical Masquerade by Forestry, was bred in Florida by Satish Sanan's Padua Stables. An impressive workout on Feb. 19 left potential buyers excited, prompting speculation that the colt might set a sale record. The colt ran an eighth of a mile in under 10 seconds -- 12 seconds is considered average.

"There were very high expectations," Browning said. "He's a beautiful horse, and he withstood the scrutiny of all the major buyers all week long."

http://sports.yahoo.com/rah/news?slug=ap-recordsale&prov=ap&type=lgns

Painting My Golf Cart

Lots of us have witnessed what must be nanotechnology used within cosmetics products.
Somehow they are able to block out more and more ugly as the night goes on.
Now it seems they've been able to apply similar technology to paint which can be switched on and off to block cell phone signals.


New paint blocks out cell phone signals
ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 1 (UPI) -- A Rochester, N.Y., company has developed paint that can switch between blocking cell phone signals and allowing them through.

"You could use this in a concert hall, allowing cell phones to work before the concert and during breaks, but shutting them down during the performance," said Michael Riedlinger, president of NaturalNano.

Using nanotechnology, particles of copper are inserted into nanotubes, which are ultra-tiny tubes that occur naturally in halloysite clay mined in Utah. Combined with a radio-filtering device that collects phone signals from outside a shielded space, certain transmissions can proceed while others are blocked, the Chicago Tribune reported.

However, the wireless phone industry is up in arms over the development.

"We oppose any kind of blocking technology," said Joe Farren, spokesman for The Wireless Association, the leading cell phone trade group. "What about the young parents whose baby-sitter is trying to call them, or the brain surgeon who needs notification of emergency surgery? These calls need to get through."

Wow. How will people survive if they have to go back to the old days of dinner and a movie without cell phone interruption from the babysitter!?

Holy Flying Cargo, Baathman

Where's the outrage been over this bit of old news?
If those politicians who are screaming "Bush sells out our port security!" don't DO something about air cargo from UAE flying into JFK International, does that make them hypocrites, racists, career politicians, isolationists or Bush-bashers?

verifrank says it all:

Thank you for flying Hyperbole Airlines

So, let me get this straight - While the entire US political-wonk class is frothing out the mouth over the sale of "port dock concessions to the United Arab Emirates" in a fashion I havent seen since the great "Flouride Wars of the 1950's", it turns out that "Emirates Air" and its subsidiary "Emirates Sky Cargo" has Passenger and Cargo Terminal Space at JFK.
That's John F. Kennedy INTERNATIONAL Airport, formerly known as "Idlewild"
That's in New York City, New York State.
You read that right. Passenger Terminal Space and Cargo Terminal Space.

read the whole thing
http://varifrank.com/archives/2006/02/thank_you_for_f_1.php

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