Why The War On Drugs Failed

This AlterNet article gives the clearest explanation that I have ever seen as to why the war on drugs has been a failure.

Chattanooga

I often find myself passing through Chattanooga. Many times I have spent the night in one of its motels. Years ago my family and I visited Ruby Falls and Rock City. Friends of mine have recommended I visit the aquarium, but I have never gotten around to it. This morning, I found this article about another cultural aspect of Chattanooga of which I was unaware. Slowly I am building a case for going to Chattanooga just to visit Chattanooga.

Another Proud Moment For Alabama

Being a lifelong resident of Alabama, I often get my feathers ruffled when someone from somewhere else makes snide remarks about the "rednecks" in Alabama. Then I come across an article like this and I remember what Pogo said "we have met the enemy and he is us."

Bill Moyers interviews Keith Olbermann

Watch it here.

Paul Potts

Paul Potts

Tucker Carlson Talks About The Ron Paul Movement

An Armed Society...

is a polite society. That has long been my contention, it still is. Every time some whacko with a weapon kills some people as in the Virgina Tech and Omaha Mall incidents, the usual suspects start bemoaning the fact that the USA needs more gun control. It does not work that way. Nut jobs will find a way to kill; take away their guns and they will use box cutters and jet air planes.

This morning I read this article by Jeff Perry about gun accidents. It contains a lot of very enlightening facts that you won't find in the articles by the usual suspects.

But why, you ask, do I think that an armed society is a polite society. Well if you read Jeff Perry's article he attributes it to training and knowledge. He may be right, but here in the south I think it has more to do with something else. I saw it best described a few days ago in an article by Charley Reese. In the article Charley said

"In the South, there is a cultural rule: Never insult a man you are not prepared to fight, and never fight a man you are not prepared to kill."

In an unarmed society, this applies mostly to men big enough and strong enough to fight and possibly kill each other, but as they said in the west, "God created man, Sam Colt made them equal." Put a gun in the pocket or purse of a person of small stature and immediately they become capable of defending themselves. Along with that capability comes the cultural rule that Charley talked about. So I say again, an armed society is a polite society.

Psychology Today's List of Foods Good For Your Brain

Ten Foods that are good for your brain.

Bill Sardi On HealthCare In The Future

In this article, Bill Sardi gives his predictions for what healthcare in the US will be like in the year 2050. As I would be 103 years old in 2050, I don't really expect to see this but I certainly would be happy to know that my grandson would be able to experience it.

Publicans

Thats Publicans as in Matthew 5:44 in the King James Version of the bible. I had never thought much about this word until I was reading an article that linked to Matthew 5:44 in the New International Version of the bible. It substituted "Tax Collector" for the word "Publican." Well I checked wikipedia and sure enough, there it was in black and white. A publican is a tax collector.

Now go back and read what Jesus was saying. Sure he was saying to love your enemies, that is the main message, but he was also saying that when you love those that love you, you are doing something that even a tax collector would do. I think that is called irony. It's like saying even a murderer would do that , or even a child molester would do that or even a rabid dog would do that. Of all of the loathsome, despicable, slimy beings and creatures in the universe, Jesus chose a tax collector for his irony. What does that tell you about tax collectors?

Stephen King Nails It

I read this TIME interview with Stephen King and I have to admit that I pretty much feel the same way he does.

How to make sense of the Ron Paul revolution : Washington Post

What's behind the improbably successful (so far) presidential campaign of a 72-year-old 10-term Republican congressman from Texas who pines for the gold standard while drawing praise from another relic from the hyperinflationary 1970s, punk-rocker Johnny Rotten?.......ronpaulnews.net

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Out with the Old, In with the New

The time has come in America to get rid of our current crop of politicians and officeholders and replace them with a new crop. I say this because I believe that the folks in office are completely out of touch with reality. I am not talking about at the National level, although it is certainly true of the upper levels of government. In fact I am not even talking about State government. What I am referring to is the local politicians. Let me preface this by saying, this may be different where you live, although I doubt it.

Let me offer up a couple of examples of what I am seeing an hearing from local politicians. A few months back, in Ohio I believe, Ford Motor Company closed a local plant. In the article that I read about the closing, one of the officials of the city said that they were going to have to find a way to compensate for the loss of revenue due to the closing of the plant. His proposal was to increase the local sales tax by one and one-half percent. Think about that. People are being thrown out of work. Their incomes are being destroyed or at least greatly reduced and the city wants to raise the amount of tax they pay.

Yesterday, I got a copy of the paper from my old home town. On the front page there was an article telling how the local yarn mill was going to close in January of next year. This will put 100 people out of work. One hundred may not sound like much to you but in a town with a population of less than 500, it is a catastrophe. As sad as this article was, there was an even sadder article over in the right hand column on the bottom half of the front page. It said that the local government officials have determined that now is the time to raise the cost of a business license by 370 percent. I guess that they figure that some of the people thrown out of work by the closing of the mill might decided to open a business of their own and higher license fees would help balance the city's budget.

I know that these are just a couple of isolated instances, but I think that they represent the mentality of the current crop of public office holders in our nation. I say out with the old and in with the new.

When We Pull Out Of Iraq

Want a clue about what will happen when we pull our troops out of Iraq? Then take a look at this article about what happened in Basra when the British pulled their troops out.

A Marine Talks about Iraq.

In this article Marine Matt Howard talks about his experience in Iraq.

Uncle Jay Explains Recess

Actually I am kinda glad that it works this way, think of all the damage they could do if they worked 5 eights 50 weeks a year like average folks do.

Old Glory Insurance

Interesting Observation from CNN

Waterboarding and Tasering

Waterboarding was a war crime when the Japanese did it to American GIs during WWII, enough said.

On to tasering. I've been reading a lot about tasering lately. Seems everytime you pick up a paper or turn on a TV or check a website, a bunch of policemen somewhere have tasered someone. I suspect for every tasering incident we hear about, 20 or 30 occur that no one mentions. Some of these tasering incidents end badly. I think that tasering has become too acceptable, but what to do about it? I have an answer. Equip each taser with a moniter that tells when it was used and for how long. Assign each taser to a specific individual. When the taser is used, subject the person assigned the taser to an equal amount of tasering. That would assure that tasers will only be used when absolutely necessary.

Ron Paul on Jay Leno

A video of Ron Paul on Jay Leno on 30 October 2007.

A Question For All Of Us

The Greatest Generation?

I am a baby boomer, born July 1947. Of course that means that my parents were part of what is called the greatest generation. Every time I hear that title, I turn over in my mind what it means. They survived the great depression, they won WWII, they put a man on the moon. I have to admit that those are great accomplishments. Maybe even great enough to qualify for the title of great generation, but greatest? Greatest implies best ever and to be the best ever, you almost think that they would have few faults and no resounding failures. Well they did not mess up too often, but the one uh oh that comes to mind is a big one. They brought into the world and raised the baby boomers. For that, I am eternally grateful, but lets face it, the fruit of their efforts is pretty pitiful. Sure they did fine on quantity, but look around you, the quality is lacking. The boomers are now running the country and we stink. Nope, the greatest generation came close, but I fear that their child rearing efforts will relegate them to being a great generation instead of the greatest generation.

Watch This

Always Has Been, Always Will Be

This old world has been around for awhile. Even if you are one of those folks who believes that every minute of time since the world began is accounted for in the bible, that is still a long time. I'm not an accomplished student of history or of human nature but I've read enough to realize that ever since the world began, there has always been some one that wanted to tell other people what they should or should not do. I suspect it will always be that way.

In our age, most of those types have managed to get themselves into government. Now there are a lot of them so it takes a lot of government to provide enough places for them. They generally fall into two categories, aggressive or passive aggressive. The aggressive ones get into law enforcement and the military. The passive aggressive ones get elected to county commissions, school boards, zoning boards, state legislatures, congress, etc. All of these passive aggressive types are constantly making new rules. A lot of average people have come to believe all these new rules are some how necessary for us to run the world. They are not.

For example, mother nature took care of things quite nicely before the EPA or ADEM were in existence. A lot of folks will tell you that mother nature worked in the past because we did not have all these man made toxins, radioactivity and the like. Well, I read recently that a new kind of algae or fungus has sprung up in the Chernobyl ruins and that it is eating away at the radioactive waste and should mitigate it's effects sooner than anyone could have predicted. No agency of the former Soviet Union is responsible for that, just mother nature.

Yes, this old earth can pretty well take care of itself. I believe that God designed it that way but if you prefer to think it evolved, no problem, the results at Chernobyl are just some more of that nifty evolution. Either way, things work out.

So, if all these rules and regulations are not necessary to hold terra firma together then what are they for? They are for all these 'bosses' to get off on. The passive aggressive types make and enforce rules for the same reason that dogs mate. It feels good to them. They are biologically driven to it. No dog is thinking of making puppies to further the species when it mates, it just does it cause it likes it. Same with rule makers. The next time the town council of your home town has an open meeting where they are gonna debate and vote on some proposed ordinance, go and watch the process. When you leave, ask yourself if what you saw there reminded you more of what happened in the first two chapters of Genesis or of what you saw those two antelope doing on Animal Planet last week.

Blog Keeping

Kind of like house keeping, but in your blog instead of your house. OK, tonight it came to me that I had a lot of links in many of my blog posts. After all that is one of the great advantages of the internet, right? You find something that interests you, you think it might interest the friends and family (one of each) that frequent (make semi-annual visits to) your blog. So you link to it, but links expire so every so often you verify the links. Being a good cybercitizen, I decided to go back tonight and check all my links to make sure they were still valid. A lot of them were not good. In fact so many so that I did not take time to try to find the old info in a new place, I just marked the bad links and will go back later and fix what I can.

It is obvious to me that some of the old postings will have to be removed as I put very little info in the post, just a link to a now nonexistent article. The worst offender is Yahoo news, apparently they only leave their info up for a few days. I found one link from last month that had already expired. In the future if I find something of interest on Yahoo, I will paraphrase, not link. Kinda takes away the main advantage of the internet doesn't it?

Sometimes I think We Might Be Doomed And Then...

I read an article like this and I know damned well that we are doomed. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if God doesn't kick our ass to the curb pretty soon, he is gonna owe Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.

Stupid In America - A 20/20 Documentary

I don't get network tv so I missed this when it was on, but I watched it today on the internet and felt that I had to link to it. If you have children or grand children that are or are about to be school age, you need to watch this documentary.

Let He Who Is Without Sin...

As I have said before, I live in North Shelby county. To say that North Shelby is Republican would be like saying the Pope is a Catholic. When you live in North Shelby everyone, including the Alabama Republican Committee assumes you are Republican. If you have a zip code that falls in North Shelby, you get the ARC mailings, if you have an email that they can tie to North Shelby, you get their emailings. I admit that quite often I do vote for the Republican candidate, sometimes just like citizens of the old USSR voted for the communist candidate but that is not what is on my mind this morning.

Lately the ARC emails have been making a big todo about double dipping. Seems a lot of, according to the ARC, Alabama Democrats are drawing money from the state from two different sources i.e. double dipping. Can't say I am too surprised. Of course the implication is that double dipping is crooked. What? A politician do something crooked?

I don't correspond with the ARC, they send me emails, some I read, some I delete without reading. If I were going to respond to the ARC emails, I would have to say that to me, double dipping is like double murder. Is murder any less of a sin than double murder? Is stealing any less of a sin than double stealing? If you are a member of an organization that forceably takes money from people, wastes most of it, but splits the remainder up among the members, is your crime any less because you only receive one share instead of two?

Is it just me, or is there something wrong here?

OK, the whitehouse tells us that habeas corpus can't be restored in this country because it would be a threat to national security but we must let blackwater employees commit murder with impunity in Iraq because it is vital for national security.

I'm Gonna Have To Set Up Another Computer System

I already have several working. I've got one that I use as my primary machine, one that I use as a phone server, one that hosts an ipcop firewall, one that runs Ubuntu Linux and a couple of laptops, one of the laptops is for use when I travel and the other one runs an OBII automobile diagnostics programs. Now some of you may be asking yourself what in the hell does he need so many computers for and how could he possibly need another. Well I need them cause I need them, so there. As for needing another, really I don't, but sometimes it seems like pretty soon I might, just to keep up with passwords.

Thats right, passwords. I've got a spreadsheet that grows everyday that does nothing but track passwords. Mind you, I don't enter the exact password, just some mnemonic device or clue to help me remember the real password. It is rapidly becoming too long to print on a single sheet and now many of the websites are throwing additional stuff in there like passphrase, secret question, secret image, pin, secret handshake or crap like that. Used to be things like your mother's maiden name. That won't do any more. Now you have to choose a picture and a phrase and a pin. Or some question like what was the name of your first pet's veterinarian's receptionist?

A while back I tried to get into my account on a site and it asked me where I would like to go on vacation. I answered, it balked, I answered again, it balked again. One more failure and I was dead in the water. I called customer service. The lady asked me for every thing except my underwear size and finally she gave me the correct response to where I wanted to go on vacation. It was neither one of my original answers, I suppose I was in a different mood when I had provided the original answer some time back and optimistically thought I would recall it. On top of that, I had used an abbreviation. Listen, if you tell the computer you want to go to NYC, don't expect it to understand and accept New York City.

Does all this increased security work? I doubt it. Back in September, I was visiting in Florida and I got an email from a credit card company. They had noticed some suspicious activity on my credit card and wanted to know if it was me. Turns out it wasn't. The credit card company in question is one of the ones with the multiple level security to get into their online system. That was no problem for the gang of thieves that was using my card illegally. In fact I'm sure they did not have access to my online account and I know they did not have the card. They just spoofed a number and got it to work. Thank goodness the credit card company had a full time unit looking out for strange activity.Then again, maybe the online security does work. Maybe it made it too hard to get account numbers that way so the crooks found another soft spot. Either way it looks like increased security is the wave of the future. I've not set up a password, passphrase, secret santa sever yet, but I do have an old Dell machine sitting in the corner of my bedroom just in case.

Environmental Effects of Increase CO2

This paper is not a quick read, but if you take the time to read and absorb it, I think you will find it very interesting.

Leftover Grits

Since the later part of last week, I have been pretty sick. Apparently I had the flu because I had most of the classic flu symptoms. Linda's mom asked her about me going to one of the "doc in a box" places. She told her mom that there wasn't much point in asking, that I would not go to a doctor. Of course this is a prevalent misconception shared among my family and friends. It's not that I won't go to a doctor. I will. Its just that I have not been in quite some time. My contention is that you go to the doctor when you are sick. By sick, I don't mean you feel bad. I mean that you have assessed your situation and said to yourself, this has gotten to the point that I need some outside intervention. Fortunately, for most of my life I have been blessed with extremely good health but there have been occasions when I had to have medical attention. There have also been some close calls. This flu episode was not one of them. In fact, by the second full day I had experienced a slight improvement.

Some times when I feel bad, I will push myself a bit to try to get back to a normal life as soon as possible. The flu is an exception. When I have the flu, I try to resume my normal lifestyle with due diligence. I suspect that is because of the stories I was told as a child about my fathers flu experiences. When he has around 12 or 13 years old my father had a case of the flu. The worst seemed to be over after a few days and he was back up running and doing the things that a young boy does. The story was that he got too hot and relapsed. He became gravely ill. So ill that my mother's grandfather took her over "to visit him one more time before he died." Fortunately he did not die, but instead grew up to marry my mother and produce me and my sister.

Since I have been laying low, recovering, I have not made a trip to the grocery store. I usually keep a fair stock of staples on hand and I have not wanted much to eat as my appetite has not exactly been great. Linda has repeatedly offered to bring me anything I needed but I had enough to get by and I did not want to expose her to the flu in case I was still contagious.

The one area where I was a bit short was breakfast food. By yesterday, I was down to my last egg and my last two strips of bacon. Over the years I've gotten into the habit of eating hash browns as I keep potatoes on hand all the time and the skillet is already hot from frying the eggs, bacon, sausage or whatever. Yesterday, I decided that I had time so I would fix myself some grits. I looked high and low in the cabinets, pantry, shelves and refrigerator and all I could come up with was an old bag of real grits from the side shelf of the refrigerator. Most people I know use instant grits. A few hardy souls use "quick grits" which still take about 15 minutes, but no one, I repeat, no one cooks regular grits. I can cook a 5 pound beef roast in a pressure cooker faster than you can cook regular grits. Had I not been staying in recuperating from the flu, I would have either broken down and settled for hash browns or jumped in the pickup and gone and bought a package of instant grits. But I was laid up anyway with plenty of time on my hands so I decided what the heck.

About 45 minutes before I started cooking the egg and bacon, I brought a couple of cups of water to a boil in a pan and then spooned in several tablespoons of the grits. I stired them up good and then turned down the heat for them to simmer. I checked them along and added water as needed. When about 45 minutes had past, I checked the grits, they still needed some time but I figured that when I finished the egg, bacon and toast, the grits would be ready.

You can check package instructions, search the internet, and talk to anyone you like but let me tell you, regardless of what you read, see or hear, there are really three immutable laws of grit preparation: (1) It always takes more water than the recipe states, (2) The amount of grits you put in always produces more finished product than the recipe states and (3) The cooking time required is longer than the recipe says it is.

Needless to say, when the egg, bacon and toast were ready, my real grits were just barely getting there. I severed up a helping, put on some butter and salt and ate breakfast. When I had finished breakfast, I went back to the kitchen to check the grits which were still simmering on the top of the stove. They were in need of water and nearing the point of being completely ready to eat. If this had been some instant grits or even quick grits, I would have probably just dumped the whole mess in the garbage, but when you spend so much time on a dish, you get invested in it. So I added some more water and let them continue to simmer. Later in the morning, I remembered them. They were in significant need of water this time but when I added the water and tasted them, the grits were just right. I allowed them to cool for awhile then put them in a covered bowl and stuck them in the refrigerator.

This morning at breakfast time, I was out of eggs , out of bacon and still laying low from the flu. I examined my choices and decided that a few strips of fried bologna , a piece of cheese toast and the bowl of left over grits warmed in the microwave would serve the purpose. I was right. Leftover grits heated in the microwave and seasoned with the appropriate amount of butter and salt are not bad at all.

The Absent Minded Waiter

This is my all time favorite short film:

Is Alzheimer's disease really Type 3 Diabetes?

This article discusses that possibility.

From a Marine in al Anbar Province

I just read this article written by a Marine currently in al Anbar Province in Iraq. He makes an interesting point.

A Guy Walks Into A Bar ...

I found these jokes on someone else's blog. Some of them were so good that I just had to link to them.

US Political Regions

I found this map of US political regions and the accompanying descriptions very interesting.

Are You a Rifleman or a Victim? What I Did on 9/11

This from Greg Perry:

Tuesday, September 11, 2007, I celebrated freedom in the best way possible. It’s an eroding freedom. It’s freedom in a land where freedoms before 9/11 were dwindling and after 9/11 they began dwindling more rapidly. It’s a freedom where the airports treat you like criminals instead of customers. It’s a freedom where you are considered crazy if you

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We Are Doomed

If, 1 in 3 Americans still thinks that W is doing a good job and about 1 in 4 Americans approves of the job that congress is doing, we are doomed. No country can persist with that many delusional people in its population.

The Importance of Vitamin D

This article by Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD gives many interesting facts about the substance we call Vitamin D.

I remember when my sister and I were young, my mother gave us cod liver oil. Our doctor, Dr. Goff, had instructed her to give it to us, I suppose to reduce the chance of rickets. We have both been blessed with good health all our lives. I suspect that the Vitamin D in the cod liver oil may have given us a good start.

Eat some Fat

According to this Realage article if you eat about 70 calories worth of good fat, ie. walnuts, almonds or peanuts about 20 minutes before your meal, you will eat less and stay satisfied longer. In this article they make a similar case for whole grain bread dipped in olive oil.

Ron Paul In Fort Worth

Gun Control Works

But not in the way it is supposed to. England is finding that out.

The Old Wal-Mart Building in Pelham

Some of you may remember that awhile back I suggested that Pelham, Alabaster and Helena be combined into one town and that the city hall be the old Wal-mart building in Pelham. That's the old Wal-mart not the old, old Wal-mart. The old, old Wal-mart is now a Big Lots. Well no one listened to me. Apparently no one with authority, or at least no one with money liked my idea. Instead, someone has come in and remodeled the old Wal-mart into a building set up for multiple smaller shops. This remodeling work has been completed for awhile but the building(s) are still empty. In this months Pelham Pravda, the mayor had a little blurb where he was bragging about how tasteful the remodeling was and how that was what we could expect in the future now that Pelham has a new set of zoning ordinances. My question is this tasteful building going to continue to sit idle. I would have been more impressed with a little less taste and a little more commerce.

A Fascist Government In America?

[DEAD LINK]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070828/ts_nm/world_firearms_dc

This is the reason that I don't spend too much time worrying about a fascist government in the USA.

Wake Up Boomer!

If you are, like I am, a Baby Boomer, you had better get your head out of your ass and look at this video. After you do, ask yourself "are all these other little piss ant things that I am worrying about more important than this?" If not, you need to get on the phone to your worthless congressman and tell him or her to get to work on fixing this mess!

America To The Rescue

Once again, Jon Stewart and the Daily Show use humor to get at the truth. The bleeps are in place but be forewarned if you can read lips there are some expletives.

26 August 2007. Sorry, YouTube pulled the video. Try Here.

I Don't Microwave My Caribe Cup

I think that I have mentioned before that this years World's Longest Yard Sale was somewhat subdued on Thursday. While still impressive, the crowds were smaller and there were fewer sales. Thursday is the day that I usually take in the Gadsden to Chattanooga leg of the sale. This year I found myself moving along much faster than usual due to the reduced crowds and sales. I was up in Cherokee county and past a county road that had a sign, "community yard sale 2.5 miles -->". Now typically I ignore such signs during the course of the World's Longest Yard Sale since I am a traveler more than a shopper. The people that I call shoppers stop at every sale, look at virtually every item at the sale, then move on to the next. Us travelers ride along until we come to a sale, slow down, size it up and if it looks promising, we stop. Otherwise we move on. Nothing wrong with either strategy, its just a matter of preference. Anyway, a traveler usually does not have the time to go 2.5 miles off down a county road. This year I did have the time so down the road I went. There were several little sales along the road before I got to the community sale. I did not buy anything at the community sale but on the way back, I stopped at each of the little sales. At one, a small coffee cup caught my eye. It was white with a green stripe around the top and a narrower green strip around the middle, it would hold about 4 ounces and had thick sides and a sturdy handle, like the cups you see in resturants. It was marked 25 cents so I decided to buy it. When I took it up to the lady who was running the sale she had me turn it over and looked at the bottom, she said something about Puerto Rico that I did not understand. I gave her a quarter, got back in my truck and drove on. Later on, I looked again at the bottom of the cup. It says Caribe Puerto Rico USA W-4 which means nothing to me. I did not buy the cup because I collect or anything like that. I bought it because I like to drink coffee from small cups.

This particular cup reminds me of a train trip that my grandfather Kelley and I took back in 1962. My uncle was stationed in Chicago and he had invited my grandfather to come up and he would take him to Canada fishing. I was invited as well, probably so my grandfather would not have to make the trip alone. I was about 15 at the time albiet a somewhat immature 15 by todays standards. We boarded the Central of Georgia Seminole in Sylacauga late one afternoon and headed for Chicago. Next morning around breakfast time we were clickity clacking through the corn fields in downstate Illinois. My grandfather and I made our way to the dining car and had a seat. A waiter came by, handed us a check pad like waiters and waitresses take orders on and told us to write down what we wanted. I don't remember what either one of us had except I remember that my grandfather wanted coffee. He could write, but for some reason that I do not now recall, he had me write out his order. On the pad I wrote "cup of coffee" along with whatever else he wanted. When the waiter came back he picked up the pad. He turned to me and said, you can write just the word "coffee", we will bring it to you in a cup and grinned. Sure enough, they brought the coffee in a cup and I am pretty sure that it was a cup very much like my little Caribe cup.

Every few days, I make a full pot of coffee. I hardly ever drink it all. I turn it off before it burns. My father taught me that coffee that has not been left on too long and gotten a burned taste is fine in the afternoon or even the next morning if you microwave it. So I find myself microwaving coffee a lot. I am sure that my little Caribe cup, sturdy as it is, would hold up to a microwave ok, but I am not taking any chances. Some ceramics and the like don't do that well in the microwave. They take up the heat instead of letting their contents warm. I suspect that the life of items like that are shortened considerably by being microwaved. I only have the one little Caribe cup and I don't intend to take any chances with it. For the time being, I will microwave my coffee in a pyrex measuring cup and then pour it into the Caribe cup. Maybe one of these days when I get a backup Caribe cup I will test it in the microwave.

Controlling Blood Sugar

According to this RealAge article a piece of whole grain rye toast is a better snack for controlling blood sugar than an apple. To me, that seemed somewhat counter intuitive. I guess we don't always know what we think we know.

Fox Attacks Iran

The Magic Jack

Now that Sunrocket has gone belly up, I am back in the hunt for a VOIP phone company. Initially I signed up with Teleblend. It was the easiest option as they could use the existing Sunrocket "Gizmo", which is really just a dedicated router. Realizing that Teleblend might only be a temporary option, I started checking the newsgroups to see what the talk was. In one post someone had put just one word, magicjack. I entered magicjack.com in my browser and sure enough, there was a new VOIP option.

Magicjack is still in beta and has some bugs but they appear to be working hard to make it better. It costs about $40 initially and then $20 a year thereafter. You get a phone number for incoming calls and can call the USA and Canada toll free. Setup was simple. Unlike Teleblend, it does require that you have a computer. That computer must be on when calls are made or received. It only works with XP and Vista right now. They are promising Apple and Linux versions later on.

I've made a few calls with it and the voice quality was very good. I'm not ready to make it my full time phone just yet, but if it continues to work well and they get to the point where they can port my existing number, who know?

Propaganda

This article by Bob Wallace on "How Propaganda Works" was interesting to me.

The Secret to a Healthy Body

The secret to a healthy body is simple and actually not too difficult, but all the same it does take daily discipline. In addition, it doesn’t need to cost you a lot of money. There are five areas of focus that will keep your body in shape, healthy, flexible, and strong.

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Two for a Nickel, Three for a Dime

Back in the mid 1960's, country grocery stores had what we called a nickel pack of crackers. It was three or maybe four double saltines in a small box or plastic wrap. It contained about what one person would eat with a small chunk of hoop cheese, a can of sardines, potted meat or vienna sausage. They usually sold for 5 cents, hence the name nickel pack of crackers. One Sunday afternoon, my folks sent me to a little store not far from our house to pick up something, what it was I don't remember. What I do remember is that when I went to pay for my items, there was a produce basket sitting in front of the counter. It was full of nickel packs of crackers. On the side of the basket was a cardboard sign with the following written in black ink: "2 for 5 cents, 3 for 10 cents." When I got home, I told my parents about it and they told me that I had been mistaken, but I knew better. I have never forgotten that sign.

Last week while I was on the WLYS, I came upon a sale in northern Kentucky. They had several boxes of new white vinyl binders. The top box was open. It had a sign, in black ink, that said 10 cents each, $2.00 per box. I picked up a box, walked over to the man that was seated under a canopy and said "$2.00 a box?" He said yes and I handed him $2.00. I figured there must be 2 dozen binders in the box. This morning I was getting some things out of the back of my pickup. The box of binders was still in there. On the end of the box it had some writing and the number 18. I opened the box and counted, sure enough there were 18 binders in it. Looks like I got the "3 for a dime" deal.

WLYS 2007

Last night I returned from this year's World's Longest Yard Sale. As always, it was hot. Some locations had rain showers but overall it was a great trip. There were fewer sales in some places but sales had cropped up in places where I had not seen them in prior years. One lady told me she only has sales every third or fourth year. For the most part, the crowds were smaller, but Saturday was still a big day.

If you like yard sales and traveling the blue highways, you should give it a try.

Ron Paul and the Empire

I ran across this post this morning. Be sure and click on the "Read More" down at the bottom of this blog entry. It takes you to the article in its entirety and there are some interesting points that are worth reading. What the author, Steven LaTulippe, is saying is something that I have suspected for some time. Of course he may be wrong, I may be wrong, but if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

When evaluating Ron Paul's chances, it’s important to accept one fact about contemporary America: This is not a democracy, and certainly not a constitutional republic. America is actually a carefully concealed oligarchy. A few thousand people, mostly in government, finance, and the military-industrial complex, run this country for their own purposes

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Back When 50 Cents Meant Something

Yesterday, Linda and I were driving down to Childersburg and we got to discussing passenger trains. She was telling me about a trip that her 5th grade class made from Birmingham to Childersburg on a train. When I was in the 5th grade, several years earlier than she was, my class had made a similar train trip, from Sylacauga to Alexander City. In discussing the trips, I was reminded of a funny incident that happened on my train trip. A vendor came through the car selling concessions. One of my class mates jumped up and asked him how much for a Coke. The vendor replied 25 cents. My classmate immediately dropped back into his seat. We all laughed. In those days, a regular 6 ounce Coke cost a nickel. To us, the quarter Coke was as extravagant as $6.50 beer is today at a professional baseball game.

This morning I was thinking again about the train trip and how much money has changed in my lifetime. It brought to mind a story my father told me. He was showing me an old 12 guage shotgun. It was pretty well used up but he said that he had bought it from and old colored man (back then we were not familiar with the term African American) down at Speed. He said that the old man said he had found it in a briar patch. Daddy said that he believed it to be the gun that one colored man, whose name he called but I have long since forgotten, used to kill another colored man in Speed. One man killing another wasn't all that unusual, that kind of thing has been going on ever since Cain and Abel. No, what was interesting was why he killed him. Seems that the first man, the one that did the killing, had loaned the second man 50 cents. After a reasonable period of time, the first man asked the second man for repayment. Apparently the second man made excuses for awhile, but eventually he grew tired of having to make excuses and told the first man that he did not have any intention of ever repaying the 50 cents. Upon hearing that, the first man went home, got his 12 guage single shot long tom shot gun, went back to the field where the second man was working and killed him.

This incident happened sometime before 1950. Now many may say that this was a killing on a matter of principle and I can partially accept that argument, but even so, who would kill anyone today over 50 cents? 50 cents has become so inconsequential that if you give it to someone, you would hardly consider it a loan. And if you did give it to someone, what would they do with it? Not much. If you used your shotgun to kill them over it, you would probably spend more than 50 cents on the shell. Gives new meaning to the phrase "not worth the powder it would take to kill him." No, 50 cents meant something back when this incident occurred but it doesn't mean much anymore.

Ok, This Is Just Great!

Can you hit a fast ball?

Pick Your Candidate

This website offers 25 questions on issues that help you sort through all those folks running for president. Pick a position on all of the questions along with how important each issue is to you. The results will be a list showing you how well the candidates line up with your positions.

Open Wireless Internet

Open wireless internet may be closer than we think, provided Google gets its way.

Foods That Boost Your Mood

Read here about seven simple foods that boost your mood. I don't know if this really works or not, but I may give it a try since all of these foods are on my list of things I like.

The Troops Vote With Their Money

As you know if you have been keeping up with my blog, I advocate that to truly bring democracy to Iraq, we need to let the US troops over there vote on whether to stay or come home. Well, in a way, some of them have. This article says that "according to FEC numbers, Ron Paul has received more campaign contributions from military members than any other single candidate." Since Ron Paul is calling for bringing the troops home as soon as possible, it would seem that they support that view.

If you truly want to "Support Our Troops", I suggest you go on over to RonPaul2008.com and make a contribution.

Why The Germans Supported Hitler

Did you ever ask yourself why the German people supported Adolf Hitler? Read this article by Jacob Hornberger. It might give you some insight into what was really going on.

We Are Mad As Hell...

And we ain't gonna take it any more. Could

[DEAD LINK]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20070718/cm_thenation/45215225

this be a sign of things to come? Are the American people finally so sick and tired of the corrupt folks in government, both democrat and republican that they are ready to elect people that will turn this whole mess up side down? God, I hope so!

Gary North on Envy

In this article , Gary North explains how the sin of envy is at the root of socialism.

Ron Paul @ Google

Here is the video of Ron Paul at Google Headquarters in California last week.

The Constitution

The complete text of the Constitution of the United States."

10 Virtually Instant Ways To Improve Your Life

Here is an article from Lifehack.org listing 10 ways to improve your life. Several of these are things that I have found out the hard way (through life experience) to be true.

Ron Paul's Numbers

This article offers some interesting answers to the question "What's up with Ron Paul's Numbers?"

The Ron Paul Earthquake

His chances may be slim, but at least he is giving voice to what so many of us think and feel.

A Soldier Reflects

An email from a veteran of the Iraq war.

Let me guess...

1. She will refuse to answer specific questions.
2. Congress will find her in contempt.
3. There will be some sort of court trial.
4. She will be found guilty.
5. She will be sentenced to a term in prison.
6. The president will commute her sentence right before she goes to jail.
7. The president will pardon her on his last day in office.

Promoting Democracy

You don't have to be a rocket scientist, brain surgeon or as Mr. Bush might say a rocket surgeon to know that the people in the United States are divided on the war in Iraq. There are a lot of different talking points but what it boils down to are two basic camps. On one had you have those who say that we are over there "spreading democracy", "fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here" and "we need to give the surge a chance". On the other hand are those that say "the thing is un-winable, bring our troops home as soon as possible."

Right now, the polls would indicate that there are more folks that agree with the later than agree with the former. Unfortunately, the highly touted "democracy" that we are advocating does not apply in this case. All that really matters is what the folks inside the beltway do. To date it would appear that in deed if not in word, they are telling us, in the words of Mr. Cheney, to go f*#k ourselves.

Obviously these two sides are not going to reconcile anytime soon. There is an old saying "divided we fall." Since no one wants to fall, we need to come up with a workaround for this impasse. I think I've got one.

What we need to do is print out some cards with the following on them:

****************************************************************************

[ ] Yes, I support the Iraq war and am willing to go over there and fight.
[ ] No, I do not support the Iraq war and don't want to be involved with it.

Signature _____________________________ Date: ________

****************************************************************************

Have the IRS, who knows where everyone is anyway, send a card to every US citizen over the age of 21 (if you ain't old enough to drink, you ain't old enough to fight.) When I say everyone that includes the men and women currently in Iraq, the president, the vice president, members of congress, governors of the 50 states, i.e. everyone. Make it a criteria of service in Iraq that someone has marked on their card that Yes, they are willing to go over there and fight. Anyone who marks no does not have to go or if they are already over there they must be brought home immediately. Load all those who mark Yes on the next available flight to Baghdad. That way, the ones who support the war will do the fighting and the rest of us will do whatever it is that we do. Now that is democracy.

The TSA at work

Here is an example of the TSA at work. The TSA spokesman said these tests are made very difficult. Does she think that terrorists are gonna make things easy?

Catchers In The Rye

Many people read "the Catcher in the Rye" when they are young. I will be 60 years old tomorrow and I am just now reading it. Even though I have not finished the book yet, I am fairly certain that I understand how Naman Crowe is referencing it in this article. I am absolutely certain that I understand what he is telling us, and I believe it with all my heart to be true.

An Ingenious Commercial.

This one had me guessing all the way.


Via: VideoSift

What U.S. Comptroller General David Walker has to say

Think everything is hunky dory? Before you answer read what U.S. Comptroller General David Walker has to say.

You Owe It To Yourself

Whether you are one of my friends or neighbors that are still riding around with a "W" sticker on your car, or you have an outdated Kerry/Edwards 04 bumper sticker on your hybrid, or your pickup has one of Junior's 08 decals on the back glass, or even if you don't own a vehicle or have never voted in your life and really don't give a tinkers damn about politics, you owe it to yourself to listen to this. Click on the link and when the page comes up, go over on the right hand side and click on the launch button underneath the picture of Keith Olbermann. Ignore the commercial, it only lasts a few seconds.

A Shiver Down My Spine

When I read this article it sent a shiver down my spine. There used to be a guy on the radio in Birmingham, I don't recall his name, that ended everyone of his stories with "Wake Up A-mer-a-ka." I think it is time to bring him back and have him broadcast 24/7.

Time to Invade SE Alabama and SW Georgia

I have relatives that live on the East Coast of Florida so I find myself often driving through Southeast Alabama and/or Southwest Georgia. The area is covered up by peanuts. After reading this article I realize that we are wasting our time in the middle east. It's time to invade peanut country and put a stop to this threat.

Al Gore, Tag you're it

Or to put it another way, read this article, the ball is now in your court.

Prioritizing Your Concerns

Everyday I talk to people who are concerned about something. Many of their concerns have to do with things that they have read in the newspaper, heard on a radio talk show or seen on TV. It seems there is no end to the bad news with which we are inundated. How is a person supposed to cope with all this? How do we keep it from overwhelming us?

My answer is prioritizing your concerns by determining which things affect you the most. I feel the best way to do that is to develop a list of questions, answer them and then sort your concerns according to the answers.

For example:
Has you or any member of your immediate family been ---
... Attacked by a terrorist?
... Mistreated by the police?
... Shot?
... Raped?
... Robbed?
... Treated in a heavy-handed manner by a government official?
... Harassed by the IRS?
... Forced to pay an unfair amount of property tax?
... Gouged by someone selling ice and gasoline after a natural disaster?
... Poisoned by Chinese cat food?
... The victim of a stroke or heart attack caused by arthritis medicine?
... Blinded by an erectile dysfunction medicine?
... Flooded out by rising sea levels caused by global warming?
... Forced to wait too long in line at the post office?
...Gotten salmonella from bad peanut butter or e-coli from ground beef?
...Had to significantly alter your life style due to rising fuel prices?


Enough, you get the idea. Now make a list of questions like that for yourself, list everything that currently concerns you. Answer the questions, “yes”, “maybe” or “no”. Then sort the list based on the answers, yes questions first, maybe questions second and no questions third.

Voila, now you have a priority list of concerns. Worry, if you like, about the ones at the top of the list, think occasionally about the ones in the middle and forget about the ones at the bottom.

You have my permission to sub sort within the three categories based on your own feelings and prejudices.

Homeland Security

To me, there is something alien about the word homeland. Maybe I watched too many WWII movies when I was growing up but everytime someone says homeland, a chill runs up my spine and the picture of a guy in a Nazi uniform shouting about the fatherland pops into my mind. I grew up with the concepts of my country, my state, and my county. The closest thing to homeland was homestead, ole home place or just home. So to me homeland is the land that your home stands on, which in my case is 2 acres in Alabama. If you say home security to many folks they think of Brinks or ADT, but I always think of that loaded shotgun I keep standing in the corner. So in conclusion, to me homeland security is a loaded shotgun in my home in Alabama.

Ron Paul on why young people support him

$165,200

That is what your congressperson and your senators make each year. Are they worth it?

What Would a Ron Paul Presidency Look Like?

Muckraker Report: You seem to have a stronger anti-war stance than even many of the Dem. candidates: unlike Hillary Clinton, for instance, you voted against the Iraq war. In terms of foreign policy, what would a Ron Paul presidency look like?Ron Paul: Well, it certainly wouldn’t involve going to war with countries that pose no threat to us..

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Something Stinks In Alabama

I love Alabama. I was born here and I've lived here all my life. I love the land, I love the people, but the politics stinks. If there is anything rotten or corrupt going on anywere, you can bet that some politician from Alabama has his or her hand in it. For the latest installment of this sorry mess, read this article by Scott Horton.

Hillary Scares Sen. Mike Gravel

I will be voting for Republican Ron Paul in the primary, but if I were a democrat, I would have to vote for Mike Gravel. Here is what he has to say about Hillary:

"During one of the debates I mentioned that my fellow Democratic candidates scare me. Hillary's speech last week to the Take Back America conference gives me yet another reason to be afraid." - a column from Sen. Mike Gravel



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What we've got here is ...

Many of you that remember the 1967 movie "Cool Hand Luke" will recall the famous line by Strother Martin," What we've got here is a failure to communicate." It had been quite some time since I had thought of that line, but today, I was reading Angora Financials 5 Minute Forecast. They were talking about a kakistocracy. Well I went to Answers.com and looked up kakistocracy and I immediately thought of that line by Strother Martin, except I substituted "kakistocracy" for "failure to communicate." Check it out for yourself and see if you don't agree? What we've got here is a kakistocracy.

Sunspots

This an interesting article about sunspots and the effects they have on earth.

Another interesting thing about sunspots is their effect on electromagnetic communications. Those of you old enough to remember the world before cable TV may remember something called "skip". You would go in and turn on the TV and instead of your usual channels, you would be getting one or more from further away. In our case it was channel 3 in Columbus, GA. That skip was caused by increased ionization of the upper atmosphere. The ionization caused radio waves to bend differently. The increased ionization was due to increased sunspot activity.

pentonville@gmail.com shared a video with you

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The Alabama Legislature

Well, at least they have found something else to occupy their time instead of passing themselves pay raises. As for what Barron is said to have called Bishop, I would say it probably takes one to know one. Or to put it another way, it may be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Isaiah's Job

Read this essay by Albert Jay Nock here.

The Remnant

Just the other day I heard someone mention "The Remnant." It was a term that was new to me. This morning I read this article by Barry Shaffer that sheds some light on what and who the Remnant are. Earlier in my life, I worked for an electric utility. I was at a conference once and the speaker, a fellow electric utility worker, said that he always felt that our work, keeping the electricty on, was one of life's greatest callings; surpassed only by minister of the gospel, teacher and physician. After reading Shaffer's article, I would have to include member of the Remnant in that list of higher callings.

Dr Ron Paul talking to Tucker Carlson on MSNBC

Mike Gravel

For all you Yellow Dog Democrats that can't bring yourself to vote for Ron Paul because he is a Republican, here is a guy in your own party that is telling it like it is. Why not vote for him?

I Love The United States Of America

But, the government is about as corrupt as money can buy and unfortunately we Americans are as dumb as a bag of hammers. God must truly love us, how else would we have made it this far? Joan of Arc married to Noah?!

Someone Else Who Wants This War To Stop

Unfortunately for him, the war has had a much greater negative affect on his family.



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Could Ron Paul Win In New Hampshire?

This article on freemarketnews.com has some interesting speculation about that very thing.

A Compelling Video

The combination of Ron Paul's Message with Don McLean's song is powerful.

Barefoot Boy

When I was growing up, there were still a lot of people working who had worked during the depression. They would tell stories of how bad things were. They said that during the depression, if you didn't like what your employer did, and you complained, you were shown the door and told that there was a "barefoot boy" waiting to take your job.

Things are not that bad in this country at present but ominous clouds are on the horizon. Take this story for instance about Merrill Lynch cutting its employees annual allowable sick days from 40 to 3. Merrill knows the green flag has not dropped yet, but they have already started their engine cause the race is getting close.

For those of you that think the government is gonna do something about it, just remember that the government has never made an honest dollar in its life. It exists on the tax money it can steal from the rest of us. When the economy tanks, so do taxes. The government, without tax money will be laying off just like everyone else. Chances are that "barefoot boy" your employer will be threatening you with will be a former government worker.

God Help Us!

God help us if we still have 24% of the folks in this country that do not understand this.

Crazy Georgie

There used to be a guy on TV that did commercials under the name Crazy Eddie. His prices were "insane." Insanity, it is said, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That being the case, I think that the behavior described in this article means we can stop calling the President "W" and start calling him "Crazy Georgie."

Shaking the Republican Establishment: Why Ron Paul’s Answer Terrifies Them

If the US govt's foreign policy of interventionism is, in fact, the root cause of terrorism against the US, as Congressman Paul contends, there is an obvious solution to the problem: End the US govt's role as international policeman, invader, intervener, interloper, provider, and sanctioner. Foreign terrorism against Americans would disappear



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Food they can no longer afford

Wendy McElroy recounts a real life incident involving the affects of inflation.



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Y2K Was Worse Than Anyone Realized

You all remember the run up to the year 2000. All the talk of computer melt downs and social collapse. Millions of dollars were spent to avert catastrophe. After it was all over, everyone thought we had escaped the bullet. Now looking back on it, I realize that Y2K was as bad as everyone expected, just not what everyone expected. Everyone thought that the problems with computers would be our downfall. Really our downfall was in the election that year. I now realize that the two major political parties ran two of the stupidest jerks in the United States. One of those bozos was gonna win, and each of them spelled disaster. It was a lose / lose situation.

Years from now, history books will record that many people predicted that Y2K would mark our downfall, but no one realized at the time what form that downfall would take.

Got To Give The Devil Her Due

I have never been a Rosie O'Donnel fan, but in this clip she makes sense.

Financial Insight

Linda just sent me this insight into the world of finance ;>)

A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack.

"Miss Whack, I'd like to get a $30,000 loan to take a holiday."

Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's okay, he knows the bank manager.

Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral.

The frog says, "Sure. I have this," and produces a tiny porcelain elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and p erfec tly formed.

Very confused, Patty explains that she'll have to consult with the bank manager and disappears into a back office.

She finds the manager and says, "There's a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000, and he wants to use this as collateral."

She holds up the tiny pink elephant. "I mean, what in the world is this?"

(you're gonna love this)

The bank manager looks back at her and says...

"It's a knickknack, Patty Whack. Give the frog a loan, His old man's a Rolling Stone."

More Ways To Choke A Dog

My grandparents used to say that there are more ways to choke a dog than with butter. For years, Congressman Ron Paul has stood up in Congress and told the truth. Unfortunately for Dr. Paul and the rest of us telling the truth in congress has not "choked many dogs."

Time to try something else. Dr. Paul is now running for the nomination to be the Republican candidate for president. This has given him an audience that is interested in the truth, the American People. The mainstream pundits regularly point out that Dr. Paul is a minor candidate and has little chance of getting the Republican nomination. That may be true, but already he is doing good things. In the South Carolina debate, his statement on non-intervention caused Rudy Giuliani to expose Giuliani's ignorance of recent Middle Eastern history. What Giuliani said resonated with the partisan political audience at the debate, but the light of day has proved that Dr. Paul was right in what he said and Giuliani does not have a clue. While Giuliani, the darling of 9/11, went into the debates as a Republican front runner, he is quickly being shown to be unworthy of being president. If Dr. Paul's candidacy helps to expose the weaknesses of the other candidates and to shape the debate in meaningful ways, it will be a success even if he does not become the Republican nominee or the next President of the United States.

A Better Way To Conduct An Interview

Like him or not, Wolfe Blitzer is a lot better interviewer than you find on most of the other networks.

Charley Reese on Giuliani

Once again Charley hits the nail on the head.

Interesting Turn Of Events

During last night's GOP debate, ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani had himself a little hissy fit when Ron Paul said that the middle eastern hatred for America comes from our intervention over there for the last 50 years. Of course Giuliani, who fancys himself a terrorism expert since he was mayor of New York on 9/11, says the attack was because the Moslems hate us because we are free. Well we have been free since 1776, why has it taken so long for them to figure that out?

What I think is interesting is that Giuliani realizes that Ron Paul is someone he needs to attack. Congressman Paul continues to do well in most of the online polls. The main stream media try to dismiss this as libertarian hacking, but I think that deep down they, along with the so called "front runners", realize that a lot of everyday Americans agree with a whole lot of what Ron Paul is saying.

An Article by Garrison Keillor

I always figured Garrison Keillor for a liberal, but this article 'Guns On A Plane' makes a whole lot more sense than anything I have heard from the so called Neo-Conservatives.

Scary and Scarier

This is scary stuff and you know what is even scarier? Twenty Eight percent of Americans still think he is doing a good job.

Ubuntu 7.04

I have been tinkering around with Linux for the last couple of years. I've downloaded at least 1/2 dozen different versions. Installed one or two on old computers and run several others from LiveCDs. Last week I downloaded the lastest version of Ubuntu. It is version 7.04 nicknamed Fiesty Fawn. I installed in on an old Dell Latitude laptop that is permanantly tied to a docking station because of a malfunctioning power port. So far most everything I've tried has worked well. I did have a problem getting the USB wireless adapter to work, but I think that may be more the fault of the adapter rather than the software.

Inital install and setup was a snap. It found the other computers on my network with no problem. Installation of my shared HP printer was also straight forward. OpenOffice has worked fine on the documents and spreadsheets that I have thrown at it so far. I was able to update all the included software and even install one of my favorites, streamtuner, that was not included in the original install.

All and all, I give it two thumbs up. If you are interested in doing some Linux dabbling, I say try Ubuntu 7.04

Alabama Defines Terrorism

NOTE: In the time since I originally blogged this item, the ADHS has taken down the page in question. The link below is to the archived version of the original.


The State Of Alabama defines terrorism. Sounds like to me that most of us citizens of Alabama are terrorist by this definition.

In general, these terrorists claim that the U.S. government is infringing on their individual rights, and/or that the government's policies are criminal and immoral. Such groups may hold that the current government is violating the basic principles laid out by the U.S. Constitution and that a new world order is attempting to enslave humanity. Some groups also believe that the government and other organizations are transgressing the rule of God as described in the Bible.

Retired General John Bastiste On Iraq

Soup or salad before a meal helps weight loss-study

Eating a low-calorie soup or salad at the start of a meal to curb hunger could be the key to dieters' success, according to a U.S. rating of eight popular diet plans.



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Charley Reese with 'A Few Reminders'

Charley Reese has 'A Few Reminders' about Iraq. As usual, I am in total agreement with him.

The Truth About "Gut" Feelings

You "know" things. You don't even know how you know them. Yet you have a sense of certainty when driving down a strange street that you really must make a left turn. Or comfort a co-worker who insists she's fine. Or quit your job and move to Paris.



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Southerners Are Two Faced

After I posted the item about John McCain's doppleganger (or doppelganger if you prefer) I got to thinking about what I had said about Jerry Thomley being nice to your face. Not a nice thing to say, true, just not nice. And as Jerry has gone on to meet his maker, I guess I got to feeling a little guilty, since we have all been taught to not speak bad of the dead.

Well, I thought about it a bit and realized that yes, Jerry was two faced, but he was also a good southerner, and we all are two faced. That is the way our mamas raised us. They told us to be nice and polite to everyone, even the folks you dislike. Looking back on it, I was always nice to him as well, even when I disliked what he was saying or doing. So don't think less of him because he was nice to people he disagreed with, its as southern as fried catfish or great pork BBQ.

John McCain's Doppleganger

Living in North Shelby county Alabama, I get my share of Republican email. Seems that the Republicans think that since I live in the neocon republic, I must be Republican. Recently I have been getting quite a bit of mail from John McCain's campaign. Now I realize that John McCain is a war hero, is an elder politician which should bring with it some insight, and seems to be an ok guy as witnessed by his appearance on the Daily Show. Fortunately, there is a much better Republican in the race, Ron Paul, who has my support. But even if there were no other Republicans in the race, I just could not bring myself to vote for John McCain.

The reason may sound silly to you, but it is because of his doppleganger. For years I worked with a guy named Jerry Thomley. During my employment, he was a high level manager and later and executive with the company where I worked. Now don't get me wrong, Jerry Thomley was an alright guy. Pleasant enough, always friendly, at least to your face. I didn't even hold it against him that he was an attorney. But for some reason, he and I always seemed to be on the opposite side of every issue. What he saw as being in his best interest was always something that was a detriment to mine. Working in a circumstance like that for over 30 years can create a lot of baggage and unfortunately for John McCain, all those suitcases come crashing down everytime I see his face.

Ron Paul in Debate at Reagan Library (May '07)

If you missed what Ron Paul had to say in the debate last week, look can see his excerpts here.

These are the folks that want your Real ID information

[DEAD LINK]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070505/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/tsa_missing_data_14

This TSA bunch are the ones that claim they need the Real ID system so they can keep us all safe. They can't even protect the vital information of their own people. Do you really want all your vital information in the hands of these incompetents?

Early Primaries

Have you noticed how many of the states are moving up their primary election date? Have you wondered why they are doing that? Many of them say they are tired of being on the tail end of the primary process. They fell that the decision if often made before they have their primary. That may be true, but if it is true now, has it not always been true? Why suddenly are they all in such a hurry to move back to the first of the year?

I read an interesting theory on this the other day. The person espousing the theory was one of the lesser known candidates for president from one of the two major parties. He said that the Internet has changed the playing field. The major parties, which control all of the state legislatures, fear that someone might get enough recognition via the Internet to influence some of the small historically early primaries. This would force the major media to recognize them and get their message out. If the American people knew they could vote for someone who feels the same about things as they do, then John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton might find themselves on the outside looking in come November 2008.

The Job You Do

Many people seem to have been born to do the job they do. Others are like a square peg in a round hole. I hope that you fit into the former category.

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This guy and

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this guy fit into the later category. Unfortunately they both are officers of the law. It is sad when a lawyer, a plumber or an undertaker is not suited for his or her job, but it is dangerous when an officer of the law is not qualified.

Blame it on Global Warming

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This article tells about the recent problems with bees dying off. Scientist are trying to find out why. Maybe they should call Al Gore, I am sure that he would tell them its due to global warming, or maybe it is the work of the manbearpig.

It Takes One To Know One

When I was growing up, a popular expression was "it takes one to know one." With that in mind, I would say that Al Gore is eminently qualified to make

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this determination. Of course another popular expression, "the pot calling the kettle black", also fits quite nicely.

The Human Carbon Footprint Is Inconsequential

Read about it here.

Cancer Prevention

When I read this article I realized that the best method of cancer prevention would be to move to the tropics and become a nudist.

Something You Don't Often See On Network TV

If Someone Calls You A Liberal

If someone calls you a liberal, ask them which kind of liberal? Now a days, when most people say liberal, they are talking about left wing liberals or what I call socialist. But there is another kind of liberal, in fact it is the kind of liberal that existed before the socialist co-oped the name. They are classical liberals. Many people that call themselves conservatives will be surprised to find that their beliefs about government share more common ground with the classical liberals than they do with the so called neo-conservatives.

Everything That Was Frozen is .........?

Read this article to find out the current status of our planet's ice.

The Proof Of The Pudding Is In The Eating

The expression, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating", which is often shortend to "the proof is in the pudding" means that you don't know how something works until you try it. Back in 1982, two American towns enacted new but dissimiliar gun ordinances. You can "eat their pudding, so to speak" here.

Conflict Of Interest

I just read this article that says, "1 in 2 Americans now receives income from government programs." It got me to thinking. If you go down to the Piggly Wiggly and they are having a contest giving away a new Corvette, somewhere in the rules it will say that employees of Piggly Wiggly and their family members are not eligible to win. Why, because of Conflict of Interest that is why. With so many Americans drawing money from the government, it seems to me that the opportunity for conflict of interest is tremendous. Now I realize that some of these people are drawing a check that is small in comparison to their overall income but for some, it is their entire income. So what can we do? I say we not allow anyone to vote who receives over 50% of his or her income from the government. Being nearly 60 years old myself, this would probably disenfranchise me in a few years. So be it. Anyone who draws a government check that provides them with over 50% of their income should be disenfranchised. Otherwise, they are going to be voting to get themselves more money instead of voting to make the country better. They can't help it, its human nature. Of course this would mean that most people who work for the government, like congressmen, state legislators, governors, FBI agents and public school teachers would be unable to vote as well. If they decided that voting was real important to them, they could always quit and get a job in the private sector. Or, they could forego their government salary and continue to work for the government for free and get a second part time job to support themselves. Judging from recent voter turnout, I don't think it would be much of an inconvenience to many people to become disenfranchised.

My New Favorite Web Site

I have a new favorite web site. Its digg.com . For those of you not familiar with digg, its a site that allows users to post links to articles or sites that they "digg." Then other users can rate the link by digging it or burying it. Scanning down through the listings, I've found all kinds of interesting stuff.

Dear Dubya, I Found You a War Czar!

Tom Chartier has a solution for the search for a War Czar.



read more | digg story

Something Stinks

I'm not talking about my old sneakers, although they do qualify. I'll give you some clues. The US has more citizens in prison per capita than any other country in the world. Over two dozen men in Texas alone have had their convictions

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overturned on DNA evidence. Three young North Carolina men who were guilty of no crime had to spend in the neighborhood of three million dollars in legal fees to keep from being railroaded by a rogue prosecutor.

That’s right, what stinks is the American justice system, or more appropriately the American injustice system. If we are that "shining city on the hill", "the greatest nation in the world", "the land of the free and the home of the brave", why do we have so many citizens locked up in prison? Why do we have so many convictions being overturned and why do people who can come up with three million dollars have to spend it on legal fees and people who can't come up with it have to spend their lives in jail? I personally don't have the answer to those questions, but I've got some ideas.

First, we have too many laws. The congress and the state legislatures pay themselves way too much money and then think they have to come up with all these micro-managment laws to justify that pay.

Second, we have too many lawyers. You may have trouble finding a mechanic to fix your car, or a plumber to fix your pipes, but there is a lawyer on nearly every street corner. Many lawyers are good people, like the guy that helped the Duke lacrosse players, but many of them are just looking for someone to sue. Too many of the marginal lawyers wind up as prosecutors whose only goal is production. They want convictions. The most efficient way to get convictions is plea bargaining, so they threaten innocent people who can't afford a protracted court fight and get them to plea to a lesser offence. Never mind that the people are innocent. Anyone with half a brain knows that innocence is no guarantee of going free in the USA.

Third, we have too many stupid people. That's right, people who go around whining and crying about the need for "law and order" and saying "lock the rascals up." We don't need "law and order"; we need "liberty and justice for all."

What is the solution? I don't know, you tell me. How do you renovate a corrupt legal system especially when the bulk of the citizens are quite happy with the status quo?

Jason Clay walks around the Pyramids of Giza

Lila Rajiva on Shock Jocks

What she says in this article makes a lot of sense.

TV News , Current Events and Censorship

I don't watch the TV news. All they talk about are sad stories. I like a little good news thrown into the mix; therefore I get most of my current event information from the web. Lately, I have been seeing a lot about Don Imus. He, as my daddy would have said, appears to have let his catfish mouth overload his tadpole ass. Before that it was Michael Richards. Before that we had the Janet Jackson debacle. Now we find out that the Duke Rape case was all due to a black female stripper telling a lie. I've studied these things and have noticed that they all happened during or immediately after a live performance. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that we have to immediately ban white men and black women from giving live performances. They can still perform; it just has to be recorded so it can be censored before submission to the public. Think about it. If Imus had been on tape, his comment of nappy headed ho's could have been bleep headed bleep. No problem there. Anyone who has ever watched Seinfeld knows that Michael Richards is a peach on tape, just not ready for a live audience. If Janet’s half time performance had been on tape, they could have just pixelated over the nipple and all would have been well, and if the Duke boys had been watching a porn video instead of a live stripper, no one would have ever listened to the stripper’s story. As for white women and black men, they seem to be immune from this insanity so I say let them continue to perform in real time, at least for the time being.

The Biggest Oil Supply in the World is in...

The oil shale deposits in Colorado according to this article. The article tells of a new process patented by Royal Dutch Shell that can extract the oil from shale for about $30 a barrel. While that process is unproven, the article does go on to say that existing processes can obtain oil from shale for about $75 a barrel. Bottom line is we may be quickly approaching a point where the cheapest oil we can obtain is right here in the good ole USA.

War Czar

President Bush is looking for a scapegoat, uh, I mean War Czar to take the blame for, uh, I mean run the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Do you suppose that there is anyone, anywhere that is dumb enough and desperate enough to take that job?

Decide For Yourself

I read this week that the Bush administration is touting the fact that employment figures are better now than they were during the Clinton administration. That may well be true. I don't pay much attention to government figures. Having worked for many years for a public utility as a 'figurer' I take figures with a grain of salt. Besides, even if employment is better overall, that might not be the case for me personally. Rather than watching the FOXCBSNBCABCCNN nightly news to figure out how things are going, people would be better served to just ask themselves, how am I doing? Am I better off now than I was last year, 5 years ago, 10 years ago? That is what is really important, not what some newscaster reports about some figures compiled by a bureaucrat.

Playing in the dirt may make you happier

According to this article certain bacteria found in soil may cause some of your brain neurons to produce more serotonin, a brain chemical associated with mood.

Why?

Why are our men and women fighting and dying to help people

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who obviously don't want our help?

Is there any truth to 'the enemy would follow us here?'

It’s become President Bush’s mantra, his main explanation for why he won’t withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq anytime soon. In speech after speech, in statement after statement, Bush insists that “this is a war in which, if we were to leave before the job is done, the enemy would follow us here.” But is it true?



read more | digg story

This is slick

Some Good Health Care News

Finally, a good idea on a way to reduce costs and simplify one aspect of health care. There are a lot more things that could be done better and cheaper if we did not have big Pharma, the FDA and the AMA fighting to maintain the status quo.

Beyond Partisan Politics

As this article points out, there are still Americans who put constitutional government ahead of partisan politics. Unfortunately very few of them are running for President.

The Dalai Lama on self defense

I received an email news letter this morning that contained the following quote from the Dalai Lama:

"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun."
-- The Dalai Lama, in The Seattle Times, May 15, 2001

This makes more sense than anything I have heard any leader in the USA say for a long time. Maybe we should get the Dalai Lama to run for office.

How Could I Live Without Filing Taxes?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 5,293 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Its About The Dancing

I figure

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these protestors saw the video clip of Karl Rove dancing. It was bad enough to make a marble statue rise up in protest.

Happiness is ...

We talk a lot about happiness. On the white album, the Beatles had a song entitled; "Happiness is a Warm Gun." Most people don't talk about what "happiness is", instead, they talk about what makes them happy. Last night, after I ate, I was out on Digg.com and I came across this link. It won't tell you what happiness is, but if you go down to the bottom of the page and click on "functions". Then in the left column, click on "happiness", it will show you where in the brain "happiness" occurs.