Dear Honda, I'm very disappointed in the Honda self-propelled lawn mower I recently purchased. The particular reason for my disappointment is the poor design used to engage the blade. While I'm sure you're following some (asnine, inane, expletive deleted) consumer safety regulation, having a lawn mower that can't keep the blade engaged really defeats the purpose for having a lawn mower in the first place. A couple of suggestions: Change the pawl design - it really is inadequate si...
This is excepted from Bobby Jindal's weekly news letter: Protecting our borders and preventing illegal immigration I joined my colleagues in the House of Representatives this week in passing three bills to crack down on illegal immigration and keep our borders safe. - Border Tunnel Prevention Act (H.R. 4830) This bill will enact criminal penalties for individuals who knowingly construct or finance the construction of an unauthorized tunnel across a U.S. international border. ...
From a weekly newsletter from Rep. Bobby Jindal: In a section of his newsletter titled Remembering September 11th he comments "The goal of the terrorists was to transform Americans to live in fear. " Two paragraphs later he wrote the following lines. On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to secure American borders by passing legislation to require systematic surveillance of our land and sea borders and the construction of 700 miles of double-layered fencing along the bord...
To quote from the article... Microsoft's Zune will not play protected Windows Media Audio and Video purchased or "rented" from Napster 2.0, Rhapsody, Yahoo! Unlimited, Movielink, Cinemanow, or any other online media service. That's right -- the media that Microsoft promised would Play For Sure doesn't even play on Microsoft's own device. Buried in footnote 4 of its press release, Microsoft clearly states that "Zune software can import audio files in unprotected WMA, MP3, AAC; photos in JP...
Dear Fellow Driver (and you know who you are), I am writing today because of your total lack of consideration for others on the road. I am hoping to assist you in avoiding a repeat of the same behavior in the future by explaining an item of common courtesy that other drivers expect from you. The item I want to discuss is the speed limit sign. I know you've seen these signs: they generally have a white background, are rectangular in shape, have black writing on them and are convenient...
Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like bananas. -- Groucho Marx Where does the time go? It's not like I haven't been staying busy but my focus has once again changed. Ten months ago I was literally living in the mud, looking at the wreckage of my house, contemplating things lost but at the same time looking forward to what was going to be. I was planning how to attack the mess that home had become, deciding where I was going to put my family for several months and deciding right the...
Coverage of important events by news media these days is, in my opinion, more ratings driven than content driven. This is especially the case in broadcast news although other outlets such as newspapers and web sites are following along. I guess I just don't understand what makes something "news" these days. Here are two examples of what I'm talking about. In Kansas City the media broadcast two days - yes, 2 days! of the sentencing hearing of Dennis Rader. This is two days of addition...
The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution, proposed on March 21, 1947 and ratified on February 27, 1951 states: "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once." This was put into place by Congress after President Roosevelt was elected t...
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a Legal Guide for Bloggers that is full of good information for people at JU and other blog sites. To borrow a few words from the EFF site: "Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Internet bullies shouldn't use the law to stifle legitimate free expression. That's why EFF created this guide, compiling a number of FAQs designed to help you understand your rights and, if necessary, defend your freedom." Enjoy...
So, what are the most "harmful" books according to the ultra-conservative panel? 01. The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels 02. Mein Kampf - Adolf Hitler 03. Quotations from Chairman Mao (aka The Little Red Book) - Mao Zedong 04. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (aka The Kinsey Report) - Alfred Kinsey 05. Democracy and Education - John Dewey 06. Das Kapital - Karl Marx 07. The Feminine Mystique - Betty Friedan 08. The Course of Positive Philosophy - Auguste Comte
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At least I won't be considered a criminal if I go to New York with my camera now. Last year the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City proposed to ban photography from all subways and buses in the NYC area. This caused a great uproar amongst many photographers and other civil rights supporting citizens. Sites such as deviantART. com even organized mass protests (in the form of a photography contest ) before the proposed ban went into effect) to show what would be lost if t...
This is a time of year that NASA, the United States and the entire world pause to remember the untimely deaths and sacrifices of true heroes - the crews of Apollo 1 and the Challenger and Columbia space shuttles. On January 27, 1967 astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chafee died in a fire during a pre-launch test. On January 28, 1986 the seven member crew of Challenger: Francis Scobee, Micheal Smith, Judy Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ron McNair, Greg Jarvis and Christa Mcauliffe die...
If the NHL started playing again tomorrow would anybody care? The NHL has now officially canceled over half of the season’s 1230 games. They players and the owners still aren't at the bargaining tables. The hockey teams are reducing the work weeks of their office staff to 3 days and most likely after next week there will be more layoffs. Some teams are even looking at finding part time work for their employees so that they can help them through these hard times. You won't see this in the n...
A 25 year old man committed suicide at the World Trade Center site in NYC. His suicide was apparently over President Bush's reelection (but no suicide note was found). Just how pathetic and sad can it get? And geez... the election only affects the next 4 years... this bone-head's decision was final forever. From the AP: NEW YORK - A 25-year-old man from Georgia who was apparently distraught over President Bush's re-election shot and killed himself at ground zero. Andrew Veal's bod...
I couldn't vote for John Kerry, but that doesn't mean I like G W Bush much better. For me, this was an election where I once again had to choose the lesser of two evils. I went with the devil I know in the end. Following are some stray thoughts on the election and the next four years. Take them for what you will. John Kerry was a weak candidate - a poor choice by the DNC. Kerry made the mistake of using military service as a rally point and it backfired on him (especially after the C-BS...