I usually reserve video for my Becker's Video Hunt Blog but decided to include it here too. Enjoy.
"America is built on freedoms - of speech, religion, press, assembly, AK-47s and your face."---Mike Strobel
When all is said and done there is nothing left to say or do.
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.....................Today is as good as it gets, and our tomorrows won't be any better
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These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, EPA, FBI, DEA, CDC, or FDIC. These statements are not intended to diagnose, cause, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you feel you have been harmed/offended by, or, disagree with any of the above statements or images, please feel free to leave.
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"The trouble with Republicans is that when they get into trouble they start acting like cannibals"-Richard Nixon
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Long Live The Estate Tax
I have found it very very troubling over the years when I hear people whose total income for the year is in the $25,000 to $150,000 and may have maybe a couple $200,000 in savings complain about the 'Death Tax' aka the Estate Tax. They are completely taken in by the lobbyists for the obscenely wealthy who get the common folk to complain the their congressperson about the tax.
The estate tax is not a tax on the rich but is a tax on the very, very, very rich. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center it is estimated that about 99.7 percent of estates were exempt from the estate tax in 2009 when the first $3.5 million of an estate was exempt. Even fewer people would be exempt to the tax under the compromise plan.
The estate tax is not a tax on the rich but is a tax on the very, very, very rich. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center it is estimated that about 99.7 percent of estates were exempt from the estate tax in 2009 when the first $3.5 million of an estate was exempt. Even fewer people would be exempt to the tax under the compromise plan.
Those Pills In My Underwear Are Not Mine Officer
MANATEE — When Jessi Lynn Clark pulled out Oxycodone and Xanax pills from her crotch during a traffic stop, she immediately told officers they weren’t hers, according to the Bradenton Police Department.Clark, 29, was a passenger in the car that was pulled over at 12:15 p.m. Thursday in the 1300 block of First Street West because she was not wearing a seat belt.
The driver consented to a search of the vehicle, according to the report, and as deputies were speaking to him, Clark pulled out a paper towel from her crotch
Inside the paper towel were three Oxycodone pills and three Xanax pills, the report said.
Clark told officers that the driver of the vehicle had told her to put the drugs down her pants, according to the report. The driver denied that.
VIA
Why I Like Retirement
They Ask Whyl Like Retirement!!!
Question: How many days in a week?
Answer: 6 Saturdays, 1 Sunday.
Question: When is a retiree's bedtime?
Answer: Three hours after he falls asleep on the couch.
Question: How many retirees to change a light bulb?
Answer: Only one, but it might take all day.
Question: What's the biggest gripe of retirees?
Answer: There is not enough time to get everything done.
Question: Why don't retirees mind being called Seniors?
Answer: The term comes with a 10% discount.
Question: Among retirees what is considered formal attire?
Answer: Tied shoes.
Question: Why do retirees count pennies?
Answer: They are the only ones who have the time.
Question: What is the common term for someone who enjoys work and refuses to retire?
Answer: NUTS!
Question: Why are retirees so slow to clean out the basement, attic or garage?
Answer: They know that as soon as they do, one of their adult kids will want to store stuff there.
Question: What do retirees call a long lunch?
Answer: Normal.
Question: What is the best way to describe retirement?
Answer: The never ending Coffee Break.
Question: What's the biggest advantage of going back to school as a retiree?
Answer: If you cut classes, no one calls your parents.
Question: Why does a retiree often say he doesn't miss work, but misses the people he used to work with?
Answer: He is too polite to tell the whole truth.
And, my very favorite....
QUESTION: What do you do all week?
Answer: Monday through Friday, NOTHING..... Saturday & Sunday, I rest.
The Terrorists Have Won
The objective of terrorists is to instill fear in their opponent. Their opponent will come to fear that everything around them is a weapon that can destroy them.
Before you can board a flight you will have every nook and cranny of your body searched. A car left in the middle of a busy intersection could be a bomb. A wrapped package ouside a building is feared just as a school bookbag found out of place.
The terrorists have won.
Denver police swung into action Wednesday afternoon as the city faced a harrowing robot threat that shut part of the city for more than two hours.
The Denver Post reports that police were called around 3:30pm after a concerned citizen discovered the deadly robot, which was described as around eight inches tall, white and made of plastic, cemented into the pillar of a footbridge near 20th and Wazee streets. Police quickly closed 20th Street between Blake Street and Chestnut Place and a tense standoff began with the tiny harbinger of death, with nobody allowed within 100 yards.
A bomb-squad robot was sent in, followed by a heavily-protected officer, as rush-hour traffic piled up around the area.
Denver police swung into action Wednesday afternoon as the city faced a harrowing robot threat that shut part of the city for more than two hours.
MORE VIA
Before you can board a flight you will have every nook and cranny of your body searched. A car left in the middle of a busy intersection could be a bomb. A wrapped package ouside a building is feared just as a school bookbag found out of place.
The terrorists have won.
Denver police swung into action Wednesday afternoon as the city faced a harrowing robot threat that shut part of the city for more than two hours.
The Denver Post reports that police were called around 3:30pm after a concerned citizen discovered the deadly robot, which was described as around eight inches tall, white and made of plastic, cemented into the pillar of a footbridge near 20th and Wazee streets. Police quickly closed 20th Street between Blake Street and Chestnut Place and a tense standoff began with the tiny harbinger of death, with nobody allowed within 100 yards.
A bomb-squad robot was sent in, followed by a heavily-protected officer, as rush-hour traffic piled up around the area.
Denver police swung into action Wednesday afternoon as the city faced a harrowing robot threat that shut part of the city for more than two hours.
MORE VIA
It's Fall Y'All, The Best Part Of The Year
Well I guess Spring is a close competitor. I was admiring beautiful Fall picture on my computer that I use as a background photo for now and snapped my head up and thought, "What am I looking at this for when I have some beautiful Fall color right out in front of the house." So I stepped out and took a couple of snapshots to share with y'all. Enjoy the view: (click for bigger)
Lobsters Shucked Clean Packaged Listeria and Bacteria Free To Your Table
(click to view larger image)
At a former golf-shoe factory 13 miles from the Atlantic, workers at Shucks Maine Lobster drop up to 150 pounds of live lobsters into a perforated metal basket and sink them in the Avure 215L, a water-filled compression chamber affectionately known as the Big Mother Shucker. A pump pressurizes the water to 40,000 pounds per square inch—almost 2,700 times the pressure of the air around us, 60 times that of the deepest known lobster habitat, and more than twice the force at the bottom of the Pacific’s Mariana Trench.At such extreme pressure, cellular activities cease, causing instant death, and the flesh disconnects from the exoskeleton. When the lobsters emerge six to eight minutes later, the succulent meat slips right out of the shell. The meat is then resubmerged in a bag, and the pressure is cranked up to 87,000 psi, destroying listeria and other food-borne bacteria. Because the force is uniform at all points, the flesh remains perfectly intact.
VIA
How to Try To Stop Robo-Calls
From an article by Brandon Ballenger at LINK Personally I am convinced that with all the technology available to these rude, yes I call them rude, people there is no way to completely stop them but some of the stuff in here is worth the effort.-Ed
Annoying, but not illegal. Even if you’re on the National Do Not Call Registry — which threatens telemarketers with fines of up to $16,000 per call — you can still receive robo-calls from certain organizations such as companies you do business with, political campaigns, non-profits, debt collectors and survey companies.
(No outfit out there is allowed to call your cell phone for any reason unless you have given them permission but if you think that stops them think again. I get calls to my cell all the time. Assign specific ringtones to your contacts and record a silence and assign that as your regular ringtone. That way unknown callers (spam calls) will not interfere with your day.
(No outfit out there is allowed to call your cell phone for any reason unless you have given them permission but if you think that stops them think again. I get calls to my cell all the time. Assign specific ringtones to your contacts and record a silence and assign that as your regular ringtone. That way unknown callers (spam calls) will not interfere with your day.
The article lists a few things you can do that might help relieve your frustrations:
1.If it is a pre-recorded message, try pressing star-pound-zero (*#0) on your phone. This could disrupt the call, while an article on productivity blog Lifehacker says pressing the pound key will get you taken off that caller’s list altogether.
2.Sign up at StopPoliticalCalls.org, a service run by non-profit group Citizens for Civil Discourse. It's a registry similar to the national Do Not Call list, but specifically aimed at discouraging political campaigns. There’s no law backing it, but so far they have commitments to cut the calls from several political campaigns. You can get put on the list for free, though there are paid options as well.
3.Of course there is the National Do Not Call Registry. It’s free, and your number is never taken off the list. This should stop all telemarketing calls. It will work for your wired landline phone number and with your cell phone number.
4.If you’re still getting calls after being on the Do Not Call registry for a month, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission which manages the list. Sometimes enough complaints can get policy changed — that’s how most robo-calling got banned in 2009. If the call comes from an identifiable business, you should also report it to the Better Business Bureau.
***added: NEVER pres 1, 9 or anything they tell you to be taken off their calling list. It is merely something for you to think they will do something about it. Do not argue with them or challenge them as they will put you on a list to be called just to bother you. Most of these spam scam calls are generated from a computer that creates a phony number so if you try to call it back you get a this number is disconnected/no longer in service message. Just file a complaint as outlined below)
I really can't emphasize the following too much. After my wife made a purchase at a chain store for our granddaughter I endured a weekly Friday afternoon robo-call for more than a year from them. Since then we do not give out our phone numbers or especially our email addresses. It helps even though they can get your phone number with little effort but why make it any easier for them. Even if you contact them it takes a long time before you are off their contact list.-Ed
5. Read the terms and conditions for your purchases carefully. Buried in those agreements might be a clause agreeing to these annoying calls — and robo-calling isn’t illegal if you’ve opted in to receive it from someone, or if you’re already doing business with them. But if you’re getting calls from these people, you can still stop it by specific request. Call them and tell them to take you off their list — the Federal Trade Commission requires they comply. Keep a record of the date you make the request and follow up with the FTC if the business keeps calling.
http://www.moneytalksnews.com/2010/10/29/5-tips-to-stop-those-annoying-automated-phone-calls/
Identifying Kenmore Products Made For Sears By Whirlpool
(Revised and reposted September 20, 2010) Today I received a notice from Google (the owners of Blogspot) they received a notice that I am in violation of some copyright law "that certain content in your blog is alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others." As a result they removed the original post.
Therefore I am altering the content to remove the portions from the site that gave detailed information for all the lines made for Sears.
As a former service technician employee of Sears I am familiar with the model numbers of the Kenmore branded items so when I go to purchase a Whirlpool product I know what to look for.
This posting was brought on by a recent trip to a Sears store in a semi-rural area. Those stores are almost always appliance and yard tool stores. I wanted to purchase a replacement clothes dryer with the Kenmore brand that is made by Whirlpool. The clerk told me all the Kenmore products were made by Whirlpool. That is false.
Sears does not manufacture any appliances but has the manufacturers brand some of their lines as Kenmore to be sold by Sears. So unless you are aware of each manufactures' product line as most good appliance service technicians would be you would have to rely the part-time or unknowledgeable employee in the store to get you what you want.
When I went to purchase a replacement clothes dryer at the local Sears outlet the clerk told me all Sears Kenmore products were made by Whirlpool. I looked a few and easily recognized the Maytag (made by Whirlpool today) and GE lines. By the way GE clothes dryers have their lint filter located looking down as you open the door along the bottom edge of the opening you will see a handle that you pull straight up. Then I saw what I wanted. A few dryers with the handle of the pull out lint filter located on the top flat surface of the dryer at the back right hand corner. I checked the model number to verify in my mind that I was going to get what I came there to purchase. Once I was satisfied I asked the clerk to write it up and load it onto my truck.
The model numbers for Whirlpool are 106, 110, 154 and 198. Those numbers will be identified as the model number and appear like this:
Model 110.1234456 The 110 indicating the source, Whirlpool in this case, and then following the period the rest of the model number indicating the particular model and manufacturing information needed to order parts when needed.
I can't go into any further specifics for more brands because I might violate the complainer's copyright. But maybe this partial bit of information is enough to help direct people wanting Kenmore branded Whirlpool products to what they want.
So even though I provided a link to their web site for people to get more assistance they still complained. So I have removed their information and removed the link to their web site.
Therefore I am altering the content to remove the portions from the site that gave detailed information for all the lines made for Sears.
As a former service technician employee of Sears I am familiar with the model numbers of the Kenmore branded items so when I go to purchase a Whirlpool product I know what to look for.
This posting was brought on by a recent trip to a Sears store in a semi-rural area. Those stores are almost always appliance and yard tool stores. I wanted to purchase a replacement clothes dryer with the Kenmore brand that is made by Whirlpool. The clerk told me all the Kenmore products were made by Whirlpool. That is false.
Sears does not manufacture any appliances but has the manufacturers brand some of their lines as Kenmore to be sold by Sears. So unless you are aware of each manufactures' product line as most good appliance service technicians would be you would have to rely the part-time or unknowledgeable employee in the store to get you what you want.
When I went to purchase a replacement clothes dryer at the local Sears outlet the clerk told me all Sears Kenmore products were made by Whirlpool. I looked a few and easily recognized the Maytag (made by Whirlpool today) and GE lines. By the way GE clothes dryers have their lint filter located looking down as you open the door along the bottom edge of the opening you will see a handle that you pull straight up. Then I saw what I wanted. A few dryers with the handle of the pull out lint filter located on the top flat surface of the dryer at the back right hand corner. I checked the model number to verify in my mind that I was going to get what I came there to purchase. Once I was satisfied I asked the clerk to write it up and load it onto my truck.
The model numbers for Whirlpool are 106, 110, 154 and 198. Those numbers will be identified as the model number and appear like this:
Model 110.1234456 The 110 indicating the source, Whirlpool in this case, and then following the period the rest of the model number indicating the particular model and manufacturing information needed to order parts when needed.
I can't go into any further specifics for more brands because I might violate the complainer's copyright. But maybe this partial bit of information is enough to help direct people wanting Kenmore branded Whirlpool products to what they want.
So even though I provided a link to their web site for people to get more assistance they still complained. So I have removed their information and removed the link to their web site.
David Rowan Of Wired Magazine: Six Reasons Why I’m Not On Facebook
First some personal observations: Having used the Internet since before what most know the Internet as today (Usenet) like back even before the phone in the cradle of a 14.4k dial up modem I've witnessed a number of social sites come and go. To date I've only jumped in on two to any extent although I tried out at least two others. I read a few but do not engage myself in any that require any verified information about me. Yes I do have a facebook account linked to my junk email account with a phony ID in the profile just to access facebook to read a few sites that require a facebook login.
It's like this Blog. If you think my name is Becker guess again. It is a 'handle' or phone ID if you will. It does identify me somewhat. I picked the Becker moniker from the title character of a TV program. The character was always for the common man and objecting to certain political ideology...and pinching pennies so that fit me in several ways.
Growing up watching the information age develop I became aware very early on the problem of too much personal information being out there that anybody could access. I was called to the top office a couple times some twenty or more years ago because I would not put my social security number on a form. I told them they had my number on file from back when they hired me and since the paperwork was going to the central office they could add it in over there. I was not about to let every Tom, Sally and Latishiana see my number. It got to where I would not even put my phone number or birthday on paperwork they wanted. Before I took early retirement it seemed like there were more and more requests like that with more refusals on my part.
I must have been a pioneer with that attitude because they say such requests are few these days. One of the final gotchas they tried to sneak by was a serial numbered form requesting our unbiased personal opinion on number of procedures we used. It turned out the serial number from each form was recorded as to who received it. That way they would know who were the disgruntled employees.
(Underlines, blacked out letters and color added by me)
1) Private companies aren’t motivated by your best interests
Facebook and Google exist to make money, by selling advertisers the means to target you with ever greater precision. That explains the endless series of “privacy” headlines, as these unregulated businesses push boundaries to make it easier for paying third parties to access your likes, interests, photos, social connections and purchasing intentions. That’s why Facebook has made it harder for users to understand exactly what they’re giving away — why, for instance, its privacy policy has grown from 1,004 words in 2005 to 5,830 words today (by comparison, as the New York Times has pointed out, the U.S. Constitution is 4,543). Founder Mark Zuckerberg once joked dismissively about the “dumb f***s” who “trust me”. I admire the business Zuckerberg’s built; but I don’t trust him.
2) They make it harder to reinvent yourself
“When you’re young, you make mistakes and you do some stupid stuff,” President Obama warned high-school students in Virginia last September. “Be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age whatever you do will be pulled up later somewhere in your life.” He’s right: anything posted online might come to haunt you permanently, yet all of us need space to grow. As the writer Jaron Lanier said in a recent lecture, if Robert Zimmerman, of small-town Hibbing, Minnesota, had had a Facebook profile, could he really have re-created himself as the New York beatnik Bob Dylan
3) Information you supply for one purpose will invariably be used for another …
Phone up to buy a pizza, and the order-taker’s computer gives her access to your voting record, employment history, library loans — all “just wired into the system” for your convenience. She’ll suggest a tofu pizza as she knows about your 42-inch waist, she’ll add a delivery surcharge because a nearby robbery yesterday puts you in “an orange zone” — and she’ll be on her guard because you’ve checked out the library book Dealing With Depression. This is where the American Council for Civil Liberties sees consumerism going — watch its pizza video online — and it’s not to hard to believe. Already surveys suggest that 35 percent of firms are rejecting applicants because of information found on social networks. What makes you think you can control what happens to your personal data?
4) … and there’s a good chance it will be used against you
Mark Zuckerberg would like to suggest that, in an ever more transparent world, “you have one identity — the days of you having a different image for your work friends or co-workers and for the other people you know are probably coming to an end pretty quickly.” That suits his purpose — but in our multi-layered lives it’s just not true. A vindictive ex-partner, or a workplace rival, or a health insurer, or a political opponent, may selectively expose information to your detriment – powerfully re-framing your identity in a way you would consider dishonest.
5) People screw up, and give away more than they realise
To understand how much personal information Facebook users are inadvertently sharing, visit youropenbook.org and search for phrases such as “cheated on my wife” or “my new mobile number is” or “feeling horny“. I’ll bet that most of the people whose intimate details you’ll get to read are unaware that their updates are being shared quite so openly. Have they genuinely given Zuckerberg their informed consent?
6) And besides, why should we let businesses privatize our social discourse?
Some day you should take time to read those 5,830 words: it’s Facebook that owns the rights to do as it pleases with your data, and to sell access to it to whoever is willing to pay. Yes, it’s free to join — but with half a billion of us now using it to connect, it’s worth asking ourselves how far this “social utility” (its own term) is really acting in the best interests of society.
Don’t take my word, Matt — young internet users themselves are increasingly wary of the social networks’ use of their private data. A recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project — a decent sample of some 2,253 Americans — found that 44 percent of Generation Y (aged 18 to 29) now limit their online personal information, compared with 33 percent of internet users between ages 30 to 49. And three-quarters of younger social-networkers have adjusted their privacy settings to limit what they share.
Call me uncool — but that’s a trend I’m happy to share with my friends. In person.
David Rowan is the editor of Wired UK magazine.
The bottom of the page at the link has a number of links giving more detailed information
Read More http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/09/six-reasons-why-wired-uks-editor-isnt-on-facebook/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29#ixzz0zu4sTZJu
It's like this Blog. If you think my name is Becker guess again. It is a 'handle' or phone ID if you will. It does identify me somewhat. I picked the Becker moniker from the title character of a TV program. The character was always for the common man and objecting to certain political ideology...and pinching pennies so that fit me in several ways.
Growing up watching the information age develop I became aware very early on the problem of too much personal information being out there that anybody could access. I was called to the top office a couple times some twenty or more years ago because I would not put my social security number on a form. I told them they had my number on file from back when they hired me and since the paperwork was going to the central office they could add it in over there. I was not about to let every Tom, Sally and Latishiana see my number. It got to where I would not even put my phone number or birthday on paperwork they wanted. Before I took early retirement it seemed like there were more and more requests like that with more refusals on my part.
I must have been a pioneer with that attitude because they say such requests are few these days. One of the final gotchas they tried to sneak by was a serial numbered form requesting our unbiased personal opinion on number of procedures we used. It turned out the serial number from each form was recorded as to who received it. That way they would know who were the disgruntled employees.
(Underlines, blacked out letters and color added by me)
Facebook and Google exist to make money, by selling advertisers the means to target you with ever greater precision. That explains the endless series of “privacy” headlines, as these unregulated businesses push boundaries to make it easier for paying third parties to access your likes, interests, photos, social connections and purchasing intentions. That’s why Facebook has made it harder for users to understand exactly what they’re giving away — why, for instance, its privacy policy has grown from 1,004 words in 2005 to 5,830 words today (by comparison, as the New York Times has pointed out, the U.S. Constitution is 4,543). Founder Mark Zuckerberg once joked dismissively about the “dumb f***s” who “trust me”. I admire the business Zuckerberg’s built; but I don’t trust him.
2) They make it harder to reinvent yourself
“When you’re young, you make mistakes and you do some stupid stuff,” President Obama warned high-school students in Virginia last September. “Be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age whatever you do will be pulled up later somewhere in your life.” He’s right: anything posted online might come to haunt you permanently, yet all of us need space to grow. As the writer Jaron Lanier said in a recent lecture, if Robert Zimmerman, of small-town Hibbing, Minnesota, had had a Facebook profile, could he really have re-created himself as the New York beatnik Bob Dylan
3) Information you supply for one purpose will invariably be used for another …
Phone up to buy a pizza, and the order-taker’s computer gives her access to your voting record, employment history, library loans — all “just wired into the system” for your convenience. She’ll suggest a tofu pizza as she knows about your 42-inch waist, she’ll add a delivery surcharge because a nearby robbery yesterday puts you in “an orange zone” — and she’ll be on her guard because you’ve checked out the library book Dealing With Depression. This is where the American Council for Civil Liberties sees consumerism going — watch its pizza video online — and it’s not to hard to believe. Already surveys suggest that 35 percent of firms are rejecting applicants because of information found on social networks. What makes you think you can control what happens to your personal data?
4) … and there’s a good chance it will be used against you
Mark Zuckerberg would like to suggest that, in an ever more transparent world, “you have one identity — the days of you having a different image for your work friends or co-workers and for the other people you know are probably coming to an end pretty quickly.” That suits his purpose — but in our multi-layered lives it’s just not true. A vindictive ex-partner, or a workplace rival, or a health insurer, or a political opponent, may selectively expose information to your detriment – powerfully re-framing your identity in a way you would consider dishonest.
5) People screw up, and give away more than they realise
To understand how much personal information Facebook users are inadvertently sharing, visit youropenbook.org and search for phrases such as “cheated on my wife” or “my new mobile number is” or “feeling horny“. I’ll bet that most of the people whose intimate details you’ll get to read are unaware that their updates are being shared quite so openly. Have they genuinely given Zuckerberg their informed consent?
6) And besides, why should we let businesses privatize our social discourse?
Some day you should take time to read those 5,830 words: it’s Facebook that owns the rights to do as it pleases with your data, and to sell access to it to whoever is willing to pay. Yes, it’s free to join — but with half a billion of us now using it to connect, it’s worth asking ourselves how far this “social utility” (its own term) is really acting in the best interests of society.
Don’t take my word, Matt — young internet users themselves are increasingly wary of the social networks’ use of their private data. A recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project — a decent sample of some 2,253 Americans — found that 44 percent of Generation Y (aged 18 to 29) now limit their online personal information, compared with 33 percent of internet users between ages 30 to 49. And three-quarters of younger social-networkers have adjusted their privacy settings to limit what they share.
Call me uncool — but that’s a trend I’m happy to share with my friends. In person.
David Rowan is the editor of Wired UK magazine.
The bottom of the page at the link has a number of links giving more detailed information
Read More http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/09/six-reasons-why-wired-uks-editor-isnt-on-facebook/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29#ixzz0zu4sTZJu
Atomic Bomb Proof School Desk
Oh it also was a republican administration that had us stocking up on duct tape and plastic so we could seal our house up in the event of a poison gas/Ricin attack during the year or two after 9/11. And then there was the color code threat level. It might still be around. And now we also have the stupidendous TSA at the airports.
I sat in desks just like that all through school. I think I even remember some in college classrooms in the 80s and 90s.
The ink well disappeared sometime a couple years after the ballpoint pen came into common use. I understand now they no longer teach kids how to write in courtesy(?) or longhand...whatever the term is. The military forced me to write in all caps because of my job and I have never been able to break that habit. Later my work involved me signing my name hundreds of times a day. That evolved into some unreadable wiggle that even I can't read. Imagine my mother reading me the riot act one time because I sent her a typewritten letter. What would she have to say today what with emails, Facebook, cellphone shorthand, Twitter and such?
I guess I'm speaking a foreign language talking about typewritten and mentioning inkwells.
Fallout Shelter
If you know what this means and you knew where one was near your home or work then you are also probably familiar with the Atom Bomb proof school desk.
It also tells your age.
It also tells your age.
Colorful Optical Illusion
Click on the image below to isolate it and have it be larger and in motion.
Watch as the dots "travel" around.
After a bit the pink dot will be green as it goes around.
But - if you move your eyes to follow the moving dot it will remain pink.
Watch as the dots "travel" around.
After a bit the pink dot will be green as it goes around.
But - if you move your eyes to follow the moving dot it will remain pink.
Electrified Nipples
Teen whose heart stopped after attaching electrified clamp to his nipple sues teacher, school
The family of a teen whose heart stopped after clamping an electrical cord to his nipple in shop class is suing the school and the teacher, saying the boy suffered brain damage.
Last March, Kyle Dubois, 18, put an alligator clamp on one of his nipples, with a classmate placing the clamp on his other nipple, while a third classmate plugged the cord into the wall.
For three seconds, Dubois endured the electrical shock, dropping him to the floor and stopping his heart, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
The teacher, Thomas Kelley, said he was talking with another student when Dubois shocked himself.
"I was talking up my fantasy baseball team with one student and the next thing I know there was a commotion," Kelley said. "I look and I hear an ‘Ouch.' I look and there's Kyle going to the ground."
Dubois parents say Kelley failed to warn the class about the dangers of playing with the electrical cords.
VIA
Last March, Kyle Dubois, 18, put an alligator clamp on one of his nipples, with a classmate placing the clamp on his other nipple, while a third classmate plugged the cord into the wall.
For three seconds, Dubois endured the electrical shock, dropping him to the floor and stopping his heart, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
The teacher, Thomas Kelley, said he was talking with another student when Dubois shocked himself.
"I was talking up my fantasy baseball team with one student and the next thing I know there was a commotion," Kelley said. "I look and I hear an ‘Ouch.' I look and there's Kyle going to the ground."
Dubois parents say Kelley failed to warn the class about the dangers of playing with the electrical cords.
VIA
Barcelona Street Entertainer
From the looks of this it appears I've been entertaining all my life...just didn't have an audience.
What goes Up Must Come Down
BERLIN — A Polish man living in Germany went about his business for about five years without noticing he had been shot in the head because he was drunk when it happened.
Police in the western city of Bochum said on Tuesday doctors found a .22 caliber bullet in the back of his head after the 35-year-old went to have what he thought was a cyst removed.
Presented with the 5.6mm projectile, the man recalled he had received a blow to the head around midnight at a New Year's party "in 2004 or 2005", but had forgotten about it because he had been "very drunk," a police spokesman said.
"He told us he remembered having a sore head, but that he wasn't really one for going to the doctor," the spokesman said.
The wound later healed around the bullet and it was not until the man decided to have the lump examined due to recurring pains that the discovery was made.
Police said they were not treating the incident as suspicious as the bullet might have got lodged in the man's head when a reveler fired a gun in celebration.
"It may have been a shot fired up in the air which entered his head on the way down," the spokesman said.
Reuters
Presented with the 5.6mm projectile, the man recalled he had received a blow to the head around midnight at a New Year's party "in 2004 or 2005", but had forgotten about it because he had been "very drunk," a police spokesman said.
"He told us he remembered having a sore head, but that he wasn't really one for going to the doctor," the spokesman said.
The wound later healed around the bullet and it was not until the man decided to have the lump examined due to recurring pains that the discovery was made.
Police said they were not treating the incident as suspicious as the bullet might have got lodged in the man's head when a reveler fired a gun in celebration.
"It may have been a shot fired up in the air which entered his head on the way down," the spokesman said.
Reuters
Caution, Genius Asleep
Over to the right is the arrest photo of the infamous Duct Tape Robber from a couple years ago. His robber mask consisted of wrapping his head in duct tape. The problem was he could not see to make his getaway.Some folks that might be related:
1. He ah, you ah, they, umm, like WHAT!?
AT&T fired President John Walter after nine months, saying he lacked intellectual leadership. He received a $26 million severance package. Perhaps it's not Walter who's lacking intelligence.2. Close to closing the case.
Police in Oakland, CA, spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered that the man was standing beside them in the police line, shouting, 'Please come out and give yourself up.'
3. Whatever. As long as he gets money.
An Illinois man, pretending to have a gun, kidnapped a motorist and forced him to drive to two different automated teller machines, wherein the kidnapper proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank accounts!
4. Robbery can be hard work.
A man walked into a Topeka , Kansas Kwik Stop and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently, the take was too small, so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for three hours until police showed up and grabbed him.
5. Facepalm!
Police in Los Angeles had good luck with a robbery suspect who just couldn't control himself during a lineup. When detectives asked each man in the lineup to repeat the words: 'Give me all your money or I'll shoot', the man shouted, 'that's not what I said!'
6. Lost count?
A man spoke frantically into the phone: 'My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart'.
'Is this her first child?' the doctor asked. 'No!' the man shouted, 'This is her husband!'
7. Bang bang.
In Modesto, CA, Steven Richard King was arrested for trying to hold up a Bank of America branch without a weapon. King used a thumb and a finger to simulate a gun. Unfortunately, he failed to keep his hand in his pocket. (hellooooooo)!
8. Forgot something?
Last summer, down on Lake Isabella, located in the high desert an hour east of Bakersfield, CA, some folks new to boating, were having a problem. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't get their brand new 22 foot boat going. It was very sluggish in almost every maneuver, no matter how much power they applied. After about an hour of trying to make it go, they putted into a nearby marina, thinking someone there may be able to tell them what was wrong. A thorough topside check revealed everything in perfect working condition. The engine ran fine, the out-drive went up and down, and the propeller was the correct size and pitch. So, one of the marina guys jumped in the water to check underneath. He came up choking on water, he was laughing so hard.
NOW REMEMBER...THIS IS TRUE.
Under the boat, still strapped securely in place, was the trailer!
The College Class of 2014 Doesn't know:
The class of 2014 has never found Korean-made cars unusual on the Interstate and five hundred cable channels, of which they will watch a handful, have always been the norm. Since "digital" has always been in the cultural DNA, they've never written in cursive and with cell phones to tell them the time, there is no need for a wrist watch. Dirty Harry (who’s that?) is to them a great Hollywood director. The America they have inherited is one of soaring American trade and budget deficits; Russia has presumably never aimed nukes at the United States and China has always posed an economic threat.
Nonetheless, they plan to enjoy college. The males among them are likely to be a minority. They will be armed with iPhones and BlackBerries, on which making a phone call will be only one of many, many functions they will perform. They will now be awash with a computerized technology that will not distinguish information and knowledge. So it will be up to their professors to help them. A generation accustomed to instant access will need to acquire the patience of scholarship. They will discover how to research information in books and journals and not just on-line. Their professors, who might be tempted to think that they are hip enough and therefore ready and relevant to teach the new generation, might remember that Kurt Cobain is now on the classic oldies station. The college class of 2014 reminds us, once again, that a generation comes and goes in the blink of our eyes, which are, like the rest of us, getting older and older.
From The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014:
1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.
2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
3. “Go West, Young College Grad” has always implied “and don’t stop until you get to Asia…and learn Chinese along the way.”
4. Al Gore has always been animated.
5. Los Angelenos have always been trying to get along.
6. Buffy has always been meeting her obligations to hunt down Lothos and the other blood-suckers at Hemery High.
7. “Caramel macchiato” and “venti half-caf vanilla latte” have always been street corner lingo.
8. With increasing numbers of ramps, Braille signs, and handicapped parking spaces, the world has always been trying harder to accommodate people with disabilities.
9. Had it remained operational, the villainous computer HAL could be their college classmate this fall, but they have a better chance of running into Miley Cyrus’s folks on parents’ Weekend.
10. Entering college this fall in a country where a quarter of young people under 18 have at least one immigrant parent, they aren't afraid of immigration...unless it involves "real" aliens from another planet.
11. John McEnroe has never played professional tennis.
and a few more
62. Having hundreds of cable channels but nothing to watch has always been routine.
63. Their parents’ favorite TV sitcoms have always been showing up as movies.
64. The U.S, Canada, and Mexico have always agreed to trade freely.
65. They first met Michelangelo when he was just a computer virus.
66. Galileo is forgiven and welcome back into the Roman Catholic Church.
67. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has always sat on the Supreme Court.
68. They have never worried about a Russian missile strike on the U.S.
69. It seems the Post Office has always been going broke.
70. The artist formerly known as Snoop Doggy Dogg has always been rapping.
71. The nation has never approved of the job Congress is doing.
72. One way or another, “It’s the economy, stupid” and always has been.
73. Silicone-gel breast implants have always been regulated.
74. They've always been able to blast off with the Sci-Fi (SYFY) Channel.
75. Honda has always been a major competitor on Memorial Day at Indianapolis.
The complete list HERE
Nonetheless, they plan to enjoy college. The males among them are likely to be a minority. They will be armed with iPhones and BlackBerries, on which making a phone call will be only one of many, many functions they will perform. They will now be awash with a computerized technology that will not distinguish information and knowledge. So it will be up to their professors to help them. A generation accustomed to instant access will need to acquire the patience of scholarship. They will discover how to research information in books and journals and not just on-line. Their professors, who might be tempted to think that they are hip enough and therefore ready and relevant to teach the new generation, might remember that Kurt Cobain is now on the classic oldies station. The college class of 2014 reminds us, once again, that a generation comes and goes in the blink of our eyes, which are, like the rest of us, getting older and older.
From The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014:
1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.
2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
3. “Go West, Young College Grad” has always implied “and don’t stop until you get to Asia…and learn Chinese along the way.”
4. Al Gore has always been animated.
5. Los Angelenos have always been trying to get along.
6. Buffy has always been meeting her obligations to hunt down Lothos and the other blood-suckers at Hemery High.
7. “Caramel macchiato” and “venti half-caf vanilla latte” have always been street corner lingo.
9. Had it remained operational, the villainous computer HAL could be their college classmate this fall, but they have a better chance of running into Miley Cyrus’s folks on parents’ Weekend.
10. Entering college this fall in a country where a quarter of young people under 18 have at least one immigrant parent, they aren't afraid of immigration...unless it involves "real" aliens from another planet.
11. John McEnroe has never played professional tennis.
and a few more
62. Having hundreds of cable channels but nothing to watch has always been routine.
63. Their parents’ favorite TV sitcoms have always been showing up as movies.
64. The U.S, Canada, and Mexico have always agreed to trade freely.
65. They first met Michelangelo when he was just a computer virus.
66. Galileo is forgiven and welcome back into the Roman Catholic Church.
67. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has always sat on the Supreme Court.
68. They have never worried about a Russian missile strike on the U.S.
69. It seems the Post Office has always been going broke.
70. The artist formerly known as Snoop Doggy Dogg has always been rapping.
71. The nation has never approved of the job Congress is doing.
72. One way or another, “It’s the economy, stupid” and always has been.
73. Silicone-gel breast implants have always been regulated.
74. They've always been able to blast off with the Sci-Fi (SYFY) Channel.
75. Honda has always been a major competitor on Memorial Day at Indianapolis.
The complete list HERE
Pay To Sit On Park Bench
Park officials in China have found a way to stop people from hogging their benches for too long - by fitting steel spikes on a coin-operated timer.If visitors at the Yantai Park in Shangdong province, eastern China, linger too long without feeding the meter, dozens of sharp spikes shoot through the seat.
The spikes are too short to cause any serious harm - but long enough to prevent people from sitting on them comfortably.
Park bosses got the idea from an art installation in Germany where sculptor Fabian Brunsing created a similar bench as a protest against the commercialisation of modern life.
"He thought he was exaggerating. He didn't foresee that a very practical country like China might actually use them for real," said one critic.
Parks in China suffer from chronic overcrowding at weekends when millions of people try to escape the country's teeming cities.
"We have to make sure the facilities are shared out evenly and this seems like a fair way to stop people grabbing a bench at dawn and staying there all day," said one park official.
See it in operation HERE
75-year-old man with robs bank then makes slow getaway using a walker
A speedy getaway is usually critical for bank robbers, but perhaps not for an elderly British Columbia man who this week held up a bank - and while using a walker. While no weapon was produced, the 75-year-old told staff at a Prince George Bank of Nova Scotia that he was armed. Staff surrendered a small amount of cash and the robber made his getaway as RCMP were called at around 11:45 a.m. on Friday.
But he said staff did the right thing in allowing the man to leave the bank even though they never saw a weapon. “You never know what you have on the other side of the counter,” Godwin said. “If he says he has a weapon, the best thing is to give him what we wants. Err on the side of caution is what we teach.”
VIA
The suspect was described as a Caucasian male weighing about 230 pounds. He was wearing a straw hat, white T-shirt, grey jogging pants and dark glasses - and he was using a walker that many rely on for mobility. Prince George RCMP spokesman Gary Godwin said the man was apprehended approximately 45 minutes later in the same suburban strip mall where the bank is located.
The man is in custody while police investigate the decidedly unusual case. “It’s not every day you get a 75-year-old male on a walker holding up a bank,” Godwin said. “We’re looking at all the circumstances that are involved.” He said the man is known to police. Godwin, who has just retired from the RCMP after 25 years and has 36 years of policing experience, has never seen as elderly a bank robber as in this case.
But he said staff did the right thing in allowing the man to leave the bank even though they never saw a weapon. “You never know what you have on the other side of the counter,” Godwin said. “If he says he has a weapon, the best thing is to give him what we wants. Err on the side of caution is what we teach.”
VIA
Salmon Run
And you can safely bet the bears are not that far away fattening up for the hibernation coming up
Red Crab At The BP Oil Leak Site
I had not viewed the BP web site at
http://www.bp.com/sectionbodycopy.do?categoryId=9034366&contentId=7063636
for a few days so last night before I put the computer to sleep I decided to have a look.
Usually all I see are different views of the robot equipment looking over the sealed vent checking for leaks. They also check over sections of the sea floor to see if any oil is seeping out from any fissures in the sea floor. After all the pressure is very high what with the ocean floor pushing down on the dome of oil and if there is a weak spot in the sea floor the oil will find its way out.
With the screen full of all the views my eyes were instantly drawn to a red odd-shaped thing that occupied the full screen view from the feed labeled Boa Deep C – ROV 1. The crew controlling the robot had locked onto a red crab foraging on the ocean floor. How long they had been viewing I hardly know but do know I was as fascinated as they were.
My search to try to determine what type of crab it is was inconclusive as the screen capture is not clear enough to be much value in providing comparison during my search. Here's a screen shot of the critter:
http://www.bp.com/sectionbodycopy.do?categoryId=9034366&contentId=7063636
for a few days so last night before I put the computer to sleep I decided to have a look.
Usually all I see are different views of the robot equipment looking over the sealed vent checking for leaks. They also check over sections of the sea floor to see if any oil is seeping out from any fissures in the sea floor. After all the pressure is very high what with the ocean floor pushing down on the dome of oil and if there is a weak spot in the sea floor the oil will find its way out.
With the screen full of all the views my eyes were instantly drawn to a red odd-shaped thing that occupied the full screen view from the feed labeled Boa Deep C – ROV 1. The crew controlling the robot had locked onto a red crab foraging on the ocean floor. How long they had been viewing I hardly know but do know I was as fascinated as they were.
My search to try to determine what type of crab it is was inconclusive as the screen capture is not clear enough to be much value in providing comparison during my search. Here's a screen shot of the critter:
A Classic Political Discussion/Arguement
I read many a political discussion over the years and this pretty much captures the way they go:
Spectacular Northern Lights may be visible tonight across the northern hemisphere
Spectacular Northern Lights may be visible tonight August 3 through morning of August 4, 2010 across the northern hemisphere, following a solar eruption on Sunday night.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, the Sun's surface erupted in what's called called a coronal mass ejection, blasting tons of ionized atoms into space.
This plasma is headed straight for the Earth, and when it arrives, could create a spectacular light show.
"This eruption is directed right at us, and is expected to get here early in the day on August 4th," said astronomer Leon Golub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "It's the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time."
The eruption itself was caught on camera by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), launched in February.
"We got a beautiful view of this eruption," said Golub. "And there might be more beautiful views to come, if it triggers aurorae."
When a coronal mass ejection reaches Earth, it interacts with the planet's magnetic field, potentially creating a geomagnetic storm. Solar particles stream down the field lines toward Earth's poles and collide with atoms of nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere, causing them to light up like little neon signs.
Aurorae can usually only be seen at high latitudes - but a geomagnetic storm can make them visible much further south. Sky watchers in the Northern US and Europe should look for rippling 'curtains' of green and red light to the north.
This plasma is headed straight for the Earth, and when it arrives, could create a spectacular light show.
"This eruption is directed right at us, and is expected to get here early in the day on August 4th," said astronomer Leon Golub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "It's the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time."
The eruption itself was caught on camera by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), launched in February.
"We got a beautiful view of this eruption," said Golub. "And there might be more beautiful views to come, if it triggers aurorae."
When a coronal mass ejection reaches Earth, it interacts with the planet's magnetic field, potentially creating a geomagnetic storm. Solar particles stream down the field lines toward Earth's poles and collide with atoms of nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere, causing them to light up like little neon signs.
Aurorae can usually only be seen at high latitudes - but a geomagnetic storm can make them visible much further south. Sky watchers in the Northern US and Europe should look for rippling 'curtains' of green and red light to the north.
Photo Of The Chelsea Clinton Wedding port-a-potties
$15K for the Chelsea Clinton wedding port-a-potties were anything but. They were a class act. Here's a photo of the insides of one and its diagram layout/ actual porcelain toilets that flush, stereo music and hot running water.
VIA
Eye Rolling Against The Law ?
Elmhurst officials are considering creating a "disturbance and disorderly conduct" violation after a resident accused of rolling her eyes and sighing was ejected from a public meeting. City Attorney Don Storino has been directed by the city’s finance and council affairs committee to look at various sources including “Robert’s Rules of Order,” Illinois state statutes and policies adopted by other municipalities for a legal definition of disorderly conduct and disruptive behavior.Ald. Stephen Hipskind said Darlene Heslop rolled her eyes and sighed while attending a June 14 committee meeting. Heslop, who was asked to leave the meeting, said she favours adding a definition of disorderly conduct to the municipal code. “I’d like for them (city officials) to have a better understanding of the open meetings act and its meaning and to understand what disorderly conduct is,” she said.
VIA
Some People Have A Favorite Place For Crime
An Athens, Georgia man was barred from a local Kroger supermarket after he was found drinking mouthwash while sitting in a patio swing display at the store.
The Athens man, who was not named, was spotted trying to use a knife to crack open a bottle of Kroger brand mouthwash while in the store last week, Online Athens reports.
Athens-Clarke police said the man told them in slurred speech that he had a “couple of beers” and was not drinking the mouthwash but using the two bottles in his possession for “oral hygiene.”
The man has had previous brushes with the law, including an arrest in November when he brandished a knife at Kroger employees who caught him shoplifting.
He was barred from the supermarket for two years.
Athens-Clarke police said the man told them in slurred speech that he had a “couple of beers” and was not drinking the mouthwash but using the two bottles in his possession for “oral hygiene.”
The man has had previous brushes with the law, including an arrest in November when he brandished a knife at Kroger employees who caught him shoplifting.
He was barred from the supermarket for two years.
Mayan Symbol or WHAAAAAT !
Oh look! Is that a stone Mayan symbol there stuck in the dirt wall?
Got to have that. It might bring thousands at auction. Let's dig that out.
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
The individual species are separated from each other by the pattern of the abdominal disc, the number of hairs on its seam, and the shape of the spermathecae.
VIA
Got to have that. It might bring thousands at auction. Let's dig that out.
Wait a sec. What is that on the left edge?
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Cyclocosmia is a genus of spiders in the Ctenizidae family which is a type of Cork-lid trapdoor spiders.
The abdomen of spiders in this genus is abruptly truncated and ends in a hardened disc which is strengthened by a system of ribs and grooves. They use this to clog the entrance of their 7 to 15 cm deep vertical burrows when threatened, a phenomenon called phragmosis. Strong spines are located around the edge of the disc. The four spinnerets are found just anterior to it, with the posterior, retractable spinnerets particularly large. C. ricketti females are 28 mm long, with a disc diameter of 16 mm. Only the bottom portion of the burrow is silk lined.The individual species are separated from each other by the pattern of the abdominal disc, the number of hairs on its seam, and the shape of the spermathecae.
VIA
Underwear Bandit Arrested
This is a followup to a previous post about the robbery where a woman wearing what was described as panties covering her face - - - LINK to original post
Midwest City, Okla. - Midwest City police say they have arrested the so-called "underwear bandit" - a woman who wore a girdle to cover her face while robbing a McDonald's restaurant.
Police Chief Brandon Clabes says Sharon Lain was taken into custody Wednesday on burglary and drug complaints.
Surveillance video showed someone reach through a drive-through window at the restaurant and take money from an unattended cash register early Tuesday. The woman had underwear on over her face that was attached with yellow paper clips.
Clabes says when officers arrested Lain at her residence, which had been condemned, they found drugs, a girdle, yellow paper clips and dark clothing that matched what the burglar was wearing in the video.
He says Lain told police she had a gambling problem and stole the money to spend at Remington Park.
VIA
Midwest City, Okla. - Midwest City police say they have arrested the so-called "underwear bandit" - a woman who wore a girdle to cover her face while robbing a McDonald's restaurant.
Police Chief Brandon Clabes says Sharon Lain was taken into custody Wednesday on burglary and drug complaints.
Surveillance video showed someone reach through a drive-through window at the restaurant and take money from an unattended cash register early Tuesday. The woman had underwear on over her face that was attached with yellow paper clips.
Clabes says when officers arrested Lain at her residence, which had been condemned, they found drugs, a girdle, yellow paper clips and dark clothing that matched what the burglar was wearing in the video.
He says Lain told police she had a gambling problem and stole the money to spend at Remington Park.
VIA
Bull Fighter-0 Bull-1 (warning graphic)
That's not the bull fighter's tongue sticking outThe horn went though the tongue and penetrated the roof of the mouth, fracturing the jawbone," one of the medics who worked on Aparicio told AFP news in Madrid.
After two operations, it appears leading surgeon Maximo Garcia Pedros has saved Aparicio's life. The bull, however, was quickly killed by other matadors.
The incident took place during the Festival of Saint Isidro, considered to be the most important event in the bullfighting calendar, at the Plaza de Toros las Ventas bull ring, which can seat up to 24,000 people.
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