Reagan on Surrender

Hand Bell Hero

Hand Bell Hero - VML

Peter Jackson to make two Hobbit movies

The Sound of a Million Elves Celebrating: "Los Angeles, CA (Tuesday, December 18, 2007) Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson; Harry Sloan, Chairman and CEO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM); Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs of New Line Cinema have jointly announced today that they have entered into the following series of agreements:

* MGM and New Line will co-finance and co-distribute two films, “The Hobbit” and a sequel to “The Hobbit.” New Line will distribute in North America and MGM will distribute internationally.

* Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will serve as Executive Producers of two films based on “The Hobbit.” New Line will manage the production of the films, which will be shot simultaneously."

Environmentalism hits a new low

Don Surber » Blog Archive » Baby tax

For years I've believed that environmentalism has replaced Christianity as the official religion of western governments. For those who think that is "progressive" think again.

Now comes Professor Barry Walters of Australia who wants to impose a $5,000 childbirth tax and an annual baby tax of $800 to pay for the carbon footprint of children.

Writing in a medical journal, the professor said, “Every newborn baby in Australia represents a potent source of greenhouse gas emissions for an average of 80 years, not simply by breathing but by the profligate consumption of resources typical of our society. Far from showering financial booty on new mothers and rewarding greenhouse-unfriendly behaviour, a ‘baby levy’ in the form of a carbon tax should apply, in line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle.”

Self-loathing on display. First step Kyoto on the march to government forced abortions in the name of stopping climate change.

Stop Worrying and Love Nuclear Power

Former 'No Nukes' Protester: Stop Worrying and Love Nuclear Power

Just think how much better-off the planet would be if people had been smart enough to ignore the no-nukes crowd 30 years ago.

Thank God I didn't go to Delaware

Indoctrination At Delaware (Forum)

Many universities try to indoctrinate students, but the all-time champion in this category is surely the University of Delaware. With no guile at all the university has laid out a brutally specific program for "treatment" of incorrect attitudes of the 7,000 students in its residence halls. The program is close enough to North Korean brainwashing that students and professors have been making "made in North Korea" jokes about the plan. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has called for the program to be dismantled. Residential assistants charged with imposing the "treatments" have undergone intensive training from the university. The training makes clear that white people are to be considered racists - at least those who have not yet undergone training and confessed their racism. The RAs have been taught that a "racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture, or sexuality."

Read the whole thing if you'd like to get depressed. The human tendency to totalitarian systems never stops unless you fight back.

Winter Park High School Bands

Home

Orlando Foreclosures Database

Orlando Foreclosures - OrlandoSentinel.com

Currently 77 foreclosures in zip code 32819

Death Star Canteen

The Great American Melting Pot - Assimilation vs. Multi-Culturalists

Update: My dad sent me an email about Baba in response to this post, which does a much better job of describing his immigrant experience than I did, particularly about how important family is:

Dear David,

I read your comments that you felt that Baba was a bit envious of the accomplishments of his children and grandchildren. I think we have some different experiences about how my Dad regarded the success of his children and grandchildren and I wanted to share them with you.

It was my experience that he was very proud of my work at Honeywell. In fact, I know that he was often complemented on my performance and contribution to the success we had with the first implementation of a large mainframe computer at the Aero Division of Honeywell. We both worked in the same plant in Minneapolis and I know that the V.P. and General Manager talked to my Dad often regarding my work because my Dad would tell me about those conversations. My Dad promoted my accomplishments in the army to those senior executives and was responsible for getting my name and letters of recommendation from the army to their attention. My Dad was highly regarded as a long-time professional manager in the manufacturing operation at Honeywell and was known throughout Honeywell in the Minneapolis area at that time. I know that I worked especially hard knowing that my success was also a reflection on my Dad. I got a lot of fast promotions and at ! one time, was the youngest supervisor at the Aero Division and had around 80 people working for me with a budget of $2.5 million (including the computer and IBM equipment). but it was a very responsible job and I was 30 years old. That was a lot of money in 1962.

Baba, was also very proud of his grandchildren. You probably didn't experience that adulation because you didn't get to Minneapolis very often as an adult. But, he always asked how David was doing. He got to see Leslie often because she went to St Olaf in Northfield, MN and often visited everyone in Minneapolis. Then, when she graduated, she worked as a teacher in Minneapolis and often visited her grandparents.

Whenever Mom and I visited Minneapolis, it was a ritual to visit the homes of all of Lorraine's children. My Dad just loved showing off their houses and activities. He really loved to show-off Dede's, Jimmy's and Rickie's houses and would then give us a tour of Jimmy's plumbing company.

I never felt that he was at all envious of their accomplishments. In fact, I always felt that he believed that he was more of a catalyst and was somewhat responsible for their work ethic and success. I always felt that he was excited with their accomplishments. He was a leader and a good manager.

I know that in my house, my parents and grandparents would renew the memories of their old Swedish food, music and traditions. But, I never saw that there was a desire or yearning to return to their homeland to live or to change their American way of living. My dad was proud to be an American. He was also proud to be a Swede, but he was now an American. And, from what I can remember of my grandparents (my mother's parents), they were now Americans too. In fact, my grandparents always had a 2'x3' portrait of President Franklin Roosevelt hanging in a prominent location in their dining room. Both of my uncles were in World War ll and my grandmother went to work at Honeywell during "the War" to help with the war effort.

I didn't know if I had shared some of these feelings with you but they are important memories to me.

Dad

Betsy & I did get to Minneapolis on our honeymoon trip across America. We will never forget Baba driving us around to see all of the cousins homes. It was a real experience.

Thanks Dad.

************************
Melting pot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eric, the above link is to the Wikipedia about the melting pot. It is pretty detailed and is a pretty large topic including arguments about if the "melting pot" is truly inclusive, or was pretty much only white Europeans and they excluded non-whites such as the black slaves and the Chinese.

There seem to be two points of view discussed in the article, and they are worth considering.

1. "The melting pot idea is most strongly associated with the United States, particularly in reference to "model" immigrant groups of the past. Past generations of immigrants to the United States, it is argued by some, became successful by working to shed their historic identities and adopt the ways of their new country. Typically immigrants absorbed the ways of the "host" society, while loosening to varying degrees their connection to their native culture." That is, immigrants left behind their old life, and embraced the crazy mixed-up cultural stew that is American life. By doing so, they were no longer "German" or "English" and became "Americans."

2. Multiculturalists claim that assimilation can hurt minority cultures by stripping away their distinctive features. They point to situations where institutions of the dominant culture initiate programs to assimilate or integrate minority cultures.

Although some multiculturalists admit that assimilation may result in a relatively homogeneous society, with a strong sense of nationalism, they warn however, that where minorities are strongly urged to assimilate, there may arise groups which fiercely oppose integration. With assimilation, immigrants lose their original cultural (and often linguistic) identity and so do their children. Immigrants who fled persecution or a country devastated by war were historically resilient to abandoning their heritage once they had settled in a new country. These are peoples who want to move to the U.S. but not embrace the U.S. way of life. They want to remain whatever they were: European, African, Chinese, whatever.

My own thoughts:

I will propose, from personal experience, that both happen all the time. First generation immigrants want to fiercely cling to the language, culture and customs of their youth. In turn, they want the established culture of their new country to accommodate them. Their children, exposed to a different (American) way of life want to assimilate. It causes a clash of cultures between generations that is hard to bridge.

My own grandfather Gus who immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager was a success, and his absolutely American children were even more successful and his grandchildren are all very successful. Ultimately, though, I think that Baba the immigrant was stuck between two worlds and was a tad resentful of the American way of life of his children and grandchildren. And that is pretty common.

I work with several immigrants now and hear them talk about how much better their homelands are, how much better the culture is, how much better the restaurants, etc. And they are really upset at how American their kids are acting. When I casually mentioned to one that it's great that their kids are assimilating he really got angry. He doesn't like it at all, probably because his children's assimilation will prevent him from ever moving back to his beloved homeland. (And he has applied for U.S. citizenship!)

I like the idea of tying the essay to food. If you think about what cultural traditions are, they revolve around family, language, entertainment and food. One of the great blessings of living in America is the wonderful diversity of foods we have available to us at both the grocer and at restaurants. Many of our favorite foods we eat at home have nothing to do with our northern European lineage, but come from Mexico, Spain, China and Italy. The assimilation of many different cultures into the American way of life is like a stew. Each ingredient adds something important. The results are delicious and unique.

TCS Daily - Gore Dodges Repeated Calls to Debate Global Warming

TCS Daily - Gore Dodges Repeated Calls to Debate Global Warming:

Klaus reserved his unkindest cut of all for the movement that has joined forces with Gore is spreading fear about global warming:

"As someone who lived under communism for most of his life, I feel obliged to say that I see the biggest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity now in ambitious environmentalism, not in communism. This ideology wants to replace the free and spontaneous evolution of mankind by a sort of central (now global) planning."

Gore's refusal to take on the likes of Klaus, Avery and Lord Monckton is no isolated incident of the former vice president's lacking the courage of his convictions. In June, Professor Scott Armstrong of the University of Pennsylvania urged Gore to put his global warming money where his mouth is. Armstrong, one of the world's leading experts on forecasting, has studied the forecasts made by Gore and such organizations as the UN's Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) and found their methodology wanting.

Convinced that Gore and the IPCC are overstating how much temperatures will rise in the years to come, Armstrong has challenged Gore to the following wager: Each man bets $10,000 on how much temperatures will go up in the next ten years. The money will stay in escrow until 2017. The one whose forecast come closer to the actual change in temperature will be declared the winner and be allowed to donate the $20,000 plus accumulated interest to the charity of his choice. But despite being flush with cash from his movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," and from lucrative speaking engagements around the world, Gore has not taken Armstrong up on the bet.

The Nuclear Renaissance Begins

Interesting article on Nuclear Power in the U.S. The Clinton White House had planned for nearly all the existing Nuclear plants to be eliminated by now. But that hasn't happened, and in fact these plants are now very profitable. Buried in the story is one of the reasons -- nuclear Navy veterans have taken over and made the plants much more efficient and safe.

Sadly the U.S.,which invented nuclear power, no longer has the skills to build new plants. We will have to sub-contract that to the Japanese.

Read the whole article, it is pretty interesting and will give you something to do while we wait for our abysmal politicians to come up with an energy policy.

The American Spectator

last Tuesday, September 25, was a milestone. For the first time since 1973, a new application for building a reactor was placed before the federal government.

The proposal submitted Tuesday is to build two new reactors with a total capacity of 2,700 megawatts at the South Texas Project site in Matagorda County, where two nuclear units have already operated for 25 years. The size of the reactors is unprecedented -- the biggest American plants generally produce about 1,200 MW.

...Soon these new owners -- heavily staffed with veterans from the nuclear Navy -- were revitalizing the industry.

The results have been stunning. Whereas power plants traditionally ran at a "capacity factor" of 60 percent -- meaning they are up and running 60 percent of the time -- the nation's 104 reactors now run at a previously unimaginable capacity of 90 percent. (In South Korea, where nuclear provides half the electricity, the figure is 95 percent.) The average nuclear plant now runs uninterrupted for nearly two years before shutting down for refueling. Safety improvements have been spectacular. While there were 26 shutdowns of more than a year for safety reasons from 1987 to 1997 and 21 in the decade before, there has only been one over the past decade.

25 Skills Every Man Should Know

25 Skills Every Man Should Know: The List, Ready for Your Debate - Popular Mechanics

Hey, not bad. I've done 24/25. I guess I need to go looking for a bolt-action rifle now.

1. Patch a radiator hose
2. Protect your computer
3. Rescue a boater who as capsized
4. Frame a wall
5. Retouch digital photos
6. Back up a trailer
7. Build a campfire
8. Fix a dead outlet
9. Navigate with a map and compass
10. Use a torque wrench
11. Sharpen a knife
12. Perform CPR
13. Fillet a fish
14. Maneuver a car out of a skid
15. Get a car unstuck
16. Back up data
17. Paint a room
18. Mix concrete
19. Clean a bolt-action rifle
20. Change oil and filter
21. Hook up an HDTV
22. Bleed brakes
23. Paddle a canoe
24. Fix a bike flat
25. Extend your wireless network

What Happens When You Lend Money to Poor People

Bloomberg.com: Opinion

Don't get me wrong: I have nothing personally against the poor. To my knowledge, I have nothing personally to do with the poor at all. It's not personal when a guy cuts your grass: that's business. He does what you say, you pay him. But you don't pay him in advance: That would be finance. And finance is one thing you should never engage in with the poor.

Poor people don't respect other people's money in the way money deserves to be respected.

Teaser rates weren't a scandal. Teaser rates were a sign of misplaced trust: I trusted these people to get their teams of lawyers to vet anything before they signed it. Turns out, if you're poor, you don't need to pay lawyers. You don't like the deal you just wave your hands in the air and moan about how poor you are. Then you default.

People complain about the rich getting richer and the poor being left behind. Is it any wonder? Look at them! Did it ever occur to even one of them that they might pay me back by WORKING HARDER? I don't think so.

Our society is really, really hostile to success. At the same time it's shockingly indulgent of poor people.

Lending money to poor countries was a bad idea: Does it make any more sense to lend money to poor people? They don't even have mineral rights!

Pisco Sour - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pisco Sour - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cape Wind Comedy Daily

The Bob Marley

Mount Gay Rum
Club Soda
Lime
Bitters

More Spider Pig

Simpsons Movie Trailer #3 spider pig

Spider Pig Theme Song

does whatever a spider pig does

Recycling Rubbish

Recycling Rubbish

EIGHT GREAT MYTHS ABOUT WASTE DISPOSAL

Penn. Gov. Orders Partial State Shutdown

Penn. Gov. Orders Partial State Shutdown

State Gov't or Pennsylvania has been shut down, including State Parks and other "non-essential" government duties.

The Corner on National Review Online

The Corner on National Review Online:

"London - British public safety officials today increased the national alert level to 'Quite Elevated Indeed' — the highest category possible — and appealed to UK citizens to 'keep a sharp lookout for diverse people engaged in activities.'"

That's almost as funny as the formerly unarmed bobbies yelling "Halt, or I'll yell Halt again!"

Al Gore's son busted for drugs in hybrid car | U.S. | Reuters

Al Gore's son busted for drugs in hybrid car | U.S. | Reuters

Al Gore III -- whose father is a leading advocate of policies to fight global warming -- was driving his environmentally friendly car at about 100 miles per hour on a freeway south of Los Angeles when he was pulled over by an Orange County sheriff's deputy at about 2:15 a.m.

I'm impressed. Who knew a Prius could go 100 miles an hour? Usually they are driven slow in the right lane with an air of self-righteousness.

They tried to get a quote from his dad, but couldn't reach him on his private jet on way to his concert to celebrate Global Warming...

Attic Ventilation

Attic Ventilation: "ATTIC VENTILATION FOR HOMES"

Improving Attic Ventilation

Improving Attic Ventilation | Heating & Cooling | THIS OLD HOUSE

Step-by-Step Strip-Vent Installation

Might need to install six of these if they are not already there.

Attic Ventilation Primer

Ventilation Primer - How Much is Needed?

Probably less than 3 percent of the homes standing today (new and existing) have proper attic ventilation. Those that do can achieve this goal in several different ways.

The houses that have proper ventilation do so in the following way. Continuous or ample singular vents are placed at or near the top of the roof. A similar system of vents is then placed at the bottom or under side of the roof. This system works like a forced air heating or cooling system in your home. The air that leaves the upper vents is replaced by the same amount of air at the lower vents.

It is extremely important to have both upper and lower vents. This is what produces the flow through and continuous air flow in your attic. Furthermore, the vents should be installed in a specific fashion. Sixty percent of your venting area should be in the lower vents, while the remaining 40 percent should be at the top of your roof.

New Date Set for Florida Folk Festival: Veterans Day Weekend, November 9-11 - 05/25/07

Might be nice to attend in cool weather

New Date Set for Florida Folk Festival: Veterans Day Weekend, November 9-11 - 05/25/07

2007 AFI list of top 100 movies

2007 AFI list of top 100 movies - USATODAY.com:

Hoover Beware!

Marine Officials Warn Of Biting Dolphins - Local News Story - WKMG Orlando

Climate change: The Deniers

Climate change: The Deniers

A Summer Project for Eric

DIY Ping Pong Gun

Newest Member of the Fleet

Key West Boats Inc.

Key West Boats 1520 cc is a center cockpit unsinkable boat with a Mercury 50 EFI 4-Stroke engine. We will use her to trailer to Florida lakes and rivers, to the Keys, and as a super tender for Pelican where we can occasionally tow her behind our sailboat to local anchorages.

Length: 15'2"
Beam: 6'10"
Transom: 20"
Approx. Weight: 950 Lbs.
Fuel Capacity: 20 Gals.
Maximum HP: 80 HP
Recommended HP: 50-70 HP
Dead Rise: 10°
Draft: 7"

The boat came with a bimini, live bait well, lights, seat cushions, a cooler, and compass.

* No Wood-No Rot Construction
* Ten (10) Year Hull Warranty
* Self-Bailing Cockpit
* Foam Injected Fiberglass Stringer System
* Built-In Fuel Tank
* Bench Seat with Cushion and Backrest
* Anchor Locker with Anchor
* 48 Qt. Cooler Seat with Cushion
* 13 Gallon Aerated Live Well
* Large Bow and Rear Casting Deck
* Console Rod Holders
* 4 Stainless Steel Rod Holders with Drain
* Padded Stainless Steel Wheel with Anti-Feedback Steering
* Tinted Windshield and Grab Rails
* Bilge Pump with Auto Switch
* Large Storage Compartment in Bow
* Molded Non-Skid Inner Liner
* Stainless Steel Hardware and Rails
* Power Outlet Plug on Dash
* Trolling Motor Plug
* Courtesy Lights
* Folding Stern Light
* Horn
* Raw Water Wash Down System
* Pull-Up Cleats

More tomorrow when we take her on her maiden voyage on the Butler chain of lakes here in Orlando.

100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know

100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know published by Houghton Mifflin Company

abjure
abrogate
abstemious
acumen
antebellum
auspicious
belie
bellicose
bowdlerize
chicanery
chromosome
churlish
circumlocution
circumnavigate
deciduous
deleterious
diffident
enervate
enfranchise
epiphany
equinox
euro
evanescent
expurgate
facetious
fatuous
feckless
fiduciary
filibuster
gamete
gauche
gerrymander
hegemony
hemoglobin
homogeneous
hubris
hypotenuse
impeach
incognito
incontrovertible
inculcate
infrastructure
interpolate
irony
jejune
kinetic
kowtow
laissez faire
lexicon
loquacious

lugubrious

metamorphosis
mitosis
moiety
nanotechnology
nihilism
nomenclature
nonsectarian
notarize
obsequious
oligarchy
omnipotent
orthography
oxidize
parabola
paradigm
parameter
pecuniary
photosynthesis
plagiarize
plasma
polymer
precipitous
quasar
quotidian
recapitulate
reciprocal
reparation
respiration
sanguine
soliloquy
subjugate
suffragist
supercilious
tautology
taxonomy
tectonic
tempestuous
thermodynamics
totalitarian
unctuous
usurp
vacuous
vehement
vortex
winnow
wrought
xenophobe
yeoman
ziggurat

Thoughts for the day

From Don Surber » Blog Archive » I don’t mean to disillusion you, but …

Your car is not silver; it’s gray.

Your spouse’s car is not champagne; it’s beige.

Global warming isn’t science; it’s paganism.

Drug companies aren’t the enemy; bacteria are.

Food stamps are a subsidy, not a ration.

No one questions your patriotism; it’s your sanity we wonder about.

We can deport 12 million people; it’s the will that’s lacking.

Polar bears aren’t endangered; they’re thriving.

Self-esteem isn’t the problem in schools; ignorance is.

Barbie dolls don’t give girls poor body images; other girls do.

Minimum wage was never meant to pay for a new car, a computer, a cellphone, an iPod, and food and shelter for a family of four.

God doesn’t need the government’s help; it’s the other way around.

Bush didn’t kill Kyoto; Clinton did.

The stupid Republicans answer to Bush and the RNC

Michelle Malkin: suggests you offer one of these to the RNC the next time they call:

Bush working hard towards 0% approval rate

For Bush, fight over immigration bill is personal | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

President Bush sounded like he hoped to sever ties with the remaining 30 percent who like him when he went after critics in his party this week over opposition to his latest immigration plan.

"If you want to scare the American people, what you say is the bill's an amnesty bill," Bush said during a stop in Glynco, Ga. "That's empty political rhetoric, trying to frighten our citizens."

Interesting point of view from POTUS. The immigration bill is absolutely an amnesty bill and it doesn't address what will happen as more illegals poor across the borders over the next decade. He signed and then did not fund the wall. Now he is attacking what is left of his base that believes in enforcing laws and borders.

I guess this is why Al Gore is running around telling everyone not to impeach Bush. With Bush running around with Ted Kennedy and attacking conservatives for their core beliefs he's become one of them.

Republicans vote with wallets:

The Bush White House is destroying its own party...

RNC faces donor falloff, fires solicitors - Nation/Politics - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper:

"The Republican National Committee, hit by a grass-roots donors' rebellion over President Bush's immigration policy, has fired all 65 of its telephone solicitors, The Washington Times has learned.

Faced with an estimated 40 percent falloff in small-donor contributions, Anne Hathaway, the committee's chief of staff, summoned the solicitations staff and told them they were out of work, effective immediately, fired staff members told The Times.
Several of the solicitors fired at the May 24 meeting reported declining contributions and a donor backlash against the immigration proposals now being pushed by Mr. Bush and Senate Republicans.

'Every donor in 50 states we reached has been angry, especially in the last month and a half, and for 99 percent of them immigration is the No. 1 issue,' said a fired phone bank employee who said the severance pay the RNC agreed to pay him was contingent on his not criticizing the national committee. "

According to the White House, all these former donors must be a group of un-patriotic and stupid racists.

Update from townhall.com here:

Ring, Ring

Emily: "Hello?'

Caller: "Hi, ma'am, this is the Republican National Committee calling."

Emily (aside to me, with a big grin on her face): "It's the RNC."

Caller: "We're just calling to see at what level you'd be comfortable renewing your contribution. Would $75 be all right?"

Emily: "How about nothing?"

Caller: "Oh, why's that?"

Emily: "I'm not real happy with the immigration bill."

Caller: "Well, that's not Republicans. Just the President loves that immigration bill."

Emily: "The President is head of the Republican Party."

Caller: "Not for long."

Emily: "And, Republican senators are supporting the bill. Why would I give you guys money to get them re-elected?"

Caller: "That's ridiculous."

Emily: "Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna give you any money. You just called me ridiculous."

The Bush administration spins off into oblivion

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan

Maybe it's the conservatives that should be pushing for impeachment. Peggy Noonan lists some of the sins of the Bush administration.

Among the quotes:

"This White House thinks its base is stupid and that its heart is in the wrong place."

"You don't like endless gushing spending, the kind that assumes a high and unstoppable affluence will always exist, and the tax receipts will always flow in? Too bad! You don't like expanding governmental authority and power? Too bad. You think the war was wrong or is wrong? Too bad."

"The president has taken to suggesting that opponents of his immigration bill are unpatriotic--they "don't want to do what's right for America." His ally Sen. Lindsey Graham has said, "We're gonna tell the bigots to shut up." On Fox last weekend he vowed to "push back." Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff suggested opponents would prefer illegal immigrants be killed; Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said those who oppose the bill want "mass deportation." Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson said those who oppose the bill are "anti-immigrant" and suggested they suffer from "rage" and "national chauvinism."

"What I came in time to believe is that the great shortcoming of this White House, the great thing it is missing, is simple wisdom. Just wisdom--a sense that they did not invent history, that this moment is not all there is, that man has lived a long time and there are things that are true of him, that maturity is not the same thing as cowardice, that personal loyalty is not a good enough reason to put anyone in charge of anything, that the way it works in politics is a friend becomes a loyalist becomes a hack, and actually at this point in history we don't need hacks."

If you insist on acting like the other party that the electorate will eventually get around to simply electing the other party. Why vote for a fake when you can get the genuine article? That is going to be both of the Bush presidents legacy. The conservative base didn't vote for Bush so he could have photo-ops with Ted Kennedy.

Windows Home Server Preview

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows Home Server Preview

This looks like the next wave of home networking. Our family of 3 now has 6 computers running on the network, and no clear backup plan for each computer. We will be an early adopter of this technology once it become available.

Windows Home Server (WHS) is not about streaming digital media around the home, though of course it does include Windows Media Connect technology and can be used in this fashion. No, WHS is about storage first, and remote access second. WHS's storage features are innovative and will likely blow people away: The product moves the notion of backup from the PC level to the family level, and lets you backup all of the machines in your home seamlessly. Best of all, you can add storage however you'd like, and WHS will simply aggregate all of that space into a single, drive-letter-less storage pool.

WHS's remote access features will allow users to access any of their home PCs from anywhere online, duplicating functionality that people today associate with products like GoToMyPC. Microsoft will even throw in a free domain name, making this access easier than ever. Note that remote access requires Windows XP Pro or higher, or Windows Vista Home Premium or higher.

Finally, in a nod to enthusiasts, WHS will be available in both pre-made server appliances from companies like HP, and as a separate software product that you can install to any PC or server. WHS is based on Windows Server 2003 R2, and not Longhorn Server as rumored. It features a super-simple tabbed-based interface that beginners and advanced users will both enjoy, and will ship in late 2007. HP will show off a cool and compact WHS design, as will original device manufacturers like Inventec and Quanta.

"Let Are Kids Walk"

Image of protester seeking to allow Texas students who failed the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam to be allowed to act like they graduated and walk across the stage.

Is the future a six stroke engine?

INVENTION AWARDS Six Strokes of Genius - Popular Science

This sounds like a cool idea. Harness the heat loss of an engine by creating steam to power an extra power cycle. Could increase efficiency in gas powered engines as much as 40%.

A typical engine wastes three quarters of its energy as heat. Crower's prototype, the single-cylinder diesel eight-horsepower Steam-o-Lene engine, uses that heat to make steam and recapture some of the lost energy. It runs like a conventional four-stroke combustion engine through each of the typical up-and-down movements of the piston (intake, compression, power or combustion, exhaust). But just as the engine finishes its fourth stroke, water squirts into the cylinder, hitting surfaces as hot as 1,500°F. The water immediately evaporates into steam, generating a 1,600-fold expansion in volume and driving the piston down to create an additional power stroke. The upward sixth stroke exhausts the steam to a condenser, where it is recycled into injection water.

You Don't Have to Be Einstein to Get Rich: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

You Don't Have to Be Einstein to Get Rich

Ohio State economics professor Jay Zagorsky suggests different factors: "Staying married, not getting divorced, thinking about savings." Wow

The New Religion

Greenpeace Builds Replica of Noah's Ark

Climate Change is the new religion of the collectivists.

Who Are the Merchants of Fear?

Who Are the Merchants of Fear?:

More from Cockburn. If he's not careful he'll be branded as a conservative, like they did Imus:

"By the late 1980s the UN high brass clearly perceived the 'challenge' of climate change to be the horse to ride to build up the organization's increasingly threadbare moral authority and to claim a role beyond that of being an obvious American errand boy. In 1988 it gave us the IPCC.

The cycle of alarmist predictions is now well established. Not long before some new UN moot, a prominent fearmonger like James Hansen or Michael Mann will make a tremulous statement about the accelerating tempo of the warming crisis. The cry is taken up by the IPCC and headlined by the New York Times, with exactly the same lack of critical evaluation as that newspaper's recycling of the government's lies about Saddam's WMDs.

When measured reality doesn't cooperate with the lurid model predictions, new compensating factors are 'discovered,' such as the sulfate aerosols popular in the 1990s, recruited to cool off the obviously excessive heat predicted by the models. Or inconvenient data are waterboarded into submission, as happened with ice-core samples that failed to confirm the modelers' need for record temperatures today. As Richard Kerr, Science's man on global warming, remarked, 'Climate modelers have been 'cheating' for so long it's almost become respectable.'"

Is Global Warming a Sin?

Is Global Warming a Sin?

On our recent trip to the Dry Tortugas the family had an epiphany. When the sun comes up, the temperature rises. When it sets, the temperature drops. Based on this intriguing data, we have come to the conclusion that it's possible the sun may have an effect on climate change.

Uh, make that "Climate Change" which is the world's latest mass religion and clearly has nothing to do with the sun.

The link is to an Alexander Cockburn article in "The Nation." This heretical piece concludes that the sun has an effect on "Climate Change." How ridiculous. It's been proven beyond any doubt that global warming is 100% caused by mankind. What's wrong with "The Nation"? They have always been so reliably leftist.

We're warmer now because today's world is in the thaw following the recent ice age. Ice ages correlate with changes in the solar heat we receive, all due to predictable changes in the Earth's elliptical orbit round the sun and in the Earth's tilt. As Hertzberg explains, the clinical heat effect of all of these variables was worked out in great detail between 1915 and 1940 by Milutin Milankovitch, a giant of twentieth-century astrophysics. In past post-glacial cycles, as now, the Earth's orbit and tilt give us more and longer summer days between the equinoxes.

Water covers 71 percent of Earth's surface. Compared with the atmosphere, there's 100 times more CO₂ in the oceans, dissolved as carbonate. As the post-glacial thaw progresses the oceans warm up, and some of the dissolved carbon emits into the atmosphere, like fizz from soda. "The greenhouse global warming theory has it ass backwards," Hertzberg concludes. "It is the warming of the Earth that is causing the increase of carbon dioxide and not the reverse." In vivid confirmation of that conclusion, several new papers show that for the last 750,000 years, CO₂ changes have always lagged behind global temperatures by 800 to 2,600 years.

It looks like Poseidon should go hunting for carbon credits. The human carbon footprint is of zero consequence amid these huge forces and volumes, not to mention the role of the giant reactor beneath our feet: the Earth's increasingly hot molten core.

Clearly, Cockburn has a death wish to even think of publishing something so ludicrous.

Happy International Communist Labor Day

In honor of May Day, the international (communist) celebration of labor, let's take a moment to wish that Fidel Castro rots in hell.
Here's hoping that Cuba finds it freedom soon. There are infinitely better ways to travel in the free world.

Taking Apart Tenet

George Tenet's disgraceful new book. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine

The money quote:

To revisit these arguments is to be reminded that no thinking person ever felt that the danger posed by a totalitarian and aggressive Iraq was a negligible one. And now comes Tenet, the man who got everything wrong and who ran the agency that couldn't think straight, to ask us to sympathize with his moanings about "Iraq—who, me?"

It makes me believe the U.S. would best be served by abolishing the CIA (and the State Department for that matter) and replacing it with something more... competent.

Oops.

My Way News Photo - Highway Collapse

Free Carbon Offsets

Free Carbon Offsets - Home

These are apparently just as effective as the ones sold by AlGore

Is Mercury in CFL's a concern?

Instapundit.com -

There is this to ponder:

Is it true that compact fluorescent light bulbs contain harmful mercury?

Compact fluorescent lights contain a very small amount of mercury, significantly less than those in fever thermometers. This small amount of mercury slowly bonds with the phosphor coating on the lamp interior as the lamp ages, prohibiting its entry into the atmosphere. Even breaking a fluorescent bulb is not a significant health risk because the amount of mercury vapor released is so small that it dissipates into the air with a minimal chance of inhalation.

And this:

Ironically, compact fluorescent bulbs are responsible for less mercury contamination than the incandescent bulbs they replaced, even though incandescents don't contain any mercury. The highest source of mercury in America’s air and water results from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, at utilities that supply electricity. Since a compact fluorescent bulb uses 75 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb, and lasts at least six times longer, it is responsible for far less mercury pollution in the long run. A coal-burning power plant will emit four times more mercury to produce the electricity for an incandescent bulb than for a compact fluorescent.

Then again, it might be enough for John Edwards and his friends to sue for damages...

Miami-Dade county leads Florida

ForeclosureS.com: 364,000 owners staring down foreclosure in 2007 | Valuation Review News | Daily News | Valuation Review:

Of every 1,000 U.S. homeowners, 2.4 faced losing their property to foreclosure in the first three months of 2007

Missing Coast Guard Mascot Found In Pyro Box - Yahoo! News

Missing Coast Guard Mascot Found In Pyro Box - Yahoo! News

Almost two days after she was reported missing, the year-old black Labrador mascot of the Port Canaveral Coast Guard Station was found around 6:45 a.m. Tuesday in a locked steel container full of flares and other pyrotechnics, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported. She had been missing since around 2 p.m. Sunday.

Liberty was with the last man to check the pyrotechnics box. She must have crawled up into the 4-by-4-foot steel container while it was raining and he closed her up in it without noticing, Rice said.

The Best Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs: Scientific Lab Test vs. Incandescent - Popular Mechanics

The Best Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs: Scientific Lab Test vs. Incandescent - Popular Mechanics

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation Summary

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation Summary

National average for benefits compensation is about 43% of gross salary, which includes:

10% Vacation/Paid Leave
3.5% overtime or bonuses
11.7% Insurance and disability
6.25% Retirement and Savings programs
11.4% Legally required benefits including FICA, Medicate, Workers comp & unemployment insurance.

Top 10 Richest Zip Codes

REALTOR® Magazine - Daily News

Greenwich, CT zip 06831 is #1, with a median price of nearly $3 Million.

Tracfone $99 for 1 year service, 900 minutes airtime

TracFone Nationwide Prepaid Wireless

Latest property tax reform proposal

FAR - News & Events - Senate Democrats offer wide-ranging tax reform proposal

The Democratic proposal would flesh out [portability]. It would exempt homeowners from taxes on the difference between the values of the old and new homes – up to a maximum of $250,000 – if they move to a more expensive house. If they go to a cheaper one, they would pay no more than they did on their old house.

The portability provision would be linked to reducing Save Our Homes benefits. The annual tax limit would go to 3 percent plus inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, but no more than 6 percent total. The result would be higher taxes for homesteads.

‘Irresponsible’ Mortgages Have Opened Doors to Many of the Excluded - New York Times

‘Irresponsible’ Mortgages Have Opened Doors to Many of the Excluded - New York Times

Article is more balanced than you would expect of the NYT.

Almost every new form of mortgage lending — from adjustable-rate mortgages to home equity lines of credit to no-money-down mortgages — has tended to expand the pool of people who qualify but has also been greeted by a large number of people saying that it harms consumers and will fool people into thinking they can afford homes that they cannot.

Congress is contemplating a serious tightening of regulations to make the new forms of lending more difficult. New research from some of the leading housing economists in the country, however, examines the long history of mortgage market innovations and suggests that regulators should be mindful of the potential downside in tightening too much.

M. Crichton Interview on Global Warming

The Daily Ablution: Seven Answers From ...

Any departure from environmental orthodoxy is marked by ad hominem attack, vigorous spread of false information, claims of criminality and mental derangement, and general nastiness. Apparently this is one area where reasonable people cannot disagree.

It's interesting that any entity as complex, changing and difficult to comprehend as the environment should be guarded by organizations that allow no deviation from a single point of view toward what needs to be done. One might have predicted a rather broad range of environmental viewpoints, promoted by an equally broad range of institutions and activist organizations. There is some variation among organizations, of course. But on the subject of global warming, no deviation. That is to say, I am aware of no environmental organization that does not claim global warming is a major threat that must be dealt with now.

I leave it to your readers to explain that puzzle. Complex subject, simplistic response.

Jobs, News and Views for All of Higher Education - Inside Higher Ed :: Fooling the College Board

Jobs, News and Views for All of Higher Education - Inside Higher Ed :: Fooling the College Board

Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage

The Recorder

The Toyota Prius has become the flagship car for those in our society so environmentally conscious that they are willing to spend a premium to show the world how much they care. Unfortunately for them, their ultimate ‘green car’ is the source of some of the worst pollution in North America . . .

Official National Park Service Site

Dry Tortugas National Park - Dry Tortugas National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

The Dry Tortugas are an isolated outpost set apart from the mainland by the expansive waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Though it requires a bit of planning, visitors to the park are rewarded with memorable experiences amidst a truly unique landscape.

Dry Tortugas National Park Visitors Guide

Dry Tortugas National Park Visitors Guide: "Boating

Private boaters have a prime opportunity to visit the fort. Nautical charts for the route can be purchased at marinas and boating supply outlets in Key West. Information can be obtained in Key West from the U.S. Coast Guard station, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Charter Boat Association. Boaters should be aware of the possibility of extreme rough seas.

If you visit using your personal boat, please bring at least two anchors and NOAA chart 11438. Overnight anchoring is limited to within one mile of Garden Key; there are no overnight anchoring buoys. Dockage at Garden Key is limited to two hours daily, sunrise to sunset.

Docking facilities are provided for park visitors and park operations. Load, unload, and moor vessels only where designated on the public dock. Moor private vessels no more than 2 hours between sunrise and sundown; overnight mooring to docks or piers is prohibited. The park superientendent may waive these regulations in emergencies that threaten life or property.

Seaplane approaches, landings, and takeoffs are limited to within 1 mile of the fort. Moor seaplanes only in the designated area at Garden Key.

Dumping or throwing overboard bottles, cans, paper, or other trash on park grounds or in the water is prohibited. It is illegal to pump holding tanks into park waters. Warning: Park waters over shallow coral heads and reefs are protected and may cause severe damage to boats and equipment if stuck. Use caution in all park areas.

An experiment that hints we are wrong on climate change-News-UK-TimesOnline

An experiment that hints we are wrong on climate change-News-UK-TimesOnline

When politicians and journalists declare that the science of global warming is settled, they show a regrettable ignorance about how science works.

Twenty years ago, climate research became politicised in favour of one particular hypothesis, which redefined the subject as the study of the effect of greenhouse gases. As a result, the rebellious spirits essential for innovative and trustworthy science are greeted with impediments to their research careers.

So one awkward question you can ask, when you’re forking out those extra taxes for climate change, is “Why is east Antarctica getting colder?” It makes no sense at all if carbon dioxide is driving global warming. While you’re at it, you might inquire whether Gordon Brown will give you a refund if it’s confirmed that global warming has stopped. The best measurements of global air temperatures come from American weather satellites, and they show wobbles but no overall change since 1999.

Animal Planet :: Puppy Bowl :: puppies, dogs, pet adoption

Animal Planet :: Puppy Bowl :: puppies, dogs, pet adoption

Charter out of Canada?

Sailboat Power Boat Charters BC San Juan Islands Vancouver Island

This company has a Bavaria 50 in its fleet, which looks like a good contender along with the Beneteau 51.

General Info

San Juan Islands, Bareboat Charters