Re: 'Liberal Media Bias'
At 09:54 PM 6/5/2004, you wrote: On Sat, Jun 05, 2004 at 07:19:34PM -0500, Dan Minette wrote: From: Kevin Tarr [EMAIL PROTECTED] This is as idiotic as Dan's theory (from the NYT) that you can compare a rebuilding effort on a per capita basis, ignoring the 4x difference in population and 25x difference in land area. My theory is idiotic? ... Its always possible, of course, that I am missing the obvious. Yes, you are missing the obvious. Kevin often makes idiotic statements like that. His fingers seem to outrun his brain. I've learned to ignore most of his comments like that. -- Erik Reuter And since it was discussed here, it must be true. OSL. Kevin T. - VRWC So long and good night ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Southern-ness test
At 05:27 PM 6/4/2004, you wrote: http://www.tricklefan.com/southern/test.html I got 30/71... Had to really ponder some of them. The music/hunting/fishing/drinking ones saved me. 42/71 Kevin T. -VSouthernRWC The war of Northern ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: 'Liberal Media Bias'
This is as idiotic as Dan's theory (from the NYT) that you can compare a rebuilding effort on a per capita basis, ignoring the 4x difference in population and 25x difference in land area. Do they define their terms? They say source an awful lot, but is it a five second clip, or a half hour interview? Of course, the show(s) host(s) and reporters are all unbiased, so they weren't counted. Just like I don't count the beers I drink at a friends house. Or in my own house by myself. The ones you drink at a bar are the bad ones, I count them. Republicans had the top seven government sources but look at the numbers: 28% of 2334 sources = 654. Those seven had 77 of the sources. That's 12% of 654, 3% of the total. They are using this to show that republicans dominate? When their own ombudsman says the report is false, who you going to believe? We already know that answer. Let NPR and CBP survive on their own, off the governments teat. They aren't doing their job anymore, serving the local public; they are squeezing out small stations that do what they should be (used to be) doing. (and damn if I can find that information now) Kevin T. - VRWC ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Bullying and Battering
Believing it is impossible for the Church to retard learning between 500-1000 because it barely survived is silly. It was destroying libraries and books before that time. Cite please. Specifically how the church was burning libraries and books. This is contrary to anything I've heard. Damon. But you weren't there! So you can't say it didn't happen! Kevin T. - VRWC Waiting for the photos ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: half-OT: Buffy/Angel question
Xander's in Africa. He sent me an mbuna fish, says Andrew. And Willow and Kennedy are in Brazil. They're based in Sao Paulo, but, um, every time I talk to them, they're in Rio. Rio seems to have an image in America and the UK as a sexy gay vacation spot. Gary - Blami It on Rio Maru What part of America or UK are you talking about? When I saw this, I imagined the party capital of South America. Like saying, they are based in Houston, but yada-yada in New Orleans (or Galveston). I'd certainly go to Rio, and I wouldn't care* if all the women were lesbians if everyone is in a constant state of undress. *Saying I wouldn't notice why I'm not having any luck striking up a conversation. My batting average would be the same at a poetry reading full of lesbians with their SOs or a bar full of hetrosexual women just released from prison. Kevin T. - VRWC It's my party ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Br!n: group still active?
At 12:05 AM 5/21/2004, you wrote: In a message dated 5/20/2004 7:57:48 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The web server was just unhappy... but I believe I just fixed it. Nick Voice of the web server: What do you mean it was out? Aww come on, it was in by a mile! Are you blind? * * * * * How did you fix the server? Vilyehm Took it to the PC vet? OSL! Kevin T. - VRWC What I need are a couple days off.oh I got them ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Numbers on the rebuilding of Afghanistan
At 02:37 PM 5/15/2004, you wrote: At http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/13/business/13scene.html There was a report detailing how limited the effort in rebuilding Afganistan has been. The claim here is that the donations to Afganistan has been substantially lower than other recent aid efforts. quote Here is the dismal record so far. Financial aid to Afghanistan, measured per capita, has been far lower than for any other nation recently during a period of rebuilding after a conflict. According to the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, aid to Afghanistan for 2002 and well into 2003 was only $67 annually for each man, woman and child. During its recovery from war, Kosovo received more than 10 times that - $814 a year per capita over several years. And Palestine received $219 a year per person in the second half of the 1990's, three times the amount for Afghanistan. Even Haiti received more aid per capita, some $74, in the three years of its post-conflict reconstruction. Rwanda received $114 a person in annual aid from 1994 to 1996. And those two countries are considered classic examples of neglect, said Barnett Rubin, who, with several colleagues, put together the center's study on Afghanistan. One consequence of the slow start in Afghanistan is that opium production and drug trafficking have easily become the most important sources of income. The United Nations estimates that a poppy farmer earns more than $2,500 a year, compared with $670 for other farmers. As a result, about a quarter of all Afghan farmland is devoted to poppy cultivation. In the meantime, security is increasingly difficult to maintain. As Afghanistan prepares for elections later this year, the American government reports that attacks by the Taliban have risen to their highest levels since its collapse more than two years ago. And many attacks are directed against aid workers. end quote It appears that Bush et. al. things that a military victory is 95% of the solution, with nation building being no more than icing on the cake. Unless these numbers are proven wrong, our policy in Afganistan is remarkably short sighted. From what I've seen, while better than Iraq, there is not much that indicates a good plan for a long term solution. Dan M. Come on, what a fucking poor method to scratch out a way to blame President Bush. The population of Afghanistan is four times that of Rwanda and Haiti and probably ten times Kosovo. The country is 25 times the size of the other ones. Did the war affect every man women and child in the country? I wouldn't argue a person who said yes, but on the same level that the weather effects everyone in a country. (A large country). Some are effected badly, some profit in some manner but most it has no effect over. Kevin T. - VRWC Speaking of weather, going to fire up the convertible ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: What America Does with its Hegemony
At 09:54 PM 5/13/2004, you wrote: Steve Sloan wrote: Doug Pensinger wrote: What did the U.S. have to gain by intervening in Rwanda? Diddly squat, but that doesn't mean dedicated critics of the US couldn't come up with something. Presumably, Rwanda had something useful enough for past European imperialists to colonize the country, and the critics could use that. There have been very few critics of our intervention in Bosnia. Even those who were opposed to it at the time point to it as proof of our good intentions. If we were successful in preventing a genocide and that was our clear motive in interveneing, the success of our mission would speak for itself. If, instead of asking for another $25 B for Iraq, we put that kind of money and effort towards ending the AIDS epidemic, who could doubt our motive was pure? Critics would claim the politicians who proposed it were using African AIDS victims as an excuse for taking money from taxpayers, and giving it to their buddies in the pharmaceutical companies. Only those who have dishonest motives themselves. France's dishonest motives for opposing the war in Iraq haven't hurt them so far. Are you sure about that? Were _all_ of France's motives for opposing the war dishonest? And are you so sure that some in the U.S. don't have motives that are less than honest? Whatever their motives, at this point it sure looks like the French (Chineese, Russians, Germans, Canadians etc. etc.) had the right idea. -- Doug Sure they had the right idea. Filling up their treasuries and lining individual pockets with stolen lucre and sweetheart deals while innocents died by the thousands, ten thousand a month.who wouldn't support that? Kevin T. - VRWC Devil in the details ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Russia Flat Tax
April 26, 2004 The Flat Tax at Work in Russia: Year Three by Alvin Rabushka On January 1, 2001, a 13% flat-rate tax on personal income took effect in Russia. (The general principles and beneficial economic effects of the flat tax appear in The Flat Tax.) Russia's 13% flat tax replaced a three-bracket system, which imposed a top rate of 30% on taxable income exceeding $5,000. The flat tax has been remarkably successful by every conceivable measure, and has encouraged such other countries as Serbia (2003), Ukraine (2004), and Slovakia (2004) to implement flat taxes of their own. Political parties in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Georgia have announced their support for the flat tax and there is interest in Bulgaria and Romania. Even China has taken the step of translating The Flat Tax into Chinese for consideration by the Ministry of Finance. Let's review Russia's 13% flat tax since its implementation on January 1, 2001. In 2001, personal income tax (PIT) revenue totaled R255.5 billion, an increase of 46.7% in nominal rubles, or 25.2% in real rubles after adjusting for inflation of 21.5%. PIT revenue as a share of consolidated budget tax revenue rose from 12.1% in 2000 to 12.7% in 2001. Since economic growth of 5.1% in 2001 was lower than the post-Soviet record 10.0% growth in 2000, the rise in revenue cannot be attributed solely, or even largely, to growth in 2001. (For a detailed treatment of Russia's 13% flat tax, see The Flat Tax at Work in Russia.) In 2002, PIT revenue amounted to R357.1 billion, an increase of 39.7% over 2001. After adjusting for inflation of 15.1%, real revenue rose 24.6%, supplying 15.3% of the consolidated budget. GDP growth in 2002 was 4.7%, a small decline over 2001. (See The Flat Tax at Work in Russia: Year Two.) In 2003, PIT revenue generated R449.8 billion, a nominal gain of 27.2% over 2002. After adjusting for inflation of 12.0%, real revenue increased 15.2%, supplying 17% of consolidated budget revenue. GDP growth in 2003 was a more robust 7.3%. Only corporate income tax and value added tax generated more revenue than the PIT. The composition of PIT revenue in 2003 was as follows: taxes assessed on income at the 13% rate generated 96.9% of all PIT revenue; taxes on dividends, assessed at a higher 30% rate, 1.9%; and taxes on non-residents and individual entrepreneurs, 0.9%. In the three years since the top rate of PIT was reduced from 30% to 13%, real flat tax revenue has risen by 79.7%. Russia's budget is relatively healthy. Tax compliance has improved. And incentives to work, save, and invest remain strong. (Anjela and Diana Kniazeva, graduate students in the Department of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University, provided research assistance for the preparation of this article.) Kevin T. - VRWC Only a few weeks late ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Audio CDs
I know the underlying science for representing analog sound in a digital format but I'm missing something important. More than a few new and older* CDs are quiet. *(Stuff originally recorded back in the 70s, i.e. not new music). If I go from the radio to a CD, I have to turn the volume up to get the same (seemingly) sound level. This is in many cars, or home players. That may be bad example; but I also notice different sound levels when I take songs from different CDs and make my own collection. So the question: is there a reason this is so? Do they figure on better sound reproduction if the amplifier is producing the volume, rather than the source? Or is it to have more head room, space for loud crashes? Something else? Kevin T. - VRWC *^%$ Red Wings ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: life decision
At 06:38 PM 4/28/2004, you wrote: Kevin Tarr wrote: I know I'll have to make this choice on my own. Just wondering what I might be missing. Well, you listed a whole bunch of negatives, and the positives you listed were qualified with caveats, and yet you posed the question to the list. Reading between the lines, I'm guessing that this is something you want to do, but don't really understand why you want to. If that's the case, then the odds are very good that it will all work out... Don't be too analytical with these things - just enjoy life wherever it takes you. My AUD0.02, not even worth 2c in USD... Cheers Russell C I can tell you people this, because I don't care what you think about me: there are two reasons that most people will think I want to move back there, both involving women. While I do think about the what might have been and what may be, they were not in my mind when I saw the job. Course I could be fooling myself, that they are so hard wired into my brain that even when I'm not thinking about them, I still am. I told my third favorite friend about the job, as a secret, and he told me the same thing, he was interviewing for a job back home also, the same miles in the opposite direction. Hearing that I figured my luck flew out the window. He needs that job; I don't. I mean, he has a job and a wife and kids but it's not a good job while I have a wonderful job and only need to support my high tech addiction. But I still applied. Kevin T. - VRWC I bought a powerball ticket also, figuring my odds are the same ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Winning the War on Terror
At 04:46 AM 5/3/2004, you wrote: Ritu, who is not sure if Mike really believes what he says or if he is just good at parody I would filter him out but silence equals assent. But I don't have time to respond to each of his over the top statements. Reminds me of some frequent posters I tracked down who were very popular on right wing sites. Several turned out to be in high school - no wonder they seemed sophomoric. When people start a diatribe of hate and ignorance it is worth it for others to say that is not true. If someone does not speak up, how many assume that there is no opposition, that everyone thinks that? This latest screed on violence solving your problems reminds me of the reasons the Nixon White House gave when they carpet bombed the Cambodian border areas - We will wipe out the base camps and guerrillas threatening Vietnam and at the same time strengthen the Cambodian government by getting rid of those thugs. With thousands of Cambodians dead the government fairly quickly fell. That's not true. It was seven years one month between the bombings and the end of the government. The people avoided having anything to do with the West and the most extreme revolutionaries turned the entire country into a bloodbath as the world looked away. Vietnam fell too you may remember. Yeah, a few nukes on those terrorists will sure fix things. It will first multiply the people with a reason to look with fear, hate and loathing on the US and then science or a few bucks eventually provides the multiplied survivors with some mass terror weapon. Funny how civilization is much more vulnerable to those weapons than a few people wandering urban slums and the world outback. A good solution to Iraq is to declare victory (cheers, flag waving), turn Chalabi over to Jordan to serve his over 20 years for bank fraud (cheers, least popular leader in Iraq with 0.1% support), give Kurds their own country (cheers, they will gladly give us bases), give the Shiites their own country (no cheers but no more suicide bombers either, we killed too many and let Saddam kill too many for cheers), prosecute Haliburton and others for war profiteering and corruption, That's not true. Reputable news organizations have shown Haliburton is not profiteering. and then start figuring out what to do to those idiots who cost us $200 billion in Iraq and that is cheap compared to their other domestic boondoggles. Since the rich elected them That's not true. why don't we declare a you have to pay for your stupid mistakes surcharge income tax to get the budget back in balance? Still don't know if that makes up for the What did you do in the war, daddy? Why I stayed home and spent some of my war tax cut, dear! of the last two years. Gary An occasional rant may actually be good for my blood pressure. Denton Easter Lemming Liberal News Digest ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: ShrubCo Deletes, Alters Gender Issue Web Data
At 01:31 AM 4/30/2004, you wrote: At 10:56 PM 4/29/04, The Fool wrote: Key government offices dedicated to addressing the needs of women have been disbanded, according to the report. Well, heck, we know that all women need is to find a man and have children so they can sit around all day watching soap operas and eating bob-bons . . . Oink, Oink Maru Ronn First women want equality, then they want special offices and reports pertaining just to them. I guess equal protection under the law applies to white males only. Kevin T. - VRWLC 28 years ago the What Women Want Policy Center opened. Last week they completed their first task; they agreed on a logo. Next task: stationary. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: ReptiliKlan Florida Land Grab
At 09:10 PM 4/28/2004, you wrote: http://www.news-press.com/news/local_state/040426land.html Land seized for private use possible Legislation would help developers Ahh, another place where the fool's and my views intersect. Would she support going the other way; land should only be seized for eminent domain in very narrow cases, like a road, but not for schools, public parks, or athletic fields? Kevin T. - VRWLC Time for a bike ride...or a nap ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: ReptiliKlan Florida Land Grab
This is very similar to how George W. Bush, when he was an owner of the Texas Rangers, got the Ballpark at Arlington built. The Texas legislature passed a bill permitting them to condemn privately owned land for the stadium. And some of Bush's partners (including the current owner) went around the Dallas area condemning parcels of land that had nothing whatsoever to do with the stadium project but which they wanted for their own private development projects. They had to pay the actual owners, but were able to force them to sell whether or not they wanted to. Tom Beck Again, leaving out important information. This is becoming a habit. Can we call it democratic truth avoidance? Kevin T. - VRWLC I will admit to Texas being less strict about those dividing lines at the time ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Is it hot in here?
http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040426-090538-2682r.htm A feverish fate for scientific truth? Some things are sacred to scientists: Facts, data, quantitative analysis, and Nature magazine, long recognized as the world's most prestigious science periodical. Lately, many have begun to wonder if Jayson Blair has a new job as their science editor. On Page 616 of the April 8 issue, Nature published an article using a technique that it said, on Page 593 of the same issue, was oversold, was inappropriately influencing policymakers and wasmisunderstood by those in search of immediate results. The technique is called regional climate modeling, which attempts to simulate the effects of global warming over areas the size of, say, the United States. As reported by Quirin Schiermeier, scientists at a Lund, Sweden, climate conference, admitted privately that the immediate benefits of regional climate modeling have been oversold in exercises such as the Clinton administration's U.S. regional climate assessment, which sought to evaluate the impact of climate change on each part of the country. Then, 23 pages later, Nature published an alarming and completely misleading article predicting the melting of the entire Greenland ice cap in 1,000 years, thanks to pernicious human economic activity, i.e., global warming, using a regional climate projection. Kevin T. - VRWLC Lying liars and the lies they tell ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Ultimate Chutzpah
At 04:00 PM 4/27/2004, you wrote: Yesterday Dick Cheney blasted John Kerrey for voting in the Senate against various defense spending bills. It turns out, the Bush Administration REQUESTED most of those cuts! Cheney: Kerrey voted against defense spending. Reporter: But, sir...you ASKED him to vote against those defense spending bills! Cheney: That's irrelevant. The fact is, he voted against defense spending. This is most blatant chutzpah since Colin Ferguson acted as his own defense attorney in the LIRR shooting and asked his own victims if they recognized the man who had shot them. Tom Beck Did this little exchange come completely from your imagination? The bigger issue, there are a few facts left out that put the votes into context. I think they would bolster your argument in the short term, but wreck it long term. I'll let it up to the gentle readers whether you didn't know these facts or left them out deliberately. Kevin T. - VRWLC I owe I owe and so on ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
life decision
I know I'll have to make this choice on my own. Just wondering what I might be missing. My company has an opening at another location. Right now I am at the HQ: promotions can come quickly, many other chances for job opportunities. I live ten miles from the job, but it takes me 30 minutes to drive. If they get the light rail working that could be reduced to 15 minutes, but obviously I would be on their schedule. I'm in a bigger city with all the usual pros and cons. The other job is in a remote location, but it's near my hometown. Well, it's at least 60 miles from the hometown, 75 minutes driving. There are probably car pools but I can't assume that. I just checked mapquest, they want me to cross a bridge that was demolished 27 years ago. It's not even on the map, just the path crossing the river. I'd have to take a pay cut, lose the raise/promotion that took me 18 months to get. I don't know what kind of promotion path I could follow up there. There's no guarantee I would have a place to retire from and I have another 30 - 35 years to go. I'm reasonably confident that my current job will still be available that long. Some things are cheaper. My current house would only be worth 1/6 - 1/3 up there. I could rent a house for 1/4 my mortgage. Taxes are higher. Most basic services cost more. My current house needs repairs to make it sellable; I would feel lucky if I got out without owing money. The last consideration would be mating. There are more chances here, but since my batting average hovers at zero I can't count it as a minus. Why would I do it? There are plenty of people who leave a place and never look back. Just as many who wish they could leave but got trapped. I'm the one who wishes he never left. I had to because I was making no money; I couldn't live my lifestyle even in a place that was so cheap. It's what I consider my home. There were at least seven events since January that I would have attended, but didn't because of the drive up there. There are plenty of events that I always attended; at least ten weekends that I must drive up there for. If I lived there, I can think of only two times a year I would travel back here for something. Not that events are everything. There are other things I like to do. Up there I could walk out my door and be hiking in ten minutes; down here it might take an hour. Sure I may be the only fat man wearing spandex and riding a bicycle in town but I can handle that stigma. I don't care about the city cultural advantages; I like seeing bands and museums but I don't live for them. I'm not saying I would do this, but there are plenty of civic duties I could do up there. I don't want this to sound egotistical but I'd be a big fish in a small pond. Enough for now. I got some things to think over. Kevin T. - VRWLC Wings score! Flames score twice ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: More on the environmental movement
On Earth Day Remember: If Environmentalism Succeeds, It Will Make Human Life Impossible By Michael S. Berliner Earth Day approaches, and with it a grave danger faces mankind. The danger is not from acid rain, global warming, smog, or the logging of rain forests, as environmentalists would have us believe. The danger to mankind is from environmentalism. The fundamental goal of environmentalism is not clean air and clean water; rather, it is the demolition of technological/industrial civilization. Environmentalism's goal is not the advancement of human health, human happiness, and human life; rather, it is a subhuman world where nature is worshipped like the totem of some primitive religion. In a nation founded on the pioneer spirit, environmentalists have made development an evil word. They inhibit or prohibit the development of Alaskan oil, offshore drilling, nuclear powerand every other practical form of energy. Housing, commerce, and jobs are sacrificed to spotted owls and snail darters. Medical research is sacrificed to the rights of mice. Logging is sacrificed to the rights of trees. No instance of the progress that brought man out of the cave is safe from the onslaught of those protecting the environment from man, whom they consider a rapist and despoiler by his very essence. Nature, they insist, has intrinsic value, to be revered for its own sake, irrespective of any benefit to man. As a consequence, man is to be prohibited from using nature for his own ends. Since nature supposedly has value and goodness in itself, any human action that changes the environment is necessarily immoral. Of course, environmentalists invoke the doctrine of intrinsic value not against wolves that eat sheep or beavers that gnaw trees; they invoke it only against man, only when man wants something. The ideal world of environmentalism is not twenty-first-century Western civilization; it is the Garden of Eden, a world with no human intervention in nature, a world without innovation or change, a world without effort, a world where survival is somehow guaranteed, a world where man has mystically merged with the environment. Had the environmentalist mentality prevailed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we would have had no Industrial Revolution, a situation that consistent environmentalists would cheerat least those few who might have managed to survive without the life-saving benefits of modern science and technology. The expressed goal of environmentalism is to prevent man from changing his environment, from intruding on nature. That is why environmentalism is fundamentally anti-man. Intrusion is necessary for human survival. Only by intrusion can man avoid pestilence and famine. Only by intrusion can man control his life and project long-range goals. Intrusion improves the environment, if by environment one means the surroundings of manthe external material conditions of human life. Intrusion is a requirement of human nature. But in the environmentalists' paean to Nature, human nature is omitted. For environmentalism, the natural world is a world without man. Man has no legitimate needs, but trees, ponds, and bacteria somehow do. They don't mean it? Heed the words of the consistent environmentalists. The ending of the human epoch on Earth, writes philosopher Paul Taylor in Respect for Nature: A Theory of Environmental Ethics, would most likely be greeted with a hearty 'Good riddance!' In a glowing review of Bill McKibben's The End of Nature, biologist David M. Graber writes (Los Angeles Times, October 29, 1989): Human happiness [is] not as important as a wild and healthy planet . . . . Until such time as Homo sapiens should decide to rejoin nature, some of us can only hope for the right virus to come along. Such is the naked essence of environmentalism: it mourns the death of one whale or tree but actually welcomes the death of billions of people. A more malevolent, man-hating philosophy is unimaginable. The guiding principle of environmentalism is self-sacrifice, the sacrifice of longer lives, healthier lives, more prosperous lives, more enjoyable lives, i.e., the sacrifice of human lives. But an individual is not born in servitude. He has a moral right to live his own life for his own sake. He has no duty to sacrifice it to the needs of others and certainly not to the needs of the nonhuman. To save mankind from environmentalism, what's needed is not the appeasing, compromising approach of those who urge a balance between the needs of man and the needs of the environment. To save mankind requires the wholesale rejection of environmentalism as hatred of science, technology, progress, and human life. To save mankind requires the return to a philosophy of reason and individualism, a philosophy that makes life on earth possible. ___
Re: Low cal for long life?
At 03:42 PM 4/20/2004, you wrote: I won't be trying this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4783035/ Tom Beck (PBS show about low cal diets and long life) http://tinyurl.com/2vvvq Doctor featured on the show. He was born June 29, 1924 and I assume still going strong: http://www.walford.com/ There was a report last week, a mouse was given a normal die for 3/4 of it's life, was showing signs of aging. Then they started his restricted diet and now is at 120% of life span and is vigerous. Kevin T. - VRWC But yeah, not thinking about doing that myself. Yet. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
laundry
Tried this over on the subservient list, but got no response. Any help here? I'm a clueless bachelor. On a few TV shows, Seinfeld FEX, they drop off a mesh laundry bag at the laundry/dry cleaner. What exactly is going on? Is it just dry clean clothes, regular wash clothes or a mix? If one type, do they stay in the bag when they are washed and dried? I'm asking because a relative will be in a nursing home soon. They were there for six weeks two years ago and said some laundry garments were mixed up. I though of the mesh bag and wondered if this would be a solution. On the net I see another product called a laundry belt I can see the value of living in a big city and just letting a shop clean my clothes. You save time, probably get better results, and it would save energy. Downside would be having enough clothes to have xx% of your laundry being cleaned, cost and privacy. Kevin T. - VRWLC Domestic idiot ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Happiness is
Getting your taxes done two days earlyand the printer's ink quits after two pages. I work 13 hours tomorrow and then need to drive three hours for a Thursday meeting with nursing home people. I'll be lucky to be back by 6pm, with or without new ink cartridges. Kevin T. - VRWLC And the red wings lose again PPS and getting the message bounced from the list? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Cats May Have Been Pets 9,500 Years Ago
At 08:49 PM 4/8/2004, you wrote: And in other news... The discovery of a cat burial by French scientists pushes the known date of cats as pets back more than 5,000 years. The further discovery that the cat in question was not actually dead at the time of burial demonstrates that the relationship between humans and their feline masters was a testy one right from the start. Dave He Still Had 8 Left Maru Exactly what I was thinking! Was the cat buried with it's head above ground? Kevin T. - VRWLC Don't hate me ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: How the fish got its fingers
At 08:16 PM 4/1/2004, you wrote: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=5074 91 Revealed: How the fish got its fingers By Steve Connor, Science Editor 02 April 2004 A two-lane highway in America has helped scientists to explain one of life's most enduring mysteries: how fish grew the fingers that enabled them to crawl out on to land. The road in Pennsylvania happened to be cut out of 365 million-year-old rock in which the researchers found the oldest known fossilised arm bone of one of the world's first four-legged creatures, or tetrapods. Dr Coates and his colleagues Neil Shubin and Edward Daeschler believe the fossilised bone found in Pennsylvania helped the forelimb fulfil an intermediate function between the braking and steering of a fish's fin and the walking movements of an early amphibian. Drs Daeschler and Shubin found the fossil in 1993 when they were excavating near the highway but it took nearly eight years to discover it was important. The same palaeontology site in Pennsylvania has yielded two other types of tetrapod living in the Devonian period, Dr Clack said. If this is really a third form, it hints at a wide diversity of tetrapods existing in close proximity, in what is emerging as one of the richest and most varied of any late Devonian vertebrate site, she added. The scientists who have excavated the Pennsylvania site said it contains fossils of other plants and animals that suggest the area was teeming with life more than 360 million years ago. This highway goes right through my hometown; the cut is five miles to the east. My grandfather worked on the first cut; many other friends and family worked on the second cut to widen the road in the early 70s. This road has many cuts like this. Some made in the 30s, others redone a few years ago. If there's a nice snowfall the road can get shut for days from slides; not rock slides but the snow getting funneled through a cut. The article doesn't say it, but the original person who started looking here is just an amateur; not that it detracts from the finds. Now some weekends there can be 20 or more people working. I've posted about this before. They have their own website. Look at the picture and think that it's in PA, not Utah. It can get very hot during the summer. http://www.mdgekko.com/devonian/who/pages/who.html Kevin T. - VRWLC 60 hours from now I'll be driving past it ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Dan says SS = SSA
I explictly stated that. (This calculation, BTW, includes both the company and the individual contributions) So, the answer is yes. Second, and this helps his argument, what are the historical 30 year returns since 1935? I was to a retirement seminar last week and the speaker was using 11% ROI, and I think that's way too high. I thought there were some very flat years in the 50s and 70s. People are basing the ROI on just what happened from 93 to 99 or over even shorter terms. I looked up historical returns from, IIRC, '26 until now. This wasn't inflation adjusted...but neither is my calculation for SS. I know that I'm suppose to figure my retirement income on 6% return, but that includes allowing the nest egg to grow with inflation. So, that's the best # I could come up with, but I certainly would be happy to have someone come up with better data. Dan M. Sorry. Tired. Again, I agree that for most of the people retired now they could not do as well as they thought. It's a Ponzi scheme and the past retirees are getting much more pay out than they paid in, above and beyond any investment returns. But future retirees will not have that benefit, and the money going in now, or at least since the seventies, should be invested. The best number I heard was the money going into SSA barely returned 1.5%. An AAA bond would return more. I'm glad the retirees are mad, even if they are wrong. They won't mind the future people changing the system. Kevin T. - VRWLC As if ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Gibson's 'The Passion' a Hit Among Arabs
At 04:09 AM 4/5/2004, you wrote: http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/news/celebrity/sns-ap-arabs-and-passion,0,6296551,print.story?coll=mmx-celebrity_heds http://tinyurl.com/22h3p rob No mention that Israel has so far banned showing the movie. They said it wasn't the right time. Kevin T. - VRWLC Maybe next Monday ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Welcome to Tom's fantasy life
At 11:39 AM 4/4/2004, you wrote: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/04/national/04WAGE.html?hp Altering of Worker Time Cards Spurs Growing Number of Suits snip Tom Beck What's with the character assassination? Can't we all just get along? Kevin T. - VRWLC I don't like to wear suits ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Welcome to Tom's fantasy life
At 12:39 PM 4/4/2004, you wrote: | And George Bush is involved in/responsible for this how? So I suppose the fact that maybe Bush isn't responsible for this makes it all okay for these companies to be doing what they're doing? That some of you Bush apologists are so avid to scream at the least imputation of anything wrong to him that you ignore the horrible things that are happening to workers in this country these days that the administration's wealthy corporate paymasters are doing without much if any hindrance from the administration? That it's okay for these companies to be stealing millions and millions of dollars from their workers? Isn't THAT far more important than whether or not I am fair or unfair to the president? -- Tom Beck Those workers are losing millions and millions a year? I didn't know Toys R Us paid that well. How about the millions and millions the workers lose because they have too much taken out of their paycheck, then think they get a big bonus when they get their income tax rebate? A light burned out in my basement sometime in the last 18 hours. I'll just bet President George W. Bush came into my house* and changed that perfectly good bulb with a bad one from his Texass ranch. *(The President has a master key to every lock in America. That's how he can get into Albert Gore Jr.'s lockbox and steal money from him.) When I got up this afternoon morning some of my clocks were ahead an hour! I'll bet Bush did that too! Kevin T. - VRWLC And who drank all those beers last night? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Welcome to Tom's fantasy life
At 12:34 PM 4/4/2004, you wrote: What's with the character assassination? Can't we all just get along? Can't we all just focus on the issue rather than snipe at my deliberately provocative subject line? -- Tom Beck So you admit you are living in a fantasy world. OSL Kevin T. - VRWLC Time to buy a chair ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
warning to business owners
Cannot find the story about this, and really doubt more than three people on list care, but want to pass along the info. Saw it on the local news. Apparently crooks are using the TTD* network to order products over the phone with stolen credit card numbers. They are using the TTD network so the calls cannot be traced. *This is for hearing impaired people. They have a text phone. They call a TTD operator who places the normal call. The operator translates the voice to text and text to voice. Kevin ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Dan says SS = SSA
At 05:51 PM 4/4/2004, you wrote: - Original Message - From: JDG [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 4:12 PM Subject: Re: Welcome to life in George W. Bush's America At 04:01 PM 4/4/2004 -0500 Dan Minette wrote: I wouldn't really argue with the concept that, of the two parties, the Democrats have the more serious responsibility to talk straight facts about SS to the American people. But, I would argue it is the American people who have the most serious responsibility. One of the reasons that politicians lie to the American people is that, in many cases, the people want help in avoiding tough truths. Careful Dan, it sounds an awful lot to me like you are blaming the listener for being lied to, and assigning the listener the most serious level of responsibility.It is not really the listener's fault if they are told a lie, and they believe - not nearly to the degree anyways, that it is the liar's fault. It is when they have a choice between people who tell hard truths and people who tell lies that are easily determined to be lies and they consistently pick the liars. The moral reprehensibility of politicians who lie to get elected is higher than the moral reprehensibility of those who buy the easy lie before the hard truth. I have no problem with that. But, it is the electorate who is responsible for the penalty associated with telling hard truths. Let me give a extreme historical example that can be used to illuminate this principal. Hitler is certainly more morally reprehensible than the average German citizen who voted for him. But, the citizens of Germany bear an enormous responsibility for supporting the Nazis, even though they were lied to by the Nazis. Clearly, the American government's faults are very minor in comparison. But, if the American people chose straight shooters who disagreed with them on some issues over folks who mouth pleasant fictions more often, we'd have a better government. Dan M. Trying my hand at this provocative subject line stuff. Two things I'll disagree with Dan on. First is the pay in pay out schedule, if he left out what I think he did. Did your example of 80,000 include what the company pays into the system for that one worker? Second, and this helps his argument, what are the historical 30 year returns since 1935? I was to a retirement seminar last week and the speaker was using 11% ROI, and I think that's way too high. I thought there were some very flat years in the 50s and 70s. People are basing the ROI on just what happened from 93 to 99 or over even shorter terms. OTsameH, I don't blame FDR for this idiotic Ponzi scheme we have now; certainly not as much as I blame Johnson for the Great Society. He started the program with good intentions, Congress is the group that ruined it over the years. I greatly benefited from SSA payouts. I was five when my father passed away at the age of 47 so that was at least 13 years of support to my mom for me. Plus with her being disabled she has been getting additional benefits for 25 years and hopefully for many more years to go. Yet I still don't believe this is fair. My father had no life insurance; neither of them planned for the future. If he had lived to retire we all would have been worse for it. How can a system be good if it's better that you die? Kevin T. - VRWLC Got muddled at the end. Time for bed. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: [ADMIN] Pseudonymous postings from the Netherlands
At 01:50 PM 4/3/2004, you wrote: I have an administrative issue that I need the list's input on. A new list member joined recently, using the name John Doe on an msn.com account. This person's messages are originating in the Netherlands. As those who have been on the list for a while know, these facts raise a concern that John Doe may in fact be a former list member who has been banned. Analyzing the language of John Doe's postings (an area in which I have a fair bit of expertise), I see a disturbing similarity to that of the aforementioned banned member. As just one example, John Doe used the phrase list admins in a recent message, a phrase that in the past was used almost exclusively on the list by the aforementioned banned member. What's a list admin to do? For now, John Doe remains on moderation, which is automatic for new list members. I should add that Julia is probably not available for a few days. Nick -- Nick Arnett Director, Business Intelligence Services LiveWorld Inc. Phone/fax: (408) 551-0427 [EMAIL PROTECTED] evil grin looks familiar too. I say do nothing until the usual problems surface. Kevin T. - VRWLC And they will ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: [ADMIN] Pseudonymous postings from the Netherlands
At 07:49 PM 4/3/2004, you wrote: Nick Arnett wrote: Analyzing the language of John Doe's postings (an area in which I have a fair bit of expertise), I see a disturbing similarity to that of the aforementioned banned member. Don't you think that it's an evidence that JD is _not_ that member? When I play a person, I try to make myself completely different in the choice of words and style from the real me. For example, I fooled at least 3 workmates using a female persona. Hmmm... Maybe I should try it here? evil grin Alberto Monteiro This just proves that you can think. Considering your reputation, that was not being questioned. Kevin T. - VRWLC Duke loses, the free world celebrates ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Virus infection alert !
At 06:00 PM 4/2/2004, you wrote: On Fri, Apr 02, 2004 at 04:54:41PM -0600, Horn, John wrote: Better attention to what? I must not have been paying attention... The flow and logic of the discussion. Several people haven't been following. -- Erik Reuter Damn you are right, as usual. But I wouldn't have noticed without you mentioning it. Kevin Good job Erik ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Scouted: Pesticide Ban Benefits Newborns
At 08:01 PM 3/29/2004, you wrote: Decreasing prenatal exposure to pesticides reduces the number of underweight and SGA [small for gestational age] neonates. http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/84/98156.htm?printing=true ...Whyatt's team collected data from 316 pregnant African-American and Dominican women living in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx. They found that during their pregnancies, the women often were exposed pesticides. It's those darn hospital gowns. By 2001, after exposures had been reduced due to U.S. EPA regulatory action, almost none of the newborns had these higher exposure levels and the association between cord plasma chlorpyrifos levels and birth weight and length was no longer significant, Whyatt and colleagues write. Where's the usual tag line, that since the Bushcokkk presidency exposure levels have been on the rise? I guess it's inferred from the date. However, these pesticides continue to be used for agricultural use on many food crops. Pregnant farm workers may be at particular risk, the authors note... Debbi I know I'll contact my congressman about those northern Manhattan and South Bronx factory farms. They are putting pregnant women at risk! Kevin T. - VRWLC No harm intended. Why am I awake? Insomnia and the Yankees start in 90 minutes. Do I go into work 2 hours early for the whole game or stay at home and miss the last few innings? Where's the preseason baseball post by G.M. about the best players ever playing for the best teams ever at the best stadiums ever in the best cities ever in the greatest country in world (plus Canada and PR)? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
do as I say not as I do Democrats
This has a nice picture: http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/ or the story: http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/8301851.htm?1c STATE TROOPERS on the Pennsylvania Turnpike have clocked Gov. Rendell's Cadillac limo at more than 100 mph at least nine times since November, according to sources. Turnpike cops running radar say they've repeatedly caught the governor's limo cruising at the extraordinary speeds in the left lane, with its emergency lights flashing and siren wailing to shoo other motorists out of the way, the sources said. Rendell's state-owned Cadillac DeVille DHS is driven by state troopers assigned to his security detail. Turnpike cops have never ticketed the governor's drivers. Rendell declined to be interviewed for this story. His spokeswoman, Kate Philips, denied that the governor orders his drivers to go fast. The governor would never ask someone to break the law, she said, adding that Rendell has no idea how fast his car is going. Me: I know he isn't driving. He isn't asking someone to break the law, he's ordering them to. Kevin T. - VRWLC OTOH Bill Janklow is an Repub and killed someone, while driving ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Winning the War on Terror
At 05:57 PM 3/28/2004, you wrote: From: Mike Lee [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 'Killer Bs Discussion' [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Winning the War on Terror Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 21:17:20 -0800 I'm tired of being moderate. And I'm not scared of Islam in any ultimate-threat-to-civilization sense. They're going down, it's just how hard they're going to go down. I'm sick of this crap, and it wouldn't bother me one bit to go Dresden on every capital city in the Arab world. If they commit a nuclear atrocity, on American soil or anywhere in the world, then, yes, nuke Mecca. And that includes if they use a dirty bomb. If they kill thousands of Americans again in some splashy way, then nuke Medina. That's the only choice I'm interested in offering them. Knock it off or else. Do you only hate Muslims, or does your hatred extend to other religions as well? Let's say a group of Christian fanatics (to put it in perspective: the kind that would make JDG look like a moderate) would believe that the US Government isn't doing enough to force Christian values on everyone. To show their dissatisfaction, they set off bombs at the White House, the Capitol and a few other places in Washington, killing 2,000 people in the process. Would you then propose nuking the Vatican? Other example: a small group of high-ranking officers in the Israeli Defense Force aren't happy with seeing the US criticizing Israeli policy towards the Palestinians. To demonstrate their unhappiness, they get hold of some of Israel's Weapons of Mass Destruction and launch a gas attack on the New York Subway, killing a few thousand commuters. Are you going to propose dropping a nuke on Jerusalem? I must say that your ideas on how to deal with Islamic terrorism scare the hell out of me. What have Muslims done to you that warrants such blind hatred? Some Islamic kid once stole your lunch money when you were in Elementary School? JD This just shows you are blind, period. A majority of Catholics express outrage when a lone person kills an abortion doctor. I can't think of a comparable Jewish issue, but plenty of Jewish Americans do not support all of Israel's actions. They do not dance in the streets when a valid Palestinian terrorist is killed. OTOH what religion does dance in the streets when innocents are killed? What religion has no moderate voices; or at least none that can be heard over the bloodthirsty masses? What religion is based on killing unbelievers, subjugating all women, (and a other things). I hope you don't need a hint on these questions skippy. Kevin T. - VRWC Bambi killer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Bush's brand new enemy is the truth
At 08:11 PM 3/28/2004, you wrote: - Original Message - From: John D. Giorgis [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2004 12:29 PM Subject: Re: Bush's brand new enemy is the truth At 08:23 PM 3/27/2004 -0600 Dan Minette wrote: 3) If he is opposed to the Iraq war because he things it hurts the war on terrorism, then resigning about the time of the start of the Gulf war is consistent with that being the point where he ceased to think he can do more good from the inside...that the President's policy was wrong enough to quit over. His resignation letter, however is inconsistent with this theory: http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040323-111315-5436r.htm Huh? Have you ever read how to books on job transitions? He was just following quitting 101 when he did that. You never write nasty stuff in a resignation letter. Especially to the president. You may have your say verbally before you resign, but once you decide to go, you keep it as pleasant as possible. That's not the time to burn bridges. Obviously, after reflection, he decided to burn bridges, but the books state that, even if you think you will do that eventually, you still accentuate the positive in the resignation letter. Dan M. The three official registration letters I wrote thanked the company for my job, stated the date I wanted to leave, and offered help and information if they needed to contact me once I left. I didn't kiss up to anyone and all places said I would be welcome back. Maybe you took a different 101 class than I did. In fact, it wasn't a job transition. He retired; he retired because he wasn't offered a better job. You think the public wouldn't notice if he dissed the president when he quit and they retaliated by canceling his pension or some such? Any comments on the publishing date being moved up? Kevin T. - VRWC 60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl just offered an apology for not stating the Clarke book was published by a CBS sister company. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Winning the War on Terror
What is really scary is that their is a significant minority of 'Christians' who believe exactly like Mr. Lee does. It is one of the reasons why I believe homo sapiens will go extinct within the next century. At least all the ones alive now will be extinct. OSL Kevin T. - VRWLC In honor of Detroit making the playoffs it will now be the Vast Right Wing Lock Conspiracy ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
wonderful website
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx Found this accidentally. Gives an estimation of TV stations that can be picked up over the air at your location, with types of antenna needed. At my house I can get four stations easy, two more with a powered antenna, and another ten weak signals. I looked at a house I wanted to buy; my house is just outside the flood plain, the other one is up on a hill outside of town. That house can get the same six close stations with a cheaper antenna, but an extra 46 distant stations. I can pick up those six stations with an indoor non-powered antenna but the picture is fuzzy. It doesn't exactly pick the town center by zip code. I'd judge my town to be off by more than five blocks. For my hometown, it placed the town center 10 miles to the east. Course, it cannot get any OtA stations since it's mountainous. Just picked another town, it is wrong by at least five miles to the north. It's also listing stations I never heard of. Some are obvious re-transmitters but not all. Kevin T. - VRWLC PA, first in cable! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Bush's brand new enemy is the truth
At 09:57 PM 3/28/2004, you wrote: Kevin wrote: 60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl just offered an apology for not stating the Clarke book was published by a CBS sister company. That was in all the articles about the interview at the CBS website - including those published before the interview. The important thing here is what Clarke is saying has been coroberated by several other Bush administration officials and the administration's hysterical response has been full of half truths, conflicting statements and obfuscation. But who's surprised by that? -- Doug What was in the articles, the apology? So Rice had no idea what/who Al Quedia was even though she gave a speech about them a year before? 'sfunny how a person can write a book and everything in it is Credible and the Trvth, but the response is all slander and character assassination. Kevin T. - VRWLC O that lemony fresh media ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Ease the pain but don't stop offshoring
Mostly agreeing with all Mike wrote, but there are other sides of the story too, where the gov should have been doing something and didn't. Bethlehem steel is the biggest one I know; they didn't fund their retirement plans properly, they declared bankruptcy and the gov is left holding the bag. My brother and other friends and family worked for a company which was minority owned; got a lot of government contracts and tax breaks. When the last contract was running out there were promises about new contracts but after the last piece was built the company defaulted on it's last payrolls, had not been paying it's insurance for months, no pension plan money. That company owner skipped out of the country. My best friend had a great job for twelve years after a company broke a union. (The union had struck over something very minor.) That company spent millions where it wasn't needed; built a second facility for a new process; all with gov backed funds and tax breaks then closed the whole shebang down two years later claiming the place wasn't profitable. A small candy company did the same thing, but opposite. They closed a profitable location to save an unprofitable one. Okay, the gov had nothing to do with it, just mentioned because it's so stupid. I agree a worker shouldn't have blinders on and expect, demand, a job always be there just for him. A company isn't in business to provide jobs. (Neither is the government). These business cycles are happening so fast; whole industries can spring up and disappear in decades and soon it will be less. There will be people left behind. The sooner workers realize it, the better the chance they won't be. Kevin T. - VRWLC time to outsource some beer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Do anything fun over the weekend?
At 12:00 AM 3/29/2004, you wrote: This weekend I watched my friend put his new two-seater ultralight into the air. While doing this we ate Oreo's and chocolate milk. Anneka walked for 8 consecutive steps! Then we ate hot dogs at the park. Just a non-political break in the action, Matthew Bos Bike rides on Friday and today. Wondered how I can eat the same food, exercise more and gain weight. Watched basketball. Got the work day messed up on my part time job; completely missed a shift. (They didn't care, it was covered.) Shuffled papers around (procrastinated) preparing for taxes. Watched some movies I recorded; Suddenly and Paths of Glory were two. Should have but didn't: fertilize the lawn, wash the vehicles, jump the battery on the other car and take it for a spin, finish my taxes, make a decision about life insurance, buy new chair for (someone), work on the basement steps, clean (more), do laundry, look at the planets... Kevin T. - VRWLC almost bedtime ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Bush's brand new enemy is the truth
At 12:26 AM 3/29/2004, you wrote: Kevin wrote: What was in the articles, the apology? The fact that the book was published by an affiliate of CBS. So Rice had no idea what/who Al Quedia was even though she gave a speech about them a year before? 'sfunny how a person can write a book and everything in it is Credible and the Trvth, but the response is all slander and character assassination. Its funny how people believe what they want to belive despite mountians of evidence to the contrary. Doug So the people watching 60 minutes went a whole week without this information. 10.5 million households watched the show. There are (were) 99 million households. Let's say 15-20 million viewers. Do they all read newspapers? The odds are against that but even if they did; did they all see these articles stating that fact? Does this point matter? I'm not comparing it to (whatever network) putting explosive devices on trucks when showing a report about fuel tank safety. I doubt the book sales got a bounce from the show. Heck, I would believe CBS if they say it didn't matter, that the interview was done because the subject is important and it didn't matter who the publisher was. Yet in this day and age of full disclosure; of many other non-credible pseudo links being exploited from molehills into mountains; this little fact should have been up front. No real argument against the other point? One (of many) mistrvth is okay because the real story! is there for everyone to see? Kevin T. - VRWLC Doug, meet Mr. Pot ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Bush's brand new enemy is the truth
Kevin Tarr: In fact, it wasn't a job transition. He retired; he retired because he wasn't offered a better job. You think the public wouldn't notice if he dissed the president when he quit and they retaliated by canceling his pension or some such? Many people retire from government and then go straight into jobs working for companies that work with/for the government. WhereI worked, a friend of mine took early retirement, and then worked almost 15 years for another firm. I wasn't able to pick up his age, but his resume indicates that he's probably still in his '50s or early '60s at most. Dan M. What does this prove? That he made kissy sounds to the pres because he wanted a cushy lobbyist job; when that didn't happen he wrote a damning book that the lemony fresh media would lap right up? Not trying to argue too much about this. Just tired of the people going into masturbatory frenzy when they believe the TRVTH is finally revealed; that the veil will be ripped from the doubters eyes; that they were right all along! Kevin T. - VRWLC And now, a bed ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Ease the pain but don't stop offshoring
Hardly anybody thinks that businesses that go under should be compensated and cuddled by the government for having their livelihood disappear. If a business can't cut it in the marketplace, tough. Worse than that, when a business is going under, and the owner must liquidate inventory at a loss, all the people who most want a safety net are the first piranhas in line for their 80% off. Losing your job sucks, but it doesn't usually leave you deeply in debt on top of everything else. Mike Lee Islamic Moderate I'm taking the usual list method of responding to one part of a post; but only because I agree with everything else. The problem with the above statement, the government does spend my tax dollars propping up companies that are failing in the market place like airlines and farming. In PA they are paying parts of a doctor's malpractice insurance instead of adopting tort reform which (could) lower the insurance rates. So the insurance stays high and get their money, the lawyers still sue over anything, I pay higher taxes and fees, and the doctors still complain. Kevin T. - VRWC Wondering if they'll need computer programers in free New Hampshire ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
NPR redux
http://dilbert.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20040323.html Kevin T. - VRWC What do I care ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: DEFENDERS OF THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE
If it had a maximum score, it wasn't the standard IQ test, and so the number you are quoting is not an IQ as it is normally understood. Quite a few people have IQs over 150. A very few have IQs over 200. Where did you take this test that claimed to be an IQ test with a maximum score of 150? -- Ronn! :) Sears. Kevin T. - VRWC It's all inside ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: DEFENDERS OF THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE
At 05:59 PM 3/21/2004, you wrote: On Sun, Mar 21, 2004 at 10:50:38PM +, Richard Baker wrote: I don't know about that. Even so, I still don't think that would disprove the Fool's assertion. In this case, There could be very many smart people like Debbi indeed and still the atheists could in principle all be all smarter than average. True, if Debbie's sample is non-representative of the group as a whole, and skewed to the high side of the population. I guess I also assumed Debbie wouldn't pick a biased sample, so the average of the sample is a good estimate of the average of the population :-) (There's also an effect along these lines caused by relative sizes of the atheist and non-atheist populations, which it seems to me is skewed towards non-atheists in the US.) Yes, I think atheists are less than 10% in America (much less, I think). -- Erik Reuter A Gullup poll indicates 3 - 10%. Another says 7%. A third (The American Religious Identification Survey 2001 was carried out under the auspices of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and is considered a follow-up study of a 1990 census) had 8% in 1990 and 14.1% in 2002. There is a political action committee, Godless Americans or GAMPAC. http://godlessamericans.org/ Saw it on C-span; was going to call but another person asked the same questions I did, that American atheists and this group supported liberal and/or democratic (party) goals but a greater majority of atheists define themselves as conservative. There was a similar discussion, that so many blacks supported conservative ideals, yet voted democrat. Maybe I'll form SaCPAC. Kevin T. - VRWC Single and childless ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: March Madness!
Ugh. The two teams I picked for the final are out. I only have 7 of 16 and 5 of 8 (if I get them). I spend two days off work for this? The only upside: I got very good at GoldenTee golf. Kevin T. - VRWC back to work ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: DEFENDERS OF THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE
In my case, I think that learning being so easy for me, made me lazy. Not having to work very hard to learn encouraged a lot of bad habits. Any advantage I might have ever had I pissed away. And I'm still lazy. rob This matches what I could have written about myself. Though there were other factors at work (not blaming them) even when I knew I should work harder I didn't. They had comments from the crowd watching the Vet being demolished today. One man said, I'm 44, today I stopped being a kid. I'm still waiting for my moment. Kevin ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: More outsourcing . . .
At 11:48 PM 3/19/2004, you wrote: Mentioned by Jay Leno in his monologue tonight: calls from welfare recipients in Utah to the state office are being answered in India . . . http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Mar/03172004/business/148517.asp -- Ronn! :) Same here in PA. I don't recall the Department, but it could have been for Labor Industry, Welfare, or the higher education assistance group. Err, oh, I just got the relevance of doing it for the welfare office. Last year, officials in Indiana came under heavy criticism when it was disclosed that the state's Department of Workforce Development, responsible for helping unemployed workers find jobs, had hired a company based in India to do $15.2 million worth of computer upgrades to speed the handling of unemployment claims. Gov. Joe Kernan announced in November that that contract had been canceled. Kevin T. - VRWC ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Libertarian Purity Test
At 05:02 PM 3/18/2004, you wrote: John D. Giorgis [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Horn, John wrote: From: Kevin Tarr [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.bcaplan.com/cgi/purity.cgi 11. Kinda reassuring, actually. What is reassuring is that *someone* finally had a lower score than I did. 18 JDG - Resident crazy conservative, right? As a 16, can I claim to be one of the list's most bizarrely unpredictable WRT political issues? ;) (Actually, I agree with whoever said that the wording was far too strong to answer a flat 'yes' to many questions, but a graded response would have placed me on a somewhat more libertarian side. But only somewhat!) Debbi Every question seemed easy to me; they were straight forward. Paraphrasing: Do you think medical marijuana should be legal Y/N? Do you think carrying less than 5 grams of marijuana should be legal? Do you think any amount of M should be legal? Do you think all drugs should be decriminalised? Isn't that how a person forms their thoughts? No qualifications, no if/but; just this is the issue in black and white, this is a dividing line, which side do you choose? Even though I had a high score (compared to others on the list) some of the final questions were turning my stomach. The libertarian party is having a convention in Harrisburg this weekend. Don't know if it's statewide or national. I was thinking of going, but not now. Kevin T. - VRWC Going to play cards at camp instead. If we can get to it, another couple inches of snow last night. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Enterprise - was: Stargate SG-1
At 09:07 PM 3/15/2004, you wrote: On Mar 15, 2004, at 4:25 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [snip] BTW anyone see the Enterprise Season Final? Enterprise is getting its ass kicked... Very cool. My local station decided to pull it for the current season, the bastards! Is Enterprise being carried on UPN? Yes UPN. They moved the time, or they are planning on moving the time. The episode two weeks ago, I didn't think it was the season final, (last week was a rerun here.) Just checked episode guide http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/episodes/index.html?season=3 there are five more episodes this season, they start showing new ones April 21. Kevin T. - VRWC Starfleet's reaction to a terrorist strike ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
South Korea
G. D., were you out of the country for a while? What's going on there? I saw some bizarre images on TV about the SK government, yet it was only covered once on PBS news hour. Asking what you can add or clarify. Kevin T. - VRWC Too lazy to find on my own ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: 'The Passion' May Be Reducing Anti-Semitism
At 09:36 PM 3/16/2004, you wrote: http://www.click2houston.com/entertainment/2925553/detail.html snip rob Plus all the middle eastern/Muslim countries that want to show the movie? Iran, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon. Saudi Arabia is dropping it's ban against images that show a Prophet* so the movie can be viewed there. *(They consider Jebus to a Prophet, just not the son of gob). Kevin T. - VRWC What has Mel wrought? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The end of the world as we know it?
First a very poor statement, to get it out of my head: There are a few hundred million people who do think the world has gone to hell, and it started 1400 years ago. Maybe you've seen their work? I'm not claiming the world is going to hell since there is no such place. If our society doesn't revert to the stone age on it's own*, we'll probably have an Excession event that will make us realize how close we are, and how far different things could be. *(not saying any of the social issues will drive us there.) Okay. You've mentioned societal changes. While all had laudable goals, do you believe they were 100% beneficial; no bad side effects? This could quickly dissolve into a 'who has the worst story' contest. Gee Kevin, do you think it was a good thing that the blacks had their own entrance into the hotel, around the back next to the dumpster if they were served at all? I will agree that changes had to come, that many problems in society were just outright bigotry or ignorance...whatever. But I want you to see the problems that arose since then. (Not saying we turn back the clock! Not saying you can't see the problems already! Just let me have enough rope to trap myself). Has forced segregation really helped inner city schools? Or forced busing? Is society better because of looser marriage rules? Has the adulation of otherwise useless people, like actors or athletes, really helped society? (Again, not saying breaking the color line did this; just in the grand scheme of things what does it matter?) You can agree or disagree with the last paragraphs; what does it have to do with gay marriage? They just want what others have, they want to be equal, to be happy. Just because some uptight people are offended, they shouldn't be discriminated against. My PoV is that it is just another step in the wrong direction. There are so many unintended consequences that honest people try to bring up and they are shouted down by being called bigots, ect. Because of the Lawrence vs. Texas ruling, a man has challenged the law against bigamy. The MBLA crowd has been rumbling. This in less than one year. What will happen in 40 years? Kevin T. - VRWC Enough for now ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Only in California
City falls victim to Internet hoax, considers banning items made with water http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/8518740p-9447551c.html ALISO VIEJO, Calif. (AP) - City officials were so concerned about the potentially dangerous properties of dihydrogen monoxide that they considered banning foam cups after they learned the chemical was used in their production. Then they learned that dihydrogen monoxide - H2O for short - is the scientific term for water. It's embarrassing, said City Manager David J. Norman. We had a paralegal who did bad research. The paralegal apparently fell victim to one of the many official looking Web sites that have been put up by pranksters to describe dihydrogen monoxide as an odorless, tasteless chemical that can be deadly if accidentally inhaled. As a result, the City Council of this Orange County suburb had been scheduled to vote next week on a proposed law that would have banned the use of foam containers at city-sponsored events. Among the reasons given for the ban were that they were made with a substance that could threaten human health and safety. The measure has been pulled from the agenda, although Norman said the city may still eventually ban foam cups. Our main concern is with the Aliso Creek watershed, Norman said. If you get Styrofoam into the water and it breaks apart, it's virtually impossible to clean up. Kevin T. - VRWC I had to check the date to make sure ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Class Warfare...
At 10:39 AM 3/15/2004, you wrote: Speaking of Bill Maher... Found on another mailing list... http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/03/13/washingtonoutsiders/ New rule: You can't be a Washington outsider if you're already president. by Bill Maher March 13, 2004 Hearing President Bush these days constantly complain about the politicians and John Kerry being part of a Washington mind-set, and saying things like I got news for the Washington crowd is like hearing Courtney Love bitch about junkies. Washington insider is by definition a function of one's proximity to the president. That's you, Mr. Bush. You're ground zero. Ever wonder, sir, why everyone stands and they play music when you enter a room? When you're given check-writing privileges by the Federal Reserve, you just might be a Washington insider. Lemme try to explain it to you in a different way: You're not Mr. Smith goes to Washington -- you're the Washington part. We need a Mr. Smith to mess with you. You're not on a mission you reluctantly accepted, like the old farts in Space Cowboys. You campaigned for this job, and now you're doing it again. And having been the Grand Poobah for three years, it's a little late to be selling yourself as some fish-out-of-water cowboy visiting the big city on assignment. You're not McCloud, you're the grandson of a senator and the son of a president and CIA director. For 15 of the last 22 years you've had a key to the White House. The last thing that happened in Washington without the Bushes getting a piece of it was Marion Barry's crack habit. The Exorcist happened in Georgetown, but Satan had to run it by Jim Baker first. So knock off the regular-guy act -- and by the way, that also goes for John Forbes Kerry, the other white meat. Two Skull and Bones preppies, these guys are, from Nantucket and Kennebunkport, who use the word summer as a verb and probably had monogrammed beer bongs in college. Please, John Kerry: Stop rolling up your sleeves at campaign rallies like you're about to man a register at Costco. You're a Boston Brahmin who married not one but two eccentric heiresses -- you're not Joe Sixpack, you're Claus von Bulow. I think your current wife is great, but hello, she inherited the Heinz fortune! She's the ketchup lady! -- which explains why sometimes he's gotta smack her on the bottom to get her to come. Look, fellas, we've got almost eight months till the election. That's a long time to hold in your gut. To pretend you're something you're not. Let's just be real and admit that finally, and unfortunately, true class warfare has come to America: Yale class of '66 vs. Yale class of '68. - jmh Damn you TV! I believed, from the West Wing, that the vice presidents office was in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building; but the official white house web site says that is only a ceremonial office, that the vice president's real office is in the white house proper. My beef was 'for 15 of the last 22 years you've had a new to the white house'. I have a key to my brother's house. If he was out of the country I could go in with no trouble. I doubt the adult son of the vice president or president could go to the white house to hang out and watch TV while his dad was throwing up in Japan. And isn't the math a little fuzzy? Why isn't it 15 of the last 23 years? Still the article is shit. Even if bush had a key to the white house, he was in private business for those years, or the governor of Texas. Hardly a Washington insider since his dad wasn't in office at that time. The last crack about class warfare: the dems could have chosen anyone they wanted. They chose a 18 year US senator (a job performed in Washington), someone who did go to Yale, someone who was rich at birth and got richer by marrying money. Maybe we can revisit Terry Jones' poor analogy comparing the war in Iraq with tolerating a rude neighbor. Kevin T. - VRWC ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Fwd: New Distant 'Planetoid' Seen in Our Solar System
At 04:46 PM 3/15/2004, you wrote: New Distant 'Planetoid' Seen in Our Solar System WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A newly discovered dark and frigid world, a bit smaller than Pluto and three times farther away, has emerged as the most distant object in the solar system, astronomers said on Monday. The new planetoid, named Sedna after an Inuit goddess who created the sea creatures of the Arctic, is by far the coldest and most distant object known to orbit the sun, a team of researchers announced. I thought that was my last girlfriend. Kevin T. - VRWC I'm here all week; please tip the waitresses ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Stargate SG-1
I stand on the threshold of tommorow, atop the stairway of yesterday, holding the key to today, staring through the door into the future. -Nick Lidster 26 May 2003 Have you said, has anyone asked, why you list that date? It's my favorite day of any year. Kevin T. - VRWC I watch Hellfighters to celebrate ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: DEFENDERS OF THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE
At 05:47 PM 3/15/2004, you wrote: DEFENDERS OF THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE snip The bottom line - Don't let gays destroy marriage - that's the job of the Republicans! rob I know how this game is played! If I wasn't in the military, I can't have an opinion about it. If I was in the military, but never saw combat, then I can't have an opinion about war. Since I'm white, I can't be against affirmative action or other similar measures since I don't know what it feels like to be repressed.. Since I'm not a woman, I can't have an opinion on reproductive rights. Since I'm not rich, I can't be for a tax cut. These people have a certain opinion about marriage and it's not all based on religious grounds; I know my opinion isn't. But even if it is, one does not exclude the other. Where is John Kerry's name? He's against gay marriage (this week) and has a divorce. Oh, he tried to get that annulled...after some odd years and two children. Kevin T. - VRWC But this is my favorite Judas Priest album...don't like the song though ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: DVR: Gadget of the year.
At 09:44 AM 3/14/2004, you wrote: I'm not really a gadget person, but I just acquired a digital cable box with an integrated Digital Video Recorder (DVR) from my cable company, for less than I was paying for the digital converter by itself, and I have to say that it is nothing short of awesome (yes, I am easy to please this weekend!). While I do have a programmable VCR, I never use that feature because it is very touchy and less than reliable. I understand that some people have trouble...but my mother has been using a VCR for at least ten years, if not 15. It gave me great pleasure when I could call her up (from a bar, surprise) and ask her to record something for me, and she could. Do you mean programmable with VCR+ codes? This DVR uses the online cable guide and one can choose a program, press one button and the DVR will ask you if you only want that show or the entire series. It can record multiple shows simultaneously and you can change channels while it is recording a show. You can even pause a live program and resume it after the bathroom break. When accessing a recorded show, you can see a list of shows saved, right along with the date, time and synopsis of whatever you are looking at. You can continue to save the show, commit it to video tape or erase it. It can hold a total of 40 hours of programming. I was initially afraid that this would make me into a couch potato, but instead, it has been liberating. I can record any show, and watch it at my leisure instead of being tied to the networks programming schedule. I am somewhat surprised that the networks have not tried to kill this technology since it allows one to skip right over commercials. No more missing Enterprise or those late night episodes of Stargate. :-) Gary There's are new systems out that should break the back of TiVo and ReplayTV. http://www.techtv.com/freshgear/products/story/0,23008,3635177,00.html This one does not record more than one show at the same time. It uses your PC for record and playback so the quality may not be great. (For a while I only had a DVD player in my computer. Not nice to watch). But importantly you can record the shows onto a DVR if you computer has one. Even features to compress the stream to a PDA, or grab the video with a remote PC, to watch at work for example. I've heard of another product that can record more than one show at the same time.. It is a TiVo like box with a hard drive and connections for cable and a network. (Plus I'm assuming a keyboard). The point is, you get the information about your local cable and the shows you want. No service fees, no other fees after the initial purchase, and it's cheap to begin with. I know of a third that will do the same with satellite broadcasts. DirectTV is fighting it, Dish network wasn't. I agree with Gary; very soon broadcast TV will step in to block commercial blocking products. Anyone want to discuss channel bundling; the fight between Viacom and Dish Network last week? Viacom said 'You want CBS; you have to take MTV, VH1, BET and CMT.' (Or maybe it was just bundling MTV and VH1 with BET and CMT.) This probably goes to the fool's contention that all media conglomerates are bad. If BET cannot survive on it's own, then it should reduce costs or fold. Cable companies say it would cost too much to offer ala Carte programming, to be able to tailor each household without a set top digital receiver for each TV. Satellite providers could do it since each TV needs a receiver, but have not. I probably would be paying more if I had ala carte options. But there are so many channels I now have blocked so I don't waste time when channel surfing. And of course many that I don't get at all because they are in a higher level package. I read an economic article explaining the benefits of bundling, but it was for the cable station not the home viewer. Well, some home viewers benefited because they got a station that might not exist if they had to support themselves. Would I want to lose OLN, no. But if OLNs biggest expense was getting the rights for the TDF or World Cup skiing, then they should bid lower and either TDF would accept the lower price, or they'd lose the coverage and any money they got. Heck, that's the problem with the NHL. They pay players too much and expect ESPN and ABC (the same thing) to pay higher TV rights. Just like taxpayers, the consumers are getting overcharged as a group for something they may not want. The NHL will probably fold next year. When the NFL rights come up, I believe the networks will not offer as much money. Kevin T. - VRWC Enough for now ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: DVR: Gadget of the year.
Here's a question: If you tell it to record, frex, _The Simpsons_ (since _Futurama_ is no longer on) and the whole show starts 20 minutes late because some blasted football game on the same station runs overtime yet again (or you want to record a show during the week but the President makes a speech or something like that similarly delays the start of the program you want to record), does it sense that and record the show when it actually comes on, or does it record the scheduled time period and thus you get the last 20 minutes of whatever is on before and the first 10 minutes of the show you want? Obviously, *that's* a feature I want someone to build into a VCR or other record-off-the-air device . . . -- Ronn! :) The quick answer is no. Some reported problems have been: Networks not telling the channel/program guide providers that a show is supersized, i.e. is 40 minutes instead of 30; some program guides have bad start/stop times that the device won't resolve, like saying a program starts at 8:59 instead of 9 and it won't start because you are recording another show from 8-9. Probably networks will offer a compromise: remove the feature that skips commercials and we'll provide an electronic tag for each show, so the device can detect that a show has not started yet and wait for the start signal. I keep my clocks as close to atomic time as I can. I notice networks that drift, the start times will move back or forward. CBS is the worse one. Kevin T. - VRWC Too much TV man ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
highway bill and other unfunded mandates
I know the response I'll get from some people but I want some reasoned answers. I'm not saying opinions about unfunded mandates are false. There is a study that shows federal mandates and funding are above the projected costs to local and state governments. To me the problem is, even with federal funding, local and state actions weren't matching what the federal government expected. Can anyone doubt that the public school system gets worse as more money goes in? The failure isn't at the federal level, yet the gov implements a new program and everyone screams unfunded mandate. But I don't want to argue that. I'm trying to say this: it cost less to educate a child in Wyoming than California for all the obvious reasons, FREX cost of living. Does it benefit the country if a child is educated more* in Cali then Wy? *(Don't compare the cost on a per child basis, but if some program is available in Cali but not in Wy; a state program not a federal mandate.) I'd say no. So why should Wy send more money to the feds than it receives, while Cali gets more then it pays. That may be a simplification or just wrong; it may be hard to quantify whether Cali gets more money per child after other factors are removed. I'm going to assume that Cali does get more money over and above what can be directly accounted for. If I'm right, then Wy is paying for programs that Cali decided to add to it's education system. My contention is Cali should fund these extra programs on it's own. Unfortunately money is fungible, Cali could be taking funding from a basic program and spend it on a state initiative, then turn around and complain the federal gov isn't giving them enough. I feel the same way about cities complaining about homeland security guidelines. I know cities have problems, the tax base eroding while the costs go up; that should have been resolved before 9/11. If a state isn't asking the suburbs to support the city it surroundsmy point is the fed shouldn't be taking money from Wyoming so Miami can buy it's police an updated communications tower. Again that may be simplistic, yet this redistribution of federal money just supports a level of bureaucracy. We are losing money trying to spend it better. The other side is the highway bill. PA has more road miles than NJ, NY and the rest of the NE combined. (I don't believe that, but Rep Tim Holden D said it.) You cannot drive from the rest of the US to the NE without going through PA. (Assuming you stay in the country and don't use a ferry.) So should PA receive more highway money, since other states benefit from better roads in PA? I say yes, but there is a problem with that. This federal funding supports projects that are local in scope. Again, if a local project was funded fully at the state level, then it would take away money to help support big federal projects. I support the pres in vetoing the highway bill; saying he won't support an increase in the gas tax. Both the senate and house versions are pork packages. Maybe Brin's transparence would solve this. Heck, the gov could already provide the numbers but it's nigh impossible to pinpoint where money is being spent poorly. Congress already admits it doesn't know what it's voting for on most budgets. Course, they never miss the vote allowing for a pay raise. Kevin T. - VRWC ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: DUI (was: Do as I say, not as I do Democrats)
At 11:33 PM 3/12/2004, you wrote: At 07:42 PM 3/12/04, Kevin Tarr wrote: I've heard (maybe you can confirm or correct this) that many times the drunk driver is so relaxed that he is less injured while the sober person he hits is wide awake and frantically trying to do something to avoid the accident and so is tensed up and likely to be more seriously injured . . . -- Ronn! :) I didn't answer the way I wanted to. (Damn this racing brain!) I meant: you will hear more anecdotal stories about someone walking away from an accident, whether drunk or not, then ones with an injury. You will more easily remember the no-one-was-hurt reports. It's the way the brain works. If I (accidentally) recall a bad memory it feels like a blow to the head; sometimes I'll have a physically reaction. But good memories are easy to recall, are brought back just to savor the experience. I've heard it from sources in the medical field, which was why I wondered if Debbi (or any of the other list members with medical connections) had heard the same thing. From her answer, it still seems possible that it is anecdotal or a selection effect or that it is a real effect . . . -- Ronn! :) Some thing happened to my one e-mail. 'Relaxed' drunk is a myth since imbibers are more injury prone By Dr. ROBERT WALLACE Dr. Wallace: Why is it when drunk people are involved in an automobile accident, they rarely get seriously injured while the sober people get killed or maimed? Is it possible that the alcohol makes a person less tense, which could result in less injuries? -- David, Crown Point, Ind. David: It's a myth that drunks are less likely to be injured in an auto accident. If you have been drinking and are involved in a serious auto accident, you face twice the risk of dying from your injuries as those in the car who haven't been imbibing. http://ads.hollandsentinel.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.hollandsentinel.com/feature/index.shtml/23331/Middle/default/empty.gif/39376364633064383430353236316130 9fbf14.jpg In other words, the notion that people who have been drinking are protected from injury because they are relaxed is false, according to University of Michigan Medical Center researchers. Alcohol worsens any injury resulting from an impact -- it renders the person more vulnerable, says Patricia Waller, director of the U of M Transportation Research Institute and a research scientist in the Department of Psychiatry. You can have a designated driver who is completely sober and hasn't touched a drop, but if someone else runs a traffic light and hits you and you're in the front seat, the probability of your being seriously injured or killed is higher than if you had never been drinking, Waller says. Still, she says, the myth that drunks are safe persists. Even now you will get police officers who swear that a drunk driver will walk off from an accident unscathed while all the sober victims are maimed and mutilated. Dr. Waller studied how blood alcohol levels relate to the severity of motor vehicle crashes and came up with an unexpected finding. When we took into account the variables that were associated with the seriousness of the crash -- how badly the car was crushed, for example -- if the driver had been drinking, he or she was more likely to be seriously injured. Kevin T. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
first they come for your guns...
Particular interest for Julia? Maybe she doesn't carry hers that much. (Not the story I first say that talked about a complete ban on carrying to take effect in July) http://abc.net.au/news/australia/vic/200403/s1055935.htm Brawl prompts police crackdown on weapons Victorian Police Minister Andre Haermeyer has warned Melbourne's street gangs against carrying knives and other weapons in public. A man's hand was severed in a brawl at East Melbourne on Saturday night. The brawl involved up to 40 young men using swords and other weapons. The limb was reattached and the 21-year-old St Albans man is recovering in hospital. The police Asian squad is investigating and detectives are confident of making arrests . Mr Haermeyer says police are now in a stronger position to search for weapons. The police now have extensive new powers, which in terms of searching people for weapons, searching people for knives, anybody carrying those weapons and knives should expect police to be using those powers, he said. Meanwhile, a prominent member of Melbourne's Vietnamese community believes research is needed into why some members of the Asian community are resorting to violence. Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria chair Phong Nguyen says more needs to be done to understand the causes of Saturday's fight and other similar violent incidents in the recent past. We [are] more than happy to undertake any research with the State Government and law enforcement to look into the motives and the issue - what issues do these young people [get] involved in with weapons and I think it need to be found out, he said. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
disturbing day
I saw an elderly women vacuuming her lawn. A women yelled at me because my truck was blocking her view of the street. It was in a legal parking spot. The street was one way, my truck was blocking the view of the direction that cars don't come from. (not saying that right, but should be obvious). I got my promotion three paychecks ago, but haven't seen any extra money yet. Maybe I'll go to bed and try and sleep for 20 hours. Kevin T. - VRWC ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Fascist Censorship spreading like Cancer thruout Gov't
At 02:37 PM 3/12/2004, you wrote: Ronn said: At most, this will show that the US Constitution doesn't protect freedom of speech. What do you mean? I mean that a freedom isn't a freedom if it's constrained, so that if constitutional scholars consider such a constrained freedom freedom of speech then they are using that phrase in a technical sense and not the everyday sense of the words (leaving aside the difficulty that perhaps people use the phrase in the legal-scholarese way in everyday life!). Rich So ...shall not be infringed. means as much as Congress shall make no law...? What about gag orders in court cases? Kevin T. - VRWC ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
ATM update and cat
I lost $130 in an ATM Saturday night. Called my bank Monday and they credited me the money while they contacted the other bank for redress. I just saw on my statement, the other bank credited me that Monday also. from time stamp there's no way my bank had the time to contact them. This other bank was constricting, not providing ATM services at foreign ATMs, removing service from remote ATMs, cutting banking services. But instead of looking good on paper so they could be bought, they just made a bid on another bank. That will put service practically outside my door instead of 20 miles away. My cat was eating a lot of food this week, now suddenly he's eating none. He's otherwise acting normal; normal for a cat. I'm taking a wait and see attitude. Kevin T. - VRWC ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: disturbing day
At 07:18 PM 3/12/2004, you wrote: At 05:41 PM 3/12/04, Kevin Tarr wrote: I saw an elderly women vacuuming her lawn. With a lawn vacuum or with a regular indoor vacuum? Maybe I'll go to bed and try and sleep for 20 hours. Sounds like a capital idea. -- Ronn! :) It was a shop vac. It was not a leaf blower, it was a vacuum. Next to the road, I'm assuming she was removing the gravel/cinders that the local munis put down during winter weather. Kevin T. - VRWC Decided to stay awake ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: DUI (was: Do as I say, not as I do Democrats)
I've heard (maybe you can confirm or correct this) that many times the drunk driver is so relaxed that he is less injured while the sober person he hits is wide awake and frantically trying to do something to avoid the accident and so is tensed up and likely to be more seriously injured . . . -- Ronn! :) I know this has happened second-hand; I know people that were practically unscratched after a very bad wreck. I'm not going to post the alcohol ones, but they do happen. This summer a young man's car was hit by a truck (not alcohol related, just a sunny day accident); people getting to the car were sure no one was alive. He was trapped but practically unhurt. He had a cat in a carrier; the carrier was mangled but the cat was out of it in great health. (The man swore the cat was in the carrier, said it wouldn't travel any other way). There are far too many that are not as fortunate. Kevin T. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: DUI (was: Do as I say, not as I do Democrats)
I've heard (maybe you can confirm or correct this) that many times the drunk driver is so relaxed that he is less injured while the sober person he hits is wide awake and frantically trying to do something to avoid the accident and so is tensed up and likely to be more seriously injured . . . -- Ronn! :) I didn't answer the way I wanted to. (Damn this racing brain!) I meant: you will hear more anecdotal stories about someone walking away from an accident, whether drunk or not, then ones with an injury. You will more easily remember the no-one-was-hurt reports. It's the way the brain works. If I (accidentally) recall a bad memory it feels like a blow to the head; sometimes I'll have a physically reaction. But good memories are easy to recall, are brought back just to savor the experience. Kevin T. Like a good burp ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Libertarian Purity Test
http://www.bcaplan.com/cgi/purity.cgi I had 40. Kevin T. - VRWC Failed again ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: America, land of the Lara croft-haters
At 09:12 PM 3/12/2004, you wrote: In a message dated 3/12/2004 1:36:24 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Some people say that anyone who murders innocent people without warning is by definition a coward because he is too cowardly to give his victims a fair chance. But definitions like this are too loose. They convey the wrong impression about the person committing the act and that wrong impression can come back to bite you. Lets say you see a terrorist about to get on a plane. You think this guy is a coward so you confrount him because cowards are afraid of others you know he will, crumble. But of course although he is a heinous villian is not a coward so he sticks a knife in your gut. I'd say I just ate a ham sandwich and spit on him. Oh, did I just profile someone? Kevin T. - VRWC Is that bad? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Do as I say, not as I do Democrats
At 02:06 AM 3/11/2004, you wrote: Kevin Tarr wrote: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/news/s_183239.html State lawmaker accused of drunken driving Friday, March 05, 2004 By Ed Blazina, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette State Rep. David Levdansky, D-Forward, is scheduled for a hearing next month on drunken driving and other charges as the result of an incident over the weekend in Rostraver. The criminal complaint stated Levdansky's blood-alcohol content registered at 0.16 percent. A person is considered legally drunk in Pennsylvania at 0.08. snipped lawyer talk David stands by his vote of reducing the blood-alcohol content (in the state) to 0.08. You left out the VERY NEXT PARAGRAPH where it says that he's not trying to weaasel out of anything: David's not going to stand for being treated any more or any less than any citizen would be treated in the courtroom. He's going to stand tall. He has no record. We'll stand tall and walk through this. So he voted to make more restrictive laws, so he got caught breaking those same laws. He's showing every sign of being a responsible adult, not being hypocritical, and will face whatever punishment is deemed appropriate after due process. If only all politicians would be so honest. -- Matt I'd be foolish if I tried to misrepresent a story in this fashion. I also left out the PROCEEDING SENTENCE I want to examine the evidence. It's raised some questions in my mind, LoPresti said. The law maker said nothing, his lawyer made the statements. Maybe you are foolish to expect his lawyer to come out and say We are fight this every way we can; the evidence clearly shows that David did nothing wrong and we expect him to be found innocent of all charges. Some people on this list consider drunk driving to be a horrible crime that isn't punished harshly enough. (I'm not one of them.) At least he wasn't caught legally gambling, the republicans would really howl over that! For a law maker to break any law should be enough for him to be removed from office. Maybe he'll go for the democrat daily double and lie under oath. Kevin T. - VRWC Late for work ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Do as I say, not as I do Democrats
An interesting editorial from salon.com details the VRWC's latest attacks on Kerry. I guess Republicans are now seeing him as a serious threat. Editorial is here: http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/03/09/conspiracy/index.html. Jon So Republicans shouldn't consider the Democratic nominee a serious threat? I've got so much to learn about politics. Kevin T. - VRWC Annoy a liberal - Work hard and be happy ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: LIBERAL TALKRADIO NETWORK TO LAUNCH MARCH 31
NPR's own official ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, admitted a liberal bias in NPR's talk programming. The daily program Fresh Air with Terry Gross -- a 60-minute talk show about the arts, literature and also politics -- airs on 378 public-radio stations across the fruited plain. Gross recently became a hot topic on journalism Web sites for first having a friendly, giggly interview with satirist Al Franken, promoting his screed against conservatives on Sept. 3, and then on Oct. 8, unloading an accusatory, hostile interview on Bill O'Reilly's show. She pressed the Fox host to respond to the attacks of Franken and other critics. Dvorkin ruled: Unfortunately, the (O'Reilly) interview only served to confirm the belief, held by some, in NPR's liberal media bias ... by coming across as a pro-Franken partisan rather than a neutral and curious journalist, Gross did almost nothing that might have allowed the interview to develop. National Public Radio is properly understood, even by the media, as radio by and for liberals, not the general public. As Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz puts it, the media landscape stretches from those who cheer Fox to those who swear by NPR. Kevin T. - VRWC Spread spectrum ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: LIBERAL TALKRADIO NETWORK TO LAUNCH MARCH 31
At 07:47 PM 3/11/2004, you wrote: --- Dan Minette [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Coerced speech is a violation of the most fundamental principles of the United States. It is ironic and revelatory that people who think preventing flag burning is an atrocity are fine with NPR. So, are you saying that any entity that gets government money for any reason whatsoever is engaged in coerced speech if it is produces anything with any political content? I realize why that can be problematic, but in other areas you insist it isn't a problem at all and an essential part of free speech. Dan M. No, I'm saying that when (as in the case of NPR) it pretty much forsakes all attempts at being neutral or apolitical and uses its government funding as a cloak to promote an agenda, then that's over the line. I'm not an absolutist on issues like this. NPR gets extensive government privileges that reach beyond just the funding, and they make its embrace of a wholesale agenda (often an anti-American one, even more often an anti-Israeli one) unacceptable. I recognize that there are organizations that get federal funding that engage in political speech - although this is something that should be viewed with _extreme_ caution - but NPR crosses way over the line. Note that PBS, which is still liberally biased but not nearly as bad as NPR, doesn't draw my fire in the same way. = Gautam Mukunda I don't see this in the breakdowns: NPR is a syndicated group of shows. If it had to compete against other shows on a level playing field it would fail. PBS radio stations broadcast the shows. Do any non-PBS stations air them? PBS doesn't bid in frequency auctions, they don't pay business taxes. It was bootstrapped in 1967 with federal funds. I cannot find information on my local stations, but the Federal funding seems to be 11-15% for TV and 18% for radio. But that breakdown did not include money from CPB, another federal agency, and another 35% comes from state and local government. That a slightly roundabout way of saying, would NPR survive without PBS? Can you say it's a private enterprise that can say what it wants, or a public charity that has a duty to be fair and balanced? I cannot find the information, this is all from memory. A PA private college was being forced by the federal government (to do something. I want to say it had to do with collecting student information) which was a minor item, but the college asserted that it received no federal money, it shouldn't have to use it's resources to do work for the government. The government replied that since some students got federal grants and loans, it would force the college to comply. This went so far in the courts, with the college losing. Now the college only accepts students that have no federal ties. It's a reach, but to say the federal government should have a hands off attitude with any institution it supports, yet do something like this... Wasn't there a case or a recent ruling that a college cannot refuse to have a ROTC branch? Kevin T. - VRWC Why am I watching the spirt awards? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: LIBERAL TALKRADIO NETWORK TO LAUNCH MARCH 31
At 08:46 PM 3/11/2004, you wrote: I just checked the local public radio website and got the following number Nearly 90% of Houston Public Radio's annual operating budget comes from the local community 60% comes from individual listeners, a lot comes from local companies. I don't think Houston has a budget for public radio. If you think of the national non-governmental support the radio station could get, Federal money has to be less than 10%. 5% might be a decent guess. So, even at a local level, federal government money is only a small fraction of the income of public radio. Dan M. KOSU in Oklahoma says it gets 13%. Does that count the satellites in orbit or the ground equipment that can be federally funded for up to 75%? Does it include the cost of the airwaves and broadcasting license? What about the savings in using student workers and not having to compete for market share? I do want to say, I like my local public radio and the ones I pick up on the drive between here and my hometown. I would be against shutting them down or restricting their content. But to listen to them and think they are moderate? I heard one story about wind power that Erik would have blown apart. I wouldn't have know how bad the information being presented was if I hadn't read it here on the list. There was an editorial I read, it may have been on here, about science reporting. How many times have you saw, heard or read a general information article that was in your field and there is enough misinformation that you wondered who this idiot is? Probably not a deliberate effort, but still. Yet these same reporters talk about Israel or outsourcing and you swallow it whole? Kevin T. - VRWC Yeah, my bike is fixed! Boo, it's going to be 40 F tomorrow. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: LIBERAL TALKRADIO NETWORK TO LAUNCH MARCH 31
At 09:15 PM 3/11/2004, you wrote: NPR's own official ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, admitted a liberal bias in NPR's talk programming. The daily program Fresh Air with Terry Gross -- a 60-minute talk show about the arts, literature and also politics -- airs on 378 public-radio stations across the fruited plain. Gross recently became a hot topic on journalism Web sites for first having a friendly, giggly interview with satirist Al Franken, promoting his screed against conservatives on Sept. 3, and then on Oct. 8, unloading an accusatory, hostile interview on Bill O'Reilly's show. One interview. Fresh Air is the single best program on the radio, and if Terry Gross did one less than perfectly considered interview (which I'm not willing to concede, not having heard it), that should not weigh against her many years of brilliance. In any case, Fresh Air is 98% arts (at least), maybe 2% politics (probably less). Fresh Air is also mostly funded by WHYY, with contributions from members and foundations. And, gosh, being hostile on Bill O'Reilly - off with her head! (What does that have to do with NPR?) -- Tom Beck Find an article where NPR's own official ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin argues against the liberal tag. Or criticize what I wrote with your opinions. Whatever is easiest for you. Kevin T. - VRWC More like one example of many ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: LIBERAL TALKRADIO NETWORK TO LAUNCH MARCH 31
At 09:47 PM 3/11/2004, you wrote: - Original Message - From: Kevin Tarr [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 8:18 PM Subject: Re: LIBERAL TALKRADIO NETWORK TO LAUNCH MARCH 31 There was an editorial I read, it may have been on here, about science reporting. How many times have you saw, heard or read a general information article that was in your field and there is enough misinformation that you wondered who this idiot is? Probably not a deliberate effort, but still. Yet these same reporters talk about Israel or outsourcing and you swallow it whole? I haven't really gotten into the outsourcing debate, but I basically favor free trade. In fact, my objections would only be towards the universality of some claims...I always look towards the exception whenever I hear an always. I haven't posted on that subject because I haven't made a clear case on that yet. As far as Israel is concerned, how in the world could you read my posts and see me as swallowing anti-Israel news reports hook line and sinker. :-) I read/listen to/watch every news report critically. I certainly don't think everything I hear on NPR is right. If I did, I'd be just another dittohead. :-) Dan M. I didn't mean you as a specific, or those two examples. Serious, just grabbed them at random; an internal and external topic. But, are you saying you have never read an oil story that was mostly wrong about the important facts? Not NPR, anywhere. Kevin T. - VRWC Time for bed ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: LIBERAL TALKRADIO NETWORK TO LAUNCH MARCH 31
At 09:47 PM 3/11/2004, you wrote: - Original Message - From: Kevin Tarr [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 8:18 PM Subject: Re: LIBERAL TALKRADIO NETWORK TO LAUNCH MARCH 31 There was an editorial I read, it may have been on here, about science reporting. How many times have you saw, heard or read a general information article that was in your field and there is enough misinformation that you wondered who this idiot is? Probably not a deliberate effort, but still. Yet these same reporters talk about Israel or outsourcing and you swallow it whole? I haven't really gotten into the outsourcing debate, but I basically favor free trade. In fact, my objections would only be towards the universality of some claims...I always look towards the exception whenever I hear an always. I haven't posted on that subject because I haven't made a clear case on that yet. As far as Israel is concerned, how in the world could you read my posts and see me as swallowing anti-Israel news reports hook line and sinker. :-) I read/listen to/watch every news report critically. I certainly don't think everything I hear on NPR is right. If I did, I'd be just another dittohead. :-) Dan M. And nothing about the funding? Picking your battles I guess. Kevin T. - VRWC And now, off to bed ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Do as I say, not as I do Democrats
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/news/s_183239.html State lawmaker accused of drunken driving Friday, March 05, 2004 By Ed Blazina, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette State Rep. David Levdansky, D-Forward, is scheduled for a hearing next month on drunken driving and other charges as the result of an incident over the weekend in Rostraver. The criminal complaint stated Levdansky's blood-alcohol content registered at 0.16 percent. A person is considered legally drunk in Pennsylvania at 0.08. snipped lawyer talk David stands by his vote of reducing the blood-alcohol content (in the state) to 0.08. Kevin T. - VRWC At least he didn't kill anyone, like Tom Druce (who is republican) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
privacy/transparence
Besides the obvious, does anyone know a good legal source for government openness information? There was a tiff at work today that almost broke down into a yes they can/no they can't fight. I agree with the yes they can side, but the other party is more knowledgeable. (I was only a spectator.) I'm saying this in generalities: certain forms are mailed out to businesses which contain public data specific to that company; the information is not private or secret. However, (I'm assuming) a person would have to leave a paper trail to get this public data through the freedom of information act (if the company doesn't share it already). Right now an employee has to have permission/access to the info and there is an internal log of who/what/when it's viewed. We have a printing function which could save all of the printed forms' data. One file, all the info in a format that anyone could access. So it'd be all the info on any company in that print job, in a PC friendly format. An unscrupulous employee could copy the file to a disk, take it to an anonymous e-mailer and send it anywhere. The one side doesn't want that function for that reason, security; while the other says it's public data anyway. (and I'm realizing, this could apply to internal reports that are not mailed/contain private info). Ah well, fun at work. Kevin T. - VRWC Stuck in the muggles with you ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: I think I almost died last night
Better yet, avoid alcohol, smoking and spicy food altogether. :) Jon Yeah right! (Just making fun of that idea. But...) I don't smoke and have gone months without the spicy food and alcohol with no benefit. While there may be no correlation, my AR started after I began eating healthier foods; more bread/pasta/rice, fruits, veggies. Can as easily say buying a house or going back to school started it. Kevin T. - VRWC Going to die anyway ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: America, land of the Ashcroft-haters
At 10:49 PM 3/10/2004, you wrote: Tom Beck wrote: Anyone who would wish Ashcroft personally ill is a jerk. I can't stand the job he's done as AG, but I bear him no ill will as a human being. I agree, and I wish him well, but I still think the Bill Maher line is pretty funny. -- Doug Why, is he defending cowards again? OSL. Kevin T. - VRWC Just having fun ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: LIBERAL TALKRADIO NETWORK TO LAUNCH MARCH 31
At 10:38 PM 3/10/2004, you wrote: No, you'd be honest about it if you admitted that you already had one - it's called NPR - paid for with my tax dollars. If you want to waste _your_ money on such a thing, be my guest. Rightwingers love to bitch and moan about NPR, but it's actually far more variegated than they admit. For example, there's a dailly program called Marketplace that is one of the most honest and thorough business reports in any media. NPR doesn't kowtow to the right-wing agenda - which makes it, in their minds, leftwing. Tom Beck A 30 minute program is compared against five hours (that I know of locally) and it becomes all fair and balanced in your mind? I agree marketplace is good. And the other shows aren't NYT bad; but there are enough times I listen and wonder what cracker jack box these people got their journalism degree out of. One night last summer I heard a constant droning of all the bad things that happened in Baghdad, the museum looting, the general lawlessness, no water, no power, bombings, overflowing hospitals with the innocents of war; their lives and bodies forever damaged by the senseless rush to war (accompanied by strained violins and wailing children). Where was the other PoV? Where was the story retracting the falsehoods of the museum looting? Where is the counterpoint now of the lawlessness brought on by the Saddam thugs; the overflowing hospitals caused when they blow up their own people? Yes NPR. We editorialize, you don't decide. Kevin T. - VRWC Maybe I'll understand using a decoder ring ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: I think I almost died last night
At 11:36 AM 3/9/2004, you wrote: From: Jon Gabriel [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your symptoms do sound as if they may have had an element of GERD to them. If you're interested, I have a ton of links pertaining to it. I take medication for reflux myself. And if you want even more information, I had the GERD stomach surgery back in September (Laproscopic Nissen Fundoplication, to be exact). Not that you want to be thinking about that, I'm sure. I'll admit that I never had that particular symptom of GERD. But I would wake up in the middle of the night and think that someone was trying to pick me up with an old-time ice block grabber-thingie. - jmh I had tests to see if I could have that surgery. My main problem was eating. My esophagus wasn't working rhythmically; food would go so far down and stop. Not a great feeling. The doctor said the surgery would not help me. I'm kind of glad. I'm not afraid of surgeries, I've been cut open six times now, but I just didn't like what they proposed. Why did I get AR at 33? Switching from my poor diet to a (supposedly) good diet when I started biking? Is it my weight, that I gained after switching to the good diet? Some thing will never be answered. Kevin T. - VRWC Pill a day for the rest of my life ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
I just died in your arms tonight
snip I could taste chocolate and stomach acid in my mouth and figure that maybe my body was trying to keep me from inhaling the contents of my stomach. Or it could be some sort of acid reflux. Then again, I might be suffering from some form of sleep apnea, in which case I need to make an appointment. I've never had anything like this happen before. rob Just trying to lighten the mood. Glad you are okay. I've never had trouble breathing, but it does read like acid reflux. You didn't say how you were sleeping in the LR, or if you do it normally. A strong recommendation for curing or mitigating AR is sleeping with head elevated; so if you were in a recliner it's less likely, on a couch with small pillow, more likely. I won't say more. Just talk to a DR. (Can you bug doctors and nurses, get free advice working in a hospital?) Kevin T. - VRWC Coke and chocolate? Freebasing sugar? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Looking for a movie/series pilot
At 08:55 PM 3/8/2004, you wrote: I have probably asked this here before, but I'll try again just in case I am looking for the name of a movie that might have been a series pilot attempt around 1990 or 1991. It was about a police station that was at an old bakery. The movie followed the same police officers through three different eras. It would jump back and fourth between the eras and show how the same officers had changed between the 70', 90's and 2010. I thought the movie was called The Bakery or something like that, but I have been looking on the IMDB for years and still have not found anything. Any suggestions? Gary http://www.entertainment-geekly.com/web/general/sep2002/dead_air_probe BAKERY, THE (UNSOLD PILOT) CBS 1990. 60 mins. Set in Police Station, in a burned out BAKERY. Over the course of 3-time periods 65/89/2001!! **GREAT** (1) http://hometown.aol.com/jpulino007/ Not much info really. I always wanted to find Drew Carey's first TV show The Good Life He wasn't the main character; still funny. Kevin T. - VRWC sleep ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Gas Prices
Hardly reasonable compared to the rest of the civilised world :-) Cost here at present is approx A$1 per litre (US$3.50? per gal) and rising. Not quite as bad as UK. Poor William. Regards, Ray. Wouldn't that be related to gas taxes and production though? Anyone know the true cost of the gas? Not that gas taxes are bad; at least they are equally applied to road projects. Oh, fun numbers: http://www.gaspricewatch.com/USGas_index.asp State Tax/Cents per gallon State Tax/Cents per gallon Alabama 18 Montana 27.75 Alaska 8Nebraska 24.6 Arizona 18 Nevada 23 Arkansas 21.5 New Hampshire 18 California 18 New Jersey 14.5 Colorado 22 New Mexico 17 Connecticut 25 New York 29.65 Delaware 23 North Carolina 23.4 Dist. of Columbia 20 North Dakota 21 Florida 14.1 Ohio 22 Georgia 7.5 Oklahoma 17 Hawaii 16 Oregon 24 Idaho 25 Pennsylvania 25.9 Illinois 19 Rhode Island 30 Indiana 18 South Carolina 16.0 Iowa 20.1South Dakota 22 Kansas 23 Tennessee 20 Kentucky 15 Texas 20 Louisiana 20 Utah 24.5 Maine 22Vermont 20 Maryland 23.5 Virginia 17.5 Massachusetts 21.5 Washington 23 Michigan 19 West Virginia 20.5 Minnesota 20 Wisconsin 31.1 Mississippi 18 Wyoming 14 Missouri 17 Federal Tax Rate 18.4 No surprise, PA has 5th highest taxes. So why is gas cheaper? Prices for the cheapest octane, what I buy, in south central PA range from $1.58 at a discount member only station to $1.69. My 23mpg car needs a part that has not been located yet so driving 14mpg truck. I'm not against high gas prices. A women at work was complaining about them; yet she choose to buy a house 30+ miles from work, away from bus lines, and drives to her boyfriends house every weekend, a 300 mile round trip. Kevin T. - VRWC Bike ride time ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
homeland security
Also broken bike, flood watch. On the way back on bike ride, going past three mile island, I saw a van pull off the road where there is no parking (no room to pull off). I could see the passenger using a camera aiming at the island and facilities. When I was 15-20 feet from them they pulled out with flying gravel*. The women driver was non-caucasian; could not see anything of passenger. Didn't think to get license number. I doubt it's something to be concerned about. I can't imagine what a person or group of people could do to the plant. But I wonder why they were there. Farther down the road is an observation/visitor center which has better views. *Not trying to add drama. They were in a dangerous place to stop, and the gravel is from the winter road maintenance. Just too much acceleration from a full stop. On the way out I went down to 1st gear to climb a hill; it wouldn't shift up when I was done. I switched the front gear to the big ring; some might call it 6th gear but it's really 3rd. When I tried to switch back to small ring that wouldn't work; I may have broke that shifter. Better to find these things out now then in July. The bike is five years old, but otherwise fine. With my luck the shop will find frame cracks and recommend buying a new one. Feel good for my first outside ride. I was puffing on the way out from the light wind but climbed great. If the weather and work let me get out three times a week, I might be in great shape by June, instead of just starting to ride like last year. The river is up but the ice is gone. At the lowest point it needs five feet to reach the road, but farther up there were places where people didn't bring their boats higher. Probably happens every year, a boat is left in the wrong place not tied down and floats away. Kevin T. - VRWC Time for laundry ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: More on Texas Re: Pledge of Allegence
Every State has the right to split into multiple States under Article IV, Section III: New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress. JDG In the 80s there was a push for a north/south split of New Jersey. My home county wanted to split into east/west because the inappropriate amount of focus on the eastern end. Maybe we can get phily to annex itself from the rest of PA, let that hellhole join del or NJ or just become it's own state. Kevin T. - VRWC We'll keep Pittsburgh...for now ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: States Bent on Collecting Internet Taxes
At 04:55 PM 3/7/2004, you wrote: Tom Beck defended the poor from higher consumption taxes: Except, the poor have no choice but to consume (we all have to consume SOMETHING), and nothing to invest (because they've spent all their little money). An assumption being made here is that the poor should pay less just because they're poor. Actually, I can see a good argument for them having to pay *more* because they contribute so little to the society that makes it possible for them to be poor and still have color tv's and microwaves. The majority of people who are poor are either young and paying their dues or else they work less, work less intelligently, have less discipline and focus, and contribute less to the wealth and infrastructure of our culture. Very many of them already take out a lot more than they put in, not because of inability but because of choice. It's considered in bad taste to make moral distinctions about why people are poor, but too bad. I've been poor and I know what the poor are like. A minority are incapable of making better lives for themselves. The majority aren't career-minded, to say the least. They take low-skill jobs and don't invest in themselves, in favor of entertainment and recreational drugs as favorite off-duty activities. If we want to try to identify and subsidize the deserving poor, fine. But let's stop wringing our hands about the plight of most poor people--since most of them *deserve* to be poor. I know, I'm going to hear all kinds of stories about sainted single mothers who worked their fingers to the bone to raise their kids, and handicapped people and crazy people, and so on. Those people exist, but they're not the majority of the poor. And while we're wringing our hands about regressive taxation, we should stop taxing cigarettes so heavily, since poor people, who tend to be stupider, lazier and have poorer impulse control, smoke cigarettes more heavily than the upper classes. A tax policy that encourages savings and penalizes consumption will be good for poor people (who give a damn about their lives) because it will encourage them to consume less and save more. Not only do they build wealth for their own future, but it will help them build the psychological discipline of becoming oriented toward the future, and that will help them achieve all kinds of goals. Nobody can seriously argue that the poor will starve if there are increased taxes on consumption. They just won't be able to buy as much. Which would be a good thing for their health, because the poor tend to be really fat too. -Mike That's what NZ household survey showed. The lowest range were spending more money on local and overseas travel, entertainment and other non-survival items than the next two - three ranges. The US survey only shows the breakdown by quints and only as proportion of overall share, not real dollars and does no break down into the fine categories like the NZ survey. But a nice post Mike. Hope you have a fire suit. Kevin T. - VRWC Rated L for layman ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: States Bent on Collecting Internet Taxes
At 10:45 PM 3/4/2004, you wrote: Kevin Tarr wrote: The debate here is to lower the sales tax from 6 to 4%, but tax everything. Currently uncooked food and clothes are exempt. The hue and cry of course is that this will unfairly target the poor. But most studies show that overall the consumer will see lower taxes and with a single tax structure retailers could collect taxes easier. What about dealing with people who are tax-exempt? That was more of a pain than dealing with non-taxable items when I was having to figure out how much sales tax we owed each month when I did that for the company I worked for. Julia What about them? If my register already has a button for non-taxable items, it should be able to handle a whole order that is non-taxed; basically a wholesale or B to B order. How is a person non-exempt? What I didn't add: the main reason for moving the ST was to bring property tax relief. Kevin T. - VRWC Too early, too tired ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
test the nation
should the east coasters provide answers for the rest of the country? OSL Kevin T. - VRWC My cat's breath smells like cat food! (or, this is my friday night? sob) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: test the nation
At 08:17 PM 3/5/2004, you wrote: Kevin wrote: should the east coasters provide answers for the rest of the country? OSL Sure, why not. Which answers would those be, BTW? And what's OSL? Kevin T. - VRWC My cat's breath smells like cat food! (or, this is my friday night? sob) OK, everyone's an sob... -- Doug can't always be right 8^) It means Obligatory Second Line. OSL Oh, some fox show, based on a british show. a national IQ test. Kevin T. - VRWC Don't feel so smart ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: States Bent on Collecting Internet Taxes
At 08:22 PM 3/5/2004, you wrote: Or, of course, to shift the tax burden from investment to consumption... Except, the poor have no choice but to consume (we all have to consume SOMETHING), and nothing to invest (because they've spent all their little money). If you have to increase the sales tax, at least exempt necessities such as food and shelter. But the initial story posted here indicated they were going to END such an exemption. -- Tom Beck So first your are for keeping property taxes, now you want to eliminate them? Sounds like a Kerry backer. joking But maybe you mean rent should be deductible? Against state or federal income? Both? Sales tax on a house purchase can be claimed against federal income taxes. Actually what I referred to was tax on clothing which could equal shelter, a basic need. As far as food goes, cooked food is now taxed as well as some liquids. (Milk and water are not taxed here). The people who want to lower the tax have a study that says on average out of 21 meal times a week only 6 use home cooked food, i.e. was not taxed. So if the overall tax is reduced from 6 to 4% and the store bought food is now taxed, the person saves 20%. (Not making any claims about that data, just passing it along. In fact if the number was 7 out of 21, there would be no gain, and a loss if they use more home food.) The true measure would be overall household spending. The first site I found had NZ data from 1999 and another from Cincinnati. Clothing and food accounted for 20 to 28% of household spending. (Minus rent/mortgage; there are probably other services that aren't taxed.). The poorer did spend higher for them, but the highest was in the low middle range. However, a household would have to spend more than 33% on food and clothing for the sales tax change to be bad. I will agree right here that the poorest may be doing just that, but would also assume that they are getting other assistance. Hmmm, now I'm confused. The people pushing this plan say there'd be enough savings to eliminate property taxes. How can this be if everyone is spending less? I don't know, but their other point's are: consumption tax catches (almost) everyone (vs income tax), easier enforcement, and easier to apply. Kevin T. - VRWC I need more data ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: States Bent on Collecting Internet Taxes
At 06:01 PM 3/5/2004, you wrote: What I didn't add: the main reason for moving the ST was to bring property tax relief. In other words, shift the tax burden from the well-off (property owners) to the less-well-off (the poor, who spend a much higher percentage of their income and thus are much more affected by increases in sales tax). -- Tom Beck As a well off property owner in a state where the tax is uneven between neighboring houses, to say nothing of towns and counties, I think the property tax should be eliminated. Property tax means you are just renting the land from the government. Now saying that, I think a modified property tax should be put into play. My top reform would be making government and other exempt groups pay it. I will agree it's stupid for a city to pay taxes to itself for the police building, something like that; yet if a piece of property is for sale and the city can bid higher because it doesn't have to include tax payments in the valuation, everyone loses. The tax payers lose money and a developer loses a change to make an investment, which could be taxed. But worse is an agency owning land in another tax area. Instead of losing money to themselves, they are taking it away from the other tax body. Second is a simplified cheap one payer system based on square footage (of the land) and usage. Everyone pays, just to keep it honest. If you and neighbor have an acre lot but your house is 100k and his is 500k, so what? His does not use more services. He paid taxes on building or buying the house itself. If he uses more water or electric, he pays for it. A rental property should pay more, but not twice the rate; just enough to mark the difference for services. My neighbor shouldn't be paying 1/4 what I pay, just because I just bought mine last year and he was here 30 years. (Not basing this on real world example, except for a few people we are all new homeowners.) And I don't want them paying my high rate, I want everyone to pay a lower rate. Kevin T. - VRWC Enough for now, time for bed ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
