JavaScript is a scripting language originally developed by Netscape to add interactivity and power to web documents. It is purely client side, and runs completely on the client's browser and computer.
OPEC - We Really Don't Need YOU
Feburary 2005
America and other western counties made the Middle East what it is by essentially one thing - buying their oil. Our foreign policy and security are held hostage by our trade with these unstable nations. If they slow production or raise prices America is screwed economically.
There is a solution for energy independence. The start up costs are great, but the price per barrel will plumet to less than half of what it is today. Gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuels technology was used by the Germans during World War II to produce gasoline and other fuels from coal when they were cut off from oil supplies. Industrial plants can use chemical catalysts to convert natural gas as well as coal into a synthetic gas, which is further turned into refined products such as gasoline and diesel fuel.
The price tag for building enough conversion capacity is more than $300 Billion. Such a large investment could only be handled by the Federal Government itself. However, it would return Trillions of dollars over the long haul. We bailed out Chrysler two decades ago, we can surely bank roll the domestic petrolium business and achieve energy independence.
As a gallon of gasoline drops to around 60 cents, the governments (federal and state) could tax it heavier to where a gallon would cost the consumer say $1.50. The 90 cents collected in tax could quickly buy down the national debt and the states would have a tidy surplus.
Where are these natural gas fields? They're located around the world, mostly off the beaten path in third world countries. That's why industry lingo calls them "stranded fields." America would actually do deals like we did with the Panama Canal a century ago. Purchase the fields as soveriegn U.S. territory thereby tremendously helping undeveloped countries make money through the sale of the properties and build their standard of living. Building these plants would give the world a shot in the arm economically as the benefits of such activity cascaded throughout the global economy. The foremost benefit of such a plan; however, is the control of our own energy supply.
The solutions are out there like cherries to be picked. Why the heck aren't we picking them?
With the right planning and better representative government, American never had to come to paying $2.25 a gallon for gasoline. We turned a blind eye to what we knew for years was coming. We could have prepared.
As voters we need to start making wiser choices on Election Day. We need to listen to candidates who look at the future, understand our problems before they consume us and take care of fixing the problem long before it costs an arm and a leg. Come to think of it, we need to do the same when it comes to local elected officials as well. There are a host of problems just over our horizon as well. Nobody seems to be doing much to address them. They'll probably get around to a fix once the problems start biting us in the neck. But, why suffer that pain when a stitch in time saves nine?
Of course, I guess, some people are just in the habit of paying late penalties.
Reprieve on Paving Over Farmland on the Way
June 2005
"Seems you never know what you got, till its gone. Pave paradise - put up a parking lot." - Joanie Mitchell
A survey conducted by the National Association of RealtorsŪ and Smart Growth America in the Fall of 2004 shows Americans strongly prefer their state government work toward improving existing communities instead of continuing to create incentives to build in the countryside.
The 2004 American Community Survey indicates that more American homebuyers prefer smart growth communities with shorter commute times, sidewalks and places to walk more than sprawling communities.
Gene Krebs, Greater Ohio state director said, "We can see from this survey that there is a fundamental shift in market preferences underway." The sentiment is clear: Let's prioritize and take care of our existing communities first, instead of continuing to sprawl out into the countryside."
Some of the findings of the survey:
Nearly 9 out of 10 Americans (86%) want their states to fund improvements in existing communities over incentives for new development in the countryside (12%).
Six in 10 people (61%) who say they will buy a house in the next three years are more likely to look for a home in a smart growth community (characterized by a mix of housing on various sized lots, sidewalks and shopping nearby) rather than a sprawl community (characterized by single-family houses on one-acre lots located farther from shopping and public transportation).
Shorter commute times (79%) and having sidewalks and places to take walks (72%) ranked very high as a factor in determining where to live.
The survey is based on a national random survey of 1,130 adults from August 26 - September 6, 2004. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.
With $3.00/gallon gasoline right around the corner - It's a darn good thing to hear this. Too bad companies like Owens-Illinois are moving out of the central business district more central to their commuting employees and on major bus routes. While there might be some economic advantage to O-I, I suspect upwards of 50,000 more gallons of fuel needed to get to work per year will further aggravate our energy worries. Thanks for burdening us with another concern.
Economic Development
July 2003
One of the things anyone notices upon moving into the village is that no other community in the region is growing as fast as Waterville. At least in population, that is.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2002 estimated village population up 6.15% over the 2000 Census. Whitehouse is a close second at 5.38% growth. Surprisingly Maumee, Perrysburg, Bowling Green and even Grand Rapids show a slight drop.
Population growth is not the be-all and end-all factor to consider. Quality of life and economic health of the village are as important. For instance, the population base in Maumee has been fairly steady over the last decade, but there are major problems in that community concerning underutilization of existing retail space. Parkway Plaza, Golden Gate and a couple other areas are having a hard go of it. So aggravating is the problem, Maumee has set up targeted enterprise zones to resurrect these districts.
The how and why of retail space vacancy and/or degradation is somewhat elusive. To some extent even local commercial developers appear stuck in an old paradigm. Today, the amount of relevant variables that need to be plugged into the equation of commercial success in terms of profitable, viable business trade for owner/operators and the potential benefits of the local consumer create a jumble of multidimensional scaling and analysis, which weren't quite so massively complex in the 1960's and 1970's when suburban flight began.
For example, population density didn't show much co-variation with other variables in the models used a generation ago. Now, that single variable alone cannot explain or account for many of the major forces affecting the dynamics of commercial accomplishment. Population centers have lost a great deal of inert gravity to other factors, which are complicated by commuters, transit patterns and other influencing conditions.
Because of the confluence of I-75 and U.S. 20, and I-475 and Route 25, the Perrysburg area has much greater commercial development than the local population base alone would support. And, the retail growth of that commercial center will affect the dynamics of what needs to be accomplished here in the village.
The rapid population growth here in the extreme southerly portion of Lucas County cannot in today's world be a counter valence to nearby localities blessed a little more generously by great federal and state four lane highways. Because of our terrific mobility and position as a "bedroom" community, the modality of planning, design, construction and operation of commercial enterprise will face increasingly severe challenges in the near and long term.
Up to this point the village's development committee focused almost exclusively on industrial issues. This past recessionary period again made it abundantly clear that vying for development geared towards manufacturing and its tangential businesses categories is fighting for slivers of a smaller and smaller pie.
Product branding, packaging and marketing are vital elements in any business. The village itself needs to think in terms of developing its own brand image, recognition, quality, loyalty and value. The constituent parts making up our available resources need to be adequately packaged. A good analogy - computer systems are sometimes advertised as "monitor and printer sold separately" however because of the convenience most shoppers prefer to buy an inclusive packaged system. Back to the packaging of the village - a turn key type of ease for a business setting up shop here needs to be offered as a value added perk not easily or necessarily found in surrounding communities. And, then the village must devise bold and unique ways of marketing. For instance, if issue #1 passes, the village needs to aggressively go after state development aid dollars from Governor Taft's initiative to attract high tech industries between the banks of the Ohio River and the shores of Lake Eire. The pluses of the village are obvious - a great locality to live and work, BAX air cargo nearly next door, a splendid high traffic Interstate Highway corridor, being within 500 miles of more than half the population in North American among a plethora of other reasons.
Just as one example, a high tech business park even with a modest amount of high salaried employees (say 200) would not only raise the village revenue by a margin of 20 percent or more, but the development of ancillary, complementary and retail business would boom. Then, the housing and commercial development plan would probably be better if it resembled Reston, Virginia, and that in itself would present the village with a whole host of new opportunities as the way we live in the latter half of this century will less and less resemble the traditional platted partials we are so accustomed to now.
As I learned early on in my career marketing competitive media companies across America - the success to future growth is a development plan that detects opportunities just beyond the horizon, fixing on those targets, calculating a firing solution and hitting them before anyone else knows they're out there.
Way back when, Providence was the center of the local universe. They must have taken their eye off the ball. Waterville's rise to prominence was mostly due to: the right place, the right time, and the right people given the locks, dams and canal boat technology of the times. Now, as then, opportunity in the new millennium beckons. And, this time, using canal town vernacular - "the railroads won't put anybody out of business."
Let's not look at tomorrow or next year. Let's focus just a bit over the horizon and hit targets nobody else knows are out there.....yet.
By-pass...Pass-by
June 2003
The traffic, especially the commercial haulers, is and will continue to be a dangerous problem for the residents in the area.
Have you noticed, even as the population remains steady to slightly down around the Greater Toledo area, the traffic seems to be increasing more and more? It's a fact of life. People are more and more mobile. Easy mobility takes our residents to other communities to spend retail dollars. But, the streets and highways are two-way arterials. The path also leads to Waterville. Traffic will move in the direction of opportunity. The village needs to solve this equation.
The by-pass will clear the hordes of dangerous traffic snarling the middle of our village, but also brings with it the latent harm of averting traffic with potential compulsive stops by money spending tourists and commuters. We have to work harder to make the village a "destination."
It would have done no good to preserve the old canal that ran through this village vis-ā-vis the need for a federal highway, which now sits on the former ditch. The utility of the highway far out weighed the obsolete use of waterway. The quaintness of historic preservation of a canal town setting and the tourist dollars it could have brought to the village was negated at the turn of the last century when the original buildings were torn down. Filling in the ditch for the new mode of transportation was a forgone conclusion by the end of World War I.
With this two-edged asphalt sword, the world will either pass Waterville by on the four-lane in the blink of an eye not even noticing what is here in our community, or ...
Waterville can raise a flag, bang a drum, hoot, holler, and promote the qualities of the village that would get people to take notice and stop to explore and spend retail dollars.
That may not happen without attracting new businesses to the commercial district that makes a visit to our community worthwhile in the eyes of people who have seen "Paris."
This permanent detour around the village will happen eventually. We can either do nothing but count the cars that go by, or we can accommodate the changes with a greater degree of magnetic pull. This new roadway will also make it easier for folks to get to Grand Rapids, a village that has already made great strides over the last two decades to present itself as a "destination." The competition for survival as far as influx of incoming dollars from day tourists, antique shoppers and others will ultimately reach panic proportions without a comprehensive plan for Waterville's commercial center.
Unfortunately, the way U.S. 24 cut a diagonal through the village presents many more challenges that need to be addressed. Third being the street of most commercial importance has the distinct problem of no left turn to gain easy access to the 'Trail." But, this topic because of its unwieldiness is best left for another discussion.
Providence and Waterville both had benefit of the canal in a previous era. Obviously Waterville made the most of the resource and eclipsed our southerly neighbor. This century the canal resource will be a super slab of highway. Grand Rapids is far ahead in the "destination game."
Manicured Lawn More Important Than Freedom of Assembly
March 2005
We all know that the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech and the press, but we generally don't consider the part about the right to assemble and present grievances.
The New York City Parks Department wants to institute limiting gatherings in Central Park to 50,000 people. The department says large and frequent gatherings on the 13 acres of grass which comprise the Great Lawn does serious damage to the carpet of green.
Besides being the site of huge protests and demonstrations, the lawn has also been the venue for Mass conducted by John Paul II with over 125,000 attending. Pavarotti, Simon and Garfunkel, and the Dave Matthews Band have also attracted more than 80,000 people at a time.
Nobody ever talks much about the "cost" of freedom, liberty and the rights protected by the First Amendment. Who will put a price on Constitutional rights vis-ā-vis some seed and Scott's Turf Builder? We may not agree with what you say, but we should defend your right to say it as an individual or en mass. Too many patriotic heroes have died in the defense of our rights to start on this slippery slope.
Show Me Your Papers
House Backs Major Shift to Electronic ID for U.S. Citizens
Feeburary - May 2005
The lower house of Congress just passed (2-10-05) the "Real ID Act" of 2005. This is tantamount to a National ID Card. Bureaucratic abuses are bound to follow in the same way "Not for Identification Purposes" printed on original Social Security Cards has fallen.
The wisdom of Ben Franklin must have seen this dark day coming when he said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
I agree that National security issues are of vital importance but, this bill will do very little to make us more secure. It will not address our real vulnerabilities. It will, however, make us much less free. Remember that Hitler, Stalin and Castro kept lists of all sorts of information on their citizens. When the Gestapo said, "Show me your papers", citizens would produce their identification complete with personal information in hard copy form. It may not be far off when Americans are stopped with the words, "Give me your card(s) to be swiped." The information being in digital form on the magnetic stripe located on the back side of the driver's license or state ID.
This vote contributes to big government's further intrusion into privacy rights of its citizens and State's Rights making a giant leap toward the Big Brother mindset and a Police State not befitting a democratic based republic. Support of the Act suffocates the basic concepts of liberty this nation was formed upon. Getting this bill passed on overly broad interpretation of the Interstate Commerce clause of the Constitution is a bane to our civil liberties as Americans.
Forcing States to comply in warehousing and sharing the far-reaching scope of personal data without limit through Executive Agency regulation required by the Act or lose federal funding is absolutely unconscionable. Driver's licenses and State ID cards will have to conform to federal dictates. RFID technology that can facilitate the tracking of all U.S. citizens if incorporated into the license down the road makes this legislation an especially dangerous proposition. Rereading George Orwell's classic work "1984" would be time well spent.
The Real ID Act mandates database linkage among states, exceeding the demands set forth by the recent Intelligence Reform Bill, which seeks to establish national identification standards for state-issued identification cards. The proposed legislation has not yet reached the U.S. Senate, but in its present form it fails to extend beyond data gathering to the difficult issue of data protection. Without safeguards, third parties in the commercial sector might take advantage of the standardized license format to begin capturing personal information electronically in routine transactions. The "scope creep" that took place after the passage of the Social Security Act and the pervasive use of Social Security numbers by third parties shows how a national ID card might be used for nonsanctioned purposes.
How many times in the past year were you required to produce your driver's license to complete a commercial transaction, cash a check or gain admission?
Civil libertarians and firearm rights groups condemned the bill before the vote, and likened the new rules to a "de facto national ID card," saying that the measure would force "states to deny driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants" and make DMV employees act as agents of the federal immigration service. Because an ID is required to purchase a firearm from a dealer, Gun Owners of America said the bill amounts to a "bureaucratic back door to implementation of a national ID card." The group warned that it would "empower the federal government to determine who can get a driver's license and under what conditions."
The proponent's flimsy argument that these cards make air transportation safer is absolutely sophomoric logic. Intelligence failures and inadequate thorough screening of passengers has to be fixed rather than substituting that terrible gate keeping inadequacy with a National ID Card. The Onus of Government failures should not be carried on the backs of its citizens. Furthermore, these cards have no defensive value in protecting aircraft security from time or altitude detonated munitions freight in the cargo hold, lasers, or shoulder-fired missiles, which present the new model of threat.
Alternatively, if the real intended reason for the Act is to prohibit the few States that permit illegal aliens to obtain driver's permits, I am sure there is an alternative solution that would not cause as much harm to law abiding citizens.
New York Exited Matrix Crime Database Program
In March of 2004 New York dropped out of a multistate crime database program that was criticized as an invasion of privacy. Matrix lets states share criminal, prison and vehicle information with one another and cross reference the data with up to 20 billion records in databases held by a private company called Seisint based in Boca Raton, Florida. To help you connect the dots see "More Theif of Personal Information" below.
Data contains the property, boats, automobiles, and Internet Domain Names that people own, their address history, utility connections, bankruptcies, liens and business filings among other non-criminal data. These data could easily be used to track private and personal information on people who have never been suspected of a crime. Therein rests the potential abuse and government tyranny.
New York started questioning Matrix when several other states left the program because of privacy or cost concerns. Alabama, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas all left the program.
Matrix, short for Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, began in 2002. Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania signed onto the program helped by a $12 million federal funding grant.
Example of Bureaucratic Bungling of Private Data
Personal information from more than 8,900 people was stolen March 11, 2005 from a Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles office in North Las Vegas.
A computer taken during the break-in contained names, ages, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, photographs and signatures of southern Nevada residents who obtained driver's licenses between Nov. 25 and March 4, 2005.
"The state is extremely sorry that this has happened," state DMV chief Ginny Lewis said. "Those motorists whose data was on that computer need to know their personal information has been compromised."
Yeah, fine. Just how is the state going to help people fix their credit when these theives use the identities of the citizens the state failed to protect. Again, it's that damn Social Security number being used for identification purposes when it was not supposed to be an ID number.
Another Example of Bureaucratic Bungling of Private Data
According to the West Palm Beach Post, a highly confidential list of the names and addresses of 4,500 Palm Beach County residents with AIDS and 2,000 others who are HIV positive was e-mailed to more than 800 county health department employees.
Health department statistician John W. "Jack" Nolan, who compiles data on HIV/AIDS cases for the county, sent the e-mail containing his monthly cumulative statistics report and inadvertently attached a file with the identities and addresses of AIDS patients and others who have tested HIV positive. Health department spokesman Tim O'Connor confirmed the incident.
If made public, release of the information could have devastating effects on the lives of people with AIDS or who are HIV positive. It also would violate federal patient privacy regulations, but Government is typically immune to penalties.
Technology is great, but a two edged sword. Imagine your social security number, credit card numbers or bank account numbers ending up as an attachment in a broadly distributed e-mail. Fight to keep as much of your personal information from the government on all levels - local, state and federal.
Follow Up to the Above - Cat's out of the bag
The West Palm Beach Post on March 16 ssays that law enforcement agencies have launched a criminal investigation to find out who is sending letters threatening the privacy of the 4,500 AIDS patients and 2,000 people who are HIV-positive in Palm Beach County.
One of the recipients of a letter postmarked March 8 told The Palm Beach Post, "I'm very upset about this. I've been HIV-positive for a long time and, thankfully, I'm OK, but I'm looking for a job. Who is going to hire me if someone reveals my HIV status? This is a terrible thing."
The otherwise innocuous letter with no return address that he and others received said, "Your name appeared on a list of HIV/AIDS patients for Palm Beach County."
A list of patients was inadvertently e-mailed last month to 800 Palm Beach County Health Department employees, but health officials do not believe the recent mailing used the same list because it did not include addresses.
I guess government officials are too incompetent to attach addresses to names using the local phone book, city directory or other publicly available lists and think that all people are as incompetent.
Who's Policing the Police? From WFTV
Florida's Kevin Beary, Orange County sheriff, may have broken the law when he used driver's license records to track down a woman who wrote a newspaper to criticize him.
Except for clear law-enforcement purposes it is illegal to access a driver's license database to obtain personal information. A Federal Law affords protection of privacy.The Sheriff could be fined as much as $2,500.
More Theif of Personal Information
LexisNexis the giant foreign owned on-line data broker said Tuesday, April 12, 2005 that personal information might have been stolen on 310,000 U.S. citizens. LexisNexis databases had been fraudulently breached 59 times using stolen passwords, leading to the possible theft of personal information such as addresses and Social Security numbers.
LexisNexis's Seisint unit, based in Boca Raton, Florida uses property records and other public data to build profiles on millions of U.S. consumers, which it sells to law-enforcement agencies and financial institutions. That unit detected a breach, which led to the discovery of identity and password misappropriation. The information accessed included names, addresses, Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers.
Example of Wireless Hacking
Wireless networks could link up police on the streets, soldiers in the battlefield and rescue workers in disaster zones, but computer scientists warned they remain dangerously vulnerable to stealth attacks.
An attack might be a terrorist who wants to disconnect emergency crews from each other and make his physical attack more effective, or a criminal who wishes to disconnect members of police in their efforts to chase him, such an attack also "could hijack normal traffic for corporate espionage or identity theft."
.
Good or Bad for You?
April 2005
Eggs are good for you, eggs are bad, eggs are good, eggs are bad, and today the government health agencies and medical researchers say they're OK to consume.
Just a week ago new statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), a unit of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), released information that contradict previous findings from the CDC that said obesity was catching up to heart disease as a major cause of death in the United States.
The CDC has said that smoking kills 435,000 Americans a year and that obesity kills close to 400,000 annually. But the NCHS report issued last week cuts that number by more than 75 percent. Now the government says the number is more like 75,000 deaths due to obesity.
Since it was published last year, the CDC's 400,000 figure has been cited in media reports regarding the impact of obesity on everything from healthcare costs to diets.
At the same time, U.S. food and restaurant companies have faced increased criticism from health and nutrition advocates who blame foods high in fat and sugar for contributing to what critics have called a nationwide obesity epidemic. Chain restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and others have been sweating bullets over the possibilities of lawsuits implicating their menu.
So now, the U.S. food and restaurant industry launched a $600,000 ad campaign to tout the new lower number in an attempt to erase the erroneous, bad press that Americans have been fed over the past year, and to persuade law makers to stay off their backs.
As far as the incredible, eatable egg - throughout my five decades of life - besides death and taxes the other thing you could be certain of is the government and health agencies changing their tune about the risks consuming them.
How can a reasonable, rationale person hold the government as a credible source? Will other health concern issues of today do a flip-flop as well? Only time will tell. But, I bet the Vegas line is against the government.
The Ball's in your Court
March 2005
In grammar school we all learned about "The Law of the Land," and how the Supreme Court ruled on issues affecting Constitutionality as a separate, but equal branch of the federal government in our system of checks and balances.
But, did you know that our Supreme Court has begun making law based not on our constitution alone, but also on the laws of other nations? If you find that hard to believe, read on.
In their decision legalizing sodomy, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority of the court saying it took into consideration the laws of other nations in reaching their decision: "The laws of Northern Ireland forbade him (a homosexual defendant) that right" (to practice sodomy). Kennedy also referenced the European Court of Human Rights and wrote: "Other nations have taken action consistent with an affirmation of the protected right of homosexual adults to engage in intimate, consensual conduct."
In the recent case involving capital punishment for those under age 18, Justice Kennedy continued this trend. Again writing for the majority of the court, he wrote: "It is proper that we acknowledge the overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty." The point here is not the ruling, but the fact that the Supreme Court looked not solely to the U.S. Constitution, but also to the laws of other nations.
Citing laws of say, Islamic countries would preclude women's right to vote, which was granted in the 19th amendment. Citing laws of China would preclude a free press, free speech and the right to assemble. Erosion of the Fourth Amendments exclusion of unreasonable search has already been breeched by the Court. So, it is apparent that the wacko wing of the Court picks and chooses examples from around the world when it suits their purpose.
Did our relatives and friends who died in battles on foreign soil protecting our domestic freedoms pay the ultimate sacrifice in vain?
This trend by the Supreme Court is very frightening. It moves toward having the laws of other nations supersede the U.S. Constitution. In the eyes of the Supreme Court, they are no longer bound by our Constitution, but are free to use the laws of any country to reach the ruling they want. This cannot stand for liberty and the American way. Although there are three branches of government, there is no check on the Court. A Constitutional amendment is needed to correct this growing problem. Congress has veto override power over the President. But, what branch stands in judgment of the Court?
John Jay must be rolling in this grave. The ball's in your court, write, call or e-mail the House Judiciary Commettee: 2138 Rayburn House Office Building - Washington, DC 20515 - Telephone 202-225-3951 -
E-mail.
Why Be Optimistic About Life in the U.S.
September 2004
According to the Federal Reserve U.S. household wealth swelled to a new record high of $46 Trillion in the second quarter of 2004, a 1.4% increase. Total U.S. borrowing and the slowdown in debt growth was nearly evenly distributed across all major financial sectors, including the federal government, households, non-financial businesses and local governments.
New York City's unemployment rate dropped to a seasonally adjusted 6.7% in August, its lowest rate since September 2001, according to the state Department of Labor. The current national unemployment is 5.4%, which is .3% lower than the previous decade - the booming 1990's. Average hourly earnings for Americans were up $.05 an hour in August. Low inflation and lower federal tax rates across all income levels continues.
Home ownership is at the hest level ever at 69% across the nation. Mortgage rates and commercial loan interest remain at near historic lows.
Although the Census Bureau reported recently that those in poverty and those without health insurance rose by slightly more than 1 million this past year, the population estimate rose by nearly 3 million including penniless immigrants and illegal aliens.
My new Medicare approved drug discount card through my Polish fraternal organization offers up to 50% savings on name brand prescriptions and generic medications.
Three years without horrific terrorist acts on the homeland. Saudi Arabia is conducting elections for the first time in 40 years. Libya has given up mass weapons. Afghans are moving forward with democracy and rebuilding. American Muslims are finally speaking out, the Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism condemns terror and say, "We Are So Sorry for 9-11."
LINK: jihadwatch.org
The price of gasoline is lower now (inconstant dollars) than it was in 1965.
But, we need to regain the ground citizens lost regarding the protections guaranteed in the Bill of Rights that eroded over time by terrible court decisions and legislation contrary to the ideals held so dearly by the framers of our Constitution. Then I'd really be a happy camper!
Alternatives to Sprint
March 2005
Wish you weren't stuck like a Siamese twin to our local dial tone provider, Sprint/United. Well, you have some options. Working pretty much the same as customer choice programs with electricity, Ohio allows telecom companies to compete. We have some options albeit less than our westerly neighbors in Whitehouse, who don't live under the Sprint umbrella.
Check out these companies offering local dial tone over the same wire that now goes into your house and/or business:
Data-Telecom Corp 419-739-9270 www.data-telecom.com
Basic service about the same cost as Sprint. Deposit required - no exceptions
Communications Options 614-759-4747 www.coi.net
Offers a package with a huge amount of bells and whistles. Large price tag as well.
Service providers not using the existing wires.
Buckeye Cable 419-724-9802
Of course you have to be a Buckeye subscriber. But then who would give up great Adelphia Cable and Internet service? Personally, I like the personnel and service from Adelphia.
Vonage www.vonage.com
$25.99 with 500 minutes of free long distance, free caller ID, free voicemail, and a lot of other stuff...you guessed it...FREE. Works through your cable modem. There is a digital to analog conversion. So, you might get that pesky delay some cell phone have.
Tommy and Darcy's Phone Service & Lemonade Stand
Two Dixie cups and a long string. Charges by the length of string.
And, you always have the option of going strictly wireless with a cell phone provider.
Partial fix on the original topic posted here
Howard Stern, Janet Jackson, Nicole Richie, and Bono.
Wow! This is one problem that motivated Americans seem to be fixing. If that doesn't reinforce the theory that citizen involvement in a democracy gets results, I don't know what better proof there could be.
Previously, the text posted here dealt with the growing amount of filth coming into our homes over broadcast channels. Those who follow the news know the problem concerning the public airwaves is on the mend.
Click It or Ticket
October 2004
Walter E. Williams, is one of my heroes. Read his article on maditory seat belt laws. The legislation regarding buckeling up makes the case that you are not your own person. You are the property of government.
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/articles/05/ticket.html
Mandatory Bike Helmets
October 2004
Lori Ferguson of the Greater Toledo Safe Kids Program and Dr. David Grossman, Lucas County Health Commissioner recently made a presentation to Village Council concerning the need to pass a mandatory bicycle ordinance. Ms. Ferguson claimed it was proven that wearing a helmet reduces injury by 88 percent and Dr. Grossman said if the smaller communities passed legislation to require helmet use, Toledo would soon follow.
Ms. Ferguson must have been referring to the Thompson, Rivera, and Thompson study, which is severely flawed in its methodology. A detailed discussion can be found at the following Website address http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/advocacy/mhls.htm.
Dr. Grossman is apparently attempting to forward his social engineering agenda as he did in the promotion of smoking ban legislation. He has self-stated - he comes to the little village of Waterville in hopes to leverage our actions to have the City of Toledo follow suit. So for Grossman's purposes Waterville becomes a pawn in his social engineering strategy.
Both are disingenuous in their claims and methods. A complete and truthful picture ought to disclose all available information
Some sources suggest that helmets or some helmets may actually increase head injury by increasing the rotational forces against the head. Some bike helmets come with a clear warning of the limitations of the helmet, including the rotation problem, evidently to reduce the liability of the manufacturer.
Western Australia Health Department statistics show that between 1981 and 1995 the average length of hospital stay was declining for most cyclist injury types. However, the length of hospital stay for skull, intracranial and other head injuries either stopped falling or increased significantly after 1992, when mandatory bike helmets were enforced. In other words, the hospital recovery time for ALL injury types EXCEPT head injuries went down significantly over the study period. The Western Australia Health Department claims hospital duration for cyclist injuries has fallen from 5.1 to 3.3 days over the study period, but it is apparent the reduction is due to shorter recovery times for almost all other injury types EXCEPT those involving the head - the one and only part of the body supposedly protected by helmets. A detailed discussion can be found at http://www.cycle-helmets.com/helmet_statistics.html.
There are already over a dozen municipalities in Ohio that have some form of helmet requirement. A list can be found at http://www.bhsi.org/mandator.htm.
In addition to the bad science and ulterior motives presented to Council, there is another important issue to consider. Intrusive interference by government in the sanctity of family. Guardianship belongs to those who most love and value the child and his or her safety. Dr. Grossman's philosophy is that the typical Waterville home today comprises of parents uncaring for the welfare of their children and has the same attitude commonly displayed by many in secular education and social service bureaucrats that parenting is no longer a private responsibility, but rather a social one which, like Big Brother, must be monitored by government.
Perform all the "google" searches you want and the facts from gathered information from private and public sources show that the effectiveness of bicycle helmets is inconclusive.
On the other hand usurping plenary parental authority over a child's recreational activities by government consists, at least on this level, of nothing more than chipping away another freedom. Adults have been deemed to have a right to make their own choice in a democratic country.
It would make more sense to license bicyclists who ride in the street the way we do motorists than demanding the use of an appliance. Are we to expect Grossman will call for mandatory use of helmets, knee and elbow pads for roller skaters in the future? Small laws are often pieced together into huge tyrannies. Our founders would despise the likes of Ferguson and Grossman platform.
By the way, an equal amount of pedestrians are critically injured. Are we to helmet them as well?
Life in Black & White
You could hardly see for all the snow,
We'd move the rabbit ears to and fro'.
Pull a chair up to the 12-inch set,
"Good night, David; Good night, Chet."
Depending on the channel you tuned,
You got Rob and Laura - or Ward and June.
It felt so good, it felt so right.
Life looked better in black and white.
I Love Lucy, The Real McCoys
Dennis the Menace, the Cleaver boys.
Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train,
Superman, Jimmy & Lois Lane.
Father Knows Best, Patty Duke
Rin Tin Tin and Lassie too,
Donna Reed on Thursday night --
Life looked healthier in black and white.
I wanna go back to black and white,
Everything always worked out right.
Simple people, simple lives,
Good guys always won the fights.
Now, nothing is the way it seems,
In living color on the TV screen.
Too many murders, too many who fight,
Life was peaceful in black and white.
In God they trusted, in bed they slept,
A promise made was a promise kept.
They never cussed or broke their vows.
They'd never make the network now.
But if I could, I'd rather be,
In a TV town in '53.
It felt so good and felt so right,
Life looked simpler in black and white.
I'd trade all the channels on the satellite,
If I could just turn back the clock tonight.
To when everybody knew wrong from right,
When life was living in black and white!
Retooled from the Public Domaim.
