Okay, I'm confused.
Some people do a lot of liveblogging, but not me. Detailing events as they're unfolding is useful only in rare circumstances. Today I'll make an exception, as Hurricane Ike makes his way from Houston to Dallas.
One thing you have to understand about Republicans in general : they are simple people. They want easy, simple answers to life's problems and get confused whenever the answer is even mildly complex. If you try to argue with them, they'll become frustrated and angry, because they've already concluded that the simplest answer is the most logical.
I've found it easier to talk to them if I pretend i'm talking to an 8-year old, and explain things in very simple ways. Many of them made it through school either because their rich parentsaskedpaid for favors, or the problem with education in general -- where there's significant pressure to pass students because it's just easier than dealing with them another year.
Have you noticed how few Texans can read/write without making frequent spelling and grammar errors? Their priorities are all wrong; they put more emphasis on the weekly football game, or how the cheerleader's hair looks, than education. There are exceptions, of course; those are called "Democrats".
It would be funny if it weren't so serious. Republicans vote like they're selecting a next-door neighbor. Democrats vote like they're selecting someone for a JOB - as US President, in this case.
* McCain campaign manager Rick Davis
Are you offended by the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?made me Laugh Out Loud. Sarah Palin answered:
"Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance."
While I'm sure the small-brained ones (Republic Party) will clasp their hands and offer praise (ignoring Palin's incorrect punctuation, and threat of violence), those of us who studied American History in a classroom (i.e. not home-schooled) know that "Under God" was added as a knee-jerk reaction to the Commie Witch Hunts of the early 1950s, and became law on Flag Day 1954. Shocking reality: that's long after the last Founding Father was Dead And Buried. Somehow America did just fine without the religious phrase for nearly 180 years.
... sent out a memo about using there name as a generic name for air ambulance. At our place the reporters were told to use "Air Ambilance"Oy, vey.
then someone asked what an "Ambilance" was.
A third person chimed in with "So now we're complaining about spelling error's??"
It's worth noting that regressives/conservatives/Republic(an)s have been sockpuppeting for years, although they're still not very good at it. It's not their fault; it's much more difficult for someone stupid to appear smart, than vice-versa.Naturally, it's best to observe first, before jumping head-first into this (but don't observe too long; the election's only a few weeks away). Fortunately, there are millions of blogs; videos and media columns Out There, with comments enabled. Read and learn, then have some fun.
* they think homonym means "Gay Word"
One thing you have to understand about Republicans in general : they are simple people. They want easy, simple answers to life's problems and get confused whenever the answer is even mildly complex. If you try to argue with them, they'll become frustrated and angry, because they've already concluded that the simple answer is logical.
I've found it easier to talk to them if I pretend i'm talking to an 8-year old, and explain things in very simple ways. Many of them made it through school either because their rich parents asked for favors, or .. just the problem with education in general where there's significant pressure to pass students.
Haven't you noticed how few Texans can read/write without making frequent spelling and grammar errors? Their priorities are all wrong; they put more emphasis on the weekly football game, or how the cheerleader's hair looks, than education. There are exceptions, of course; those are called "Democrats".
It would be funny if it weren't so serious. Republicans vote like they're selecting a next-door neighbor. Democrats vote like they're selecting someone for a JOB - as US President, in this case.
"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul."Well, golly, I feel better already. Guess it's time to update my will, not that there will be anyone left to inherit ...
What radio station was he listening to (in his blue pickup)?I'd bet dollars-to-doughnuts that it was Ann Coulter, commanding him (and anyone else who would listen) to murder as many "Libbberals" as possible. The fact that he didn't use Coulter's designated implement - the baseball bat - is mostly irrelevant. Why he chose not to murder a security guard at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention office (a few minutes after Gwatney's assassination) remains a mystery.
Oddly, had he not threatened that security guard, he might have gotten away with the crime. That worker provided the man's vehicle description, as documented on The Arkansas Times' blog.This comes just over two weeks after another Coulter disciple, Jim David Adkisson, murdered two (and wounded seven) people at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, which was known for daring to be inclusive/tolerant - something that Coulter (and her millionaire accomplices - Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, etc) - find abhorrent.
"Ignorance can be cured through education, but there is no cure for stupid."For the past several days, I've been targeted by a thinly-veiled "auto-dialer to re-elect Pete Sessions" -- in theory, he's my US Congressman. In truth, he's just another Republic Party Moron, who only reaches out to us constituents when it's election time.
- anonymous
Two of the questions concerned nuclear energy, which Pete Sessions calls "NUCULAR" (just like his bootlicker, George Dubya Bush). One of my first insights into whether a person has an IQ above 100 is their ability to pronounce the word NUCLEAR and .. no surprise .. Sessions fails that test.I've blogged about this before, but it bears repeating: my two US senators (Hutchison and Cornyn) and my US congressman (Sessions) are all Bush-licking Republics, which means that I have no representation. All three of these clowns are there to support Big Oil and other large donors, and couldn't care less about the people who live here, except in the few weeks preceding any election where they use their franking (free mail) and auto-dialers to give the illusion that they're doing something.
| 0 | cold |
| 10 | chilly |
| 20 | comfortable |
| 30 | hot |
| 40 | damn hot |
"full-power analog (NTSC) signals cease in the USA on February 17, 2009"Stuart Smalley would want to know how that affects him and the answer is "maybe not at all". If you have existing cable or satellite service, your analog TV will be fine. If you've bought a TV in the past few years, odds are it already has a digital tuner, so that's okay. The changes coming in February only affect those of us with an analog TV that gets over-the-air [OTA] signals.
ATSC Advanced Television Systems Committeeuseful: FAQ: The $40 Coupon Digital TV Converter Boxes
CECB Coupon Eligible Converter Box
DTV Digital Television
EPG Electronic Program Guide
NTSC National Television System Committee
OTA Over The Air
PSIP Program and System Information Protocol
TVGOS TV Guide on Screen
"Oil has dropped more than $23 a barrel, or 16 percent, and gasoline prices have fallen as Americans drive less."
* the local newspaper (the "Dallas Managed News") has become little more than a repurposing of Associated Press stories, plus a hefty Religion section and right-wing pundits. They shouldn't let the door hit them in the arse.
.. on foot, they'd attack him for not using mass transit (thus pandering to the transit lobby);You get the idea.
.. in a bus, they'd attack him for trying to appease "blue collar workers";
.. in a Prius, they'd attack him for not using a Detroit-built automobile (pandering to the US auto industry);
.. in a Ford, they'd attack him for being "anti-General Motors";
.. in a GMC, they'd attack him for being "anti-Ford";
.. on a skateboard, they'd attack him for being a Liberal Elitist (conservatives can't ride skateboards)
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Dolly churned toward southern Texas on Monday, and forecasters said they expected it to grow into a hurricane before hitting land near the Mexican border later this week.Once it makes landfall, America's White Christian Preachers should immediately POUNCE, and tell everyone that the hurricane struck Texas because of its wickedness, for electing George Walker "Dubya" Bush as POTUS; Rick "Pretty Hair" Perry as Governor; Kay Bailey "Bootlicker Sr" Hutchison and John "Bootlicker Jr" Cornyn as US Senators.
16 oz. Vivanno (banana-orange-mango): 250 calories, 16 grams protein, 6 grams fiber, 2 grams fat, 1 fruit serving. (No artificial colors, artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup.)
16 oz. Banana Berry™ (Jamba Juice): 280 calories, 3 grams protein, 3 grams fiber, 1 gram fat, 2 fruit servings. For comparison, add the "whey boost" to get ~16 grams protein and 4 grams fiber.
Premium Roast Coffee. Light Cream: Milk, cream, sodium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, DATEM, sodium stearoyl lactylate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium citrate, carrageenan. CONTAINS: MILK. Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup: Water, erythritol, natural (plant source) and artificial flavors, cellulose gum, sucralose, salt, malic acid, potassium sorbate (preservative), acesulfame potassium, caramel color (with sulfites). Ice.
A new bill for your telephone number ending in xxxx is now available to view online. You can print a copy of your paper bill by selecting the link "View/Print copies of your paper bills" on the Account Manager Home Page.The email makes it sound simple enough, but it's not, since some Rocket Scientist decided the best way to annoy the customer is to shove so many choices onto the website so that most people would simply throw up their hands in disgust. They achieved their design goal, for sure.
To view your bill, log in to AT&T Account Manager and select the > View My Bill link, found under the Current Bill Summary section.
A woman died this morning after she drove off the road while fleeing during a traffic stop, Dallas police said. Lillian Volk was pulled over around 3 a.m. in the 18100 block of Preston Road and sped away in a 2003 blue Ford pickup before receiving her ticket, according to police.Coincidence? It will be interesting to see if Ms. Volk had insurance, or if this was caused by something else (warrants, blood alcohol, drugs, etc.) Sadly, she's dead so she won't be able to provide her side of the story except via autopsy, or a media reporter who's willing to do some digging.
The officer did not chase her but found her vehicle about 10 blocks away in the 17000 block of Preston Road where she had driven off the road, struck several trees and flipped over, Dallas police Senior Cpl. Kevin Janse. Ms. Volk was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Dallas County medical examiner's office. A cause of death was not immediately available.
In Texas, the market's deregulated, which means you're not stuck with the default provider (TXU @ $159). All your choice really means is (a) who you pay and (b) who feeds The Grid on your behalf. None of the infrastructure (cables, meters, repair crew) changes.My last provider's business model is: "attract new customers with a low initial price, and hope they're too oblivious/lazy to change when we raise the rate after 30 days". It's not like I wasn't warned; the contract terms said:
"The promotional month-to-month electricity rate is for new customers enrolling for the first time beginning May 1, 2008. This rate will transition to a variable rate at the end of the Promo month period. Current variable rates for service are published on our website."The good news is that their contract was month-to-month so no early termination penalty applied.
It's not often I have trouble with my DirecTV satellite service. The most common problem is when there's Weather in the southern sky, interrupting the signal. That results in temporary pixellation of the image, and when the storm passes everything's back to normal.*although there was an automatic TiVo software upgrade a few nights ago. I know this because there's a new folder: [Recently Deleted] now lets me recover stuff that I recently watched/deleted. The only documentation on this feature is a screen that says "Here you'll find a list of programs that have been deleted and may be recoverable" .. but that's it.Naturally, this error ("there is no need to call us") came at The Most Critical Part of the show, and disappeared soon thereafter. Murphy's Law strikes again.
Noteworthy-but-unrelated: as I've driven around the past few weeks, I notice that few drivers are bothering to slow down to conserve fuel. Many of them are either incapable of changing their leadfoot habits, or have the same moronic attitude I saw with snow/ice drivers here - the idea that if you drive faster, you'll get through the ordeal faster. As a rule, the larger the vehicle, the more likely it is to be going 20+ miles over the limit. Dallas remains The Place To Be if you want to speed anytime and never be pulled over - enforcement here is a joke.To be sure, even I (gasp!) have room to improve, but I'm trying. Example: my CD rack hasn't been touched in a couple years, ever since I dumped everything to the iPod. My book collection's still massive and I'm coming to grips with the concept of giving away books (to a charity such as a local Veterans Administration hospital) rather than let them languish on the shelf, never to be re-read. I no longer buy trinkets of any sort, since those are destined to be dust collectors. Yes, I take lots of photos, but carefully organize them on my home network -- without taking up more physical space (I almost never get prints - aside from samples I printed years ago so my walls wouldn't be blank).
