I know where you ran last summer...

Nike+iPod raises RFID privacy concerns

Takeaway: Security expert Bruce Schneier calls the risk of tracking someone via the RFID chip in the shoe-iPod technology "very scary."

Security expert Bruce Schneier has highlighted privacy concerns around the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, a technology that lets people track time and other statistics while running.

He drew attention to a demonstration by researchers at the University of Washington of a surveillance system that automatically tracks people through the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, which consists of a wireless sensor that fits into Nike+ Air Zoom Moire sneakers and a small white receiver that plugs in to an iPod Nano.

Yup, be careful, because if someone is hiding in the bushes 60 ft away from where you run, they'll be able to track you, as long as you stay withing 60 feet of them, so I guess you could run a circle around them, that would be cool. Nevermind that if they are 60 ft away from you, they SHOULD be able to SEE you with their eyes.

Sheesh.

Wine Bottle Opener

This is a funny commercial of two chicks betting on who can get a date. The out come is obvious. www.upyourvideo.net

Ask an Iraqi

Ben Stein says...

Something not to laugh about

If they know of him at all, many folks think Ben Stein is just a quirky actor/comedian who talks in a monotone. He's also a very intelligent attorney who knows how to put ideas and words together in such a way as to sway juries and make people think clearly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?

I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.

If this is what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.

N ext confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don' t feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, i t's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too.

But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this Happen?" (regarding Katrina)

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.

And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about and we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

10 things I wish I never believed...

I agree with most of these, and it is well written. Check it out.

Just go to this site, read the short intro then click on the YouTube video. After that, you'll permanently strike the word "can't" from your vocabulary.

CAN

Calvinism

It does seem strange to me that when I initially looked at this comic, it didn't seem "funny" or abnormal to me. Doesn't everyone have a running narritive of their life going in their head all the time?
Don't you sometimes verbalize it when no one else is around? Or even sometimes when there are people around?
I think one of the signs of a truly creative and gifted individual is the ability to refer to one's self in the third person and not have it sound stupid or annoying. Not like when Trump calls himself "The Donald." Thats just dumb.

Ouch!

I stayed on my bike again. This was my second time on a mountain bike trail, the first with an actual Mountain Bike.



I never actually fell off the bike, but I did come to a rather abrupt stop a couple of times. One of them was because the tree I hit with my shoulder just would not get out of the way.

Mr. Snapper

My wife called me at work last night and said that she found a turtle in the driveway. She was wondering if you could do CPR or mouth to mouth on a turtle. When she learned it was a baby Snapping Turtle, she withdrew the question.



He escaped from his bowl, perhaps with the assistance of the cat that hates me, but was recaptured this morning after spending the night under the fridge. (We looked everywhere, even finding a GameBoy that had been lost since Christmas.)

Mr. Snapper is home in the weeds near Rush Creek now.

The Memorial Bus

The bus has been to the Pentagon. It's going to Shanksville, and on the 11th it will be at Ground Zero. Like I said in my previous post, lets not forget whats going on and why.

al

Sobering Talk On Iraq War

Sobering Talk On Iraq War
(TAMPA TRIBUNE SEPT. 7, 2006) … Richard Lardner
TAMPA - The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East said Wednesday it could take "many more months" to end the sectarian violence in Baghdad and "a matter of years" to train the Iraqi army properly.

Army Gen. John Abizaid's assessment, sobering at times and optimistic at others, came a day after President Bush declared Iraq the "central battlefield" in the war against terrorism during a speech in Washington.

In an interview with local media at MacDill Air Force Base, Abizaid said there are no speedy solutions to the religious fanaticism fueling al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

go to the article

My take is that is a well timed article to try and refocus on what's important. I know a lot of our legislators think its more important to try and get in a vote of no confidence for the SecDef, which is fine. Questioning our leadership is one of our freedoms. Let's not forgot what is going on over in the Middle East.

al

My Socks don't match today

And the really great thing about it is that I find comfort in the knowledge that if I wanted to, I could do it again tomorrow, with clean socks.

More social networking crap

While we're on the subject of social networking sites...

Last FM will dynamically track what you listen to (digitally, on your computer, iPod etc) and publish it for you. Cool.

But why? I'm not sure.

Reminds me of this idiot that took a picture of everything he ate for an entire year.

Swag Roll, revisited.

How cool is this?

my swag roll

Swagroll

This isn't a new site, its one that I have known of for some time, but just joined.

You can get ideas for stuff you want by looking at the stuff other people have posted here. Then you can reciprocate by posting your own stuff. Stuff like games, CDs, DVDs, electronics, and other things geek.

Payday lenders target young military families

Laws are needed to save them from crushing debt and, at the same time, enhance our armed forces' readiness

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.05.2006

Passing new laws to rein in payday lenders would not only save many American families from triple-digit interest rates and crushing debts but would also enhance our nation's security.

Preditors. Scumbags. I hate the signs at the car dealerships around base entrances. "We finance E1 and up." Guess what? E1's can't afford a new car payment. Especially from these guys, who's signs should read "We screw E1 and up!"

Employers A Vital Link In Guard, Reserve System

(ARIZONA DAILY STAR SEPT. 3, 2006) … Opinion - Thomas F. Hall

This Labor Day, as Americans enjoy a day off from work, our country's 1.1 million National Guard and Reserve members will reflect on being "twice the citizen": an American who not only contributes to civilian society, but also serves our nation.
No longer "weekend warriors," National Guard and Reserve members increasingly face more activity due to catastrophic natural disasters, border control and the escalating war on terrorism at home and abroad. From Afghanistan to Djibouti, from Maine to Hawaii, these Americans must leave their civilian lives to serve our country during active duty.

Click for more

Hall is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs.

Don't be silent...

This is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard about. Click the link above and read the story of a man that was not allowed to get on a plane because of the t-shirt he was wearing.

I am in the service for a reason. Part of the Sailor's Creed reads "I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and those who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the world."

I don't serve, and I certainly don't send my Sailor's into harm's way defending JetBlue's actions. We serve defending this man's right to wear whatever t-shirt he wants to. (As long is it doesn't say "I have a bomb" - cause we arrest anyone that says that at an airport.)

Sheesh.

USB BBQ

Its not the fact that this guy actually did this, its more about the comments that follow. The readers start flaming each other about "free time." Anyone else see the irony there?

Web2.0 Logo Generator

This is the Web2.0 logo I am going to use when I begin my Internet Startup. Its going to be me working when I feel like it, sporadically. Get it?

I'll be using this to generate my business plan and clutter whiteboards around my office.

Wounded Warrior Project

The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) was founded on the principle that veterans are our nation's greatest citizens. The WWP seeks to assist those men and women of our armed forces who have been severely injured during the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations around the world. Many of the injuries are traumatic amputations, gunshot wounds, burns and blast injuries that will retire these brave warriors from military service.

Paper CD Case

I guess I am not yet a true techno-geek. I don't own an iPod. There I said it. Didn't hurt at all. I only listen to one podcast anyway. Its a work-related thing, and if you are a ColdFusion developer, you have probably at least heard of it.

I just download the 45-60 minute MP3 and burn it to a CD, then listen to it in my car. Since I have an hour on the road each day to kill, at least I feel a little productive.

Now I have 18 discs in my car with no jewel case though. I found this neat little app and I thought I'd share it. It made the rounds on del.icio.us already, so if you already know about, why are you still reading?

Meebo me

I have blogged about Meebo in the past...if this works like they say it will, you should be able to see if I am online and chat with me right from this page without even so much as logging in to an IM client. Perfect for anonymous wusses that want to spout!

Net Neutrality - let your voice be heard.

Kentuckian Carl Brashear, first black Navy diver, dies

Film 'Men of Honor' based on his life
(KENTUCKY JOURNAL 26 JULY 2006)… Michael Felberbaum
RICHMOND, Va. — Carl M. Brashear, a Kentucky native and the first black U.S. Navy diver, died yesterday. He was 75.
Brashear, who was born and raised in Sonora, was the inspiration for the 2000 film "Men of Honor," in which Cuba Gooding Jr. portrayed him and starred alongside Robert De Niro.
Brashear died at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth of respiratory and heart failure, the medical center said.
Brashear retired from the Navy in 1979 after more than 30 years of service. He was the first Navy diver to be restored to full active duty as an amputee.
In 1966, Brashear was tasked with recovering a hydrogen bomb that dropped into waters off Spain when two U.S. Air Force planes collided.
During the mission, Brashear was struck below his left knee by a pipe. He was airlifted to a naval hospital and had the bottom of his left leg amputated. It was replaced with a prosthetic.
The Navy was ready to retire Brashear from active duty, but he began a grueling training program that included diving, running and calisthenics.
"Sometimes I would come back from a run, and my artificial leg would have a puddle of blood from my stump. I wouldn't go to sick bay because they would have taken me out of the program," Brashear said in 2002 when he was inducted into the Gallery of Great Black Kentuckians.
"Instead I'd go hide somewhere and soak my leg in a bucket of hot water with salt in it -- that's an old remedy I learned growing up."
After completing 600- to 1,000-foot dives while being evaluated for five weeks at the Experimental Diving Unit in Washington, D.C., Brashear became a master diver in 1970.
He faced an uphill battle when he joined the Navy in 1948 at age 17, not long after the U.S. military desegregated.
"I went to the Army office, and they weren't too friendly," Brashear said in 2002. "But the Navy recruiter was a lot nicer. Looking back, I was placed in my calling.
"Growing up on a farm in Kentucky, I always dreamed of doing something challenging. When I saw the divers for the first time, I knew it was just what I wanted."
In 1954, he was accepted and graduated from the diving program, despite daily battles with discrimination.
"Hate notes were left on my bunk. People just weren't ready for a segregated Navy; they didn't want me to make it through the program," he said.
He went on to train for advanced diving programs before his 1966 accident.
Brashear married childhood friend Junetta Wilcox in 1952, and they had four children -- Shazanta, DaWayne, Phillip and Patrick -- before their divorce in 1978. He later married Hattie R. Elam and Jeanette A. Brundage.
The family has not made funeral arrangements

Minnesota Morning

This is what early morning in Minnesota is all about.

Final Salute

In 2003, when I was selected for the rank of E7, Chief Petty Officer, in the United States Navy, part of my training included the policies and procedures of the Casualty Assistance Call Officer, or CACO.
I learned the process, the steps, the timing and some of the suggestions. Then forgot about it. Today a friend sent an article, linked above, that I think everyone should read. Not just the people that might someday have to knock on Shipmate's door like me, everyone.

Final Salute

It made me think about the people in my unit that are currently serving overseas. It made me think about people from communities all over this country that are serving all over the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But most of all, it made me think.

Get on the Registry - Marrow Donor Registry

I got this email today from the NMDP, National Marrow Donor Program. A few years back the company I worked for paid for the tissue typing test, an extra couple vials of blood during a donation and I got on the registry. A couple years later I ended up donating Marrow for a 13 year old boy that needed a transplant. If you give blood regularly, you are the kind of person that should get on the registry. If you don't give blood regularly, why not? (The tissue typing is done now with a cheek-swab, so you don't get to use that "I'm afraid of needles." excuse anymore.)

The NMDP introduces the option of joining the Registry online.

It's this easy:

Visit www.marrow.org/HELP/join_now.html.

Review donor eligibility requirements.

Complete and return the registration form to order a tissue typing kit, along with a payment of $52 to cover tissue typing costs.

Receive by mail a simple, do-it-yourself tissue testing kit. The kit includes everything needed to collect cheek cells using cotton swabs and return for tissue testing. The results of the test will be added to the Registry.

Those who prefer to join at a drive can find the location nearest them, where they'd have the option to Join in Person.

Meebo

If you are looking for a good HTML Instant Messanger Client, here it is. It's web based, so you don't have to install anything. It works with MSN, googleChat, Yahoo and other Jabber based IM systems. They add new functionality all the time. Haven't quite figured out how they ever expect to make any money though, but as long as it is free, I'll keep using it.

Wikitionary definition: WebSite

Wikitionary definition: WebSite [ 'web-sIt ]

1. Subset of the human ego native exclusively to the Internet.
2. The inexorable result of marketers managing programmers.
3. Archaic form of Blogs, from the days when only skilled developers could use valuable bandwidth to rank their favorite Star Trek episodes.

Most Dangerous, Indeed

THE FIVE MOST DANGEROUS THINGS IN THE NAVY

A Seaman saying "I learned this in boot camp..."

A Petty Officer saying "Trust me, Sir..."

An Ensign saying "Based on my experience..."

A Lieutenant Commander saying "I was just thinking..."

A Chief chuckling "Watch this shit..."

For those of you not familiar with the Navy's rank structure:
A Seaman is a very junior enlisted Sailor, fresh out of boot.
A Petty Officer is a mid-level enlisted person. Been around the block and probably the world.
An Ensign is a very junior Officer. Recent ROTC or Academy grad.
A LCDR is a mid-to-senior level Officer.
A Chief is a Senior Enlisted person, in other words, me.

Taskbar Shuffle

If you are a windows OS user and like to have the items in your task bar in a certain order, download this. It rocks.

Nerd Cave

Why They Fight

(NEW YORK POST MAY 29, 2006) … Opinion - Bob McManus
ABOARD USS KEARSARGE -- It's been 56 months since the onset of the Long War. Time for a break.
So this most modern of the Navy's warships - recently back from the Mideast and in training for a return trip - turns her bow toward New York City and Fleet Week liberty for her 1,800 sailors and Marines.
What sort of a ship is she?
"Forty-thousand tons of twisted steel and sex-appeal," says Rear Adm. Garry Hall, with a broad smile. "There's no beach beyond our reach."
It's a time-tested trope, no doubt about that, but no less true for the re-telling - certainly not the beach part. Kearsarge can put 2,000 Marines and their equipment across a contested coastline in a matter of hours and sustain them for as long as it takes to get the job done.
And there have been many jobs since 9/11. Kearsarge has ferried Marines to combat in the Mideast. Its helicopters flew combat resupply missions during the early weeks of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
There have been two additional months-long deployments to the Mideast since then, the most recent ending last September - but not before Kearsarge came under terrorist rocket attack while pierside in Aqaba, Jordan, on Aug. 19. (The ship was undamaged, but a Jordanian sentry was killed.)
Soon Kearsarge, refreshed and replenished, will return to the region - as it must for as long as it is necessary for the Navy to project power in service of American security interests.
But how is the crew holding up?
Amazingly well, says Hall, given the stress. "More than 70 percent of the youngsters [aboard ship] enlisted after 9/11," he adds proudly.
A Naval Academy graduate from upstate Buffalo, he commands the Navy's Amphibious Group Two, a 27-ship flotilla served by thousands of sailors, aircrewmen, pilots and Marines - the latter a singular group indeed.
Meet Maj. Chris Curtin of the 10th Marine Regiment, a 35-year-old out of Bridgewater, Conn., Norwich University and - most recently - the Syrian-Iraq frontier.
That on-again, off-again hotspot doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves. Once upon a time it was a sieve; al Qaeda fighters and other terrorists entered Iraq with virtual impunity and then set about their deadly tasks.
Lately the traffic has been choked down - not eliminated, but perhaps brought under control. That's a critical step in controlling the Iraqi insurgency.
For this, thank Curtin and his comrades.
Pressed for details, the major smiles wryly, a hint of amusement in his eyes, and just keeps his counsel. It wasn't his first trip to Iraq, nor is it likely to be his last - and if not Iraq, then somewhere equally as demanding, equally as dangerous.
Such is life for a major of Marines as the Long War proceeds. He has a wife and three children, but America must come first. They know it, he knows it - and that raises a fundamental question.
Why?
"I love my country," Curtin says.
That's it?
"The adventure," he adds. "And I like the people."
The twinkle leaves his eyes.
"I am part of something larger than myself. I am part of an organization that stands for something."
Indeed it does, and thank God for that.
Thank God for men like Maj. Curtin and the thousands upon thousands of young Americans now under arms - men and women equally dedicated to faithful service to America, never mind the challenge and never mind the danger.
And, of course, for all those who have fallen - and who will fall - to maintain America as an exemplar of peace and freedom in a too-often brutal, benighted world.
The sailors and Marines of Kearsarge get it.
As the ship entered New York Harbor last week, the topside chatter stopped twice: When she passed the Statue of Liberty and, again, when she rendered honors to Ground Zero, they stood proudly to parade-rest.
And then they, too, smiled.
For they, too, are part of something larger than themselves, and they know it. Good for them.

It's getting harder and harder not to raise my hand. -Al

Gaurd & Reserve Contribution

As of May 17, 2006, DoD reports that 99,487 members of the National Guard and Reserve who have been mobilized. This includes:

80,157 Army National Guard and Army Reserve
4,964 Navy Reserve
7,681 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve
6,338 Marine Corps Reserve
347 Coast Guard Reserve

Here's to the 99,140 Citizen Warriors (and 347 Citizen Coasties :) that have endured long seperations from their families, their civilian careers, and in most cases their home Country to defend Freedom around the world.

One weekend a month and two weeks a year, my ass.

Warship Built Out Of Twin Towers Wreckage

In a shipyard in New Orleans, survivors of one disaster are building a monument to another.

(London Times 22 MAY 06) Tom Baldwin
In a city still emerging from the floods of Hurricane Katrina, a ship has begun to rise from the ashes of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Bringing together America’s two great calamities of the 21st century, the USS New York is being built in New Orleans with 24 tonnes of steel taken from the collapsed World Trade Centre.
There is no shortage of scrap metal in New Orleans these days, but the girders taken from Ground Zero have been treated with a reverence usually accorded to religious relics. After a brief ceremony in 2003, about seven tonnes of steel were melted down and poured into a cast to make the bow section of the ship’s hull.

Some shipworkers say the hairs stood up on the backs of their necks the first time they touched it. Others have postponed their retirement so they can be part of the project.

One worker, Tony Quaglino, said: “I was going to go in October 2004 after 40 years here, but I put it off when I found out I could be working on New York. This is sacred and it makes me very proud.” Glen Clement, a paint superintendent, said: “Nobody passes by that bow section without knocking on it. Everybody knows what it is made from and what it’s about.”

The ship is being built by Northrop Grumman on the banks of the Mississippi. It should be ready to join the US Navy in 2007.

Later vessels in its class will include USS Arlington — named after the section of the Pentagon that was also hit by an airliner on September 11 — and USS Somerset, in memory of United Flight 93, which crashed in a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, on the same day as passengers struggled with al-Qaeda hijackers.

Mr Clement said it would be fitting if USS New York’s first mission was to capture Osama bin Laden. He said: “They hit us first, but out of a tragedy a good thing has come, in that we’re building a ship which can help take those people out.”

The $1 billion vessel is one of a new generation of amphibious assault ships capable of landing a 700-strong Marines assault force on a coastline almost anywhere without the need for a port.
Woody Oge, Northrop Grumman’s director of operations in New Orleans, was keen to play down suggestions that the ship might be used to spearhead invasions.

He pointed out that LPD vessels had been used as much for humanitarian assistance as for war. One such ship, USS Boxer, was dispatched to help to deal with the aftermath of Katrina.
Although the hurricane smashed its way through the shipyard last summer, the half-completed New York survived intact. The same cannot be said for the homes of some of its builders. About 200 are still living at the shipyard in the hastily set up “Camp Katrina.”

They include Earl Jones. More than eight months after Katrina, he does not know if his home in the Lower Ninth ward will be rebuilt. “The insurance company won’t even talk to us,” he said. “We’re having to hire lawyers to chase ’em. I don’t like this, but I don’t want to be out of work.”
Mr Jones’s wife was evacuated to Baton Rouge and is seriously ill with breast cancer and pneumonia. He said: “She ain’t handling very well me being away all the time.”

Katrina and 9/11 are two disasters that continue to produce very different responses from America. Mr Jones does not want his old home enshrined in a $1 billion fighting machine, but a small cheque from the insurance firm might help.

Force of liberty

*USS New York, USS Arlington and USS Somerset will be part of a nine-vessel fleet of new amphibious transport ships
*Length: 208.5m (684ft) — more than twice as long as the Statue of Liberty
*Beam: 31.9m (105ft); weight: 24,900 tonnes; speed: 22 knots
*Equipment: helicopters, landing craft, amphibious vehicles, missile launchers
*Crew: more than 1,000, comprising 361 ship’s company plus 699 marines.

Tommy's Grand Idea

My bud Tom has a great idea I'd like to share. I personally dig it because I actually don't have a boatload of friends and the ones I do have are pretty cheap anyway. I could probably get in and out of Target for under $100.

Blonde Joke

There is nothing better than a good blonde joke - wow, nice straight-man lead in for a really, REALLY good joke there huh?

Apparently the best blonde jokes are lifted right from the diaries of blondes themselves. This showed up in my inbox today.

Dear Diary,

Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with that
expensive double-pane energy efficient kind, but this week, I
got a call from the contractor who installed them. He was complaining that
the work had been completed a whole year ago and I hadn't paid for them.

Hellloooo, just because I'm blonde doesn't mean that I am
automatically stupid. So, I told him just what his fast talking
sales guy had told ME last year,.....namely, that in ONE YEAR these windows
would pay for themselves!

Helllooooo? It's been a year! (I told him.)
There was only silence at the other end of the line, so I
finally just hung up.... He didn't call back.
Guess I won that stupid argument.

*silence again*

In the Eye of the Beholder

I love this article. Thanks Duff, for passing it along.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day Moms.

THE MOMMY TEST
I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that.
"Why?" my daughter asked.
"Because it's been laying outside, you don't know where it's been, it's dirty and probably has germs" I replied.
At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, "Wow! How do you know all this stuff?"
"Uh," ..I was thinking quickly, "All moms know this stuff. It's on the Mommy Test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Mommy."
We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information. "OH...I get it!" she beamed, "So if you don't pass the test you have to be the daddy."
"Exactly" I replied back with a big smile on my face and joy in my heart.


And as a Dad, I must say that this is entirely true. There's no way I could pass that test.

USA Today Question & Answers

Apparently nothing needs to be kept secret anymore. Here it is, the full gouge on the what the NSA is doing with your phone number.

*yawn*

Anger grows over Bush surveillance report

You don't own your phone number

The phone company has not violated anyone's privacy. When you make a phone call, you don't own the number or the technology that takes your voice to the other end. You have the expectation of privacy as to what you actually say, as long as you aren't saying it to someone in another country with established ties to terrorism. There should be no expectation of privacy as to the number you called, the number that called you or how long and on what date that conversation occurred. All of that data belongs to the telephone company and they can do what they want with it.
All of you people that insist on diluting the power of the intelligence community, forcing them to make public all of the secret methods by which they PROTECT you, day in and day out, should be ashamed of yourselves. When the day comes, and it will if we continue on this track, when America is attacked again, the blood of the innocents will be on your hands. When you ask YOUR Government why they did nothing to prevent it...when you demand answers as to why WE didn't see this coming, why didn't WE have the intelligence to stop this horrible atrocity, guess what we are going to say? Because YOU crippled us. You took away our eyes, our ears and our INTELLIGENCE. You killed those people.

Really long URL, with a useless service!

The award for the longest URL leading to the least useful website goes to:




If you too would like to waste your time on yet another "make your own thingy"... thingy make one of these super duper fun comics GO HERE NOW!!!1111 NOWWW!!!11111 OMFG DU IT

Jay Barnes

The title of this guy's site is Jay Barnes...has a website. Some pretty funny stuff, and he is the creator of RockPaperSaddam!, which you really want to check out, according to Jay.

JibJab.com

JibJab.com