The Sandwich Shop

2006-09-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

A Murder Of Convenience by George Corneliussen

You may or may not hear about his story in the media in your part of the country. Even if you don't, this will no doubt be the saddest story you've heard in a long time.
Two weeks ago, Liz Carroll passed out in a public park outside of Cincinnati. When she awoke, she made a 911 call. When rescuers arrived on the scene Ms. Carroll was treated. At that time, she claimed that her three children plus her 3-year-old foster child ( Marcus Fiesel ) were with her. The rescue workers did find her three children, but they did not find her 3-year-old foster child.
Ms. Carroll made a plea for the rescue workers to find young Marcus. Within hours, a televised news conference was held at which time Ms. Carroll pleaded with viewers to help find her child. Although no traces of Marcus was found, hundreds of volunteers searched the area for days.
For two weeks the entire Cincinnati area was on alert and searching for Marcus Fiesel. Yesterday Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters held a press conference to announced what his office had discovered the truth surrounding the disappearance of Marus Fiesel. Rather than tell you what the truth about young Marcus' dissappearance was, I'll let you read excerpts from Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Sharon Coolidge's story that appeared in the paper today.__________________________________________________
"Marcus left in closet, burned " 3-year-old's foster parents accused of locking him up while they went to reunion By Sharon Coolidge / Enquirer Staff Writer (Tuesday, August 29, 2006)
Marcus Fiesel's foster parents knew all along their missing boy was dead, say Hamilton County prosecutors.
They knew, prosecutors say, because Liz and David Carroll Jr. left the 3-year-old alone for two days in a locked closet while they attended a family reunion. They knew because David Carroll later burned and hid Marcus' body.
They knew even as they cried before TV cameras, begging the community to help them find the missing boy.
Everyone was aware, everyone covered up," said Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters at a press conference, flanked by Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis and Clermont County Prosecutor Don White.
"It really is one of the most heartless things I've ever seen," Deters said. "The bottom line is you wouldn't treat a dog like this."
Leis added, "In my 35 years involved in law enforcement, this is the worst I've seen."
A Hamilton County grand jury indicted the Carrolls on Monday on charges of involuntary manslaughter and two charges of child endangering, one for putting Marcus' safety at risk, the other for excessive restraint over a prolonged period of time.
David Carroll Jr., 35, also was charged with gross abuse of a corpse, accused of burning the body in Brown County.
Deters said those charges are preliminary, meant to hold the Carrolls during the investigation.
He said more serious charges are expected.
Both are being held in the Hamilton County Justice Center
_____________________________________________________
Prosecutors say they believe the boy's body was burned in Brown County and the remains were later dumped in or near the Ohio River.
Investigators spent Monday evening searching for Marcus' remains in Brown County at a two-story stone chimney, all that's left of a home on Marriott Road that burned years ago, said the owner of the property.
" We never smelled any smoke," said Mike Cales, 37, owner of the 85-acre property. His home is on the opposite side of the property from the chimney.
But he smelled smoke late Monday as he hovered near the chimney after investigators left.
_______________________________________________________
Thousands of people searched for Marcus since Aug. 15, when Liz Carroll said she fainted in Juilfs Park in Anderson Township and Marcus wandered off.
That same day Marcus had an appointment with Women, Infants and Children, a health and nutritional program for low-income children under the age of 5.
As the days slipped by there was no sign of the little boy, who was placed in the Carrolls' care in April because Marcus was found wandering in the street the night of April 22. The Carrolls were paid $1,000 a month to care for the little boy, who was developmentally delayed and suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He had the mental capacity of a 12- to 18-month old.
Liz Carroll told The Enquirer on Aug. 21 that neither she nor her husband hurt Marcus.
As time went by, authorities grew suspicious of the Carrolls.
______________________________________________________
A break came Monday after the case went to a grand jury, Deters said.
He said investigators gathered information that showed the couple left their Union Township rental home the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 4, for Liz Carroll's family reunion in Williamstown, Ky., leaving Marcus in a small closet inside a playpen-type crib with no food or water, just an electric fan.
"They intentionally left him there," Deters said.
The Carrolls returned home at 7 a.m. Sunday to find Marcus dead, Deters said.
David Carroll Jr. then took Marcus' body to an abandoned house in Brown County and burned it, Deters said.
Four days later the Carrolls told a caseworker Marcus was ill, turning her away, Deters said. That gave them five days to cook up the tale they told in Juilfs Park.
Authorities said the hoax ultimately worked against them because they started to contradict themselves in their public statements.
_______________________________________________________
These are my words:
If we can tear ourselves away from the sensational aspects of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel's tragic death long enough to look at the big picture, we will see traces of blame in all of us.
We have dismantled just about every social obligation we have, not only as a community, but as a nation, and replaced them with window-dressing that does a lousy job, but relieves us of any guilt we might feel about what it is we no longer have the time to be bothered with..
Do we really care about protecting the innocent ? Can a murdered human being be more innocent than 3-year-old Marcus was ? Simply seeking revenge against Liz and David Carroll Jr. will be a slap in the face to the memory of young Marcus. This horrible, tragic event is an opportunity to look ourselves in the face and ask ourselves, " Whose fault is this?". I know that even though I do not personally know anyone involved in this case, I feel guilt over the fact that this has happened. The time for change has come, and young Marcus Fiesel has paid the ultimate price to provide the opportunity for it.

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2006-05-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

The People vs. The Jetsons, A Class Action Suit
George Corneliussen
Updated: 12:37 a.m. PT May 25, 2006 - Plaintown, Pennsylvania
Sam Smith, age 52, a resident of the small town of Plaintown, Pennsylvania, has filed a class action suit against the entire Jetsons family, stars of the animated televison series named after them that originally aired in 1962. In his suit, Mr. Smith names all Americans over the age of fifty as co-complaintants in the suit.
When asked what the motivation behind the class action suit was, Mr. Smith replied, " They've not only ruined my life, they've ruined the lives of countless other American men and women who believed the lies they spread through the guise of a cartoon show. They claimed they lived in the 21st Century, right ? Well, this is the 21st Century and where are all the things they promised us? Where are the robots ? Where are the flying cars ? Where are the floating sidewalks ? And most of all, where 's the life of leisure they promised all of us ? We're all working longer and harder than we've ever worked before, not less and easier the way The Jetsons claimed we would. We're all out here hanging on by our fingernails while The Jetsons are living large off forty years of cartoon royalties. It's just not fair. It's time for the entire Jetson family to pay for all the years they've been lying to us. They've ruined lives, millions of lives. If we had known life was going to turn out like this, none of us would have sat around watching the lies they spread on that TV show of theirs."
Far Fetched ? Anyone over the age of fifty remembers the days when our whole society was talking about the utopian life we would all be leading by the year 2000. Now that that the year 2000 has come and gone, the only thing we remember about 2000 is that it was the year Microsoft put out a really lousy version of Windows. But I digress.
Through the latter part of the 1950's and all through of the 1960's, our society was totally convinced that Utopia was the destination we were all headed for. I remember sitting in front of my family's black-and-white TV in the late 1950's watching all sorts of science fiction shows that showed how perfect life would be in the not-so-distant future. No one would have to worry about health , food, housing, or money ( many sci-fi shows claimed there would be no money in the future; everyting would be free ).
In 1962, I remember sitting in my sixth grade class as my teacher told us about how one day, in our lifetime, food would come in a tube like toothpaste or how a single pill would contain an entire turkey dinner. That same teacher used to tell us that by the time we grew up, there wouldn't be any regular cars; we'd all have flying cars. ( Funny what your mind decides is important when you're a kid. I remember actually worrying about having to learn how to land a flying car. What if I crashed ? Would I be in trouble ? ).
The fifties and sixties were an amazing time in the area of the mechanical sciences. Imagine what it felt like growing up watching "space movies" with spaceships, flying saucers, ray guns, spacemen, and interplanetary travel, and then one day in July of 1969 a manned spacecraft actually lands on the moon. In the fifties, a "portable televsion" was something that two men with a handtruck could move.By the early sixties there were transistor radios the size of a pack of cigarettes. It was a time that was hard not to buy into. A time when the triumph of the human spirit was being marketed with as much gusto as the "American Idol" is today.
When the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" came out in 1968, the dream was already losing quite a bit of its shine. By the time the 70's were over, it had all but been completely erased . When the 80's rolled around, all dreams of equality and leisure in the future were replaced by a " get the other guy before he gets you" mentality; and the way to do that was to work harder and build a power base. Taking time off was for losers.
The 90's saw the generation that grew up on dreams of a utopian future becoming parents and having kids of their own. These kids were raised in a world filled with dreams of Terminators, Predators, and other not-so-utopian things . Now we kids of the fifties and sixties are becoming grandparents and in so doing are finding ourselves coming full circle. We dream of a utopian world for us and our grandkids, a world filled with flying cars, and floating sidewalks, a world where the family is always together and always happy in a world that lives in peace. Funny how the circles in life tend to do that.
It does make you wonder just what would the Jetsons' family life be like in the real 21st Century, instead of the cartoon version of the 21st Century they sold us some forty-plus years ago.

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2006-05-25T03:59:00.000-07:00

Communication Breakdown ( It's always the same )

George Corneliussen

( Communication breakdown, It's always the same, I'm having a nervous breakdown, Drive me insane! - Led Zeppelin )
One of my favorite games that we played when we were kids didn't even have a name. If it did have a name, I never knew what it was. To play this game we needed at least a dozen kids, but the more kids we had the more fun the game was to play.
The rules of the game were simple. The dozen or more kids playing the game would stand in a circle facing outward with their backs to the inside of the circle ( it was important that we not be able to make eye contact in order for the game to be played correctly ). Then someone would be designated as the "first" person in the circle. That person would then tell a short story to the person on their right. These stories had to describe something someone had done and contain no more than three or four sentences. Example: "Sally went to the store to buy ice cream. She met Harry on the way. Harry started talking to her about baseball. Sally forgot all about the ice cream."
After the first person in the circle told the story to the person on their right, that person had to tell the same story to the person on their right, and so on, and so on, until the story made it all the way around the circle back to the person who started it.
The fun part of the game came when the last person in the circle told the story back to the person who started it. The story was never even close to the version of the story that started the game. By the time the story of Sally's trip to buy ice cream made it's way around the circle it would sound something like, "Sally's mom yelled at her for eating all the ice cream. Harry felt sorry for her so he took her to a baseball game. Harry tripped on the way to the baseball game and broke his leg."
At this point, everyone in the circle would laugh wildly and compare notes to try to find out how the story got so messed up. Once that was figured out, the circle would reform and a new "first" person would start a new story on its journey around the circle. No matter how many times we played this game, the story never made it all the way around the circle intact.
I don't hear much about kids playing this game anymore, or about adults reminiscing about playing it when they were kids. I think I know why that is..........................
A game ( a way of playing; pastime; amusement;diversion ) is only entertaining when it is in opposition to the norm. A game is always the most entertaining when it takes our minds to a place it doesn't normally go. Now that telling a story inaccurately is the the norm in our society, why would anyone want to entertain themselves doing it ? That would be like someone who works in an office cubicle all day pretending they were sitting in one on their days off.
If you think about why the "circle game" works, it's not hard to figure out. Once the story is set into motion, there is no reference to the source available. Each person in the circle becomes "the whole ball of wax" when it comes to interpreting and communicating the story to next person. The first time a player in the circle isn't paying attention or misunderstands what has been told them, the mutation of the story begins. Then it's only a matter of time before the mutation gets mutated.
If the players in the circle were facing each other, the game wouldn't work. The person who started the story would be following the story around the circle and immediately correcting anyone who told the story incorrectly. The story would make it around the circle accurately every time, but there wouldn't be any fun in playing the game.
Isn't that what we've become as a society ? Aren't we all constantly setting stories into motion and never following up on the accuracy with which they are retold ? Isn't this why nothing in our society means the same thing to any two people? Haven't we all turned our backs on one another when it comes to communication ?
Let's look at the "big picture" for a moment. Are there any products, goods, or services you can think of where the story one end of the circle tells matches the story the other end of the circle tells ? When you deal with a person on a "professional" level , whether it is buying something, using something, or requesting a service, do you get the impression that the person you are dealing with face to face, over the phone, or through correspondence, has the same understanding of the product, good, or service as the owner the company that provides it does ?
Are you surprised when a product offers a "100% unconditional guarantee" and a representative of the company who sold you the product tells you the guarantee is void because you've "used the product"? Are you surprised when the local utility company bills you twice for the same month's usage and when you complain, the service representative thinks you are trying to sign up as a new customer ? Are you surprised when a local elected official publishes their headquarter's phone number, but when you call the number, you are told the elected official in question does not take personal phone calls?
I contend all the things that made the "circle game" so much fun are now a part of everyday life, so we can't entertain ourselves playing the game. We stand with our backs to each other, never make eye contact, never follow up on anything we start, and never correct mistakes along the way. To be fair though, there is one major difference in the way we play the "circle game" in real life.
In real life, when the mutated story makes it all the way around the circle, instead of everyone laughing and comparing notes to see where and how the story got so messed up, the person who started the story simply retells the mutated version of the story and sends it on its journey around the circle all over again. Deja Boo-Boo all over again.
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2006-04-18T04:30:00.000-07:00

ANALOGY (from Wed. Feb. 12, 2003 )

Analogy: 1. a likeness in some ways between things that are
otherwise unlike; similarity.
2. comparison of such things.

Are you searching for a way to describe the way the current world situation makes you feel ?
Would you feel better if you could express that feeling of being where you belong, but also feeling like you are terribly out of place?
Would you like to express that frightning feeling of knowing that something is terribly wrong, but nobody seems to notice it but you ?
Would you like to describe that stomach turning feeling of wanting to get out of a situation before someone notices you, and something terrible happens to you ?
Try this for an analogy:
Remember that dream where you suddenly realize that you're at school, and you're only wearing your underwear ? That one pretty much covers all the bases.

2006-03-27T05:43:00.000-08:00

"I Met An American"
by: George Corneliussen
Originally Written 5/11/04

Last weekend we pulled into a Meijer's gas
station,it was in the lot of a Meijer's store.I
filled up,got back in our vehicle, and turned
the key.Click,dead battery!I had a plug in
battery charger with me, so I asked the folks
working at Meijer's if I could plug it in and
charge my battery enough to get our vehicle
started.
Long story short,they said no.I could buy a new
battery from the main store, but charging my
battery was out of the question. It was too much
of a potential liability.Couldn't I just go away?
At the risk of being labeled a profiler,I'll say
that everyone at the Meijer's store looked like
they were born and raised in the U.S.
Across the street was a Shell station,I walked
over.The station was managed by a middle eastern
man who gave us more help than you would
believe. Long story short,he let us charge our
battery. When the charge didn't work he drove
his car over to our vehicle and gave us a jump.
When the jump didn't work he drove us home so we
could get our checkbook and buy a new battery.
We drove our other car back so he didn't have be
bothered. All together he spent about two hours
with us. As I was hooking up our new battery I
heard my wife talking to someone; it was our new
friend he was back. He wanted to make sure we
were O.K.
Not until the new battery started our vehicle
did he shake hands one last time and leave. My
wife offered to at least pay for the gas he
burned up running us around,he refused.
Between all the things he did to help us we
talked to him about many things. He was born in
Egypt. He became an American citizen ten years
ago.He said America's system might not be
perfect, but it was the best one he had ever
lived in.He said he was worried about how his
fellow American's seemed to be freely giving up
the freedoms that made America great.He was
puzzled and bothered by the number of native
born Americans who didn't know their own
history.He made it clear how much he cared about
people.
In short, he was everything you would expect an
American to be. His name was Hany and he was
born in Egypt.
PS:I bought my new battery at Auto Zone, not
Meijer's, guess where I'm buying my gas from now
on?
Apathy: a state of mind caused by lack of
participation by that mind .

2006-02-15T06:03:00.000-08:00

Shipwreck Of The "General Grant", A Firsthand Report (1869)

George Corneliussen

If you are a fan of the television show "Lost", you will enjoy reading about the real thing.

This is the first chapter of " Shipwreck Of The General Grant ". Written by H.D. Jarvis, a survivor the shipwreck. The story was printed in Harper's New Monthly Magazine in the March, 1869 issue. An up-to-date history of the shipwreck can be viewed at http://www.maanz.wellington.net.nz/projects/gengrant.htm

Chapter 1:
On the 28th of November, 1865 the ship General Grant , Captain William H. Loughlin, sailed from Boston to Melbourne. A fine westerly breeze urged her cheerily along, and the crew, of which the narrator was one, began the voyage in good spirits. During the second night out a heavy gale struck us, and while shortening sail the third mate, Rufus S. Tyler, was lost overboard. This ill omen was followed by good weather, which took us in sixty-eight days to the Cape of Good Hope.
Bad weather vexed us thence to Melbourne, which we reached on the 13th of March, 1866.
We remained in Melbourne about eight weeks, loading for London. By one of those coincidences which sailors dread we took aboard part of a cargo that had been intended for the steamer London. This ill-fated vessel had sunk in the Bay of Biscay on her voyage out, and there were many gloomy prophecies that no freight of hers would reach London in any ship. The rats are also said to have left our vessel. Our cargo consisted cheifly of wool and hides, with about four thousand ounces of gold. We sailed on Friday the 4th of may, 1866, with sixty passengers, among whom were six women and about twenty children. The men were nearly all miners, returning home with their families and what property thay had acquired at the diggings. The crew numbered twenty-three, four officers and nineteen men.
The Auckland Isles are a group of black basaltic rocks, lying about 1500 miles southeast of Melbourne, and 199 miles south of New Zealand. They are barren and uninhabited. Whalers and sealers occasionally visit them, and have left a stock of pigs and a few crazy huts. Many vessels have been cast away there, and an abundance of wreck-wood may be found on the shores. Captain Musgrave, of the schooner Grafton, was wrecked there in 1864, and remained eighteen months. He left a substantial hut, and at his instance the Government of New Zealand put goats, sheep, and domestic fowls ashore there, and planted English elms, oaks, and ash-trees. Nothing throve but the goats. Papers were also left giving the bearing of New Zealand and other useful information; but these seem never to have been found.
For five days the General Grant made good progress with a fair wind. The Captain had originally intended running to the northward of the Aucklands; but on the seventh day a southeasterly breeze sprang up, obliging him to beat to windward.
Heavy fog closed in, and a sharp look-out was kept for land. The last observation was taken that morning. Throughout the next two days the weather was so thick that we could scarcely see the end of the jib-boom from the deck. At 10 1/2 o'clock at night of the ninth day the lookout forward cried, "Land on the port bow." This was Disappointment. When fairly clear of the land, which he supposed to be the most northerly of the Aucklands, instead of the most westerly, the wind shifted from southeast to northwest.
All danger seemed past. The yards were squared and the doomed ship put on the straight course for Cape Horn. An hour later the look-out reported, " Land dead ahead ", but after inspection with the glass the officers declared it only a fog-bank.
Not many minutes later the wind died completely away, leaving a heavy sea. At the same time dawned upon us the terrible danger we were in. The sea and the current were carrying us toward a rock-bound, precipitous coast. The main island of Auckland lay directly ahead, and every swash of the sea was pushing us toward destruction.
A breeze, through ever so slight , might save the ship and enable her to run between the two islands. All passengers were called aft, all the crew on deck. In vain was every sail set, every yard braced to meet a breath of air. The tide took us at one time so far to the south that it seemed we might go clear. Then an eddy carried us to the northward again, nearer and nearer to the overhanging rock.
The scene on deck and in the cabins struck terror to the strongest hearts. Miners were seen tying up their gold in blankets, women were wailing and children shrieking. All hands were pulling at the braces as long as a spark of hope remained.
Cruel fate urged us pitilessly on, yet so slowly that it was a relief when the end came, and that long agony of hopeless waiting ceased. As we neared the land the lead was heaved to find anchorage, but no bottom could be found.
At half past one at night the jib-boom struck the rock at the foot of a cliff many hundred feet high, and with the bowsprit was carried away. This shock caused the ship to spin around and strike her stern, carrying away the the spanker-boom and rudder , and breaking the ribs of the man at the wheel. We now found ourselves drifting helplessly into a narrow cove inclosed by precipices of unknown height. The ship's sides were striking heavily against the rock, and there were thirty fathoms of water under her. All hope was gone; yet the captain stood nobly at his post, and the crew remained subordinate.
Lanterns were held over the side and carried up the rigging. Not a foothold for a bird could be discovered. The masts were not cut away, as they could not fall clear of the deck. There was too much water for anchoring.
So we drifted on, and the cove grew narrower. Suddenly the fore-royal mast struck the rock above and came tumbling down, followed by the other spars. As the main-royal mast and top-hamper succeeded we realized the appalling fact that we were being sucked into a cave of unknown depth.
The rock above was tearing the masts out of the ship and in detached masses, breaking holes through the deck and forward houses. After losing all the fore-mast, the sump of the main-mast caught against the solid roof, and stopped farther progress. But for this circumstance the General Grant would have sunk that night and none lived to tell the story.

To Be Continued: Next week the General Grant sinks, lives are lost and the survivors find themselves LOST!

2006-02-09T12:22:00.000-08:00

There Are No Good Songs.
Sat, 18 Jan 2003 09:08:01
Even though nothing mankind has ever achieved has ever been the
result of one person, the way we are obesssed with personal
recognition says a lot about us. It tends to fall into a unique category we all help perpetuate. That is , even though we all know it takes an army of people to get an idea from one individual's head out into the world we live in, we all pretend that one person did it all.
Maybe that's because we all figure that if we do that, we'll each get a shot at being admired for something we do, or maybe it's simply because we never really grow up, and everything we do is just a complicated version of the shows we put on in the back yard when we were kids.
Recently, Paul McCartney let it be known that he would like to change the song writing credits on some Beatles songs to McCartney-Lennon, instead of the Lennon-McCartney the world recognizes.
How many people on the face of the planet have more personal
recognition than Paul McCartney ?
It doesn't bother me that he wants to make the change, but it seem that if he is going to take that route, he is opening the door to a few questions.
Does the world know Paul because of the orginal ideas he had in his head for those Beatle songs, or the records that ended up being the only version we ever heard
If the records are what became famous then everyone who effected the final result actually deserves part of the song writing credit.Between the ideas in his head and the final records there were other musicians, studio engineers, a producer ( George Martin ), promotion people, factories that made the records, and many others all of whom had an effect on the sound of the records that became famous.
Even though they all played a vital role, none of us really expect all of them to get credit for the end result. That would be way too complicated.
However, a long time ago somebody with more insight than me said it best. " There are no good songs, just good records."
By the way this e- mail is not about Paul McCartney per se.

2006-02-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

From Oct. 5, 2005

Mom Was Right Again:

I first heard this phrase from my mom. In fact, come to think
of it, she may be the only person I ever actually heard say, "
Out of everything bad comes something good".
When I read the headline, "Is the big SUV dying?" her words
rang in my ear. I know we're supposed to be all worried and
filled with a sense of doom over the rising cost of gasoline
and it's potential scarcity.
But, as I read that,
[ "sales of sport-utility vehicles took a dive in
September", and that " sales of the Ford Explorer dropped by
58% and sales of the Ford Expedition (14mpg) dropped 61%",
"Ford even stopped producing its even larger SUV,the
Excursion", "sales of GM's full-size SUVs fell 56%", "Hummer
H2 (10 mpg) sales were off 31%", "sales of Toyota's immense
Sequoia (15mpg) were off 46% ", "Honda's Pilots were off 26%",
Nissan's Armadas (13mpg) were off 20%" ], instead of wringing
my hands in a fit of worry, I found my self smiling and
humming to myself, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood".
In fact, it will be hard for me not to pump my fist in the
air the next time I get behind the wheel of my four cylinder
Volvo station wagon, and let out a Homer
Simpson-style, " Woo-Hoo !".
Using my less than perfect math skills, I figure these
numbers mean a potential drop in the number of SUVs on the
road, while I am on the road, in the 40% range. That would
mean when I park at the supermarket I would have a four in ten
shot at not having to park between two SUVs. That would
translate into a four in ten shot of being able to actually
pull out of that parking spot and being able to see any
vehicles about to crash into me ( as opposed to the Russian
Roulette method the SUVs offer).
I would have a four in ten shot of making eye contact with
the drivers headed right at me while they talk on their cell
phones in heavy traffic.
When I park in a public parking lot, I would have a four ten
shot of mysterious "dings" showing up on my car less
frequently, the kind that are usually the same height as an
SUV bumper.
Speaking of public parking lots, I would have a four in ten
chance of not having to watch SUV drivers point their keychain
remotes at their SUVs ( and hear that annoying "beep,beep"
sound ) as they lock them up so they can buy groceries, and
not have to worry about all those nasty car thieves that hang
out in supermarket parking lots in broad daylight.
That in turn would mean a four in ten chance of not ever
hearing the alarm in an SUV going off in the middle of a
parking lot for twenty or thirty minutes while no one pays any
attention to it ( other than to wish someone would actually
steal it, or throw a rock through the window ).
I could go on, but I don't want to sound like I'm gloating.
I'll just finish by saying, if gas hits $6.00 a gallon and
suddenly all the SUVs are gone, how do I act like I'm not
happier than when only 40% of them were gone ?
I mean, $6.00 a gallon for gas would be a bad thing, wouldn't
it ?
"Woo-Hoo ! "

2006-01-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

The Seducers:
Every living creature is seducible. It's only a question of what it takes to seduce them. For some, it's food; for some, it's money; for others, it's fame; for some, it's flattery; for some, it's a combination of all these.
The reason seduction is perceived to be a bad thing is because it is a generally accepted belief that those who seduce (hereafter know as The Seducers) are always up to no good.
The fragmentation in our society is a direct result of every citizen in this country allowing themselves to be seduced into believing that those they follow have their best interests at heart.
At a base level, the leaders of every movement in this country, be they conservative, liberal, independent, you name it, are basically full of crap. Their goal is to seduce as many followers as they can. I offer as proof the lack of original thought or opinion in any of these groups.
Isn't it strange how neighbors rarely know or care about the political affiliation of their other neighbors, yet they all generally get along just fine? That is until an outside "seducer" convinces them that they have problems with their fellow neighbors. Suddenly what once was a peaceful neighborhood turns into a hate factory.
The first step The Seducers take is making us believe we only thought we were all getting along, and only thought we liked each other. You will also find that The Seducers never offer proof or examples of the threat they claim your once friendly neighbors now present.
When we allow ourselves to be seduced, all sorts of bad things happen; and while we are blaming those things on the people The Seducers say we should be blaming them on, The Seducers are having one hell of a good time at our expense.

Epilogue:
A conservative Seducer, a liberal Seducer, and an independent Seducer walk into a bar. The bartender says to them, " Good evening, Gentlemen; what do you want? "The liberal Seducer says, " I want you to demand a raise. If you don't get it, I want you to quit your job."The conservative Seducer says, " I want you to fire a few people so you can lower the price of your drinks."The independent Seducer says, " I want you to demand a raise, hire more people, and lower the price of your drinks."The bartender says, " Sorry guys; I can't do any of those things, but I can get you all a drink."
The Seducers look at each other and one of them says, " The service here stinks. Let's go somewhere where they appreciate our business."
- George-

2006-01-23T11:37:00.000-08:00

To CD Or Not To CD, That Is The Question:

From : GEORGE CORNELIUSSEN
Sent : Friday, January 13, 2006 9:56 AM

America, prepare to have your day ruined:

Associated Press January 11, 2006:
"Do Burned CDs Have a Short Life Span?"
Optical discs may not be your best bet for storing digital media long term,experts says. John Blau, IDG News Service Tuesday,January 10, 2006.
Opinions vary on how to preserve data on digital storage
media,such as optical CDs and DVDs. Kurt Gerecke, a physicist
and storage expert at IBM Deutschland, has his own view: if
you want to avoid having to burn new CDs every few years , use
magnetic tape to store all your pictures,videos and songs for
a lifetime.
"Unlike pressed original CDs, burned CDs have a relatively
short life span of between two and five years, depending on
the quality of the CD," Gerecke says. " There are a few things
you can do to extend the life of a burned CD, like keeping the
disc in a cool, dark space, but not a whole lot more."
The problem is material degradation. Optical discs commonly
used for birning, such as
CD-R and CD-RW, have a recording surface consisting of a layer
of dye that can be modified by heat to store data. The
degradation process can result in the data
"shifting"on the surface and thus becoming unreadable to the
laser beam.
"many of the cheap burnable CDs available at discount stores
have a life span of around two years," Gerecke says. "Some of
the better-quality discs offer a longer life span, of a
maximum of five years."
Distinguishing high-quality burnable CDs from low-quality
discs is difficult, he says, because few vendors use life span
as a selling point.
Similar Limitations:
Hard-drive disks also have their limitations, according to
Gerecke. The problem with hard drives, he says, is not so much
the disk itself as it is the disk bearing, which has a
positioning function similar to a ball bearing. " If the hard
drive uses an inexpensive disk bearing, that bearing will wear
out faster than a more expensive one," he says. His
recommendation: a hard-drive disk with 7200 revolutions per
minute.
To overcome the preservation limitations of burnable CDs,
Gerecke suggests using magnetic tapes, which he claims, can
have a life span of 30 years to 100 years, depending on their
quality. " Even if magnetic tapes a re also subject to
degradation, they're still the superior storage media," he
says.
But he's quick to point out that no storage medium lasts
forever and, consequently, consumers and business alike need
to have a migration plan to new storage technologies.
"Companies, in particular, need to be constantly looking at
new storage technologies and have an archiving stratedgy that
allows them to automatically migrate to new technologies," he
says. " Otherwise, they're going to wind up in a dead-end. And
for those sitting on terabytes of crucial data, that could be
a colossal problem."

As someone who's been burning CDs for a long time, I'm afraid
I have to agree with the good doctor. Some of the CDs I
burned more than two years ago no longer play. I had no idea
that the CDs themselves were the problem, I always thought it
was the fact that newer CD players wouldn't play older CDs.
Recently, I passed up the chance to buy a recording studio
quality cassette tape recorder for less than $40. I felt it
was obsolete technology. I'm kickin' myself in the rear now.
-George-

2006-01-21T04:34:00.000-08:00

By Jove Holmes !
Thu, 16 Jan 2003 07:57 AM
I remember watching an old Sherlock Holmes movie years ago. At the
end of the movie when Watson asked him how he knew the suspect was
guilty Holmes said;
" Elementary my dear Watson, his silence when questioned about the
crime gave him away."
If you accidentally ( or intentionally ) erase this e-mail from
your computer and want to retrieve it at some future date there's a
good chance you can, even if you re-format your hard drive in the
meantime.
I just finished reading a story about how much information remains
on your hard drive no matter what you do to it.
The story was about these two guys who started a small business
reselling used hard drives. They bought 158 of them from eBay and
used computer stores. 129 of the hard drives still worked, of those
69 still had recoverable records on them.
The files covered everything from medical and financial records ,
to love letters and porno.
The story went on to say that none of the conventional methods of
erasing a hard drives work 100%. Even if you pay an "expert" to do
it there is no guarntee.
What was really interesting was the statement that none of this is
unknown to the manufacturers of computers, they simply never talk
about it.
Kind of makes the old "Why ?" question pop up, don't it ?
To my knowledge there are no instructions that come with any new
computer that help you clean your hard drive, or any mention of the
potential dangers that failing to do it might cause.
Why would that be ? The story I read tells of the state of
Pennsylvania selling used computers, and a local reseller retrieving
files on state employees. An Arizona pharmacy sold hard drives
containing 2,000 customer files.
Did you know that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the right
to privacy does NOT apply to items that are discarded. If you sell
or throw something away it's up for grabs.
There is software on the market that does what they call
"squeezing" your hard drive, that is it writes over the entire drive
with basically nothing. You have to find it yourself, none of the
manufacturers sell it with a new computer. Why ?
Judging from this story the nations highest security risk ( as well
as your's and mine ) is probably not the boarders of this country,
but the garbage dumps and thrift stores, and our old friend eBay.
Are ya like me ? Do you find the industry's silence on this matter
suspicious .

2006-01-19T15:21:00.000-08:00

What Do You Mean By That ?

Mon, 20 Jan 2003 7:16 AM:
Ever notice how it's getting harder and harder to understand
clearly what someone on television or the radio is saying ?
Maybe that's because we've combined too many words and lumped them
together in such a way that most of the time the person speaking is
the only one who knows exactly what they are trying to say.
What's that you say ? My message is not clear ?
O.K.,here's an example. Take the words "cheap" and "inexpensive"
to most of us they mean the same thing.Maybe they do;maybe they
don't.
The dictionary defines "cheap" as : costing little;it also
describes it as:of little value.
These two definitons could cause confusion depending on how they
were used.
(If you bought a Mercedes for $1500 it would cost little,but not
necessarily be of little value.)
The dictionary also defines the word "inexpensive" as: not
expensive,cheap,low priced.
Please note that the definition of "inexpensive" includes the word
"cheap". Ah,but which definition of the word "cheap" ?
( Now that $1500 Mercedes "might" cost little,or it "might " be of
little value.)
In that same dictionary the word "might" is referred to as : the
past tense of "may",and (hold onto your hats) "may" is referred
to as:the past tense of "might".
Head spinning yet ? Sorry I tried to make this as "clear" as
possible.
clear: 1a. not cloudy, misty, or hazy;bright;light.
Ex. a clear day. A clear sky is free of clouds.
b. bright,lustrous; shining.
c. serene; calm.
Ex. His brow grew clear as the blue sky above him(Bulwer-Lytton)
2. easy to see through; transparent.
Ex. clear glass.
3. having a pure, even color.
Ex. a clear blue.
4. easily seen, heard, or understood; not confused;
plain; distinct.
Ex. a clear voice; (Figurative.) a clear idea, a clear
text. He gave a clear account of the accident.
(SYN) evident, obvious, manifest apparent,patent.
5. free from blemishes.
Ex. Healthy babies have clear skin.
6. sure; certain.
Ex. It is clear that it is going to rain. ( Figurative.)
I am clear in my own mind that I should give up the plan.
7. not blocked or obstructed; open.
Ex. There is a clear view of the sea from the hill.
8. not touching; not being caught.
Ex. The ship was clear of the iceberg.
9. (Figurative.) free from blame or guilt; innocent.
Ex. a clear conscience. The police thought the man was a
thief, but they learned that he was clear.
10. (Figurative.) free from debts or charges.
Ex. He made a clear profit after taking money out to pay
taxes and expenses. (SYN) net.
If none of these definitons do it for you,don't worry. There are many dozens more,making "clear" clearly one of the most defined words in the dictionary.

2006-01-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

Cheerios:

From : GEORGE CORNELIUSSEN
Originally sent : Monday, May 24, 2004 9:19 AM
Next month, one of our favorite breakfast buddy's turns 63.
On June 19th 1941 the world was introduced to Cheerios. Here
are some fun facts :

* Cheerios were originally called Cheeri Oats.
* In their first year 1.8 million boxes were sold.
* They are puffed up by being shot through heat cannons.
* Each Cheerios measures 1/2 inch in diameter, and weighs
.0025 ounces.
* 1n 1945 the name was changed to Cheerios ( because of a
conflict with another oat breakfast cereal, Quaker Oats ).
* Cheerios claims to be the first ready to eat cereal.
* 1960 was the first year the "Toasted Oat Cereal" slogan was
used.
* 1979 Honey Nut Cheerios were introduced.
And now the most obscure bit of Cheeios trivia you'll find:
Cheeri Oats ( aka Cheerios ) were invented by James Evans a
graduate of Central Missouri State College. Other CMSU grads
include Dale Carnegie, and Carry Nation.
A bit of world trivia, as it relates to Cheerios:
On the same day General Mills was introducing Cherri Oats
( June 19th 1941 ) Germany and Italy expelled the United States
Embassies from their countries.

2006-01-17T11:46:00.000-08:00

Virtual Whittling Anyone ? ( from: Sat. March,15,2003 )
Ever see one of those old westerns were a couple of old coots are sitting in the general store with their feet up on a big barrel while they whittle and swap stories? Be honest, no matter how good the movie is, the characters we really envy are those guys.
How about the Internet as the general store, and our keyboards as the barrel? A friend of mine e-mailed a story to me.A story you may be aware of. I'll condense it, but it pretty much goes as follows:
"A lawyer buys a box of expensive cigars, and insures them against loss by fire. He smokes them, then submits a claim to the insurance company for $15,000. The company refuses to pay, so the lawyer takes them to court.
The judge says that since the policy does not exclude any type of fire, the insurance company must pay the lawyer.
As soon as the lawyer cashes the check, the insurance company has him arrested for arson. The judge finds him guilty, and sentences him to two years in jail and a $24,000 fine."
The story is reported to be true, and the winner of first prize in the Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.
When I first recieved the e-mail I felt great! What was not to like about this story? It united all of us in a common cause, lawyers getting whacked.
After a few days, my "too good to be true" gene got the best of me, so I typed "Criminal Lawyers Award Contest" into Google and hit search. 19 pages came up.
Some claimed the story to be true, but most said it was a new version of an old urban legend. The fun fact was that the pages that offered information on the contest required you to fill out forms with personal information before you could proceed ( I did not).
How much do you want to bet that some Internet carpetbagger realized just how strong our urge to put our feet up on the barrel and whittle was ?
We toss off personal information so freely, why not throw some around in exchange for a good "lawyer gets screwed story"?
He simply came up with a story anyone of us would sit at the general store all day for,just waiting for someone to walk in so we could tell it to them. The ironic thing is that it would probably take a lawyer to get him or herself out of the mess they got into once they filled in their personal information and went fishing for the "lawyer gets screwed story" .

2006-01-11T04:27:00.000-08:00

Laughing At The Boogie-Man :
from : Saturday, Oct. 11, 2003

Don't underestimate the power of laughter as a weapon against all things scary. Holloween is coming up. If you think about it, Halloween's main function may be as a testament to how we defeat fear with laughter.
Who hasn't had a bout with being afraid of the dark, or the boogie-man as a child? I remember, being about five or six and having to turn the light out and make a mad dash for the safety of my bed (a full six feet away), and the covers I threw over my head. Somewhere along the line I got over that fear. I guess to prove to myself that I did get over it ,to this day I chuckle when I think of how sure I was that "something" was going to get me somewhere between the light switch and the six feet to my bed.
Isn't that what we do with Halloween? To prove that the boogie-man
(boogie-person?) never was real we all have one grand old laugh-fest at Halloween.
Now, think about the new age boogie-man, that would be the world we live in. In the old days people used to sit around the campfire and tell scary stories at night. Today we have the news media, and the political world all trying to outdo each other every night with scary stories.
Ever heard the old saying, "Nothing new under the sun"? It turns out that the press and the political world have been trying to tell us scary stories since day one of the civilized world. The difference seems to be that in the past they used a healthy dose of humor to keep the scary stories from taking over.
The following quotes tell part of the story:

From Thomas Jefferson:
* Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.
* The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper
* The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.

From Ben Hecht (author/philosopher 1893-1964):
* Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell time by watching the second hand of a clock.

From G.K. Chesterson (poet/journalist 1874-1936):
* Journalism largely consists of saying, "Lord Jones is dead" to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.

From Richard Nixon (former president of the United States):
* I am not a crook.

2006-01-10T14:00:00.000-08:00

From: Wednesday, April 9, 2003
" It Ain't Over Till It's Over "
If you believe in reincarnation, there's a good chance that Yogi Berra might have been General E.R.S. Canby or General St. John R. Liddell in a past life.
Yogi's most famous quote, "It ain't over till it's over." was made during the 1973 National League play-offs, while he was the manager of the New York Mets. Maybe he was just remembering something from a long time ago.
Today is April 9th, ring a bell? Maybe something from a history class when you were a kid ? Today is the 138th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. On April 9th, 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Grant at the Appomattox court house. This brought an end to the internal fighting that tore our country apart. That's what the history books tell us anyway.
You see, in 1865 there were no cell phones or cable news networks, and news tended to travel rather slowly. Several hours after the end of the Civil War on paper, in a place called Baldwin County the last battle of the war was being fought.
General E.R.S. Canby of the North led his troops against General St. R. Liddell of the South. An estimated 3529 men died after the war offically ended.
On April 11th 1865 General Canby's regiment was returning to their base for further orders when a courier intercepted them and delivered the news that the war was over.
So did the Civil War end on April 9th 1865, or April 11th 1865 ?
When was it over ?

2006-01-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

13 Miners Trapped In West Virginia Coal Mine:

Just before dawn on Monday January 1st, an explosion trapped 13 miners in a cave-in caused by an explosion at the Sago coal mine in Tallmansville, West Virginia.As of this writing hope is slim for their survival due to high levels of carbon monoxide found in the mine.Both my wife's grandfather and my grandfather were coal miners;they were great examples of human beings.In 1994 the country group Diamond Rio recorded a song that my wife has played on and off for years. these are the lyrics to that song:

Kentucky Mine:

His eyes are greener than the meadows
His hair is greyer than a ghost
His lungs are blacker than the shadows
That dance in circles down below

You see them every Monday morning
Electric halos light their way
Five days of widows mourning
But Friday rolls the stone away

Kentucky mine, doing time
Never see the light of day
Kentucky mine, stand in line
Just to dig your own grave

From coal dust they make a living
To coal dust they will return
The earth is good but unforgiving
And someone's got to keep the fire burnin'
Daddy says, "Listen to me, Do not follow where my footsteps lead"

Kentucky mine, doing time
Never see the light of day
Kentucky mine, stand in line
Just to dig your own grave

And everything he said was true
But what's a Kentucky boy to do?

Kentucky mine, doing time
Never see the light of day
Kentucky mine, stand in line
Just to dig your own grave

My wife's grandfather was a miner in Indiana. My grandfather was a miner in Pennsylvania. They never met each other, yet they were brothers and Diamond Rio's song was written for them, even though they both died decades before it was written. I don't know any of the men trapped in the Sago mine, but they are all related to our grandfathers and Diamond Rio's song was written for them as well.

2005-12-27T05:17:00.000-08:00

Problems Are Money In The Bank:

In my lifetime, I have seen a major change in the way our society deals with domestic dissidents. The days of police and army troops clubbing striking workers (or any other troublesome group) into submission gave way to the more "sophisticated" approach of offering the leaders of dissenting groups a slice of the economic pie too large to turn down.
This approach ended disputes and added to the power base of the upper end of our movers and shakers. The problem is this approach has been used for so long that it has become "too much of a good thing " in our society.
Only a very naive person in our society today could claim not to see the "complaining for cash " system we operate under. Instead of individuals leading causes for the greater good, in most cases their goal is eventual admission to the "big boys club ".This has led to a situation in our society that encourages us to condone anything that turns a profit. Discrediting a profit turning venture is the only form of blasphemy universally recognized these days.
The by-product of this is a national attention span that is based on one thing and one thing only. people only complain until they get either money or some other form of compensation.
While this, no doubt, makes for a short-term improvement in living conditions, it does absolutely nothing to eliminate the problem that was being complained about in the first place. As a result of this cycle, problems go into hibernation; they are never eliminated. So, every decade or so, we see the exact same problems popping up and treated as if they are a big surprise.
Until we face the fact that some problems are bigger than cash or lifestlye compensation, they will never go away. If we are not willing to do that, it means that in reality we really don't care as much about the problems as we say we do. In reality, we are saving these problems to be used in the future as coupons we can redeem for cash or merchandise.

2005-12-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

Dear, (person who knows and likes another) *
Here's wishing that everyone has a
( 1. laughing and gay, full of fun )
( 2. religious and festive season before and after Christmas Day; Yule; Yuletide )
( 3. feeling as a person does when he is well and having a good time )
( 4. never having been before; now first made, thought out, known or heard of, felt, or discovered )
( 5. 12 months or 365 days; January 1 to December 31, Leap year has 366 days )

* friend
1. merry
2. Christmas
3. happy
4. new
5. year

- Season's Greetings from "Land Of Lawyers Inc. Ltd."-

2005-12-20T06:35:00.000-08:00

Manditory Apartment Life:
Forget about two or four years of manditory military service for all high school graduates. If the goal is to give these young men and women experience in the real world, teach them discipline, and help them be better citizens instead of Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines simply make it manditory for all high school graduates to live in a poorly built apartment building with fellow tenants they have nothing in common with for two or four years.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, teaches how to survive the sea of diverse humanity that we call America better than a stint in an apartment building with walls so thin you can hear your neighbor think. Nothing better teaches that no matter how many psychology or civic classes one might have had in high school, none of them prepare us for the off the chart personality types that live either upstairs, downstairs, or across the hall in the average apartment building.
We are wasting valuable time and money trying to convince high school students the value of a higher education and the need for them to participate in our political system by telling them anything in high school other than, " If you don't wise up, you're going to spend the rest of your life living downstairs from some nut in a cheesy apartment building." Those that have been there are already nodding their heads in agreement.
Only those who have heard a loud pounding on their apartment door and opened it to find the wild-eyed guy from downstairs yelling, " If you don't turn that music down, I'm going to kill you.", even though you weren't playing any music, learn how to negotiate with hostiles.
Only those who have walked out back of their apartment building to find a fellow tenant letting the air out of the tires on your car and when confronted the offender replies, " I was going to park here.", know the true meaning of applying justice in unorthodox situations.
Only those who have gone "home" for Thanksgiving only to find all their belongings gone and a street level window at the rear of the apartment pried open when they return from the holiday know how it feels to see a guy wearing a t-shirt that looks just like one you used to own about a week later.
Only those who have gone "home" for Christmas and retuned to the apartment two weeks later and opened the refrigerator to make a sandwich, and discovered that their roommate had unplugged the refrigerator when he went home for Christmas know how so little food can rot so much.
Only those who have seen a huge roach sitting in the middle of the apartment floor and tried to stomp the roach only to see it rear up on its hind legs and actually challenge you know the real meaning of the term "final stand".
Only those who have called the apartment building landlord and complained about a leaky roof, leaky faucet, cold hot water heater, noisy neighbors, bugs, lack of heat, etc. know where the term "lip service" came from.
The list goes on and on. Compared to cheesy apartment living, military service is no less sheltered a lifestyle than high school life is. At least in the military the enemy lives in a different building than you do.
Imagine how many twenty to twenty-two year olds would hit the streets chomping at the bit to make this country and the world for that matter a better place to live in, a place where no one should have to suffer through living with " the guy in the next apartment" or the " girl with all the cats", if they had to live in a cheesy, leaky, bug infested, rip-off prone apartment building for a couple of years with temants like the ones those of us that have been there had. Heck, it motivated us to get the heck out of there and never look back, didn't it ?

2005-12-10T04:48:00.000-08:00

From: Tuesday, April 8, 2003
"Oh yeah ? Then what about over here ?"
There is a strange phenomenon that revolves around the human experience. Some call it religion, some call it fate, some call it irony, the sarcastic among us call it a cosmic joke. In all cases it is usually represented by an event that challenges the intent/or motives of something we humans have done. What is truely startling about the event is the fact that it always appears to happen on its own. Although we attempt to ignore it, we never really can.
The entire world is watching the conflict in Iraq as you read this. It seems every nation on the planet has an opinion on the fight. Whether those nations are for or against the conflict they seem to agree that the human rights violations taking place in Iraq are not tolerable.
Oil, politics, and money have all been denounced as motives for the conflict. Recent discoveries seem to prove that some really nasty things have been going on in Iraq.
Diplomatic solutions are being sought in other parts of the world where violence, or the threat of violence, is a way of life. In every case the respect for human life is being presented as the reason these conflicts must be resolved. You can probably name most of the trouble spots without thinking very long.
Stopping violence in the name of respect for human life sure sounds like we humans have finally got it. Enter the aforementioned "event".
The civil war in Nairobi, Kenya is in its fifth year. last week alone almost 1,000 people were killed. After five years, the U.N. isn't even quite sure who's killing who.
It seems the attackers, and those being attacked include women, children, and men. In other words, everybody is killing everybody else. For the most part, Nairobi offers no monetary benefits to the outside world. If religion,fate,irony, or cosmic joke challenges our human motives, then the events in Nairobi are the granddaddy of them all.
Remember the U.N. only represents the world we live in; the world is actually populated by individuals. The harder the world tries to convince itself that it is made up of individual pockets of people that are not affected by any of the other pockets out there, the more situations like Nairobi will pop up.
Whether you call it religion,fate,irony, or cosmic joke it all seems to point out the fact that more often than not we do things because we have to, but say we are doing them because we want to.
The entire world should be concerned about the killing in Nairobi as it is any other place in the world. If respect for human life is the motivation to stop violence, wouldn't a place that had nothing but human life to offer the world be the place to make the world prove that its motives are pure ?

* I wrote this at 9 o'clock in the morning, two years and eight months ago. As I re-read it I realize it has a sketch-like feel to it. Until I came across my copy this morning, I had totally forgotten the fact that I wrote it. The question I find myself asking myself is "Has the world changed in the last two plus years ?"
My answer ( to myself ) is " I really don't know ". What I do know, is that senseless killings are still going on around the world. I also know that the only ones anyone seems to have an interest in stopping are the ones that would benefit them financially or security-wise.
Wouldn't it make quite a statement based in religion,fate, irony, or cosmic joke if the reason the sensless killings around the world won't stop is because the simple fact that they are wrong is not a good enough reason for the entire world to put a stop to them wherever and for whatever reason they happen ?

2005-12-06T05:28:00.000-08:00

The " Where Things Come From " File:
You can sometimes find the players unceremoniously thrown on the shelves of thrift stores ( usually upside down ), and you can sometimes find small piles of the discs the players used to play, but you hardly ever find the two together.
Considering the fact that the players cost around $700 when they first came out and the discs around $15 each ( in 1979/1980 dollars ), it's interesting to see the whole setup sell for under $20 if you happen to come across one these days.
Most of the people who will settle down tonight to watch their favorite form of entertainment on a DVD will have no idea that the grandaddy of the DVD player and the DVD disc was available for sale back in 1979 ( that's twenty-six years ago ).
The disc was called a "videodisc" and the player was called a "videodisc player". In 1979 both Magnavox and RCA had competing versions on the market. Magnavox discs wouldn't play on RCA players and vise versa.
Between them Magnavox and RCA had invested $130 million on betting that the nation was ready for the next level of home video. The Japanese chose to sit on the sidelines of the battle because they felt the public wasn't ready for videodisc technology; they were right.
While the picture quality was far superior than the average VCR at the time, the discs were limited to a 60 minute playing time. This meant movies had to be drastically edited, or shown on more than one disc.
As eager as people are for new forms of entertainment, they are more adverse to entertainment that gets interrupted. Sounds simple, but the folks at Magnavox and RCA went deep into their pockets to prove this law of human nature wrong, and they lost.
The videodisc player never did reach a high level of popularity with the public, but it did break ground in the area of disc-based video. While Magnavox and RCA launched and eventually bailed out on the technology, the rest of the industry learned from it . So when you think of old hand-cranked record players, crystal radio sets, old computers that had no graphics, be sure to add videodisc players to the list.
If you own one of these setups, hang onto it and keep telling your kids and grandkids about how one day they will be able to take it on the
"Antigue Road Show" and make a fortune.

Want to read more ?
http://cedmagic.com/selectavision.html

2005-12-02T05:09:00.000-08:00

What Is It ?
It is said to be the only purely American instrument.Supposedly, it was invented by a slave in Macon, Georgia, some time around the late 1830's or early 1840's. The first factory to produce these instruments out of metal was built in Eden,New York in 1916. Although the factory originally made other things along with this musical instrument, the instrument became so popular that it eventually replaced all the other items and became the only thing the factory produced.
The factory not only still produces these instruments, but all the metal versions of this instrument in the world are produced in this one factory
( an estimated 2,500,00 a year ). The same machines that produced the instruments in 1916 produces them today. The first major repair work ever done to the machines that produce these instruments was done in 1994 when the original 1916 "clutch pins" were replaced. A single 10 horsepower motor runs one of the machines that makes these instruments. The factory is capable of producing 12,000 of these instruments a day.
This instrument has been played by more people world-wide than any other instrument. It is the cheapest factory-made instrument on the planet. Most music stores do not sell this instrument. What is it ?

You only need one hint; that would be the name of the compnay, "The Original Kazoo Company". Yep, that's right; all the metal kazoos on the planet since 1916 come from the same factory in Eden, New York. Why no competition ?
Since the original 1916 machines still produce the kazoos and the machines paid for themselves many decades ago, no competitor can absorb the start-up costs that new machines would include and be able to sell their kazoos at a competitve price. That's right; there is a kazoo monopoly in America.

Want to read more?

http://edenkazoo.com/history.php

2005-11-29T03:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Or When ?
While not quite the household name that Time or Newsweek is, U.S. News & World Report is the name of a news magazine many of us should recognize, since it has been around since 1948. So, if I were to describe Vol. XCI No. 8 August 24, you shouldn't have too much of a problem guessing what year ( within a few years, one way or the other ) it was published, should you ? The cover story was a hot topical subject, as were most of the smaller stories the issue covered.
The cover story was titled, " Hispanics Make Their Move"; it appeared on page 60. Here are a few quotes from the article.
" Latin leaders paint a picture of a people on the move-young, agressive and hungry for their rightful share of the American dream. Pointing to a Hispanic population that has grown by more than 60 percent in the last decade to nearly 15 million-a faster increase than that of any major ethnic group-these same standard-bearers talk of a storehouse of "brown power" pent up for years and ready to break loose."
"Electing more Hispanics is a key goal, as the group is vastly underrepresented even in areas where their numbers are great. Only six Hispanics serve in Congress-all in the house."
On page 14 of Vol. XCI, No. 8, there is an article titled, " How Safe Are Our Airways ?". Here are a few quotes from that article.
" The question of whether U.S. airspace is safe has ballooned into an issue of worldwide dispute."
" Within the airline industry, passenger business was reported on the rise again as flight schedules regained a semblance of order."
" Our phone's been ringing off the hook," said Tom Matthews, board chairman of the 100,000 member Airline Passengers Association. "There are two emotions members are expressing: willingness to suffer the inconvenience of reduced flight schedules as long as they know the system is safe. Many even say, "I'd suffer more inconvenience in order to make it safe."
On page 7 of Vol. XCI, No. 8, there is an article titled, " Corruption's Price: Prison, Disgrace ". Here are a few quotes from that article.
" Prison terms imposed on three former congressmen represented the most dramatic example yet of a warning that the Justice Department is spreading to officeholders across the country: Break the law, and you will go to jail."
" Both the House speaker and the Senate majority leader in the state of Washington were sentenced to five years in jail for scheming to make money from a plan to legalize gambling. A former Louisana state offical was convicted of conspiracy in a bribery case involving a crime figure and a state insurance contact. Former Representative Charles Carney
( D-Ohio ) was indicted for allegedly buying goods on the tab of an oil company that tried to influence him."
Finally, here are just some of the headlines from other articles in Vol. XCI, No. 8:
" How Tax Dodgers Challenge IRS"
" When Presidents Go On Vacation"
" Africa's Bleak Outpost Of East-West Rivalry"
" Will Economic Woes Stir Social Turmoil In Europe ?"
" New Finds Cast Fresh Light On The Bible"
" Behind Widening Split Among OPEC Nations"
" Who Tax Cuts Will Help Most"
Even if you are a casual observer of current events, you should be able to peg the year Vol. XCI No. 8 was published. After all, these subjects are just about as fresh as yesterday's paper. But, being fair-minded, I will offer two hints:
1. It was not 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, or 2005.
2. (and it's a doozy ) Many of the people who were born in the year Vol. XCI, No. 8 was published now have children in the first grade.
That's right, do the math. Vol. XCI No. 8 of U.S. News & World Report was published on August 24, 1981, proving once again that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
PS: "How Safe Are Our Airways" covered the aftermath of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization- PATCO strike. Remember that one ?
" Corruption's Price: Prison,Disgrace" covered the Abscam scandal and other related crimes in office. Remember that one ?

2005-11-24T05:40:00.000-08:00

They Just Don't Build Protestors Like They Used To:
So, you're sick and tired of the cost of a gallon of gas these days and you're going to do something about it,something that will make people sit up and take notice of just how serious you are about the whole mess.
Hold on there Babba Louie! Before you initiate your grand plan, perhaps you better check out the competition. That would be one Herbert O'Dell Smith, aka Digger O'Dell.
From,"Time" magazine, June 25, 1979 ( Vol. 113 No.26 ,page: 26, under the heading, "Planting a Seed").

" When the gasoline began to run out and the prices to run up, Herbert O'Dell Smith,64, agreed to do his bit for the energy crisis. A professional stunt man, he had earned his nickname of "Digger O'Dell" by allowing himself to be buried alive for various ventures. He was campaigning underground for president Carter in Columbia, S.C. in 1976 when he had a heart attack that prompted his retirement.
But to dramatize the gas crunch, the Digger agreed to be buried at Mack's Mobile Homes lot on Highway 280 in Phenix City, Ala.
"I'm not coming up till gas prices come down", said Digger. Then, wearing a T shirt and pajama bottoms, he climbed into his temporary coffin (6 ft. long and 32 in. wide and high, wth a septic tank below and a viewing periscope above that doubled as a dumbwaiter for Digger's food). He was covered by 6 ft. of earth and 4 in. of concrete. Two telephones, a radio and a television, as well as the periscope connected him to the outside world. "I'm just one person, but I'm telling it like it is," he would say, "We don't have a gas shortage, we've got a gas wastage."
Unfortunately for Digger, however, gas prices kept going up and so did his blood pressure. Last week only ten days into his stint, he was ordered unearthed by his doctor. "I'm convinced the seed I planted will be cultivated," proclaimed the haggard Digger. Then he headed back to Cummung, Ga. to tend to the tomatoes on his farm."

Can you dig it?