PSoTD

A proclamation by Time, 40 years ago:

Brrrr.

I wonder how many other state legislators around the country have a Flickr account, like it appears Pennsylvania's Senator Eichelberger does...

Just saw this.

A Harrisburg-based homebuilder must correct erosion and sedimentation violations at a Hampden Township development site that resulted in pollution in Conodoguinet Creek.

The McNaughton Company must also pay a civil penalty of $46,733 under a settlement agreement reached recently with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Under the agreement, McNaughton must correct violations reported at Good Hope Farms South in Hampden and The Woods and Faire Wynd sites in Newberry and Dover townships, York County.

I wonder if the local zoning and permitting authorities for respective townships and boroughs followed this.

Rachel Diamond is southcentral regional director for DEP. She said McNaughton Homes obtained national pollutant discharge elimination system permits for earth disturbance activities at all three sites.

“Despite repeated attempts by the respective conservation districts and the department, the company failed to comply with the terms of those permits,” Diamond said.

Multiple inspections between November 2003 and November 2006 by the conservation districts revealed that McNaughton Homes failed to implement and maintain erosion and sedimentation control best management practices.

This looks fun, coming up in a few weeks.

One of my hopes about the Internet is that the power of "the endorsement" in politics has been hastened in its decline, and if that's the case, I say thanks. Voting for a candidate because another politician that you vote for likes that other candidate makes absolutely no sense to me. Endorsements at the political level work like chits and trades and futures, just because one politician benefits somehow from making a deal doesn't mean that you, as a supporter of that politician, will benefit. There's a reason for the saying that politics makes strange bedfellows, and a little research on the Internet is all it takes to cast doubts on whether following an endorsement would lead to jumping in the sack with the wrong one.

Now, sure, perhaps LA's mayor can make a case that he is leveraging his support for Hillary Clinton in order to get greater gains for Los Angeles if Hillary is elected. But that's the great unspoken, the great unknown - and you as a voter will not know if this is the case on election day. And even if such a deal is made, that doesn't mean it will happen - political history is full of people who feel they were screwed on their political deals AFTER an election.

On the other hand, what if Bill Richardson were to be elected! Is LA a screwed city? Probably not, but not first in line for the perks of power, either. Clearly the Mayor is willing to take the chance, but just as clearly, the voters get no say in the matter of giving an endorsement.

When the pre-teens and the teenagers become overwhelmed with their end-of-school excitement, and a small percentage end up committing petty crimes. A couple of years ago our development had a few days of car break-ins - unlocked cars, mind you - and CDs, some electronics, and other items were stolen. We live in a relatively low-crime area, but frankly, I'm not sure there's anywhere outdoors that you should leave you car unlocked at night anymore. We learned our lesson that summer as well.

I wish they had their own website, but since they don't, I'll link elsewhere, but regardless, for those around Mechanicsburg...

The Wing Company has kick-ass wings, a couple dozen flavors, and are really, really, really delicious. Can you tell I like them? Can you?

When you talk to Republicans, about the only candidate for the 2008 Presidential election that brings that optimistic tone to their voice is Fred Thompson. Why? He seems to have some gravitas, at least compared to the other candidates from his party, and he's well-spoken, maybe he's Reaganesque inasmuch as he can deliver a well-written line professionally and effectively.

But the biggest allure, I think, is that he is a relatively unknown quantity compared to the others that are currently running. Republicans don't know what they might dislike about his platforms or his history or his personality. And Thompson seems to want to continue this as long as possible before he declares his candidacy. His camp is waiting until the Republican thirst for SOMEBODY ELSE is so great that he can step into the void and immediately be a frontrunner - if not THE frontrunner.

The desperation of the Republicans for a viable candidate in an election year when their party may be as despised by more voters than ever is palpable. However, I'm sure the candidates themselves are not willing to play patsy to this. McCain, and to a lesser extent, Giuliani, are likely going to be willing to fight inside, and not rely on jabbing Thompson from a distance after he announces.

I think a lot of Republicans suspect that if Thompson enters the race, it'll be a lot like the Bush coronation of 2000 and the other candidates will fall away. My suspicion is it will be a lot more like 1996 for the Republicans, and there's going to be a very bitter, ugly, and recrimination-filled year of primary politics ahead for them. For that reason, I also suspect that Newt Gingrich is going to stay out of next year's race, because whoever is in is going to be very tarnished and not receive the royal campaign treatment likely to be given the agreed-upon candidate of the Republicans in 2012.

From time to time I join my wife in watching "Iron Chef". My recommendation - start having secret ingredients that are staples of everyday cooking. Hamburger. Tuna. Leftover spaghetti. Seriously - how about the special ingredient being leftovers.

There actually is such a group, and they just had their conference, and quite impressively they have some of the conference details online. The reports from the conference are worth a look:

Tuesday morning's Organization of News Ombudsman session entitled, "Biting the hand that feeds you" featured panelists: Joann Byrd, member of the Pulitzer Board, former ombudsman at the Washington Post Richard Chacon,former public editor of the Boston Globe who now works for the governor of Massachusetts. The session was moderated by Manning Pynn, public editor at the Orlando Sentinel.

...

Pynn: Did you ever hesitate to criticize something due to the ongoing criticism?

...

Pynn: at a time when newspapers are shrinking is it prudent to take a chunk out of that hand?

Byrd: Newspapers that has an ombuds, ought to be willing to take whatever they get. the washington post plan is a fixed term. I didn't get any guidance from anyone and I wrote a lot of really stupid columns. i should have hired myself an editor outside my building. A luxury of having that level of independence.

A newspaper needs to have an ombuds that is as close as you can get to independent. Readers need to feel that it is a credible voice and that they can be heard and that there's someone in the corner paying attention. Readers are supposed to be the beneficiaries of this.. That means you have to bite that hand. I hope no one will lose their job for doing their job, which is to find flaws in the newspaper's coverage.

I just can't see any significant reason why states should be in the business of liquor retail sales.

While I'm still at it, enjoy some of these fine posts:

Long-term drug treatment slows down the decline in lung function that occurs in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), researchers reported here at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference (ATS).

The Towards a Revolution in COPD Health (TORCH) study, which followed 6,112 patients with COPD from 42 countries for 3 years, found that patients receiving salmeterol/fluticasone propionate had a smaller decrease in lung volume compared with patients receiving a placebo (30 vs 55 mL per year, respectively).

I should just expect this. Almost every time we hold a party during the summer - one in which we expect a lot of kids, and that they will be playing outside - we get a less than sunny forecast for the day of the party. It's 9:45 AM and I still don't have a clue of what kind of weather to expect for 4 PM, because the weather service has gone from SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS to SUNNY ALL DAY to SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS in the course of 12 hours. We'll see in six hours.

And now, for your entertainment pleasure:

A "human resources company" commissioned a study that seems to me to be a corporate shot over the bow to employed bloggers:

More than a third of UK bloggers risk the sack by posting derogatory or damaging details about their workplace, boss or colleagues, a survey claims.

Human resources company Croner, which commissioned the study, warned that such bloggers could be sacked from their job for gross misconduct.

Croner surveyed 2,000 people who keep a personal internet blog or diary and 39% said that they made harmful comments.

Bloggers should consider the potential impact of all postings, Croner said.

Believe that? I am very skeptical. On the other hand, if such comments are helpful to the public in general even if harmful to the employer, is that a bad thing to allow?

Weird. There's a lot more "killer bee" activity in this country than I realized, living here in Central Pennsylvania.

"Killer Bees" strike again in Altus, OK

Osceola County Warns People To Avoid Bee-Infested Home

Bee fears leaves Alta Vista students buzzing -- indoors

Africanized 'killer' bees kill three dogs in Southern California

At least the hysteria has cut down.

To recap:

News: Dean Hancock, father of the late Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock, files suit claiming a restaurant — owned by Cardinals broadcaster Mike Shannon — provided drinks to his son even though he was intoxicated prior to the crash that killed him.

The suit also lists as defendants Eddie's Towing, the company whose flatbed tow truck was struck by Hancock's SUV, tow truck driver Jacob Hargrove and Justin Tolar, the driver whose stalled car on Interstate 64 was being assisted by Hargrove.

Views: This is misplaced grief or twisted logic or denial run amok or uncontrolled anger — take your pick.

Perhaps there's a bit more to this. Is it possible it's related to the insurance wranglings that are going on with the estate of Cory Lidle? It was a different circumstance, but perhaps the position of the insurance company in the Lidle case:

The board's inability to say who was in control of the plane could affect the Lidle family's lawsuit to collect more than $1 million in accidental death benefits from Major League Baseball, which bars paying more than $450,000 in insurance if a player is not just a passenger.

has convinced Hancock's father (or his attorney, or both) to provide a show of force of the lawsuit variety, regardless of how scattered, as he deals with MLB about whatever benefits Hancock's family might receive.

Rachel Carson...

The Rachel Carson Birthday Celebration and Sustainable Feast will observe the centennial of the activist-author's birth Sunday in Springdale.

Fiona Fisher, coordinator of the homestead where Carson grew up, says the event will play host to 30 eco-friendly vendors, conservation and environmental organizations and a farmers market. Also, area chefs will showcase local sustainable agriculture.

Carson (1907-64) was the author of several books, including "Silent Spring," a look at the dangers of pesticide use in farming.

The celebration also will include the staging of a one-woman play about Carson, "A Sense of Wonder." Fisher warns that the play, featuring actress Kaiulani Lee, is aimed at those older than 16 as it deals with the last years of Carson's life, when she was dying of cancer.

From Gettysburg...

How do Republican babies get born? I understand how Republican embryos are made - Republican dicks claim they'll withdraw in time, but don't. Oh, and no contraception, so whammo blammo, pregnancy. On the other hand, how can Republican babies be born if it's always six months more before we see results?

A man, intoxicated over the legal limit for driving, and talking on the phone, slams his car into a tow truck, killing himself. Who do you think gets sued?

Does Memorial Day provide any kind of spike in sales of music? Do any of these albums have a slight bump in late May because of the holiday?

When I was a kid living in Indiana - Indianapolis and Muncie - we went to Speedway a couple of times. I was perhaps 6 and 7, and I remember it being very hot, dusty, with uncomfortable benches to sit on and VERY LOUD with the race cars practicing. I don't remember if it was time trials or just practices that my Dad took me to, but I do remember not really caring for it.

But it was a tradition to listen, and then to watch, the 500 on television in our family. It didn't matter if we were at home or at a family get-together, the 500 was on. Back then it was Foyt and the Unsers and Parnelli Jones and the like. We never called it the Indianapolis 500 - everyone knew where it was, of course. It was the Five-Hundred, period.

I don't really watch much of the races anymore, although last year I started watching it and my wife and kids found last year's race very exciting and actually sat and watched it with me. And they marveled how great it was to watch. I didn't tell them that last year was the exception to the rule - it was the first time there had ever been a last lap pass for victory. Don't want to spoil it for them.

Anyways, I'll end this with some links to other fans that are blogging about "the 500". Enjoy.

Jim's Garage: observations
Mount Blogmore: Gentlemen, Start Your Corn
Keith Burgess-Jackson: Twenty Years Ago
Monticello: Damnit, Man!
Inside Track: RACELINE RADIO: Erik Tomas's 'Tomas Tales'
The Sports Oasis: Why You Should Want A Woman To Win The Indy 500
Dazed and Confuzed from Here: The Greatest Spectacle in Racing

give this post by Dizzy a chance.

Ratings going down.

At least 29.5 million "American Idol" fans watched the finale of the hit talent show as 17-year-old Jordin Sparks was crowned the youngest winner yet in the program's history, preliminary numbers showed on Thursday.

The tally for Wednesday night's show was nearly 7 million fewer than the number of viewers who saw gray-haired soul crooner Taylor Hicks win the Fox network's prime-time amateur singing contest last year, Nielsen Media Research said.

We let our daughter watch the finale, she got hooked on the show this year. I caught several parts, and here's the reason I think the finale ratings are dropping - that show sucks. The result of all that sucking is an incredibly bloated two hour "program", equal parts "America's Funniest Home Videos" and musical numbers with the passion and fury of the "Brady Bunch Variety Hour".

It's horrible.

According to a Booz Allen Hamilton study. Anyone believe that?

Something to make you feel a bit better...

Are they serious? Did the Democrats cave because they were afraid they'd be lambasted while on vacation?

I'm sorry, but then DON'T TAKE A FUCKING VACATION.

The biggest loser in the Iraq concessions, besides the American people and the military? Harry Reid. A few bits by bloggers:

From Capitoilette:

Rather than building on a strategy that has unified most Democrats and allied Congress with the sentiments of three-quarters of American voters, while effectively driving a wedge between Republicans and those same voters, rather than ratcheting up the pressure that effectively planted a ticking time-bomb within the Republican caucus, causing those members that hope for a political future to privately, or sometimes openly, question their dead-ender president, rather than blaze a new way forward while just maybe saving a few lives in Iraq as well, Democrats, in their infinite wisdom, have chosen the comfort of concession, the tough talk without the tough action, the tried and true road back to mediocrity and minority.

The Huffington Post:

What this sad spectacle teaches us, I think, is that the Democrats, in their pathetic excuse for strategizing, have replicated one of the basic flaws of the Bush regime, documented in Thomas Ricks' essential history of the Iraq war, Fiasco: the insistence on basing strategic decisions on best-case scenarios, and discarding (or refusing even to consider) worst-case scenarios.

Drinking Liberally, Oakland:

To: Sen. Harry Reid

May 23, 2007

I am embarrassed to have supported you, Sir. You and other Democrats have rolled over and allowed George Bush to get exactly what he wanted: all the cash for the War-Based-on-Lies with no accountability at all.

Jeff's blog:

Harry Reid, Senate Majority leader, surrenders to President Bush’s claim that witholding funding for American troops in Iraq.

And there's a lot more. People are not happy with the Congressional Democrats, and that's going to translate to unhappiness to leadership and specifically Harry Reid. How long until the "replace Harry Reid" voices gain traction in the news media?

Time to play this game again. Here's a link to the "Top 100 Songs of 1967", whatever that means. List your favorite five in comments. Hard to believe it's been 40 years...

I do have a story about the spring on Orrs Bridge Road that is a common place for drivers to stop at to wash their windshields off and wet their feet.

Last Sunday, as I was driving my daughter back from softball tournament team tryouts, we passed the spring and I saw a man taking photos of a rather scantily clad woman dressed in some sort of animal - maybe leopard - pattern outfit. She was posing - you know the cheesecake kinds of poses - and they did catch my attention but I then forgot about it. My daughter didn't notice at all.

Later on my wife and daughter took a bike ride, and they went past the spring as well, and the photo session was still going on. My wife and daughter passed them and continued on. But later, when they returned, the couple weren't at the spring, but in the trees and high weeds a little further off the road, and my wife noticed the woman quickly putting on a top - apparently she was naked, at least halfway. My wife didn't say anything to our daughter, and the assumption was that our daughter didn't see anything.

A couple of days later, though, our daughter declared "You know that woman we saw wearing the spotted outfit? She was in the wood when we were coming back, and she was naked!"

Of course our six year old picked up on that. "She was naked? In the woods? NAKED?!?!?!?! Why was she naked??"

I'm glad I didn't get the job of explaining photo exhibitionism to our kids. Yet.

If you're looking for something to do this weekend...

There's a spring fountain located on Orrs Bridge Road in Hampden Township. Made out of stone, and it looks... quite old. Is there a story about it? Lots of people stop at it every day to get water, I assume to clean their windshields or... I don't know. But when was it built? There's a very good amount of water runs out of it, so I can see it as being necessary to keep Orrs Bridge from flooding or freezing. A photo below - if you have a story about it, please post in comments.

Is that it is a slippery slope argument, and eventually you'll get people arguing for this - which is essentially permanent incarceration...

Again, most of the arguments here are hilariously irrational. The bottom line is that only MY argument can be construed as rational, law-abiding, and constitutionally acceptable.

Vigilante action is illegal, yet most people have those reactions that border on rage when they find out someone is a sex offender. Recidivism is documented to be very high for sex offenders. It BEGS for an extra-constitutional solution.

The sex offender colony would satisfy several problems.

1. No need for “buffer zones” or “residency restrictions”, since, by constitutional edict, ALL registered sex offenders would have to live in the colonies. No worry about tape measures or GPS measurements to determine legal or illegal residency.

2. By constitutional edict, computer access is SEVERELY restricted, so sex offenders can ONLY access sites approved by administration. In addition, all file storage is actually done at a server farm–in essence, the sex offender would actually be remote-accessing the computer, with his local computer only providing the gateway to the server, so he wouldn’t be able to save files on removable disks. In addition, every keystroke, website visited, etc., would be recorded for potential investigation. The server would also heavily restrict which sites the offender could visit. (This wouldn’t be cheap, either. It would probably cost the offender about $125 a month for this type of service).

3. It would actually be easier for offenders to get a job (which would be required, incidentally, other than for physical or mental exceptions). Since there is no danger in offenders being exposed to kids, they can pretty much do anything within the zone.

Bottom line: Constitutionally-mandated sex offender colonies are the ONLY solution that will EVER be acceptable by citizens. End of line.

And local governments, when looking at providing location limitations for domicile and employment of these people, need to realize where they are heading.

This seems like a redesign that made it considerably less easy to use to me. I'm not seeing any real new features or compelling information, and they somewhat buried the main component, blog post search... I don't see this ending up as a good move...

This seems like a pretty reasonable article about the tension in the workplace between employees who are parents and employees who are not parents, and potential perks provided to the parental class.

This sentence provides an opening for consideration, however:

But when you ask another group of dedicated employees -- those without kids -- for their take, you often get a different perspective. There is growing resentment in cubicles everywhere from workers without children who are fed up with what they perceive to be too much coddling of their parenting peers.

Parents need the help of society, and the childless should recognize that parents deserve some "perks" for parenting as part of that help. After all, it will be somebody's child that will be our doctor, that will be our policeman, that will be our mortician. Those parents do the job of raising their kids for no financial benefit - so cut them some slack, because eventually we all benefit from generations of kids raised well.

Should Bush be impeached? Yeah, I know it's unscientific, but so is the decision not to investigate impeachment.

The musical is playing all over the country. Is it a resurgence of the show? I don't know, but I'm interested in seeing the Philadelphia production.

Just curious as to search results and ads generated by Google. So, hello Burger King!

ARMORED SAINT/ex-ANTHRAX singer John Bush recently did some voicover work for Burger King...

Many company websites, viral or otherwise, feature some sort of advergame and Burger King recently took the concept to the next level by launching a successful campaign with three advergame-type titles of their own for Xbox/Xbox 360.

At least 25 new Burger King fast food restaurants will be built in Poland in the next five years.

Investigators are looking for what started a fire that damaged a Burger King in southeast Wichita.

At virtual world Neopets, for example, kids feed their virtual pet ice cream, jellies, and baked goods. And on MySpace, Burger King's mascot has 150,000 "friends."

I want to use this "article" as an example of what I define as "symbiotic dipshittery". This article serves no purpose other than to begin the casting of aspersions on someone who is carrying a message, in this case, about poverty. There's no effort in the article to try to determine anything other than a premise to attack Edwards for taking speaking fees. It will be followed by other articles, by published pundits and right wing bloggers, basically adding to the attack premise and adding other questions to attack. Eventually, public officials will be asked to weigh in on this, which they will gladly do because it isn't an issue that will be remembered as substantive, so there's little risk to them in making a comment, and for many it gives them a much-wanted opportunity to further attack Edwards and/or the message. The "journalists" then get their story, which basically is writing down what other "journalists" and public officials said, and the public officals and other "journalists" get their names publicized with little risk to themselves, and yet, in the whole of it, there's likely more money spent in continuing this symbiotic dipshittery than the original amount complained about in the first article. And so, America pays in two ways:

The news media and public officials squander the opportunity to discuss something of value meanwhile using valuable newsprint and airwaves to feed this symbiotic relationship; and

The original message - Edwards' speech, and an effort to actually talk about something - is buried by the fecal news droppings of these symbiotic organisms and their appetite to talk about nothing.

Curious story about $8000 worth of stamps bought in Camp Hill.

When reading about it, I couldn't help but also think of the Virginia Tech story, and reaction by gun advocates that students should be able to carry guns on campus and that if they could the Virginia Tech story might have been less violent:

The injured civilian was identified Monday by his mother as Pete Husmann, 20, a senior UI mechanical engineering student from Coeur d'Alene.

She said he was shot three times as he rushed from his apartment with a pistol to render aid after hearing the gunshots. He was in serious but stable condition and was to undergo another surgery Monday, she said.

Here's a civilian who didn't have to get involved in this crime. We haven't heard that his actions prevented further criminal action. But he grabbed his gun and went out into the fray, and he did get shot, several times, with severe injuries. So was this helping?

Because it's morally wrong for them.

Yeah, Technorati has been pretty awful in the availability department lately.

Caving in will hurt your chances in 2008. Demand accountability.

First of all, this says considerably more about UC Davis than it does about John Edwards. After all, the real issue should be on how whoever has the money spends it - after all, that is what drives earnings. Paying $31 per person for a political speaker seems like overpaying to me as well, but that's the choice of UC Davis.

More importantly, it's becoming clear that a lot of people - just read the comments on this article - are hiding behind petty attacks on the messenger because they don't want to hear the message. These people says it doesn't matter what Edwards says about poverty because he's wealthy. But for them, it really doesn't matter what Edwards says about poverty because they just don't care about poverty. But they do care about wealth.

I find myself becoming more sentimental about certain things as I get older, and especially in the past year since my Dad passed away. These coffee mugs are a good example...

In 2001, when my Mom was dying, I packed these away in a box and held on to them, and I didn't open the box until last week. I had forgotten I had saved these, and the memories rushed back of drinking chicken noodle soup and hot chocolate and so many other hot drinks out of these mugs. They're very heavy, so hard to tip over, so my parents early on designated them as the "kids mugs". They're probably close to my age or older, made in Japan, and I wish I knew the story of how my parents got them, but they're both gone and there's really nobody to ask now.

But they're now my treasures, and I keep them in public sight in the kitchen - they just mean home to me in some way. Very sentimental, I know... and that's the way it is.

So... do you think you're sentimental, or not?

that you're getting old:

When you buy a CD titled "The Number #1 Hits of _____________" (any decade of your choice).

The White House today responded to President Jimmy Carter calling the Bush administration "the worst in history" saying that the former President is becoming "increasingly irrelevant."

I'm not sure there's a precedent for calling former Presidents "irrelevant" but Bush is certainly not the guy to be doing it. His monumental irrelevancy starts the day he leaves office. Who is going to want to be seen with him? Remember how lonely Nixon was after he left office? Bush will be repeating the experience - sure, we won't be seeing photos of him walking forlornly on the beach, but he will be alone. Republicans will hide from him. Democrats will have no interest at all except investigation of him. The only people in government he may be speaking with after 2008 might be from the judicial branch, depending on what all is discovered about his activities, and the unfortunate Secret Service folks that are assigned to his Crawford hiding spot.

According to blogs:

Webcams in daycares

The German mission in Afghanistan

Bush

Geriatrics

The Musharaf Government

Ray Nagin

Gordon Brown

The internationally recognized government of Somalia

Régis Debray

The Iraq War

Dandelions

Ernie Fletcher

E-Check Emissions Tests in Ohio

Neko Case:

Posts that contain "impeach Cheney" per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

Posts that contain "impeach Bush" per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

Reggie Theus would be a popular hometown choice to coach the Sacramento Kings.

so Trump quits.

I wish there were some study to determine why the ratings disappeared on The Apprentice. Is it because people can't watch subservience for long? Is it a lack of appreciation of the gigantic ego of Donald Trump? Or is it because Americans don't enjoy watching smarmy people tripping all over themselves to make some money?

I think there's something to be said for people that say that Bush may have committed impeachable offenses but it's too late to impeach him: They're quitting on America.

This is setting a precedent: that a President can do just about anything in their last 20 months and have no repercussions. That's unacceptable.

It's also unacceptable to think that there are more pressing political problems in America than the one we face with Bush: that absolute power has corrupted, absolutely, the rule of law. If Bush has broken the laws to a degree where it is impeachable, it should be done. If there's a reasonable question whether he has done so, it should be investigated.

We should not be giving up on impeachment simply because Republicans abused the process many years ago.

And, for those who don't believe the Republicans abused it during the Clinton years, if it was acceptable to do then, it's acceptable to investigate for impeachment now. Anyone who uses the "post 9/11 world" excuse for not investigating possible crimes of a President against America are acting out of fear and not patriotism.

Impeachment isn't just about punishment of an offender - it's about setting the standards of acceptable behavior for government officials. The impeachment question is about those standards - and should only be about those standards. People who argue that we shouldn't be considering impeachment because of the calendar are cowardly at the least.

For posting this list of 2007 Summer Festivals. VERY useful.

What are the investigation capabilities of the "Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual-Predators (KIDS) Act"? This seems more about adding punishment after the fact than prevention before something occurs...

Known as the Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual-Predators (KIDS) Act, the proposed bill would require sex offenders to provide the National Sex Offender Registry with any e-mail address, instant message address, or other Internet identifier used to communicate online. Failure to do so could result in a fine and up to 10 years in prison.

The baseball exploits of...

(truly an "inside baseball" joke, probably best ignored...)

Things probably would have been a whole lot different in America.

Seriously, I hope this was entirely paid for by individuals and not by government, health or insurance institutions.

with the look of the official site for California legislative information.

I'm not quite sure what policy America should follow concerning sex offenders, but I'm doubtful that a "zoning" approach is going to be effective in the long run, or even remain legal. Limiting where people can live or work as part of sentence seems to me to be a continuing form of imprisonment, although clearly a much, much lighter form.

But the real problem will be economics and NIMBYism. Who wants sex offenders in their midst? If zoning as a solution is accepted, then eventually every community with kids will want the offenders "zoned out". That will leave the "boonies", or communities with little local control, to be the areas where these offenders can legally live. Some states have pretty large "sex offender populations"... should Florida just have one area for their 42,000 plus population, or Texas or California for their over 40K populations? Such a solution is continued imprisonment, and for a variety of reasons wouldn't work, but if an effective local zoning effort was taken aggressively by local governments, states could find themselves close to that very position.

Of course, because such a result creates negative economic impact on people who currently live in such areas, and would likely cause such impact on employment opportunities for those who continued to live in such areas, there would be a continuing opposition to allow sex offenders to live in communities. And expanding economic force for sex offenders to violate such zoning laws would render these laws unworkable as well - too much cause for deceit.

In this article, it's pretty clear that at least some folks that support the "zoning approach" for sex offenders know the limitations and eventual failing for such a law. But they pass it as part of the solution anyway, because they want the public to know they're doing something - although it's something they know won't work.

Is this really a 22-year old song?

And not just at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Camp Hill, PA. There are Greek Festivals going on all over the country...

Rutgers
North Carolina
Oakland
New Orleans

For more proof, just check out the blogging trend for "Greek Festival"...

Posts that contain "greek Festival" per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

What was the last stageplay you saw?

I see there's one - the first annual one - in DC over Memorial Day weekend. I think this is a pretty damn good idea, but not just for the military. I could see the "Teacher Film Festival" somewhere, the "Police Film Festival" somewhere, in fact, there are many, many callings that can have a niche film festival.

Mind you, I'm against any kind of "War Film Festival" that somehow celebrates war. But I do support the idea of a Global Peace Film Festival.

I'm pretty sure that most of them have no idea at this point as to what blogs are.

You might find AAA's Fuel Cost Calculator useful.

Off to speak there, but not participating in this...

Motivation for the "Commonsense Consumption Act" ...

Tobacco companies and fast food restaurants are not treated the same way by the courts, and such disparate treatment is likely to continue. Attempts to use tobacco litigation as a model for fast food litigation have generally failed and will likely continue to fail in the future.

...

Despite the lack of success of obesity-related personal injury cases thus far, it is important to remember that when allegations were first made against tobacco companies, the possibility of large verdicts seemed remote. It was only once the litigation reached the discovery phase and negative internal documents were revealed that large plaintiffs' verdicts became possible. The Big Food cases to date have generally not led to discovery, and only Big Food itself knows what damning documents may exist. If they do exist and are discovered by plaintiffs lawyers, they may provide ammunition for more suits and increasing verdicts. Right now, however, fast food companies are enjoying more protections than tobacco companies ever did, and it appears that Big Food is not the next Big Tobacco.

Interesting page, I guess it shows that it is unlikely that anyone can seriously profit by speculating on mass purchasing of the "forever stamp".

Yesterday's CV School District Result:

A newcomer to politics, Dr. Steve Verber, a dentist, won the both the Republican and Democratic nomination for the single seat representing Hampden Township. Verber, who co-founded the Cumberland Valley Youth Basketball Association and the Eagle Foundation, received 66.06 percent of the Democratic vote while running against board hopeful Craig Caba and 52.84 percent of the Republican vote over Mike Ross.

I find it pretty silly. Why not just poll Legislative Branch versus Executive Branch?

Also, Congress has been getting battered for far longer than George W. Bush on performance. It was being bashed in the 1980s by Reagan. Doesn't that have a residual value? And yet, Bush has only been bashed since he started inflicting his craptacular presidentin' on the rest of us. This is a comparison of apples and oranges and really below the critical thinking capability I would hope the Gallup organization would have.

There's a... get ready for it... "institutional bias" in such polling. Where as Bush has been a constant as far as party polling for 6 plus years, Congress has changed in the past 6 months, so comparison of polls of Congress may actually reflect shifting party-power changes.

Additionally, many poll participants may be somewhat conflicted about the results of the Congress. There are two houses, after all, and the Senate is working on a much smaller margin than the House, and seems to be taking less risk because of it. Is it possible there are differences between the houses?

Finally, the elephant in the room is still here, and taking bigger craps every week. Yes, Washington stinks and will continue to stink as long as Bush is President, because we have no hope of an intelligent movement out of Iraq. EVERYTHING IN DC is tainted by Bush in public opinion.

I see that HC at First Draft is likeminded...

I voted today. It's still a big surprise to me how few Democrats are on the local primary ballots - this county is still dominated by the Republican party...

About 8 years ago, my brother and I spent the good part of an afternoon drinking beer and building my daughter's swingset. We had a pretty good time doing it, and she loved playing on the swingset for many years. Our son never really got into it that much, and for the past few years it hasn't been used much, and due to rust and lack of use it became time to take it down and get rid of it. (We tried giving it away, nobody wanted it, of course).

Last week I took it apart. Took a little more than an hour, just me. A life lesson in microcosm, I guess.

Doesn't the "Commonsense Consumption Act" sound just like something Mitch McConnell would have introduced for the tobacco industry in days gone past?

Dear Fast Food Industry - by choosing Mitch McConnell as your "author" of choice, you've made the intent of your legislation considerably more suspicious than it might have been otherwise. It makes me wonder what the hell you're hiding.

It was a good run for the show. My wife and I enjoyed the series as much as we've enjoyed any network comedy over the past few years - I know, that is faint praise, but we've actually really liked the adventures of Doug and Carrie and Arthur. It was a very good ensemble, and hopefully actors such as Victor Williams will find more success in the future. Patton Oswalt actually blogs, and posts about the end of the show.

There's a lot of positive words in the blogosphere for the show today. Too many to pick from, but you can do some cherrypicking here.

Color me a skeptic, but I don't think that traditional sitcoms are heading toward extinction. I am surprised to read that "King" is the 12th longest-running sitcom in TV history, or fourth-most-syndicated comedy in television.

Remember when Quinn Martin ruled television with a zillion detective shows - Barnaby Jones, Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, etc.? Programming cycle. The detective shows are back today - three versions of CSI, three version of Law and Order, etc. Primetime game shows are back for now too, although not your mother's Beat the Clock. The sitcom is just in a down cycle. It'll be back.

I wish there were more blogs like this in our area. There's certainly room in Central Pennsylvania for more amateur - and professional - naturalist and environmental blogs.

When was the last time that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had a good and original government policy idea? This isn't one.

The top-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate on Sunday expressed frustration with the Iraqi government, saying Republicans were "overwhelmingly disappointed" with the lack of political progress.

"The Iraqi government is a huge disappointment," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) told CNN'S Late Edition on Sunday.

"So far, they've not been able do anything they promised on the political side," the Kentucky Republican said, citing the Iraqis' failure to pass a new oil