Most of the time my preferred style of dress is pretty simple. Jeans, a shirt, sometimes it's a t-shirt other times not, boots, and some sort of hat. My hats are pretty varied and range from the simple ball cap to a fedora, a panama hat, to a western style "cowboy" hat of which I own several styles. Ok, I like hats, what can I say? But sometimes I like to wear a suit with or without a tie. Why? Because I appreciate the look of a decent suit. It feels good to put on nice looking clothes....

RealID Card legislation has been attached to emergency military spending bills to ensure its passage. How soon does everyone think this system will be abused either by the government or by thieves ? Due to the completely machine-readable/automatic nature of the thing -- you might not even know you're giving your information away. From the article: "Starting three years from now, if you live or work in the United States, you'll need a federally approved ID card to travel on an air...

University of Michican Scientists have developed a new type of fiber reinforced flexible concrete which is supposedly 500 times more resistant to cracking and lighter in weight than traditional concrete making it ideal for road construction. Maybe we will eventually see roads that actually last longer than the time it takes to build them? You can find the story here: Link

THEY'RE MADE OUT OF MEAT by Terry Bisson "They're made out of meat." "Meat?" "Meat. They're made out of meat." "Meat?" "There's no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They're completely meat." "That's impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?" "They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don't come from them. The signals come fr...

THEY'RE MADE OUT OF MEAT by Terry Bisson "They're made out of meat." "Meat?" "Meat. They're made out of meat." "Meat?" "There's no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They're completely meat." "That's impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?" "They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don't come from them. The signals come fr...

This is an article about absolutely nothing. Kinda like a Seinfeld episode. I'm happy that I am now able to get into and out of the bathtub without having to do the circus act with the rolling desk chair. I am also happy that I am now able to stand up and take a shower instead of sitting on that stupid plastic chair. My busted/rebuilt hip and pelvis are slowly showing signs of healing. A woman I have known for some time now asked me today about my injuries, which she's known about since...

From: Blkrsvtr, Captain, Survey Ship HDFSTV To: SNDTEJC, Commander, JWWSXOPSBCFG Homeworld Fleet Re: Survey of third planet, star 749375ab Commander; Our survey of the third planet in the 749375ab system has proved to be only partially successful. The dominant species on the planet, who refer to themselves generally as "humans", are a bipedal species which at first appear to be at least nominally intelligent. They are possessed of the ability to communicate with each other, but ob...

Has anyone else seen these anti-racism ads on television? They are set in normal every day settings, a restaurant, an elevator, etc. and normally have one caucasion person exhibiting racist behavior and someone else speaking up about it. OK, the first time I saw one of these ads I thought "well that's a good thing". But after seeing several of them I noticed a pattern. It seems that racists only come in one color: white. Not a single one of these seemingly well intentioned ads ever depicts...

Would you really like to see America's lawmakers doing something to improve the standard of living in this country? Help improve the conditions for the poor? There is a way to motivate the elected officials to do something that would actually improve things. Change the way the lawmakers are paid. Instead of the big salaries they are paid now, each elected official should be paid the same as the average income of the people in the area he/she represents, with government welfare assistance c...

Once in a while despite the troubles of the world or one's own less than ideal circumstance we need to just take a little time and enjoy something just for ourselves. It really doesn't matter what that little something may be. It could be a song on the radio that means just a little something extra, a bird singing outside our window, the company of an old friend, or a chocolate cream Oreo cookie. Now, I'm not real big on sweets, but these wonderful little cookies consisting of round hard ...

If you could be granted three conditional wishes what would they be? The conditions of the three wishes are as follows: 1. One wish must completely selfless, benefitting you in no way. 2. One wish must be totally selfish, benefitting only yourself and no-one else in any way. 3. One wish may benefit anyone of your choosing and is not limited to a single person. If all conditions are not met , all wishes are void. So, how would you wish?

These are just some ruminations of my own on the sad state of affairs around the world. World-wide we have war, terrorist attacks, genocide or attempted genocide, civil wars, and general conflict in some form or another. There are times when the entire world seems bent on destruction. What is at the root of all of this hate and discontent? What is it that causes an otherwise intelligent and graceful species capable of creating beautiful art, literature, science, and poetry to turn on itsel...

There is a story in our local newpaper this morning about a grocery store belonging to a major chain being sued. This store had been losing an average of 50 shopping carts a week to theft from their lot at a cost of approximately $150 each. It doesn't take long for this to amount to a significant loss for the store. The store manager decided it was time to do something about it. The shopping carts had been equipped with an electronic braking mechanism which would lock up the wheels on the ...

This morning I was forced out of bed early by a severe pain deep within my healing broken hip. This is not a new pain. I have come to know it quite well. My first thought was "It's going to be a bad day". This is one of the days in which I must use my cane in order to get around. This is one of those days when the temptation to take the powerful narcotic pain killers is particularly strong. This is one those days when I could easily bemoan my current position in the grand scheme of this ve...

I suppose I could just sit around all day in my pajamas. No-one would fault me for it, after all I am recovering from an injury and not exactly going anywhere. But somehow it just makes me feel a little better to get dressed in some fashion. It's kinda silly really. It shouldn't make any difference whatsoever. But getting dressed somehow just makes me feel a little more normal. Odd but true. So I shed the pajamas, wash up, and put on my khaki cargo shorts and a gray t-shirt with a large...