CommenTerry

Another Great Use for Search Engines

Search engines are great tools for checking the spellings of proper names. Let's say I wanted to post something about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. I would have difficulty guessing the spelling of her first name, so I would type her name into a search engine the way I thought it might be spelled: "Condoleza Rice." The search engine would then prompt me by asking, "Did you mean: Condoleezza Rice?"

Today's Top Story: Jimmy Hoffa is Still Missing!

One of the major drawbacks of the 24-hour cable news channels is that that they have to be constantly reporting something, even when there is nothing to report. For example, a number of these channels have been "covering" the Natalee Holloway case on a regular basis, even though there has been little or nothing new to report about her since she went missing in late May 2005.

Random Rants #39

I've found that the folks who go around preaching about the evils of capitalism are some of those who have benefited from it the most.      

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I once met a lady who laughed almost all the time. One day I said to her husband, "Hey, your wife laughs more than any person I've ever met." He replied, "Yes, that's the good news. The bad news is that, 90 percent of the time, she's laughing at me!"    

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Recently, I've been watching reruns of the 1980s' series, Highway to Heaven. A show like that would be considered too maudlin to be made today.

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Fighting a war is often necessary, as was the case with the Revolutionary War, World Wat I, World War II, and the first Gulf War. However, we should view war as a necessary evil and stop romanticizing it.

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I guess a lot of people are like me - scared to death of change, even though it could probably benefit them more than just about anything else. 

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The thing I hate the most about weekends is that, by Monday morning, I have difficulty rekindling my interest in whatever I was so fired up about on Friday afternoon.

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What doesn't kill me, causes me great pain and anxiety!

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At this point in my life, I don't really need good news in order to be happy; I'm perfectly satisfied with the absence of bad news.

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Ancient Chinese Proverb: Man who take out trash too early in day need to take it out again before day over.

Prospective 2008 Presidential Candidate: Russ Feingold

Note: This is the third in a series of posts I plan to do on the prospective 2008 presidential candidates from both major parties.

Russ Feingold is in his third term as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin after serving three terms in the Wisconsin State Senate. He is considered by many to be one of the few moderate Democrats in the U.S. Senate. Some would even call him a maverick. Feingold is a staunch foe of party "soft money" and is best known for co-sponsoring (along with Arizona Republican John McCain) the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, along referred to as the McCain-Feingold Bill. He has been an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War. In recent Supreme Court confirmation votes, he voted in favor of Judge John Roberts, but against Judge Samuel Alito. Feingold's best shot at capturing the nomination would be if Democrats decide that they want a candidate who is (1) clearly against the War in Iraq and is (2) closer to the center of the political spectrum than Hillary Clinton. Feingold offers them both. It would be quite ironic if he is the Democratic nominee in 2008 and McCain is the Republican nominee. We already have the McCain-Feingold Bill - then we would have the McCain-Feingold election.

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They Don't Call it Fox News for Nothing!

Have you noticed the inordinate number of attractive female newscasters that Fox News has on its staff? I call them "Fox's foxes." Many of them have come from other networks like CNN. Let's see, there's Jamie Colby, Page Hopkins, Julie Bandaras, Laurie Dhue, Rebecca Gomez, Alisyn Camerota, Alicia Acuna, Megyn Kendall, and a host of others. Is there a conspiracy by Fox to try to attract more male viewers? While I don't know about that conspiracy, I do know that when I'm surfing through the channels and see one of them on the screen, I will stop and watch Fox News for a while. Now, do I pay much attention to the contents of their news reports? No, not really. :-)

When Are We Going to Take Humiliation Seriously?

We have long considered torture to be off limits due the the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. But if we're going to regard torture as unacceptable, then why not humiliation as well? In my mind, it's almost as bad. That's why I believe the behavior of our military personnel at Abu Ghraib was so atrocious.

Speaking of humiliation, all strip searches and body cavity searches should be banned except for severe cases in which some is known to be extremely dangerous and/or likely carrying some kind of contraband on his/her person. Someone having been caught with hidden contraband in the past would also be subject to these kinds of searches.

The Great Billing Cycle Money Grab

I was starting to get worried. It was the eighth of February and my electric bill, that usually comes on the second or third day of each month, had not arrived yet. From reading some of my other posts, you know how paranoid I am of the U.S. Postal Service. So, I promptly got on the phone with my power company and asked if they had sent it out on time. The lady on the other end of the phone checked my account and said my billing cycle had been changed and that my bill would be printed tomorrow.

Now this meant that my February bill was going to be larger than usual because of the one-time longer billing period. The power company had figured out a way to get more money out of everyone for one month, even without a rate increase. I believe this is an unscrupulous practice. Now, they might argue that I'm getting some benefit out of it, in that I'm being allowed to wait later in the month to pay my bill. But that's no benefit to me. I always pay my bills when I first receive them and the money is still coming out of my February budget. In addition, since there is no corresponding shorter billing period, there will not be month when my bill will be smaller than usual.

This is not first time I've had the screws put to me by billing cycle changes. Many years ago, my cable company got 13 payments out of me in one year by constantly moving up the billing cycle, and thus the due date. Then last year, they did it to me again. Before I moved last May 16, I had already paid my cable bill, which was always due by 15th. After I moved, they changed the billing cycle on me and I received a bill that was due on the first of June. That's right, although the second one was reduced somewhat, I had to pay two cable bills out of my May budget. Once again, they were hitting me up for 13 payments in one year. When I called to complain about the injustice of such billing practices, the person I talked to couldn't understand why I felt cheated!

Now, the only effect this stuff has on me is to reduce the amount of discretionary money I have at the end of month to spend or put in my mutual funds and money market accounts. However, what about people who live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to make ends meet? These unethical billing cycle changes will inevitably cause some of them to have to not pay in full or forgo some much needed food and/or medicine. That's a crying shame!

Prospective 2008 Presidential Candidate: George Allen

Note: This is the second in a series of posts I plan to do on the prospective 2008 presidential candidates from both major parties.

George Allen is a rising star within the Republican Party. A former state delegate and son of the late Washington Redskins coach of the same name, he was elected to Congress in 1990. However, his district was redrawn by the Democrat-controlled (at that time) state legislature and he ended up in the same district as another, more established Republican congressman, Tom Bliley, by the end of his first term. He decided not to seek re-election in 1992 and was elected governor of Virginia in 1993 and then elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. He headed up the GOP's Senate Election committee for 2004. The extra seats that the Republicans picked up in the Senate during that election cycle will be a feather in his cap. He is running for re-election to the Senate this year and is not facing a very strong challenge. He has strong conservative credentials but is relatively unknown nationally. Recently, he has been leading all other prospective 2008 GOP presidential candidates in polls taken of party insiders. However, it remains to be seen how he will do with with the party's rank and file come primary season.

Random Rants #38

Not many things are more frustrating than scribbling something down in a hurry and then not being able to read your own writing later.       

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I hate shopping for any kind of potential major purchase such as home, a car, furniture, or large appliances. If forced to make a choice between this kind of shopping and a root canal, I'm not 100% certain that I wouldn't select the root canal!    

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I hate social events. No, I'm not antisocial. In fact, I like being around a lot of people. I just don't like being in a situation in which I feel pressured to socialize with anyone. Actually, I do a better a job of socializing at events where the primary focus is something other than socializing.

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As long as my health remained okay, I would want to continue to stick around indefinitely just to see what happens with all the new technological innovations, even if I had no other motivation for living.

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It is not my responsibility to prevent you from doing evil; it is your responsibility to refrain from doing evil. 

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While flipping through the radio stations in my car the other day, I came across "I Want It That Away" by the Backstreet Boys. Ironically, the next station I switched to was playing "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Rolling Stones!

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I'm a lot more mellow now than when I was in my 20's and 30's. I guess it has to do with the fact that I know, even if I live to be 100, I likely have less than 20 good years left. Therefore, I don't have time to waste getting upset and/or worrying about things that don't amount to a hill of beans.

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We all know that the companies that sponsor TV programs run their commercials during those programs. But what about the commercials that air after one program ends and before the next one begins? What exactly are the companies that run those commercials sponsoring?

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Any time there's a big winter storm, no matter where, members of the media will say it's the worst winter storm to hit that particular area in many years.

Here's My Personal Touch

I've often heard people talk about buying things that reflect their personality and/or that will add their personal touch. Well, I guess I can't relate. When buying anything, whether it be a house, a car, a piece of furniture, an appliance, or whatever, I'm mainly looking for something that is durable and that will not give me any trouble. That's the only personal touch I care about.