Media Watch

A neat party trick might make you smarter. Increases or improvements in advanced mental functions might result from learning to juggle -- a revelation that is believed to lead to disease management, accoring to Arne May, who heads reasearch in this area at Germany's University of Regensburg. Mars rover 'Spirit' is in critical trouble. NASA engineers think a hardware failure is the cause of malfunctions that cropped up this past week, which means the mission is terminated for all intents and purposes. Spirit's twin, 'Opportunity', is expected to land later today. It's unclear whether the second rover will suffer the same demise. A new way to contribute to the presidential candidate of your choice. Amazon.com rolled out a new feature Friday that collects campaign contributions of up to $200 for the candidates. As of this morning, Kerry received 1,699 bucks, Dean got 1,095 dollars and Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik earned 252 dollars. A ...

Please don't pass this onto your friends. His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer.  One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.  There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death. The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings.  An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life." "No, I can't accept payment for what I did", the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer.  At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.  "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes,...

This letter was forwarded to me, claiming to be the best ever chain letter.  You judge. Hello, my name is Dan and I suffer from the guilt of not forwarding 50 billion chain letters sent to me by people who actually believe that if you send them on, a poor 6-year-old girl in Arkansas with a breast on her forehead will be able to raise enough money to have it removed before her redneck parents sell her to a traveling freak show. Do you honestly believe that Bill Gates is going to give you, and everyone to whom you send this email, $1000?  How stupid are we? "Ooh, look here!  If I scroll down this page and make a wish, I'll get laid by a model I just happen to run into the next day!"  Whoopee!  Maybe the evil chain letter leprechauns will come into my house and sodomize me in my sleep for not continuing a chain letter that was started by Peter in 5 AD and brought to this country by midget pilgrims on the Mayflower.  Forget them. If...

Is it any wonder there's a demand for foreign workers in the US? $7 an hour is not a living wage, so naturally the American labor force doesn't race to take those jobs. Packing house wages haven't increased in twenty years, mostly as a direct result of illegal immigration and south-of-the-border recruiting efforts, and partly because we've started moving American companies to cheaper labor -- and right out of the jurisdiction of fair labor standards and market value in this country. American workers cannot compete on this playing field without sending Mom to work, thereby dominishing family values and the family unit itself!

Have you seen the national debt lately?  Do you see a trend? GW may well out spend Reagan & Bush 43 combined.  It took them 12 years to raise the debt from 1 to 4 trillion, and GW will raise it by 3 trillion in one term! Under Clinton, the fiscal deficit was reduced to zero and the national debt nearly stopped increasing altogether by the end of 2000. GW says he can cut the fiscal deficit by half in five years, and you know what? I don't believe him.

Whoa, stop with all the so-called reality TV. There's nothing genuine about it; it's meant to pull in ad dollars at the expense of (and perpetuates) the lowest common denominator. But I like "The Apprentice". No apologies. It inspires me and makes me think. About something worthwhile, for a change. Donald Trump has churned the imagination of many would-be entrepreneurs and this show puts on display the unusual personalities you see in business -- the same devious people we might really have to deal with in such an arena. UPDATE -- Who the hell does Trump's hair!?

It isn't fine with me that we're telling foreign nationals to ignore the legal standards for immigrating to the US, and 'W' didn't ask me about it. I fully recognize that we're a country built on immigration, but there's some paper work we ask people to fill out at the door. If you don't like the process, then let's work to change it, but don't reduce the standards based on unacceptable behavior and make breaking the law acceptable.  War exists where there are no effective laws; chaos reigns where there is no order; and Americans lose their jobs where illegal immigration is permitted!