How're we doing?

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.

Reality Bit Me

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!?

Bush on Illegals

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!

Grip this, Tom Ridge

I read a poster once that said essentially we learn most of everything we
need to know while in kindergarten.  Much of it important even as
adults.  It's still a good idea to hold hands while crossing the street;
not stealing and generally obeying the rules.  I'm more than a little
concerned that our society has forgotten the most fundamental of these rules.

Dennis Miller may have said it best, and I'm
paraphrasing, "We encourage immigrants to come to the US.  Just sign
the guest book on your way in".  He's exactly right, in a euphemistic
sort of way.

I really want to know who thinks we shouldn't have immigration
standards in this country, then enforce them.  Not liking laws has never
been a good reason to break them.  I know I'm not alone in thinking there's
a much closer relationship to 9-11 with border security than with Saddam's
Iraq.  So where is there wiggle room?  Obey the laws.  If you
disagree with the laws, lobby to have them changed, but you have to obey the
laws or you're punished -- not rewarded.

No, Mr. Ridge, the country does not
need to "come to grips" with 12 million illegal immigrants and
"determine how you can legalize their presence."  You got that
wrong!  Immigrating to the United States without signing the guest book is
illegal and must not be rewarded.

Outlook Express and attachments

When you want to allow any kind of attachment to get through, you may have to chenge a setting manually. Click TOOLS, OPTIONS, then the SECURITY tab. Uncheck the box that says "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus". Now all attachments will be available. Use this etting only if you understand the risks of opening certain kinds of attachments in your email.

Personal Firewalls

Zone Alarm from Zone Labs is one of the most popular personal firewalls we've seen -- and you can get it for free. If you're already using Symantec's Norton Antivirus and it's bundled with Internet security, we think that's as much as you can do to protect yourself. Be sure to read all the literature so you have a good basic understanding of how to set it up for your situation.

Used car shopping

Most people buy a used car at some point in their lives,
but how many do a little investigation before buying?  You should know what
you're buying before laying down the cash -- or worse yet, financing.  Many
dealers will now show you a CarFax data sheet.  They punch in the Vehicle
Identification Number (or VIN) and the computer spits out all it knows about
that particular car.  A VIN is unique to each car and can tell a lot about
the car, including make, model, body style, manufacturing plant, etc.  Try
this out.  Go to your car and carefully write down your VIN, then enter it
in one of the boxes below.  You may be surprised at what you can learn.

AnalogX Vin Decoder

VIN:  

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CarFax Vin Decoder

VIN:  

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AutoCheck Vin Decoder

VIN:  

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Model years 1981 and later have 17-digit vehicle
identification numbers (VIN).  Anyone can decode them with a few basics.

Digit	Meaning
1	Country 1-4=USA, 2=Canada, 3=Mexico, J=Japan, K=Korea, S=Great Britain, W=Germany, Z=Italy
2	Manufacturer A=Audi or Jaguar, B=BMW, 4=Buick, 6=Cadillac, 1=Chevrolet, C=Chrysler, B=Dodge, F=Ford, 7=GM Canada, G=General Motors, H=Honda, L=Lincoln, D=Mercedes Benz, M=Mercury, N=Nissan, 3=Oldsmobile, 2 or 5=Pontiac, P=Plymouth, 8=Saturn, T=Toyota, V=VW or Volvo
3	Vehicle type or division
4	Body style, engine type, model, series, etc.
5
6
7
8
9	Check digit This number is used to ensure the accuracy of the whole VIN
10	Model year V=1997, W=1998, X=1999, Y=2000, 1=2001, 2=2002, 3=2003, 4=2004
11	Manufacturer's Assembly Plant
12	Serial number A sequentially assigned number as each car rolls of the assembly line.
13
14
15
16
17

How to catch a bird: Get it drunk!

According to the Reuters news agency, police in Dortmund, Germany say a Crow attacked a woman and young girl over the weekend, but the bird managed to evade their efforts -- that is until they laced some cat food with high-alcohol fruit schnapps. The bird could not resist. A police department spokesman said the crow was completely smashed when they caught up with it, and is now sleeping off its hangover in a local animal home.

Tech News: The New Napster & Tiny portability

I really like gadgets that have function.  I like music and I refuse to
pay a buck a song (I-Tunes, etal), so a $10/month subscription to Napster seems
to be the best way to go...right now.  You can pay 99¢
for a song (and $9.99 for an LP) if you don't want to subscribe, but I would
want a fair amount of time to build up my library before pulling the plug. 
I figure about a month. 

More...

I strongly suggest you use your personal email
like Hotmail or
Yahoo! Mail when
corresponding with your friends, families and extra-marital partners.  Oh,
forget the last group; they deserve to get caught!  Seriously, for all
practical purposes, privacy protections do not exist at work!  This is a
must-read for corporate employees using company email for personal use. 

More...

Have you seen the 1-gigabyte USB drive in slick
a color and a cute little package?  They let you keep your stuff with you
even if you're hiking in the wilderness.  The new ones even let you surf
the web on company computers without leaving cookies and downloaded files on
work machines.  $50-$150. 

More...

Wayne Madsen: Exposing Karl Rove

Wayne Madsen: Exposing Karl Rove

Razor Competition

If four murderous blades aren't enough for ya, try this new Gillette Veinte, with twenty whisker-eating whackers!

First came the single blade disposable shaving razor, then we sued the competition for trying to keep up!

...from the "just silly" department.