961 - Leaning on cousin Mike

Just another reminder about the public option that may not happen.


Never pass up an opportunity to bash Rush.


Remember this?


It lead to this -


The liberals have been their own worst enemy for awhile. I think the conservatives have finally passed them up.





Urban dictionary - TEABAGGING

 

960 - Walmart

Here's a Walmart story. I'm sure everyone is covered in here somewhere.

****************************

You are in the middle of some kind of project around the house. You are hot and sweaty. You have your old work clothes on. You know the outfit, shorts with the hole in crotch, old t-shirt with a stain from who knows what and an old pair of tennis shoes.

Right in the middle of this great home improvement project you realize you need to run to Walmart to get something required to complete the job. Depending on your age you might do the following:

In your 20s:

Stop what you are doing. Shave, take a shower, blow dry your hair, brush your teeth, floss and put on clean clothes. Check yourself in the mirror and flex. Add a dab of your favorite cologne because you never know, you just might meet some hot chick while standing in the checkout lane. You went to school with the pretty girl running the register.

In your 30s:

Stop what you are doing, put on clean shorts and shirt. Change shoes. You married the hot chick so no need for much else. Wash your hands and comb your hair. Check yourself in the mirror. Still got it. Add a shot of your favorite cologne to cover the smell. The cute girl running the register is the kid sister to someone you went to school with.

In your 40s:

Stop what you are doing. Put a sweatshirt that is long enough to cover the hole in the crotch of your shorts. Put on different shoes and a hat. Wash your hands. Your bottle of Brute Cologne is almost empty so you don't want to waste any of it on a trip to Walmart. Check yourself in the mirror and do more sucking in than flexing. The spicy young thing running the register is your daughter's age and you feel weird thinking she is spicy.

In your 50s:

Stop what you are doing. Put a hat on, wipe the dirt off your hands onto your shirt. Change shoes because you don't want to get dirt in your new sports car. Check yourself in the mirror and you swear not to wear that shirt anymore because it makes you look fat. The cutie running the register smiles when she sees you coming and you think you still have it. Then you remember the hat you have on is from your buddy's bait shop and it says, "I Got Worms."

In your 60s:

Stop what you are doing. No need for a hat anymore. Hose off the dog poop off your shoes. The mirror was shattered when you were in your 50s. You hope you have underwear on so nothing hangs out the hole in your pants. The girl running the register may be cute but you don't have your glasses on so you are not sure.

In your 70s:

Stop what you are doing. Wait to go to Walmart until they have your prescriptions ready too. Don't even notice the dog poop on your shoes. The young thing at the register smiles at you because you remind her of her grandfather.

In your 80s:

Stop what you are doing. Start again. Then stop again. Now you remember that you needed to go to Walmart. Go to Walmart and wander around trying to think what it is you are looking for. The old lady that greeted you at the front door went to school with you.

*********************

And now for the bad news. You could wind up on the PeopleofWalmart website. So there's a new incentive to go back to group #1.

 

959 - What to do today?

This will keep you busy for awhile. What easier way to get a long post than copy a Consumer Reports email update with links to everywhere. Especially with some juicy topics.

***************************

Think Soylent Green was gross? Here’s something scarier. Feeding cattle chicken coop waste. That means your beef may have been fed chicken feces, feathers, dirt and spilled feed made from cattle remains. Sign our petition to stop this now – we’re delivering it this week to the FDA!

It’s not a horror film But it will scare you. “Money-Driven Medicine” examines the medical industrial complex, and what’s wrong with our healthcare system. Watch the movie for free here and sign our petition for reform.

Here's a video from a link to a link to a .......

And here's a link to more healthcare nightmares.

We are now controlling your Internet… Giant telecom companies want to make you pay more for watching a movie online or downloading your favorite songs. Keeping the Internet free is going to be a huge fight. What net neutrality means to you.

Flesh-eating bacteria Is one of many horrible bugs you can get in an American hospital. We want to end these hospital infections through sensible measures in health reform bills. If you've experienced a hospital infection, tell us your story so we can push for the strongest laws possible.

 

958 - Why Men Should Not Write Advice Columns

LA sent me this one. I think it's supposed to be a joke but I'm not sure. I've reread this thing ten times and it all makes perfect sense to me, so there must be some hidden meaning in it. Maybe somebody can help me figure it out.

***************************

Dear John,

I hope you can help me. The other day, I set off for work leaving my husband in the house watching TV. My car stalled and then it broke down about a mile down the road and I had to walk back to get my husband’s help.

When I got home, I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in our bedroom with the neighbor's daughter!

I am 32, my husband is 34, and the neighbor's daughter is 19. We have been married for ten years. When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted that they had been having an affair for the past six months. He won’t go to counseling and I’m afraid I am a wreck and need advice urgently. Can you please help?

Sincerely, Sheila

————————————————–

Dear Sheila,

A car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking that there is no debris in the fuel line. If it is clear, check the vacuum pipes and hoses on the intake manifold and also check all grounding wires. If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the injectors.

I hope this helps,

John

 

957 - Charlie Rose

Charlie Rose had a good guest on last night. David Rohde of the New York Times. He was held captive in Pakistan by the Taliban for 7 months until he escaped. I was going to link the interview with him but when I went to PBS.com I couldn't find Charlie Rose. WTF! So I did a google search. I got charlierose.com first and this ....

PBS About This Site . Retired Site The "Charlie Rose" site has been retired from pbs.org. For information about this series, we suggest that you visit http://www.charlierose.com. ...
www.pbs.org/charlierose/ - Cached - Similar -

So even though you watch CR on PBS he's got his own site now. So I went to his site and guess what. You can't pull up last nights interview. So if you want you can wait until this LINK becomes active. Or you can read about David Rohde on the NYT website HERE. Or HERE.

956 - Bears

This looks familiar but I'm not sure if I've seen this before. Even if YOU have it bears rereading. There's an important message here.


Click it to big it.


 

955 - Generic

I quit. Not blogging. (not yet anyway) I quit looking for the magazine that goes with this text. It had a morphed picture of what a generic female would look like if all the races 'inter related' with one another. But the online article only had the text(bummer). I know I still have the magazine because I haven't thrown any of my NewScientist magazines away (about to change).

So here's the article without the pictures.

***************************

We shouldn't judge a book by its cover, we are told. Yet we judge people by their appearance all the time, often making decisions about them even before we speak to them. Is this sensible? Obviously someone's face can tell us his or her sex and rough age, but can it tell us about mood, health or personality? And why do we find certain faces more attractive than others?

My colleagues and I have been trying to answer these questions using computer graphics to create composite faces derived from people who share a particular personality trait. We extract the shapes, colors and textures common to the faces of, say, extroverts, and then amplify or diminish them, and ask people to rate the altered images for attractiveness. We have found that someone's face can send out a wealth of signals about what they are like. We have also found a remarkable consistency in people's preferences for faces.

Take masculinity in men, which is very visible on the face. The principal male sex hormone is testosterone. It causes the jaw and eyebrow ridge to become more prominent and facial hair to grow. But it is not without its costs. The hormone suppresses the immune system and diverts energy into building up muscle mass. That means men who thrive on high testosterone clearly have superior immune systems and are capable of getting sufficient nourishment despite this handicap. Women should therefore be attracted to faces that display masculine characteristics.

But masculinity can signal behavior as well as physiology. On the plus side, masculinity signals dominance. A study of the US army showed that the more masculine a recruit's face, the higher the rank he attained. However, our own studies show that people often perceive someone with a very masculine face as cold, dishonest, a poor father and less likely to commit to a long-term relationship. Are such perceptions justified? It appears so. In 1998, Mazur and Alan Booth reviewed previous research and concluded that men with high testosterone are less likely to marry and more likely to divorce.

This presents women with a dilemma: a high degree of masculinity signals some good qualities and some undesirable ones. This may be why women's preferences for "masculine" males depend on their own beauty, health, age and status. Indeed, the same woman can choose differently depending on her circumstances: women may prefer masculine male faces during the fertile phase of their menstrual cycle, or when they are looking for a short-term relationship. Such choices probably also reflect a trade-off between the need to acquire good immune system genes for offspring and a more caring partner for a long-term relationship.

Similarly, typically "female" facial characteristics, such as a small nose and chin, large eyes and full lips, reflect high levels of the hormone estrogen. These facial traits can signal that a woman is of reproductive age and fertile. Many are most marked in a woman's early twenties and decline with age. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we have found that exaggerating the way female faces differ in shape from male faces makes them more beautiful. We are looking at whether men's preferences vary in the same way that women's do.

What about health? Can a person's face tell us how fit and well they are? Certainly sickness is associated with facial pallor. In the late 19th century Francis Galton merged photographs of tuberculosis victims. The resulting composite face looked pale and ill compared to a composite made up from the faces of British soldiers serving with the Royal Engineers. Today, a study by UK-based researchers Craig Roberts at the University of Newcastle and Ben Jones at the University of Aberdeen suggests that healthy-looking skin on the cheek reflects a healthy immune system and a lifestyle with sensible eating, sleeping and exercise patterns.

A person's health might also be reflected in their facial symmetry. Symmetry reflects the ability to grow straight despite all of life's challenges, including infection and stress. Symmetrical faces are good all round: they are considered beautiful, they have better-looking skin, and symmetrical people even smell nicer.
Perhaps the most useful facial indicators are those that tell us about personality. Is that really possible? Ian Penton-Voak at the University of Bristol and Anthony Little at the University of Liverpool, both UK, have found that it is - up to a point. Using questionnaires, they asked a group of volunteers to choose words that best described their own personalities. People who rate themselves as extroverts tend to use words such as warm, sociable, emotional and affectionate, whereas those who rate themselves as introverts use words with opposite meanings. The researchers then showed photographs of the volunteers to a second group, asking them to describe their personalities based on photographs alone. They found that, in many cases, the way a person described themselves tallied with how other people judged them from the photographs.

Overall, personality insights are better than chance and this can help us in life and love. However, it is important to be aware that our first impressions can be wrong, and we must guard against our presumptions. Moreover, some aspects of personality are not written in the face. Francis Galton attempted to isolate "criminal" facial features by photographically merging the faces of convicted felons. Despite Victorian prejudices, he found no looks common to criminals: indeed, he found his photographic blend of convicts looked surprisingly "handsome".

 

954 - Stress Management

I was sent this little technique on stress management. It looks like it might work.

***************************

Just in case you are having a rough day (week, year, and life), here is a stress management technique recommended in all the latest psychological journals.

The funny thing is that it really does work and will make you smile.


1. Picture yourself lying on your tummy on a warm rock that hangs out over a crystal clear stream.

2. Picture yourself with both your hands dangling in the cool running water.

3. Birds are sweetly singing in the cool mountain air.

4. No one knows your secret place.

5. You are in total seclusion from that hectic place called the world.

6. The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.

7. The water is so crystal clear that you can easily make out the face of the person you're holding underwater.


There, see? It really does work! You're smiling already.

 

953 - Test questions

What is logic and how does it work? Ask a kid a question and you'll get a logical answer.

****************************

Answers from kids to science test questions:

Q: What is one horsepower?
A: One horsepower is the amount of energy it takes to drag a horse 500 feet in one second.

Q: How can one determine how close to them a lightening strike was?
A: You can listen to thunder after lightening and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it you got hit, so never mind.

Q: What makes up molecules?
A: When they broke open molecules, they found they were only stuffed with atoms. But when they broke open atoms, they found them stuffed with explosions.

Q: What is an orbit?
A: When people run around and around in circles we say they are crazy. When planets do it we say they are orbiting.

Q: Is the sun a star?
A: Most books now say our sun is a star. But it still knows how to change back into a sun in the daytime.

Q: What is a vibration?
A: A vibration is a motion that cannot make up its mind which way it wants to go.

Q: What is a fossil?
A: Many dead animals of the past changed to fossils, others preferred to be oil.

Q: Define a vacuum.
A: Vacuums are nothings. We only mention them to let them know we know they're there.

Q: What is evaporation?
A: We say the cause of perfume disappearing is evaporation. Evaporation gets blamed for a lot of things people forget to put the top on.

Q: How are clouds formed?
A: I am not sure how clouds get formed. But the clouds know how to do it, and that is the important thing.

Q: What makes it rain?
A: Rain is saved up in cloud banks.

Q: What is the average temperature in the tropics?
A: It is so hot in some parts of the world that the people there have to live other places.

 

952 - Football

I was looking at a site that tells you what happened in the past on your birthday. I'd give you the link to it but I didn't save it. I got to far away from the original link to go back and look for it. ........ Oh yeah! Now I remember where I was going with this. Football.

I happened to check my dad's birthday of October 11th. One of the things that happened on that date back in 1916 was a Georgia Tech - Cumberland football game. Georgia Tech won ...... 222 - 0. Typo, right? Nope. Seems GT was pissed at Cumberland and decided to run up the score. Here's the whole story.

222 - 0

PLAY by PLAY


 

951 - The Warning

Well did you see Frontline last night? It was a story called "The Warning". It's about the things that lead up to the financial collapse and who knew what when. Turns out Alan Greenspan didn't believe in regulation because he's a libertarian.

So here's a link to the show. It bashes Democrats and Republicans alike. The show is broken into 23 small videos so you don't have to watch the whole thing at once.

FRONTLINE - THE WARNING

 

950 - Cell phones

Here's some cell phone info that most cell phone companies don't want you to know.

Click it to big it.



 

949 - National park questions

Who said there's no such thing as a dumb question? Some of these make you stop and go - What? Wait .... What?

***********************

EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK:
Are the alligators real?
Where are all the rides?
What time does the two o'clock bus leave?

MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK:
Did people build this, or did Indians?
Why did they build the ruins so close to the road?
Do you know of any undiscovered ruins?
Why did the Indians decide to live in Colorado?

CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK:
How much of the cave is underground?
So what's in the unexplored part of the cave?
How many Ping-Pong balls would it take to fill this up?

Yosemite National Park:
Where are the cages for the animals?
What time of year do you turn on Yosemite Falls?
What happened to the other half of Half Dome?

Denali National Park:
What time do you feed the bears?
Can you show me where yeti lives?
How often do you mow the tundra?
How much does Mount McKinley weigh?

Yellowstone National Park:
Does Old Faithful erupt at night?
When does the guy who turns it on get to sleep?
We had no trouble finding the park entrances,
but where are the exits?

************************

I don't know if anybody remembers seeing a TV spoof show where they set up a fake on/off wheel near to Old Faithful, but they had quite a few people staring and pointing. "OMG, they're turning it ON!"

948 - Pictures

Ahhh the first person I thought of when I saw this was Bilbo. I think he will appreciate the absolute irony of this.


It's to bad the tshirt shop didn't use their spell checker. Or look at it after it was done. Or the purchaser check it before he bought it. Or.... (Look closely at the back of the vest thingy)


It's one thing to have to wear an ankle monitor. It's another thing to be proud of it.


John, I think this ad is for you.


I'm applying for this award next year. I think I've got it locked in.


One inch off on the keyboard can really change the meaning of an email.


Amanda, do not move into this building.


I just laughed when I saw this.



 

947 - Animals

Bandit sent me this. I agree with all of it but it looks like it was made specifically for Andrea. It's got a good punch line at the end.

********************

The following was found posted very low on a refrigerator door.


Dear Dogs and Cats: The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine/feline attendance is not required.

The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough.


Finally, in fairness, dear pets, I have posted the following message on the front door:

TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR PETS:

(1) They live here. You don't.
(2) If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.
(3) I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
(4) To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who are short, hairy, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.

Remember, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
(1) eat less
(2) don't ask for money all the time
(3) are easier to train
(4) normally come when called
(5) never ask to drive the car
(6) don't hang out with drug-using people
(7) don't smoke or drink
(8) don't want to wear your clothes
(9) don't have to buy the latest fashions
(10) don't need a gazillion dollars for college
(11) if they get pregnant, you can sell their children

 

946 - Facts about Americans

I couldn't find out where these 'facts' came from. But that's not going to stop me from posting them. They're probably just as good as all the other 'facts' out there. You may want to print this out and take it to the bathroom with you. Then you can check things off and see how you score.

********************************

Facts about Americans.

Did you know that........
-only 30% of us can flare our nostrils
-21% of us don't make our bed daily. 5% of us never do.
-Men do 29% of laundry each week. Only 7% of women trust their
husbands to do it correctly.
-40% of women have hurled footwear at a man
-85% of men don't use the slit in their underwear
-67.5% of men wear tightie whities (briefs)
-the average bra size today is 36C whereas 10 years ago it was a 34B
-85% of women wear the wrong bra size
-3 out of 4 of us store our dollar bills in rigid order with singles
leading up to higher denominations
-13% of us admit to occasionally doing our offspring's homework
-91% of us lie regularly
-27% admit to cheating on a test or quiz
-29% admit they've intentionally stolen something from a store
-50% admit they regularly sneak food into movie theaters to avoid
the high prices of snack foods
-90% believe in divine retribution
-10% believe in the 10 Commandments
-82% believe in an afterlife
-45% believe in ghosts
-13% (mostly men) have spent a night in jail
-29% of us are virgins when we marry
-58.4% have called into work sick when we weren't
-10% of us switch tags in the store to pay less for an item
-Over 50% believe in spanking---but only a child over 2 years old
-35% give to charity at least once a month
-How far would you go for $10 million?
-25% would abandon their friends, family, and church
-7% would murder
-69% eat the cake before the frosting
-When nobody else is around, 47% drink straight from the carton
-85% of us will eat Spam this year
-70% of us drink orange juice daily
-Snickers is the most popular candy
-22% of us skip lunch daily
-9% of us skip breakfast daily
-66% of us eat cereal regularly
-22% of all restaurant meals include french fries
-14% of us eat the watermelon seeds
-only 13% brush our teeth from side to side
-45% use mouthwash every day
-22% leave the glob of toothpaste in the sink
-the typical shower is 101 degrees F
-Nearly 1/3 of U.S. women color their hair
-9% of women and 8% of men have had cosmetic surgery
-53% of women will not leave the house without makeup on
-58% of women paint their nails regularly
-62% of us pop our zits
-33% of women lie about their weight
-10% of us claim to have seen a ghost
-57% have had deja vu
-49% believe in ESP
-4 out of 5 of us have suffered from hemorrhoids
-the average girl starts her period at age 12
-44% have broken a bone
-only 30% of us know our cholesterol level
-14% have attended a self-help meeting
-15% regularly go to a shrink
-78% would rather die quickly than live in a retirement home
-46.5% of men say they ALWAYS put the seat down after they've used
the toilet, yet women claim to ALWAYS find it up
-30% of us refuse to sit on a public toilet seat
-54.2% of us always wash our hands after using the toilet
-23.5% admit they don't always flush
-45.2% pee in the shower
-44.9% pee in the ocean
-28.1% pee in the pool
-55.2% will let someone else come in the bathroom while they're
using the toilet
-39% of us peek in our host's bathroom cabinet. 17% have been
caught by the host.
-81.3% would tell an acquaintance to zip his pants
-29% of us ignore RSVP
-71.6% of us eavesdrop
-22% are functionally illiterate
-less than 10% are trilingual
-37% claim to know how to use all the features on their VCR
-53% prefer ATM machines over tellers
-56% of women do the bills in a marriage
-2 out of 3 of us wouldn't give up our spouse even for a night for a
million bucks
-20% of us have played in a band at one time in our life
-40% of us have had music lessons
-44% reuse aluminum foil
-57% save pretty gift paper to reuse
-66% of women and 59% of men have used a mix to cook and taken
credit for doing it from scratch
-53% read their horoscopes regularly
-16% of us have forgotten our own wedding anniversary (mostly men)
-59% of us say we're average-looking
-Americans of African descent are more than twice as likely to call
themselves beautiful
-90% of us depend on alarm clocks to wake us
-53% of us would take advice from Ann Landers
-28% of us have skinny-dipped. 14% with the opposite sex.
-51% of adults dress up for a Halloween festivity
-on average, we send 38 Christmas cards every year
-20% of women consider their parents to be their best friends
-2 out of 5 have married their first love
-the biggest cause of matrimonial fighting is money
-only 4% asked the parents' approval for their bride's hand
-1 in 5 men proposed on his knees
-6% propose over the phone
-71% can drive a stick-shift car
-45% of us consistently follow the speed limit
-2/3 of us speed up at a yellow light
-1/3 of us don't wear seat belts
-12% of men never use their car blinkers
-44% of men tailgate to speed up the person in front of them
-25% of us drive after we've been drinking
-4 out of 5 sing in the car

 

945 - Magic

As long as I've started a video theme here's a couple more. This first one takes advantage of the blind spot in everyone's eye.




And then if you want to get greasy finger prints on your screen, here's a trick you can't beat. No, I mean your can't beat the trick. It's an odd and even thing.



 

944 - Dear deer

I know I was talking about deer recently and how many I've been seeing around our house and neighborhood. But I found someone that has taken deer watching to a new high. I'm not sure but I think the guy in the video is Bilbo.



 

943 - A project

Just when you think the right wing nut jobs can't get any goofier, they come up with something like this. The rewrite of the Bible by the Bible project. Yep, they want to get rid of all that nasty liberal bias that's in the Bible now and put some good ol' fashioned hell and hate in there. Their number 6 goal is to 'Accept the Logic of Hell'. I think that already exists. It's called extreme right wing politics.

And just to piss off the crazies a little more, Mary Cheney had a baby. See what these God loving dorks had to say about that.

MARY C. ARTICLE

Whatever happens to you today won't be near as bad as what these nut jobs think is happening to them. They create their own personal hell on earth and love living in it.


I almost forgot to warn everyone today. It's that day again.

942 - Charts and graphs

I like charts and graphs. They're so much easier to figure out than words. At least in my own mind. I'll make up a new saying here. It goes along with "A picture is worth a thousand words". How about "A graph has a thousand interpretations". Yep, figures don't lie but liars can figure. And all that stuff.

I found a site that has lots of charts and graphs. And this guy likes to post a lot. He's a retired economist. (You remember what an economist is don't you? A gypsy fortune teller in training. I guess if you retire as an economist, you didn't quite make it.) So anyway, this guy can crank out some posts. Some of them have neat graphs. Below is one that I found in an online article.

click on it to biggerize it.
(Thanks George)


Here's the LINK to the day this graph was posted.

Here's CALCULATED RISK's main page.


Side note - when spell checking got to 'biggerize', it asked me if I meant buggering. I think it knew what the graph was all about.

 

941 - Up and on

"If the light stays on for more than 4 hours, call your electrician."




 

940 - Latest electronics

Apple announced today that it has developed a breast implant that can store and play music. The iTit will cost from $499 to $699, depending on cup and speaker size. This is considered a major social breakthrough, because women are always complaining about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them!

 

939 - Shower anyone?

Somethings just irritate me. Like when someone sneaks into your house and takes some pictures of stuff you'd rather not be seen. And THEN they use the picture for a magazine article! Sheeesh, can't we get some privacy around here?!

Click the picture to get the full effect.



 

938 - Top 10 (or bottom)

10 most. People like to rank things here in the US. I found some rankings that some could call questionable. Like the ranking of the 10 brainiest states. I don't know if I would call number one a state. Unless the state of confusion counts. And I know some people that live in that area and let me tell you, I don't know if I would call........... Hey, look who's number 6. That's sort of close to where I am.

1. Washington, D.C.
2. Maryland
3. Washington state
4. Vermont
5. Connecticut
6. Colorado
7. Massachusetts
8. New Jersey
9. Maine
10. New Hampshire

STORY

Here are the 10 lowest-ranking states: Indiana, North Dakota, South Carolina, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma and, dead last, Louisiana.


And then there are the 10 most literate. At least St. Louis is on this list.

1) Minneapolis (tie)
1) Seattle (tie)
3) Washington D.C.
4) St. Paul, Minn.
5) San Francisco
6) Atlanta
7) Denver
8) Boston
9) St. Louis
10) Cincinnati (tie)
10) Portland, Ore. (tie)

STORY

And going to any of these story links will take you to other top 10 lists.


 

937 - Taxes

Bilbo found this article on who's paying the taxes in the US. But I went to the Tax Policy Center site and found this article on income distribution. It shows that those making below 10K a year get an average free tax break of $126. And the average federal tax rate progresses up the income levels at a fairly even rate.

If you like statistics, go to the Tax Policy Center site and browse the thousand or more spreadsheets.

936 - Spellin' and Checkin'

I generally don't like poetry. But sometimes the right subject comes along that makes the old iambic pentameter bearable.

*****************

I have a spelling checker
I disk covered four my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot see.

Eye ran this poem threw it.
Your sure real glad two no.
Its very polished in its weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.

A checker is a blessing.
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.

Each frays comes posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.

Bee fore wee rote with checkers
Hour spelling was inn deck line,
Butt now when wee dew have a laps,
Wee are not maid too wine.

And now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
There are know faults in awl this peace,
Of nun eye am a wear.

To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaws are knot aloud.

That's why eye brake in two averse
Cuz Eye dew want too please.
Sow glad eye yam that aye did bye
This soft wear four pea seas.

 

935 - Timing Your Social Security Benefits

That's the title of a New York Times article on when to take your social security benefits. The article is good by itself but it also has several good links in it. And there's a graph (I like pictures) on the left hand side that you need to click on. It's another short article but with the whole graph. I've always contended that the cross over point for 62 vs 66 was 78 years old. The graph makes my case.

RETIRE


Also, I cut my 'show posts' from 10 down to 5. Hopefully this will speed up downloads for viewers.

 

934 - Lazy

Takin' the lazy way out today and sending you somewhere else. Today it's engrishfunny.com. But also on this site the are links to LOLCATS, LOLDOGS, FAILBLOG and many others. Careful, this can suck you in for hours.

 

933 - PSA's

Nice compilation of PSA's and what they have to do to get your attention these days.



 

932 - Cell phone stuff

How much are you irradiating your head when you use your cell phone? For an article on how much is too much you can go ..... nowhere. But for an article that will tell you to get the lowest radiator possible you can read THIS. Then to check where your phone is on the radiator scale you can look HERE. Do a search. It's a big list.

But here's a fun cell phone fact. Do you have trouble getting your phone out and answering it before it goes to voice mail? Want to increase the number of rings before it does that? This might work for you. It did for me. (I have AT&T) On your cell phone dial the following string - **61*1yyyxxxzzzz*11*nn#{send}.
yyyxxxzzzz is the 10 digit phone number you call for voice mail.
nn is the number of seconds (01 to 30) you want it to ring before going to VM.

 

931 - Facebook friends

I got this email the other day.
-----------------
Subject - Your friends are awaiting your response

Body - Hi Mike,
You haven't been back to Facebook recently. You have received notifications while you were gone.
-----------------

Yeah right, I've got friends waiting. So I clicked on the message link and HOLY MOLY. I've got friends waiting! There's Bilbo and Amanda and Andrea! How the heck did they find me on facebook?! Well it seems you can find somebody by their email address.

I set up a basic facebook logon to look at my sons band site awhile back. I don't even remember how to get back on there. So I wasn't ignoring my 'trying to be friends' on facebook. ... At least not until now. Now I have to decide whether or not to really set up a facebook page. ....... Nope. This computer is enough of a time sink already. But I thought I'll reply to the friend stuff. No more Amanda or Andrea. WTF! See, it's trying to suck me in. NO!

So if you want to see why I went there, go visit http://www.facebook.com/readythecannons . Here's one of the pictures on their site of my son.