Good Morning America

Scrolling down my Twitter page I found this interesting blog post by bbrian017 at BlogEngage.

His post questions whether or not he's using twitter in the correct context.

From a non-geek and non-business owner perspective, I believe he's using Twitter just fine.

What I've seen on Twitter, just as I've seen on FaceBook, is that people use these two popular social media networks for various reasons.

1. Marketing their online businesses.
2. Marketing their local businesses.
3. Marketing their blogs.
4. Marketing their websites.
5. Twittering just to be tweeting.
6. Making friends or business networking
   

Athletes twitter -- Shaq, the Williams sisters, many Professional sports teams [Go CAVS]  have a designated tweet twitterer.

Visiting a blog post by Israeli Mom -- 11 Things Twitter is Good For, I found one of many interesting reasons she uses Twitter.  She uses twitter for importing or finding products cheaper elsewhere than they are in her home country. Frankly, this idea never occurred to me.

Mainly, various entrepreneurs use Twitter to gain customer interest -- Verizon uses twitter to let customers know of new offers or to gain new customers, Starbucks posts new offers and participates in threaded discussions, JetBlue offers Twitter-based customer service as does ComCast the list goes on.  

And, yes, those of us who don't own businesses or have no specialized knowledge in any one thing in particular, but a severe case of bloggorhea, use Twitter to gain blog readership.

I use Twitter to notify the cyberworld of a new post on one of my many blogs. Twitter also comes in handy for different news venues. I've used many of the tweets [like bbrian017] for ideas on blog posts.

My personal thoughts on Twitter vs. FaceBook, twitter is much easier, less complicated and doesn't have the bugs FaceBook has. FaceBook tends to wear on my nerves with all its glitches [that's another post].

If you like this post -- by all means TWEET it! Then tweet it again and again and...  

Not here it isn't, I'll write and say what I think, if it's offensive -- go . . . click off!

There's a problematic trend growing here in the "land of the free, and home of the brave" The right to freedom of speech is slowly being degraded to "freedom of speech for select segments of American society -- all others must shut up. Soon the Constitution's first line will change from "We the People"  to "We, the certain select ".

I don't know about the rest of you "others" but I have a huge problem with this growing trend. Trends tend to grow into raging monsters if you don't stop them when they're a tiny itch in the pants of society.

Upon reading a FoxNews article about the young man allegedly fired because he told a woman that her gay marriage was wrong, bothers me -- tremendously.

From what I read, the woman had mentioned to Peter Vadala, of Brookstone, a Massachusetts retail store, at least four times about her impending marriage to her lesbian lover. Mentioning these nuptials once, maybe twice would have been enough -- I'm sure the young man isn't deaf and speaks English well enough, to get the point.

Vadala believes she was goading him, and I totally agree. This controversy wasn't so much the fact that she and her partner are lesbians, it's about her needling, taunting, harassing  -- this is called GOADING :

"I found it offensive that she repeatedly brought it up" Vadala said. "By the fourth time she mentioned it, I felt God wanted me to express how I felt about the matter, so I did. But my tone was downright apologetic. I said, "Regarding your homosexuality, I think that's bad stuff" READ MORE

Common courtesy dictates that if your actions or speech offend someone else, stop! Unless of course the offense is intended -- this woman intended to offend.

The unnamed woman probably knows that Vadala is a Christian. Many people out there just hate the name "Christian" and she's probably one of them.

What she did was taunt, [her claws were out] she taunted this Christian young man until he said something that she could use to go complain about. It doesn't matter whether she's lesbian or not, she's female and we females can be ever so catty.

Reasoning says, that there must be a history between the two, I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt, some prior conversations with him may have stuck in her craw.

No, I believe, that girlfriend knew what she was doing when she first started the conversation. She, like many gays, know that most Christians find this lifestyle offensive [there are exceptions to the rule, of course] and she found a target on which to vent her bile.

After Vadala voiced his opinion, she then threatened him with "HR, buddy" and the idiots at Brookstone fell for it hook line and sinker! Did he say that they should be burned at the stake, or that they should be stoned to death -- no, he didn't. Did he communicate a terroristic threat -- no,  if he had the media would have jumped all over it.

What's bothersome and dangerous,  is the fact that Brookstone cow-towed to this one person's gay agenda. In essence Brookstone, like many other corporations,set the dangerous precedence that only certain select segments of American society have the right to free speech while others must sit back and keep their mouths shut.

Vadala is young and inexperienced. He should have sensed what she was up to and walked away. Now, I strongly urge him to move to own Brookstone, and it's children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren etc...

In fact more people need to start standing up for their right to freedom of speech -- we're slowly being handcuffed. 

I refuse to shut-up:

Girlfriend you were and probably still are a complete and total bitch.

You've just opened up a vipers nest, is what you've done.

Military personnel must always be able to trust their own and you've highhandedly obliterated a military sacred trust. 
 

The tragedy at Fort Hood in no doubt has America reeling. As a Veteran, I am stunned and feel violated.

Most of us are asking the how and why a trust usually so deep could be shattered here on our home soil. Or how and why a Soldier could turn on his comrades in such a hideous manner.

Being a Veteran [an old school G.I], I know about the military lifestyle and it's different from the civilian one. Every time I walk into a VA clinic or hospital I feel and see the difference. It makes me feel like I belong to a unit.

When I went to boot camp [way back when] I knew that the main objective of military training was to break down the old self and build a new one. We were taught not be individuals but to be a unit. It didn't matter that we may not have liked or down right hated another G.I., for some reason or another, it was ingrained in us that we were all one and were to always have each others back.

Trusting your fellow G.I. was and still is, a matter of life and death [At least that's how the thinking was back when I served this country]. This is especially true during war time and when we're on foreign soil. To think that this happened here on home soil and by an American, is mind boggling. 

Understand, this trust idea as a thought process maybe foreign to some civilians who've never been in the military or around the military way of life, but to those active duty personnel and many of us veterans, it was/is vital.

No one will truly know his answer as to why commit this most horrendous type of treason against fellow soldiers, until Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan speaks. This man has opened the door for every kind of American racist, bigot, Islamaphobe to come out of the woodwork.

There's already speculation starting to run a muck in the American community. The media and the government have been quite careful not to mention the words terrorist or terrorism.

To my way of thinking, Hasan's actions are nothing but terrorism because he's backhandedly terrorized America and American Muslims. American Muslims are now running scared, worried about any backlash that their community may suffer. Don't be fooled, yes, there will be some type of backlash. What, only time will tell.

In my opinion, he's committed the worst kind of treason against the American Government, the Military, the American people and most importantly the American families he's destroyed.

Terrorism any where, but especially on home soil, can not be tolerated. Question is, how is the Government going to handle this very, very hot potato.

My sincere and deepest condolences to all families and active duty personnel that this has befallen.

. . . .the in depth review on the LG EnV Touch 11000?

Many people value PhoneScoop's break down on wireless phones in their review section, but for some reason the ball has been dropped on the LG EnV Touch.

I usually go to PhoneScoop's website to read their professional take on all the new cell phones that have or are coming out. This morning, I visited their website and couldn't find their "Review" on the LG EnV Touch from Verizon.

Right now, PS is focusing on the Motorola Droid, I was wondering if they'd forgotten to write an in depth review for the Touch.

I found the Youtube video tour of the EnV Touch, but being old school, I like to read what's said more than watching a video [my computer is old and cantankerous like me so, you'll understand that the start and stop of videos tends to get on our nerves].

Not that I believe there's some conspiracy or anything like that, it just has me wondering what happened.

However, I did find user reviews. They like me own a Touch and from reading the first few reviews, we all agree that the EnV Touch is a great phone with some draw backs of course.

My ordinary folk review of the EnV Touch:

Likes:

1. The external touch screen is great. The graphics have fabulous resolution with this phone. The internal screen screen is just as nice.
2. The texting is great with this phone. The qwerty keyboard is larger than previous EnVs, which makes texting easier for us who don't see very well. For those touch screen purists, you can still text with the phone closed on the external screen.
   
3. The pictures taken with this phone are great. Much clearer than previous EnV models.
4. I like the ring tones on this phone -- ring tones are an id of mine and I like the ones that come with the phone.
5. Call quality is about the same as the other EnVs.
6. The contact list is good and I like how they've incorporated the favorites tab from the Dare [I own the Dare too]
   
7. Great MP3 player -- clear sound, with or without the headphones.
8. Fun writing pad -- you can personalize your wall paper with your own handwriting.
9. Touch screen doesn't freeze as much like the Dare.
10. Great thin design -- longer in length and thinner compared to the other EnVs.
11. Searching the web is better than the Dare.
    

Dislikes: 

1. Battery life needs serious help. It could be the phone I bought, but the battery drains much faster than what I'm use to with LG phones. You'd think that LG could have made adjustments to the battery since the graphics and programs are more progressive than previous models -- the 1500 mAh battery, not the 950 mAh, should have been standard.
   
2. Front screen is awful in the sunlight.
3. As with all touch screens, fingerprints are a problem [for me they're a problem, I don't like yucky stuff on my phone]
4. If you like using the speaker phone you can't when this phone is closed.

Overall, I love this phone even with its short-comings.

I'm more disappointed that PhoneScoop didn't have their usually great in depth review for the Touch. Usually, I'll make a decision on whether to buy a phone or not by what PhoneScoop has to say. That's how I made the decision not to buy a Blackberry.

Though PhoneScoop fumbled this one time, I still believe they're a great site and I'll continue to read what they have to say about any future phones that I'll buy.

 

David Weigel's bias is hard at work for the Washington Independence. This condescending attitude rankles me even when in writing.

Weigel of the Washington Independence found a poll on Fox News and wrote a blurb about it's findings.

He seems so -- surprised that the American public isn't as under informed as some segments of American society would like us to be.



From a Fox News Poll Headline: Most Blame Bush for Economy.

First sentence: Here's a somewhat surprising result from the new Fox News poll. Asked which President is "more responsible for the current state of the economy," only 18% say President Obama.

Well now, how stupid does the Washington Independence believe the American public to be?

Republicans are the only subgroup of voters who blame Obama.

Oh Really! Well I wonder; just why is that?  Republicans blaming  Democrats or visa versa for problems -- 'splain it to me, in the simplest of simple terms -- Lucy!

Look Weigel, do the math, most Americans already have:

Bush was President for 8 years. During those 8 -- terribly, terribly, long years -- he systematically dismantled the American economy all for the sake of the "good ole' boys network".

You do know who I mean -- those good ole' fellas at  the top 10 of 1% socioeconomic scale, those who actually pull the strings of this country. Back during the Bush Administration, Obama was no where near  the White House. It was just Bush number 2 with his Daddy probably lurking somewhere in the background.

Obama has been President for less than 1, count 'em [use your fingers if you have to] but count 'em <1 year.

So, why oh, WHY are you, at the Washington Independence [gasp!] surprised? Doesn't your  brand of media believe that the American people have enough cognitive prowess to intelligently figure out who's to blame. Don't you think that we know, all the way down to our pea-pickn' lil' hearts, that Bush was most certainly the one to orchestrate this American economic fiasco.

Of course when the Democrats gain control of the White House a mess will have to be cleaned up. No one can clean 8 years of mess within 8 months.

Does your paper or any of the other media of your ilk, truly think that "we, the people" of America are so bare foot, nose pickn',  hoot'en-nanny stupid that we can't figure things out.

I don't know about anyone else who's read your rag, but I view the article as an insult to the average American's intelligence.

Some of you professional writers, journalists, news whores, which ever the case maybe, are under the misguided impression that the average American, must sit at the dinner table with our feet comfortably, propped while we use our toes to eat and pick our teeth.

If memory serves correct, it's been over a year that the medical and news communities have been warning Americans about H1N1.

Last year, news broadcasts have been reporting: "H1N1 is coming, H1N1 is coming!" 

How did the news and the CDC know the Swine Flu alien was coming unless it  had already been here. You can't see a virus coming like you could a ten mile wide [remember the movie Independence Day] spaceship hovering over a city.

This leads to a question; Why isn't the medical community better prepared since they knew over a year ago that we were about to be visited?

Now, people are standing in long lines at flu clinics waiting to be vaccinated, just to find out there's no vaccine left. Here is a list of some H1N1 shortages.

Broadcasters are telling people "if you're sick, stay home"  or they're reminding people to frequently wash their hands and cover their mouths when they cough. This advice is something my mother and grandmother taught me eons ago when I was a child -- old folks know what they're talking about.

Advice from CNN Health:

• Look up local flu outbreaks.
• Don't panic.
• Stay home.
• Understand risks.
• Get a pneumonia vaccine
• Wash your hands
• Don't stock up on face masks or Tamiflu.
• Get a swine flu vaccine.
• Be prepared

READ MORE ===> HERE


A friend of mine refuses to have her children vaccinated because she found out what was in the vaccine. That's fine, that's her choice. Is this a wrong choice, who's to say, only time will tell.

Some people believe they'll catch the flu from getting the vaccine. Medical Officials say, no, that's not true. Your body, if your immune system is healthy, supposedly builds up immunity.

Question; what about those of us whose immune system isn't healthy? What about people with HIV or Diabetics or people with some other autoimmune disorder, how does/will this affect them?

Doctors especially advise that these people that they should receive vaccinations.

My thoughts: No one really knows how or if the vaccines will work. In my mind, we're all guinea pigs. The Scientific Community will compile the statistics from how many people survive and how many don't,  then decide on a success rate.

Importantly, people must understand that medicine is not an exact science, it's scientific-guesstimates -- doing something is better than doing nothing.

Be well, be safe, wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough and stay home if you're sick!

Seriously, does anything created by or for Yahoo ever last?

The latest Yahoo death is GeoCities.

Is anyone really going to miss GeoCities, other than for sentimental reasons. Matthew Sussman at BlogCritic didn't seem to think so:

History will look back on the GeoCities project as a failure peppered with individual successes. The first-time Internet homeowners eventually traded up for widgets, RSS, and Twitter functionality. But like their first apartment, they'll always remember that dinky, plaid-colored website they somehow created themselves, wipe a tear from their eye, and exclaim, "Jesus Christ, that looked terrible." READ MORE

His comment is quite comical -- don't you think?

But, before Geo's timely [they should have shot them sooner] demise, 360 bit the dust, before that, the Message Boards were changed and totally screwed up and the biggest fiasco of all, Yahoo Clubs were dismantled and made into groups. Oh and, Y!Mash whatever happened to Y!Mash?

I hate the Yahoo message boards, you can't keep track of anything. I would spend hours trying to find a conversation I was taking part in -- now, I just don't go there any more.

Yahoo groups are "iffy" I liked the clubs much better -- the clubs could be made more intimate and homey. The Groups seem so antiseptic and sterile.

So, what's with Yahoo? Why are they always fixing what isn't broken?

I've made sure to have another email address, just in case Yahoo decides to go helter-skelter with their Web mail. Trusting Google with my email seems to be a no brainer.

Maybe there's a name change in the wind for Yahoo. I'm thinking -- Yahell, that sounds more like it.

SFBG -- are you guys serious!



And you [and your spoiled brattitude] want to talk about convoluted.



Just -- how  old are you people writing for the San Francisco Bay Guardian?

The Veto letter probably, was the typical form letter that most Politicians send for a vetoed bill. Now, that could be the reason why the substance of the bill, to which you're referring, wasn't dissected to your satisfaction. Anyone with any iota of sense would see that.

No, it seems to me, with my political ignorance and all, that you're just angry because some grown-up told you no -- pure and simple.

But no: Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill -- and sent Ammiano and the legislators a remarkable veto letter. The letter says nothing about the substance of the bill; in fact, the language is really convoluted and it’s hard to figure out what the gov is really saying. MORE

It also seems, that it's your mind that's convoluted, not Governor Schwarzenegger's.

Where oh WHERE  do you read that this letter of veto is in any way, shape or form acrimonious? From a poetic stand point, it's in accidental acrostic form, but come on now, aren't you reaching just a tad bit?

California has enough problems and the Governor probably followed the advice of his advisers and vetoed the bill for the moment. There wasn't any mention of the bill being a waste or not making any sense. The powers-that-be decided that this wasn't the time for this particular expenditure; isn't California almost bankrupt.

You do understand -- don't you? Alright it's like this; remember when you asked your parents to buy that Mercedes for you, and  they said no because they preferred to buy groceries or pay the mortgage -- now do you get it?

Same, same with the Gov.

So, put a cork in it, stop jumping up and down, stop screaming the high heavens, stop stomping your feet and yes, please do get up off the floor! -- you're getting your clothes dirty.

Doesn't sound plausible does it? It's a growing fact and yes, again another growing national disgrace.


How can an employer not come up off the money he/she owes their workers. Never would I have believed that a worker who's worked wouldn't/couldn't  get their pay -- never!


At CNN Justice there's an article about Illegal Immigrants protesting a business who won't pay them. This seems to be a growing trend here in America: 

"When I asked them about the money they owed me, they always had some excuse about why they couldn't pay me," Hernandez said in Spanish. " 'We'll pay you later,' they said."

Hernandez's problem was further complicated by the fact that he is an illegal immigrant. He came to the United States to earn money to send to his family back in Mexico. Illegal immigrants working in low-paying jobs are increasingly targeted by employers, experts say, who find it easier not to pay their salaries. READ MORE

It isn't just Illegal Immigrants getting stiffed by employers. It's happening to your everyday American too.

Could this be why Corporate America wanted to do away with Unions -- so they could sock it to the worker-bees?

Until I moved to Columbus, Ohio I had never heard of Employers paying their Employees with empty promises or just flat out giving them rubber checks on payday.

But, it's happening more often than believed.

A working friend of mine toils 12 to 16 hours a day -- he's an Independent Contractor. When payday comes around, one employer says, "I'll get you on Monday".  When Monday comes there's still no pay.

Or, another Employer paid him with a bad check. He went to one of those fly-by-night grocery stores to cash it. Found out 3 days later that the check went boing, bouncy, boing. Who do you think the store owner is going after for that wayward check? Who does the store owner call the police on? Not the check writer, but the person who cashed it.

There's a lawyer in this city [who shall remain nameless] who's infamous about handing out rubber checks to certain employees. No one can say, with a straight face, that this lawyer doesn't know issuing bad checks is against the law.

Columbus banks now hold checks for at least a week before you get the monies. This is why people go to this little grocery stores to cash them. These stores charge outlandish fees to cash them. This too, is unacceptable. People can't afford this. They have bills to pay. Do these employers think that their employee's landlords, or mortgage companies, want to hear that they're waiting for the check to clear.

The common everyday person, I'm speaking from experience, lives from paycheck to paycheck -- do these employers think that our stomachs aren't growling for immediate food satisfaction?  Do our children want to hear "we've got to to wait for the check to clear so we can eat" -- No!

Something is wrong, something is terribly, terribly wrong with this picture. It's as if Picasso psychedelically painted the economic canvas of this country.

It doesn't  matter whether the workers are illegal or legal, when they put in a hard day's work, they should be paid in a timely manner.

This country is going to hell in a hand basket with no way back.

It's our money and we want it now!

and where's the recovery?

Good question: where are they?

Is this another snipe at the Obama administration because they haven't twitched their noses and fixed what the Bush administration and his predecessors both Republican and Democratic, broke?

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't -- he has good neutral points.

The other threat is that the failure to resolve high rates of joblessness will open Democrats up to the neo-populist attacks some Republicans have been employing as they blame the administration for focusing on saving Wall Street but not doing much for Main Street.

Well, Mr. Zelizer (CNN) you're a history Professor, at Princeton no less, but I'd like to add, that American jobs went on permanent hiatus, starting back in -- oh let's say; 1986 under then Republican President Ronald Reagan; in case anyone out there didn't know.

Both parties still want to play games. Namely, the blame game. America doesn't have time for that. People want their jobs back:

It is possible that continued frustration about jobs allows Democrats to target Republicans as an obstructionist party that has in fact hampered their efforts to revitalize economic growth. During the 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt understood that you could not have recovery without jobs. This is why he made public works programs the centerpiece of the New Deal. READ MORE

Frankly, most of us rational thinking people don't care who's to blame. We don't care about the hows and the whys of the situation, we just want money back in our pockets, a roof over our heads, and to be able to pay bills that seem to keep going up, up, up.

In 1986, American jobs started sneaking out of the broken windows of America,  like some slimy burglar on the run.

And boy, did those jobs run, they ran to India, to China, to Korea, to the Philippines to. . . need I go on? READ MORE


Now, now . . . in 2009 -- the new millennium, NOW people are more ardently asking, than ever before, "where" are the jobs and "where" is the recovery?

Makes one wonder why now all of a sudden, their urgency. Think about it, didn't people understand back when this whole fiasco started, that sooner or later the economic chickens would come home to roost.

Can anyone out there honestly say they never expected or suspected, that one day the stocks were going to plummet, banks were going to fail and the housing market would flush down the proverbial porcelain throne.

Why weren't people up in arms and asking these questions back when our jobs first were outsourced? Everyone should have known the outcome when the Steel mills and the Tire companies [you remember Goodyear, Firestone and Goodrich]  started folding and deserting the American work-ship.

Has anyone out there lately, called HP or Dell with computer problems? Or have you received a call from a bill collector with an accent? Guess what, those people on the other end of the line are in India, or the Philippines or some other foreign country.

In the 90s, when I was with Sprint PCS and fell behind on my bill, I received a phone call from India [I asked where they were calling from]. I promptly told them [my apologies to my Indian friends] that I don't do business with people or companies outside of the United States and hung up on them.

Sure, back in 86, some people did squawk -- a little. But it seems that now in 2009, when America has its first Black-American President these people have all of a sudden realized -- hey, we're in trouble, I no longer have a job, hey why are my household belongings out on the curb.

Ahem! I hate to tell you folks this, but this disaster has been in the making since the Reagan years. None of you can put any of this on President Obama. Bush number 2 did more damage than any other Republican President. He made sure the "good ole" Boys Network [the top 10 of 1%] received their wealth off the backs of what's left of the American workers.

Then like the thieves in the night that they were, ran to other countries with our jobs.

And now, the cry-baby-whinny-butt element of American society, wants to blame it all on President Obama and the Democratic party -- are you all serious? Are you that ignorant, or bigoted  or both?

Two things people must understand:

1. President Obama didn't start the Iraq war.
2. President Obama didn't outsource American jobs.

Our President is doing the best he can, with what he has. He's not a Dictator, he can't just command things to happen, he has to go through the political process.

What else is President Obama suppose to do, twitch his nose and fix everything in one fell swoop?

His name is Barack Obama not Samantha Stevens.

How much more can non-geeks take?

The logo is nice, colorful but will 7 be a pain in the butt to the everyday ordinary user, is the question.

Microsoft must hate those of us who only point and click our way around the computer and cyberspace -- that's got to be it, you hate us.

One thing this techno-babble illiterate knows: I hate Vista!

Look Microsoft let's talk:

Believe it  or not, most of us computer users are just plain ordinary folks who want to click a button and get to where we want to go.

We don't care what the ISO, RTM, RC or any other lettered acronym means. Or what beta means. Or whether the faster boot is made by Gucci or Prada. We just want to use the computer and connect to the Internet -- simple!

The great thing about XP is its simplicity -- get it!

It is simple to use.  We don't have to have an advanced degree in computer engineering or know any complex language to use it or fix it when something goes wrong -- why? XP damn near always fixes itself no matter what computer buffoonery is committed.

Then comes along one of your Microsoft know-it-alls with something better -- that being Vista.

Well -- better for whom? Certainly not better for common every day folk'.

Every time a Vista user turns around it's always asking permission to do something or other. We've got to jump through hoops to get to a file we want.  Right now, a friend of mine keeps trying to do the automatic updates and it fails.

To our way of thinking, when automatic update says install updates -- you click yes and let it do its thing. Is this happening on her computer  no, why?

Frankly, I don't care why -- I just want the errors to go AWAY!  

With XP we can just go to System Restore and set it back to a day when the blasted thing correctly worked.

With Vista, we have to go through layers and layers of minutia just to find system restore. By the time we do find it,  we've already got a sledge hammer standing by to fix it for good.

Now, you, dear Microsoft, have come up with Windows 7. If I remember correctly, it took about 5 years between XP and Vista. How long has it been between Vista and 7 before you decided to come up with something new or to fix your screw-ups? 2, maybe 3 years, what was the hurry?

I'll tell you what the hurry was, Vista sucked, it sucked big ones. Even the experts know Vista sucked big magnum bullets but were to polite to say it in my uncouth, computer illiterate way.


Windows 7 came out 2 days or so ago and there are already questions and some misgivings about it's ease of use for the average joe-smoe, floating about cyberspace.


ComputerWorldUK wrote: Four reasons to upgrade and four reasons to stay away.

It is packed with improvements and cool stuff, but it still carries a whiff of Vista that may put XP diehards off. That said, people who have gotten used to Vista will enjoy the fact that Windows 7 looks the same but acts a whole lot better.  READ MORE

Carries a whiff of Vista -- I'm already hating 7.

Microsoft reminds me of Yahoo -- always fixing something that wasn't broke [XP]. Then they have to go through a couple of generations [Vista, now 7] to get back to when things worked just fine [XP].

Does Microsoft have a case of D.I.D [Dissociative Identity Disorder] or what?

The only thing I may like about 7 is that it boots faster [yes, I know this boot isn't a Gucci or Prada] than XP or Vista.

Other than that, if I have to search and search for files or keep giving permission to do this or that, and if 7 acts like I need a Doctorate in Computer Engineering to use it -- I'll use my trusty OS killer standby,  the sledge hammer.

Traveling along cyberspace, I came across this article at BlogCritics by Dave Nalle entitled "Do Supporters of Socialized Health Care Just Not See the Irony?"

Sure we do, of which irony are you writing?

Nalle wrote:

The left is eager to dismiss the failures of socialized medicine worldwide and point to irrelevant statistics like life expectancy as if they mean something and wring their hands over the uninsured and call us racists or rednecks or some other sily name to distract from the real issues. But with new examples of how disastrous nationalized health care can be popping up almost every day, their attempts at distraction seem feeble and pointless.

This makes me question what is the real opposition to Obama's health care plan. What really has so many shorts/panites in such a bunch. So far the main complaint I've read is that anything government run is considered socialism or worse.

The catch-all, be-all buzz phrase that has everyone chomping at the bit is the word "socialized"  If anything even looks as if the government wants to be i n
control then it means to people like this, that we're becoming a socialist state, or a communist state.

Baloney! WhooWee!, Bull Paddies!

The left understands why the land of the free and the home of the brave are resistant to these buzz words. We, don't like them either. [not that I'm left, I'm more down the middle]

No, not everyone on the left admires the British National Health system, it's flawed -- we grant that. What we like is the idea of everyone having health coverage. We like the idea, that when a catastrophic illness happens we can go to the doctor without fear of loosing a car or a house or maybe having to sell off our first born child.

The old right way didn't and doesn't work. What did work for them  was pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment companies and hospital boards became rich. And we wonder how hospitals get away with charging $20.00 for one aspirin.

46.6 million people fall through the cracks. They're not rich enough to afford or their companies refuse to provide, health insurance. Or, they're not poor enough and have loads of kids running around to qualify for welfare health coverage. 

So, they're stuck between a rock and a hard place and just plain mad.

These are 46.6 million people have worked or are working and can't receive health insurance.

All we've heard from the naysayers of nationalized health care is "we're becoming communist or the socialist are coming, the socialist are coming" yet, these same complaining people have no other viable solution to this problem, this very serious problem.

Read More ===> Nalle

Well, some of us want to say to them -- come up with a better solution or just -- shut up.

If some number crunchers were to take a poll among the anti-nationalized health care group asking how many of them have health care versus how many have not -- who's willing to bet that most of them do have health care coverage and could care less about those who don't.

But, [yes, the proverbial but] when over 46.6 million Americans, with no health care coverage, are nonchalantly thought of by the right wing of the most powerful country in the world, this is what's called irony  Mr. Nalle and all those who agree with him,  it's dispassionate, it's amoral,  it's a national  travesty.

It's the same old song, "I have you haven't"-- Marie Antoinette's would say "let them eat cake"  --  oh and sorry about your luck, you won't get to see a doctor when you become diabetic.

. . . didnt' you know -- I know you're not color blind?

I found this article on Technorati and couldn't pass up the itch to respond.

Rush Limbaugh is still in the news. He must be running short on cash because as of late, his jelly jowls have been flapping around on the news and through cyberspace, a bit more often than most civilized people can stand.

Don't let Rush fool you, although he likes only one race of people - no, really he does. He has, like other the other moral-less nimrods of his ilk, a deep abiding love for that flat piece of green paper -- you know the ones I mean, the ones sporting pictures of dead white men on the front -- bigots too can't get enough of these bills.

Their goal [like the rest of us]  is to bring home as much of those duckies, even if off the sweat of the brow of those they claim to be superior too or plain hate. 

In my, not so humble opinion, Rush knew his bid to buy a NFL team wouldn't fly. He, being the megalomaniacal twit that he is, made this bid for attention getting purposes only. And, of course, that goal was accomplished.

His name and face are all over the Internet -- he's the talk of the blogosphere, even the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell weighed in on the subject -- "The comments that Rush made specifically about Donovan, I disagree with very strongly" Goodell further stated that polarizing comments don't reflect accurately on the NFL  DAILY NEWS.

The more outlandish this man is, the more money he commands.

He's not stupid, he's just a black-hearted hate monger, who milks sensationalism for all that it's worth -- and doing a good job of it too.

From the Senate floor Senator Al Franken led an outrageous act against rape and discrimination victims by pushing  through an amendment to the Constitution against them. MinnPOST

On October 7, 2009, thirty Republican Senators voted against the amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that would prohibit defense contractors ex. Halliburton/ KBR, from getting money if they restrict employees from taking workplace sexual assault, batter and discrimination cases to court.

This is another outrage against victims. What reason could these thirty Senators vote against a bill like this -- they're in bed with the big corporations. They have their greedy fat ole-boys-network paws in the pockets that over-feed them.

Let's call out these insensitive porkers and let them know what they're all about and won't stand for it.

A few Senators to name -- Alexander R-TN, Barrasso-R-WY, Bond R-MO, Brownback R-KS, Bunning R-KY, Burr R-NC, Chambliss R-GA, Coburn R-OK, Cochran R-MS, Corker R-TN READ MORE

If one of these horrendous acts hit home, how quickly would  one of  these Senators sign this bill?

Go sign the petition, let them know that you know who they're sleeping with.

Let them know that constituents from all parties could find themselves in the position of being raped and/or violated.

Let each one of them know, that we the people who put them in their nice cushy positions, won't stand for them raping us from the senate floor.

To see Senator Franken in action see AMENDMENT

. . . to help the environment?

Honest, it won't put a crimp in your pocket or take up much of your time.

 Blog Action Day is a great Internet event and this year's theme -- Climate Change

There's no better event to unite blogger's across the globe than the theme that affects every nation on earth. We, the ones at the top of the food chain, are the ones who have caused this damage and it's up to us to fix it.

Climate change or global warming is happening folks, whether you believe it or not. Gases in the atmosphere that we put there are what's causing climate change -- ice caps are melting, forests are being destroyed.

This is man-made destruction of the environment which we can stop.

This is a catastrophe in the making, that affects everyone of us -- mostly our grandchildren, great-grandchildren and beyond. So, what are you, you and you doing to help?

We went through our home and changed most of the light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs. This pro-action will not only help the climate it will help the pocket book too.

Also, on the list is to fill your dishwasher. Only run it with a full load this helps the wear and tear on the climate and helps save money too. For us, this isn't an issue we wash dishes by hand and try to only wash dishes once a day [SHOCK!] or use half a sink full of water and use half a sink to rinse.  Running water continuously is a no-no.

Use Recycled Paper -- stay away from the plastic bags in the stores or buy the clothe store bags to reuse every time you shop.

Bottled Water -- NO, NO, NO! Buy a filter for the faucet and refill a water bottle for on the go. They have the filters that can screw on or you can buy a more costly filtering system -- choice is yours.

Adjust Your Thermostat  -- some say adjust it down two degrees in the winter and up two in the summer. We've gone as far as adjusting three or four degrees either way. In the winter we put on more clothing and in the summer we make use of opening up windows and using fans which use less electricity.

Don't litter -- I can't stress this point enough, stop being lazy and find a trash can along the way. Some litter never disintegrates. In my opinion littering is one of the biggest problems. Yes, that one cigarette butt or store receipt rolling along the ground is a big problem for the environment.  Littering is a breeding ground for disease-causing insects and rodents -- West Nile Virus, Malaria, Plague etc... Not to mention what littering does to the wildlife -- they inhabit this earth too.

There are more ways to stop global warming/climate change. We, humanity, have to take the time to make simple changes in our lives that will affect the planet where we live. 

Now, go change a couple of light bulbs and stop taking such long showers.

meep meep!       

From the Funny Hub

For some it isn't fun for others it's a comedy chalk full of errors.

Reading the Official Google Blog made me remember how I tried to explain to my friend the difference between Internet Explorer and Windows Vista.

Mr. Toff created a site for those who are Internet and computer challenged. Click on the site and it will tell you what BROWSER you're using.  This site will also invite you to try other browsers.

Yes, you computer geeks and techno snobs, stop laughing. She has no clue what the differences are. And, here I am -- not privy to all techno mumbo jumbo -- trying to explain them.

It's like listening to Dorothy and Rose from the "Golden Girls"  when Dorothy makes a sardonic snip at Rose, then has to explain its sarcasm.

I, by no means am a computer expert. Everything I know has been self taught. So, explaining the Internet/Computer and the bare basic workings of it to someone who doesn't know what the purpose of the start button is a challenge.

My friend still doesn't understand that Internet Explorer or Firefox are web browsers and Windows Vista [I hate Vista, I hate Vista, did I say I hate Vista] or Windows XP are computer operating systems. She then looks at me and says: "what's an operating system"

I don't use the geek speak or the techno talk: "it just makes the damn thing go!"

When I was growing up there was the keypunch machine. I remember it well.

When I was in grade school, my mother went to school to learn how to use the keypunch. After finishing school she hired into the O'neils department store as a keypunch operator.

Now, she won't look at the computer, it's as if she thinks it'll pull a poltergeist move on her and pull her into the monitor.

So, go ahead and laugh, we're out there -- circling computers with sledge hammers.

I found this strange looking fellow on The Many Faces of Spaces

He's a Goblin Shark, scientifically known as the Mitsukurina owstoni. A deep-sea shark [so deep that light never penetrates the depths where this shark lives] and the sole living species in the family Mitsukurinidae.

This shark can be found throughout the world -- from Australia to the Gulf of Mexico.   

Jon Gosselin has a big set of brass ones on him to say the least.

What can make a man, or a woman for that matter, disrupt a large high profile family by leaving, then draining the bank account?

It takes money to raise a child let alone 8

Look Jon, you have 8 children, count them 8.

If you can't do the math in your head use your fingers -- 5 on one hand and 3 on the other or 4 on one hand and 4 on the other or 2 on one hand 2 on the other, then throw in 2 toes on one foot and 2 on the other or. . . 

The total adds up at 8.

Why on earth would Jon Gosselin clear out the bank account other than to get back at Kate.

Let's face it, that's what Jon's actions are all about -- revenge.

This cry-baby-whinnie-butt didn't like the way Kate treated him so he's going to pay her back.

With 8 children in the household, no Mom is always going to be sugar'n spice and everything nice. Especially in Kate's case, she had 8 babies of her own and married Jon's mother's baby and took over his diapering. 

Gosselin claims that Kate's exaggerating about the amount he withdrew and about her being destitute. He's also worried about his public image ; poor dip stick thinks he's being treated unfairly, now his stellar rep is tarnished.

He sounds like one of those men who blames everyone else for their misdeeds. The kind that rationalize: "if she'd just let me have all the girlfriends I want, let me come home when I want,  pay the bills when I want, and deal with the children when I want, I wouldn't be so unhappy"

Then Gosselin has the audacity, the unmitigated gull, to express a faux-pas apology to Kate, or . . .  was it to his girlfriend or. . . I'm so confused!

Hey Jon, you've got 8 count 'em 8 kids -- that's no big deal, Kate can handle 'em, go do your thing bro' -- idiot!

And you Kate, how dare you be responsible -- you bring nothing but shame to every hedonist on earth -- bad Kate bad!

Like most nasty divorces, one or both parties never, ever consider how their actions will affect the children. They're focused on making the other pay for their mistreatment -- imagined or otherwise.

Is anybody wondering whether  Jon Gosselin and David Letterman are comparing notes.

Would we be surprised if they were.

Sorry, I don't think so. Susan Smith had me fooled, I even wept for her but not this time.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

I believe Anthony's guilty. Her body language spoke volumes as I watched the videos.

Geraldo Rivera [he's still alive!] interviewed Jose Baez, a high profile case getting lawyer,  of Casey Anthony.

He believes that much of the public's hatred towards Anthony came from misleading information -- no, it comes from watching her.

Now Anthony's defense team is fighting to get first-degree murder charges dropped which will take the death penalty off the table.

So he told Rivera over the weekend.


October 2,  on the Nancy Grace show, Jean Casarez guest hosted and took over dissecting the facts from a distance.

As usual armchair judges, juries and executioners took a look, as best they could, at the facts as they knew them.

My questions:

1. What facts were misleading 
2. What facts were left out [I thought lying by omission was against the law]
3. What would be the point in railroading Casey Anthony? 
4. Why did her trunk smell like something died
5. Why was she out partying when her baby was missing
   

These aren't  muddled questions.

I, like most of the public, saw the video clips during the height of this story. From what I saw, Casey Anthony didn't look like a grieving mother. All I kept hearing from her was "what about me, me, me!"

That fact wasn't misleading unless they doctored the videos somehow or the girl in the video wasn't Anthony but an AI [artificial intelligence].

Yeah, that's it, the girl in the videos was a robot.

Danish caricaturist Kurt Westergaard finally speaks out about his controversial cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.

Westergaard says: "Muslims need to develop a sense of humor"

I couldn't strongly agree more.

Satire and sarcasm are art forms not everyone can master. Some call sarcasm the thoughts of a weak mind. Those of us who relish satire and/or sarcasm know better.

When people don't understand their context they become offended. Those whose sensibilities are offended usually, are the ones with the problem. Especially if the offense is in the form of a harmless caricature.

One Muslim leader was ridiculous enough to put out a hit on Westergaard:

Several months after the cartoons were published, a Pakistani cleric reportedly offered 1.5 million rupees (16,700 dollars) and a car to anyone who killed Westergaard.  ===> READ MORE

Other Muslims took to the streets in the Middle East, Asia, Denmark and Africa in violent protests.

I remember thinking: How stupid they are for burning things and throwing rocks all because of a cartoon. I also wondered why in some of these places they don't get violent over the murdering of women for honor.

No, no cartoon can take away a person's or a group's right to vote or right to free speech or right live where you want. It's satirical art that makes some people snicker -- then they're done with it.

Westergaard was spot on when he stated: we can say you can speak freely, you can vote, you can speak out anytime, but there's only one thing you can't do -- you can't be free of being mocked or being offended  

Although depicting Muhammad in a comical or negative light may be against the rules in Islam, not everyone in the world follows or believes in Islamic teachings. There's more of a negative light surrounding Islam with its silence and/or denial on the subject of honor killings.

Muslims, like Christians, Jews, Blacks, Women, Men, Dogs, Cats, and any other group stuck by the tip of sharp satire, need to . . .  suck it up and get over it -- this is the way of free speech in a democratic world.

If you don't like what's depicted or said or written [in satire] -- ignore it.

Freedom of speech can't ever be silenced or all other freedoms will too, eventually become mute.