World Shut Your Mouth

There is nothing that important to say that justifies you being on your cell phone while you are in a car. If you can't wait to say it, then it's probably not worth saying. I don't care that you are baking muffins right now, or that you're tired, or that you hope Duke wins, so skip the facebook or twitter post. What compulsion is it that makes people feel they have to communicate every thought that comes into their head (or that anyone really cares to hear it)? I think only 3.6% of those thoughts are probably interesting or valuable, so why won't everyone just shut up for the other 96.4% of the time?

Need some furniture?

I'd recommend furniturenc2nyc.com. There's not much out there in terms of a review of this business, so I'd thought I'd write a few comments. This is the second time I have ordered furniture from this "company". It's really a mom and pop operation (literally), who personally make the trek from the furniture warehouses in NC to the tri-state area every other weekend.

Their prices can not be beat. I purchased a dining room set, and they were about 30% below retail, and 18% below the best price I could haggle locally. Not only that, the customer service is top notch too. The local store tried to sell me on the "buy local" trend. In this case, buying local meant waiting 8 weeks for delivery, paying $700 more, and not being able to get a piece I wanted due to it being discountinued. furniturenc2nyc.com was able to deliver all the pieces (including the "discontinued" one) in two weeks for $700 less.

There was one piece that was not ready in the finish I specified, so they brought a floor model for me to use until the ordered piece was in stock. When's the last time a local shop gave you a "loaner"?

The only downside is you might have to help carry in the furniture. As I said, it's a literal mom and pop operation. The owners, Chuck and Sandra were fully prepared to do all the moving themselves. My gentlemanly upbringing wouldn't allow me to stand by and watch, so I pitched in. Well worth the $700.

We've lost our minds

"Proposals to tax the flatulence of cows and other livestock have been denounced by farming groups in the Irish Republic and Denmark.

A cow tax of €13 per animal has been mooted in Ireland, while Denmark is discussing a levy as high as €80 per cow to offset the potential penalties each country faces from European Union legislation aimed at combating global warming.

The proposed levies are opposed vigorously by farming groups. The Irish Farmers' Association said that the cattle industry would move to South America to avoid EU taxes.

Livestock contribute 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases believed to cause global warming, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. The Danish Tax Commission estimates that a cow will emit four tonnes of methane a year in burps and flatulence, compared with 2.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide for an average car."

So it's "change" you want...

Well then buckle your seatbelts, because it's change you are going to get.

'Preppie killer' is headed back to prison

August 11, 2008 3:32 PM
NEW YORK (AP) – New York’s so-called “preppie killer” is headed back to prison.
Robert Chambers already served 15 years behind bars for strangling a woman in Central Park during what he said was rough sex.

On Monday, he pleaded guilty to selling drugs. The Manhattan district attorney’s office says Chambers is promised 19 years and four months in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 2.
He and his girlfriend were charged with dealing cocaine out of their Upper East Side apartment in 2007.

Chambers became tabloid fodder in 1986 after the death of Jennifer Levin. The slaying was splashed across the headlines as the story of a handsome prep school youth gone bad. He pleaded guilty in 1988 to manslaughter and was released from prison in 2003.



Hmmm. 15 years for strangling a young girl, 19 years for dealing cocaine out of your apartment? There is something very wrong with the "system".

Now write that on the blackboard 250 times....

"Michael McDonough, 17, said he learned his lesson after the July 2007 plot that prosecutors said was masterminded by a younger boy. Authorities said the plot was timed to mark the anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.

Police have said the teen also tried to purchase weapons and explosives online and made a video describing the attack, which they had intended to carry out on April 20 -- the ninth anniversary of the Columbine shootings.

State Supreme Court Justice Robert W. Doyle ordered McDonough to immediately begin serving 5 years of probation.

As part of the sentence, McDonough agreed to continue weekly counseling administered by his priest.

"I'm sorry about what happened," McDonough said. "It will never happen again."

WTF? "I promise that I will not plan to shoot and kill or mame any students or blow up anything ever, cross my heart." OK, then just make sure you speak with a priest once a week and we'll forget it ever happened. Now who wants some ice cream?

$4 Gasoline

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has an estimated 10 billion+ barrels of oil.

"ANWR is larger than the combined areas of five states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware), and drilling along its coastal plain would be confined to a space one-sixth the size of Washington's Dulles airport." (George Will)

Congress won't allow drilling. Our presidential candidates are opposed to drilling.

Brilliant.