Entries from October 2006
October 26, 2006 · 1 Comment
An Oklahoma retired veteran and state school superintendent candidate is campaigning to have bullet-proof textbooks. Bill Crozier tested traditional textbooks to see what, if any kind of bullets a textbook would stop. The traditional textbooks were able to stop handgun bullets, but not rifle bullets. Crozier is suggesting making the covers out of Kevlar.
Here’s an idea.
Ahem.
Instead of worrying about making textbooks out of Kevlar, why don’t we concentrate on trying to make schools safer, for God’s sake?! Is this truly what the world is coming to? Is society really THAT DUMB? Seriously, now! This is not rocket science.
Here’s a thought: how about more security at schools INSTEAD OF Kevlar textbooks?!
I have a two-year old who will be attending pre-school late next year. Should I be expecting Kevlar LEGOS, next?
This is actually a perfect representation of the theory of "Treating The Symptom, and Not The Problem" thinking that is so prevalent in today’s society.
These are certainly not humanity’s brightest moments ever.
Categories: Human Interest · Politics
Seriously, I’m so sorry that I forgot to mention this particular bit of info.
Want Open Source?
We post scads of
free downloads here on Lifehacker, but today instead of pimping yet another Google product, I’d like to tip my hat to the open source developers who release innovative, useful products that make our lives that much easier every day - because it’s our right, not privilege, to control our own data.
Open source roots are in the Unix operating system, but these days many "free as in speech" applications are available for Windows as well - and today I’ve got a list of my top 10 favorites.
None of these cost a dime to download and use, but do donate whatever and whenever you can to the projects that benefit you the most.
You know that’s got to be
Lifehacker. Sigh. I would devote some quality time reading that article, if I were you.
Really, I should do a plug to another
long-forgotten post that I made about subjects similiar to this right here in POW - the blog.
But I won’t.
See what I did there?
Categories: Free · Free Stuff · Human Interest · Lifehacks · Open Source · Software
October 23, 2006 · 1 Comment
Today I came across a website that claims to tell you how many people have your name in the U.S.
According to this website, two hundred and seventy people have my name, which I find vaguely suspicious, but eh, well.
I would also like to add that 268 of them have worse credit than me, extensive criminal records, are tax evaders and are dodgy individuals in general.
Actually, I have no idea about that.
However I have to keep the Justice Department and FBI on their toes.
Categories: Human Interest · Internet
October 18, 2006 · 1 Comment
WASHINGTON (AFP) - It is by no means dead, but for the first time, a new survey has shown that traditional marriage has ceased to be the preferred living arrangement in the majority of US households.
The shift, reported by the US
Census Bureau in its 2005 American Community Survey, could herald a sea change in every facet of American life — from family law to national politics and its current emphasis on family values.
The findings, which were released in August but largely escaped public attention until now because of the large volume of data, indicated that marriage did not figure in nearly 55.8 million American family households, or 50.2 percent.
Certainly, there’s a lot of reasons that this is the case. Point one being divorce, which tends to rip ex-husbands to shreds. Of course, there are a lot of other reasons as well. I prefer to think of it being a lot of people, men and women, choosing wisely. Just because two people don’t have a piece of paper doesn’t mean that they can’t stay with each other forever, will each other a mess of money, and make promises to one another.
Categories: Human Interest · Legal · Politics
…and it’s in a Dilbert cartoon.
Want to see it?
Here it is.
‘Unified Theory of Everything Financial’
Quietly hidden in Adams’ groundbreaking work is a financial formula so simple it rivals Einstein’s E=mc2. In its original form Adams’ formula was apparently so heretical and so explosive that no major house would touch it when he proposed publishing it as a one-page book. After initial rejections, he announced sadly that “if God materialized on earth and wrote the secret of the universe on one page, he wouldn’t be able to find a publisher” either.
Fortunately for America’s 95 million investors, Adams’ secret nine-point formula was finally revealed in “Dilbert and the Way of the Weasels.” Notice its simple brilliance in the exact reproduction of his formula:
- Make a will
- Pay off your credit cards
- Get term life insurance if you have a family to support
- Fund your 401k to the maximum
- Fund your IRA to the maximum
- Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it
- Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account
- Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement
- If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio
Where? MarketWatch.
Now, articles like this are the reason that I blog in the first place. What am I doing of the above?
Well, I *was*doing at least two of these.
However, I will START doing all nine.
People, you know you should bookmark this post.
I’m buying that book. Quickly.
Categories: Finance · Investing
I’ve been trading emails with Loren Coleman lately about the rash of school shootings in recent weeks. On September 14, Canadian Kimveer Gill attacked. He was said to have had a fondness for the Columbine shooters (he certainly loved the game). A number of similarly of deadly incidents followed, right up to today’s death spree at an Amish school in Pennsylvania. Seems like a lot in a short period of time. Coincidence, or social phenomenon?
(CNN) — Pennsylvania schoolhouse killer Charles Carl Roberts IV told his wife he molested young relatives 20 years ago and was dreaming about molesting children again, police said Tuesday.
Investigators talked to relatives and analyzed suicide notes as they tried to determine what made Roberts barricade himself inside the tiny Amish school, tying up girls and shooting them — five fatally — before killing himself Monday.
Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Jeffrey Miller said Roberts may have targeted the school for its girl students and — given various items found in the school — intended to molest the children. ( Watch police describe the molestation confession — 1:34 
)
Roberts brought KY Jelly lubricant to the schoolhouse where the assault occurred, but there is no evidence that the victims were sexually assaulted in any way, Miller said.
That’s no meme. But yes, you read that right.
KY Jelly.
Oh, dear.
Exactly when does one get that particular idea, to bust into an Amish schoolhouse with some KY, kick out the male students, segregate the female kids, execute them, and off himself? When?
Dark days. Dark, indeed.
By committing suicide, this man got off rather easily, indeed.
Categories: Human Interest
