Lester's Raves and Rants |
Raves = To speak or write with wild enthusiasm. Rants = Wild or uproarious merriment. |
11/18/07 Oh, wow! I did not realize it's been months since my last posting...shame on me. I guess I was busier than I thought I was. As usual, I have several projects going on as well as trying to return to updating the family's website which, by the way, we have pictures lined up but it's just a matter of time that needs to be alotted to get them organized, add text and uploaded to the www. AND Thanksgiving and Christmas is upon us, am trying to decide how much (or how little) decorating lights to be hung for this season. Gas prices....aaarrrrgggggghhhh! Need I say more? A good friend of mine sent me the below rant and the original writer is unknown, nevertheless, I wanted to share this with you: This should make everyone think, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent! From a California school teacher - - - "As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of: I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels. Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools. Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less then 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas" whores and throwing things that the teachers were in tears. Free medical, free education, free food, day care etc., etc., etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled to not only be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements? To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs. Higher auto and medical insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc, etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes. We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return? There are many hardworking Hispanic/American citizens that contribute to our country and many that I consider my true friends. We should encourage and accept those Hispanics who have done it the right and legal way. It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate, and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about "politically correct" that we don't have the will to do anything about it. If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know. CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about? Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage. Consumers don't want expensive produce. Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs. But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth, a farce, and a lie. there is no such thing as "cheap labor." Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or $6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free. He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent. He qualifies for food stamps. He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care. His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school. He requires bilingual teachers and books. He qualifies for relief from high energy bills. If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare. All of this is at (our) taxpayer's expense. He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance. Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material. He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits. Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills and his. The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up. Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT! Wake up people. THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR EITHER PARTY. 'AND WHEN THEY LIE TO US AND DON'T DO AS THEY SAY, WE SHOULD REPLACE THEM AT ONCE!' THIS HAS GOT TO BE PASSED ALONG TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE OR WE WILL ALL GO DOWN THE DRAIN BECAUSE A FEW DON'T CARE ! 06/05/07 Is Big Brother Watching You? Oh, yeah! On the Internet! This is one of those risks one runs in a digital democracy, where we're all, presumably, free to do as we please, but we run the risk that some camera, routinely recording everything that's going on, will catch us doing something that may take some explaining. For example: The old argument, "If I've done nothing wrong I have nothing to hide," doesn't cut it here. The guy outside the porn shop may never have gone inside--but might have to have an awkward conversation with his wife? Or his boss? Or his internet savey mother? Cameras are sprouting up everywhere, with three at various McDonald's, one at Starbucks, nine at the movie theater, twelve at the front of Wal-Mart, and I'm sure maybe 15 more inside...or was that 51? There's a live camera inside those red light camera boxes. Those traffic camera views you see in the news are accessible by the internet. Heck, just last week I saw a crew setting up a highway cam on the interstate. In New York City, the average person is recorded on cameras around 75 times a day not counting being in front of the network studios in the mornings. Police in Washington, DC are creating the "nation's biggest network of surveillance cameras" to monitor public areas all over the Capital. While you're looking at Lincoln sitting in his Monument, he'll be looking at you. Next time you are in view of a camera, say "Hello, Big Brother!" 04/28/07 You could say that my favorite local TV station WRAL TV5 has REALLY gone Communism: YES! They really kill the shows they rebroadcast for CBS (which proves in AND of itself that WRAL wants to rid itself of relying itself of network programming). If and only "if" there is a simple, but very simple but yet important phrase on a CBS show's story line that features the word 'piss' or 'bitch' WRAL automatically kills the audio of the sentences. Please note I said sentences, not "word(s)", however, WRAL WILL allow the word 'penis' be spoken on the air. One hour of 5, yes, 5, intertwined plots of a recent very excellent episode confused the population of the Research Triangle Park of North Carolinia but did not confuse the remaining population of North Carolinia must less the good ole US of A all because WRAL decided to silence the second half and the first half of any sentences broadcasting containing the words piss or bitch. If your closed captioning is on, then you can read everything that's scripted. Jeez.. From slashdot.org: Microsoft Vista and IE7 Banned By U.S. DOT "According to a memo being reported on by Information week, the US Department of Transportation has issued a moratorium on upgrading Microsoft products. Concerns over costs and compatability issues has lead the federal agency to prevent upgrades from XP to Vista, as well as to stop users from moving to IE 7 and Office 2007. As the article says, 'In a memo to his staff, DOT chief information officer Daniel Mintz says he has placed "an indefinite moratorium" on the upgrades as "there appears to be no compelling technical or business case for upgrading to these new Microsoft software products. Furthermore, there appears to be specific reasons not to upgrade."'" Comments from readers about the above article: This is an agency that is very conservative. I mean, it's illegal to have curved driver side mirrors in the US for pete's sake... *Warning - Operating systems may appear more compatible than they are*... "..there appears to be no compelling technical or business case for upgrading to these new Microsoft software products. Furthermore, there appears to be specific reasons not to upgrade." The DOT is just figuring this out now? Hell, most of us knew this years ago... 1968: "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" 1996: "nobody ever got fired for buying Microsoft" 2007: "you're both fired!" Why should anyone upgrade to IE7? IE 6 is 5 1/2 years old and should be regarded as a legacy platform because it is stacked full of band-aids (security patches). "there appears to be no compelling technical or business case for upgrading to any Microsoft software products." Why? Because every Tuesday there is a security patch for a broken operating system. Microsoft sux, eh? 02/03/07 Why I Hate Time/Warner/AOL. Circa 1980: Moved to a mobile home park in north Raleigh and was refused cable service by Cablevision of Raleigh because there were no ports available to serve me even though all of the mobile homes around me had cable service...huh? I pleaded with the local sales rep...no can do says he...huh? Well, says I, add a splitter. No can do says the rep...huh? "Why not?" says I. He says that if they add a splitter, the signal will degrade for everyone else...huh? I knew better as I worked in video electronics at the time, so I says, well. add a signal amplifier. No can do says the rep...huh? Well, I asked, what does Cablevision have against me? Not a thing, he says, we just can't provide a quality signal to you. So I responded by saying "So Cablevision is going to loose out on getting $40 a month from me by not making an effort to provide me with basic cable service and 2 premium channels? 'Fraid so says the rep. So I tells the rep: Here's my promise to you and the company: If you will not be kind to provide me with cable, I will be kind not to do business with Cablevision AND their parent company for as long as I live. Go ahead and laugh: November 6, 1984, Cablevision of Raleigh's franchise was up for renewal during the local elections and just before entering the building to vote, a Cablevision supporter handed me a flyer to encourage me to vote for them instead of a competitor. After briefly glancing over it, I remarked that I already knew who I wanted to be my cable provider. The supporter asked if she could have the flyer back because they were running out of flyers to give away. I said "Of course!" I tore up the flyer and gave her the pieces. Years later, Time/Warner bought out Cablevision...guess why I canceled my subscription to Time and Popular Science magizines? Again, years later, Time/Warner and AOL joined forces, didn't matter to me, AOL was a fluffy and overpriced service to start with although just last year AOL gave in to the competition by providing their e-mail services free...kinda late in the game, eh? I have satellite TV and I watch TV in hotels in my travels. Do I watch CNN, TBS, TNM, HBO? Nope, nope, nope, and no! New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. movies come to my TV sets are provided free by my local TV stations...I'll watch but I won't pay. Mmm, let's see how much money they didn't get (lost) from me for the past 27 years....oops! I ain't working for them..... 01/23/07 Does Your Favorite TV Stations Sucks? Two of mine does! Two of the Research Triangle's biggest competing TV stations are WRAL, a CBS affiliate whose owners, Capital Broadcasting owns and operates several TV and radio stations, not only in the RTP area, but as well in Charlotte and the Wilmington areas, and WTVD, a ABC affiliate, originally an CBS affiliate whose owners Capital Cities in 1986 brought out the ABC network forcing WRAL, originally the ABC affiliate, to switch to CBS. A little footnote here: Disney Studios has since bought out ABC/Capital Cities. Capital Broadcasting Company (CBC) did the actual development of the HDTV format as well as being the first in the country to broadcast in HDTV. CBC also owns over ten media groups, several internet groups, a local baseball team, and renovated The American Tobacco historic district in Durham. WTVD and WRAL are NOT true affiliates of their contracted networks. These two stations have a severe habit of pre-empting their network programs for sports and/or charity programs lurching TV network viewers in the dark without their favorite programs. WRAL is the most offending abuser of this hated pratice although they do add a moniker banner over the network promotion text of upcoming shows they are pre-empting. "To be broadcast at 2:37am"... what?...am I supposed to set my alarm clock at 2:36 so I won't miss it? My wife does not know how to program the VCR, so I tried prgramming my VCR to start at 2:36 and to stop at 3:37. Well guess what? The tape started at 2:36 but the program "To be broadcast at 2:37am" did not actually start until a few minutes later. I timed it and the program started 10 minutes after my tape started which equals to 2:47. Did I watch the program? Why should I? I'm going to miss the last 10 minutes so why should I watch the first 40 minutes? Another prime example: During severe weather events, all three local affiliates pre-empts network programming to broadcast the same thing, same weather info, same business/school closings, etc, etc. Hey! Here's an idea! Each station can take turns for each event. That would be an excellant community service! Or they can do this, the technology is there, split the screen in half! Network programming is already closed captioning so put that in one half of the screen and the crap, also closed captioning, on the other half. TV is already in stereo, so put the audio from the left screen on the left channel and the audio from the screen on the right on the right channel. Everybody wins, right? Hint: The TV stations double their advertisement revenue! Gee! I wonder why they haven't done this already? Back in the good ole days with those BIG satellite dishes, you could aim for the networks' satellite's signal and you'd be good to go. Now, not only they are scrambled, almost no one uses them...except for birds and for Christmas, rednecks decorated them as large Christmas wreaths. Nowadays, with the smaller 18-20 inch dish, you are still stuck with the same local channels that you can get off the air. For those living in the boondocks, one could request from their dish servicer to receive network programing and they would receive a combo package of New York stations and California stations. Use to be, we local customers could do the same thing but now your local station decides whether or not you can receive a distant station. My satellite provider is giving me NBC stations from New York and California but the Raleigh NBC station WNCN doesn't pre-empt regular network programming...duh (except for weather events). So, if your local station decides to pre-empt network programming and you don't want to watch the crap they are showing, why the f**k should they care that we want to go to a station that IS carrying network programming? Sounds like communism to me. 01/11/06 My New Year's Message My heartfelt appreciation goes out to all of you who have taken the time and trouble to send me "forwards" over the past 12 months. I want to wish each and every one of you a very very prosperous New Year. Thank you for making me feel safe, secure, blessed, and wealthy. Extra thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat crap or the roach eggs in the glue on envelopes, because I now have to go get a wet towel every time I need to seal an envelope. Also, I scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason. Because of your concerns, I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains, car battery corrosions and in the process eat thru the metal parts of the car around the battery and may eat my guts out as well. I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave, because it causes cancer. I no longer check the coin return on pay phones, because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS. I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants, even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day. I no longer go to shopping malls, because someone might drug me with a perfume sample and rob me. I no longer receive packages from, nor send packages by UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise. I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan. I no longer eat KFC, because their "chickens" are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers. I no longer have any sneakers -- but that will change once I receive my free replacement pair from Nike. I no longer have to buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe. I no longer worry about my soul, because at last count, I have 363,214 angels looking out for me in addition to all of you dear friends. Thanks to you, I have learned that the Great Being Above only answers my prayers if I forward an e-mail to seven hundred of my friends and make a wish within five seconds. I no longer have any savings, because I gave it to a sick girl who is about to die in the hospital (for the 1,387,258th time)... I no longer have any money at all - but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program. Yes, I want to thank you so much for looking out for me, that I will now return the favor... If you don't copy, paste and send this as an e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 7 minutes, a large flock of pigeons with a wicked case of diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM (EDT) tomorrow afternoon and crap all over you. I know this will occur, because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's third cousin's beautician. Have a Happy New Year.....and hopefully more Raves and Rants! PS: Thanks to JWS for the above, although I will admit to doing some little editorial changes. 06/11/06 Yep, it's been a long, long time...hey...wait a minute...I just said that in my last posting...er..wow...7 months since my last post. With my concentration focusing on collecting, processing data and photos on my other websites, my dedication stays on the most visited site. So....only because today is a rainy Sunday, I decided to do a little posting here. I will, however, do a little ranting on one current event: America: A mixed breed of individuals from all walks of life from the world over seeking freedom and work in a land of opportunity. If you live here you have to work here and then, using our currency, you buy our staples to sustain your life here then why in the hell can't you speak our language? Greeks and Italians came over and learned our lanuage...so did the Chinese and Japanese...let's not forget the Russians and other nationalities...english they speak. When we Americans go overseas, we accommodate ourselves by getting translator books, translator devices or even hire an translator. If you want to live but don't speak english in my country, then learn our language or go back where you come from. Pure and simple. Till next time... 11/04/05 Yes, it's been a long, long time since I've posted any Raves or Rants here...with good reason too! I've been busier than expected so some of my ongoing projects were put on the back burner. This page was the only page of my projects that was put under the back burner and is the last page pulled up for me to update. What was up? Well, taking care of some Reunion business was the main thing and it took just about the majority of my spare time, especially as the Reunion date got closer. Oh, I had some help, a fantastic one at that, niffy help, neat ideas, and all that good stuff. We are not complaining at all as it was very worth the time expended. Lot's of very positive comments were received! Now that we got this under our belts, we know how to improve our planning on the next go around.....if asked. Then we took a vaction afterwards to recuperate...yeah right. What would normally take a full day to return from Indianapolis, took us 2 and a half days. Had to bring back a bucket truck that was "stranded" in Indiana back to Raleigh. Without going into complete details, let's just say it was not drivable at night and the heater will not turn off.....in 78 degree weather! OK, enuff of that, This just in: (For those of you who are not aware, North Dakota and southwestern Montana got hit with their first blizzard of the season a couple of weeks ago). This text is from county emergency manager out in the western part of North Dakota state after the storm. WEATHER BULLETIN Up here in the Northern Plains we just recovered from a Historic event --- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 24" inches of snow and winds to 50 MPH that broke trees in half, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed all roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands. George Bush did not come.... FEMA staged nothing.... No one howled for the government... No one even uttered an expletive on TV... Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards..... No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House... No news anchors moved in. We just melted snow for water, sent out caravans to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars, fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Aladdin lamps and put on an extra layer of clothes. Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early...we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves. Everybody is fine. (Credit:) Thanks, John! 04/26/05 Mo Quotes Overloaded: What happens if you get scared half to death twice? A synonym is a word you use in place of one you can't spell. On the other hand, you have different fingers. Give me ambiguity or give me something else. Copy from one is plagiarism. Copy from two is research. Consciousness: that annoying time between naps. On average, we forget 80 percent of what we learn on any given day. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. Never test the depth of the water with both feet. Always keep a record of data - it indicates you've been working. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. To some its a six-pack, to me it's a support Group. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. Everyone has a right to be stupid, some just abuse the priviledge. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. If you don't like the news, go out and make some. Warning: Dates on calendar are closer than they appear. We do precision guesswork. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works. If you drink, don't park. Accidents cause people. If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help. Real women don't have hot flashes, they have power surges. Sumo Wrestling: Survival of the fattest. Common sense is the least common of all senses. Work is for people who don't know how to fish. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire. We are all born naked, wet, and hungry....Then things get worse. It's not the bullet that kills you, it's the hole. 04/02/05 Working on taxes is aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! 03/05/05 Quotes Overloaded: Why is it that when you're right no one remembers but when you're wrong no one forgets? (Contributed by Don F.) Is it true that 'Understanding' is a three edged sword - your side my side and the truth? (Contributed by Erik Freeman) Are you telling the truth if you lie in bed? (Contributed by Mike Dahl) Why is it that everybody we know who is right always agrees with us? (Contributed by The Procrastinator's Aid) If the truth is out there does anyone know the URL? (Contributed by Alex Petty) If honesty is the best policy, then why does the truth hurt? (Contributed by Ashley Gallant) If truth is beauty, and beauty is truth, why do women wear make-up? (Contributed by Eric Crandall) What IS the point? (Contributed by Smileyface) Is the truth really out there? (Contributed by L.M.) Is it possible that some of these questions being asked are so ridiculous, you can't even consider them a question? So they're more like a false statement, aren't they? (Contributed by Big Slim Dogg) If you read this notice would you notice that this notice is not worth noticing? (Contributed by Leslie Hickens) In order for children to be taught to speak the truth, isn't it necessary that they should learn to hear it? (Contributed by Samuel Johnson) What is really real? (Contributed by Beckie) To have hope, one must first be a believer, right? And to be a believer, you must first have doubt, right? So isn't it true that to have no doubt of the truth, one has no need of hope or belief? (Contributed by Michael Levy) If your pants catch on fire, does that mean you are lying? (Contributed by Valerie) How come what is right is often forgotten by what is convenient? (Contributed by Herman) If the truth is out there, how come no one ever looks for it? (Contributed by the Alley Cat) What do you say when someone says you're in denial, but you're not? (Contributed by T.M.) How do you expect the unexpected since it's unexpected? (Contributed by EM) The truth will set you free, right? But before it does, won’t it make you angry? (Contributed by Jerry Joiner) Whew! Truths be told, eh? Thanks to: http://www.gadzillionthings.net/Think179.html 02/08/05 Every now and then, I get a surge of e-mail requests from what I call "e-mail addy database assistance servers", namely, Plaxo & Ringo, supposedly to help "keep your address book automatically updated and save hours of wasted time and frustration", or "you and your friends will automatically receive updated information from each other". One of these outfits says "We do not send members unsolicited emails.", the others does not mention whether or not they send members unsolicited emails. (Makes you wonder why they leave that infomation off of their website). Do I respond to these requests? Nope! It's not my responsiblity to update somebody elses addy book with the wrong information. I have 7 e-mail adresses with Yahoo, 2 with my ISP account, and 2 apiece at 3 of my 7 websites. What this boils down to is if I update friend #1 with the information for him/her, that specific information automatically gets updated to ALL members of Plaxo's and/or Ringo's members. So family member #3 as well as all of my business associates will receive the wrong information just because I updated friend #1 and then all of my expected e-mails will go to the wrong accounts. So because I avoid updating YOUR address book, I save myself "hours of wasted time and frustration"! Therefore I thank you very much for the invite, but no thanks! Anyway... Did you read/hear about the U.S. government virtually forcing Public Television not to air a cartoon rabbit encountering a lesbian couple with a kid in Vermont? There's your moral high ground: We can shove "democracy and freedom" down the throats of foreigners, but we won't sanction cultural debate in our own country. All the christians are happy that their religion is taking over the government. If they keep it up, who's to say what will happen when freedom-loving people get pushed too far by the christians? Public Television = http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2005/01/29/sweet_buster_is_far_from_radical/ From: Archmage as posted in http://archmage.livelog.com/ 01/25/05 I am a full-blown NetNerd! No more shame, no more hiding, no more excuses! I can stand up and say, "I am a NetNerd...and darn proud of it!" Yep! To celebrate, I'm going to brag about a website I've been keeping an eye on for about two years because it has finally matured. You're listening to the radio and you hear a great song but you don't know the name or artist so you stay in the car hoping the DJ will announce the name or at least the artist. The song finishes and another song plays so you wait till this song finishes hoping the DJ will announce the recent songs played or the radio goes to a commercial, aaarrrrggggg. The DJ is not doing his job, right? Well problem solved. Make a note of the time the song started as well as the station's frequency, get on your PC and go to www.yes.net. Pick your city/state, station frequency, and the time. Bingo! The song you heard is listed. Most major metropolitan areas are listed. Hey, works for me! As long as you check within 12 hours of airplay, otherwise, it gets dropped off the list. 01/08/05 I really think some of the pictures taken in today's world are becoming obsolete. With a film cam, those unwanted pictures are usually not discarded, oftentimes they are stored somewhere til the owner dies and the heirs goes through them and discover a "long lost photograph", or finds a picture of a famous person before they became famous, a landmark before it was torn down or renovated or even a picture of an event at a different angle. Usually a "major" discovery is announced on the news but this doesn't happen nowadays because with digital cameras you can delete uneeded or excessive pictures when you are running out of memory. No more "long lost photographs". Have you ever noticed anyone going slower than you is an idiot and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? Mo Quotes: Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace. --John Fitzgerald Kennedy Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. --Robert Kennedy The high office of President has been used to foment a plot to destroy the Americans freedom, and before I leave office I must inform the citizen of his plight. --John Fitzgerald Kennedy Columbia University, 10 days before his assassination Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. --John Fitzgerald Kennedy (originally spoken by Marcus Tullius Cicero) Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. --John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address Washington, D.C. January 20, 1961 Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.- Theodore Roosevelt We have the responsibility of modeling a future deaf citizen. Are we going to add another handicap or are we going to be able to say: "Here, world, is an asset to your society, give him a chance and he will not fail you?" Ben E. Hoffmeyer, 1958, (NCSD Superintendent 1955-1970) 01/05/05 I think everything about organized church is fantastic, except for that irritating religion part. Seriously, belonging to a church in a community is a wonderful thing. It's social, non judgmental, friendly, helpful and caring. I just wish I didn't have to buy this whole "son of God" story. Why would somebody create a religion that is so hard to believe. I understand maybe silly religious rules made sense in the beginning, but wouldn't society be so much better off if we had a church we could really believe in, not just pretend to? 01/02/05 Did you know that: By law, Homeowner Association covenents can not prevent you from installing antennas and/or satellite reception dishes. The United States Congress directs this through Section 207 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.For more information,click here http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html Inventions for 2005 Wish List: An electronic transmitter that would instantly shut down automobile sound systems pounding out loud rap or techno music from inside nearby cars. Press a button and there'd be blissful silence. A device that would create an irresistible urge to steer to the right in drivers who creep along in the left lane at 10 mph or 20 mph below the speed limit. A way to deliver mild electrical shocks to the steering wheels of people who fail to use their turn signals when changing lanes or turning corners. And the most needed invention of all: A virus to disable the e-mail of anyone who sends spam on behalf of a mail-order drug company or male enhancement herbal preparation. C'mon inventors. Get cracking. There's real demand out there! Culled in part from an article from: Neil Westergaard, editor of the Denver Business Journal, an affiliated newspaper. http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2004/02/09/editorial2.html?page=2 Publication: Business First of Columbus © 2004 American City Business Journals Inc. 12/30/04 If you happened upon this site in the last day or so, wondering what happened to my other websites, well you've come to the right place: The hosting service that is servicing these sites is having problems of some sort, even their own website is down. 99.9% uptime? Well, one of my 3 sites has been on it since Jan. 2, of 2004 and now it has been down for less than a day so 3 more days would meet their 99.9% quota and the other two sites were signed up the weekend before Christmas. You think I'm a little tee'd off? You better beleive it, but I gotta give them credit because, as far as I know, this is the first time, that I'm aware of, that they are having some sort of problem(s). So hang on, I'm keeping an eye on it! 12/01/04 The ongoing daily information explosion: TV, HDTV, VCRs now DVDs, satellite, cable, newspaper(s), billboards, magazines, tabloids, and then you have the internet, the worlds largest, yet still growing library. And yes, you have managed to pull yourself away from whatever you were doing to come here and I sincerely thank you for coming to my little corner of the web to read some (hopefully all of my) rumbustious ramblings. I hope you provide yourself the necessary time, after reading this page, during the holidays to spend time with your loved ones. Be sure to say I love you, give them lots of hugs, and scratch their backs! Since I have various quotes scattered on this page, I am going to continue this but with the Christmas theme: There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions. --Bill McKibben Author, Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case For a More Joyful Christmas A Christmas candle is a lovely thing; It makes no noise at all, But softly gives itself away; While quite unselfish, it grows small. --Eva K. Logue Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. --Mary Ellen Chase Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothing out for us to miss or seek; bound together all our home enjoyments, affections, and hopes; grouped everything and everyone round the Christmas fire, and make the little picture shining in our bright young eyes, complete. --Charles Dickens Christmas is a time when everybody wants his past forgotten and his present remembered. What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day. --Phyllis Diller The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin. --Jay Leno What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus? Claustrophobic. --Unknown 11/23/04 As for the basketbrawl that occurred over the weekend, the Indiana Pacers, the Detroit Pistons as well as the fans involved, each participant should accept any punishment that the NBA and prosecutors gives them. On top of that, everyone of them should go to the same anger management class. The same goes for the footbrawl participants that occurred with the Clemson Tigers and the University South Carolina Gamecocks. 11/22/04 A video game to kill a President? And to top it off by releasing the game on an anniversary his death? How low can a company get? Whether you love or hate JFK, this is pure scum if you ask me. I hereby challenge the same video game designer and manufacturer to provide a video game where the game designer AND the owner(s) of this game be kidnapped and the kidnappers demands that if the production facilities are not destroyed the kidnapped victims would be beheaded. 11/17/04 Why do I have to swear on the Bible in court when the Ten Commandments cannot be displayed in a federal building? Which begs the bigger question, if the Ten Commandments cannot be displayed in a federal building, how come the word God has not been removed from the US money bills? The all-time best computer error is one from Microsoft, embedded in MS-DOS: "Keyboard disconnected or missing. Strike any key to continue." Scientists have concluded their research into the possibility that non-existant things might actually exist. 10/15/04 Update on the 09/24/04 entry: (Last Line) Why is it that when you drain a can of black olives you are left with only 3/4 can of black olives? DEAF APOCALYPSE OF THE WEEK: A certain deaf club has been struggling with its declining membership numbers; yet when that deaf club hosts an annual banquet, the dining hall is packed with non-members easily outnumbering members. And when non-members are asked to join up, they're pretty much good with all kinds of excuses on why they do not sign up. DeafDigest Blue - October 26, 2003 Blogmaster's Note: This looks typical at most Deaf gatherings mentioned above. What is not mentioned and what I will assume is happening is non-members are charged extra for attending these gatherings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can lead a horse to water but.. how?. And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.....huh? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AOL I'm not confident the new AOL Time Warner (broadband) president Lisa Hook will lift the small unit to prominence. AOL is sooo for the neophyte user. It's brand doesn't work as a plus in the high speed arena. Here's why: AOL is designed for the Internet user who doesn't want to think. Yet the vast majority of those online are thinkers and being online doesn't really require thinking. AOL's attempt at doing everything for you - which is good for your first year online - is bothersome for those with online experience. Most people who have yearned for broadband, already have learned to avoid AOL. Or, if they are on AOL, they want to shed the training wheels. Besides, why would one want to pay $22 for AOL when you are already paying $45 for broadband service? For that matter, why would you pay $22 for AOL when you could pay as low as $10 for 56k service and just click on IE to surf. 10/11/04 Update on the 09/25/04 entry: Q. What is a Coda and What is a CODA? A. Coda is a human being whose parents are deaf; CODA is the name of the organization representing the Codas - DeafDigest Gold - October 3, 2004 10/03/04 If you been watching the news lately, researchers were saying people who suffer from caffine withdrawal should now be classified as a psychiatric disorder. My question now is how many hours of television does one have to watch before that is called a psychiatric disorder? How many hours in front of a PC for that matter? As you know, caffeine is a common ingredient in many prescription, over-the-counter headache medications, cold remedies, coffee, tea and chocolate, and it is often added to soft drinks, blah, blah, blah. Instead of eliminating caffeine laced products in one day, just replace that last caffeinated drink of the day with a sports drink, the next day, two sports drinks and less two caffeinated drinks, the 3rd day, 3 sports drinks, minus 3 caffeinated items and so on. Pretty easy, eh? OK, how many hours of watching TV during the week/weekends would it take to be considered a psychiatric disorder? Worst case option: Let's take a homemaker who turns on TV at 6 in the morning to catch the weather to determine the clothing for her kids. TV stays on but she does her daily homemaking chores, watches Regis, Dr. Phil, The View, noon news, afternoon soaps, & Oprah. Yes TV is still on, does her chores during the commercial breaks. 5pm rolls around, starts supper, kids and hubby starts coming home. Hubby watches the evening news during supper which brings 12 hours already that the TV set's been on for the day. It stays on till say 11:00 and the TV in the bedroom is turned on to watch the late news and late show till 12:30. Total hours the TV is on just on Monday would be only 18 hours. Monday through Friday, 90 hours she has the TV on. Saturday and Sunday, well the TV would be on but different members of the family would be watching it. Yet, the kids are out with friends, hubby is outside doing something and the homemaker is still in the house, 36 hours on the weekend, plus 90 hours = 126 hours that a TV set is on near the homemaker. The question now is would the homemaker be considered of having a psychiatric disorder for watching this much TV or making her hubby pay the electric company for having the TV on for approx. 540 hours a month? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Time for Quotes: I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.--Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943 Nothing of importance happened today. --England's King George III, diary entry, July 4, 1776 You can always get the truth from an American statesman after he has turned seventy, or given up all hope of the presidency. --Noted abolitionist, Wendell Phillips This "telephone" has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.--Western Union internal memo, 1876 Do; or do not. There is no try. - Yoda (The Empire Strikes Back) 09/30/04 Gone With the Flood - Frankly my dear, we could use a dam. - Seen on a T-shirt on a local TV newscast. 09/25/04 Deaf Acronyms Barry Strassler, better known as the editor for the sucessfull DeafDigest newsletter, likes to spice up his articles/editorials with acronyms without telling subscribers what those acronyms mean: CODA = As best as I could tell means Child Of Deaf Ancestry. While researching through 3 search engines, I found KODA (Kids Of Deaf Ancestry) and CODP (Child of Deaf Parents). CART: Of the 21 acronyms that I could find on "CART", it means Computer-Assisted Real Time services which is mostly used in courtroom settings. Now, they are saying CapTel (tm) will replace CART. CapTel? Captioned Telephone. CapTel users can listen to the caller, and can also read the written captions in the CapTel's bright display window. CapTel is currently only available in states that offer the CapTel Captioning Service as part of their Relay Service. CapTel (tm) will replace CART in courtroom settings? Maybe. The CART that Barry is mentioning remains unknown....then again it might mean Computer-Assisted Real Time services but in a different service environment. Lester's Acronyms: BTW, I have been subscribing to his newsletters 4 a better part of 3 yrs now. Hope 2 c u @ HC! 09/24/04 Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. - Sir Winston Churchill Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not. - Oprah Winfrey, in Good Housekeeping The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance.....it is the illusion of knowledge.......- Stephen Hawking "I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony (1820-1902) "The greatest joys of life are happy memories. Your job is to create as many of them as possible." - Brian Tracy "I didn't pay attention to those who pointed out my limitations. If I had, I would have never realized my dream." - Roy Orbison If you are not registered to vote, then you do not have the right to complain who is in office or who is running for office - Source Unknown Why is it that when you drain a can of mushrooms you are left with only half a can of mushrooms? - Lester 09/17/04 With all the destruction that's occurring with the hurricanes, you would think that with all of the debris that's accumulating, someone would come up with the bright idea that at least 99 percent of the resulting trash should be recycled. Downed trees equal firewood or mulch and dead plants can also be converted to wonderful mulch. Metal, steel and aluminum from appliances, canopies and even roof tin are recyclable, same with glass. Wood from houses, oh yeah, they can be cut to the next standard size and what's left out can be converted to particle boards or pulp to make paper/cardboard. Roofing shingles can be recycled. Vinyl siding can be melted to make more sidings. PVC/ABS pipes can be melted down to make more PVC/ABS pipes. Copper pipes can be melted down to make more pipes....or pennies for that matter. Better that than to hear "Not In My Backyard" from your neighbors when the local communities are looking for another landfill location to replace the ones that are fulling up.....DUH! I was over at Wal-Mart last weekend and the Christmas decorative items are already for sale and the Horrorween items could not be found! What's next, a year round Christmas department? 09/12/04 "I do think that radio is the most enormously magical medium in a way that television simply ain't!" - Douglas Adams Revised to: "I do think that the web is the most enormously magical medium in a way that television or radio simply ain't!" - Lester Latkowski Eat well, stay fit, die anyway. Go to heaven for the climate and hell for the company. There is nothing as powerful as the wrath of an attacked democracy. Support our Troops, It's the American Thing To Do! To our beloved Americain Soldiers: You make it possible for us to express our freedoms and to live protected by your actions and service to our country. All of you men and woman are a credit and role model to our county, people and society. May the heavens bless and protect all of you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Why is an electrical outlet called an outlet when you plug things into it? Shouldn't it be called an inlet? Does it take two half-salers to make a wholesaler? When cooks work we say they're cooking so when chefs work why don't we say they're cheffing? Can you trust a thin chef? Are barber poles white with red stripes? Or are they red with white stripes? The above 5 lines I can't take credit for, I thunk it was sent in by my bro Dave a while back...but where he got it from he didn't say. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DEAF TICKET SELLERS IN BRAZZAVILLE, CONGO There was a story of a soccer league in Brazzaville, Congo, replacing hearing ticket sellers with deaf ticket sellers. The hearing ticket sellers were letting too many people in without paying for the game tickets. Bribes, corruption, whatever but the league was losing money on dwindling ticket sales. Solution? Fire all the ticket sellers and to hire deaf ticket sellers as replacements. It is hard to argue with a deaf ticket seller on getting in without paying up. Results? Ticket sales have gone up. DeafDigest Blue - March 14, 2004 DANGERS OF BEING ACTUALLY DEAF IN PUBLIC We have deaf people wearing hearing aids. We also have deaf people use sign language. Both are so normal and so common among the deaf - yet these may represent dangers. One deaf driver, adjusting his hearing aid while driving, was pulled over by the police and accused of using a cell phone, illegal in the state. And when a group of deaf people walk through a dangerous neighborhood they need to be quiet, their hands down lest their innocent use of sign language be interpreted as trying to communicate via Gang Sign Language. DeafDigest Blue - June 20, 2004 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "MISSING, PRESUMED NON-EXISTANT" Here's an advert in the September 5, 2004 issue of the DeafDigest Gold Edition - == NEW! A BRACELET THAT HEARS YOUR CELL PHONE ! == Be alerted when your cellular phone rings with this new and attractive bracelet! The Cellular Bracelet flashes when a signal is received within three feet of your phone. Never miss those important calls again when you need to silence the ringer of your phone. The blinking lights also alert you when you are in a noisy environment or distracting atmosphere. For your other hearing needs, Potomac Technology has everything, all under one roof. Shop online at http://www.potomactech.com Or call toll free at 1-800-433-2838 (V/TTY) for a free catalog. OK, I was interested in the bracelet, did I find it in their website? Nope! Did they lose a sale? Yep. I could have called toll free but if I can't see what it looks like, I will not buy it blind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DeafDigest is a pretty good national weekly e-zine for the Deaf. Some weeks there is a "Tech Tip of the Week" section sponsored by an outside vendor. Well, all is handy-dandy until the Tech-Tip writer invites you to his website "for the latest technology news and reviews for the deaf" (http://www.deafTECH.info) The website is very informative but as of this writing, it was last updated 9 months ago and does not include the Tech Tips for the world to see. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Two-thirds of Internet users don't have broadband service." And as far as the statistics of how many people are on the Internet, don't take it as the holy truth. You must question how they come up with those figures. Most of these are by counting the number of new e-mail addresses which is a bogus count. Many people have more than one account. Some people have a few dozen! They are still only one person. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quotable Quotes Do onto others, then run like hell! - Lester Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something. - Thomas A. Edison I rant, therefore I am. - Dennis Miller Silence is the fence around wisdom. - Source Unknown If you believe everything you read, you better not read. - Source Unknown If I know who wrote it, I'll tell ya.... Take Care, Live Well, Do Good and above all... Be Kind. Lester © Lester Latkowski 2004-2007 This web page created with Cool Page™. It's FREE! |
