“NEW” Inventions!!

There now exists a product called the "Dock 'n Talk". You buy an old fashioned, plug-it-into-the-wall phone…and buy the Dock 'n Talk and plug your cell phone and the old fashioned phone into and and voila!!! You now have a "docked" phone that is actually running on your cell phone's connection.

The arguments for this include:

• 1)it's easier to hold
• 2)The sound quality is better
• 3)can be located where the cell phone signal in your home is the best

Any day now they are going to come up with a tv without remote capability. "Watch TV and get exercise at the same time!! Get up and change channels! Get up and change the volume! The NEW "Get Up and Go Television"!"

And then…."New revolutionary calculating device! Requires NO solar panels. NEVER needs batteries!
Beautifully hand crafted beads keep track of your numerical entries and aid in complex calculations! New! NEW! THE ABACUS!!!"

And finally…"Keep up-to-date easily. Take today's news with you. Convenient! Easy to carry! Goes everywhere! THE NEWSPAPER!…And when you're finished with it, it has THOUSANDS of uses!

• Start a fire in the fireplace or barbecue grill.
• Line the bottom of a birdcage.
• Wrap unsightly or smelly garbage for easy disposal.
• Clever folding techniques can make unique party favors! Hats! Boats! Winged creatures!

And…It can be delivered RIGHT TO YOUR DOOR every morning! NO confusing news aggregators! NO complicated computers! NO cumbersome, tangled USB cables!

Just get it, read it, forget it! All the news you need, right at your fingertips. Convenient, portable and disposable! What could be easier??

AND…IT'S ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY!! Newspapers can be recycled!

What could possibly be better? Order now!"

Mark my words, people…it's coming.

Honoring Our Dead

Memorial Day

This is the day that we remember the fallen. Those who died defending our country.

We should take this day to remember, specifically, the men and women who died defending our country and the sacrifices made to keep us free.

The cost of freedom is eternal vigilance. We cannot ever forget that. There is no relaxing. No taking it easy. ETERNAL vigilance. There are constant and persistant threats to our security and freedom and they come from all directions and from unsuspected sources. 

Of course, there are the obvious threats. Terrorists, armed insurgents, unfriendly countries and governments. Those are easy to see, and prepare to defend against.

But…there are other sources that are not so easy to see. Illegal immigrants…a cancer eating us from within. Ignorance…American citizens blythly wandering around and eagerly ignoring danger. Laziness…"let (fill in a name) take care of it", or "Gee, I thought THEY were doing something about it." 

We live in a "representative Democracy". We elect people to represent us and our will.  Do you contact your senators and congressmen on a regular basis? Do you inform them as to your opinions and how you want them to vote on the issues? Do you even KNOW who your senators and congressmen ARE? Do you know what items are up for discussion and vote. These things are YOUR responsibility as an American. 

We are ALL soldiers of freedom! We have a job to do to keep ourselves and our country free. Are you doing your part? Did those brave men and women die for nothing? Think about it.

Moussaoui jurors reach decision

The jury in the trial of convicted 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui has reached a decision on whether or not he should be sentenced to death.

The verdict will be announced at 1630EDT (2030GMT).

Moussaoui has admitted involvement in the attacks and faces life in a US prison or execution.

Moussaoui, a Moroccan-born Frenchman, is the only person
to have been convicted in connection with the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Cutting back only remedy for drivers – BOYCOTT

Cutting back only remedy for drivers

By Jen Haberkorn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
May 1, 2006

Don’t like that $3 price tag at the gasoline pump? Don’t buy gas.
    It sounds harsh. But other than cutting back, there isn’t much drivers or politicians can do to send pump prices down this summer, despite all the proposals being tossed around on Capitol Hill.
    The high cost of gas is caused by supply and demand, as seen last week on the gasoline markets in New York, where the price fell 5 percent as drivers began conserving and gasoline supplies grew.
    The 32-cent spike nationwide last month was caused by four major factors, according to energy analysts:
    • Gas stations are required to pump environmentally friendlier gas during the summer than the winter. When the stations switch, around this time each year, they are required to completely empty their pumps before refilling, adding some cost to the pump price.
    • Last year’s Energy Policy Act mandated the switch, by May 5, from gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) to ethanol, which is supposed to be better for the environment. But ethanol, unlike MTBE, cannot be mixed with gasoline at the refinery and cannot be transported through pipelines, prompting the need for some new terminals, where the ethanol and gasoline can be mixed, and requiring separate shipping by rail, truck or barge. Ethanol, too, requires stations to empty and clean storage tanks.
    • Some refineries damaged by last year’s hurricanes are still not running; others are now doing maintenance that should have been done in the fall.
    • The standoff between the United Nations and Iran over the oil-rich country’s nuclear program, and political unrest in other oil-rich countries, such as Nigeria.
    Politicians last week rushed to propose solutions to calm irate consumers.

President Bush offered a plan that included Federal Trade Commission investigations into price gouging, improving fuel efficiency, halting deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, granting Environmental Protection Agency waivers to relieve fuel shortages, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and increasing the use of ethanol and alternative fuels.
    Senate Democrats proposed a 60-day reprieve from the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gasoline tax and a 50 percent tax on “windfall profits” of U.S. oil companies to fund a one-time, $450 rebate to low- and middle-income families.
    Senate Republicans proposed a $100 rebate to all taxpayers. (STUPID! They’re just patronizing us and treating us like children.)
    Industry analysts say those plans will do little to solve the real problem: demand. They say making gas cheaper will only fuel the problem because consumers won’t have any incentive to cut back.
    “Although it is a short-term measure that might decrease gas prices, in the long run, it’s largely seen as having negative consequences … it makes gas cheaper, thus promoting greater gasoline demand, and simply leading to a tighter gas market in the long run,” Michael Burdette, senior analyst at the U.S. Energy Information Administration, said of the proposed federal gasoline-tax reprieve.
    The federal and state gasoline taxes, which Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has suggested temporarily repealing, fund road construction.

(I say let’s boycott gas! That’s right…DON’T BUY GAS! For one fill-up per week, or part of the one fill-up that you need, just don’t buy it! If necessary, tell your employer that you cannot drive to work one day a week. If necessary, stay home. Of course, make or try to make every arrangement to get to work. Carpool, walk, take mass transit…whatever, but no matter what DON’T USE ANY GAS on that day. Encourage co-workers to do the same, just on a different day of the week. Encourage EVERYONE you know to drive 20% less/week. Or to use and purchase 20% less gas/week.

I GUARANTEE YOU that if America reduces their purchase of gas by 20% that the oil companies will find SOME way to bring gas prices down and FAST!

Talk this over with your friends and co-workers. If this seems at all feasible to you, please try! You’ll be helping you AND me!  I’m doing it right now, but I’m just one consumer. This must go further.

Please, don’t forget that you can always reach me via email at silverbear[at]gmail.com, or voicemail by calling 206-202-2283, or on my Bear Cave  site by clicking on the “Send me an Odeo” button.)