“You’re alive. Do something. The directive in life, the moral imperative was so uncomplicated. It could be expressed in single words, not complete sentences. It sounded like this: Look. Listen. Choose. Act.” – Barbara Hall, A Summons to New Orleans, 2000
Monday, October 11, 2004
Woot!
Woot.com is a fun web site that you should visit every day. It is a very different kind of eCommerce site. They sell exactly one item each day at a very discounted price, until the day ends or it is sold out, whichever comes first. A new item is listed on their web site every night at midnight. Really good deals often sell out within a few hours.
I’ve seen everything from T-shirts to toys to laptop computers for sale there. I’ve never bought anything from the site, the stuff I’m interested in usually sells out quickly and I’m not about to stay up till midnight to see what’s new!
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 10/11/2004 at 09:13 AM
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Wednesday, September 08, 2004
What Kind of Country Do We Live In?
The majority of Americans favor the extension of the assault rifle ban. A majority of Republicans favor this extension. A majority of Democrats favor the extension. Even a majority of gun owners favor the extension on a ban of assault guns. Yet, the current Republican-led congress will not send an extension request to a Republican President who has promised to sign it.
All because of the enormous lobbying power of the NRA.
I believe in the right for Americans to bear arms. While I don’t hunt, I certainly believe people should be able to hunt. I believe most hunters are honest, moral people who view hunting as a sport that involves skill and patience. They don’t need assault rifles to hunt.
I believe people have a right to defend themselves in their homes and on their property. But assault guns are not defensive…they are, well, ... assault guns.
There is no legitimate reason for these guns to be legal in the U.S. They are only of value to terrorists, drug dealers and other criminals. And, our Republican leadership in Congress wants to see them manufactured, sold, and used in America.
Step back from the emotional issues associated with this and think about what kind of country intentionally arms criminals, drug deals and terrorists.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 09/08/2004 at 06:59 PM
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Thursday, September 02, 2004
My Thoughts on the War in Iraq
It seems there is a lot of “revisionist history” being written around the Iraqi War. When Mr. Bush decided to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam, the stated reason was to “find and eliminate weapons of mass destruction and preemptively stop an imminent terrorist attack on the United States”. Clearly, neither of these was true. So, the new reason for the invasion is to “eliminate a brutal dictator who was suppressing and oppressing the people of Iraq, torturing people, engaging in mass murder, etc.”—All of which is true, but was not the original reason for the invasion.
And, if that is the motivation for invasion, then what are we going to do about Sudan, or Iran, or North Korea, or any other place in the world where brutal dictators are oppressing the population, engaging in torture or ethnic cleansing, etc? Are we going to impose the same high moral standards on them that we applied to Iraq and Saddam? Are they the next targets for preemptive war? If not, why?
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 09/02/2004 at 11:15 AM
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Monday, August 30, 2004
The Impact of Tax Cuts
I must confess that I’m a fan of lower taxes. But, I am very concerned about the deficit that the US is accumulating. And, I heard and editorial the other day that really made me angry.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 08/30/2004 at 01:30 PM
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Wednesday, July 07, 2004
The House Needs New Shingles?!
Over the weekend a man stopped by the house and declared, “You have those defective shingles on your roof.” Then continued to tell me about defective Owens Corning shingles that the company was replacing at no cost and that he could help me make the claim for new shingles and do all the work at no cost to me.
Sounded to me like a scam.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 07/07/2004 at 10:35 AM
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