Columbus Day? Ha!
William Least Heat Moon (Best known for 'Blue Highways' I suppose? and River Horse , which I forgot to loan you when we were out there.)wrote a work some time ago that really soured me on the mystique of Columbus. Give it a read and see if the last vestiges of your childhood "1492, sailed the ocean blue" fades away quickly to be replaced by revulsion. The greed for gold, racism & cruelty were unbounded.Columbus in the AmericasWilliam Least Heat-MoonISBN: 0-471-21189-3http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471211893.html
- posted by Jim @ 2:23 PM 0 comments

 
Driving Tips - Netscape Autos
Driving Tips - Netscape Autos: "Even more interesting was the writer's perspective. Unlike traffic cops, who make you feel like a serial killer for speeding, the book states that the majority of tickets are issued to generate money for government municipalities. Insurance companies benefit from traffic tickets, too, raising your rates when your driving record shows a moving violation. The National Motorists Association claims that costly radar guns are donated to police departments by some insurance carriers to encourage them to write more speeding tickets"
- posted by Jim @ 1:50 PM 1 comments

 
:: NASA Quest > Women of NASA ::
:: NASA Quest > Women of NASA ::: "I was only 5 years old when I knew for certain that I wanted to be a scientist. I grew up in West Virginia, and my grandparents would always take me, my mother and my sister for weekly drives in the country. One day we drove to Greenbank, WV to the National Radio Observatory and I saw the original 300-foot radio dish. Surrounded by nearby mountains, the dish looked majestic and I became fascinated with it. When I asked my grandfather what it was for, he said that people use it to look at the sky during the day (!) to see stars and galaxies. I immediately knew that I wanted to do this too and I said with great determination 'I am going to use that telescope when I grow up!' Of course my family was amused at this, but I was committed. I knew in my heart that I would do it. Almost twenty years later as an astronomy graduate student at the University of Maryland, I was required to participate in a hands-on observing run with a member of the faculty. I jumped at the chance to go to Greenbank and soon found myself at the controls of the 300 foot telescope. It was so exciting to finally have achieved one of my dreams. I only wish that my grandfather had lived long enough to see it. Two weeks after my visit, on November 15 1988 at 9:43 pm, the telescope collapsed due to a failure in the structural support for the antenna. "
- posted by Jim @ 3:01 PM 0 comments

 
pressconnects.com | 11/02/05 | News Story
pressconnects.com | 11/02/05 | News Story: "The 444-mile-long Susquehanna is the largest river basin on the Atlantic seaboard, draining 27,500 square miles in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland before spilling into the Chesapeake Bay, the country's largest estuary where fresh and salt water mix to create a unique habitat for oysters and crabs.
Farmers in Pennsylvania and Maryland are undertaking efforts similar to Aman's, said Susan Obleski, a spokeswoman for the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, a Harrisburg, Pa.-based agency that coordinates the water resources efforts of the three states and the federal government.
In Pennsylvania, the state recently announced stronger manure and nutrient management regulations for both large and smaller scale farming operations that require 100-foot setbacks and vegetative buffer zones intended to protect the state's waterways, said Kurt Knaus, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
In New York, the Susquehanna empties much of the south-central portion of the state -- about 4,520 square miles -- in parts of 14 counties: Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Herkimer, Madison, Onondaga, Oneida, Otsego, Schoharie, Schuyler, Tioga and Tompkins.
Hardly more than a stream as it flows south from Otsego Lake, the river meanders through wide valleys, rolling hills, dairy farms and dense woodlands, passing through mostly small towns and villages. The only cities on the river in New York are Binghamton (population 47,380) and Oneonta (13,292).
In April, American "
- posted by Jim @ 4:20 AM 1 comments

 
ClickOnDetroit.com - News - Funeral Arrangements Set For Rosa Parks
ClickOnDetroit.com - News - Funeral Arrangements Set For Rosa Parks: "Parks To Lie In State
The House on Friday passed by voice vote a resolution allowing Parks to be honored in the Capitol on Sunday and Monday 'so that the citizens of the United States may pay their last respects to this great American.' The Senate approved the resolution Thursday night.
Parks would be the first woman and second black American to receive the accolade. Jacob J. Chestnut, one of two Capitol police officers fatally shot in 1998, was the first black American to lie in state, said Senate historian Richard Baker. Parks also would be the second non-governmental official to be commemorated that way."

I meant to post this in my other blog. Blogger sometimes won't let me switch the first post after logging in. The reason I am leaving this here is because on that day, on that bus, that driver(and the way a very large portion of our population treated other people) sucked.


(Ernest Green [Little Rock Nine student]: For 381 days, people walked to work, or carpooled. Today, we buy a rubber bracelet to support a cause.)
- posted by Jim @ 4:05 AM 0 comments

 
27Oct05
10:15PM(ish)
Rt-50 Westbound

Do you think there is any way you could justify tailgating for four and a half miles over the Bay Bridge? The two right lanes were closed and there was an obvious line of cars I was not going to be able to pass if I sped up and closed the quarter mile gap going uphill. You continued to ignore my requests to BACK OFF by the occasional use of my four way emergency flashers. DICK!

We reached the last half mile (The actual construction zone with live humans five feet from our bumpers) where you still refused to stay off my bumper.

When you were shown what it is like on the flip side, you rushed past me and started tailgating some other poor soul in the Rt-424 area. You're a JERK.
- posted by Jim @ 3:47 AM 0 comments

 
Single Glass of Wine Immerses D.C. Driver in Legal Battle
Single Glass of Wine Immerses D.C. Driver in Legal Battle: "Neither the police department nor the attorney general's office keeps detailed records of how many people with low blood alcohol levels are arrested. But last year, according to police records, 321 people were arrested for driving under the influence with blood alcohol levels below the legal limit of .08. In 2003, 409 people were arrested.
Although low blood alcohol arrests have been made in other states in conjunction with dangerous driving, lawyers, prosecutors and advocates of drunken driving prevention said they knew of no place besides the District that had such a low threshold for routine DUI arrests. In Maryland and Virginia, as in other states, drivers generally are presumed not to be intoxicated if they test below .05. Nationwide, .08 is the legal limit -- meaning a driver is automatically presumed to be intoxicated."
- posted by Jim @ 1:49 PM 0 comments