I have to admit to being a little behind things. It took me awhile to get the news on the BTK killer, as we have no TV, internet access limited to library time, and a local newspaper that's pretty spoarse as regards national news. But the more I read on the BTK case, the more I got the chills. The BTK killer wasn't the stereotypical killer. He was not a recluse, but very involved in his community and church, a family man. He was someone's next door neighbor, someone who shook many hands...

Well, folks, I have to say, I've been pretty hard at work, and am feeling an early dose of spring fever even though we probably have a winter storm left in the year. I went out and bought a copy of this year's "Writer's Market". Once our taxes get in, I intend to get a computer and start writing seriously. I've identified a few magazines that are strong potential markets for my work, and now have given myself the confidence (through blogging) that I CAN stick with my longer projects long enou...

Strangely enough, while I'm not usually a proponent of "train wreck" TV, I have to give a certain amount of "props" to "Celebrity Makeover". Why? Well, put simply, it has served to underscore a problem with weight loss that many people who have never been fat don't consider. I have lost over 100 pounds over the last two years (although I went back up a bit over the winter, it was nowhere NEAR my pre-diet weight). I have rolls of loose skin on my torso, and "flaps" below my arms from where ...

Well, I've been peeking at my beloved M's as they prepare for the season. They made some good offseason moves to restore the team that flopped monumentally last year (if not for Ichiro, NOBODY would have tuned in the M's game after the all star break) to the status of perennial contender they had previously enjoyed since 1995. Adrian Beltre, Aaron Sele, and Pokey Reese would all have been good additions individually, but put them altogether (along with the return of former closer Jeff Nelso...

I was amused at a look back at an old article I "bumped" recently. It was my first featured article, and in one reply, the comment was made "man, you bang the same drum over and over". Well, after months of blogging on JU, I have a reply to that, one that is much better than the one I initially gave (incidentally, no ill will to the individual who made that statement: I respect his views greatly). Yes, I bang the same drum over and over, and for many reasons. I bang the drum of freedom, the s...

Well, the latest "racial profiling" information came out, and our county, at least, has numbers that should be deemed acceptable. But the articles left me wondering about pockets in the country where minorities actually DO commit more than their "percentage" of crime. We have tried crime prevention techniques, we have tried education, but those seem to have worked to little effect. The prisons are overrepresented by minorities, meaning either a) we have a corrupt political system that targets mi...

I love my darling children. I especially loved them today when our power bill showed we had used 122 fewer kilowatt hours in February than in January...and thus saved almost ten bucks (our primary heat source is gas, so it can't entirely be attributed to a warmer month). Now, we're gonna try to chop it down a little further over the next few months, but....it's great to have kids that help save money. Here's how we accomplish that, for those who are asking (hehe): The children's allowan...

I know I've told you in a previous blog that I have a tendency towards paranoia. But a lot of it stems from a time when I wasn't paranoid enough. I can't be specific, but suffice it to say, we were blindsided by a radical doctor who disapproved of our personal practices (all of which are legal) and attempted to place us on a de facto  probation by requiring weekly home visits from the public health nurse and a county social worker. She also demanded that my wife breastfeed our 16 month ...

Jamie Foxx really irritated me last night. Now, I didn't see the movie "Ray", and can't comment on whether his performance was Oscar worthy or not (although can't help but feel a little Oscar hypocrisy when they denied Denzel for so many wonderful performances on the premise that he hadn't built up a significant enough body of work to get an Oscar, and when he finally received one, it was for one of his LESSER roles). I have only seen clips from "Ray", and what I have seen definitely causes m...

Apparently, the New Jersey Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has too light a workload. The group filed a complaint against Kraft Foods for its plans to make "Gummi roadkill" animals (snakes, squirrels, etc), complete with tire treads, on the premise that it teaches children to be cruel to animals. See, this is why juvenile violence is on the rise. No longer is it PC to "experiment" on flies by removing their wings and limbs one by one, or to put salt in increasingly smaller conc...

I am convinced we're a nation of masochists. Whoman has been exhibit A on that score. For every post I put up stating ideas and goals for advancing the Libertarian Party, he tells me how stupid and futile my efforts are (interestingly enough, he's a rabid democrat who seems to hope that if he belittles me enough, he'll get me to see the error of my ways and go running back to the Democrats, no matter how stupid I see their party as being. Some logic, huh?). But in all fairness, it goes muc...

Very few shows can be pinpointed to the very DAY they jumped the shark. In my opinion, Saturday Night Live is one of those few. On October 3, 1992, the now infamous Sinead O'Connor episode,in which she ripped up a picture of the pope, aired. The once cutting edge comedy now had the same "cutting edge" as a pair of kindergarten safety scissors, as SNL caved to the outcry of the critics and the exclamations of "blasphemy". NBC, incidentally, has never allowed that clip to be shown again in reru...

A brief headline on Yahoo! attracted my attention, although I doubt it will receive NEARLY the attention that it deserves. Peter Benenson, the founder of Amnesty International, passed away at the age of 83. I have been involved with AI in one capacity or another for nearly 20 years. Amnesty International was probably the first organization that awakened me to the fact that I truly COULD make a difference, in a meaningful way, that could impact individuals I will never know on faraway shores I...

Now don't get me wrong. Administration here has the right to make their own decisions, and I respect that, but moderateman's article on rating bloggers got me to thinking. There are a few bloggers on JoeUser that I greatly miss. Sir Peter Maxwell, for his bizarre and irreverent sense of humour. Even though I understand how he crossed the line with some people, he did develop my satirical sense a great deal. And I have to thank him for that. David St. Hubbins is another. Though his response...

Ok, here's a hypothetical scenario: Let's suppose you belong to a large social club. Here are the ANNUAL dues for the club: $8566 per household member for the national club (or, $34,000/family of four) $5104 per household member for the state chapter (or, $20,000/family of four) $800 per household member for the city chapter ($3200) This country club, in other words, imposes annual dues of over $57,000 for a family of four. Now, suppose the membership isn't optional. In order to LI...