I've done a complete 180 on 180s.

So, I found a pair of "180s" ear warmers in the lost-and-found at our shop a few winters ago. Not to sure about the whole ear-muff thing, I washed them up and immediately threw them in a corner. But in a pinch one January I put them on for a winter bike ride and EUREKA!(latin:I have found it!) I was able to kiss sore throats and sinus infections goodbye! They are that good. Don't get the crappy imitations though because, well, they are crappy imitations. Depending on the time of year you can pick them up for between 8-15$.

Ouch...

DING DONG!!! The Witch is Dead!!!

Philip Schoonover,the CEO of Circuit City, was fired/forced to step down by shareholders this week. Schoonover was the jackass who fired 3,400 of Circuit City's most experienced employees because "they made too much money". Understandably, this crushed employee morale and helped lead to a 11% drop in sales this past quarter alone. How does it feel, Phil?

Mass Exodus

From time to time I turn to the Bible for comfort and religious guidance. I mostly stick to the parts quoting Jesus as he seemed to be compassionate and level-headed. Jesus was a "cause guy" and I dig that about Him. But then I get to the parts of the Bible that they somehow never covered in Sunday school and I have the shit scared out of me. Take this little, chicken noodle soup for the soul, passage for example:

20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money".
--Exodus 21:20-21

Got it. I'm glad we have the whole legality thing cleared up when it pertains to beating another human being with a club. But what's even scarier is how "Christians" will try to put a positive spin on the whole passage like this joker-->Link. Oh, I get it noowww. They weren't really slaves, per se, but willing employees. I like how these "defenders" debate the semantics of slavery and completely ignore the fact that the Bible is condoning physical abuse. Still need a little more guidance concerning your responsibilities in the slave trade? Read on...

"When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment". (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)

Wow! Polygamy too? This is definitely the band wagon that I want to jump on. Not.
No wonder they called this part of the Bible "Exodus"...

Same Planet, Different Worlds

"Live simply so that other's may simply live." -Ghandi





Note: The second photo was taken by South African photographer Kevin Carter during the famine in the Sudan. This heartbreaking photo of a collapsed girl on the way to a relief station is entitled "Wanting a meal" and won him a Pulitzer Prize. Three months after receiving the award Mr. Carter committed suicide. He was 33.

Engineer Gets 110 MPG Out Of '87 Mustang

I normally won't comment on anything related to the state of Ohio but this is the exception. Click this LINK to hear about an important invention that will probably be sabotaged by an oil-company spy.
So a guy(Doug Pelmear)in his garage can figure out something like this but highly paid engineers at automotive and energy companies can't? I wonder how many inventions/modifications have been shelved as it just might cut into oil profits. I thought this quote was interesting:
"I'm an optimist, and I think people need to know there is hope out there," Pelmear told the Toledo Blade. "That's why I decided to enter the X Prize race. I could have sold this [technology] off, but then people might not have seen it."

Ode to George

He was crude, lude and rude but he sure will be missed...

A World Not Worth Living In...

While we focus our attention on rising gas prices, the "Presidential Election" and Heidi Klum being given a "Peabody Award" Link, it's only natural that a little thing like the extinction of Frogs and Bats might slip under the national radar. Both populations have been declining from loss of habitat but now they both have a fungal disease which is threatening their very existence. And of course the fungal disease is being attributed to the rise in global temperature. Even if you never really liked frogs and/or bats I bet that you like the fact that they eat more than their body weight in bugs everyday.

But I for one like frogs and bats, God Dammit!!! I used to catch (and release) frogs as a boy and I've always felt ever-so-grateful to the bats flying around my head because I knew that I wouldn't be attacked by mobs of mosquitoes. So even if you don't like those creepy frogs and spooky bats could you please do me a personal favor so I might want to continue to live on this planet? Could you please not drive to the store in a Hummer while you pass a bus full of people using mass transit? When you produce a product could you do it responsibly? Could you not have a family of three live in a 4000sq. ft. house? Maybe you could build your house in the city rather than woods or wetlands? And, ironically, when you go to visit our remaining natural wilderness could you please not drive a fucking 8-mpg Winnebago to get there? What's it going to take for some of you to get on the fucking bandwagon and help the cause?!? The extinction of dogs, maybe? Or how about horses? Birds? Man? Do you honestly want to see your children or grand children live in a world where they will never get goose pimples from a bat flying outside their window or hear the chorus of frogs on a warm, spring night?

Maybe you don't give a shit about that. If that's the case then at least do it for yourself. With warmer temperatures and more insects in the air that means Malaria will be coming around soon. It's already spreading in America's south. Maybe West Nile Virus, I heard that's pretty fun to contract. And don't forget that Ebola, Impetigo, Dengue Fever and Yellow Fever like it when it's hot out.

We are Americans. And as Americans we produce 25% of the world's pollution even though we account for 5% of the human population. We have to do something or at least try to do something for bats, frogs, our kids, ourselves, our planet and our future as a species. And if you still don't care about the world we may live in then I leave your heart with one more bit of information for it to ponder. The Koala Bear is on it's way out the door as well...