Nuclear Bombs

The debate leader asked the VP nominees under what conditions would they use nuclear power aka "nukes" during the presidency. I say this was definitely the stupidest question ever. I, the wonderful housewife, always at my best at 2am, will give you the proper answer.

If Al-Qaeda used nukes against us... Uhm, that's why were working so hard in Iraq and Afghanistan! We want to prevent this! Hello!

If Pakistan used nukes against us.... Well, if you're ACTUALLY worried about that situation, just elect McCain/Palin. He thinks she's too beautiful to be blown away by a nuke.

If Iraq used nukes against Israel.... Why is this a US Presidental matter? I'm sure that Israel would blow them away before they even called the President.

Our Pre-Hurricane Ike Drama

With a lot of family and friends in Houston, we've had plenty of Ike news and coverage. We're in Aggieland and our city was an oasis of electricity in the aftermath. The kids didn't even seem to notice the storm outside.

The Wednesday before the storm hit, Hubby and I went down with a chainsaw to cut the tree branches that had grown onto my parents' roof. We thought three limbs, one hour, and poof, we'd be done and on the road again. Hubby was sick and his last patient of the day had shown up a half-hour late so it was a bad start to the trip. I had added the cost of the chainsaw rental, gas to travel, and food for the road and came to conclusion that these three lousy limbs were gonna cost me $35 each to get cut. *grumble grumble*

Instead we were met with a jungle covering half their roof! My dad also kept pointing out spots we shouldn't step so we didn't fall through the roof. After three hours of heavy labor, we still weren't done but had to go home. Instead of one tree and three limbs, there were three trees that needed to be cut back plus two more that it wouldn't hurt to include. We cut and hauled in the dark until a pile 6ft high and as long as the drive was piled onto the street.

To ad insult to injury, heavy garbage wouldn't pick up the limbs the next morning as planned because they weren't cut into perfect three foot section and bundled. That morning, as Houston woke up and realized a big, nasty hurricane was bearing down on them, the tree cutters were suddenly swamped with calls. To get those branches removed, I had to call a dumpster hauling company and pay them $200. Well, it was my little brother who pulled the cash out of his summer savings account to pay the workers. I did promise to pay him back though.

Our work was enough that the side of the house roof didn't suffer any ripped off shingles. Darn! Considering how bad of condition the roof was in, I wish I had just let the hurricane finish it off and get it replaced under insurance!

Badges of Squiddom

(all names are approximations)

We’ll cover specific tires I like later. This is just a rant.

I notice in many forums the general question of which tire to use is rather a frequent one. I get the impression that many of those asking this particular question are newer riders or riders on a new (to them) bike. As the discussion begins, the usual names of what is popular at the time get thrown out. The list usually centers around the latest DOT race tires and those very closely related. The fact that someone recommends top-shelf or popular equipment somehow endows them with some form of automatic credibility. Those recommending such tires bear some badge of honor. Those who ask are really asking questions that most ad copy would answer, while those who answer respond with it. A lot of would-be experts on the matter buy tires that are able to perform way beyond their own riding capabilities and proclaim, ““Such-‘n’-such” from “So-‘n’-so” the best tires on the market, and anything else is just going to limit you or be dangerous. How could you even think of putting something else on a wheel?”

Isn’t internet anonymity grand?

"Expensive Sticky Race Tire Expert"

This one wouldn't be so bad if the forums were for new club racers and the like, or if the intent of the question was specifically track oriented. But the discussion involves harrowing and remarkable tales relating to how the race tire managed to save his life and rescue a cat from a tree at the same time. And so, the new STREET rider is left with the impression that only the stickiest of track tires is good enough to commute with or go to the grocery store on.

"Expensive Sticky Race Tire Rider on the Street"

Then there is a pecking order that soon to be debated in the way of mileage. Riders proclaim how quickly they swap their tires out in a contest of waste. Many also report needing more “contact patch area” to get through the turns safely and advise putting around half to three-quarters what the manufacturer recommends. A rider who gets 5-10k miles out of his tires is considered a wuss by comparison to one who has to swap his tires out every 1,500-2,000 miles. I'd be willing to bet they have chicken strips. That is, if they would put any air in the tires. Heck, I could do a long burnout and claim that I only got a quarter mile out of my last set of Super Tires! (I must be a motorcycling deity!) They claim to be spinning or sliding the tire, thus needing stickier rubber.

"Expensive Sticky Race Tire, at-the-Limit, Rider, Hero on the Street"

Trouble is, they’re spinning when it’s not even leaned over. But you won’t hear anyone recommending the DOT approved Micky Thompson drag tires. That wouldn’t be cool. They might lose the illusion that they are the next Gary McCoy. They don’t use any of the stick available on the sides of the tires and wind up swapping out tires that have a flat spot instead of being actually worn out. They want to have the appearance of being fast all around riders when they only know how to whack the throttle.

There are certainly many more badges in and beyond those of the tire sages. I myself wear badges of sorts, but I try not to wear it on my sleeve. I have experimented over the years with many tire brands and models. For the past two years or so, I have relied on and would recommend two to four tire models. Sure, I have tried others, but I keep going back to the same tires I finally found which complement my riding style. I ride year-round and in all weather since my bike is my primary transportation. I corner hard and gas it, but really don’t play much at the limit. I have fun when I ride.

Rain!

What's a weatherman to do when he gets caught in the rain?

From Rodney Harris of KBTX.com:

Well, we've been asking for rain and Mother Nature saw to it that we knew she was coming to town! A solid, spring-like thunderstorm moved across Bryan/College Station early Friday evening. The storm brought a brief period of very heavy rain, but more noticeably a lot of lightning. The lightning and accompanying thunder gave most of us plenty of warning prior to the actual rain falling... well most of us. I was awaken from a nice, afternoon nap -- with no say in the matter -- a little too late. By the time I built up enough courage to take on the storm, other Nature presented whatever amount of rain we got -- in my car! My windows were half-way down. At least we got rain right! I wonder which weatherman I should call and complain to? (hmmm) I'll think on it. Have a great, tax-free weekend.

It's really great to see rain in the area even though it's isolated.

Children have the amazing ability to memorize by sight an impressive amount of information, an ability that, as adults, we have "misplaced". However, this special ability is what also gave rise and credibility to the "whole word" method of teaching. Instead of using phonics and slowly building a reading vocabulary, the teacher could instantly impress a complete, basic vocabulary on the children, and they would remember it. Just as these parents are thrilled at their daughter's success, you can understand the joy and happiness of the parents to have a child reading so fast! It's a temporary joy- until the child ran into a brick wall, just like so many other kids who tried to memorize by sight our 60,000+ word language.

Not to be all dark and dreary, (even though I am in that kind of mood right now), this is what gives parents such hope and joy. "If she can do this, imagine what she can do when she's older!" Seeing this carefree girl memorize such impossibilities keeps parents pushing their children to their potential as adults through those tough-love years. :)

Good Intentions

So, essentially, what is happening is that we are shipping the exact goods that the Chinese people made back to them for relief.

From the Hawaiian Star Bulletin:

Help wings to China aboard Hickam C-17
Humanitarian aid: 6,000 winter coats arrive

BEIJING » An Air Force C-17 cargo plane and crew from Hawaii delivered thousands of jackets, blankets and boxed rations Friday to help victims of China's worst winter storms in more than 50 years, the U.S. Pacific Command and the Chinese government Xinhua News Agency reported.

The supplies were handed over in Shanghai to the People's Liberation Army,which forwarded them for distribution to parts of the country's hard-hit eastern and central regions, Xinhua said.

Happy Hanukkah!

From Two Wheeled Texans Forum:

Funny latke story:

Howard was to participate in a holiday party for his office the first year he moved to Texas, so he elected to bring latkes as he wanted to introduce his officemates to something other than the usual Christmas stuff. He got up super early to grind potatoes and fry the latkes fresh so they'd be hot and tasty when he got to work.

I called him later that day and asked how folks liked 'em, and he burst out laughing. Seems his latkes were snapped up pretty quickly, and when he commented on it, one of the larger African-American ladies patted him kindly and said, "Honey, this is Texas--it don't matter if it is Jewish, so long as it's fried!"

Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends out there. And a special shoutout to Talia Klein who went to Westbury with me!

Teddy Bear Terrorist

Here's a link to CNN's compilation of news articles on Gillian Gibbons and the teddy bear named "Mohammad". Her classroom use of the bear, sending it home each night with a child to write a story and share it with the class the next day, is a learning tool that my daughter's first grade teacher did too.

I'm glad that the punishment isn't nearly as bad as it could have been. With only 15 days, the government saves faces by actually setting her free instead of having talks with the UN and other nations to try to get her out of prison years from now. I'm thanking God for this small miracle.

However, this teacher will always live in fear of her life now. Some crazy jihadist believing in her guilt may try to offer her blood as a sacrifice to please his cannibalistic god. I pray that the Lord will give her peace throughout her life.

I'll also pray for all the former school workers who lost their jobs when they had to shut down the whole school over this debacle.

Beautiful Lady

The Elissa, a 100+ year old tall ship anchored in Galveston, is sailing in a race from Corpus Christi to Port Aransas. Y'all that haven't been blessed to live in Texas will remember her from the Statue of Liberty celebration parade of tall ships back in 1986. The officials couldn't let her be first; that honor went to the Constitution. She sailed in last, the oldest ship there in full glory, a sight worth waiting for as they passed the Statue of Liberty. Here's a video of her recently shot for the race.





Or you can look at this photo gallery.

Wow! I love looking at her, especially under full sail. I'm just too far away from Galveston right now to justify the gas money. Taking the kids out of school to let them see her under full sail - yeah, I can justify that! They did get to tour her this past summer though on vacation. The tour includes almost the whole ship and they even let you crawl up into the sleeping quarters. Boy, the ship has gotten a lot smaller from when I was a kid and toured it.

If my brother had been born a girl, my parents were going to name him Elissa after the ship. Not that my parents are somehow connected to the ship, but my dad is a history nut and the Elissa is romantic history alive today.

Good luck Elissa!

I'm Smarter than a California 8th grader!

Thanks to D-Ed Reckoning, I found a state exam from California consisting of questions from their 7th and 8th grade math, reading, science, and social studies test. I'm glad to be able to say that I passed all sections with a 100%.

Overall, I don't think the test was bad. I can definitely say that there's no way to measure a student's knowledge over the year with this few of questions. There were two questions in social studies concerning the pyramids that seemed to contradict each other. I had to think a bit about the physics questions. All the math I was able to do in my head or logically eliminate the other possible answers.

http://www.nctimes.com/test/

Take it for yourself!

Texas Aggies in the News

Aggies with Meningitis

There are two Aggies who contracted Meningitis recently. The good news is that one of them went home yesterday. Our prayers are with you both!

Aggies in the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal concerning the school and and school officials' liability from the Bonfire Collapse of '99. A lower court ruled that the school and officials cannot be held liable. The whole case revolved around some new concept of law called "state created danger."

Aggies Being Insulted

A fraternity from Texas Tech has managed to insult Vick fans, Texas Aggies and, the scariest of them all, animal rights activists. Yeah, the shirt is nasty and degrading but I don't think they should be banned from selling it.

Is the HPV Vaccine a Failure?

If the data from this article is correct, the new HPV vaccine is a complete failure, a total disaster that needs to be pulled from the market immediately for further testing. It has been available just one year in a limited market capacity and already there are eleven deaths.

From LifeSite.com:

US Death Toll Associated with HPV Vaccine Jumps to 11 with 3779 Adverse Reactions Reported

WASHINGTON, DC, October 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, yesterday released new documents obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, detailing a total of as many as eleven deaths related to Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil. Those deaths resulted between June 8, 2006 - when the vaccine received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - and August 2007 when the latest data was available.

The adverse reports coming from the HPV vaccine are increasing daily at an alarming rate. A LifeSiteNews.com report which scanned a publicly available database of adverse affects coming from the HPV vaccine found 3,137 adverse effects reported on September 28, 2007. Today the US Government's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) lists 3,779 adverse effects. 52 of the cases were deemed "life threatening" and 119 required hospitalization.

The article continues by highlighting two cases, one teenager found dead and another that experienced paralysis and lesions on her optic nerve. The reports obtained by Judicial Watch from the FDA can be viewed in their entirety. I admit I don't know why vaccines can cause such a wide range of side effects but it seems to be the case for many vaccines, not just this one.

My heart goes out to those parents.

What Texas Really Thinks

From Fox News:

WASHINGTON — President Bush, who presided over 152 executions as governor of Texas, wants to halt the state's execution of a Mexican national for the brutal killing of two teenage girls.

The case of Jose Ernesto Medellin has become a confusing test of presidential power that the U.S. Supreme Court, which hears the case this week, ultimately will sort out.

The president wants to enforce a decision by the International Court of Justice that found the convictions of Medellin and 50 other Mexican-born prisoners violated their rights to legal help as outlined in the 1963 Vienna Convention.

That is the same court Bush has since said he plans to ignore if it makes similar decisions affecting state criminal laws.

"The president does not agree with the ICJ's interpretation of the Vienna Convention," the administration said in arguments filed with the court. This time, though, the U.S. agreed to abide by the international court's decision because ignoring it would harm American interests abroad, the government said.

Texas argues that neither the international court nor Bush has any say in Medellin's case.

Now, this Press Release from the Govenor's Office does not directly relate to this case, but it gives you a pretty good idea of how we Texans REALLY feel.

From Governor Perry's Office on August 21, 2007:

Statement by Robert Black, spokesman for Texas Governor Rick Perry, concerning the European Union’s appeal that Texas enact a moratorium on the death penalty:

“230 years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination. Texans long ago decided that the death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens. While we respect our friends in Europe, welcome their investment in our state and appreciate their interest in our laws, Texans are doing just fine governing Texas.”

Needed: A large vacuum

I'm rather glad to know that, had I been in a situation like this, my husband would pick me up and walk us both out of there. In fact, had Mr. Peloski done just that, I'm sure he would have scored big points with the independent voters floating around right now. A "real man" earns a certain level of respect from society, even today.

From the Washington Post:

Whoopi Goldberg: Pelosi Admirer Extraordinaire

Sure, politicians always appreciate a warm welcome when they appear on daytime TV talk shows. But the welcome House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got today on ABC's chick TV show "The View" was more than warm - it was downright steamy.

Even before Pelosi walked on stage to take her seat at the round table, the show's moderator, Whoopi Goldberg, and its co-hosts - with former news anchor Barbara Walters leading the pack - started flirting with the speaker's husband, Paul, who was seated in the front row.

"You wanna take a look at Nancy Pelosi's handsome husband?" Walters asked the audience.

Yes, came the answer in the form of whooping and hollering. Poor guy was actually blushing. Then the show's hosts asked him how long he and Madame Speaker have been married.

"Forty-four years," Mr. Pelosi managed between pained glances in the direction of a blanket, a paper bag, anything to hide under.

Whoopi got the pleasure of introducing Speaker Pelosi, who she noted is the first woman speaker of the House who, somewhere along the way, managed to raise five children.

But Walters was still stuck on Mr. Pelosi, unfortunately for Mr. Pelosi. And this is where a little blushing turned to a Code Red alert, four-alarm fire.

Trying to shout over Whoopi and her other gabbing co-hosts and excited audience members, Barbara turned to Guest Pelosi and said she has heard Whoopi say before that she'd "do Paul Newman."

"And I think she'd like to do your husband as well," Walters deadpanned in that quintessential accent that made her the subject of late-night lampooning over the decades.

Of course, Whoopi being Whoopi, she couldn't let that one go, which is where the
speaker begins blushing.

Yes, Whoopi implicitly acknowledged, she'd like to do Mr. Pelosi - but she might take his wife while she's at it. "I would do her as well. But we should wait on that because you're still in office, I don't want to cause a problem."

Oh dear, would this were not live TV.

As you might expect, Speaker Pelosi remained silent underneath her signature permanent smile. And her press office later remained predictably mum on the specter of Whoopi-on-Speaker action.

You might also want to check out the comments left on this story. Quite a few of them are downright funny.

Life as a Hygienist

To work is good. Glad to be among the productive in our society. Now I only need to make twice as much money so I can hurry up and pay off school loans.

I am working in an office about 9 miles from the house. Friends have asked if we would move since my job was on the other side of town. (Sad isn't it?) No, we will not be moving. I like having a commute which takes long enough to get my engine warmed up and through a proper heat cycle.

The practice is bustling with activity and has a large staff despite only one dentist practicing in the office. I do my part as a hygienist. They do all their parts. I want to learn all their parts. There really is a lot going on that I don't see, even though I am as behind-the-scenes as it gets.

The patients I see now have a different perspective on their oral health from the ones who sought out the school clinic. Most who come to the school don't ever brush or floss. Many have never been to a dentist. Some may have never owned a toothbrush. They are willing to learn about what is bothering them because things got so bad.

Patients who come to a regular dental office have a high opinion of their oral habits, regardless of the true state of things in there. They take for granted their visits to the dentist twice per year. They must feel as though through association they will acquire some immunity or protection from oral problems.

People! You have to floss! Don't tell me you don't have any plaque in there. There's a ledge of tartar on your lower teeth that you can see whenever you smile! It's so big I could drive tent stakes into it!

Sorry, I get caught up sometimes. The point is, everyone needs to floss and brush. PROPERLY. If using the correct technique, there will be significantly less plaque accumulation, better health in your gums and bone structure, and little tartar to speak of.

I will need to describe such techniques in a future post.

Happy Labor Day! I am thankful I can say I have more work to do tomorrow!