World's smallest car

The world's smallest car!



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I just finished reinstalling all my programs on my phone. Why? I had to do a hard reset to factory conditions to get rid of a program that just wouldn't uninstall! I should have seen the problem coming when the rogue program had to reset my phone to complete the install. No program has ever done this before on my Pocket PC Windows 6 based phone.

When the program wouldn't even see my music files, (it was a music player) yet saw every other file on both the phone and memory card, I attempted to remove it. It wouldn't leave! I did a clean install to see if I could get it to uninstall, and now there were two. Deleting the files by hand left icons in my program list. So I went to the program's web site and carefully followed the uninstall directions. The result? Three icons in my program list! Now this is not some unknown program. I've used it on my Palm Pilot for music. I have it on my desktop and laptop for video. The program? RealPlayer Mobile for cat's sake! And of course there is no support for Real's free programs. What a crock of you know what!

So here's the drill do a hard reset, resync with the pc (which has renamed the phone and won't let me change it), reinstall all the programs I've put on there that I still want on there, including a different music program (s2p), which, since I can't find the setting, probably won't turn off the backlight, so I'm stuck with the old one, PocketMusic, I was using and no longer like, or Windows Media Player, which also doesn't turn off the backlight, or Pocket Player which I like but is a commercial product that I have to pay for.

You know this kind of sucks...

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Broken Window Theory

I've known of "The Broken Window Theory" for some time but I finally figured out where it came from. This is from the Las Vegas Review Journal Sunday December 21st column from Sherman Frederick:

He recounted, "A 1969 Stanford experiment in which two cars were abandoned— one in the mean streets of the Bronx and one in a rich neighborhood in Palo Alto, Calif.
Within 10 minutes the car in the Bronx was vandalized, and within a few days it was stripped and smashed to pieces.
In Palo Alto, the car sat untouched for more than a week.
The psychologist conducting the experiment then went up to the untouched Palo Alto car and took a sledgehammer and smashed part of the car. Soon, passersby took turns hitting the car with the hammer, and in a few hours the car was demolished.
Several years later two University of Pepperdine criminologists used the Stanford experiment to put forward the “broken windows” theory of crime: When a broken window in a building is left unrepaired, the rest of the windows are soon broken.
Why does a broken window invite further vandalism? It sends a signal that no one is in charge, that breaking more windows costs nothing and has no bad consequences. This phenomenon can be extended to graffiti, panhandling, littering and a host of other acts. In short, once people begin disregarding the norms that keep order in a community, both order and community quickly unravel."

In other words in communities and schools and even our homes, we do need to "sweat the little stuff!" if we are to maintain a pleasant environment for us and those around us.

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I have no idea who to credit this next with, but they are absolutely true! So here they are 25 absolutely true statements, beginning with a quote from Thomas Jefferson, that sum up my political views on guns nicely!

"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not."
~ Thomas Jefferson

1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.

2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.

3. Colt: The original point and click interface.

4. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.

5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?

6. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.

7. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.

8. If you don't know your rights, you don't have any.

9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.

10. The United States Constitution 1791. All Rights Reserved.

11. What part of "shall not be infringed" do you not understand?

12. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.

13. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.

14. Guns only have two enemies; rust and politicians.

15. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.

16. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.

17. 911: Government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.

18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.

19. Criminals love gun control; it makes their jobs safer.

20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.

21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.

22. You have only the rights you are willing to fight for.

23. Enforce the gun control laws we ALREADY have; don't make more.

24. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.

25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

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Man-made global warming myth

Wow! check this out:

UN Blowback: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims

Study: Half of warming due to Sun! –Sea Levels Fail to Rise? - Warming Fears in 'Dustbin of History'

POZNAN, Poland - The UN global warming conference currently underway in Poland is about to face a serious challenge from over 650 dissenting scientists from around the globe who are criticizing the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore. Set for release this week, a newly updated U.S. Senate Minority Report features the dissenting voices of over 650 international scientists, many current and former UN IPCC scientists, who have now turned against the UN. The report has added about 250 scientists (and growing) in 2008 to the over 400 scientists who spoke out in 2007. The over 650 dissenting scientists are more than 12 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers.

See the rest here: http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=2158072e-802a-23ad-45f0-274616db87e6


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Icon Aircraft A5

Oh! I want one! I wish Santa would bring this for Christmas!

















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Civics Quiz

Try the civics quiz at http://americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

What do you think? Should an American have to pass before being allowed to vote? (I got a 97%!)

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it's semi-official!

My soon to be new daughter-in-law, Chantal. I've known for a couple of weeks but it's been fun keeping it from the rest of the family!

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What will BO's supporters do now!

This is so hilarious!



And so, so true!

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Read a Flag, On a Hill at ejectejecteject.com

Okay fine. We have the most left-wing radical president-elect ever. You want some comfort? Go read this:

A FLAG, ON A HILL

It will make you feel better, I guarantee it!

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Walter William's latest

Walter Williams makes a very good point doesn't he?

Affordable Health Care

by Walter E. Williams

One of the campaign themes this election cycle is "affordable" health care. Shouldn't we ask ourselves whether we want the politicians who brought us the "affordable" housing, that created the current financial debacle, to now deliver us affordable health care? Shouldn't we also ask how things turned out in countries where there is socialized medicine?

Read the rest here: http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2008/10/22/affordable_health_care

I fear for our country's future if the communist Barak Obama wins this election. I don't think things will be all that great with McCain either, but at least he doesn't hate our country as Obama does.

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All right! Ben Bova is on the right side of this one! The Washington Post printed this article:

DEAR MR. (FUTURE) PRESIDENT

AN ENERGY FIX WRITTEN IN THE STARS

Gadflies address the next occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

By Ben Bova

Sunday, October 12, 2008; Page B02

You're heading into some rough times as you move into the White House, Mr. Future President, what with the economy in recession, financial markets in turmoil, global warming, terrorism, war and soaring energy prices. But I can offer you a tip for dealing with that last issue, at least: Look to the stars.

That's right. You can use the powerful technology we've forged over a half-century of space exploration to solve one major down-to-Earth problem -- and become the most popular president since John F. Kennedy in the process.

Right now, the United States is shelling out about $700 billion a year for foreign oil. With world demand for energy increasing, gas prices will head toward $10 per gallon during your administration -- unless you make some meaningful changes. That's where space technology can help -- and create new jobs, even whole new industries, at the same time.

You'll have to make some hard choices on energy. Nuclear power doesn't emit greenhouse gases, but it has radioactive wastes. Hydrogen fuels burn cleanly, but hydrogen is expensive to produce and hard to distribute by pipeline. Wind power works in special locations, but most people don't want huge, noisy wind turbines in their backyards.

Solar energy is a favorite of environmentalists, but it works only when the sun is shining. But that's the trick. There is a place where the sun never sets, and a way to use solar energy for power generation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year: Put the solar cells in space, in high orbits where they'd be in sunshine all the time.

You do it with the solar power satellite (SPS), a concept invented by Peter Glaser in 1968. The idea is simple: You build large assemblages of solar cells in space, where they convert sunlight into electricity and beam it to receiving stations on the ground.

Click here to see the rest at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002450.html

Solar power is a nice idea, but to put a system big enough to actually do you some good would cost $40,000-50,000! And just about the time you pay for it, it's time to replace it! It's more cost effective to buy your power from the grid. But the sun shines 24 hours a day in space. If you collect the power there and beam it down to the power grid it becomes cost effective.

If you fear the microwave beams there is no need. The power is spread out over a wide area and you can make the beam self collimating (which simply means it shuts down automatically if it drifts off target since it uses feedback from the target itself to aim). With space based solar, nuclear, and coal, plus "drill here drill now!" we can reach energy independence in not ten years, but perhaps 20!

We can do it. "Let's Roll!"

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The religion of environmentalism

I've been thinking about modern day environmentalism and have come to some conclusions.

Environmentalism is anti-human, anti-freedom, and anti-Christian. It is a religion that must be taken on faith, because if you look at environmental principles rationally and using the scientific method, the whole environmental movement falls apart.

Scientists that buy into the global warming argument are either a) outside their area of expertise or b) funded by sources that will not allow them to show their evidence that it does not exist or is not a serious problem. Those scientists that do argue that global warming is a fraud are vilified and accused of altering their test results to mollify the source of their funding. Ironic, since it's the pro-warming crowd that either falsifies its data or modifies its computer models to give the proper results.

In the '70s the alarmists screamed that we were causing the globe to cool and disaster would surely follow. Twenty years later the same people were yelling the same thing about global warming. Now that the earth is cooling again, they've decided to hedge their bets by calling it "climate change." What utter nonsense. They tell us that the current cooling trend is only temporary and the earth will warm again. Well, yes! And then it will cool again and then it will warm again and, well that's the point isn't it? Climate always changes. There have been far greater fluctuations in the past and we're still here.

The true purpose of environmentalism is to scare us into socialism. I always say follow the money. I can amend that to follow the power. Socialism is not a system that works well for the people that have to live under it. It is a system that can be manipulated to give a few enormous power and wealth and that is why so many people support it. They think they will be the ones that get the power and wealth, but for most they will be disappointed. Few of Lenin's fellow revolutionaries survived. As successful revolutionaries, they were just too dangerous for Lenin to allow them to survive. The same will be true for the vast majority of those who are using the environmental religion to advance their socialistic cause.

People, who value their religion, must stop the godless socialists. People who value freedom must stop the environmentalist who would steal it. All people must stop the anti-human zealots that would "save" the planet for less deserving plants and animals.

Some of the political aspects of the environmental movement are explored in Vaclav Klaus' book Blue Planet in Green Shackles. Klaus is a former president of the Czech Republic.

In Iain Murphy's book The Really Inconvenient Truths, Murray points out (quoting from the CEI website):

• How ethanol, the liberals' favorite fuel, is destroying the world's rainforests--and could cause global food shortages
• How Al Gore's hero Rachel Carson cost the lives of millions of Africans through her efforts to ban DDT
• How the environmentalists have covered up the polluting effects of contraceptive and chemical abortion drugs
• How the Endangered Species Act actually endangers species
• How Gore's vision of greater state control over the economy has already produced some of the greatest environmental disasters in history

Its interesting to not that even the World Health Organization is now in favor of legalizing DDT to combat the epidemic of malaria in Africa. It also should be pointed out that the mosquito that carries malaria is found in the U.S.! Malaria could easily be transferred from Africa or South America to the United States if it is not controlled soon.

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Student pictures

I don't believe I did that! I had some students asking about the pictures I took at the end of the last school year. They told me they couldn't find them, which I thought was strange, since I updated the site quite a while ago. Well I checked and though I did update the site, somehow I missed putting the link on the home page. It was updated on every other page, just not on the most important one! Well it's done now, finally!

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9-11-01 the tribute

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Our Heroes

I heard the dems were squealing about this ad. As I watched I'm thinking, "yeah I can see they wouldn't like this ad," and then the returned soldier walked away from the camera and I was in tears. Tears of gratitude for our heroes who are keeping us safe--and tears of anger at people like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Barak Obama who are trying to lose this war for their own personal power. They are despicable and they should be stopped, no must be stopped!



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This is a rant!

Having been a mechanic for about four years I think I know a little bit about cars and how to treat them and the customer. After being a mechanic and finding out that working on other people's cars wasn't as fun as working on your own, what with the customer wanting it just right and right now! and dealing with bosses who want you to be a wizard with a wrench and be able to diagnose a problem using just touch and smell, I quit to go to the university and get a less demanding career. Yeah teaching. So much less demanding, right...

Anyway I can fix most things on my car myself, but for anything major, I hire a mechanic since I want it just right and right now!













Breaker Bar

A couple of months ago I had the rear struts replaced by a mechanic since I didn't have the tools to do the job myself. Today I rotated the tires and found that the lug nuts had been torqued down so tight it took a breaker bar and a cheater pipe to break them loose! For those who don't know, a breaker bar is a solid bar, about 18 inches long, that attaches to sockets when you need the extra leverage a ratchet wrench won't give you. If you really need extra leverage, you "cheat" and put a piece of pipe on the bar to lengthen it for even more leverage.










Woman using an air impact wrench













Air impact wrench

The problem is that when you have a flat or blowout on the highway, very few people have more than the lug wrench that came with the car. For most people, the only time they ever change a tire themselves is when they have a flat. So unless they have a good mechanic who torques the lug nuts properly, anyone who has a flat finds that the tire is impossible or nearly impossible to remove. I've been reduced to standing on the lug wrench and jumping up and down on it to loosen overly tightened lug nuts before. This is nonsense! When mechanics take those high powered air impact wrenches and hammer those lug nuts as tight as they'll go, it shows how ignorant and stupid they are.










Woman using a torque wrench










Torque Wrenches

I think from now on I'm going to tell them I want a torque wrench used on them and have them torqued to factory specifications so I can be sure it's done right. You can tighten them properly with an air impact wrench if you're careful. I do it. If you stop almost as soon as the impact wrench starts to chatter, they're tight enough. Simple!

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Fixed the link!

I fixed the tag below so that when you click on "If you're seeing this blog in a frame..." It actually works when you click it and will actually take you out of the frame!

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Sarah Palin's speech

The speech! Home run!

Full remarks as prepared for delivery and provided by the McCain campaign of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as she accepts the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomination on Sept. 3, 2008, at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin accepts the GOP vice presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Palin and Sen. John McCain will face Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden in a battle for the White House.

(The Associated Press)
More Photos

Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored to be considered for the nomination for Vice President of the United States...

I accept the call to help our nominee for president to serve and defend America.

I accept the challenge of a tough fight in this election... against confident opponents ... at a crucial hour for our country.

And I accept the privilege of serving with a man who has come through much harder missions ... and met far graver challenges ... and knows how tough fights are won - the next president of the United States, John S. McCain.

It was just a year ago when all the experts in Washington counted out our nominee because he refused to hedge his commitment to the security of the country he loves.

With their usual certitude, they told us that all was lost - there was no hope for this candidate who said that he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war.

But the pollsters and pundits overlooked just one thing when they wrote him off.

read the rest here: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Conventions/story?id=5720910&page=1

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National Review article on Obama's Disturbing Connections

What a disturbing article! The following is a National Review article reprinted, with the unflattering smoking picture added, in the Information Vault way back in April of this year. It points out that Obama hates his country and his wife is a racist. Obama should be judged by the company he keeps and that company ain't pretty!

Obama's Disturbing Connections

Friday April 25, 2008 22:09

The Company He Keeps Meet Obama’s circle: The same old America-hating Left. By Andrew C. McCarthy National Review Why is Barack Obama so comfortable around people who so despise America and its allies? Maybe it’s because they’re so comfortable around him. He presents as the transcendent agent of “change.” Sounds platitudinous, but it’s really quite strategically vaporous. Sen. Obama is loath to get into the details of how we should change, and, as the media’s Chosen One, he hasn’t had to. But he’s not, as some hopefully dismiss him, a charismatic lightweight with a gift for sparkling the same old vapid cant. Judging from the company he chooses to keep, Obama’s change would radically alter this country. He eschews detail because most Americans don’t believe we’re a racist, heartless, imperialist cesspool of exploitation. The details would be disqualifying.

The rest of the article is here: http://theinformationvault.com/politics/campaign-08/obama/37-obama/59-obamas-disturbing-connections.html

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