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The Oslo subway system is entirely in Norwegian, which is odd since most of the major signs in the rest of Oslo are in both Norwegian and English. However, I was able to ride the system every day for a week, all over the city, and out into suburbs without any problem and without knowing any Norwegian. You just look at your map, see where you want to go, and get off when you see a sign with the same combination of letters. You don't need to understand what the words mean and once you take a few trips the whole system pretty much begins to make sense in any language. Seems to me the same would apply to the DC Metro system.

I am thinking that OBL may be getting sloppy. His "reaction time" to world events is shrinking which likely means that he is using fewer intermediaries to pass his tapes along. Assuming we have some sort of intelligence presence in this network, this can only be a good thing, his cutting corners might just lead to the one mistake that will give away his position.

Well actually, the American Red Cross (which runs the blood donation system and disaster relief) has very little to do with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies which the article refers (it is a member, but the federation has no say in American Red Cross policy). In fact, as a member of the Federation, the US was a leading voice for many years in support of admitting Isreal's society.

To make things even more complicated, neither the American Red Cross, nor the International Federation, has anything to do with the International Committee of the Red Cross which is essentially a private Swiss non-profit corporation that monitors international treaties such as the Geneva Convention. The ICRC wrote the initial reports critical of Guantanamo Bay but now has a permanent presence there.

So, if you are upset with the International Federation for its long standing anti-Semitism, fine; and if you are upset with the ICRC for its activities and statements about the War on Terror, also fine. But don't take it out on your local American Red Cross chapter which one day may supply the blood to keep you alive, the hotel room if your house burns down, or that needed cup of coffee when it is 10 degrees and you are stuck in a blizzard on the side of the highway.

If they showed Jesus defecating on anything they made fun of him.


What?

Are you saying that Jesus never went #2? What did he just urinate all day? Did he ever eat solid food? What about the loaves and the fishes? Or was he such a divine being that he was created without an excretory system?

I guess I am secure enough in my faith to be able to laugh a bit at some satire.

I LOVE the guy looking at her like "mess with me, I dare you". Secret Service don't play Cindy. They won't give you a free feel up like the DC policy while removing you from the White House protest..

Actually, its the US Capitol Police that handled that incident, the Secret Service does not operate inside the Capitol Building (seperation of powers). Also, those cops who arrested Cindy outside the White House were US Park Police from the Dept. of the Interior. But the message is still the same. The Hall of the House of Representatives is not a place for public protest. It is only open to invited guests and if you have an invitation, you agree to follow their very strict rules. If I remember correctly, you can be thrown out of the gallery for so much as having a cell phone or a note pad on your person. Poor, poor, Cindy...

When I was in grad school we had a small computer lab for grad students only. It was in a locked room and only grad students were issued keys.

One night I am working on a paer at home and decide to come to campus to print it out. It is about 3:00am (remember those all-nighters?) when I open to the computer lab door only to find all 5 of the buildings janitors sitting, in the dark, with hardcore pornographic images and movies playing on each computer.

Those machines were password protected, but lazy people never logged off.

So until I hear more, I will give this teacher the benefit of the doubt.

I had an old barber once with a similar policy, only he didn't have a sign. But one day I am in the chair getting my hair cut when a young black guy comes in and sits down. Without even missing a beat the barber says:

"Sorry son, I don't cut black hair, unless you got Cab Calloway hair."

I busted out laughing, the guy sat their stunned (perhaps unaware of who Cab Calloway was) then slowly got up and left.

I don't think the barber was a racist, he just needed to work on his tact.

I doubt that guy is Secret Service, I am sure their tactical training doesn't include hair pulling. Probably some local GOP wannabe who thought it his place to act like a tough guy. No different than the union thugs the dems use. Just as stupid.

What ever happened to being neighborly?

When it snows my father now shovels out 4 houses, his own, and three neighboors (2 are elderly and one is bedridden with cancer). He does it for free, before he is even asked, by the time the sun is up, he has been out there 2 hours.

What bothers me is that there are several young couples on his block that pay a service to clear their driveways and sidewalks. Despite this, these young guys never come out to help my father while he is breaking his back out there.

Whatever happened to looking after your neighbors?

What ever happened to being neighborly?

When it snows my father now shovels out 4 houses, his own, and three neighboors (2 are elderly and one is bedridden with cancer). He does it for free, before he is even asked, by the time the sun is up, he has been out there 2 hours.

What bothers me is that there are several young couples on his block that pay a service to clear their driveways and sidewalks. Despite this, these young guys never come out to help my father while he is breaking his back out there.

Whatever happened to looking after your neighbors?

I like what they do in Philadelphia, the Live Stop program. If you are pulled over and can't produce registration or proof of insurance, your car is towed immediately.

The day before this went into effect, there were lines around the block of people registering cars and buying insurance policies.

Conversion Therapy? Give me a break.

Let's see, both the American Psychological Association and the American Psyciatric Association have issued public statements against this kind of "therapy." There has NEVER been a study demonstrating that it works published in any major peer reviewed scientific journal.

And this quack Nicolosi has a PhD from the California School of Professional Psychology, essentially a diploma mill, and has no clinical training at all.

13,983,816 to 1. In other words, forgeddaboudit.

Unless the prize is more than 13,983,816 dollars and you were able to buy every possible combination of numbers. Of course, it is physically impossible to buy 14 million lottery tickets and no one has ever been able to "beat" the game this way.

The number of times it's already landed on a particular color is irrelevant. Each spin is a completely independent event. The odds of the ball landing on a particular color in a spin is exactly the same as it was in the last spin. (~47.2% each for red and black)

Which is exactly why the Casino puts the past numbers on display. They want you to bet based on prior spins thus giving you a feeling that there is some sort of strategy involved in the game when it is pure luck. The only control you have is how much you bet, what type of bet you make, and whether to bet or walk away and spend your money on the buffet.

Sadly, I have seen a elderly woman plop down $100 in mixed bills for 100 $1 scratch off tickets. In fact I have seen her do this twice at the convenience store near my office. Other people in my office have seen here multiple times as well. She then plays all of the tickets sitting outside the store, barely even reading what she scratched (I assume she has the game rules so memorized she can tell if she won).

She is an addict, blowing whatever savings she has on these games. Sad.

After that he never purchased another ticket, noting that it really didn't make any sense since the chances of him winning again were even lower than before.

Well, actually, his odds of winning again are not in any way affected by his previous winnings. Each drawing is an independent event with its own odds. Just like spins on a roullette wheel.

Last time I flew out of Lansing-Capital City Airport in Michigan was during the last Orange Alert and Airport Police were searching every car coming into the Airport. The search consisted of opening the trunk, and a quick scan under the car with a mirror.

Of course this is much easier at a smaller regional airport like Lansing than Atlanta, but it is happening elsewhere.