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President Barack Obama on Saturday intervened to end a transit strike in the greater Philadelphia area, establishing an emergency board to force the two sides to negotiate. The move, at the behest of Republican Governor Tom Corbett, came hours after about 440 engineers and electricians who operate trains that connect Philadelphia and its suburbs walked off the job. “That’s it. The strike is over," said Arthur Davidson, spokesman for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, one of the two unions on strike.

Fellow FReepers, know this: In Russian, the ukraine means "the frontier". To Ukrainians, Ukraine means HOME. We don't call it "The France", or "The Germany", or "The Mexico", etc. Drop the "the" and correctly use the nation's name uncorrupted by the oligarchs in "mothertrucker Russia".

Since last September's update, the Java in my mom's 'puter has not worked properly, and she is unable to go use her "Pogo" site. I have tried using the MS uninstaller, and the Oracle site's uninstaller with no success. The folks at Staples went through the programs line by line and removed Java that way, but that only lasted a week, and the problem came back. No further Java updates have been able to install themselves, and she is stuck with a non-functioning Java v7.7 Help, if you can. Snide apple and linux comments will be ignored

My youngest brother has been diagnosed with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA).He's been "out of sorts" for the last 6 months, but when he noticed some rather disturbingly large blood blisters on his lower legs and feet, he went to the doctor at 1030 in the morning. At 1045, he was in the emergency ward.

TOO funny not to share.We got stronger beer.I nearly peed myself...

Just wow. This kid plays very well indeed. LINK

Chevy and Elmer are a couple of happy guys. Chevy is a golden retriever, though he looks mostly white as he closes in on 16 years of age. Elmer is a big black, um, something -- 13 or 14, the veterinarian figures -- who was found eating out of garbage cans in Oakland, Calif. He has a club foot and some badly healed injuries that leave him lurching like Dr. House. At least Elmer moves better than Chevy, who needed to be carried down the stairs to Doug's Tavern, the man cave in the basement of Doug and Cory Bond's...

On Sunday there was a thread that somehow ended up with postings of various different music videos. One of those videos really caught my attention, but I forgot to bookmark it, and now I cannot locate it here or youtube. It was a group of 3 girls with beehive hairdos, and I believe they were from Winnipeg Manitoba. I can't remember anything else but the ethereal quality of the music. The "video" (actually just a sound file with a still of the girls' album cover) was absolutely fascinating, using several different tempos at the same time, then overlapping and melding...

A Muslim stonemason in France has been immortalised by having his face carved on a gargoyle on the side of the medieval cathedral in Lyon. Ahmed Benzizine - a 59-year-old master mason who worked on the renovation - was used as a model for the carving. Next to it is an inscription in Arabic and French which reads: Allahu Akbar, God is Great.

A Vancouver-area police dog has been taken out of service after attacking a teenager during a training exercise. The West Vancouver Police say the dog and its handler were conducting training near a local community centre at around 11 p.m. on March 9 when they encountered two youths sitting on a park bench. A news release says the dog "came into contact" with the upper body, arm and jacket sleeve of one of the youths before the handler was able to react.

Greetings, As today 11 November 2009, Bank of America is launching a new survey program. All customers are welcome to participate this survey. The survey will take 5 minutes and for your effort and understanding Bank of America will select most of the customers that takes this survey and reward them with $50.00 $50.00 will be debited in your Bank of America credit/debit card in maxim 48 hours. One of our survey representative will contact you soon after you complete and submit the survey. It would be helpful if you fill it out right now. If that is not possible,...

Editorial: RCMP suffers another blow Times Colonist Published: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 Staggering incompetence or coverup? Those are the only two explanations for the fact that a critical RCMP e-mail was kept from the inquiry into Robert Dziekanski's death until last week, on the day final arguments were to begin. The failure to disclose the critical evidence has undermined the work of the Braidwood inquiry, forced a long delay in the completion of its report and -- once again -- tarnished the RCMP's already shredded reputation. The e-mail cuts directly to the heart of the issues before the inquiry. RCMP...

I remember vividly an article in an old (late 1960's, early 1970's) Mechanix Illustrated magazine (the small version) that gave detailed plans for a "Fan With No Moving Parts". It used a transformer, plastic, and nails in order to generate an ionized 'wave' that moved air. A by-product of this was a slight increase in the ozone in the airstream. I wonder if anyone out in FReeperdom remembers this and possibly has the plans?

Dear Lucky Winner, We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws of Coca-Cola Worldwide Promo held in United Kingdom, South Africa and Canada. on Saturday 3rd Nov 2007 at 10:45am . The online Coca-Cola Worldwide Promo draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list of 29,031,000 E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet in all the countries where our products exists which is our social responsibility to our valued customers. However, no tickets were sold...

A former beauty queen is suing her airline-mechanic husband, claiming he tried to hide his lottery jackpot from her. The clues trickled in that Donna Campbell's husband was hiding something from her. Arnim Ramdass started to keep the television off at all times, then he disconnected their phone line. But the ah-ha! moment came when Campbell thumbed through the mail at their Miramar house and saw a postcard: Congratulations on the purchase of your new home.

PM names Manley to head review of Afghan mission Last Updated: Friday, October 12, 2007 | 5:56 PM ET CBC News An independent panel has been established to review Canada's mission and future in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Friday. Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a non-partisan panel to review Canada's mission and future in Afghanistan. Former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley, right, will chair the five-person committee. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press) As Canada's current mandate in Afghanistan is set to expire in 16 months, "our government wants a full, open and informed debate about our options," Harper said...

Ethics rules send NIH scientists packing By RITA BEAMISH, Associated Press Writer Sat Oct 28, 6:06 PM ET Nearly 40 percent of the scientists conducting hands-on research at the National Institutes of Health say they are looking for other jobs or are considering doing so to escape new ethics rules that have curtailed their opportunity to earn outside income. ADVERTISEMENT Most scientists say the ethics crackdown is too severe, and nearly three-quarters of them believe it will hinder the government's ability to attract and keep medical researchers, according to a survey commissioned by the government's premier medical research agency. The...

On the 4th of November 1993 the Liberals were sworn into government. These last twelve years have seen a litany of broken promises, scandal, waste and mismanagement by the Liberals. Red Book co-author and current Prime Minister Paul Martin would rather you forgot most of those twelve years, especially his leading role as a key Cabinet Minister. Here's a small list to let Paul know that some people haven't forgotten his record to date, and aren't likely to anytime soon. Feel free to print out this list and pass it on to any friends or family who might actually be...

"It is amazing how quickly the kids learn to drive a car, yet are unable to understand the lawnmower, snowblower or vacuum cleaner." ---Ben Bergor "Have no fear of perfection--you'll never reach it." ---Salvador Dali "Women are like cell phones. They like to be held and talked to, but push the wrong button, and you'll be disconnected." ---Unknown "People like you are the reason people like me take pills!" ---Neva Faith Linn "When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that...