Grex Agora56 Conference

Item 2: General Announcements - Winter 2005/06

This is the general announcements item - the first of several 
announcement items.  Later items are more specific - announcements 
about Grex, Grex system problems, why you're happy, why you're 
bummed, etc. 

If you have something general to announce to Grexers, this is the 
place to put it!

My son was baptised this evening in the St. John's Episcopalian Church
in Clinton.

 :(

I just made a Mr. Hanky.  I had my fiber this morning.

I'd like to announce that "Pro Vice Chancellor of Medical Sciences" of the
University of Newcastle called me "stupid and basic" in an E-mail exchange.


  :(

re 1, is it usualy for Episcopalians to be this to get baptized?

         i'm very pleased to announce that bush is a nazi, a terrorist and
         u.s. of bastards is a rogue nation terrorising our planet. 

No new information, then. Though "nazi" and "bastards" is a bit strong.

resp:5 looks like this to me via Backtalk, but I think I know what you
mean:

re 1, is it usualy for Episcopalians to be this to get baptized?

Another boy was baptised at the same time as John; he was about 3. 
Normally babies are baptised in their early infancy.  John's mother
returned to the Episcopalian Church in the last year.  I've never been
religious.  That's why John was not baptised previously.

          re#7

          
          you are a fetid jewish fag. you stink shit. i bet you have the 
          fetid odor of shit & piss. you really enjoyed the taste of 
          strange boy's penis in your infected mouth... thanks god, 
          everyday a jewish fag dies of aids.

Dude! Trap, get some orginiallity and quit stealing from the Boondocks!

            re#10

            i give you all american bastards a big FUCK YOU!

Grow up, kid.

           re#12

           you really sound like a sissy when you cry about me. you're a 
           little jewish faggot who can't do shit except cry like bitch 
           but that's why you're infected sissy.

Speaking of sissies, what kind of person compensates for their own lack
of intelligence by using profanity and insults constructed in broken
english? Feel free to answer that with said ignorant insults and broken
english.

Would you all please ignore the twit.

            re# 14 & 15

            oh, so bastard american totally fucking annoy me these days. 
            i actually hate bastard people MORE now than gay people,
            including the dumb whore sindi who is fucking like a bitch.

            i'd like to announce that my penis photos will be on 
            sale exclusively at macdonald's restaurants for $99.99 each 

            also,  with great pleasure'd like to announce that all bastard 
            americans will die in 2 years :)

(What a jerk....)

Re resp:17: Will a magnifying glass be included? 

Pretty please.

           re #18

           what a fart knocker you are.

           re #19

           hey david brodbeck!! nice to meet you!!

           re #20

           you fuckle-bitch, you must have one big pussyb big like a
garbage bag.

 


            sindi's pussy stinks really bad!! she can't tell though, 
            cause it smells different when she sticks her fingers in 
            that forsaken cave & then smells em.











              :(


















            

Not to feed the troll or anything, but does anyone other than you laugh
at what you post?

            yeah, silvia. your slut mom do es!! :)

I laugh at what he posts. Sort of how I laugh at a young kid who doesn't
realize what s/he is saying.

(He doesn't seem to be able to stop being a jerk....)

resp:26 My mom isn't a slut.  It's against the law for people with adult
children to have sex.

re resp:23, and 25-27: So why *are* you feeding the troll?  This item 
has now been taken over by someone with no point and no purpose other 
than to divert discussion to himself.

Trolls don't like being identified for what they are in simple language.

Of course they do.  The only thing trolls don't like is being ignored.

A troll wants you to react.  It makes him feel important.

I also want you to react when I say something, but I generally try to 
do it by contributing something positive you'll want to react to, and 
enjoy reacting to.  I am different than a troll in that way.  A troll 
wants you to get angry and to focus on him, at the expense of 
everything else going on.  If everything else stops, a troll is happy.  
That's another difference between me and a troll.

A troll? important? AHAHAHAHAHAHAH< YEAH!

Trolls don't want to let you cross that bridge cuz they love to eat kids.

Heh.

resp:28 - You're under the assumption that I'm taking him seriously.

just want to get a word in for my new job, filling inkjet cartridges and
rebuilding and refilling laser toner cartridges in a new store in Ann
Arbor, "Cartridge World" in the colonade shopping center, phone
734-213-1739   we can fill inkjet carts for about half the price of a
new one, good deals on the laser rebuilds also.

I might bring you a laser cartridge after we give up trying to fix three other
printers.
IWLTA that we are experiencing global warming this week.

i am entering this from my new palm tx from new orleans

WiFi dude?

            re# 30

            "The only thing trolls don't like is being ignored"


            yeah marc vankhafoufcfnb\cuycyrq@tw#eysadkhnegen, i dont 
            like to feel ignored.

            :(

sewer brazil .... welcome to the nice-bbs, please mind your manners.
  

Lots of news about walking, biking, and public transit in Washtenaw County
in the first newsletter of the Washtenaw Walking and Biking Coalition, at
http://www.wbwc.org/newsletter.shtml.  There is for example a plan to link
Ann Arbor, Dexter, and Ypsi by biking/walking trails, with maybe a no-cars
bridge over the Huron near Dexter.  A new Ann Arbor bike map is available at
City Hall (2nd edition) which suggests good bike routes.  (Since most of them
are along busy streets I tend to use this map as an idea of what routes to
avoid, but some people like bike routes along busy streets).  

            help impeach scoundrel bush:

            http://www.impeachbush.org/site/PageServer

I'm not so big on riding on busy streets since a few years back,
this chap passed by me on a Bianchi on the 246 only to be blind
sided and hurled vertically at least 10 feet into the air.  When
he came down, he had acquired a greenstick fracture and a whole
world of hurt.

I ended up directing traffic around him until someone fetched the
police from a nearby Koban.

The busy streets in Ann Arbor do have bike paths along their sides, but I stay
as far as I can from moving motor vehicles and keep to side streets if
possible, and sidewalks otherwise.  On a few occasions it was necessary to
bike alongside highway trucks to cross a highway bridge over some other
highway - idiotic planning.

LANSING   Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today ordered that United States
flags throughout the state of Michigan and on Michigan waters be lowered
in honor of Michigan servicemen who lost their lives while on active
duty in Iraq.  Flags will be lowered:

Friday, January 6, 2006 to honor Army Specialist Anthony O. Cardinal of
Muskegon.  Army Spc. Cardinal, 20, was killed December 25 when an
improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat
operations in Baghdad, Iraq.  He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 7th
Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia.

Monday, January 9, 2006 to honor Army Specialist Dane O. Carver of
Freeport.  Army Spc. Carver, 20, was killed December 26 when his HMMWV
came under attack by enemy forces in Khalidiyah, Iraq.  He was assigned
to the Army National Guard s 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment out
of Saginaw, Michigan.

Flags should return to full-staff on Tuesday, January 10.

FLAGS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH BIKE PATHS<>

            help impeach scoundrel bush:

            http://www.impeachbush.org/site/PageServer

            iwlta that all fags must die! 

<twenex kills a 20-pack of lambert and butler's, stone dead>

            hey jewish fag, you smell like dog shit & cat piss.
            you're a filthy sissy stink-shit!

(How boring.....)

            :)

I"M GOING TO MAQKE A BIKE OPATH UP JEP"S BACK IF HE KEEPOS POSTING UNWANTED
ANNOUNCEMENTS

            vote to impeach  scoundrel bush:

            http://www.votetoimpeach.org/

           vote to impeach  scoundrel bush:

            http://www.votetoimpeach.org/

             vote to impeach  scoundrel bush:

            http://www.votetoimpeach.org/

           vote to impeach  scoundrel bush:

           http://www.votetoimpeach.org/






            vote to impeach  scoundrel bush:

            http://www.votetoimpeach.org/


















   

I dunno how things work in your country, but here in the USofA, the
President cannot be removed from office via votes on a website.

Heh. Imbecile.

must be a cyklone clone/supporter ... maybe not sewer-brazil anymore,eh?

vote to impeach scoundrel bush:
http://www.votetoimpeach.org

Yeah, that'll work.

Guys ! 

I sure hope nobody shuts us down for being annoying !

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6024695.html

It seems that it challenges the First Amendment since someone could easily
write an anonymous letter to the editor of some web based news column which
flames an entity and be held accountable under this fascist legislation.

The Federalist Papers, published in 1788 to support the adoption of the US
Constitution, were written under the  pseudonym "Publius". I'm sure they
annoyed someone. So, today, authors of a similar documents would be charged
with a crime? 

no, but anne coulter would track them down for a little
christian bsdm session.

re #67
If they included that tidbit in the legislation then it would be less
offensive.

try not to imagine anne dressed as a priest while
pegging the u.s. constitution with a 600 volt
buttbuster vibe-er-ater

<tries real hard>

 re #66:  At the time the authors of the Federalist Papers would also
 have been charged with a crime (which is no doubt why they were published
 pseudonymously.)

 I point this out because it's worth underscoring Rane's excellent point.
 I don't like to use the word "un-American" because I think it's been robbed
 of much of its meaning and tainted by those who sling it at anyone who
 disagrees with them, but in a genunine and historical sense I believe this
 law is not just a bad idea but fundamentally un-American.

Its as ugly as the library record lack of privacy.  Monitoring everyone's
knowledge and opinions should be scaring the hell out of people but apathy
is getting the best of this country.

but the SHOPPING MALL is great!

People won't wake up until the consequences are dire. They never do.

Privacy and anonymity are hard sells because most people feel that they 
don't have anything to hide.  The unwritten assumption is that if you 
*do* feel like you have something to hide, you must be doing something 
wrong. 

Yeah, that is why you will never see the general population happy about 
cameras in a public bathroom. Because there are still things people 
would rather do in private. 

To think that Samuel Clemens too would be accused of a crime today....  He
would have something to say about that!

The Wikipedia says "In the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries, it
was established practice for political articles to be signed with pseudonyms",
but it does not give an explanation for this. 

It isn't apathy especially, when many of these recent attacks upon civil
rights are done secretly, or at least hidden from view by attaching them as
late amendments to "must pass" legislation (like budget bills, as in this
case). 

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today ordered that United States flags
throughout the state of Michigan and on Michigan waters be lowered for
one day on Tuesday, January 17, 2006, in honor of Marine Lance Corporal
Jason T. Little, of Climax, who died January 7 while on active duty in
Iraq.  Flags should return to full-staff Wednesday, January 18.

Lance Cpl. Little, 20, was killed when his tank was attacked with an
improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near
Ferris, Iraq.  He was assigned to the 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine
Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

There doesn't seem to be a walk item.

Actually, there didn't seem to be a walk today either.  I wandered
around in the cold from 10:30 to 10:50 and then gave it up and went
home.

Hey Jan, wish I could've walked with ya! 

Well, we were sleeping off the effects of the Trivia contest, which ended at
8 AM.  Sorry we didn't make it.

            vote to impeach scoundrel bush:

            http://www.votetoimpeach.org

Date:         Thu, 26 Jan 2006 12:42:03 -0500
From:         CNN Breaking News <BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM>

-- Islamic militant group Hamas wins landslide victory 
   in Palestinian parliament ary election, officials say.

Is that the Palestinian idea of "lesser of 2 evils"?
If so, I wish them the best of luck with their new leadership.

Yeah, lots of luck.

democracy is on the march!

I like Hamas on pita-bread.

Re resp:84: I think they were simply fed up with the corruption in 
their current government. 
 
This is a bit of a learning experience for Bush -- that when you give 
people a democracy, they may not always vote the way we want them to.  
He seemed really flustered in his press conference. 

Everybody knows that Iraq was a fundie islamic country which was repressed
from making political influence under Saddam's dictatorship.  The results of
this election are what the Saudi people have wanted and what al Qaeda wants.
Usama's offer of a truce stems directly from that fact.
The Saudi people are running this show.  Don't forget it.  Saudi Arabia
attacked us on 9/11...not terrorists nor some 6'7 boogeyman with failing
kidneys.  If it weren't for the Bush ties to the Saudis, our troops would be
marching through Riyadh instead of Baghdad.  Hell, Baghdad had a synagogue
and xtian churches under Saddam and he posed no threat to the USA.  It was
all about what the Saudis want.
Saudi Arabia attacked the USA

re #89:
>  Everybody knows that Iraq was a fundie islamic country which was
>  repressed from making political influence under Saddam's dictatorship. 

I don't know that.  In fact I really don't believe that to be the case,
assuming I'm parsing your rather odd sentence correctly..  Claiming that
Iraq was dominated by fundamentalists who were kept in check only by Saddam
pretty directly conflicts with things we know about pre-Kuwait-invasion
Iraq, such as the very high (for the region) rates of education and
professional opportunities for women.

Things have changed substantially since Iraq invaded, and was subsequently
driven out of, Kuwait, however.  For one, Saddam Hussein adopted a more
pro-Islam stance in an effort to shore up support internally and regain
support in the region.  But far more importantly, the removal of Saddam
created a power vacuum that many groups rushed to fill.  Sunni and Shiite
Islamists, aided respectively by different parties outside Iraq, were two
of the leading blocs to gain influence in the power grab after Saddam's
removal.

re #90
 assuming I'm parsing your rather odd sentence correctly..  Claiming that
 Iraq was dominated by fundamentalists who were kept in check only by Saddam
 pretty directly conflicts with things we know about pre-Kuwait-invasion
 Iraq, such as the very high (for the region) rates of education and
 professional opportunities for women.
I didn't insinuate there was any dominance beyond the dictatorship.  The
"preference" of citizens is that of Fundies, though.  The jails were full of
the religiously outspoken.  Iraq was run by infidels under Hussein and the
only saving grace for him was to give low rent to Palestinians.
And yes, I agree the vacuum was filled by extremism but I disagree that it
was solely aided by outside entities.  If you believe the "insurgents" are
all foreigners then the math just doesn't add up on whole entire cities
favoring them.  I think the reality is that Saudi is about to implode under
the Fundies and has been a losing ally ever since Bill Casey died.  The Bush
regime is losing their grip and misinterpreted Iraq as an easy aquisition
alternative.  Right there greasing the wheels of that power framework is the
Bush regime..just like they did for decades with House of Saud.  Both places
being places you can expect a few hundred beheadings annually.  It has nothing
to do with "Freedom on the March" and everything to do with big contracts.

Obviously Tod knows a heck of a lot more about Iraq than I do, but here
is something I don't understand. If the insurgents want a fundie
government in Iraq, and that is what the USA is giving them, why are
they attacking us?

Todd is an Arab-hater.

re #92
 why are
 they attacking us?
The occupying forces are always going to be fair game if their first name
isn't "Amir".  Here's an example for you: Why was Daniel Pearl beheaded?

Okay, so they're attacking us not for what we're doing, but for who we
are. So...why are they attacking Iraqi police?

to discourage them from joining.

re #95
You know..the power framework that is being greased which I referenced earlier
would probably include a police force of some kind.  Another house of Saud
would make the Bush folks happy but it probably wont happen that way.

They are attacking the iraqi-police cos in all probablity they are seen as
traitors who have joined the foreign invaders.

Are the insurgents well organized?

They're in alphabetical order by date of birth

Date:         Tue, 31 Jan 2006 07:30:39 -0500
From:         CNN Breaking News <BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM>

-- Coretta Scott King, wife of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
     has died, a PR company for the King family says.

I didn't know she was still alive.

If a person dies that someone didn't know was still alive, did she really?

She stroked out like back in August.  Was anybody really keeping tabs?

Probably, many people.

re 103:  only if a tree falls.

I wish to announce that as of January 26, 2006, Western Union has closed
its telegraph service.  No more telegrams.

http://www.livescience.com/technology/060131_western_union.html

I wonder what Western Union's telegraph service consisted of on January
25th. Perhaps when you sent a telegram, the clerk took your message, and
then e-mailed it to another location, where they would print the message
and deliver.

I thought they called and phoned the message to you.
In 1985 FedEX used to have a super-fast option in which they faxed material
to the local office then delivered it to you.  They eliminated that.  zip
mail?

What is available now for a person to send a written message 
person-to-person within a couple of hours, when neither the sender or 
recipient have any fax or computer access? Overnight FedEx isn't as fast 
as was a telegram. Or is it just that the demand for that has become so 
small that such a service is not sustainable?

There is a radio amateur message service that is still in operation, which 
uses a format like telegrams, but public access to that is very difficult 
except in emergency situations where amateurs have been enlisted to help.

Fax and computer access is hard not to have access to with public
libraries (computer access) and kinkos (fax access).

An article I saw said that Western Union delivered 20,000 telegrams at 
$10 each last year.  That's not much business for a company serving the 
entire nation.

Re #11: tell us how two people living some distance apart, who do not have
computers or fax machines, can without prior arrangement get a written message
sent by one to the other within an hour or two? Public fax machines and
computers don't help in the delivery of the message. 

It's jep's figures in #112 that explain the failure of telegraph service: most
people have better means, but this still leaves a few in the lurch. They will
just have to "get with the program" (literally and figuratively). 

"Long distance" telephone service may become another victim. Since we now 
have cell phones, and don't make international calls, we never use POTS 
long-distance. Even POTS is under some threat. We dropped our second line 
since we moved to cable internet. Our daughter doesn't have POTS at all, 
relying solely on a cell phone.

How does telegraph work? You tell them the name you want to send to and
they magically know where it goes?

Re resp:113: Telephone service and Internet service are going to merge.  
They already travel over the same circuits in many cases.  With VoIP, 
this is going to get carried right through to the end user.  Cable TV 
will take longer to merge, because of its huge bandwidth requirements, 
but eventually all your information services are going to arrive on the 
same pipe. 

In parts of the world where people don't all have telephones, telegraph
service is important.  I got a few telegrams while living in Macedonia.  The
dorm had one phone.  The place where I rented a private room did not.  Making
long distance calls required a long wait at the post office for the operator
to set it up.  That has probably changed, but I doubt everyone has phone
service all over the world.  Is there anyone in the US without phone service?

Telegrams were used as greeting cards, not for rapid communication, in the
US.

I would like to announce that there is a difference between a telegraph
and a telegram. 

Thanks marc. #114 should be, 'How does a telegram know where to be
delivered?'

 re #115:  and that "eventually" is closer than many people might think.
 For me it's already here and after several months of testing we're 
 starting to take installation orders from our customers.

I read a few years ago about a very small town in Louisiana which did 
not have phone service up to that point, but had finally had it made 
available.  I don't know if they were the last place in America to have 
phone service.  They must have been, since there were articles in major 
newspapers about it.

My recollection of telegrams is that they were delivered by phone if the 
recipient had a phone, and were delivered by a person to an address 
otherwise. In the latter case they came with the strips of paper on which 
the message was printed cut and pasted to a delivery form. You can see all 
this in old movies...  8^}

Re #115: I wonder how much of an impediment to that will be caused by the 
fact that that "pipe" doesn't work in power failures, while POTS still 
does? Maybe the cost or convenience advantages of the former will 
overwhelm the reliability advantage of the latter: it won't be the first 
time that convenience or cost overwhelmed reliability in something. Or, 
perhaps cable could also provide power for at least the modem and 
associated phone?

Mac IE Dead And Gone 
CMP TechWeb 02/01/06  
Copyright 2006 CMP Media Inc. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
As promised, Microsoft stuck a fork in Internet Explorer for the Mac on 
Tuesday, and called it done. 

Late last year, the Redmond, Wash.-based developer told Mac users to look for
another browser because it was dropping support and discontinuing downloads 
for IE. 

On Tuesday, Microsoft posted a notice on its Mactopia Web site that Internet 
Explorer for Mac no longer available for downloading. 

Microsoft recommended that Mac owners still using IE should migrate to more
recent Web browsing technologies such as Apple's Safari. 

That advice may have had some effect. Data from Amsterdam-based Web analytics
vendor OneStat released on Tuesday noted that that Safari use was slightly up,
both within the U.S. and globally. Use of Safari, the number three browser on
most metrics listings, has climbed by about a quarter of a percent in the U.S.
since November. 

re #110
You can still send a message when you send cash via Western Union.
(MoneyGram is cheaper and more global, though.)

I use Firefox (but have Safari installed) on my Macs, but a lot of web sites
are written for only IE compatibility - and only for the most recent IE for
PCs. I have the last IE for Mac, and it doesn't work on all sites. Is this
Microsoft action an indirect attack on the Mac platform? 

No doubt.

Both, I'd say.

 re #120:  Depends on what you mean by "have phone service."  Do you mean
 *any* service at all (such as a shared community phone at a grocery store)
 or do you mean residential phone service?  Stehekin, WA, was debating the
 latter as recently as August of last year:

  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002419687_stehekin04m.ht
ml

 And I'd be willing to bet there are numerous small villages in Alaska that
 don't have regular phone service, though they might have radio links for
 emergencies.

Re resp:116: One interesting thing about developing countries that 
don't have widely-deployed phone systems is they seem to be skipping 
the whole wired phone idea altogether.  They're jumping straight from 
nothing to cell phones. 
 
 
Re resp:119: That's very cool.  If I were in your service area I'd be 
tempted.  Comcast just started punishing me for being a loyal customer, 
so I'm a bit annoyed with them.  (In other words, the six month 
promotional "new customer" discount ended, causing my bill to jump by 
$30/month.) 
 
 
Re resp:120: Many commercial PBX systems have battery back-ups.  I 
imagine the same thing could be provided for residential customers 
without too much extra cost. 
 

Why are you upset that they gave you the discount during the period they
promised, and then began to charge you the regular price?  Isn't that exactly
what you agreed to?  What would you have done if you were in charge of such
a promotion?  Why do you choose to see the promotion as a way to punish loyal
customers, rather than encourage new customers to sign up?

Perhaps because he feels he was gullible? I feel the "urge" to accept such
"bargains" (for a couple/few months), but put it aside to consider if I'll
accept the *real* cost when that starts. I'll sign up if I think I'd be
willing to pay the full cost from the start. 

I sometimes sign up for the promotional price and then discontinue the 
service when the promotional period ends. Usually, they sign me up for 
another "promotional" period. 

There are still areas in the U.P. with no phone service.  We have been looking
at cell phone plans to find one with reasonable coverage up there.  So far,
not much luck.  Most of them cover the bigger cities but most of the center
part is not.  There are still areas up there without electricity other than
generators or natural gas.  The pockets are getting smaller but still exist.
(We have been looking for property for a vacation home/retirement home in the
U.P.)

I've been tempted, but a) that may create gaps even though I really want 
the service and, b) that creates some "make work". I suppose if the 
savings compensate for the "make work", it would be worth it.

Re resp:129: It just seems unfair, considering that I'm saving them 
money by not making them come out and disconnect/reconnect my service.  
They only pull this crap because they know they have a monopoly. 
 
Re resp:132: Look for a plan that allows analog roaming.  You'll need a 
"dual-mode" phone for this.  My old Verizon phone worked pretty well up 
there, in most areas.  Put a premium on any phone that has a way to 
connect an external antenna, because that can dramatically improve your 
range, especially if you can get the antenna up in the air a little. 

re #132
I had great success in rural UP with my old Qualcomm analog phone..the kind
with the pull-out antenna.  I think Sprint or Verizon will support those
models of phone, too.

Isn't there already an item (networking) for cell phone discussions?

firefox is the only way to go ... unless some safari afficianado knows
something i haven't found out yet .....
  
btw, with i.e. dead for mac ... how will *updates* work now  (obviously
not o.s. updates, duh).

 Updates to what?  There won't be any updates to MacOS IE (not that there
 have been for quite a while, actually..)  That's what "dead" means in this
 context.

              help impeach scoundrel bush:

              http://www.impeachbush.org/site/PageServer

whoa.  655171 !

Subject: WBWC Newsletter March/April 2006

Read about

Bicycle Magazine announces best bike cities (Ann Arbor is among them)
WBWC Board memeber attends UN Conference
WBWC testifies before Ann Arbor Energy Commission
Platt Road resurfacing plans
Driver gets 7-15 years in prison for killing cyclist
Rides of Silence
Winter Biking

and much more at:

http://www.wbwc.org/newsletter.shtml

------------
They are adding bike lanes to Platt Rd.
More than twice as many bikes were made as cars last year, which was a 
record year for cars.  
Dublin now has a pedestrian speed limit, because people have been walking 
too fast downtown and knocking each other over.
Ann Arbor is one of three best biking cities in the US of its size, after 
Boulder and Eugene (which I think are flat and warmer).
And much else of interest in this issue.
Sindi

Boulder? Flat? Warmer?

I dont think Eugene is particular flat or warmer either for that matter.

ILTA that I've added an item to the internet conference.

i can't even remember entering resp:140

it's like i'm drunk using GreX or something.

Boulder is farther south and gets much more sun.  I thought it was in a
valley.  Western Oregon is warmer than Michigan.

It's more moderate, which is to say it's cooler than a Michigan summer 
and warmer than a Michigan winter.  Not sure which season you're thinking
about.

Cooler summer and warmer winter helps with biking.  No fun biking on ice or
in 95 degrees.

It's generally warmer in Boulder than here.  And yes in the winter 
too.  CO gets 300 days of sun a year, which generally makes the 
winters warmer.  Though, definately not flatter.  I mean there's part 
of boulder that is flat, but half is mountainous.  I lived 15 mins 
south of there for 3 years.  It's awesome, and I miss it. :)

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today ordered that United States flags 
throughout the state of Michigan and on Michigan waters be lowered in 
honor of Michigan servicemen who lost their lives while on active duty 
in Iraq.  Flags will be lowered:

Monday, March 6, 2006 to honor Army Staff Sargeant Curtis T. Howard II 
of Ann Arbor.  Staff Sgt. Howard, 32, died February 22 when an 
improvised explosive device detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle 
near Balad, Iraq.  He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry 
Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, 
Colorado.

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 to honor Army Private First Class Allan A. Morr 
of Byron.  Army Pfc. Morr, 21, died February 22 when an improvised 
explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during patrol operations in 
Al Hawijah.  He was assigned to the Army s 1st Battalion, 327th 
Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, 
Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Flags should return to full-staff on Wednesday, March 8.

I just found out that Amy Devers, host of Freeform furniture on the DIY
channel is from Ypsilanti.

so jep will you vote to re-elect Granholm now that she's showing her
patriotism?

I would vote to re-elect Granholm based on her fiscal conservatism, and
her shift in stance on 2nd amendment issues.

I don't know if I'll vote for Granholm in the next election.  As you 
know, I tend strongly to vote for Republicans, but Granholm has been a 
pretty good governor in my opinion.

I won't vote for her because of her patriotism.  I presume any 
reasonable political candidate is patriotic.

I think she has done a good job and deserves to be re-elected.

She's pro-life.  Is that what you like about her?

Re 156, see #153.

O like granholm and think she has done a fair job so far.  But I will keep
my eye open for any candidate who has a plan to bring jobs to michigan

Yeah, she does tend get stuck on the auto industry at michigan's only 
industry. 

I'll vote for Granholm if I can forgive her for her "cool cities" talk
which inspired the city council of the town I live in to buy flags for
the lightposts that say "welcome to HIPsilanti"

Lynne, you mean my move next week will be to Hipsilanti? Hmm, I'm not sure
about this!

Ooooh. YOu are moving to Ypsi? Welcome to the neighborhood. Here is a
page full of Ypsi links that you might find useful

http://community.livejournal.com/ypsilanti/profile#links

If you dont mind my asking, where in town are you moving? (I live on N.
Grove near Depot Town...or maybe since I live in Hipsilanti, that should
be Groove Rd)

Re resp:160: Oh, god.  Tell me you're joking. 

I'll be in the Washtenaw/Golfside area... but will have to stay in AA  first
for a few days [til the movers get my stuff up here]. Fortunately, I have
family near by.

I think it's a right snappy idea.  When Kalamazoo got their "cool
cities" grant, they blew it on historic preservation and art galleries
and crap like that.  They coulda had a bunch a banners proclaiming the
city "KOOLamazoo", but noooo...

I would like to announce that the number of web pages I've bookmarked on
del.icio.us now exceeds 1000.
http://del.icio.us/jremmers/

Date:         Thu, 9 Mar 2006 12:43:03 -0500
From:         CNN Breaking News <BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM>

-- U.S. military to close Abu Ghraib prison and transfer prisoners
   to other jail s in Iraq, CNN confirms.

Oh well, there you go - the problem was the *building*.  Now we'll be all
set.

Well, sure.  Now the phrase "Abu Graib" will fade out of the public
consciousness, along with the negative connotations.  It won't matter
that the abuses continue until and unless there is another leak.  That
could be years.

 re #168:  It was like that hotel in "The Shining"..

 "Heeeeeeerrrres Lyndie!!!"

Abu Ghairb was a military base but that stupid torture fiasco made it famously
known as Abu Ghairb Prison.  I've got before/after CIA satellite photos when
we bombed it in '90 if anyone's interested.

 I thought it was originally a prison.

Maybe it was a military prison.

re #172
No more than Gitmo

Here's some good news:  Slobodan Milosevic has been found dead in his
jail cell.

Good news?

let the conspiracy theories begin!!!

good news !

what do you think did it?  The cyanide, the alit wrist, the bullet ti the
heart, the noose around his neck, or the crushed skull?

It has been spring for three days - first snowdrops and crocuses, and today
we saw our first skunk cabbage and garlic mustard along the river, dozens of
joggers, and a large purple RV.  We are about to get back to building a house
(or at least making space there to work in).

re #179
He had high blood pressure.  

              help impeach scoundrel bush!!

              http://www.impeachbush.org/site/PageServer

Dang, jvmv must have gotten out of jail.

              i was fucking your slut mother. everybody knows your whore 
              mom sure can suck a good cock. she would pay for that. 

What a jerk....

how can she be a whore is she pays for sucking your cock?

              don't believe in anything ever, jeanne manigold.


              help impeach scoundrel bush!

              http://www.impeachbush.org/site/PageServer


              :)

I had been meaning to get around to this, but for those whom it may concern,
my wife had a beautiful baby girl on February 14.  7 lbs, 6 oz, dark hair,
looks like me.  She is named Lauraine.

Thought some people would like to know.

CONGRATULATIONS POPS! :)

That doesn't concern me at all. It sounds like great news!

Congrats.

Wow, that's so cool. Congratulations!! :)

Congratulations, Senna!

Yay!!  Congratulations!

congratulations, senna ! i hope you make many more babies !

I did not realize how long it has been since we 'met' at grex, Senna.  Pretty
soon Laurainne will need a login id.

yes, congrats.  Get her login now.

I would like to admit that I saw jep last night at the Michigan 
game. :)  It might be over 10 years since I've seen him!

How did you know it was him?

             congratulations! good luck with your baby.


             help impeach scoundrel bush!

             http://www.impeachbush.org/site/PageServer

Senna, that's marvelous news.  Congrats!

Jeanne: Why did you "admit" you saw me?  Do you mean you're confessing 
to going to a Michigan game, or sheepish that you talked to me?

To the rest: furs and I have known each other for 20 years.  I met her, 
denise and remmers (and sno, samiam, tie1on, and others who are no 
longer around) at a volleyball get-together when I first came to Ann 
Arbor.

I may have been the only one at the game last night who was wearing 
Michigan State colors.  I had my MSU Spartans coat on.  I felt Crisler 
Arena needed to have some basketball class for the evening.

So why'd you wear State colors? ;)

Congrats, Steve - thats great news.

Re #188:  Congratulations, Steve!  Hadn't seen you around these parts
recently and was wondering what you were up to.

Getting his end away, looks like.

re 201.  I meant to say ANNOUNCE!  I was sleepy this morning. :)

uh-huh .. a likely story <g>.
  
cheny for president! impeach bush .... uh-huh, a likely plan.

They'll impeach him, too, over the Plame affair.

No laws were violated over the plame affair.  Turns out she wasn't covert adn
everyone knew who she was and where she worked, and dhe went around telling
people where she worked.

Hello, 2005 is calling. It wants its false meme back.

(bap, that bit of bs has been debunked so many times you must be the only 
person left in the country who believes it)

Armitage has a big target on his forehead.

Re #209: there are other, and more qualified, views on this. For example

"Well, her life may or may not have been in danger, but the lives of her
network probably were--not that anyone knows. But she was undercover at the
time she was outed. More importantly, her work was in the WMD area, and the
shell company that she worked under was also compromised, so there is no way
of knowing what has been lost or rendered useless--or put in danger. This
isn't some game."

from http://www.professorbainbridge.com/2005/10/the_plame_affai.html

Leave it to a politician and their groupies to destroy our country.

Bap should take a look at this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11179719/site/newsweek/from/RL.1/

Oh yeah.  Newsweek.

Last I heard the CIA was refusing to confirm or deny her status.

Last you heard, up was down.

Worse, you still believe it.

Did you actually read the article, bap? The JUDGE made the determination based
on the facts presented.

A judge offered an opinion based on evidence presented, and the prosecutor
decided ther ewas not enough evidence to charge Libby.

Are you thinking about what you read, or just take it at face value.

"special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done
'covert work overseas' on counterproliferation matters in the past five
years, and the CIA 'was making specific efforts to conceal' her identity,"

...but...

"Fitzgerald concluded he could not charge Libby for violating a 1982 law
banning the outing of a covert CIA agent; apparently he lacked proof
Libby was aware of her covert status"

If it was my wife, Libby would be a dead motherfucker by now.
Shame on any asshole that thinks the letter of the law excuses Cheney's goons.

Bap is engaging in mental contortions to do just that! Can you read, bap? 
BTW, the judge made a finding of fact. Absent unusual circustances on 
appeal, that means the judge has determined what actually happened. Do you 
have some sort of information the judge wasn't privy to, bap?

 re #220:
 >  If it was my wife, Libby would be a dead motherfucker by now.
 
 Get real.

Mike, by "would be a dead motherfucker by now", Todd really means he
would have stolen one of Libby's pens and then conned him into taking
him out to lunch...on Libby's dime.

we are not going to solve it here.  We have stories and reports every which
way from sunday about she was undercover, she was not undercover, she was
outed by the CIA to both Russia and Cuba, ahe was outed by Libby, she was
outed by Novak, She was outed by Novak's boss, the CIA was trying to put her
back undercover...

We will have to wait and see how it plays out.

You are full of BS, bap. Just because a bunch of people say different things
does not mean the truth cannot be ascertained. Believing otherwise merely
creates a false meme that the truth can never be known so long as enough
people contradict the facts (this is also known as lying or ignorance). 
You seem to have bought into that approach. You should be ashamed to stoop 
that low.

re #222
  Get real.
KGB, GRU, MI6, Mossad, BND, etc rarely let moles in government slide out the
back door.  I'm certain my wife would not let some politician ruin her career
without some strange Nikolai Yezhov mishap taking place where Libby is found
guilty of espionage, treason, and bad fashion sense.

What does that mean cyklone?  That mean I have a icecubes shance in hell of
changing your mind about this, or that you think you can change mine?

Nice dodge, bap. My point has nothing to do with what I think. I clarified 
that the judge made a finding of fact. You claim the issue is not settled. 
I asked you what evidence you have, that the judge did not, that you think 
supports your claim. My guess is you cannot point to any such facts. But 
hey, if you don't have the facts on your side, then go ahead and attack 
the messenger.

not dodging, just tired of arguing with no prospect of people seeing reason.

oh, you're one to talk about people not seeing reason
koolaid drinker.


lol

Seems to me that if anyone can see reason it was the judge that "made a
finding of fact." It is certainly not bru that can "outguess" the judge. 

My point exactly. But then bap can't even admit to dodging when he obviously
is. All he has to do is point to a fact not available to the judge. He can't.

Game over, bap. Go lie down by your bowl of kool-aid.

i'm pretty sure i've had kool-aid only a few times in my life.

hey. its your hero's that drink koolaid.  Amazing how liberals are all about
free speech until their ox gets gored.

Could you be more specific? That was utter gibberish. Are you a mind 
reader now, like Richard? Who exactly do you think my hero is? And where 
have I advocated restricting free speech? You're totally losing it, dude.

I am just ticked about Tom Cruise killing a South Park Eposode because it
pokes fun of his religion.

How did he kill it?

Re: 236  It's easily found on internet film sites.  Quite clever
actually, and I'm not surpised he's upset about it because it's
spot-on.

Re #236: are you insinuating that Tom Cruise is liberal? You have forced me
to remind you what a liberal is:

liberal (adj).  1. Possessing or manifesting a free and generous heart; 
bountiful. 2. Appropriate or fitting for a broad and enlightened mind. 3.
Free from narrowness, bigotry, or bondage to authority or creed, as in
religion; inclined to democratic or republican ideas, as opposed to
monarchical or aristocratic, as in politics; broad, popular, progressive. 

and just to make the distinction clearer

illiberal (adj.). 1. Not liberal; not generous in giving; parsimonious. 2.
Narrow-minded. 3. Lacking breadth of culture; hence, vulgar. 

Well, I have heard that Cruise is kind and gracious...but like I said, "I've
HEARD it" - and it's not like I consider Starr Jones the be all and end all
of opinions. 

Cruise creeps me out. 

 re #237:  The claim (I have no idea whether it's true) is that Cruise
 threatened Viacom that he wouldn't promote MI:3 (due out this summer)
 unless they pulled the episode from their rerun schedule.  The entire
 episode is available for download by special permission of the show's
 creators if you want to see it.

 Another recent Scientology vs. South Park development is that Isaac
 Hayes, who provides the voice for the character of "Chef", has chosen
 to leave the show, citing "religious intolerance" as one of his prime
 motives.  Hayes, who is a Scientologist, apparently was able to tolerate
 the level of "intolerant" humor as long as it was directed at Mormons,
 Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, or any other members on the long,
 long, list of groups that South Park has offended.

Well, people always notice it more when it is a group they are part of 
that is being made fun of. 

..but they don't seem to notice their own inconsistency.

Scientology is not a religion; its a philosophy.

 I would like to announce that unless I'm misinformed, today was the
 first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere.  

Re #244: you are incorrect. From the Scientology web site:

"Scientology is the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to
itself, others and all of life. The Scientology religion comprises a body of
knowledge extending from certain fundamental truths."

Note "The Scientology religion".

re:244&246 actually, it's a pile of pseudo science any educated 10 year old
could see through. It baffles me how people fall for it. Then again mainstream
religions make even more fantastic claims in their "holy" books... 

"certain fundamental truths"

rotflmao

sometimes, i can be REALLY fucking charming, and sometimes i can't be.

the days when the latter is the case are usually far outnumbered by those of
the former, but i get along.

We noticed...

re #246
Nice to see where you get your info from...
I stand by my definition, though.

"Scientology addresses the spirit not simply the body or mind and is 
therefore completely apart from materialistic philosophies which hold that 
man is a product of his environment or his genes."

"Scientology is a religion by its basic tenets, practice, historical 
background and by the definition of the word religion itself. It is 
recognized as such by courts in country after country around the world, 
including the highest courts in the United States, Australia, Germany, 
Sweden, Italy, Denmark and many others."

(http://www.theta.com/csla/whatis.html)

So if all those countries and their courts consider scientology a 
religion, why doesn't tod?

The ultimate criterion for a religion is that it asserts the existence of 
a supernatural entity. Here's what they say about that

"Most definitely. Scientology affirms the existence of a Supreme Being, 
although its dogma is unique and does not include the worship of one. 
Scientology believes that only through total spiritual enlightenment can 
one then truly discover and understand the Supreme Being."

(http://www.scientology.org/en_US/religion/catechism/pg008.html)

So, scientology is by definition a religion.

I am, of course, not defending scientology in any way. I'm just lumping it 
in with all the other cults of the supernatural.

HACKED BY GNAA LOL JEWS DID WTC LOL

• Read the next item
• Go to the menu of items for the Agora56 conference
• Go to the list of conferences
• Go to the opening screen