TBWAIN - AKA Jeff Svare's Blog

Or not. As this is the season of Christmas cheer, peace on earth, and goodwill toward men, I thought I'd publicly air my frustrations in trying to return a piece of defective software to my local Target store. Here's the e-mail I sent to their customer service department just a few minutes ago. On Wednesday, 27 December 2006, my son purchase a computer game, Cabela's Outdoor Adventures (SKU 20102842, receipt redacted ). I installed the game, and when he tried to play it the video would not display. I then spent a considerable amount of time verifying that all the video, sound, and monitor drivers on his computer were up-to-date, and tried again, with the same result. I then contacted the manufacturer's technical support for assistance. They had no idea why the game would not work. We verified the computer it was installed on met all the system requirements before purchasing. I attempted to return the game today to the store where it was purchased and secure an in-s...

From my childhood, one of my favorite Christmas movies was The Bishop's Wife . Not the dreadful one with Denzel Washington (whose work I really enjoy, especially Crimson Tide ), but the 1947 version with Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young. I think my favorite scene was when Dudley (Cary Grant) decorates the Christmas tree using his angelic powers. During the course of the show, Dudley find himself falling in love with the bishop's wife (Loretta Young), and she with him. All because the bishop's attentions are focused more on building a new cathedral than on his wife and daughter. Years later, I began to appreciate the closing scene of the movie. Bishop Brougham is struggling trying to write his Christmas Eve sermon, and Dudley takes over the task, dictating to the typewriter what the bishop's sermon will be. It's an eloquently short sermon that plainly teaches that charity is what we should be giving to one another. "Tonight, I want to tell you abo...

Today, 31 October, a few minutes after 10 in the morning, our Miniatute Schnauzer passed away. She had two seizures on Monday, the last one continuing for over an hour and a half. When we finally got her to a vet, her temperature was over 110° F. She continued to seizure during the night, and the high temperature probably caused brain damage as well as ruptured several organs as she hemmoraged during the night. We took her to her regular vet in the morning, and we were with her when she passed away. We got Asta from county animal shelter in 1991, when she was only a few months old. She was a dear family member who grew up with our kids. We have lots of fond memories of her and will always remember that she had the softest fur of any dog, and was the most beautiful Schnauzer we had ever seen. She was called lots of things by us over the years. Ai-ai, "The Protector from the farm", schnozzler, nostril, dingy dog, Astro, paranoid pooch, and other names. Thanks for being a...

What was Gardenhire thinking? Santana had struck out 8, the Twins were down by 1 run. Santana had great stuff going, but his pitch count hit 107. Evidently that means his arm is in immediate danger of falling off. Maybe Gardy was afraid that Frank Thomas was going to homer off Johan again. So, showing no confidence in his ace, he pull him for Jesse Crain. Who immediately serves up a home run pitch to Thomas. This reminds me way too much of Game 4 of the 2005 Division Series when he pulled Grant Balfour at the beginning of the eighth inning. Santana started that game too. Johan gave up one run through five innings, and was relieved by Balfour. Balfour didn't allow a hit, and struck out two in his two innings of work. The Twins were up 5-1, and Balfour was smokin' the ball past the Yanks. What happened? Sheffield singled. Rincon throws a wild pitch allowing Sheffield to go to second. Matsui walks. Williams singles, scoring Sheffield. Posada strikes out. Ruben Sierra (remember him...

After an extremely successful career as the premiere example of carrier-based aripower, the Navy has retired the F-14. And I'm sad to see her go. The F-14, in all it's variations has been described as the 60's musclecar of naval aviation. Her replacement, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is easier to maintain (read: cheaper) and carries a heavier payload. It also has shorter range, and lower top speed. More Super Hornet specs can be found here . Most people never had the opportunity to see a Tomcat in real life. The closest most got was Top Gun or JAG . Which, I'll have to admit, isn't all that bad. But having seen VF-1 Wolfpack deployed on USS Ranger CV-61, real life was so much better. The Tomcat was a maintenence-intensive craft, requiring 40 hours on the ground for each hour in the air. But, dang. She sure was pretty. Even sitting in a hangar, she looks mean, cool, and sexy. Put her in the air, and she's mean, cool, and sexy. Here's to everyone who...

\Roddenberry taught the world to say\"Beam me up, Scotty." Actually, that line of dialogue was never uttered in an episode of Star Trek. It's a popular myth. "Mr. Scott, three to beam up." That is actual dialogue from the series. But not in the first episode. I remember sitting on the floor in front of the tv in our house on 13th Avenue South in Fargo, North Dakota at 7:30 pm to watch the first episode of Star Trek . Little did I know then what an effect it would have on my life. I was barely seven years old, but I was already a die-hard sci-fi fan. While I liked Star Wars when it came out, and anxiously awaited each and every movie that followed, they never caught my imagination as totally as Star Trek did. Maybe it was because Star Wars was about humanoid aliens and Trek was about the human experience among aliens. I don't really know. I do know the best Trek eps have always been about how our humanity reacts to the larger world around it. Some o...

After I had checked my bag at Gardermoen airport last week I decided to ask about upgrading my seat on the Copenhagen to Chicago leg of the trip. Evidently Scandinavian Airlines has some whacky policies about issuing or purchasing upgrades. There were plenty of seats available in Business class, so seating wasn't a problem. After waiting about 15 minutes for the ticket agent to help me, she said there were plenty of seats, but the upgrade would cost about 8,000.00 USD. That's Eight Thousand dollars. Eight grand. Why so bloody much? Evidently SAS' policy is that if you upgrade one segment, you have to upgrade all of them. Even the ones that have already taken place. My Chicago to Stockholm leg, for example. Last year, I missed my flight from Chicago to Oslo because of bad weather in Chicago. So I had to stay overnight on my own dime. The United Airlines people had to change my flight from Chicago so I arrived in Europe in Frankfurt rather than Munich. This change al...

I took the train from Göthenburg to Oslo today. While we wewe stopped in Halden the Norsk Tolkontroll came aboard to talk to each passenger to see if they had any goods to declare. They're just looking for the usual stuff, asking the usual questions. "Where are you coming from, where are you going, do you have any alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs?" They've got all the makings of Latter-day Saint missionaries. They're in the second compartment right now (15:11) and it smells like they found something. :-) I think missionaries would approve of the dress code as well. T-shirt, blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a gorgeous black cocker spaniel. Who really likes getting his ears scratched. We're just pulling into Sarpsborg . Here's the latest in a series of odd-looking rail cars. A 29.2 cubic meter, 12 thousand kilogram container with a square opening running through the center of it. I wonder what it's for? While eating out a few times in Sweden I dis...

Or, If We're in Sweden, Don't Let Me Order the Drinks Do you remember that line from Star Wars (back when it was Star Wars , and not when it was Star Wars: A New Hope ) when Han says to Luke, "Don't get cocky." Hm? I was feeling pretty good about how well I was making myself understood here in Sweden. I was able to get through Immigration, customs, buy a ticket for the bus into town, check in at the hotel, and buy a few things and ask directions. Yeah, I thought I was doing allright. Then we went to dinner. The waiter came to take our orders and asked what we wanted to drink. I said, "Vann, vennligst." Or in English, "Water, please." Then I noticed he took away all the wine glasses from the table except for mine. "That doesn't seem right," I thought to myself. I a couple of minutes he came back with a bottle of water for our table, and a few minutes later he came with a bottle of white wine for me. I said, "No thank, I ...

The men's room wall, that it. The past week we've been in Moab, Utah taking a little vacation. That in itself is another story, which I'll probably never post here, for various reasons. Moab is somthing like another city in Utah, Park City. Both are recreation destinations each shares a considerable liberal attitude, which I oftimes don't understand, and more frequently don't want to both trying to understand. They're world view is different from mine, and it's probably better that way. So at one point during the week I found occasion to use the men's room in one of the restaurants we were eating in. Glancing around I noticed the testostorone-charged sophomoric expressions that I thought dropped out of fashion when someone graduated from high school. Well I was wrong. One bit of writing caught my eye. It said, "Victary [sic] to the Iraqie [sic] resistance! Troops out now!" Of course, as with all written material of this ilk, it was undat...

SCO , the company that has made a name for itself by claiming it owns Linux and for suing IBM, has announced it's offering Unix developers $1000 USD to receive training in its EdgeClick Developer Challenge . The winner of best wireless application gets a BMW M5 or $100,000 USD. Ja, and the fine print of the agreement probably says that SCO gets the patents and all rights so they can build up their war chest . Just for giggles, I did a search on IBM's website for the term "SCO". I got 20,298 hits .

The Detroit Tigers' manager, Jim Leyland , was ejected from his first game this season. Ostensibly, it was for arguing balls and strikes with the home plate umpire Paul Nauert. After the game, he was asked if this was something he did to "get his team fired up." His reply: "That's high school [stuff]." Ron Gardenhire has been ejected from at least four games so far this season. The Twins have been treading water trying to stay above .400 most of the season. This was Leyland's first ejection. The Tigers are currently in first place, two and a half games ahead of the ChiSox. Perhaps there's a lesson here. Perhaps it's that Gardenhire is a lousy manager.

Barry Bonds: Better baseball through chemistry . Not. If you want my opinion of better baseball, take a look at the wrapup on last Friday's game between the Twins and the Mariners. Two great young pitchers, Francisco Liriano of the Twins and Felix Hernandez of the Ms. Hernandez gave up just three runs on five hits, struck out eight and walked one. Liriano pitched a four hit shutout, also walked only one, and struck out eight. What I wouldn't have given to have been able to see that matchup. Yeah. That's better baseball.

Barry Bonds hit his 714th home run today, to tie Babe Ruth for second. Here's all I've got to say on the matter: C 21 H 30 O 5

Last night, 17 May, Johan Santana pitched what may have been be best game of the season for the Twins. He gave up four hits, walked one, and struck out 12. On the flip side, he gave up two runs (both earned) on a two-out, one-one homer in the eighth. This gave him a Game Score of 77. The Tiger's pitcher, Justin Verlander , gave up six hits, and hit Michael CUddyer. Despite the six hits, the Twins didn't score. Verlander's Game Score? 70. A really impressive outing. So, did the Twins make this an easy win for Verlander? Here's a comparison of the two pitchers: IP ER BB HR K ERA 61.1 22 13 6 70 3.23 Santana 51 18 14 7 27 3.18 Verlander Other than strikeouts, Johan and Justin are pretty close. Innings wise, Johan's pitched one more game. Looks like Verlander's a better pitcher than he gets credit for. Maybe this knowledge will make the loss easier to deal with. Nah.

I was reading my old hometown newspaper today, and saw that their sportswriter, Mike McFeely , feels the same way about Rondell White as I do. Here's what Mike said: Designated hitter Rondell White, our choice for Nice-Guy Pro Jock of the Year, has to go. He’s paid to hit. He’s not hitting. Any questions? White’s been an embarrassing free-agent signing for the Twins. His zero home runs, 10 RBIs and .185 average make him the least productive DH in the American League. He also calls for the Twins to bring up Kubel to play outfield along with Hunter and Cuddyer as well as moving Stewart to the DH role. Interestingly enough, that's where Shannon was batting on the 15th. He went 1 for 4, with a single and RBI. The entire article can be found here (registration required) .

Last night, May 9th, the Twins showed their impressive ability to only be able to capitalize on crappy pitching. Back on May 3rd, they unloaded on Joe Mays, scoring 6 runs on 8 hits in 3 and 1/3 innings. Of those six runs, only two were earned, which makes me suspect that they had more assistance from the other side of diamond than from their own dugout. Joe's arm just isn't what it used to be, and the Twin's took full advantage of it. Mays' game score for this outing was 29. After they pulled Mays, the Twins went back to facing major league pitching and promptly shut down. If they would have kept going against the Royal's bullpen they way they went after Mays, they should have scored 16 runs on 22 hits. Of course, projections like this lie more in the realms of fantasy, so it probably wouldn't have happened. As it was, the three relievers combined to pitch a one-hitter with four strikeouts over the next four and two-thirds innings. Back to last night's...

Can anyone answer this question? What player holds the record for the most errors in a World Series? I don't know the answer, but Willie Davis committed 3 errors in game 2 of the 1966 Series . All of them in the 5th inning! The Orioles scored 3 runs, eventually going on to win the game 6-0. Incidentally, Jim Palmer pitched a complete game shutout in that game, and became the youngest pitcher ever to do that. Thanks to Ken for letting me know about Willie Davis' unenviable feat!

Ruben Sierra spent the first two weeks in April at extended spring training. On 18 April he was called up from Fort Myers (the Twins' Class A team), and eleven days later, he ruptured the biceps tendon in his left elbow. According to the report, the MRI found a rupture at the elbow. I've had one of those MRI's as well. As good as they are, mine didn't show that my injury involved a complete separation of tendon from the bone. I had to have surgery to determine that. I'm familiar with the repair to correct a distal biceps tendon rupture . I had surgery to fix it just over two years ago. Even though I successfully completed rehab, my right arm still isn't as strong as it used to be, and I still have numbness on the inside of my forearm (which bugs the heck out of me!). Reuben is going to try rehab rather than surgery. I tried rehab before I tried surgery, too. Let me clue you, Ruben, rehab doesn't fix the problem if you've pulled the tendon off...

Here's some changes I'd make if I was in charge of the Twins. 1. Send Liriano back to AAA to get him into a rotation where he's pitching every 4 or 5 days. 2. Dump Rondell White and Reuben Sierra. Their productive days are behind them. 4. Bring up the Jasons. Kubel could DH and play outfield, and Bartlett could take over for Castro at short. 3. Reevaluate the coaching staff. If they're sound, make the players listen to them. Especially to Joe Vavra. Tori isn't producing the way he should (who is?), and Morneau looks to be levelling off as a perennial average batter. He's got a lot more potential. 4. Plan on bringing up some arms from AAA to get them some experience. Radke's gone after this season, and I'm seriously wondering how Kyle Lohse won in arbitration again. :sigh:

Justin Morneau has 20 strikeouts and 5 HRs with a BA of .208. Tori Hunter has 18 strikeouts and 5 HRs with a BA of .221. Rondell White has 18 strikeouts and NO HRs with a BA of .120 (up from .079!). Looks to me like Rondell can't hit. RW also has left 13 runners in scoring position. Morneau's left 6, and Hunter's left 5. Am I the only one who sees a problem here?

Tony Batista has been on the receiving end of a lot of negative commentary since the Twins acquired him in the off-season. Sure, the deal really looked like the team in Japan was trying to unload him, but now that we're far enough into the regular season, let's see what he's doing. Through last night's series with the Angels, Tony is batting .286. That puts him fourth on the team with players with more than 15 at bats. Luis Castillo is the hot bat, with a .404 average. Batista's tied with Morneau, Hunter, and Castro for second place in the hits department, with 14. Shannon Stewart and Castillo are tied in first with 19 hits. Tony's fourth on the tean with 8 RBIs, behind Morneau (14), Hunter (11), and Stewart (10). He's also tied with Cuddyer and Stewart for HRs (2) behind Morneau and Hunter with four apiece. He and Morneau are tied for first place with 7 two-out RBIs. And sure, Tony's been caught stealing once and has committed 1 error. As Aaron ...

CIL2006 - The Journey Conludes - Almost 10:02 This morning's keynote was presented by by Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project , and former managing editor of US News and World Report . While he may look older than some expected, and appears to be just another Foundation suit, he's a very intelligent man, and worth paying attention to. His presentation was prompted in part by this week's Time cover story on the overconnected teen. So his focus was on the younger Internet users, the Millenials, those people born between 1982 and 2000. In other words, my kids. Uff da. He presented Eight Realities of Millenials. This group is formed by a distinct age cohort, 5-23 years old They are immersed in a world of media and gadgets Their technology is mobile The Internet plays a special part in their world They are multitaskers They are unaware of, or indifferent to, he consequences of technology The technology they use will change radically in the next...

CIL2006 - The Journey Continues 10:00 This morning's keynote was by Megan Fox, Planning for a Handheld Mobile Future . She discussed several devices that are capable of receiving digital content. Microsoft is developing a new font to replace Times New Roman that will be more readable on multiple devices. New apps are being created to produce native mobile content. A study to deliver student's schedules to their mobile devices raised the question, "If you can upload their schedule to their phone, why can't you turn the ringer off?" Another product described was a mobile digital search. Use your camera phone to take a picture of an object, then receive information about it. One example is to take a picture of a movie poster and get back reviews and theaters and showtimes, or video stores, in your area. I'm not quite sure how we'd ever de able to deliver digital content to a patron's smart phone, but we could send them information on the FHL in a t...

CIL2006 : The Journey Begins 09:50 The Washington Hilton Ballroom was packed for Chris Sherman's keynote, Search Engine Report . While I didn't catch all of it thanks to traffic on the George Washington Parkway , I was able hear his conclusions: Search is getting exciting and innovative again New tools and products are making more types of content searchable Threats to privacy and individual liberty are subtly increasing in the US, while ironically they seem to be improving in China. I've tried to get these exactly the way they appeared on his slide, as I don't want to misquote him. While Microsoft releasing a new search engine and mapping tool are alright, I don't personally find either innovative as much as I find them derivative of existing products. Lots of content has always been searchable (anyone remember Archie?), other sources of electronic content (gopher, finger and WAIS, for example) mostly dried up and went away faced with the overwhelming onslaught o...

Since this was my first trip to Philly I had to try a cheese steak sandwich. I asked my seat-mate on the flight in (the guy with the Bose headphones) who made the best sandwiches. He wouldn't commit himself, but he made a great suggestion, "Get one of each, they're small." So I did. The parameters of my test sandwich: steak, onions, and Cheez Whiz . I tried Geno's first. Incredible. The flavor was amazing. I could have died a very happy man. Next, Pat's . Incredible. The flavor was amazing. I could have died a very happy man. Pat's steak was every bit as good as Geno's. But the on Pat's the bread was better, and so was the cheese. I can't figure out how Cheez Whiz can taste different, but it did. Pat's Wins! Pat's Wins! Despite this glowing recommendation, you won't find me on their celebrity page . Cheese steak. It's a beautiful thing .

I found a great reason to have an MP3 player with you when flying: you can't hear unwanted conversations. The fellow I was sitting next to on the plane had a set of Bose Sound Cancelling headphones with him. After the in-flight movie (which was awful), I asked him about them. He even let me try them on. It was amazing! Suddenly all I could hear were my own thoughts. The persistene drone of the cabin pressure system was gone! Then he plugged them into the armrest headphone jack. I'd swear I was suddenly listening to premium quality sound system. I'd been using my cheap airline-furnished earphones just before this, and it didn't sound anything like what I was listening to then. Simply amazing. Note to self: Add noise-cancelling headphones to Want List.

In this case, nothing really. It's just that TBWAIN is more interesting than Jeff Svare's Blog . The content isn't going to change, 'cuz it's my blog. But the name was dull. Boring. Unimaginative. And, I was tired of it. Next week, I'm going to the Computers in Libraries Conference in Washington, D.C. It's always a great conference, and I feel really fortunate that I'm able to go again. It's a real idea factory, and I always come away recharged with new ideas. This year I'm hoping to get a chance to further discuss content management ideas for libraries and information organizations. The unofficial wiki for the conference has some good stuff posted. Lots of seasoned conference-goers have shared their insights on how to help your conference experience be a great one.

March 14th. The beginning of NCAA basketball's March Madness. Madness. Yes, that's a good word for it. This is a time when the laws of physics relative to time are suspended. A game with 2 seconds left on the clock can continue for 20 years. At least it seems like it does. I don't hate basketball, but if I can go through the month without seeing a single game, I won't be disappointed. This represents a period of suffering for me. I suppose it's appropriate that it takes place during Lent. But it also represents a time of renewed hope, a resurgence in the belief that Spring is soon here. That better days will soon be with us. Why? The MLB teams are in spring training, and it's three weeks until opening day!

I found this quote over on TrekWeb today: "The [Enterprise] finale was one of those where you'd go down to the stage and see people shaking their heads while reading the script." When the cast is reacting that way to a script while they are shooting, they must know it's really bad. IMHO, the only good part of the whole ep was the end sequence with the voice-overs by all the captains. That was cool. The rest of it tanked. Oh, you want to know who said this? It was Doug Mirabello, Rick Berman's Personal Assistant. And, as we all know, These Are the Voyages... was the only script of the season written by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga . You can read the original article here . Did I mention this episode was really bad?

When I heard the news that Kirby Puckett had had a stroke and they weren't releasing any statement on his condition I knew things were bad. I found out about his passing tonight, just a few hours after returning from a viewing for a neighbor's wife. Kirby Puckett was at the nexus of two of the happiest moments in my life. The second one, which I'll mention first, was in 1995, when the Twins came to Salt Lake City to play their AAA affiliate, the Salt Lake Buzz. The Twins lost that game, but afterwards my kids and I were crushed up against the fence where the team buses load, waiting to see if we could spot someone. You should have heard the roar that went up when Kirby came in sight. While we were disappointed we didn't get an autograph, or a chance to shake his had, we did get to see Kirby up close. The first of these event was in 1991, when my oldest daughter had just turned four. It was during the World Series, and, like most little kids, had gotten sick while s...

Why is it always windy on the days the garbage is picked up? Saddam Hussein ended his hunger strike , citing concerns for his health. I'm sure that he had the health and best interests of the 148 Shiite muslims in mind when he ordered their execution . And now for something completely different. The Minnesota Twins have selected Zoilo Versalles for inclusion in the Twins Hall of Fame . This is sorta mixed news, as Versalles was one name that sticks in my early memories of the Twins. While I recall the great heights and lofty promise Zoilo had, I also remember how horribly disappointing he became. If you'd like, the Hardball Times has dubbed Zoilo the Sultan of Flops . The Baseball Almanac has Zoilo's stats . And now for something completely different. The London Natural History Museum is putting a giant squid on display . The beastie is 20 ft long, with an eye that is 10 inches across. Yuck.

According to Hennipin Distrct County Judge Charles Porter Jr., the Twins' lease on the Metrodome expired in 2003 . This means the Twins owner, Carl Pohlad has a considerable bit more leverage to exert on moving the team to a new facility. Since the lease has expired, the judge ruled that selling tickets for seats in the Dome indicates an intent to play, which causes and annual renewal of the lease. Why the Twins want a new stadium is beyond me. One of the reasons they opted to join the Vikings in the Metrodome is the unpredictable weather. There were too many rainouts, delays, and postponements when they were playing in Metropolitan Stadium . And now they want to go back to playing outside? Interestingly, the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission has an article on Life Before the Dome . Another problem is that if the deal to build a stadium in Hennepin County falls through, the Twins could be on the contraction block again .

Tonight I had a dining experience unlike any I have ever had. My wife and I don't like to go fight the crowds dining out on Valentine's Day, so we usually go out some other night around the 14th. So tonight we decided to go out and get it over with. I say "get it over with" because so many times you go out to eat and it's no big deal. Most places the food is tasty, the wait service adequate, the Muzak too loud, and the conversations going on around you far too personal to be comfortable overhearing. All in all, pretty overwhelmingly average. That's probably why I hate eating alone when I'm on the road. It's boring. Not tonight. We decided to go to this little Italian place on Main Street in Bountiful. As soon as we walked in, it was wonderful. They had a great buffet spread laid out, with homemade food. Sure, the salad bar had iceberg lettuce in it, but it wasn't poured out of a bag. And there were no reheated preprocessed meatballs here,...

In his State of the Union address last night, President Bush said that "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world." I don't suppose that this comes as a surprise to anyone. If it does, where the heck have you been for the last 50 years? The President deserves to get some credit for stating something no one else before him has had the guts to say. I noticed with some amusement that Senator John Kerry afterwards tried to pin the blame on America's dependency on foreign oil on the Bush administration. Funny, I don't recall that during Bill Clinton's eight years in office that he did all that bloody much to change things. Interestingly enough, back in 1984 the Carl Pope of the Sierra Club applauded John Kerry's Goal To Decrease Oil Dependence . From everything that I can see, the Sierra Club is doing everything it can to increase our dependence on foreign oil by trying to stifle every attempt that's made to in...

No, this list doesn't include the two I know in Wisconsin. :-) Over at Aaron Gleeman's Blog he's working on a list of the top 40 Minnesota Twins. Since it's just plays who wore a Twins uniform, and only their performance as a Twins counts, you won't see Jack Morris or Walter Johnson on the list. The list starts with Randy Bush as #40. I wonder where Harmon Killebrew , Tony Oliva , Bert Blyleven , and Jim Kaat will finish up. I'll be paying attention to his list.

With the end of the Moslem Hajj aproaching, and all the coverage given to the horrible accidents that have cost the lives of over 300 people , I'm wondering why apparently no one in the Moslem world has taken this as an opportunity to decry the terrorist attacks in Iraq that are killing hundreds of innocent people . Where's the outrage of the Moslem world against this twisting of their religious values? Some has been reported, but most of what we see in the press makes the it look like they don't care. The terrorist actions in Iraq are Moslems killing Moslems. Sunnis killing Shia. According to Islam, is this wrong? I've heard people say yes, but I've also read this in the Koran: 2.190 And fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you, and do not exceed the limits, surely Allah does not love those who exceed the limits. 2.191 And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaugh...

I was watching the news tonight when a report came on that legislators in the county I live in are considering making it illegal for teens to go to a tanning salon. During the report several teenage girls spluttered on incoherently about being deprived of their "rights." This is probably more evidence that the public school system is failing to teach children, but more likely it shows that society itself has blurred the line between rights and privileges. In the Declaration of Independence it reads, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." So just what are rights, and what are privileges? As the Declaration rightly states, Rights are bestowed by God. Privileges are granted and revoked by man. It's just that simple. A driver's license is a privilege, not a right. Freedom is a right, but...