I saw this on CNN yesterday, and no matter how many times I see articles about stupid people suing because they (or their family) did something stupid…it never stops pissing me off

I mean… come on! The daughter committed suicide.. it is NOT Walmart’s fault, the gun maker’s fault or anyone else’s fault except the daughters. Period. I can’t belive this woman is dumb enough to think that walmart (or any reseller) should

A: Break federal HIPPA (Health Information Privacy Protection Act) laws by going through the pharmacy records to see if anyone has a prescription. News flash… I’d be willing to bet that if Walmart did break the law and go through pharmacy records this lady would be suing them for violating her daughter’s privacy!

B: Ask why someone is buying something? C’mon your daughter LIED on the background check form.. which means she comitted PERJURY… Besides, have you ever actually shopped at Walmart lady? It takes for ever to get through the checkout lanes anyway, can you imagine how much longer it would take if they had to ask why people were buying things?

Walmart Cashier: “Nice bottle of bleach, why are you buying it?”

Customer: “To brighten my whites”

Cashier: “Oh, this is a nice set of steak knives, what are you going to use them for?”

Customer: “Ummm… to cut steak with.”

Repeat 50 times for the other items in the cart.

So, I hope that whatever judge hears this case, has got enough common sense to just throw it out, and hopefully, Walmart will counter sue for the lady for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

Janice and I need to replace the mini-van in the next year.. so we’ve started doing some research and window shopping

With the gas prices going the way they are (further and further up) I’m seriously considering getting a Hybrid this time around… my big concern with that is, I remember reading somewhere that the EPA estimates for MPG are not accurate for hybrids.. and that most people don’t get that kind of mileage… but, then again, I don’t know that many people who get near the EPA estimates for mileage on their ‘normal’ cars either..

Because it does occasionally snow here in Colorado, we also need something that will do well in most any weather condition (Guess that means we won’t be picking up a Ferrari). I’m interested in Ford’s new Escape Hybrid which looks like a decent compromise between fuel efficiency and power. I tried to go through Ford’s ‘build your Ford’ thingie…but it won’t let me build and price an Escape Hybrid, just a ‘regular’ Escape, so its really not that big of a help. From what I’ve seen online, it looks like the Hybrid is running about $3,000-$5,000 more then a similar ‘normal’ Escape. Not sure if I can justify the extra $$ right now… granted, if someone wanted to give us an Escape Hybrid, we wouldn’t turn it down. But, since we have to pay for it…I don’t think we’ll end up with the Hybrid this time around..

I’m interested in hearing from anyone that owns a Hybrid as to what their experience has been, was it worth the extra $$?

Somehow… I don’t remember this kind of stuff happening at any of the schools I went to

If you’re wondering what I’m talking about… read this.

Continue reading My Kind Of School →

Seems like Mother nature really hates the US this month huh?

I mean… Florida gets hit with 3 category 3 or higher hurricanes inside of 6 weeks… dumping enough rain on the state to make Noah’s flood look like a spring shower…New Orleans dodges the bullet and avoids turning into Atlantis (Sounds to me, like if you live in the South Eastern part of the country…now might be a good time to consider relocating!)

And now… Washington is preparing to go the way of Pompeii! In case you’ve missed it Mt. St. Helen’s is getting ready to blow its top. While currently scientists aren’t predicting an eruption as big as the one in 1980…. The way things have been going.. I’m pretty sure they’re wrong.. and it’s going to be a bigger bang then that one..

Oh Yeah… Earthquakes in California… nothing big… But…. next week will probably be their big earthquake that sends them floating out to sea…

Makes me glad I live in Colorado.. what’s mother nature gonna due to us? Make it Snow?

In a perfect example of what not to name your kid…

Gwyneth Paltrow had a daughter on Friday… and named her Apple Blythe Alison Martin. Why is this bad? Because just imagine.. this poor girl is going to grow up hearing things like:

“I’d like to take a bite out of that Apple” , “Eating an Apple a day keeps the Dr. away”, or…if the girl ends up being fat “the Big Apple”… this is why parents should think like kids when they are picking names… at least you’ll know what kind of teasing your kid is going to get for the name you picked!

Another round of interesting news articles out there today…

To start with… here’s a good quote from New York’s Mayor:

“It’s just unacceptable that somebody can walk down the street and get electrocuted … We’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Apparently Con-Ed has a few shorts in their wiring, and its electrifying manhole covers/grates/etc.. in parts of the Big Apple. Who knew that walking your dog in NYC could be lethal! Full story here.

A couple of Miami DJs are in trouble with the Federal Censorship Committee for prank calling Fidel Castro… so, to get back at the FCC, the DJs are planning on paying their fine in person, in cash – well.. in pennies to be precise… here’s their story. And now would probably be a good time to mention www.stopfcc.com again, if you haven’t already done so.. go sign the petition, and follow the link to the ACLU’s fax your senator thingie…

It could be worse… you could be the leader of the terrorist group Hamas

Definitely not a job for anyone who plans on living long enough to retire… they’ve gone through 2 leaders in a months time. Apparently, whoever decides to run this particular terrorist organization has a habit of getting blown up by missiles. Wonder what kind of benefits Hamas offers to make up for the “your replacing the guy who got blown up last week… we expect you to be blown up by the end of next month… want the job?” job offer they have to make (Free Latte at Starbucks?)

Don’t get me wrong.. I’m thrilled that terrorist leaders are getting blown into little itty bitty pieces.. I just think it’d be hilarious to hear the job offer they make….

Hamas has apparently picked a new leader… and their keeping it a secret who it is this time… so I bet this guy lasts 2 months…

As everyone knows…since Janet’s Boob the FCC has been trying to get stricter controls over what is allowed to be said in on the Radio, TV, etc..

Apparently, the FCC and the rest of the government is no longer concerned with that little document called the Constitution, which, amongst other things, ensures something called Freedom of Speech. Now that some prude in the FCC saw a 5 second image of a boob, and then re-played that same 5 seconds like a billion times on his TiVo. They’ve decided that Howard Stern is ‘obscene’. Granted, he does say/do some gross things on his show, but nothing that I would say is obscene. Of course, they’re doing it “to protect the kids”… Got a news flash for the FCC and the rest of the anti-free speech members of government.. Its not your job to decide what my kid needs protecting from… that’s the job of a parent. Its the parent’s responsibility to turn the TV off, or change the channel, same thing with Radio… if somethings on that I don’t want Kael to see/hear.. I change the channel – I don’t try and change the world to suit my definition of ‘safe programming’ . Let the movie studios, television, and radio produce and air whatever they want – and let them air it WHENever they want… let the parent’s decide what they want their kids to see/hear on TV/Radio/Movies…

Just keep in mind.. you may think its OK if the government goes after “shock jocks” like Howard…but will you be ok when they decide a joke your favorite radio/tv personality told was obscene? and get him/her pulled from broadcast?

Go here : www.stopfcc.com – Yes, its an online petition and it doesn’t really accomplish much..but when you follow that up with letters/phone calls to your congresspeople it might actually accomplish something.

Seems to be making quite a few headlines in the last day or so…

First, you had Alanis Morrissette’s (That’s probably spelt wrong…but oh well!) “Naked” protest at the Canadian version of the Grammies… she was apparently protesting the FCC (presumably-possibly her record label) making her remove the word Asshole from one of her songs, and replace it with ‘nightmare’. If you want to read all about it click here

Then a judge in Maine (ironically .. ‘Bang’or) has allowed a couple of women to legally jog naked in Maine (isn’t it cold there? I would think that jogging naked in Maine would be….. uncomfortable). Seems Maine law describes indecent conduct as knowingly exposing genitals in public. And, you would think that naked jogging would fall under that description. However, it appears that Maine has decided that a Female’s genitals are ‘primarily’ internal. So, when one of the accused asked the arresting officer if he’d seen her genitals… he responded with a no. Guess the cops in Maine are going to start having to carry speculums to arrest people for indecent conduct. Here’s the link to that article.

And my favorite headline for this week… Everyone knows sex feels good (if it doesn’t… you’re not doing it right). Now, you can (if you’re a male) tell your partner that the more often you have intercourse, the better your chances of avoiding cancer are… sounds like a prescription to a lot of fooling around to me. At least 21 times a month according to the article! Here’s the link Now.. go tell your partner you need help with a medical condition!