Microsoft has acknowledged that a security patch issued in January for its Windows 98 and Windows ME operating systems may cause performance issues for customers who have downloaded the update.

We’re fortunate, I guess, that the only life at stake in this particular kangaroo court was that of poor Terri Schiavo. For better or worse, good or evil, her time on this earth is over. But when I think of the thousands, or even millions, of lives that could ride on the next big trial-by-media — when the topic could be something as potentially apocalyptic as war with North Korea or rapid climate change or the copyright laws governing the music industry (I’m kidding! I’m kidding!) — I do get worried. Because right now, the corporate media (and the dumbed-down culture they’ve helped create) are looking more and more like the intellectual equivalent of Dr. Kevorkian. And any of us — or all of us – could be their next patient.

If there is one bright spot in the whole Terri Shiavo storm cloud that is blanketing our nation, it is this: folks are seriously considering their own living wills.

Now, whatever you may think of Michael Smerconish’s politics — and he is admittedly biased toward the conservative side of things — he does try to be fair. And this time around, he has been more than fair regarding this issue:

This is a very good article by former Senator Bill Bradley.

To understand how the Democratic Party works, invert the pyramid. Imagine a pyramid balancing precariously on its point, which is the presidential candidate.

Democrats who run for president have to build their own pyramids all by themselves. There is no coherent, larger structure that they can rely on. Unlike Republicans, they don’t simply have to assemble a campaign apparatus – they have to formulate ideas and a vision, too. Many Democratic fundraisers join a campaign only after assessing how well it has done in assembling its pyramid of political, media and idea people.

There is no clearly identifiable funding base for Democratic policy organizations, and in the frantic campaign rush there is no time for patient, long-term development of new ideas or of new ways to sell old ideas. Campaigns don’t start thinking about a Democratic brand until halfway through the election year, by which time winning the daily news cycle takes precedence over building a consistent message. The closest that Democrats get to a brand is a catchy slogan.

Democrats who run for president have to build their own pyramids all by themselves. There is no coherent, larger structure that they can rely on. Unlike Republicans, they don’t simply have to assemble a campaign apparatus – they have to formulate ideas and a vision, too. Many Democratic fundraisers join a campaign only after assessing how well it has done in assembling its pyramid of political, media and idea people.

There is no clearly identifiable funding base for Democratic policy organizations, and in the frantic campaign rush there is no time for patient, long-term development of new ideas or of new ways to sell old ideas. Campaigns don’t start thinking about a Democratic brand until halfway through the election year, by which time winning the daily news cycle takes precedence over building a consistent message. The closest that Democrats get to a brand is a catchy slogan.

The Secret Service revealed that we were “ID’ed” when local Republican staffers saw a bumper sticker on the car we drove which said “No More Blood For Oil.” Evidently, the free speech expressed on one bumper sticker is cause enough to eject three citizens from a presidential event. (Similarly, someone was ejected from Bush’s Social Security privatization event in Arizona the same day simply for wearing a Democratic t-shirt.)

After allowing taxpayers to finance his privatization events (let’s call them what they really are after all,) and after using the White House communications apparatus to set them up, Bush is privatizing the ticket distribution and security staffing at his events to the Republican Party. The losers are not just taxpayers, but anyone who values the First Amendment. Under the banner of a “private event” the Republican Party is excluding citizens from seeing their president because of the lone sin of expressing the wrong idea on a bumper sticker or t-shirt. The question for Americans is – will we allow our freedom to be privatized?

Actual news article

The IRS
can apply a list of nine indicators that might prove whether someone’s online auctions amount to a business. These indicators include evidence that the taxpayer depends on the income, acts in a businesslike manner, or puts enough time and effort into the activity to suggest a profit motive.

I’ll be honest from the beginning; designing and building a subwoofer/a> needs a little more effort than simply buying a woofer and mounting it in a wooden box. But unlike designing a full range loudspeaker, which needs careful adjusting of the individual loudspeakers, it is easier to design and construct a good subwoofer.

Having been a yearling at the West Texas Boys Ranch in San Angelo from 1966 to 1969, let me tell you a horry story.
in 1968 while on a bus ride into town, (attending Robert E. Lee Jr. High at the time)I was struck in the face by a young mexican Boy, let’s call him J. Moral-less. He had 2 other older brothers at the ranch, so ranch alumni will know who he is. This kid comes to the back of the bus, hits me in the mouth and returns to his seat. Agged on by the other “ranch boys”, to not take it lying down or I wasn’t a “true ranch boy”, I got up and hit him back, real hard, splitting his lip. He then bounces back to the rear of the bus, spouting off in tex-mex, and wiping his mouth and slinging the blood on the entire back of the bus, inevitably hitting the “older” boys with it. Wholly cow, I had done it now.
I was kicked off the bus and told to walk back to the ranch, which was 14 miles to the rear, and when I got there to report to the ranch manager. As luck would have it, about 3 miles from the ranch, I got a ride from an older man who delivered me back to the ranch. Thank you whom ever you were. I was tired and hot.
To make a long story short, later I was beaten by the ranch manager with a half a baseball bat with 3 holes down the center, 24 licks, until my ass was not only bleeding through my underwear, but through my pants as well.. Later I had to face the wrath of the older boys, (who really in truth has some mercy on me), and was attacked behind the kitchen by the same mexican boy and his 2 brothers. Two of my friends pulled the 2 brothers off of me and gave them a message to not gang up on anyone, and I proceeded to kick the younger brother’s butt, but only slightly, uuntil he said he wanted no more. He was, in fact my own age, his brothers were 2 and 3 years older than me, which I had to face in later days. I never lost the fight, ever!!!
My point is nothing ever happened to these brothers or the original trouble maker. And certainly nothing like what ass beating I was given by a 40 year old man, with his favorite paddle, and used 2-handed.
Now, every timne I hear something about this “boys Ranch” It just disgusts me, and I want everyone who can read to see and hear what can happen to YOUR child at this ranch. Even boys who “ran away” from the ranch never faced such a horrible beating, and to this day I am the only one I know of who had to endure this beating. Think is doesn’t scar you? think again…………….
All of this was sanctioned by the then President of the Ranch, we’ll call him M.C. Craghead
I state no lies, and can back this up with facts.
Their “moto was don’t brand a boy, build a man”, which has since been changed. I take since the child beating days.
It should have been “Why build a man,. when you can have lots more fun branding a child”. and get away with it.
Kenneth Howell, where ever you are, I hope you died a rotten death, and at least one person pissed on your grave.

Medicare premiums for seniors are on course to rise 12.4 percent next year, on top of a 17 percent increase this year, said Richard Foster, chief actuary for the giant health care program for the elderly, at a Medicare and Social Security forum Friday.

The premiums are likely to go even higher, Foster said, because the estimate assumes that doctor payments will be cut 5 percent. Congress “almost certainly” will reverse those cuts as it has in the past, sending premium increases probably to 14 or 15 percent, he said.

Luckily for enthusiasts who fell in love with the stainless steel DeLorean that Michael J. Fox took for a big-screen spin in 1985′s Back to the Future, a mint-condition car of their dreams can be found just 20 miles north of downtown Houston.