Skink000

@brancra: Now, onto other matters...isn't it wonderful how President Bush says his brother would be a great president? quote> I hate to say it but those might be the smartest words to leave his mouth. I didn't vote for Jeb but we could have done a lot worse and who knows who or what the Democrats will drag out of some swamp for the next primary . Jeb is certainly the smartest member of that family.

Perpetual Student Wants One More Year May 10, 4:10 PM (ET) WHITEWATER, Wis. (AP) - Despite his 12 years as an undergraduate student, Johnny Lechner realized something was missing from his academic record: he'd never studied abroad. And so, the 29-year-old perpetual student who was expected to finally graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater withdrew his application for graduation Monday, five days before commencement. "I realized that if I went one more year, I could study abroad," Lechner said. "That's one thing I haven't done." Lechner's extended academic career has made him a celebrity of sorts. His never-ending student life has been featured in newspapers and on network television shows, not to mention campus publications across the nation. By this spring he had completed 234 college credits, or about 100 more than needed to graduate, and was taking seven more. That qualified him for the so-called "slacker tax," instituted this school year by the UW Board of Regents to help cover the state subsidy for students who stay long past the usual four of five years to earn an undergraduate degree. It calls for students who exceed 165 total credit hours or 30 more than their degree programs require - whichever is higher - to pay double tuition. Lechner said he didn't start out to be a long-term student, but it just developed once he realized how much fun he was having at college. Had he graduated, he would have earned a liberal studies degree in education, communications, theater, health and women's studies. Michelle Eigenberger, an editor at The Royal Purple, said Lechner may have achieved celebrity status, but most students are tired of it. "It's getting old," she said. "For the sanity of the rest of the campus, we want him to get out of here." Women's studies? Thats one way to meet the ladies, no wonder he was having so much fun . I would think exams would be a bit much. Till later all, have a great day.

@defcon: As for Greenpeace and the others, they (or rather, we, since I'm a Greenpeacer) "make noise" because that's what our job is. We protest.quote> Glad to here it defcon, nothing wrong with protest, I'm all for it as long as it is kept peaceful. The mass media loves a good protest and it is an effective way to get a message out if done right. The seniors here in Florida I think saw their share of protest during the sixties, now they write their state politicians and county commissioners, that works very well also. Over the years the politicians have learned that the residents like their environment and we rarely have any major problems. @N_O_Body: They make too much noise when they would be better off quietly getting on with the job. The press will never really help them do their jobs, only make them look like extremists when most of them are really not.quote> Very true my friend, I think it's probably a little different here in Florida as it is pretty hard to make a group of retirees look very extreme, hahahahahaha, wealthy taxpayers, yes, extremist, not really. Although I can remember the Sierra Club protesting here years ago and they came across looking like a circus side show and accomplished very little. I'm a devout environmentalist, I just like to put my energies where they will do the most good. Like you say "getting on with the job." Have a great day all.

*Hits auto system for ice cold Becks and boiled peanuts* @defcon pilot: I like the new avatar, I like almost anything pro environment. I am not sure a clean world is just around the corner but it is a nice thought. In my opinion GreenPeace and the Sierra Club, and other like groups, often can be seen as extremist (which they may or not be) and loose a large portion of the mainstream in their wake. Just my personal thought, like I say I like the avatar. As for vid, I think when Thunder Bay thawed out so did vid , a scary thought .

@Gnargenox: Many plants have chemicals in them that are flammable or down right explosive when exposed to high heat. Perhaps mother natures way of propagating the species during natural fires.quote> Very true, the paragraph below is from the St. Johns River Water Management District in Florida and exlpains the need for prescribed burns. "Fire is a natural process in many plant communities -- sandhills, pine flatwoods, scrub and marsh, to name a few. Without fire, these communities change; the plants and animals unique to the original habitat maintained by fire are lost. Fox squirrels, gopher tortoises, scrub jays, red-cockaded woodpeckers, wiregrass and longleaf pines are just a few of the many species which depend on fire." (site) We have over managed our forest by preventing as many fires as we can. Many of our National Forest have far more undergrowth and tinder then nature intended due to the prevention of fires over the years. When these forest (the protected ones) do burn the temperatures are far higher than what the fire adapted plants can tolorate and they are killed. The cycle of natural fires controled the underbrush and native vegitation evolved to it. The Indians were known to burn areas of forest. This allowed new shoots and grasses to grow which would attract deer that liked to feed on them. It was a way of bringing the deer to them.

Hi godmodd5 I can understand why People in florida aren't interested.It's called the sunshine state after all. quote> Ahhhhh Grasshopper, people in Florida most interested. About ten minutes ago we had our first rain for the YEAR. Ok, down here we call it "liquid sun shine", but we are in our fire season and just here in Lee County a dozen homes have been totaled and many more damaged by fires. Rain is not just the solution but is often the problem if it comes in the form of a thunderstorm. Lightening is the most common cause if fires here. The fires we have had up until now have either been from car accidents (2 at least) and arson. Our fire season will last until the summer rains start which may not be until July. The 1/2" of rain we had this morning will not help anything. Summertime we can have thunderstorms every day around sunset. It may be hard on computers but it can drop the temp 10-15 degrees. Summer will also bring our hurricane season, and take it from me, our climate is of GREAT concern. My house has taken sever damage two years in a row and I no longer have insurance. "The Sunshine State" was thought up by the tourism people and bureaucrats, Hahahahaha Good topic, have a great day.

SamFlash, Thanks for the great post, I loved them all. The only thing that worries me is that almost all of them are from the good o'l U.S. of A. Er . . . .is this reason for concern? Is this like worrying about terrorist and I could be next? Hahahahaha, I sure hope not, the thought of all of you having a good laugh over my poor dead ass would be more then I could bear! ME = YOU = Have a great day all.

Hi godmodd5 Don't give me the impression that simtrpolis has intolerance for the diasbled(no mater how mild or severe).quote> Whoa, lets back that bus up my friend, this is the last place on the face of the earth where you will find ANY disability held against you. I'm serious! I have a list of disabilities as long as your arm (hearing lose, diabetes, major problems with feet, ankles, knees and hips, cataracts in my eyes, nerve damage in my legs from diabetes (I have had what feels like a permanent sun burn on my legs and feet for over 6 years now and can't stand to put a sheet over my legs at night, it and my other sources of chronic pain give me insomnia so I only sleep for an hour and a half at a time if I can sleep at all), three major heart attacks, and the list goes on) and am treated just like everybody else (flames and all hahahahaha). Please do not get the wrong impression about this great community. This is one place where we can come and be treated as one of the gang. Often times we can get into some great discussions about our disabilities and learn a great deal from each other. Some day you might want to start a new topic about Tourette's Syndrome and give us some info about it and how it effects people with it from a personal view point. I know very little about it and think that the more I can learn the better I can understand. As for spelling, hahahahahahaha, I'm one of the wosrtist in the wurld. The spell checker here turns 6 shades of green when it sees me coming and has been known to have fainting spells when I post. I have a dictionary on my hard drive that swares I have yet to learn English. I have been 50 - 75% deaf most of my life and if it isn't spelled like it sounds I don't have a prayer. I use AltaVista for a search engine just because it knows how to spell what I am looking for a lot better than I do and corrects me 999 out of 1000 times. My dad couldn't spell worth a lick either, he was dyslexic and had enough trouble telling his left from his right and he was an aeronautical engineer. Anyway I liked your post, I thought Geography was a dead science, at least that is how they treat it here in Florida schools. Speaking of Geography, what the heck is a Wet ask i winy whozits anyway? How you Canadians find your way around I'll never know . Follow that moose, he looks like he knows the way! Hahahahahaha. Thats OK, I think we Americans named every other town Springfield just so we could act like we knew where we were. Hahahahahaha OK, I gotta go catch that darn spell checker,and don't worry about the flames around here (not that you have been flamed yet), I know I have earned most of mine (some say I have earned all of them but don't believe them). I keep a flame retardant suit draped over the back of my chair in case it gets to hot around here. Have a great day and help keep those Earth Siences alive. P.S. N_O_Body is one very smart dude and is one of the first to offer good advice and info when needed so we all look out for those "hot buttons" , besides he owns the Moose Factory where every one (I think) is welcome.

Happy Birthday Simen, your own personal New Years Day. That makes it worth twice the cookies. So if you haven't turned cookies off yet here's a double recipe of Fattigman Bakkels. (recipe here) Have a GREAT day.

Hi Trigger, I like AltaVista for searching out of habit and they try to correct my poor spelling . Try this link http://www.altavista.com/help/free/free_searchbox . Hope it is what your looking for.

@Easy Bakes: Yes, a link would be nice. I just searched National Geographic News and there was no mention of it. An internal source in the Society has said that their archaeological division has found an authentic 11th century parchment in Somalia intimating that George Washington paid Benedict Arnold to defect to the British.quote> Thats about 500 years before Nostradamus (French, 1503 - 1566) I hope they found a time machine with it. If it's an11th century parchment in Somalia, they must mean the other G.W. Sounds like it's left over from April fools (no offense to you timotheus4).

All right Keiran Halcyon your correct, I have problem. I find some of the things people with their cloths on is just plan stupid, but when they have to get bare naked to do it thats a riot. Nope this my third, there was "Dial N for Naked" and "Spider-hunting nudist ends with ring of fire". I had another one the other day that would have been shot down by the powers that be . If this guy and the spider-hunter had known each other this guy would have been one match away from a Darwin Award. They reminds me of a certain leader of a world supper power I will not mention, hahahahahaha.

Apr 24, 8:56 PM (ET) HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) - A man who spent five hours naked and stuck in the chimney of his stepmother's home was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs, police said. Police say Michael Urbano, 23, locked himself out of the house early Saturday morning and decided to get in on a cable TV wire through the chimney. But the wire broke and Urbano fell, getting stuck about three-quarters of the way down. He was freed when a firefighter pushed him to safety. "We get him up, and he's naked as a jaybird," said Hayward police Lt. Gary Branson. "He tells us he took his clothes off because there would be less friction going down the chute. We did find his clothes. So that part checked out." Authorities were called about 6:15 a.m. Saturday. A neighbor heard "faint, distressing" calls since about 2:30 a.m. and decided to call police. Police say it probably wasn't a comfortable few hours for Urbano. "He's not fat," Branson said, "but he used to play football. He's not that little." This story belongs to the AP. His neighbors weren't any smarter, they waited 3 3/4 hours to call police. Have a Great day all.

I'm a Country Lover. I have lived in cities and had a blast, always something going on. Lots of people to meet. Can find anything you want with out haveing to go mail order. But I grew up in the country and like a LOT of undeveloped land around me. I guess it all depends where you grew up and are most at home with. Maybe I trust cows more then my fellow man .

Sounds like a good plan Trigger - Great minds think alike