Twenty Useless Facts

[jackofnightmares]

IT was a very valuable patent. We could make polymers that sold for a thousand dollars a pound. But in the end the process was doomed because we could not come up with a cheap substitute for water.

I envy you s.p. I wish I had been on her desk. Holding a rose in my teeth

glad you had some time to burn on M-T's thread. just say high jack

[Steve Plonk]

Hi, Jack, etc. Let this next year bring more friends near.
Let the snow fall, let the rain come, let the sunshine in...
The sun shine in...let the warmth sink into a cold shoulder &
find you leaning against a fir tree with a smile on your face...
Let tears vanish without a trace, what tears there be...
Let the mandala turn cool karma across your soul...

[stilltrucking]

A trains coming out on the edge of darkness
It could be Cat Stevens

Been a bitch of a decade
I don't think of him as a soul brother
I don't go there
He is just this guy you know
a politician
but he is the best thing to happen to this country in the last decade.

What was that book by Sinclair Lewis?
It Can't Happen Here
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301001h.html
Probably just my Jew boy paranoia
but I think about The Weimar Republic a lot
I think about what is slouching towards Washington DC from the heart of darkness that the republican party has become.
Who did those people who voted for him and are so disenchanted with him now think he was?
Who did they think he was Jesus Christ?
True Believers scare the dog shit out of me.

Useless
fact n

In the unlikely event that all 213 million eligible voters cast ballots, either John McCain or Barack Obama could win enough states to capture the White House with only 47.8 million strategically located votes. The presidency could be won with just 22 percent of the electorate’s support, only 16 percent of the entire population’s.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/opinion/02cowan.html

I hope it is going to be a better decade for you S.P. For me too.
For all of us.

Sing it cat
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[stilltrucking]

n + 1

The Courtroom frieze depicts the history of law, including the Ten Commandments. The commandments, written in Hebrew, are shown held by Moses, although only commandments six through ten, usually considered the more secular commands, are visible. Further, Moses' beard obscures some of the words so that instead of reading "Thou Shalt Not Steal," it says "Steal," and similarly appears to command viewers to murder and commit adultery. There are also other figures engraved in the chambers, including the Muslim prophet Muhammad and a larger-than-life frieze of Napoleon Bonaparte among the 18 marble likenesses on the courtroom's north and south walls.[5]

In 1997, the Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded the Supreme Court remove the image of Muhammad from the marble frieze of the façade. While appreciating the fact that Muhammad was included in the court’s pantheon of 18 prominent lawgivers of history, CAIR noted that Islam discouraged its followers from portraying any prophet in paintings, sculptures or other artistic representations. CAIR also objected that the prophet was shown with a sword, reinforcing long-held stereotypes of Muslims as intolerant conquerors. Chief Justice William Rehnquist rejected the request to sandblast Muhammad, saying the artwork "was intended only to recognize him, among many other lawgivers, as an important figure in the history of law; it is not intended as a form of idol worship." The court later added a footnote to tourist materials describing the frieze, calling it a "a well-intentioned attempt by the sculptor to honor Muhammad."[5]

The Temple of Justice

[mtmynd]

Useless Fact #40 -

"Founded in 1894, Texas' oldest public library is also one of its most technologically advanced. Besides Internet access for the public, the libraries offer almost one million books, periodicals, microfiche, video and audio tapes and government documents."

[thanks to - http://elpaso.ujcfedweb.org/page.aspx?id=74821]
_________

Useless Fact #41 - (there is some competition...)

"Rosenberg Library, a public library located at 2310 Sealy Street in Galveston, Texas, United States, is the oldest continuously operating library in Texas."

[thanks to - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenberg_Library]
_________

Useless Fact #42 - (The competition increases...)

"Lockhart is home to the Eugene Clark Library, Texas’ oldest continually operating library and the first city library built in Texas."

[thanks to - http://www.sanantoniovisitor.com/lockhart-texas.htm]

_________

Useless Fact 43 - (the competition keeps growing...)

"I'm thrilled to be here to celebrate the enduring history of the San Antonio Public Library, one of the oldest libraries in Texas. " - Laura Bush, Aug. 21, 2003

[thanks to - http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives. ... 821-5.html ]

[Steve Plonk]

Yes, Jim Morrison, we can petition the L-rd with prayer...
Even Jim wanted a touch of G-d's grace...
I believe in our political system, but I think our poll booth
Software needs backup in case of a failure of power.
Speaking of a failure of power, I feel that Dubya and Cheney,
Even as they grasped for ultimate power,
Failed in their quest for new colonial supremacy in Iraq.

Islamic fascism is a problem in this country along with
Christian fascism and "Zionism". I hate to use the words
but they describe the fanatics who follow these dogma.
I can't Imagine trying to get Muhammad's "image" removed from
the Supreme Court building... No one really knows what
Muhammad looked like. Also no one knows exactly what
Jesus and Moses looked like. I see nothing wrong with
the images on the Court. I see nothing wrong with images
in the churches. However, we must realize that it is G-d whom
we worship and not the images. We must realize that it is the
learned ancestors whom we venerate and not the images.
It certainly is nice to have an idea about what someone looks
like. So why deface a perfectly good representation of a human
being?? It's not like Muhammed was a god. I just can't understand
the mindset behind this thing.

Another funny fact and/or opinion...I used to make fun of true believers
trying to paint Obama as some kind of Moses. He's a guy whom I helped vote into office and is a regular dude. The President has great ideas and fortitude. So does the new Veep and Secretary of State. All of them were better choices than what the republicans had this time around.
We have a long row to hoe to get completely out of this huge recession,
and we need to give the government the leeway in order to best manage
our job opportunities, health care, wars, and other important things including my favorite: the exploration of outer space.

We can do it all if we have the foresight and patience to persue sustainability. Climate change is upon us and might be partially beyond our control. So we have to use our resources wisely and not pollute the air, water, and food that we depend on. This includes the oceans and even outer space. Some of that satellite trash is going to fall back on earth and hit. So we may need to build space garbage scows to scoop up the space trash! Science Fiction is rapidly becoming a reality in some areas we least suspect. Let's work together and see what develops.

[still.trucking]

#44
Women in Sweden did not get the right to vote till 1971

[Steve Plonk]

I thought it was Iceland who didn't give women the vote until 1971.