West Nile close to home

Alexandria Health Department reports city’s first positive test for West Nile Virus in 2006

Public reminded to eliminate standing water and protect themselves against mosquito bites

Only Nazi aircraft carrier found in Baltic sea

"WARSAW, Poland - Poland's navy said a sunken shipwreck in the Baltic Sea is almost certainly Nazi Germany's only aircraft carrier—the Graf Zeppelin, which disappeared nearly 60 years ago."

Nazi aircraft carrier found in Baltic sea

Georgetown Leaders Desires: more view, more waterfront, more traffic

"Business leaders in Georgetown have given their support to a proposal to tear down the Whitehurst Freeway, built decades ago so commuters and others could avoid Georgetown from the Key Bridge to K Street.

"The board of the Georgetown Business Improvement District voted in favor of removing the freeway, which was constructed in 1949."

Georgetown business leaders favor removal of freeway

Dp you know five neighbors?

Frederick, Maryland, wants to make sure its residents know at least five other city residents.

Know Five In Frederick

The Symphony Meets The Video Game

"Composers are finding a new market for their music."

"It might be the last place you'd think, but video games are the new haven for concert music."

"Video games are becoming a new medium for exposing kids to a musical genre they might not otherwise experience."

Composers Are Writing Music For A New Audience: Video Gamers

Reminds me of when Warner Brothers used classical music in cartoons. To the next generation, classical music then became known as "cartoon music." So, maybe concert music will become known as "video game music"!

Army Training

"'Quite frankly, in 33 years in the United States Army, I never trained to stop a sectarian fight,' Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli told the L.A. Times. 'This is something new.'"

ABC News World Newser: Winning the peace

Very Profitable

"In 30 seconds, the Exxon Mobil Corp. makes about what an average American family earns in an entire year."

"From April to June, Exxon earned $114 million a day — $80,000 a minute."

ABC News: Big Oil's Monster Profits Bring Political Outcry

Tom Davis, Porker of the Month

As named by Citizens Against Government Waste.

Fly without a security check

Maybe someday...

ABC News Science And Society: Taxi!

Liberal on Liberal "Moderate" Election Battle

Election analysis of liberal bloggers attacking Lieberman, but not the less liberal Casey, Webb, or Nelson candidates.

A taste of what's to come for Hillary Clinton?

Why are bloggers targeting Lieberman?

Medicare's 'Doughnut Hole'

"Medicare Part D is providing prescription drug coverage to millions of older Americans. But ever since the program went into effect in January, there's been an epidemic of confusion and headaches."

"For all patients, Medicare covers 75 percent of the first $2,250 worth of drugs. But after that, coverage drops to zero—and doesn't resume until the patient hits $5,100 in expenses. Then Medicare kicks in again, paying 95 percent of costs. But it's this gap—of almost $3,000—that many sick and disabled seniors call unaffordable."

"The 'doughnut hole' is also emerging as a powerful election issue because of when seniors will feel the pain: Somewhere between 3 million and 7 million seniors will fall into this coverage gap between now and November."

Medicare's 'Doughnut Hole'

IE History, versions 1-7

The History of Internet Explorer (circa 1995 to 2006)

Hitler's goddaughter proclaims Jesus

'Tears Turn To Diamonds'

Venezuela's Chavez in Asia

Venezuela, Belarus seal anti-imperialist alliance

Orbitz.com top destinations

...: "The top five favorites, in order of ranking, include Chicago, Las Vegas, Orlando, New York and Los Angeles."

Virginia Senate Candidates Agree

Ronald Reagan is their favorite president.

First Gay Marriage Splits

Gay Marriage Pioneers Call It Quits

French beat Americans in vacation days

"When compared with workers in other parts of the world, Americans receive the fewest vacation days per year with 14 days, according to the sixth annual Expedia.com Vacation Deprivation survey.

"Starting in 2005, Expedia expanded the survey globally to compare and contrast vacationing habits internationally. The 2006 Vacation Deprivation survey showed that Australia got an average of 17 days off, 19 in Canada, 24 in Great Britain, 27 in Germany and 39 in France.

"France also won the distinction of being the vacation champion, with 45 percent of its workers taking at least one, three- to four-week vacation."

Survey: Americans receive fewest vacation days

Are you wasting $4 billion?

"U.S. workers waste nearly $4 billion by refusing to telecommute, a recent survey found.

"The National Technology Readiness Survey, sponsored by the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and Rockville research firm Rockbridge Associates, found that although many workers are given the chance to telecommute, very few actually do. And it's costing them money and time."

Maryland study touts telecommuting

4-word 20 seconds lasts 3 years

"Columnist Robert Novak said Wednesday that a conversation with White House aide Karl Rove that became an important part of the Valerie Plame affair lasted about 20 seconds."

"Regarding Wilson's CIA-sponsored trip, Novak said he told Rove, 'I understand that his wife works at the CIA and she initiated the mission.' The columnist said Rove replied, 'Oh, you know that, too.'

"'I took that as a confirmation that she worked with the CIA and initiated' her husband's mission to Africa, Novak said. 'I really distinctly remember him saying, "You know that, too."'"

"Novak's column on July 14, 2003, touched off a criminal investigation that has resulted in the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, who faces trial next year on charges of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI. He is accused of lying about how he found out about the CIA identity of Wilson's wife and what he told reporters about it."

Novak-Rove exchange lasted 20 seconds

Officially Old

Kids think 50 is old. Adults think 80 is old. When you start slowing down, or the media puts you on "the death watch," then you're officially old.

TheWorldNewser: "Monitoring Castro's mortality"

Insects in Space

Yesterday Bigelow Aerospace launched the "2,800-pound Genesis I [that] measured 14 feet long and 4 feet wide at launch and was to inflate to twice that width in orbit.

"It carried photos of Bigelow employees and insects that scientists hope to study to determine how well they survive the flight." ...

Beachfront Antarctic

"Trees could be growing on the continent within a century."

"There were trees, there were bushes, there were fields of grass. In fact, the evidence of pollen fossils is that much of Antarctica was vegetated and these were plants that were able to adapt to periods of darkness." ...

So, global warming and climate change are a bad thing ... why?

Will a lot of things be different? Probably. Will this be a bad thing? Probably not.

Periodic States

Anthropologie.com has what has to be the most creative list of the 50 states that I have ever seen.


Reminds me of another list.

Tim
10,629 days

A Valuable Lesson

Mark Batterson: "at the end of our lives, we’ll regret opportunities missed a lot more than mistakes made."

"One of our core values at National Community Church is everything is an experiment. And that experimental approach to ministry gives us the freedom to fail. We’re not afraid of making mistakes. In fact, we’re afraid of not making mistakes because that means we aren’t taking enough risks."

"I’m afraid that too many churches are playing not to lose instead of playing to win. We’re playing a prevent defense instead of storming the gates of Hell."

"Instead of pointing our finger at what’s wrong with culture, the church needs to offer better alternatives."

"We need to stop doing ministry out of memory and start doing ministry out of imagination. We need to stop repeating the past and start creating the future. We need to stop being so afraid of doing something wrong that we don’t do anything right." ...

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe (Ephesians 1:18-19).

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15-16).

Conservative County

The Harris County GOP is the Republican party in the largest conservative county in the country, and the third largest county in the country.

Teen Drinking

For anyone that has teenagers out there:

CBS News: "teens who indulge in binge drinking may be paying a heavy price."

The Bird (Droppings) in Orbit

"The Discovery astronauts carried out painstaking, inch-by-inch inspections of the shuttle's carbon composite nose cap and wing leading edge panels today, using a laser sensor on the end of a long boom to look for signs of ascent impact damage.

"White markings thought to be bird droppings were spotted at one point, and a few other whitish streaks were visible, but no obvious signs of significant damage were seen in downlinked TV." ...

Independence Day then and now

1776 median age: 16
2006 median age: 36 ...

1776 population: 2.5 million
2006 population: 299 million

Tweener Days

Seth Godin: "What tends to get done is what's urgent, not important."

What might have been

We'll never know, but perhaps Terri Schaivo might have just "woken up" one day as this man did.

Man of Firsts

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, grants his first interview and now first biography.

Ed Bradley Talks To Neil Armstrong

Seven months prior to the Apollo 11 moon landing mission, in Apollo 8 man orbited the moon for the first time on Christmas Eve 1968.

The crew read from the book of Genesis to the largest television audience ever.

Pray for the day when a space shuttle crew or subsequent Crew Exploration Vehicle incorporates God's Word into their mission.

"Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth" (Psalm 105:5).

Elian, five years later

CBS concludes he looks normal, trauma lurks below the surface, and he's friends with Castro.

Elian Gonzalez, Bob Simon Interview

From Rains to Mosquitos

"BALTIMORE (AP) - Heavy rains have made excellent conditions for mosquitoes to breed, and experts are predicting a boom year for the biting bugs.

"'I think we're going to have a pretty spectacular season,' said Mike Raupp, an entomologist at the University of Maryland, College Park.

"A plentiful mosquito population creates more potential for cases of West Nile virus and encephalitis in people and horses, along with heartworm in dogs.

"'With the deluge, there will be an awful lot of (breeding) habitat. And if the trend of thundershowers continues, and maintains these habitats, we'll see a bumper crop by the second or third week of July,' Raupp told The (Baltimore) Sun." ...