Something Smells Fishy Here China

Wow, they're at it again. This time with tainted seafood.

Thanks for getting me fired up again Danny R.

More Chi Antics !! Boycott those phuckers NOW !!

Come on America !! When are we gonna wake up and realize the sh1t that is being produced in China? It's getting to the point where lives are being endangered... and in some cases people have already died.

Poisoned dog food
Toothpaste that contained the same ingredient as in anti-freeze killed a few folks
Tainted cough medicine kills people
They used lead-based paint for Thomas the Train sets-- these were recalled
Now, they produce faulty tires that separate a la Ford Explorer style

Come on guys !! Boycott that phucking country !!

One Day I'm Packing My Bags and Silently Leaving All of You

Getting to work is by car, not bike
Memphis ranks second to last in commuters who peddle to the job
By Tom Charlier

June 18, 2007

Until it almost got him killed a few times, bicycling was Bob Schreiber's preferred way of getting to work.

He lost no fewer than two bikes during frightening wrecks that occurred while he rode to a former job at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

"They got run over -- I had to dive off them," recalls Schreiber, now a financial advisor in East Memphis and board president of Greater Memphis Greenline, a group pursuing plans to create a biking-hiking trail network along a former railroad.

Experiences like Schreiber's -- and the city's reputation for being unaccommodating to cyclists -- might help explain why Memphis ranks low in comparison with other cities when it comes to commuting by bicycle.

Estimates released last week by the Census Bureau show that among the nation's 50 largest cities, Memphis, along with four other cities, ranked next to last in the percentage of commuters using bikes.

However, the city was closer to the middle range of the rankings for the percentage of commuters who walk, carpool and ride public transportation.

Of more than 279,000 workers in Memphis, only 214 -- or 0.1 percent -- commute by bicycle, according to the estimates. That's just one-fourth the national average of 0.4 percent.

Only Kansas City, where the estimates showed a paltry 50 commuters out of a 216,000-strong workforce cycle to jobs, finished lower than Memphis.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, 3.5 percent of commuters bike to work in Portland, Ore., the greatest proportion in the census estimates.

Proponents say commuting by bike could reduce traffic congestion and air pollution and promote healthier lifestyles. The benefits, they say, could be particularly telling in Memphis, which fails to meet federal standards for ozone pollution and fares poorly in rankings for obesity and other health problems.

To local cycling enthusiasts, the city's low ranking is hardly a surprise.

"There's not one bike lane in the entire city of Memphis," said Steven Sondheim, a member of the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, an ad hoc group working with the Metropolitan Planning Organization.

A decade ago, Memphis and Shelby County developed a regional bicycle and pedestrian plan. It pointed out that while the city is ideal for biking and walking, "facilities are scarce and not located where they would provide a realistic alternative to vehicle trips."

Sondheim and other proponents say biking opportunities have not improved much despite a proposed network of bike routes on streets laid out by a consultant to MPO.

Some recent initiatives could make biking a more practical commuting alternative. They include the planned Wolf River Greenway and efforts by Schreiber's group to develop the CSX rail corridor.

Despite the poor ranking for biking, Memphis had a respectable showing in the estimates comparing cities for carpooling. With more than 29,000 local workers sharing rides, Memphis sped past 20 cities in carpooling, including Portland, Nashville and Atlanta.

Local transportation officials hope to boost the practice even more through a federally funded program in which Shelby County leases vans and provides them at no cost to employers, with riders paying only for gas. At least a half-dozen employers have participated.

Jim Holt, assistant manager of the Health Department's pollution-control section, is one participant in the vanpool program. It has cut his weekly gas bill from $50 to about $10, giving him a "big raise," he said.

"It's a great program," Holt said.

What Do You Call 90 degrees in Memphis?

A: A good start

I've had this weird transformation over the past 2 years. I love the heat. The bright sun beating down you, get some sweat going. Ahhhhhh.

My love of the heat has made me decide that I'll prolly never live in a cold weather climate. I'm as Southern as Lynard Skynard.

Don't read that I love ALL kinds of heat-- I still hate getting in a car that's 150 degrees or when our polluted air in Memphis forces the ground level ozone layers to get so high that you literally feel like you're breathing through a wet, wool blanket.

But going out for a run or bike ride and feeling the sweat drip off you while you inhale that warm air; you have an envelope of warmth surrounding you... yes, I dig it.

Screw living up North and trudging t/ 4 months of sleet, rain and snow; having blood as thick as motor oil and being as pasty as Casper the Friendly Ghost.

SFL - South For Life

Tuesday Joke of the Day

A woman meets a man in a bar. They talk; they connect; they end up leaving together. They get back to his place, and as he shows her around his apartment, she notices that one wall of his bedroom is completely filled with soft, sweet, cuddly teddy bears. There are three shelves in the bedroom, with hundreds and hundreds of cute, cuddly teddy bears, carefully placed in rows covering the entire wall! It was obvious that he had taken quite some time to lovingly arrange them and she was immediately touched by the amount of thought he had put into organizing the display. There were small bears all along the bottom shelf, medium-sized bears covering the length of the middle shelf, and huge, enormous bears running all the way along the top shelf. She found it strange for an obviously masculine guy to have such a large collection of Teddy Bears, but doesn't mention this to him, and actually is quite impressed by his sensitive side. They share a bottle of wine and continue talking and, after a while, she finds herself thinking, "Oh my God! Maybe, this guy could be the one! Maybe he could be the future father my children?" She turns to him and kisses him lightly on the lips. He responds warmly. They continue to kiss, the passion builds, and he romantically lifts her in his arms and carries her into his bedroom where they rip off each other's clothes and make hot, steamy love. She is so overwhelmed that she responds with more passion, more creativity, more heat than she has ever known.

After an intense, explosive night of raw passion with this sensitive guy, they are lying there together in the afterglow. The woman rolls over, gently strokes his chest and asks coyly, "Well, how was it?"

The man gently smiles at her, strokes her cheek, looks deeply into her eyes, and says...


"Help yourself to any prize from the middle shelf."

Breaking Up is Hard To Do

Yesterday I said goodbye to my love of nearly 6 years. My Pathfinder. Perhaps she could have been a little faster or a little bigger and our love affair could have continued but family matters dictate that she go.

I feel badly since I've lusted after these cars since I was 15-years-old. However, the lady I sold it to has been lusting over one since that age and she's 47. Plus, I got $1,000 more than I wanted for the car. Yippee !!!!!

But it's a weird emotional attachment we build with cars. LP's step-dad worked in a car plant so he sees them as pieces of metal, rubber and plastic, and nothing more. Most of us have the luxury of really enjoying our cars and bonding with them.

Farewell sweetie...

Best Story Ever for Friday Afternoon Goofing Off

Man Gets Wild Ride in Wheelchair

Thanks for Standing Up for Dignity

I'm kinda tired of people acting like idiots at graduations. I'm glad someone decided to take a stand and cut out the monkey biznasss.

GALESBURG, Ill. - Caisha Gayles graduated with honors last month, but she is still waiting for her diploma. The reason: the whoops of joy from the audience as she crossed the stage.

Gayles was one of five students denied diplomas from the lone public high school in Galesburg after enthusiastic friends or family members cheered for them during commencement.

About a month before the May 27 ceremony, Galesburg High students and their parents had to sign a contract promising to act in dignified way. Violators were warned they could be denied their diplomas and barred from the after-graduation party.

Many schools across the country ask spectators to hold applause and cheers until the end of graduation. But few of them enforce the policy with what some in Galesburg say are strong-arm tactics.

"It was like one of the worst days of my life," said Gayles, who had a 3.4 grade-point average and officially graduated, but does not have the keepsake diploma to hang on her wall. "You walk across the stage and then you can't get your diploma because of other people cheering for you. It was devastating, actually."

School officials in Galesburg, a working-class town of 34,000 that is still reeling from the 2004 shutdown of a 1,600-employee refrigerator factory, said the get-tough policy followed a 2005 commencement where hoots, hollers and even air horns drowned out much of the ceremony and nearly touched off fights in the audience when the unruly were asked to quiet down.

"Lots of parents complained that they could not hear their own child's name called," said Joel Estes, Galesburg's assistant superintendent. "And I think that led us to saying we have to do something about this to restore some dignity and honor to the ceremony so that everyone can appreciate it and enjoy it."

In Indianapolis, public school officials this year started kicking out parents and relatives who cheer. At one school, the superintendent interrupted last month's graduation to order police to remove a woman from the gymnasium.

"It's an important, solemn occasion. There's plenty of time for celebration before and after," said Clarke Campbell, president of the Indianapolis school board.

In Galesburg, the issue has taken on added controversy with accusations that the students were targeted because of their race: four are black and one is Hispanic. Parents say cheers also erupted for white students, and none of them was denied a diploma.

Principal Tom Chiles said administrators who monitored the more than 2,000-seat auditorium reported only disruptions they considered "significant," and all turned in the same five names.

"Race had absolutely nothing to do with it whatsoever," Chiles said. "It is the amount of disruption at the time of the incident."

School officials said they will hear students and parents out if they appeal. Meanwhile, the school said the five students can still get their diplomas by completing eight hours of public service work, answering phones, sorting books or doing other chores for the district, situated about 150 miles southwest of Chicago.

Gayles' mother said she plans to fight the school board — in court if necessary — to get her daughter's diploma. The noise "was like three seconds. It was like, `Yay,' and that was it," Carolyn Gayles said.

American Civil Liberties Union spokesman Edward Yohnka said Galesburg's policy raises no red flags as long as it is enforced equitably. "It's probably well within the school's ability to control the decorum at an event like this," he said.

Another student who was denied her diploma, Nadia Trent, said she will probably let the school keep it if her appeals fail.

"It's not fair. Somebody could not like me and just decide to yell to get me in trouble. I can't control everyone, just the ones I gave tickets to," Trent said.