The California Highway Patrol is lame, lame, lame.

I e-mailed them the following suggestion:

Hi,

Isn't it true that

(1) when you pull over someone for a minor infraction (like a headlight out), it's very possible that you could find
(a) someone wanted for a more serious crime
(b) evidence (usually in plain sight) of a more serious past or future crime

Isn't it true that

(2) things like broken headlights and tail-lights are a safety issue?

(3) fines for these types of offenses could drive revenue but are frowned upon by the general public who feel that they're being targetted?

I have a possible solution... "Vehicle Safety Month."

* You pick a month that's a ways off, like October.

* You begin promoting it at least a month ahead of time.

* You all the local police agencies across the state to participate. (Hey, who doesn't like the idea of added revenue?)

* You get involve the car parts business involved, by giving them a few months to learn about the program and get their own advertising in play
(like a billboard...
"Broken tail light?
CHP - $150
Burbank PD - $125
Glendale PD - $75
Get it fixed at AutoZone - $4.95. We'll even help you install it.
October is Vehicle Safety Month 2004"

* You get all the morning news stations to talk about it

The bottom line:
(1) We get safer roads with fewer cars with missing headlights and tail lights.
(2) You get added revenue from people too dumb to get their cars fixed ahead of time. (By advertising, you give yourself a legitimate reason to crack down without the public accusing you of anything.)
(3) The auto parts businesses do most of the advertising for you.


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Their response:

Every month should be a vehicle safety month. Your idea is interesting, but the CHP already takes action on minor violations such as broken headlights. We normally issue a fix it ticket which costs the violator nothing if it gets fixed within a specified time. Our goal is for safety. Thanks for your ideas.

Office of Public Affairs

Now it's no one's Oldsmobile...

The last Oldsmobile will roll off the assembly line today, an Alero destined for a museum. It's being assembled in Lansing, Mich., where the very first Olds was created. This marks the end of America's oldest still-in-production car brand. Kinda sad.

Sprint PCS sucks

in Columbus (epinions.com)

Maybe India isn't the way to go...

Some outsourcing companies are suggesting that the cost savings for outsourcing work to India may be three-to-one, but that American workers still produce productivity savings of six-to-one and that soon more work may come back home, according to this article on news.com.

Honorific

Congrats to Genoa High sophomore James Lamb for making the honor roll!

One in four American deaths in Iraq could easily be avoided.

Of course, if we didn't go to Iraq, four in four American deaths in Iraq could be avoided, but then there's the whole issue of Saddam Hussein rewarding the families of people blowing themselves up to kill Americans. But in this msnbc.com article suggests that our country isn't doing enough to protect our troops.

Chernobyl Pictures (Ghost Town)

This is the coolest site I have seen in a long, long time. It's a photo essay put together by a woman who has permission to go into the restricted areas around Chernobyl.

Sprint PCS sucks

In Hartford

Stay home, sicko

This msnbc.com reveals research about the costs of sick people coming to work.

And in other news, I have a gmail account. Woo hoo!

Ouch

What makes this worth noting is how cruel (or funny) the chart at the end of the story is... this story is about actors whose careers fade away when their long-running show ends. Harsh. Or funny. (msnbc.com)

Terrorist Attacks by November?

This msnbc.com article suggests that terrorists will try to influence our presidential elections by causing another terrorist attack before November. Two flaws... (1) we're expecting it because they tipped their hand by attacking Spain first and (2) I think it would backfire. I think it would strengthen our resolve and cause us to rub our hands together and say "Ok, who can we invade now?"

Semi-related, I had another thought yesterday... if the rest of the world sees us the way we see Texas, then no wonder we are so dispised. And Bush's rampant Texasism probably compounds it. (I'm still bitter about his comments about "Well, neither team is from Texas." when asked if he had a favorite at the Superbowl. Very un-American and stupid pro-Texas. Annoying.)

Talking to Lori about how an attack will strengthen our resolve, she thinks we need to disband most of our regular military and retrain everyone has Covert Opps, Subversive Opps, Seals and Guerrila warriors.

A Special Place

I'm guessing Bakers County isn't near any major freeways.

Why Apple will fail...

An interesting article... no, it's not pro-Microsoft. (scotsman.com)

More James Lamb guys

Here's an artist names James Lamb who does fancy cabinetry.

Being a lying, fraudulent a-hole must really take its toll

Former Enron CEO, major criminal and super huge jerk Jeffery Skilling was booked into a mental hospital after ripping people's clothes open (looking for hidden microphones?) and accusing them of being FBI agents. (msnbc.com)

Alaskan Farmer grows rainbow chickens

This is neat. Be sure to click on the link to actually see the pictures. (I read the article and almost missed the link at the top.)

Fun Tax Facts

In Washington state, block ice is taxed while crushed, shaved or cubed ice isn't. What if the shaved ice has a flavor? Then is it a food item and taxed? More tax facts at link above.

More James sightings

And there's a clerk in Milwaukee named James Lamb: jsonline.com

Baby Walkers Banned in Canada

Interesting... I've been pondering the idea of adult versions for years, but I guess the Canadian health authorities have deemed them unsafe for children who don't yet have the skills to know where they're going and parents too stupid to keep them away from sharp objects and stairs.

Woo hoo!

SpaceShipOne gets an FAA license for manned space flight. (msnbc.com)

Googling James Lamb

I'm so vain that Google now tells me each day any new articles it finds with the phrase James Lamb in it. So far, nothing new about me. But here's some guy named James Lamb at Dartmouth.

Easter Miracle

By: Briana Steadman, age 12

Three men
Three crosses
The night is Death

One, A king
One, A repentant robber
One, A prideful robber

Two, guilty
One, not
All dead

Boom! Boom! Rip!

One curtain
Torn in two,
While the Thunder
Shows its Power

Three days pass
One tomb
As empty as a heart without Jesus
The stone rolled away

Two guards, knocked out
Two angels, Gods messengers
One crucified man
Now alive

His robe, as Bright
As heavens gates,
Bright enough
to blind You

Sent to earth
to Save
The world.

Blazing mystery is straight from the ‘X-Files’

Sicilian village spooked by seemingly spontaneous combustion (msnbc.com)

Mt. Wilson Day Trip

originally part of an email to Kevin...

We conducted a science experiment yesterday to see if Lori's sickness that cancelled our Sacramento trip part way through the Grapevine was altitude sickness or good old food poisoning. We're supposed to go to a wedding in Arrowhead next weekend and we didn't want to have a repeat, so we did what any wondering mind would do... we set out for the nearest, highest point, winding our way up to Mt. Wilson, watching the altitude markers as we went. It is an amazing and bizarre drive. You drive through neighborhood and start to see signs advising you to turn on your headlights. You pass three houses on a gated street and immediately the rocks leap up on both sides of you. The houses still nearly in view, you're in the Angeles national forest. (As you pass under the sign welcoming you, you pass under many high-voltage wires span.) It becomes cliffs and trees very quickly and you realize why many sexual predators bring stupid women out there to kill them; it is so remote. Sort of. You pass a ranger station, then it's quiet for awhile again, then another ranger station and you're out of the forest already. Then a side road that's really narrow and really windy for five miles. And then you begin to see them. Many, many, many radio and TV towers begin to rise into view. Then you're at an intersection. Two one way roads and two two-lane roads in your direction face you. One, "Video Dr." has a tiny plastic barricade across it. The other is your path. Video drive is apparently a loop around what can almost be described as an island where one assumes the most exclusive of towers live, our road in and out of the park as the river around the island. You pass many other towers on your drive until you get to a large parking lot and a skyline picnic area -- a large structure built to cantilever over the paths around it and give you amazing views. We assume, since all we could see was fog. All in all, a very nice day.

Ford CEO gives bonus to employees' kids

That's kind cool.

Sunny Days, Sweeping the Clouds Away...

Sesame Street turns 35. Wow. Cool. Happy Birthday, all y'all muppets and humans. Thanks for such a great program.