“I watched a small man with thick calluses on both hands work fifteen and sixteen hours a day. I saw him once literally bleed from the bottoms of his feet, a man who came here uneducated, alone, unable to speak the language, who taught me all I needed to know about faith and hard work by the simple eloquence of his example.” ~ Mario Cuomo, Former Mayor Of New York City

   

1. AGLET - The plain or ornamental covering on the end of a shoelace.
2. ARMSAYE - The armhole in clothing.
3. CHANKING - Spat-out food, such as rinds or pits.
4. COLUMELLA NASI - The bottom part of the nose between the nostrils.
5. DRAGÉES - Small beadlike pieces of candy, usually silver-coloured, used for decorating cookies, cakes and sundaes.
6. FEAT - A dangling curl of hair.
7. FERRULE - The metal band on a pencil that holds the eraser in place.
8. HARP - The small metal hoop that supports a lampshade.
9. HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER - A 64th note. (A 32nd is a demisemiquaver, and a 16th note is a semiquaver.)
10. JARNS,
11. NITTLES,
12. GRAWLIX,
13. and QUIMP - Various squiggles used to denote cussing in comic books.
14. KEEPER - The loop on a belt that keeps the end in place after it has passed through the buckle.

FACSINATING, SHOW ME MORE>>

   

I fall into the new (and growing) category of guys old enough to have grown up playing video games and old enough to be a dad as well. This is an interesting situation for me since I am well aware of college-degree-ruining effects of World of Warcraft or the relationship-destroying aftermath of Call of Duty. As a single guy, it is all a “balance” worth risking; you know, all in the name of good *fun*. But now that I am a day older and hopefully a day the wiser and have two baby boys that are growing up fast, I’ve started to realize I need to formulate a reasonable stance sooner rather than later. It is clear to me that before we know it, the boys will be trying their hardest to wear us out with their pleas for, “one more level Dad, before bedtime.”

Now I think it is best to view video games in a similiar vein to movies. Meaning, when the kids are young get them the equivalent of G-rated games, and so forth. The implication here is important; as a parent, understand the current video game rating system and be a part of the game selection with your kids (dare I say make it a “family event”). As they get older and more interested in playing action and adventure games, treat the selection similiar to PG-movies. Does the game have graphic violence? Realistic blood and gore? Guns?

There are some who believe in the LEGO (yes, as in the toy) philosophy when it comes to the depiction of violence and gameplay. Their philosophy is laser guns, and swords are okay (fantasy/archaic) but glocks and 9MM are not. Sure I’ll buy that, so long as there isn’t realistic blood and gore assocated with those laser guns and swords.

As a Parent and as a Gamer I see the potential for healthy play with a select diet of video games out there. That is to say, there are a ton of titles out there (and a lot of them are highly derivative), but with a selective eye you can find age-appropriate games that actually have some great visual puzzle solving and strategy-based gameplay. Lumines and Loco Roco for the PSP, great puzzles, great gameplay for young minds.

As mentioned in my post, Your Kid + Television = All Things Bad, my wife and I are interested in enforcing a “SCREEN-TIME” allotment for games, television and computer usage. Meaning they will have a standard weekly pool of screen-time given to them with the opportunity of earning more time based on “favorable” performance as determined by us. This does not mean we are going to bribe them to finish their spinach in return for extra screen-time. We are hoping to achieve this by making the “carrot” (extra screen time) pretty hard to get. Also, we want to teach them time-management, with the screen-time system. In other words, if they want more time to play video games they will have to deduct it from TV screen time or time on the web (doing non-education things). And yes this will include things like iPods (video), PSP and the likes of, falling into the allotment of screen-time.

Whatever the solution, moderation is the rule. Parents who fail to identify this early will be in for a fight, that is for sure. But I will be the first to admit, like most things in life this sounds great on paper (screen) but we will see how it plays out (pun intended). More on this in the near future.

   

When is it safe to say you are fully invested in your kid’s heath and safety? Two words - baby enema.

Yeah, that’s right - Old School. I found out the hard way that Miralax is the real solution.

Discuss.

   

The highest marginal tax rate in 1913 was 6%, which applied to income above $500,000, equivalent in today’s dollars to about $10 million.

Income taxes in 1913 were actually assessed on income above the personal exemption of $3,000, equivalent to $61,000 today

   

Junk mail is by in large part of the “white noise” in life. Most of us accept it as such. Some of us loathe it. Here are some effective tips for slimming out that daily stack of mail. It is alarming to find that most of the companies (credit card companies, mortgage companies, banks, etc.) we do business with sell our information to Marketers everyday.

Here’s a list of facts that will inspire you to make a few phone calls and send a few postcards:

1. More than 100 million trees’ worth of bulk mail arrive in American mail boxes each year – that’s the equivalent of deforesting the entire Rocky Mountain National Park every four months. (New American Dream calculation from Conservatree and U.S. Forest Service statistics)
2. In 2003, 5.4 million tons of catalogs and other direct mailings ended up in the U.S. municipal solid waste stream – enough to fill over 420,000 garbage trucks. Parked bumper to bumper these garbage trucks would extend from Atlanta to Albuquerque.
3.Only 32% of this ad mail was recycled. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
4. The production and disposal of junk mail consumes more energy than 2.8 million cars. (New American Dream calculation from U.S. Department of Energy and the Paper Task Force statistics)
5. Citizens and local governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year to collect and dispose of all the bulk mail that doesn’t get recycled. (New American Dream estimate from EPA statistics)
6. California’s state and local governments spend $500,000 each year collecting and disposing of AOL’s direct mail disks alone. (California State Assembly)
~ New American Dream, Junk Mail Facts

Too much junk to deal with individually, then purge away: Start by sending a letter with a chack for $1 to Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, PO Box 643, Carmel, NY 15012-0643 or go to their website and fill out the form and pay the $1 fee using a credit card. Include your complete name, address, zip code and a request to “activate the preference service”. For up to five years, this will stop mail from all member organizations that you have not specifically ordered products from. Here’s another association to contact, as well; Stop Junk Mail Association, 3020 Bridgeway #150, Sausalito, CA 94965 (800)827-5549.

I would say more than 50% of our daily junk mail was credit card offers. The thing that concerns me about these is that anybody “fishing” for identities or false credit card accounts can use these offers as a springboard for identity theft. I think by now we have all seen the excerpts on your local news were people test the credit card application (system) by applying for credit cards using their pet’s names. Credit card companies are all too eager to give you a card these days because there is big money in it for them.

Credit offers: The major credit agencies all sell aggregate credit information to any bidder. Direct mail and credit companies generate mail based on demographics including zip code, income band and credit payment patterns. Through OptOutPreScreen stopping this permanently is easy, you just need to fill out the online form (and mail it in) or email the response for a five-year opt-out.

One call does it all for agencies Equifax, Trans Union, Experian and Innovis. Dial 1-888-5 OPT OUT (or 1-888-567-8688) 24 hours a day. Here are the individual numbers for a more pointed effort;

• Equifax - (800) 556-4711
• Experian (formerly TRW) - (800) 353-0809
• Trans Union - (800) 680-7293

It is important to know how the laws work and these entities operate. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) describes the direct mail provision of the new law this way.

“Consumers gain protections against unsolicited credit and insurance offers, including the multiple credit card offers that many consumers receive on a daily basis. Under the old law, creditors and insurers were able to use the credit reporting agencies’ file information as a basis for developing lists of consumers to whom they send offers. Under the new law, consumers can follow a simple procedure to “opt out” of inclusion on future lists. They can call a toll-free number that each bureau has established (that will appear prominently on each offer), and have their name removed from these lists for two years. If they request, they will be sent a form that will allow them to take their names off of these credit bureau lists permanently.“

First class mail: Cross out the address and bar code, circle the first class postage and write “refused: return to sender”. Drop in any mail box, it will be returned to the sender.

Bulk mail: The post office throws away bulk mail it can’t deliver, so returning it does no good. Bulk mail is the hardest to deal with because the USPS actively provides addresses (even when you move), support and encouragement to mailers. However, if “address correction requested” is written on the label: circle “address correction requested” and treat like first class mail.

Although when you move, send a postcard with your name and your old address and new address to N.C.O.A. (National Change Of Address) Customer Support 6060 Primacy Pkwy, #101 Memphis TN 38188.

Here’s a list of random but classic junk mail items that you can rid yourself of:

Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes: You can get the Clearinghouse to stop clogging your mailbox by contacting customer service at 1-800-645-9242 (8:30 am to 8:30 EST), sending a fax to 1-800-453-0272, mailing to 101 Channel Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050, or you can send email to pch@ant.net. PCH will remove any number of names from a specific address, but you have to list each name exactly and insist nicely. Please refer to their Privacy Policy on their site.
Local business & supermarket fliers: All mailings must be identified, by postal regulations. Each lose-leaf bundle of fliers, by postal regulations, must be delivered at the same time as an address card. Locate this address card; the cards usually have an advertisement and a photograph of a missing child. Call directory assistance to get the phone number of the sender, and call to get off the list:

• ADVO: (Mail comes with pictures of missing children). Call to get off the list, 888-241-6760 (8:30am-5:00pm EST). You may have to send a postcard to “ADVO Consumer Assistance, POB 249, Windsor CT 06095-4176″.
• Val-Pak Coupons: click the link and fill out the form - easy, but don’t give them your email address.
• Carol Wright Gifts: 340 Applecreek Road, Lincoln, NE 68528-1501
• Your local newspaper & supermarket (look for a phone number on the piece).

Now if I we could only find and equally effective solution for eliminating SPAM.

   

Wait a second please, hold on. I need to put on my aluminum foil deflector cap for this one. No, the sky is not falling. Close, though. The British newspaper, The Independent has an online article talking about the increasing danger of Wi-Fi signals permeating throughout our culture, through our lives and more importantly us. I admit, I never really thought about it. I’m sure I had that same helpless sort of look on face as my mother did when she heard about the dangers of cooking with microwave ovens, or living near high voltage power lines or how awful eating bologna is for you back in the 70’s and 80’s.

Wi-Fi systems essentially take small versions of these masts into the home and classroom - they emit much the same kind of radiation. Though virtually no research has been carried out, campaigners and some scientists expect them to have similar ill-effects. They say that we are all now living in a soup of electromagnetic radiation one billion times stronger than the natural fields in which living cells have developed over the last 3.8 billion years. This, they add, is bound to cause trouble…” The Independent, Danger on the airwaves: Is the Wi-Fi revolution a health time bomb?

I guess the irony to consider as I stuff that deliciously dangerous all beef hot dog (that I just zapped in the microwave) is the common knowledge that cancer rates in our culture are through the roof in comparison to most. This is not surprising if you start to tally up all the stuff that is mildly dangerous for you, like cell phone towers, Wi-Fi stations/routers/signal amplifiers and high voltage lines, never mind the unknowns like what kind of electronic ’soup is made when these two are in constant close proximity.

Wouldn’t it make sense to have a sort of F.D.A. in place for new technology to be approved by before hitting the shelves? I know that sound very “pie-in-the-sky.” My gut feeling is when a certain death or more likely death rate or specific type of cancer is directly linked to a given piece of technology, then something (hopefully) will be done about it - which is kind of sad. In the meantime, you may want to take an extra step back when reheating your coffee in the microwave, or reconsider playing with your kids at that park near those high-voltage lines.