Another old time park bites the dust. I always preferred these smaller family owned parkes to the big ones like Great Adventure, Six Flags, or Hershey Park. Taking a family of 4 to a big park can be a $200 plus adventure.
My favorite is still Knoebels. Knoebels is America's largest free admission park. You only pay for ride tickets, but to get into the park is still free. As is parking. And the food is great and inexpensive.
I am really fed up with Muslims being offended about stuff concerning their "prophet" and Allah.
KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. military regrets any offense it may have caused by handing out a soccer ball emblazoned with the name of Allah on it as part of a public relations exercise in Afghanistan, a spokesman said.At least one of the balls — which were dropped by helicopter to children in Khost province in eastern Afghanistan on Friday — carried a small picture of the Saudi Arabian flag. The flag features in Arabic script the Islamic declaration of faith, which contains the words Allah and the Prophet Muhammad.
Villagers were "upset and angry" when they saw the ball, said Khost governor Arsalah Jamal.
"They wanted to demonstrate, but we explained to them it was a mistake," he said Monday.
Muslims treat with the utmost respect any printed matter containing verses of the Quran or the name of Allah or his prophet on it. Most would find the idea of kicking a ball emblazoned with those two names as deeply offensive.
Sgt. Dean Welch, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said "the distribution of soccer balls was done in the spirit of good will, something that we hoped would bring Afghan children some enjoyment."
If they are going to get offended over everything we try to do I say screw em'. We have enough to worry about without having to consider if a gift for children to play with will offend some radicals. I say we save the money the balls cost and build better bombs.
Robert Byrd, the longtime Senator from West Virginia and past KKK member recently got out of a traffic ticket for ramming into the back of a van.
In early May, Senator Robert C. Byrd, a longtime and powerful Democrat from West Virginia, was following a van too closely on U.S. Route 50 in Fairfax, Virginia, when the van stopped for traffic.Byrd's 1999 Cadillac slammed into the rear of the van. It took a tow truck more than an hour to pry the vehicles apart.
Byrd's car was not drivable and suffered an estimated $7,000 in damage. The driver of the 1990 Ford Econoline van, Chris Lee, 42, a house painter from Fairfax, said he didn't hear any sounds indicating that Byrd hit the brakes or swerved.
"Just boom," Lee said.
The Fairfax County police officer who investigated the accident had started to write the 81-year-old Senator a traffic ticket when Bryd pulled a copy of the U.S. Constitution out of his pocket and pointed to a section that he said the cop prevented the cop for ticketing him for anything because he, as a member of Congress "shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest" both while attending a session and traveling to or from the Capitol.
On one hand I think it's cool that he knows the Constitution so well, and I guess he's entitled to use it. But it just shows that members of Congress are a privledged class of people. Above you and me.
What makes me really mad is that while they skirt the law using their authority and power to do so, they pass ever more intrusive nanny laws upon us!
The stupid State Police who run the Pennsylvania Insta-Check system that allows us gun owners to buy guns is going to shut down the system for 5 days starting next week. For 5 days there will be no gun sales. Maybe longer, because if there are computer issues then it may take longer.
HARRISBURG - Conspiracy, idiocy or just plain political opportunity?When it comes to the issue of guns in Pennsylvania, the answer depends on geography - or so suggests the latest flap over Gov. Rendell's decision to shut down the state's instant background check system for gun purchases between Sept. 2 and 6.
The reason: much-needed computer upgrades.
The fallout: people won't be able to buy guns for four days - four days that coincide with the start of hunting season, when doves and early Canada geese become fair game, hunting enthusiasts say.
I am not against having to shut down the system to do upgrades, but they should do it incrimentally. Over several Sundays. But to do it at the start of hunting season? That is plain stupid.
No one ever said our State cops were smart.
I just completed my Motorcycle Saftey Program sponsored by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. I am now a fully licensed motorcycle rider.
It was originally an activity for me and my dad to do together, but he dropped out. He got discouraged and pissed off and took his ball and went home. Sure he had some problems, but nothing that would have prevented him from passing. So in his stubborness he quit, and only hurt himself. Now he will have to take the much harder PennDot exam.
The overall course was pretty cool. It was a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. Mondays were classroom, Tuesdays and Thursdays were the riding days. A rediculously easy book test was given the second Monday and the final skills riding test was given on the final Thursday.
Everyone in our class passed. I even screwed up pretty bad. They judge the test on a maximum of 20 deductions. Everyone starts with 0. I got four deductions on the figure eight. Even though the previous 2 times doing it I did it perfectly. Then I became flusterd and on the swerve right immediately after the figure eight and I hit a cone, 10 points.
I then got two decuctions for stopping in 18 feet instead of 16. I was going to fast and locked up the rear tire. And I aced the high speed cornering. So with 16 points, and 4 to spare I passed the test.
Another gentleman messed up every exercise, though he didn't hit a cone, he did mess up the figure 8, the swerve he did too slow. He braked too soon on the braking exercise, and he did the same on the cornering. He still passed.
The course was a long two weeks. I was losing sleep over it, and the one RiderCoach was sort of a hardass (the reason my dad quit). But I'm glad I did it now that I did it. I guess its sort of the stories I hear of boot camp. You hate it when you are doing it, but after it's over, you completed it and you feel good about yourself.
There is talk afoot about lowering the drinking age to 18. I think it's a good idea.
Over the strong objection of federal safety officials, a quiet movement to lower the legal drinking age to 18 is taking root as advocates argue that teenagers who are allowed to vote and fight for their country should also be able to enjoy a beer or two.The proposal, which is the subject of a national petition drive by the National Youth Rights Association, has been studied in a handful of states in recent years, including Florida, Wisconsin, Vermont and Missouri, where supporters are pushing a ballot initiative
I generally think this is a good idea. I concede that any younger than 18 or so is a bad idea because people younger than that have a different biological response to alcohol than adults, and it's best to let them be a little older.
18 year olds can go to college, get credit cards, join the army, vote, and do most everything else except drink a beer. The 21 year old age was an arbitrary age and should be changed.
But of course the "for the children" nanny types are against that.