I quote from the article: "PETA submitted their application under a 2007 provision in Illinois law, where family members of those who die as victims of DUI accidents may request memorials to the victims.". So, this is an open admission that PETA members are livestock. It figures. Having spent some time on a farm and having worked at a slaughter house I've observed that livestock are not very intelligent creatures This PETA admission verifies that. Do you PETA guys get invited to many BarBQues? Watch out if you do. chuckles

This government food control idiocy is far out of hand. Look at what kids of the last 20-40 years consumed: Twinkies. Soda pop sweetened with real sugar. Pop Tarts. Sugar coated cereals. Wheaties, Cheerios, shredded wheat. Bacon and eggs fried in bacon grease. Candy of all kinds. Ice cream. Popsicles. Cake, Pie, Greasy hamburgers , French fries and onion rings. Greasy chili. Kool Aid sweetened with real sugar, Many other fast foods. Red meat. Chicken fried in grease and oil. Mashed potatoes with mounds of melting butter and sometimes real gravy made from drippings. Despite its supposed harmfulness, the generation that ate this stuff turned into the greatest generation of athletes the world has ever seen. chuckles

This is an insane proposition. How do you call ahead to your meeting and tell them that you'll be late because you're in a traffic jam? How do you call your wife to tell her she will have to pick up the kids because you can't get there in time? How do you call police to report an accident or a crime? How do you call for an ambulance to meet you if someone in your car has a heart attack or stroke? How does someone call you to tell you their flight is in and they will be outside baggage pickup in 10 minutes? How does your wife call you to tell you to pick up a loaf of bread on the way home? Do you come home and then use the gasoline to go back and get it? How do people other than the driver make calls? Is everyone in the car...

Jeez! If you can walk and chew gum at the same time you are well enough coordinated to talk on a cell phone in a car. If you can carry on a conversation with a passenger you can also talk on a cell phone. If you can control the kids and drive you can talk on a cell phone and drive. Granted, texting and dialing take the driver's eyes from the road. But with a modern voice recognition cell phone where's the distraction? Pick it up, tell it who to call, and talk. I can do it and I've been driving for 60 years. If LaHood can't talk on a phone and drive at the same time he certainly knows his limitations. But he doesn't know mine. chuckles

To JM051. You list three alternatives, not two. Obama is a self-righteous do do who thinks he is God and has supreme intelligence. Whether he can or not, he will not help us solve our problems. He is making problems. America's problems give him power to work his communism-inspired agenda. Neither is he a cool head. His thinly-veiled anger arises from his frustration that "we don't all come together" and support his all-wise, all-knowing vision for America. There is no sign that he thinks answers will come to him through prayer. There is no sign that he thinks he needs any guidance. Thank God, that pesky Constitution keeps getting in his way. It's framers were wiser about America's needs today than is our present...

Some people who travel know that you get the best maid service by making a request, like for more soap, on the first day and accompany the request with a tip at the time or very shortly thereafter. Sometimes a simple request, like "take good care of the room for me" gets you great service for your entire stay along with a tip. Do that and you'll have chocolate mint wafers all over your pillow each night. Most maids will see you as a source of some extra tip money for goods and services they can grant and if the service continues it is appropriate to tip a litle either toward the end of your stay, or weekly if staying for an extended time. This is called operant conditioning. chuckles

An added note to idiotpas: Native Americans have a saying that you really don't understand a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins. You haven't walked in my moccasins. I have a guaranteed Constitutional right to own firearms. You don't. End of issue. There is no sense debating merits. Americans escaped from the tyranny of King George. It's apparent that Great Britain refuses to grant its citizens the ability to resist tyranny or to defend themselves against crime. You must like this because you not only accept it, you condone it, you believe in it, and you promote it, I don't know you at all. Is there something in the make-up of British people that convinces their government that they are not to be trusted with...

To idiotpas: You say: "So you ask how it is working out for us, well lets use FACTS shall we, the kryptonite of the ignorant like you. Gun Deaths per 100,000 by homicide; US 3.98, UK 0.06 Gun Deaths per 100,000 by suicide; US 5.92, UK 0.2 (hey maybe you lot have more reason, who knows) Gun Deaths per 100,000 by gun accident; US 0.36 UK ); 0.01" Please allow me this explanation about how it works in America. Idiotpas, a gun is a machine that obeys its operator. It doesn't jump out of it holster, or belt, or bureau drawer and fire itself all on its own. Guns are not the problem. People are the problem. Sometimes they have a chip on their shoulder. You may be one of those people who can't be trusted with one. There is legal...

In Michigan schools, including college and universities are gun-free zones. At one at which I taught there were an average of 2 reported armed robberies per month on campus by people coming onto campus for the easy pickings. There was an event in the small safe community where I live that is noteworthy. About 1a.m. a homeowner heard a noise downstairs. Checking, he saw the shadow of a man in his front hallway. He obtained his .38 from his bed-side stand and confronted the intruder and forced him to lie face down at gunpoint until the police arrived. This was about a 1 column by 4 inch story in a local shopping newspaper and it didn't get in any other papers to my knowledge. Naturally, if he had been murdered by the intruder, and...

I hunt and fish and use parks and bike trails and have a sailboat. Sure hunters and fishermen pay lots of the freight as the article said but state and regional parks in Michigan have entry fees and almost everywhere you go to enjoy the outdoors has some price tag associated with it. Generally the DNR gets a piece of the money or all of it, and rightfully so. It's too bad the federal government can't operate with the responsibility and high service level of the Michigan DNR.

A comment on cleaning up the bike trail: If people didn't throw trash on it it wouldn't need cleaning. There are two kinds of people: Those who throw trash that others pick up, and those who keep the woods and waters (and bike trails) clean. Any good...