Cave News

Stop signs try humor in Illinois

The Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn is trying to get motorists to stop for stop signs by applying a little humor.

A big red sign that says "Stop" sometimes isn't enough to get everyone to stop. Maybe a laugh will get their attention.

This Chicago suburb has installed second stop signs beneath the regular ones at 50 intersections with messages, including "WHOAAA" or "Stop ... and smell the roses."

"I thought it might make people smile and take notice," Mayor Dave Heilmann said as he launched the campaign Friday. "You've got people on their cell phones, their BlackBerries and iPods while driving. Those are all distractions. Hopefully, when they see a sign they're not expecting it might make them stop."

I don’t know -- they way they drive in the Chicago area, motorists will be long past the signs before they have a chance to read ‘em.

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Concorde parts and memorabilia up for auction in France

Want to buy cockpit gauges, such as air speed indicators and horizontal situation indicators from the Concorde?

Or how about a cabin oven or plate-and-silverware sets. There are also Concorde toilet seats available.

For the more adventuresome, there is a landing gear from the Concorde that weighs in at over one ton. Maybe it won't fit on the fireplace mantel, but imagine how it will impress your friends.

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Gore still refuses to debate global warming issues

Former Vice President Al Gore (pictured), the most prominent proponent of the theory that global warming is human-induced continues to refuse repeated challenges to debate the issue.

The link below is another article pointing out that Mr. Gore still refuses to debate global warming issues.

He has earned huge sums of money from his controversial film and from his lucrative speaking engagements.

The Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based free-market think tank, launched the debate campaign in April, using ads, press releases, and other tactics to prod Gore into confronting those who reject his alarmist views on global warming.

So far Al Gore refuses to take the debate challenge.

In Al Gore’s movie and his public appearances, he uses carefully scripted lines that would not help him in a debate.

Is this further proof that Gore is hiding behind junk science as many scientists and climateologists have suggested and that he promotes climate change for financial as well as political reasons?

If he plays his cards right and has enough of us convinced that climate change is man-made and is catastophic, he could looked on as the savior of the environment and be elected to the White House in 2008.

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The weekend is almost here

The weekend is family time.

Unstable car top air conditioner

Oh, well -- air condtioning season is almost over. We'll fix it next spring.

Coughing at a policeman is nothing to sneeze at

A coughing motorist in Morrisville, North Carolona was charged with assault on a government official.

When Morrisville police officer Chris Gill handed him a ticket, Kent Kauffman coughed. Next thing Kauffman knew, Gill was charging him with assault.

The officer claimed the motorist deliberately coughed in his face.

The motorist said he couldn’t have coughed in his face unless his face was 4-foot-long.

If convicted, the motorisdt could spend up to 60 days in jail.

Webster's dictionary says that to cough means to expel air suddenly and noisily from the lungs through the glottis, either as the result of an involuntary muscular spasm in the throat or to clear the air passages.

A Wake County judge will decide the intent behind Kauffman's cough.

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Tennessee to crack down on bootleg cigarette imports

A cigarette surveillance program began yesterday in Tennessee.

Tennessee’s cigarette tax went from 20 cents per pack to 62 cents per pack effective July 1. All eight states that border Tennessee have lower tax rates, meaning smokers can save up to 45 cents per pack — $4.50 for a 10-pack carton — by purchasing out of state.

Starting today, state Department of Revenue agents will begin stopping Tennessee motorists spotted buying large quantities of cigarettes in border states, then charging them with a crime and, in some cases, seizing their cars.

Critics say:

The new “cigarette surveillance program” amounts to the use of “police state” tactics and wrongfully interferes with interstate commerce.

The Tennessee Revenue Commissioner says:

The department is simply doing its job, enforcing a valid state law while protecting Tennessee retailers who properly pay state taxes.

Link

George McGovern to endorse Hillary

As a native of South Dakota, I am happy and proud to commend George McGovern (pictured) as a true war hero who volunteered in the Army Air Corps during World War II and flew 35 combat missions over enemy territory in a B-24 Liberator bomber (shown below).

However, it has always puzzled me how an ordained Methodist minister, turned politician from a conservative state could be nearly socialistic in his liberal political views.

George McGovern lost his bid for the presidency in a landslide defeat of 61%–38% in 1972.

So how much help will a McGovern endorsement be to the Hillary campaign?

One wonders if it is repaying a political debt rather than an honest endorsement. The article at the link below reports:

"I got to know her 35 years ago," McGovern said. "She and her boyfriend, Bill Clinton, took over the McGovern organization in Texas. They did a terrific job against impossible odds. I never forgot that. They worked night and day in that state."

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A note about the aircraft Mr. McGovern flew during WW II:

The B-24 Liberator was sometimes called a “flying coffin” by pilots and crew. The nickname came mostly because the B-24 was prone to catch fire as a result of battle damage because of the fuel tank locations.

The B-24 was a bit larger than the B-17 Flying fortress but was not nearly as robust.

I tip my hat to anyone who completed 35 combat missions as a B-25 pilot.

Click here for pictures I took of the only remaining flyable B-25 at the Loveland/Ft. Collins airport last July 4th.

(if a picture doesn’t show, refresh your browser or click on the “red x” then select “show picture”)

Hillary contradicts & flip-flops in New Hampshire debate

First of all, most folks are getting a little ‘debate weary’. That means that it’s mostly Democrats who pay much attention to the Democratic debates.

Second of all, flip-flopping somehow doesn’t seem to be out of place. Candidates from both parties do it.

It was John Kerry that set the flip-flopping bar fairly high in 1974.

During the recent Democratic debate Hillary Clinton (pictured) may have even out-flopped Kerry when she insisted she'd never OK torture of terror suspects.

Not only was it a huge flip-flop, but it was a contradiction of her husband Bill Clinton.

The article here has the details.

Wal-Mart debunks VHS tape rumor

Number one retailer Wal-Mart denies a published report that it will no longer sell VHS tapes by early next year.

Target had announced that it will phase out VHS sales by September of next year, while electronics retailers Best Buy and Circuit City said they will no longer sell VHS tapes.

There is a poll at the link below. The poll question was: Are you planning to replace your VCR with a DVD player? At the time of this writing the poll results were:

Yes … 4%
No … 6%
I’ll have both … 62%
I’ve ditched my VCR … 29%

Link