New Scaratings

You're right is some ways. The sequoia actually depends on fire for its survival. The seeds germinate as a result of fire. The fire also kills off small vegetation which in turns gives more nutrients to the giants.

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Middle age is when a broad mind and a slim waist exchange places.

Thanks Gogetem, I was worried that a bunch of uninformed tree huggers would give me grief for my post.

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"The game is afoot."

I have a little bit more info for those interested. The top spire of 'The President' ,which is the 2nd largest of the giants, was struck by lightning about 1,000 years ago and is still standing. Even the dead part is still attached. The President is also estimated to contain 2 billion leaves.

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Middle age is when a broad mind and a slim waist exchange places.

I guess that leaves a lot of other trees out for the record...

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"The game is afoot."

I like that.

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Middle age is when a broad mind and a slim waist exchange places.

This is pretty neat. We've got "Chip the Bartender", but the Ruskies have the "World's Best Bartender".

Here's the link, check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60GJ0dJ1xmE

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"The game is afoot."

Remember the "Balancing Sticks" act that we saw earlier on this thread, well here is a link to a "Balancing rocks" video that is nearly as amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JykJrVb ... kGx2FJL3Ng

p.s. Check the maple leaf on this guy's T-shirt. He's got to be a Canuck...

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"The game is afoot."

Who was behind the Lincoln assassination...?

Many years ago I heard that the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, had a big part in it. Now, after reading Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Lincoln", I'm pretty sure that what I heard so many years ago is true. If you don't like Bill O'Reilly because of his politics, please try to put it aside, and read the book. You will be amazed by the things you will learn, and I think you may come away from it thinking that Stanton was deeply involved in Lincoln's assassination.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this.

..............................................................

.................................................... "O'Reilly is full of Beeswax. I had nothing to do with it."

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"The game is afoot."

Two Tesla model S videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-IlJHHvqaw

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/car ... e/2911345/

p.s. I might be wrong, but I believe the Tesla model S sells for something between $70,000 and $100,000, depending on how many extras you add on. (I wonder how much the fire extinguisher extra costs?)

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"The game is afoot."

The Kentucky High School Sports Association recently banned opposing teams from shaking hands after games, because of fights that have broken out. The Association has back peddled a little on it's decree, after the national news media took the story ballistic. Now they say that it is only discouraged, and not totally banned.

Not banned...? Yep, hand shaking after a game isn't banned. However, if a fight should break out during the hand shaking after a game, the coaches and officials are personally subject to possible $1,000 fines.

What are your thoughts about this?

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"The game is afoot."

I've had it with those who hand out the Nobel Peace prize.



There is a little girl by the name of Malala Yousafzai, who deserved the Nobel Peace prize more than anybody or anything else, whom they didn't give it to. A little girl, who stood up to the Taliban, and took a bullet in the head for her courage to demand an education for females. She survived, and this is what she has to say:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjGL6YY6oMs

It's your turn to vote. Do you think Malala should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize or not...

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"The game is afoot."

Unintentional duplicate post manually deleted.

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"The game is afoot."

If nobody else has a comment, I do...

I think the Nobel Peace Prize committee ignored Malala's nomination for either one or the other of these two reasons. (Perhaps both.)

1- Politics (If they gave the prize to Malala, it might not have sat well the militant political movement that shot her, or the governments that support them.

2- Fear (If they gave the prize to Malala, the militant political movement, that shot her, might turn their gun sights on them.)

Who got the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize...?

The winner was "The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons". Give me a break. This is an orginization that has accomplished little or nothing to promote peace, and has never risked taking a bullet, as Malala bravely did, to try to bring peace to the world.

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"The game is afoot."

Bob Barker will be returning to "The Price is Right" on his 90th birthday.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/10/29/bob-b ... -is-right/

"CBS says The Price Is Right is planning a milestone birthday celebration for former host Bob Barker.

Barker will celebrate his 90th birthday with an appearance on the game show in December, the network said Tuesday. He retired as host in 2007 after 35 years with The Price Is Right.

The show will also pay tribute to Barker’s longtime animal activism by featuring pet adoptions during the week of Dec. 9-13.

Barker will be on The Price Is Right on his birthday, Dec. 12, and will present a special showcase to mark the occasion, CBS said."

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"The game is afoot."

The rubber duckie and chess just got inducted into the "National Toy Hall of Fame". (Not joking.) Good God, when did chess become a toy...? I sure hope that this ridiculous Hall of Fame doesn't receive any government money.

Here's a link to a list of toys that have been inducted so far:

http://www.toyhalloffame.org/toys

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"The game is afoot."

Only government Monopoly money.

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"...It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED...."

The "National Toy Hall of Fame" might want to consider these:

Rice Krispies Puppets



Balsa wood airplanes



The squirt gun



Cabbage Patch Kids



Betsy Wetsy Doll



Though I don't think games belong in the "National Toy Hall of Fame", they do. So I will suggest two that they have overlooked.

Tiddlywinks



Pick-up Sticks

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"The game is afoot."

When I first heard this I thought it was a joke, but it's not. Washington, DC has a law that prohibits the killing of rats, even if they are overrunning your your house, gnawing through your walls, eating your food, and biting your children. They must be humanely trapped in a way that cannot harm them. (It is recommended that you trap the entire rat family when possible, to keep it intact.) After trapping them, they must be moved something like 25 miles away, and released into the wild. (I think there may also be a requirement for some kind of re-orientation training for the rats before releasing them.)

Again, this is NOT one of Cloudy's jokes.

This is utter insanity. Most rats won't live in the woods and eat insects and plants. Rats like the city life, and will find their way back to cities. Once they get there, they will return to their old ways. Though it might not be your house they invade, it will be somebody else's home that becomes infested with the vermin.

States that border Washington, DC should pass laws that strictly prohibit transporting rats across their borders to be released into the wild, with stiff fines and jail time for offenders.


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.................................................................................................. "Oh, they're so cute. Don't hurt them."


Will cockroaches be next...?

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"The game is afoot."

I can't believe that no one cares about rats, dead or relocated.

Let's see how much trouble this gets me into with you PETA folks out there. I say, if you have a rat problem in your home anywhere in the United States, catch the little bastards, box them up, and ship them to Washington, DC.

Here's where I'll get myself in trouble. If you don't want to waste the time catching these vermin alive, and spending the shipping charges to send them back to Washingon, DC., I say just kill those rodents and all of their family you can find on the spot. Yep, squish the little bastards brains out with a hammer, cut them in half with an axe, or feed them poison.

For any of you that think that what I have posted it terrible, I can understand your love of animals. However, you guys and gals, who love rats can take them to bed with you at night and cuddle with those cute furry critters, but I will just KILL THEM...1

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"The game is afoot."

I probably shouldn't be singling out Brown Rice Triscuits, with tomato & sweet basil. Actually, they are very delicious, and I highly recommend them for their wonderful flavor (Not joking, they are really good.), but I have a problem with them. That would be the extremely deceptive packaging they come in. The box they come in is nearly 8 inches tall, but once you open it, after looking down a long way, you will find that there only about 3 and a half inches of Triscuits hiding at the bottom of the box.

I understand that this visual packaging deception is wide spread, and Nabisco is not alone in doing this. However, I really think that something needs to be done to stop companies from showing you a box on the shelf at the grocery store that is more than 50% empty space once you open it.

p.s. I once heard a spokesperson defending potato chips for the big bag they came in that was mostly air, saying that this was to prevent crushing and breakage of them in shipping. As good as Nabisco's Brown Rice Triscuits were in their roomy box, I don't think more than ten of those Triscuts arrived unbroken.

p.p.s. Virtually everybody grocery shops visually. If they even bother to read the fine print that says, "NET WT 9 OZ", how in the world can they compute what this means as to how many triscuits will tumble out of the box...?

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"The game is afoot."

Deleted post.

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"The game is afoot."

It's called professional courtesy, Cloudy.

Tech idiot delete

A federal Judge has ordered a Pennsylvania middle school to allow a seventh grade girl on the boy's wrestling team.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judg ... m-21521712

I know that I am an old fuddy duddy, but this is insane for a host of reasons. If this nonsense continues, I expect that some judge will require the Pittsburg Steelers to put a female at fullback or tackle. Call me a misogynist if you want, but I firmly believe that women are from Venus and men are from Mars.

p.s. I expect that the Line Mountain middle school will have a lot of teenage boys signing up for the wrestling team this year...

p.p.s. Though I doubt that we will ever hear how she faired going to the matt against the boys, I would like to know how many wrestling matches she wins. Maybe SPOTES can keep track of this for me.

p.p.p.s. This brings a whole new reason for heading to the showers as soon as practice is over.

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"The game is afoot."

Here is Cloudy's plan for World peace. I understand that the logistics might cause some problems, but if it can be pulled off, I guarantee that it will work.






First we move all of the Russians to India. Then we move all of the Indians to South America. Next we move all of the South American's to China. Then we move all of the Chinese to Canada. Now we move all of the Canadians to Scandinavia. Then we move all of the Scandinavians to the Middle East. Now we move all of the Middle Easterners to Australia. Next we move all of the Australians to Africa. Now we move all of the Africans to Russia, etc.

Hell, once we've done that, everyone will be so busy trying to learn a new language that no one will be able to find the time to start a war.

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"The game is afoot."