A good deal

I had stopped by the small Stapels store in east Dallas near loop 12 and I-30. They had an advertisement that caught my eye, immediately. It was for a Compaq laptop with 2GB of RAM, a dual-core processor, and a 160GB disk...for about $450 after an instant rebate and a $30 mail in rebate. We talked about it and I went back tonight and bought one! I have been planning to replace my oldest desktop computer with a new box, but this looks better than what I had expected to be able to buy. I also picked up the deal to get Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition for about $80. I had not been happy at the prospect of having to use "Open Office", as their Word substitute was not up to par when I tried it last. This deal apparently ends tomorrow. The notebook computer is a Compaq Presario 770US with an the Intel dual-core mobile processor. Presumably, it is OK to talk about it.

Perhaps we will finally see justice done

A Grand Jury in Texas just handed down the initial indictments in the "Yearning for Zion" case involving the Morman polygamists. Finally, we are seeing the possibility of justice being done in this case. I still can't explain why these guys got away with this deal for so long. They appear to have protected by local authorities who knew what was happening in the compound.

Stephen den Beste

Stephen den Beste was one of the early blogger stars. He writes about his current non-participation. I was one of many readers who was sorry to see Stephen stop blogging. If his health and enthusiasm had allowed him to continue, I think that he would be a super-star on the level with Glenn Reynolds and Power Line. Of course, the big lefty bloggers are in a universe of their own. Stephen illustrates that you don't have to be part of "Big Media" or be a university professor (or even have a degree) to have a substantial audience, if you write well and have interesting things to say.

Shades of the Great Depression

Where have we heard about runs on banks? Ans: the Great Depression. Here we go again.

People are starting to catch on that Barack Obama is a fake candidate

Barack Obama decided to run for president when he realized how positively he was perceived by people who knew nothing of his experience and background. He had crafted a cover story about his childhood and early adulthood that played well with progressive voters. The cracks are starting to appear as Barack Obama's shifts in position have alienated many of his progressive support.

Gasoline as a political issue?

I bought two new rear tires for my car, yesterday. While I was waiting, I spoke with an electrician who was also buying tires. He had just moved into town from a town 60 miles to the northeast. He comes into contact with many working people in his work. Much of his work in the recent past had been from wiring new homes. Now, all the work was making repairs and improvements to existing homes, as well as businesses. This man asserted that many people are "teetering on the edge" and a higher price for gas will push them over the edge. When I talked to my wife, when I got back, she thought that the price of gas will be a political issue. This is one issue that the Democrats seem to have wrong and should pay a price for opposing new oil drilling in the U.S. Can the Democrats demagogue their way out of this one?

Internet Connection speed tests

I just tried a speed test and was pleased with the result:

Download Speed: 5605 kbps (700.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed:   1647 kbps (205.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

This was the SpeakEasy speed test.
I also tried the CNET Bandwidth Meter and got a similar download speed:

5326.4 Kbps

We use Cool Access for our Internet provider, which is a north Texas business, but expanding south and to the northeast. We have done business with them for four years.