I was in my 20s before I learned the "H" was silent

Yes, I'll admit it, in my youth I thought it was pronounced with a hard "h", e.g., HERBert. Imagine my surprise when I found they're known as "erbs", instead.

Regardless, there are many medicinal uses for herbs. In fact, here's a list of 100 blogs whose subject is herbs.

50 Best Websites

The best according to Time Magazine.

50 of the best for 2009.

Your opinion may differ, of course. Mine did.

Ain't this the truth

I'll read it later

I think I'll check out this blog tomorrow or maybe next week.

A plethora of healthy eating websites

Since I'm on a roll here I guess I'll continue with 100 Web Tools for Healthy Eating

A plethora of apple goodness links

We've always known apples are good for us. Now there's even more evidence of just how they promote good health.

A plethora of DIY cooking stoves

I have no desire to backpack but all of these DIY homemade stoves are interesting. I suppose you could make one in the event the power went out.

A plethora of sawhorses

I've 3 different sets of sawhorses plus 2 sets of metal fold-up horses. I guess I have different styles as I've never found the "perfect" pair.

If I decide to build another set I think I'll build these stackable horses There are many other sawhorse plans out there so if I don't like that style, I can always find another to try.

In fact, toolcrib makes it easy by offering 38 different sawhorse plans.

A cartoon cornucopia

Here's a neat site with every (or almost every) cartoon ever published. Toonopedia.

They believe

Galileo, Kelvin, Faraday, Planck are a few on the list of scientists who also believed there is indeed a God.

I'm no bible-thumper but put simply, I believe.

No, Amanda, that just shows your limited thinking

This comment was made at a CNN web page concerning the amendment to allow people to carry concealed weapons across state lines.

Amanda July 21st, 2009 6:18 pm ET

I don't carry a weapon and would never carry one. What is wrong with all these machos who think they cannot leave the house without it ? Guns kill.

No, Amanda, guns do not kill. I've kept a Colt revolver in the nightstand drawer for almost 20 years and it hasn't killed one person, as far as I know. I take it out of that drawer once a year; take it to the range; put about 24 shots through it to confirm it's still functional (it's going on 50 yrs old, soon); clean it; oil it; and then it goes back into the drawer.

People kill, Amanda. Yes, they use guns but also they use shovels, knives, poison, automobiles, blunt instruments, you-name-it.

You get the picture now, don't you, Amanda? Guns do NOT kill, Amanda, people kill.

Your comment, "Guns kill." shows your limited thinking on the issue, if not your ignorance.

Words to live by

Awesome site, but no Albie SKS?

Here's a great website if you need a manual for your SKS or other firearm.

But, I noticed they don't have one for the Albanian SKS. It's one of the rarer versions and I considered myself pretty lucky to have nabbed one. But, then again, while pleased with myself, I really don't think I'd want fifty Albanian SKS's.

Shortcuts

Windows keyboard shortcuts, some I know and use but a lot I didn't have a clue about.  Here's 23 Lesser known but Incredibly useful Windows Shortcuts.  Or at least that's what the guy who wrote it thinks.

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!

This is my kind of church! The New Bethel Church of Louisville, KY.

I don't think so. Not for me, anyways

Two surprises for me with this one. The first, that folks actually ride their bicycles without any clothes on and that there's an organized event based on it.

The second?

That it actually gets warm enough in Montpelier, Vermont to do so. I thought Vermont was like Canada South or something similar.

Hey, I'm of a libertarian bent, so do what you want as long as it doesn't adversely affect me. However, I have to say that there's some folks pictured there that really shouldn't go naked in public or maybe even in private. It's not pretty.

I didn't know that

One of my son-in-laws is an engineer in this Air Force program - the Small Diameter Bomb. I didn't know that.

Very useful, if you use Firefox

Which I do as I think it's a faster, more tuneable browser than Internet Explorer.   I also use some of these 50 Best Firefox extensions.

Worth a look if you use Firefox.

What a ride

These type of C-130s were assigned to the 67th Air Rescue & Recovery Squadron at RAF Woodbridge. I never gave them much thought when I drove by their parking area when stationed at Woodbridge in the early 70s.

The official story was that they supported the space mission and were also used to retrieve weather balloons. Unofficial talk was they had been used to lift Special Forces folks out of the jungle in southeast Asia.

Whichever story was true satisfied any curiosity I might have had. It wasn't until some years later that I read about their real mission. I imagine that was some ride for the guy in the harness.

Halt, thief!

I hope no one who might read this would ever need this information. But, just in case some scum-sucking lowlife does manage to steal your identity, one of your first stops should be the Federal Trade Commission's page on Identity Theft Victim's Statement of Rights.

If for nothing else it seems to have good info on how to alert your creditors and lessen the financial pain.

Here's where to stash all of those youtube videos

Here's some information on where to put some of the youtube videos and digital pictures that are filling up your hard drive.

How To Get 124 GB in Free Online Storage

I use Microsoft's Live Skydrive as a backup for the ton of digital pics of census data that I've collected over the years in my genealogical research. Also, Microsoft has recently upped the storage available to 25 GB per account. That's a bunch.

For the paranoia in you

I'm not sure a tin-foil hat will work but here's 50 Free Internet Tools for staying secure out there on the info highway.

Don't waste your time

I occasionally post about freeware that's worth your while. But on the flipside there is some bad stuff out there. Luckily, the folks at Download identify some of the worst downloads of 2008

Presidential wheels

This is neat. The 7 Best Limos for the President from Popular Mechanics.

This is confusing

If I told you I was going to buy some Winter Bananas you'd likely think I was speaking of the long tropical fruit with a yellow skin that you peel before eating.

That would be wrong. It's actually an apple. The Hoosiers christened it thus in Cass County, Indiana in 1876.

I like apples and it's a rare day that I don't eat at least a half of one. But I pass on the ubiquitous Red Delicious as I agree with the opinion that it no longer is.  My wife and I prefer the Gala, Braeburn, Cameo or Pacific Rose varieties. They cost a bit more but there's a world of difference in taste.

Obama's new dog

I had seen on TV that the new First Family was in the market for a dog, either a Labradoodle or some other fancy breed. I see now that they settled on a different breed. They've picked Media, the lapdog.

They're definitely old soldiers now

Footnote has worked with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to compile a really neat record of World War II information.  They've helped create an online collection which includes many never-before-seen photos.

Thanks, but don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out

I'd be the first to pat George on the back for his response to Islamo-terrorism after 11 Sep 01. But at the same time I can understand why some want to throw shoes at him.

He certainly screwed it up on the domestic front these last 8 years. I'm not alone with that viewpoint either. That's not the only piece online that doesn't think much of his performance. Congress is certainly not blameless but still George could have used his veto pen to reign in some of the outrageous earmarks and other pork legislation.

He didn't.

BYOB plus a WOTD

No, that's not Bring Your Own Bottle, but Bring Your Own Bag. Particularly if you plan on buying your liquor in the Canadian province of Ontario. It seems the tree-huggers have convinced the authorities there that the plastic bag is destroying the planet.

I'm no hardcore tree-hugger but those bags can be an eyesore. Locally, the newest Wal-Mart in these parts was plunked down on top of large, wooded hill. If we get some high winds then the trees on that hill become decorated with plastic Wal-Mart bags. In fact, there's so many you wonder just where did all of those empty bags come from. Do Wal-Mart customers just dump their purchases in the trunk and throw the bags on the ground? That doesn't seem very convenient for getting your stuff from the car to the house. So, it's a mystery to me.

But however they end up in the trees it can be a sore sight, particularly in winter when most branches are bare. I will give Wal-Mart credit for doing something about it. When it gets particularly bad they hire a crew to fan out on the hillside and clean up the mess.

Which brings another question to my mind. How do they get those bags out of some of the really tall beech and pin oak trees that are scattered about that hillside? Oh, you ask how I know those are beech and pin oaks? That's easy as those two species are marcescent and stick out, especially in winter.

In chess this move is known as "Check!"

Whether he turns it into checkmate or not remains to be seen.  But love him or despise him you have to agree that Blago is one smart politician.

I don't think the Dems have the intestinal fortitude to try and block the guy.