A Choir Who is Definitely Not "Hoarse!"

Play a tune! Click on the horses for 'ON' and 'OFF'! You will get the hang of it!

Click above

Riddle Me This!

What is this?

Click above for the answer.

YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE TELLS IT ALL

A mother is driving a little girl to her friend's house for a play date.

"Mommy," the little girl asks, "how old are you?"

"Honey, you are not supposed to ask a lady her age," the mother replied.

"It's not polite."

"OK", the little girl says, "How much do! y ou weigh?"

"Now really," the mother says, "those are personal questions and are really none of your business."

Undaunted, the little girl asks, "Why did you and Daddy get a divorce?"

"That is enough questions, young lady, honestly!"

The exasperated mother walks away as the two friends begin to play.

"My Mom won't tell me anything about her," the little girl says to her friend.

"Well," says the friend, "all you need to do is look at her drivers license. It is like a report card, it has everything on it."

Later that night the little girl says to her mother, "I know how old you are, you are 32"

The mother is surprised and asks, "How did you find that out?

"I also know that you weigh 140 pounds."

The mother is past surprised and shocked now. "How in heaven's name did you find that out?"

"And," the little girl says triumphantly, "I know why you and daddy got a divorce."

"Oh really?" the mother asks. "Why?"

"Because you got an F in sex."

*Thanks, Andy!

When women wear leather

Because she smells
like a New Truck!
*Thanks, Andy

Man dies after recording own meth addiction

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A former trucker whose documentary chronicled an agonizing descent as methamphetamine ravaged his body has died, optimistic to the end that his story would keep others from the highly addictive stimulant.

"He was extremely satisfied, wanting to do more in getting the word out and showing kids what meth harm does. We didn't get to that point," his father, Jack Bridges, said shortly after the 35-year-old died Monday at a hospital in Cape Girardeau.

"He didn't want anyone to go through what he did," his father said.

Shawn Bridges drew global attention last year for "No More Sunsets," a 29-minute film shot by a former southern Illinois television videographer at Bridges' request.

By his family's account, Bridges already had died at least twice, his heart so damaged by years of using meth -- a concoction that can include toxic chemicals such as battery acid, drain cleaner and fertilizer -- that it stopped and had to be shocked back into beating.

The documentary shows Bridges mostly bedridden, his constant companions a catheter and feeding tube.

"I'd say he's got a 34-year-old body on the outside with a 70- to 80-year-old man on the inside," his father told The Associated Press last May.

Roughly 28,000 people sought treatment for meth addiction across the country in 1993, accounting for nearly 2 percent of admissions for drug-abuse care, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Just a decade later, the meth-related admissions numbered nearly 136,000 -- more than 7 percent of the national total for drug-abuse treatment.

Family members have said Bridges had been haunted by the dreary day in 1976 when his younger brother Jason, barely a year old, died in a car wreck. Bridges was 4 and nowhere near the accident but still blamed himself, wanting to trade places with his dead sibling, his father said.

A lenient upbringing set Bridges on the road to becoming "a little monster," his father said. "By 16, the kid was a high school dropout and partier."

At 26, Bridges had a heart attack that his father blamed on meth's ability to damage a chronic user's heart and other internal organs. Bridges learned he had congestive heart failure. Twice, he tried to kill himself, according to family members.

--more--

LIFE or METH - Make the RIGHT Choice

Click above

*Please note: "TINA" is the street name for Meth.

Pet deaths likely to rise, Menu Foods admits

TORONTO (AP) -- The potential impact of one of the largest consumer-product recalls in North American history was beginning to take shape Tuesday as Menu Foods admitted the number of dog and cat deaths blamed on tainted pet food is likely to climb.


The company, based in Mississauga, Ont., has confirmed the deaths of only 16 animals, but spokesman Sam Bornstein acknowledged that media reports suggest the final death toll could end up being far higher.


"Based on anecdotal cases, if I believe what I see in the media . . . I would expect that the number would be higher," Bornstein said.

In all, 95 brands of the company's "cuts and gravy'' style dog and cat food -- 60 million cans and pouches in all -- have been recalled for fear they contained traces of aminopterin, a rat poison banned in the U.S.


Tests were continuing to confirm the source of the contamination, but wheat gluten imported from China is considered a prime suspect.


Grieving pet owners frustrated with a company they say is ignoring them have turned to the Internet to share their stories and express their frustration -- and the emerging numbers help to illustrate the magnitude of the recall's impact.


--more--

Recalled Dog Foods
Recalled Cat foods

Menu Foods recall information 1-866-895-2708 or 1-866-463-6738

Taunts

Warning - May be offensive to some folks.... only fair since it was offensive to me when I was growing up...



A Song from Regina, Saskatchewan's Prairie Pride Chorus. (mp3 - ~400 KB)

There are some great songs on this CD. I posted this one to get your attention. Click here to check out how to order the CD and more information on Prairie Pride

It's Tax Time!

When.when..When...WHEN!

Two tough questions!!!

Question 1:

If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?

Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.


Question 2:

It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three candidates.

Candidate A. Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologist. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B. He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C. He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.

Which of these candidates would be our choice? Decide first... no peeking, then scroll down for the response.


















Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt. Candidate B is Winston Churchill. Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.




And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question: If you said YES, you just killed Beethoven.

Pretty interesting isn't it? Makes a person think before judging someone. Wait till you see the end of this post! Keep reading..

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember: Amateurs... built the ark. Professionals... built the Titanic


And Finally, can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics:

* 29 have been accused of spousal abuse
* 7 have been arrested for fraud
* 19 have been accused of writing bad checks
* 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
* 3 have done time for assault
* 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
* 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
* 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
* 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
* 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year...

Can you guess which organization this is?



Give up yet?







It's the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

*Thanks, Ken

Is This How Stonehenge Was Constructed ?

One man raising heavy weights by gravity

Here's something that will make you wonder about all our modern technology..



*Thanks, Ken

Test For Dementia

"It's that time of year to take our annual senior citizen test."

Exercise of the brain is as important as exercise of the muscles. As we grow older, it's important that we keep mentally alert. The saying; "If you don't use it, you will lose it" also applies to the brain, so below is a very private way to gauge your loss or non-loss of intelligence.

So, take the following test presented here and determine if you are losing it or are still "with it," The spaces below are so you don't see the answers until you have made your answer.

OK, relax, clear your mind and ... begin.

WELL MAYBE NOT THAT CLEAR!


1. What do you put in a toaster?






Answer: "bread." If you said "toast," then give up now and go do something else. Try not to hurt yourself. If you said, "bread," go to Question 2.





2. Say "silk" five times. Now spell "silk." What do cows drink?








Answer: Cows drink water. If you said "milk," please do not attempt the next question. Your brain is obviously over stressed and may even overheat. It may be that you need to content yourself with reading something more appropriate such as Children's World. If you said "water" then proceed to question 3.



3. If a red house is made from red bricks and a blue house is made from blue bricks and a pink house is made from pink bricks and a black house is made from black bricks, what is a green house made from?







Answer: Greenhouses are made from glass. If you said "green bricks," what the devil are you still doing here reading these questions?????

If you said "glass," then go on to Question 4.





4. It's twenty years ago, and a plane is flying at 20,000 feet over Germany (If you will recall, Germany at the time was politically divided into West Germany and East Germany.) Anyway, during the flight, TWO of the engines fail. The pilot, realizing that the last remaining engine is also failing, decides on a crash landing procedure. Unfortunately the engine fails before he has time and the plane fatally crashes smack in the middle of "no man's land" between East Germany and West Germany. Where would you bury the survivors? East Germany or West Germany or in "no man's land"?






Answer: You don't, of course, bury survivors. If you said ANYTHING else, you are a real dunce and you must NEVER try to rescue anyone from a plane crash. Your efforts would not be appreciated.

If you said, "Don't bury the survivors", then proceed to the next question.




5. Without using a calculator - You are driving a bus from London to Milford Haven in Wales. In London, 17 people get on the bus. In Reading, six people get off the bus and nine people get on. In Swindon, two people get off and four get on. In Cardiff, 11 people get off and 16 people get on. In Swansea, three people get off and five people get on. In Carmathen, six people get off and three get on. You then arrive at Milford Haven. What was the name of the bus driver?



Answer: Oh, for crying out loud!

Don't you remember your own name? It was YOU!!



Now pass this post along to all your "smart friends" and hope they do better than you did.

*Thanks, Daryn

The true test of a true believer

An honest man was being tailgated by a stressed-out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him.

He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman hit the roof--and the horn--screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed and placed in a holding cell.

After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car."

*Thanks, Allen

Scandle Rocks Wikipedia

(The Ottawa Citizen) - The anonymous user-driven encyclopedia Wikipedia is struggling to regain people's trust after one of its most trusted and prolific editors, who claimed to be a professor of religion, was exposed as a 24-year-old from Kentucky.

Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's cofounder, said contributors to the collaborative online service will be allowed to remain anonymous, but it will ask those claiming to have professional credentials to identify themselves. Mr. Wales appears to have changed his tune since he spoke with The New Yorker.

The magazine revealed in an editor's note that it had reported the false credentials of a Wikipedia administrator and contributor calling himself Essjay and claiming to be a tenured professor. Essjay and his comments appeared in a feature story published in July, 2006. The magazine later learned that Essjay was Ryan Jordan, a young man without any advanced degrees.

"I regard it as a pseudonym and I don't really have a problem with it," Mr. Wales told The New Yorker last week.

Critics of Wikipedia have seized on the Essjay scandal as further proof that the participatory Web site, whose supporters claim to be as reliable as traditional encyclopedias, is not to be trusted.

"What it's done is undermine more and more people's trust in Wikipedia," said Andrew Keen, a columnist at ZDNet, a technology and business Web site. "I would strongly urge people not to trust it. You really don't know what people are up to -- what their real agendas are, whether there are corporate interests, political interests, economic interests behind the people posting"

"It's another very good reason not to trust editorless media," added Mr. Keen, author of the upcoming book, Cult of the Amateur, which examines how such participatory Web sites threaten U.S. values and the economy.

Mr. Jordan could have already reappeared on the site with a new online identity, he said.
Wikipedia has been under fire for its content on other fronts. Frank "Fuzzy" Zoeller, a professional golfer, launched a lawsuit last month alleging one of the statements posted about him is defamatory. Last year, a long-time Wikipedia critic -- Daniel Brandt, the same man who alerted The New Yorker to Essjay's true identity -- found 142 plagiarized passages on the site.

"If you're going to intrude in the social sphere, you have to be accountable for it," Mr. Brandt, who runs a Web site called Wikipedia Watch, said yesterday.

The online encyclopedia took another blow last month when the history department at Vermont's Middlebury College banned students from using the site in citations. Don Wyatt, the department's chairman, said the latest scandal is "vindicating in an interesting way."

People can too easily take advantage of the anonymity Wikipedia offers and hide behind the personas they create, he explained, calling Mr. Wales' announcement a step in the right direction.

Prof. Wyatt was skeptical, however, that the furor over Essjay's identity would have any lasting impact on the site's popularity. "The Wiki movement is so large and so all-encompassing and has so much steam I doubt if the exposure of any one misrepresenting source ... is really going to force a makeover of the whole enterprise."

Wizard's Note: Does that mean that I won't be using the wiki for my 411 posts? Nope. I know how to read and make the decisions as to whether or not something sounds true.. take me to task. Prove me wrong. Make a comment when you read 411 when you don't agree.. or better yet, create a Wikipedia account and see how it works. You may post anonymously, but the wiki community as a whole 'verifies' all entries that cannot be backed up by a citation.

Ask The Wizard (Disappearing Images)

Dear Wizard of 'OZ',

Was reading up on IZ and he was a great artist, singer, and musician. It's a shame that he couldn't control his weight, but thats not for me to be a judge of.
Have passed on this email to you hoping that you could give me some suggestions as why I don't get the pictures. Something wrong with my settings?

One friend said he had the same problems with what I was sending him. And think the rest of the folks are too polite to complain..


Signed,

Red X

Dear Red

There are a number of reasons why a red X may appear on your screen, and is not necessarily a problem with Outlook Express or Internet Explorer.

Here are a few possibilities:

The page or email you are viewing contains text (which is often cached or saved to your hard drive); however, the picture file(s) contained in the page is/are probably referenced via a web site (which requires an Internet connection). If you are offline, the red X will appear.

The page (or email) you are viewing contains a picture which is in fact hosted on a secondary web site, and that web site is offline. If picture cannot be referenced, the red X will appear.

There may be a temporary problem connecting to the web site which hosts the picture.

The web site hosting the picture file may have been blocked by your firewall, ad-blocking software, or Hosts file.

The reference to the picture is no longer valid, producing a red X, because the picture has been moved or deleted from the remote host (web site).

Your Internet Explorer security settings are not permitting you to access the web site which hosts the picture file. Try changing your settings to default (Tools -> Internet Options -> Security -> Default).
If on the other hand, you have problems sending pictures using Outlook Express (an entirely different problem, although related to the "red X"), please refer to this article.

Hope that helps!

Yrs,

The Wizard

The 411 - Winnie The Pooh

Edward 'Winnie-the-Pooh' Bear, sometimes referred to as Pooh, is a fictional bear created by A. A. Milne.
Milne named the character Winnie-the-Pooh after a toy bear owned by his son, Christopher Robin Milne, who was the basis for the character Christopher Robin. His toys also lent their names to most of the other characters, except for Owl and Rabbit, who were probably based on real animals, and the Gopher character, who was added in the Disney version. Christopher Robin's toy bear is now on display at the Donnell Library Center Central Children's Room in New York.

Christopher Milne had named his toy after Winnipeg, a bear which he and his father often saw at London Zoo, and "Pooh," a swan they had met while on holiday. The bear, called "Winnie," was known as a gentle bear who never attacked anyone, and she was much loved for her playfulness. This is exactly what inspired Milne to write about Pooh Bear. Pooh the swan appears as a character in its own right in When We Were Very Young.

In the first chapter of Winnie-the-Pooh, Milne offers this explanation of why Winnie-the-Pooh is often called simply 'Pooh' : "But his arms were so stiff ... they stayed up straight in the air for more than a week, and whenever a fly came and settled on his nose he had to blow it off. And I think - but I am not sure - that that is why he is always called Pooh."

The home of the Milnes, Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England, was the basis for the setting of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. The name of the fictional "Hundred Acre Wood" is reminiscent of the Five Hundred Acre Wood, which lies just outside Ashdown Forest and includes some of the locations mentioned in the book, such as the Enchanted Place.

Though Charles Scribner, The New York Evening Post, and St. Nicholas Magazine published Milne’s stories with illustrations by several of the more famous American artists of the 1920s, Milne’s original version is better known to have been illustrated by E.H. Shepard. Though Shepard decorated the books published by Methuen and E.P. Dutton, he preferred to be known as a political cartoonist for London’s Punch Magazine. Shepard’s only known painting of Winnie-the-Pooh is on display at the Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

In 1930 illustrator/producer Stephen Slesinger and his company, Stephen Slesinger, Inc., adapted the Winnie-the-Pooh character for use in children’s theatre, on radio and TV, in story-telling records with Jimmy Stewart and Gene Kelly, in song recordings, in early animated paper films, and in the promotion of goods and the advertising of services.

Slesinger, who was the largest developer of comic and children’s book character rights in the 1930s and 1940s, elevated Pooh to best-loved bear in history. With the help of Dutton, Pooh’s American publisher, Pooh sales reached $50 million in 1931, according to trade reports.

After Slesinger's death in 1953, his wife, Shirley Slesinger, continued developing the character herself. In 1961, she licensed rights to Disney in exchange for royalties in the first of two agreements between Stephen Slesinger, Inc. and Disney. The same year, Daphne Milne also licensed certain rights, including motion picture rights, to Disney.

Since 1966, Disney has released numerous features starring Winnie the Pooh and related characters. Many direct-to-video featurettes have been created, as well as the theatrical feature-length films The Tigger Movie, Piglet's Big Movie, and Pooh's Heffalump Movie.

In December 2005, Disney announced that the Disney Channel animated television series, My Friends Tigger & Pooh, will focus on adventures had by 6-year-old Darby and the Pooh characters, with the occasional appearance from Christopher Robin.

In 2002, Kingdom Hearts was released. Kingdom Hearts was a production by Square-Enix with the cooperation of Disney. As such, Disney characters make cameo appearances as their worlds appear in the game. These include Aladdin, Belle, Simba, and Winnie the Pooh. The main character, Sora, visits the world of Winnie the Pooh in a magical book. The book initially has missing pages, and Sora must collect "Torn Pages" from other worlds to complete the book. Each torn page adds a new section to the book, and consequently a development of the storyline in that world. Each section also has a mini game which can be played any time from then onwards.

Pooh videos, teddy bears, and other merchandise generate substantial annual revenues for Disney. The size of Pooh stuffed toys ranges from Beanie and miniature to human-sized. In addition to the stylised Disney Pooh, Disney markets Classic Pooh merchandise which more closely resembles E.H. Shepard’s illustrations. It is estimated that Winnie the Pooh features and merchandise generate as much revenue as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto combined.

In 1991, Stephen Slesinger, Inc. filed a lawsuit against Disney which alleged that Disney had breached their 1983 agreement by again failing to accurately report revenue from Winnie the Pooh sales. Under this agreement, Disney was to retain approximately 98% of gross worldwide revenues while the remaining 2% was to be paid to Slesinger. In addition, the suit alleged that Disney had failed to pay required royalties on all commercial exploitation of the product name. Though the Disney corporation was sanctioned by a judge for destroying millions of pages of evidence, the suit was later terminated by another judge when it was discovered that Slesinger's investigator had rummaged through Disney's garbage in order to retrieve the discarded evidence.

After the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, Clare Milne, Christopher Milne's daughter, attempted to terminate any future U.S. copyrights for Stephen Slesinger, Inc. After a series of legal hearings, the federal district court found in favour of Stephen Slesinger, Inc., as did the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On Monday, June 26, 2006, the US Supreme Court refused to hear the case, thus sustaining the Appeals Court ruling and ensuring the defeat of the suit.

On February 19, 2007, it was reported Disney lost a court case in Los Angeles which ruled their "misguided claims" to dispute the licensing agreements with Slesinger, Inc. were unjustified. In doing so, the claims by Slesinger, Inc. can now be tackled without any argument over who owns the rights. Though the ruling was downplayed by a Disney attorney, the outcome of the case should prove a justifiably significant blow to Disney's revenue, Winnie the Pooh having been reported to bring the company 6 billion dollars a year.

Pooh made his radio debut in 1930 in New York. Readings of various Winnie-the-Pooh stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom with narration by Alan Bennett and also have been released as recordings.

Pooh's official birthdate is August 21, 1921, the day Christopher Robin received him as a present on his first birthday.
The sign over Pooh's door says "Mr Sanders," though the name is not Pooh's. The reason for this name is because, in the original book, it is mentioned that Pooh lived under the name of "Sanders" (that meant that he had the name on a sign above his door, and he lived underneath it).
Pooh's obsession with honey is based on a completely false premise about bear behavior. While bears are major predators of beehives, they are seeking the brood (larva and pupa).
On April 11, 2006, Winnie the Pooh was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard.
It is revealed near the end of The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh that Pooh is 1 year younger than Christopher Robin, which is obvious because he is "born" on Christopher's first birthday.

POOH Facts:
* Sterling Holloway – the original voice of Disney's Winnie the Pooh
* Hal Smith – the voice of Winnie the Pooh in Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore and Welcome to Pooh Corner
* Jim Cummings – the current voice of Winnie the Pooh
* Sherman Brothers – songwriters of the majority of "Winnie the Pooh" music
* The Fort Garry Horse is the Canadian Militia armoured regiment based in Winnipeg, Manitoba who's regimental mascot was the inspiration for Winnie-the-Pooh.

*From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An Irish Blessing

The blessing spoken near the end of the song is recorded by Roma Downey, a truly beautiful woman..

and is really quite nice...



Click here to listen. (wma - ~316 KB)

Funky New Linen...

*Thanks, Allen

Teaching Our Children to Make Good Decisions

Two young men in Florida removed a stop sign and brought it back to their fraternity house as a trophy. Shortly afterward, a fatal accident occurred at the sign-less intersection. The students were convicted of manslaughter.

In Tennessee, two teenagers were in a high-rise building. One dared the other to slide down a trash chute. His friend did so -- right into an automatic trash compactor. The one who egged him into the fatal accident was traumatized, possibly for life.

Four college fraternity students in California were charged with manslaughter when a pledge they were hazing died after they forced him to drink gallons of water.

What makes these stories all the more tragic is that we`re not talking about bad kids. We`re talking about fundamentally decent kids who made really bad choices.

The recurring nightmare of caring parents is that, during the course of growing up, their children will seriously damage themselves by unwise decisions. An endless array of bad consequences can result from reckless conduct to impress friends, thrillseeking, or giving in to the temptation of drugs, alcohol, or sex. And when kids get involved with irresponsible, manipulative, cruel, selfish, or simply stupid people who call themselves friends, there`s no telling what dumb things they will do.

All youngsters will make foolish mistakes, as we did. Still, we can equip them with reasoning tools that can help them see and avoid really big, bad choices.

We can improve their decision-making skills by talking to them often about the importance of acting rationally, even when everyone around them seems overtaken by impulse. We can tell them stories to help them evaluate situations and anticipate potential consequences. 

*This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

Friends

????? (Strange cartoon...)

You might be best friends one year,


Pretty good friends the next year,


Don't talk that often the next year,


And don't want to talk at all the year after that.


So, a good friend will just say, you are special to me and you have made a difference in my life,


They look up to you, respect you, and truly cherish you.



No matter how often you talk,


Or how close you are,



Let old friends know you haven't forgotten them,




And tell new friends you never will.


Remember - everyone needs a friend,




Some days you might feel like you have NO FRIENDS at all,

Just remember this text and take comfort in knowing


Somebody out there cares about you, now and always...
*Thanks, Daryn

Ya Know Ya Wanna...

This is NOT an advertisement