| John Muir students get a lesson in medieval music
Fourth-grade students at John Muir Elementary School cover their ears Monday as Linda Wendt demonstrates the loud "bombarde," an early oboe-like instrument from Brittany in France. The instrument, used in parades, sounds like a cross between a bagpipe and a bicycle horn. .
CALDWELL'S WWE RAW REPORT 2/25: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of ...
Lawler talked about Rock doing a presentation last night at the Oscars, but it won't compare to his honor at WrestleMania weekend. [Q8] Announcers continued: Lawler plugged Candice & Maria vs. Beth Phoenix & Melina in a Playboy bunny match at WrestleMania. They went to footage of Maria's Playboy photo shoot. She did a voice-over on the "fashion shoot with fewer clothes." Maria said that for anyone to tell a girl you look hot naked, it makes you feel good. Next week is the Playboy cover unveiling. ... Ross and Lawler plugged the big tag match main event next. [Commercial Break] In-ring: Mr. Kennedy came to the ring first for the main event. No promo, as he's too focused on the match at hand. WWE champion Randy Orton came out next. He took his sweet old time. And he can do that because he's the champion.
BRR: Braving the cold on a bike
A biker can easily spend a grand to stay warm for a short commute, a training ride or an outfit for Saturday's BRR trip from Perry to Rippey.
"For a thousand bucks," said Donny Quixote of Rasmussen Bike Shop in West Des Moines, "you're on the road."
Scott Sumpter, creator of bikeiowa.com, bought a pair of biking boots that clip into his pedals for $270. So-called lobster mittens with two finger sleeves ($50 or more) have also helped. Extremities tend to get colder on a bike than running in the cold, he said. .
Child-proof chemicals
Hand-held sprayers are a typical means for dispensing weed killers, insecticides and other chemicals. We're all familiar with these sprayers being made up of a hand-pressurized container and a dispensing wand. Convenient as they might be, these sprayers are not equipped with child-proof locks. When the sprayers are not in use, oftentimes they are stored with dangerous chemicals still left inside in a garage, alongside bicycles, scooters and other children's toys. Nothing prevents children from gaining access to the sprayers. This patent rectifies the problem by providing a specially designed child-resistant locking ring on the hand-held sprayer. Vacuum Packaging Machine - U.S. Patent No. 7,302,784 - Invented by Rodney Dale Patch, Fort Wayne, and Steven Daniel Harges, Warsaw - Assigned to DePuy Products Inc., Warsaw Vacuum packaging, albeit common now, was an important medical advancement because it allowed medical devices, surgical instruments and implants to be sterilized and easily preserved until needed.
Easy money won't cure crisis caused by easy money
That, in particular, should be reason for worry. The overinflated housing bubble and its bust were to a large extent the result of problems in the subprime mortgage market. Too-easy credit, given to people who couldn’t meet traditional lending standards, led to foreclosures. As prices fall, more people find themselves upside-down in their homes, and those who put little money down find little incentive to stay in them. That leads to more foreclosures, which results in falling prices. Government policies played a key role in the subprime mess. As Lew Rockwell, president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Ala., explained in a recent column, "Throughout the 1990s banks were hounded by federal regulators to end ‘discrimination’ against people with either poor or no credit ratings.
Around the Mountains: Town queasy about sliding snow
A LEED-certified building designed to minimize its environmental impact need cost no more than about 3 percent than more than other buildings, building experts said. What is undeniable is that green homes cost less in following years, because of generally improved energy efficiency.
Important in designing a green home, experts told the magazine, is for the architects, builders and developers to hold meetings at the outset, as the most important aspects of green building must be incorporated into building design.
Gunnison unsure it wants thin-air testing
GUNNISON At 8,000 feet, the Gunnison/Crested Butte Regional Airport is attractive to aeronautical companies wanting to test aircraft in thinner air. The valley is broad and the air is mostly calm.
Boeing has tested there in the past, and last summer QuinetiQ, a London-based defense contractor, tested a new rendition of its Sea King helicopter.
Pave the way for St. Patrick's Day
THE GRAND LEDGE ST. PATRICK'S DAY Parade and celebration is really one day overflowing into two days! Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15. On Friday, the Opera House will be toe tapping and "Green" with the traditional Irish dancing and the Glen Erin Bagpipe band. Plus, there's even more: the Pub Runners will be there with their fantastic Irish music and storytelling band. What a super kick-off for St. Patrick's Day! There is no set charge for admission, but donations will be welcome. Irish beverages will be for sale. This pre-party starts at 6 p.m. and closes at 11 p.m. .
New support for old idea: Death penalty deters crime
For the first time in a generation, the question of whether the death penalty deters murders has captured the attention of scholars in law and economics, renewing an intense debate about one of the central justifications for capital punishment. According to about a dozen recent studies, executions save lives. For each inmate put to death, the studies say, three to 18 murders are prevented. The effect is most pronounced, according to some studies, in Texas and other states that execute condemned inmates relatively often and relatively quickly. The studies, performed by economists in the past decade, compare the number of executions in different jurisdictions with homicide rates over time — while trying to eliminate the effects of crime rates, conviction rates and other factors — and say murder rates tend to fall as executions increase.
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