1. Yeah, this IS my house on Google: Earth, but… that’s not my car in the driveway.
2. I don’t know how that site appeared on my computer.
3. What’s the difference between Reply and Reply All?
4. Officer, I thought you said you were fifteen?
5. What do you mean my web cam was on?
6. They can’t tell who sent that e-mail.
7. Ron Paul, Ron Paul, Ron Paul, Ron Paul…
8. I like a black background with white letters.
9. The best place to blog is Live Journal.
10. My readers like all the quizes I post.

Run, don’t walk, away from John McCain if you want a Republican victory in November.

1. Opposed Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003
2. Opposes drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
3. McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill
4. Keating Five S&L scandal
5. Believes in global warming and legislation as a solution
6. Supports general amnesty for illegal aliens
7. Unable to control his temper
8. Endorsed by Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzeneger
9. Called the Swift Boat Veterans “dishonest and dishonorable”
10. Part of the infamous “Gang of 14″

And, here’s an even longer list. Say Anything Blog

1. Saratoga Springs, New York: The battle in which Benedict Arnold saved the United States.
2. Coloma, California: The site of the discovery of gold in California.
3. Titusville, Pennsylvania: Oil, black gold, Texas tea. First commercial oil well.
4. Auburn, Massachusetts: The flight of the first liquid fueled rocket.
5. Ticonderoga, New York: The capture of this fort and the movement of its cannon to Washington’s army provided a vital weapon to a newborn military and forced the British evacuation of Boston.
6. Dayton, Ohio: Where the Wright Brothers did their planning, initial experimentation and development of a flying machine.
7. Alamogordo, New Mexico: Site of the first test of the atom bomb.
8. Albuquerque, New Mexico: First commercially available personal computer, the Altair.
9. Tuskegee, Alabama: Home of the Tuskegee Institute, a black teachers’ college, first headed by Booker T. Washington and where George Washington Carver did his research in agriculture.
10. New York, New York: On September 11, 2001.

I read a lot of political / military topic blogs. Here’s a list of some categories and blogs that are outstanding in that category. The Chuck Blog Awards.

• Best First Tier Blogger Design: LaShawn Barber
• Best Designed Milblog: Neptunus Lex
• Best Move to a New Format: Wizbang
• Most Famous Blogger You Never Hear Of In Pink: Xiaxue
• Best Design of a Personal Blog: Pereiraville
• Best Redesign: Mike at Cold Fury
• Best Looking Lawyer’s Blog: American Princess
• Easiest on the Eyes: tie between ALa at blonde sagacity and Cassandra at Villainous Company
• Hottest Blogger with a Gun: Risawn at Incoherant Ramblings
• Cutest Blogger: a tie between Tara Smith at Aetiology and Cassy Fiano

What did I look for?

Easy to read. Takes up most of the screen without needing a horizontal scroll bar. Good layout and graphics. Lots of posts. Current posts. Little or no reliance on embedded videos. Less than five sidebars.

This wasn’t about content, though nearly all my blogroll are people I have some beliefs in common with. This was about the blog’s ability to “wow” and to make me scroll down.

Because the blogosphere is fluid, next year these blogs may look completely different. Enjoy them while you can.

The winners get a Chlog, whatever the heck that may be.

This is the first in a series about America. Each post will be a list of ten, people, places, events, and with their effect on America and the world today. Folks my age may know about most of them. I’m not so sure about the youngins.

Today I would like to honor ten Americans who changed world history.

1. Ronald Wilson Reagan
   Somehow we’ve forgotten. Less than 20 years ago, hundreds of millions of people were enslaved by a theology called Communism. One man had a vision, and made that vision a reality. Freedom today means Ronald Reagan. Don’t ask the residents of Hollywood. Ask the people of Bulgaria, Poland, Albania.
   White House
2. J. Edgar Hoover
   Hoover headed the FBI for 48 years. He is responsible for the creation and continuance of one of the most professional federal police forces in the world. On a planet with memories of the Gestapo and the KGB, and the religious police of Saudi Arabia, the FBI still serves as a model for the national police of free nations worldwide.
   FBI
3. Barbara Bush
   Wife of a President in wartime, and mother of another, I would suggest that Barbara Bush has had as much effect on world history as any on this list. Much of that history remains to be written, but this lady’s relationship with each of the two Bush presidents certainly help make them who they are and molded how they acted.
   White House
4. President Theodore Roosevelt
   Teddy gives America and the world a two-fer. The Panama Canal and the idea of preserving unique, unspoiled areas for future generations to enjoy. The Canal linked the world’s two major oceans in a commercially viable way for the first time, enabling trade. Roosevelt’s work on national parks and monuments saved much of the beauty of the wild west for our generation and those who will follow.
   White House
   
5. Andrew Carnegie
   Once the richest man in the world, Carnegie saw wealth as an obligation to give. By his death he had donated $350 million to charity, and built over 2,500 public libraries. Without him, libraries would still be the province of the rich and famous. Being able to read builds wealth, and Carnegie made it possible for millions to read.
   Carnegie Corporation of New York
6. Clarissa Harlowe Barton
   A resident of America’s North Shore, Clara Barton’s work has saved millions of lives. You know, the American Red Cross and all those groups inspired by it.
   American Red Cross
   National Park Service
7. President Thomas Jefferson
   Jefferson is not on this list for his political work. He’s here because he created America, by making the Louisiana Purchase. Taking authority he may not have had, he bought a largely unknown tract of land, doubling the size of the United States. Without this addition, we would have remained just another coastal nation, depending on other nations for resources and with limited room to grow. America exists because Thomas Jefferson bought it.
   National Park Service
   Monticello website
8. George Washington Carver
   Peanuts are ugly. They look like a useless bit of flora. But you and I eat peanuts every day thanks to George Washington Carver. Carver is one of a handful of people that can be legitimately credited with saving billions of people from starvation. His work with peanuts and crop rotation saved the agricultural industry of the cotton South, and much, much more.
   George Washington Carver National Monument
   Inventors’ Hall of Fame
9. Clarence Birdseye
   Birdseye perfected freezing food. You may think of it as just TV dinners, but the invention made it possible to store food for long periods of time and have it retain most of the original flavor and texture. Thank Clarence Birdseye the next time you eat a food that could not possibly have been grown locally or at this time of year.
   Birdseye Foods
   Inventors’ Hall of Fame
10. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur
    I think that it may be argued that much of the history of East Asia in the last sixty years is due to Douglas MacArthur. The Philippines, Japan and free Korea owe their democracy, and their freedom to him. In an era of heroes, he was one of the elite, and the fall from the top is always the longest. His flaws are duly noted and his achievements honored.
    Army bio
    City of Norfolk memorial