Orion

Is there any way to download all of the messages from a group? I'm part of a writing group and am hoping to combine the various messages that are part of several stories into a single archive for each story.

Since there are several thousand messages in the group, it is not practical for me to download them individually.

Any help would be appreciated!

Orion

Looking for a nice, relatively easy mid-December backpacking and camping journey for 4 days in Oregon - Any suggestions?

Orion

Serious question - no proselytizing in your answers, please.

Two questions -

1: Would you prefer to live a life of great freedom - but great risk? Where you have maximum freedom to live your life as you wish, but must deal with the consequences if and when those risks go bad, and pay a very low level of taxes...

or

Would you prefer to live a life with a lot of limits on your freedom, and are required to pay a lot of taxes, but have your basic needs provided for you by the Government, where they place a lot of limits on what you can do, but you know you're probably not going to starve to death or lack health care and shelter.

Once you've answered, please also include whether you consider yourself Conservative or Liberal and the party affiliation you most identify with (Tea Party, Republican, Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, La Rouche, whatever)

Orion

I just noticed my little dappled willow tree appears to be sick. It had been flowering earlier in the year and now I see that it looks...brown and there is some sort of swelling on the trunk and new branches appearing on the trunk at levels below the swelling.

Pictures at this blog post: http://blog-in-the-box.blogspot.com/2010/05/callin...

I love this little tree (actually a shrub) and hope it's salvageable! This is what I get for being away from home so much!

Thanks for your help...

Orion

Iran has just completed the toughest phase of the Uranium enrichment process. reaching 20%.

Even the IAEA finally admits that they are working towards a nuclear weapon. They've been working on more reliable and accurate long range missiles. They've stated repeatedly that they intend to destroy Israel as soon as they can and that in a nuclear exchange, they would destroy Israel, but Israel would not destroy Islam, even if Iran were destroyed.

Israel has a history of pre-emptive strikes when their survival is threatened. They have, perhaps, 80 nukes right now. They've also just acquired long-range drones (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/...

What do you think the odds are that Israel will launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran? If they do, what form will it take? And if it happens, what do you think the consequences will be? I'd love to hear your scenarios.

Orion

Tough, No-Right-Answer question I'm curious to see how people choose.

Please indicate your gender in your answer, and answer without reading anyone else's answer...

You wake up in the middle of the night. The house is afire. You have just enough time to save EITHER your life-partner, or your child. The other will surely die.

What do you choose to do, and why?

Orion

(Something very like this situation actually happened here in Salem, OR)

My Windows XP Pro laptop just started having an intermittent keyboard. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. Yesterday, it stopped working in Windows altogether. It'll work just fine while I'm booting and in DOS mode but won't work at all in Windows - I can't log in to do anything.

Figuring it was a driver issue, I just figured I was due for a re-install and decided to use my old Windows XP Home installation - Keyboard worked just fine in the DOS portion of setup, but once it got to 'Enter your name and organization' Windows portion, nothing.

Any ideas or suggestions?

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v146/Judles/albu...

It's in the first part of the video. I recognize the song from Michigan, it's common in Ontario, and this video was recorded in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - And I can NOT remember what it is! It's not a sparrow, finch, jay, wren, bobolink, meadowlark, robin, or a dozen other species I tried...I'm going nuts!

I have bats in my belfry (or so I've been told), but after about 2 years, I still have no bats in my bat-house!

I put up a nice cedar bat-house high on the East side of my house with the hope that some bats would move in. As of now, no bats have even applied for a loan - I haven't even seen any showing any interest in this prime bat real-estate.

I live in the Willamette Valley in Central Western Oregon, less than a mile from the river. I have lots of bamboo in my yard, which I would think would be bat-friendly.

Anyone have any ideas as to why, and what I can do to help attract some bats?

Orion

Yet another Hey! What's this bug? question - Go to http://blog-in-the-box.blogspot.com/2007/12/critte... for the images of this little bugger. I think it's a Wolf Spider, but I'm not really sure. I've seen a few of them live here and there and found this one, dead, behind my Bowflex.

Any ideas from the entomologists out there?

Thanks!

Orion

I have THOUSANDS of mail messages that showed up while I was at US Army Basic Training - How can I delete them all at a shot? For instance, one folder has 23,000 messages in it - my Inbox has 1100 messages I need to delete - Any suggestions?

Nothing salacious - My Boffer Fighting (using foam-padded PVC pipes to simulate swords) group holds approximately bi-weekly events in the city park. We have a lot of fun and when I'm not in a match, I usually take both video and still images of everyone, including the kids (this is very family oriented). I also post them on my blog so that people can download the pics they like.

We've become concerned that this may be unlawful - That a consent form from the adults and one from the parents of the minors may be required. My recollection from my videography days with Tucson Community Cable Corporation is that if you are filming in a public place and at a public event, no forms are needed.

Can anyone tell me if this is the case in the State of Oregon?

Thanks, in advance, for your help!

Orion

I live in the Willamette Valley in Marion County, Oregon (Keizer, just north of Salem).

I took these pictures of this spider who had made a nest up inside my folded-patio-table-umbrella last night (about 0100 on May 31, 2007). She didn't care much for the flash and poked her head out of the inside of her nest to see what was going on!

Any idea what she might be? I checked a number of possibilities. Clearly not a hobo, doesn't seem like an orb weaver, I don't THINK she's a Wolf Spider - I think she was about 1/2" long...I'm too durn'd ignorant of spiders to even have a decent guess.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Link to picture: http://bp1.blogger.com/_RSljY5PWMkM/Rl6rNzDyV0I/AA...

More pictures available upon request.

I'm a new teacher (big surprise). I teach 9th/10th grade math and I do NOT want to include anything but test scores in my grades. I want the grade to reflect how well the student has met my learning objectives - And attendance, homework, and whether they've got their homework in on time have little or nothing to do with showing how well they've met those goals. I'm not teaching citizenship, attendance, or time management.

But on the other hand, I SHOULD be modeling those behaviors - How do I encourage students to meet THOSE goals as well while having the grades only be based upon their test performance? And how do I deal with students who do not test well but can demonstrate their knowledge in other ways?

Suggestions and comments very welcome! Thanks!

The question has been asked before, but the answers tend to be 'stock' without really explaining what it MEANS to YOU to be honorable. What are your limits? What won't you do? Especially in a difficult situation...Women and Children first? Would you die for your honor? Would you die to protect someone else? When do you lie? When WON'T you lie? DO you lie? Cheat? Steal?

I'm 42 and shipping to BCT in the summer (July) - For those who have been there, I think that due to my age relative to that of most of the rest of the soldiers there, I'm likely to be an early choice for Platoon Guide.

Can anyone out there give me advice on how I can be a REALLY good Platoon Guide, if that occurs? I'd like to be prepared. I've SOME experience (ROTC Basic Camp 20 years ago where I did well as a Squad Leader and 1st Sergeant in Cadet roles), but I have NO idea how that will translate - Any and all suggestions are welcome - Thanks in advance!

These are some of the best writers out there - and they're writing the truth about Iraq - Do you read these folks? Or do you get your info from the regular media?

Michael Yon: http://www.michaelyon-online.com/

Bill Roggio: http://billroggio.com/

Acute Politics: http://acutepolitics.blogspot.com/index.html

Bill Ardolino: http://www.indcjournal.com/

Danjel Bout: http://thunder6.typepad.com/365_arabian_nights/

Read these guys THEN tell me - Do we belong in Iraq? Isn't this the right thing to do?

Just kinda curious - This is meant to cover his entire career, not any one campaign or theater. 'Monty' has a mystique about him, especially among the Brits.

What do you think of his generalship?

I understand those of you who opposed our first attacks on Iraq in Gulf War I and II. However, we're involved now. We've established a democratic government and our troops are fighting to keep it safe - and keep the majority of Iraqis safe. The VAST majority of Iraq is quiet and safe and growing. The Sunnis are having a hard time. But opposition to the war only emboldens our enemies - they've made this clear - If we pull out of Iraq now, the nation will descend into true chaos like Vietnam did after the fall of Saigon, resulting in the deaths of millions. Pulling out now will irreparably harm American influence and interests.

What benefit would pulling out of Iraq have for the United States?

Please-no platitudes or leftist talky-points such as "I support the troops!" - If you do, let them win. The casualty rate in Iraq is quite low - especially for a combat zone. (Unless you're a terrorist, anyway). So...WHY oppose it now? Is it simple Bush Hatred? Interested in your serious opinions

I'm in my last term of student teaching first-level (Interactive Mathematics Program I and II, plus a 'Math Recovery' project class) and looking for games or activities for my students that are FUN!

Many don't enjoy Math Bingo or the 24 card game, I'm afraid, and a lot of them really despise Sudoku puzzles, so I'm hoping to find some alternatives. Any suggestions are welcome!

I've got a mix of several different ethnicities (Hispanic, White, Old-Russian, Asian) and am weighted more towards a lower SES strata with a number of kids of migrant farm workers, so trying to find drills and activities that match my skill and interest levels is always tough.

Thanks in advance for the advice, suggestions and the like!

Orion