MSN House & Home - Best Places to Live 2003

Raleigh, North Carolina

Best Places to Live 2003

1. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill has the warmth and charm of a small southern town, while still being large enough to provide all the amenities of big-city living. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill's scores are above average in nearly every category. The city has the second-best health score in the nation, thanks to great air quality and affordable health care. The citizens of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill are a smart bunch—91% of its 312,000 residents have graduated from high school, and nearly 19% have a four-year college degree. A healthy economy and a low cost of living cement Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill's ranking as America's Best Place to Live.

10 Liberal Commandments

1 THEN God spoke all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Higher Gas? DON'T BUY IT!

Iraq is turning out to be something other than the cash cow they hallucinated it would be. So they have to fill their coffers another way. Bilking you.

They know you are afraid to travel by plane or train...which they hate anyway. They know you want to take that oblicatory "vacation" which they grant you for an incredibly short amount of time, by world standards. They know you will take that car. And preferably that SUV. The more gas sales...the better. Simple business.

But you don't have to play their game. You are in control of your own life, and there are plenty of interesting places and people right in your own neighborhood. Dig them instead. Postpone your holiday for a month, and see if the prices actually do come down by early September, as the pundidiocy promise.

Participate in history. You are fabulous. Anonymoses knows his roses.

Mars, Marduk and the Iraq Connection

Mars, Marduk and the Iraq Connection

Is it a coincidence that Mars is close to us while we are close to Marduk, it's namesake? Hell if I know!

Here's an article on the matter. HERE

Where is Osama?

Where is Osama?

new information encouraged investigators to focus their attention on the sparsely populated deserts of Baluchistan.

Read Guardian's story.

About Baluchistan

Democratic Dream Teams

DEMOCRATIC DREAM TEAMS AND DREAM SEQUENCES

Advice for Democratic Candidates

There is so much natural wealth among the Democrats, finding the best "Dream Team" becomes a challenge.

If one thinks of what I call a "Dream Sequence"...one may come up with something like this:
Clark/Dean>Dean/Edwards>Edwards/???
In other words...Clark/Dean could beat Bush...and keep it 8 years.
Then VP Dean could pick the then well-known Edwards.
After their 8 years, Edwards could pick, say, a native-American or African-American woman or some other whose representation is long overdue.

So that is a "Dream Sequence".

How about "Dream Squad"?

In this case...the focus is on putting the great Democratic wealth to work in the upcoming administration. A scenerio here would be like this:
Clark opts out, but says he would like to take over Rummy's job. Dean/Edwards then drafts him as their Secretary of Defence. Additionally, they solicit the help of Kucinich to become, say, Secretary of Labor or the Interior.
Put them all to use, in other words. We are slowly getting to know them all...despite the Media blackout.

All kinds of possibilities...

They ALL can have a place in a new Democratic Administration. But getting the right people in the right jobs is what is important. Also getting Bush out.

Another amazing possibility is this...

Gore NEVER said he wouldn't run for VP!
He may well be the perfect person for that role. He's got experience already...and a record to beat all records.

Consider Gore for VP...

Hillary too should be included in any dream package...as should war-hero Kerry.

None of this can happen if they chew and spit out each other. They should bolster each other. They could be a real dream team...if the order, structure and sequence are done right, er, correctly. At the top, though, we need to have the strongest pair, who can and will stand up to Bush Inc.

Lieberman, as nice and funny as he is, has left the building, I mean party. Seems to me. Bush Lite is still a form of Bush...

As a final note...should Edwards win the top slot, I think it would only be fair to return the favor that Gore extended to him...by including him within his short list. From my perspective, Dean, Clark, Edwards, Gore and Hillary could all beat and be better than Bush. As much as I like Kucinich, I think he might be better in a supportive role. (I'm just thinking about the visual effect during debates with Bush).

DEVELOPING...

ARNOLD NAKED! (warning: peepee shot)

ARNOLD NAKED! (warning: peepee shot)

also in the news...

What's the truth about the air in post-911 New York?
http://www.mahablog.com/

(As one who suffered a few weeks of breathing the smoky spew, and having my health deteriorate, I'd like to know. )