Notes From Northern California

and random rants

D.M. Schwartz

D.M. Schwartz
Location
Fair Oaks, California, USA
Bio
Architect, engineer, writer, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. To find my stories on the Web, search Amazon or Google: "D.M. Schwartz."

FEBRUARY 3, 2010 11:05PM

Nuke the Filibuster, Now!

Strom

Strom Thurmond                     AP Photo

Strom Thurmond, at the time a Democrat, filibustered for over 24 hours in 1957, stalling civil rights legislation. The Republicans threatened to en

Read full post »
FEBRUARY 2, 2010 3:11PM

Toyota Owners’ Gas Pedal Test

Toyota Logo

Over 5 million Toyotas have been recalled due to potential gas pedal or related floor mat issues. Many Toyota owners are wondering about their own accelerators. Given the rarity of accidents caused by pedal sticking, the chances of your Toyota’s accelerator malfunctioning are slim. If

Read full post »
JANUARY 27, 2010 8:20PM

Toyota’s Billion Dollar Mistake

clip

A Simple Steel Spring

28 January 2010 -- Toyota announced they are extending their gas pedal recall to over 3 million cars and trucks and halted the production of 8 affected vehicle production lines. They said it had something to do with a flawed part supplied by CTS Corp of

Read full post »
fighter

So, the Democrats have lost their super-majority in the U.S. Senate because Coakley’s campaign croaked, bigtime. The moaning I’ve heard about this is kind of silly; as if the super-majority was solid in the first place, considering Joe Lieberman, among other Hardly-Democrats. The

Read full post »
JANUARY 14, 2010 8:21PM

Ready For Your Earthquake, St. Louis?

89 quake

Haiti’s ongoing disaster reminds us that Mother Nature can be a real bitch from time to time. We sympathize with the Haitians, but most Americans won’t give their own earthquake safety a second thought, except those of us who live in California. We know the Big One isRead full post »

JANUARY 14, 2010 12:58AM

Finally, I’m Off the TSA Watch List!

TSA

It only took 4 years. Somehow, in 2005 I was put on the Transportation Security Administration’s airline passenger watch list. I couldn’t get a boarding pass on the Web and was interviewed by airline staff every time I traveled. When the TSA offered innocent travelers a means toRead full post »

Bomb Vest

I read today that Defne Bayrak, the Turkish wife of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, the Jordanian doctor identified as the attacker who killed 8 CIA agents in Afghanistan said, "I am proud of my husband. My husband accomplished a very big operation in such a war. If he is a

Read full post »
DECEMBER 22, 2009 2:23PM

Dave’s Famous (ex-secret) BBQ Sauce

fire

Backyard Campfire by Ellie

I barbecue year-round, relying on the oven in bad weather, so this recipe gets a lot of use. To be perfectly honest, my secret BBQ sauce is famous only within our extended family and among my colleagues. Every holiday season, somebody tells me I

Read full post »
DECEMBER 21, 2009 12:44AM

Avatar Rules – Don’t Think, Enjoy!

Avatar Girl  

I just returned from experiencing the i-Max 3D in-your-face spectacle of James Cameron’s sci-fi extravaganza, Avatar. Long story short: very impressive and very entertaining.

 

Having read most of the pro reviews out there, I knew there were questions about plot, dialog… Read full post »

Wilt and Woods

Tiger Woods is arguably the best golfer the world has ever seen. Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest basketball player of all time. They are certainly comparable in terms of sports greatness. However, in one key area there’s no comparison, at least not yet. When it came to womanizing, WilRead full post »

DECEMBER 3, 2009 8:37PM

Buggy Whip Monopoly Near?

buggy

After nearly nine months of negotiations, Comlash, the nation’s largest buggy whip distributor, announced an agreement on Thursday to acquire Nothing But Whipping Universal (NBW Universal) from the General Equestrian Company (G.E.).

The deal valued NBW at about $30Read full post »

NOVEMBER 28, 2009 11:01PM

Vader Met Obama; Secret Service Apologizes

Obama and Vader

WASHINGTON — President Obama and his wife, Michelle, had a face-to-face encounter with the Sith Lord who sneaked into a state dinner at the White House this week, White House officials acknowledged on Friday. The revelation underscored the seriousness of the security bre

Read full post »
NOVEMBER 5, 2009 5:50PM

Glenn Beck's Hot New Bag!

Beck Bag
 uncopyright 2009 schwartz
The Beck Bag 
First item in a new line of Fox News products available online, now

New York City, NY, 5 November 2009.  Today, Fox News announced the introduction of commentator-branded promotional items. The first line of products carries/
Read full post »
NOVEMBER 4, 2009 12:57AM

Geeking Out With Smoke and Lasers

 

 Smokin' Laser Lady

Photo (C)2009 Schwartz

You might be wondering, what does that woman with the smoke and the laser beam in the picture above have to do with anything? It's a concept image; the one we used for promotion of my new thing at the Audio Engineering Society convention and exhibition… Read full post »

smoke mic

Smoke and Laser Mic Prototype

I'm an engineer. Aside from being somewhat socially inept, that means I like to build stuff, especially things that nobody has seen before. This time around, my new toy is a microphone; a really strange one.  For starters, it's missing the one part

Read full post »
SEPTEMBER 10, 2009 12:00AM

Ten reasons Eric Cantor is a schmuck


Eric Cantor

 Go ahead, argue with my rankings here. No matter how you stack the chips, the guy comes up a dipshit.

10. Schmuck sounds better than dick. 

9. Favors more tax breaks for the wealthy. 

8. Wants economic stimulus money in the pipeline diverted to

Read full post »
SEPTEMBER 7, 2009 8:42PM

How to Save the New York Times

2D Barcode

I read the New York Times in print occasionally, but most of the time on its website. Unfortunately, unless the NYT changes its business model the end is near. Many factors have combined to put the Times into a death spiral: increased costs of printing, distribution and staff, loss

Read full post »
AUGUST 31, 2009 10:51PM

The Scary Truth of ObamaCare

kidneys

The media stories circulating in Real America about Obama's health care plans are only the tip of the truth iceberg. What you haven't heard is how the Obama Cabal intends to pay for the plan. I removed my tinfoil hat long enough to receive the secret and I'd like to… Read full post »

 

 Hound

One of the truisms of the Internet used to be, "nobody knows you're a dog in cyberspace." Anybody could adopt a persona and an avatar and run amok. One blogger's opinion was as good as another. Mainstream media types loved to point out that most information and opinion on the Web… Read full post »

boating

Risky Business

David Caney is dead at age 61. Nobody knows for sure, but it’s likely my friend fell off the stern of his boat last week. We’re not certain drowning was the cause of death—might have been a heart attack. The State Medical Examiner has yet to… Read full post »

Martha's Vineyard Ferry

Martha's Vineyard Ferry

Did Robert McNamara live twenty-five years longer than he should have because I hesitated? Sometime in the summer of 1984, I was on the Martha’s Vineyard ferry from Woods Hole, Massachusetts to Vineyard Haven for the weekend. It was a cool, foggy morning with a

Read full post »
JULY 5, 2009 2:55PM

Palin = Obama?

Palin and Obama

Head to Head

Many pundits, bloggers, and even Alaskans are puzzled by Sarah Palin's decision to quit as governor eighteen month short of finishing her first term. Her attorney has warned everybody (not me, I only write parodies though sometimes people have a hard time figuring that out)

Read full post »

palin, trig, mccain

 Proud Parents?

San Francisco is atwitter with rumors of dirty deeds done real deep in Alaska; Palin's resignation being the tip of the iceberg. The cover story about Sarah gearing up for a White House run in 2012 is obvious nonsense. The traditional best use of lame duck… Read full post »

JUNE 25, 2009 7:24PM

OS goes ‘bloid on your ass


tabloids

Let’s face it; Open Salon gets more clicks when posts are hot and topical. If I’d written ‘tropical’ the only readers would be travel agents, assuming they’re not extinct. Editorial policy here rewards tabloidish content with front page placement, be it my own… Read full post »

Editor’s Pick
JUNE 15, 2009 11:15PM

Thanks, Dad, for not letting Mom call the cops


Dad

 Mike Schwartz, 1913 - 2003

My father and I were never very close. That’s why I was surprised to learn recently, six years after his death, that Dad prevented Mom from turning my teacher over to the authorities for statutory rape. Dad was a quiet, ex-communist

Read full post »