How Koolu is this?

$199
Koolu Thin Client with 512 MB of RAM
$299
Koolu Net Appliance with 512 MB of RAMplus 80 GB hard drive and Ubuntu pre-loaded
Both models have all these features:- Quiet and reliable fan-less operation- Energy efficient. Uses less than 10 watts!- No fan and ultra low power means it can be left on all the time- Up to 1920 x 1440 display resolution- Full 16-bit audio with stereo; Microphone-in, Audio-out/Headphone- 4 USB ports with printer, keyboard, mouse, and storage support- 10/100 MBit BASE-T wired Ethernet standard.

Most people use their computers to surf the net, email and download their digital pictures. Most everything else can now be done from the browser. Google and others now provide storage and apps like word processing and spreadsheets. Now your not going to be able to play 3-D games or edit video on one of the things but most people don't use their systems for that anyhow. A Koolu runs on less than 10% of the power it takes to run a normal desktop system so at an average energy cost savings of $18.00 per month it should pay for itself in about three years time. Not to mention that it makes no noise, is very small and has no moving parts to wear out. If you don't want the hard drive option, lightweight Linux distros such as Puppy and DSL can be ran from a $20.00 flash drive. Several Koolus can be ran on a home network behind a low cost terminal server so you can have complete control over what your children can and cant' do on the net. No viruses or spyware to get is a big plus. Mark

Bush vows to veto kids’ health insurance bill

President, Democrats clash over proposed legislation for poor children

President Bush speaks during a news conference at the James Brady Press Briefing Room in the White House in Washington on Thursday.


WASHINGTON - President Bush again called Democrats "irresponsible" on Saturday for pushing an expansion he opposes to a children's health insurance program.
"Democrats in Congress have decided to pass a bill they know will be vetoed," Bush said of the measure that draws significant bipartisan support, repeating in his weekly radio address an accusation he made earlier in the week. "Members of Congress are risking health coverage for poor children purely to make a political point."...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20920548/

Lets do the math. - $35 billion over five years for our poor kids.

$134.5 billion so far for the war in Iraq. Exxon Mobile has made $9.28 billion in profits for the first quarter of this year alone. Microsoft made a pidley $14.4 billion in it's first quarter. Walmarts profits were down from the last four years to only $2.8 billion. The nations HMO's made $3.6 billion the first quarter of this year. For some reason I am having trouble finding current statistics on the pharmaceutical industry. Oh well, you probably get the point anyway.

Michael Moore shares his view about File Sharing

Now, Mike has got the right idea!

Red State Update: Nekkid Vanessa Hudgens

There must be something very wrong with me. I love these guys.

http://www.travisandjonathan.com/RedStateUpdate

Series of Tubes

This is a prime example of why our country is so messed up.

United States Senator Ted Stevens described the Internet as a "series of tubes", while discussing network neutrality.^[1] On June 28, 2006, he used this metaphor to criticize a proposed amendment to a committee bill. The amendment would have prohibited Internet service providers from charging fees to give some companies higher priority access to their networks or their customers. This metaphor, along with several other odd choices of words, was widely ridiculed as demonstrating Stevens's poor understanding of the Internet.

Sources: FBI taped Sen. Stevens’ calls in sting

Oil contractor allegedly paid workers to renovate Alaskan senator's home.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, seen walking on Capitol Hill, knew from the beginning that an Alaskan oil contractor was renovating his home, according to a construction worker who said his job duties ranged from installing the senator's hardwood floors to helping run his fundraisers - all on company time.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20897031/

New Ad: Hillary's Health Care Plan

I have never been a big Clinton fan but after unveiling her new ideas for her health care plan I am getting interested. I went to her website and did some research. I am surprised to say that I'm pretty impressed. Maybe we should pay more attention to what "all" the candidates have to say this time around. Below are some great links for more information.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20819827/
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/
http://youtube.com/user/hillaryclintondotcom

Homeless Man Hounded For $42K Hospital Bill

Phil Hughes, a homeless man she had befriended[, …] showed up one day and offered to paint her house number on the curb for cash.
[Mary Olsen] gave him $5 and a lunch of turkey and mashed potatoes. During the next few years, she hired him for painting, yard work and other odd jobs.
Hughes has no family in the area, so when he developed a high fever and blood infection a year and a half ago and sought treatment at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, Olsen told him to give her name and address as an emergency contact.
“I didn’t want him to die and not know about it,” she said.
The $42,000 bill addressed to Hughes that later arrived at Olsen’s home covered the three or four days he spent in the hospital.
[A] collection agency began hounding her with phone calls looking for Hughes. The collectors especially liked to call early Saturday mornings.
She told them Hughes did not live there, was homeless and could not afford to pay. Her pleas made no difference: The calls continued daily for a couple of weeks.
“Phil is so obviously an indigent person that no one would expect he would have enough money for lunch,” she said, “let alone a hospital bill.”


http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=13598

This is ridiculous. I bet if he was an "illegal" there wouldn't even be a bill. I don't understand how we have plenty of resources to blow the crap out of the middle East and rebuild it but we can't help our own citizens. Americans have to go homeless, hungry and without medical care while those in "big business" just keep getting richer. Mark