Or, how about Predators and Editors, strange how that rhymes, (http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/), "A guide to publishers and writing services for serious writers!" No really, there is a lot of useful info on this site including agents, art awards, book publishers, chats, contests, definitions, software, workshops and much more.

Given the troubling current world events, I thought I might look for a good site to help explain the chaos. I found one called "The Jerusalem Post Newspaper : Online News From Israel" (http://info.jpost.com/2000/Sites/) with links to both Jewish and Palestinian viewpoints. It's hard to see the news without thinking about the very real, never-ending & graphic problems of the middle east. There are no apparent easy answers. It seems on the one hand Israel has offered everything they can at one time or another, to no avail. They view the actions of the Palestinian homicide bombers of late as nothing short of the same type of terrorism the United States is currently engaged in fighting around the globe. And, it seems, based on the actions of many in the Arab world, that those responsible for those attacks have only one goal ultimately in mind: the annihilation of the Jewish race. On the other hand, though I confess I don't know enough about the official aims of the Palestinian government (hence the aforementioned site), what they say they really want is a Palestinian state, something which has not been offered, or even seriously considered by Israel in the past. Add to that the fact that the press has been kept away from the areas where the Israeli military have recently struck back with the inevitable rumors flying around, and you have more than enough fuel for a mess that has lasted over 2000 years, and, based on current events, may not have a realistic solution any time soon.

Have you ever wondered where all the toxic waste goes? Yeah, me too. Well, go to Scorecard (http://www.scorecard.org/) and check out your neck of the woods from land, sea & air pollutants by everyone from industry to farms (animal waste). You know, you just never know what you might find next.

"If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you."

Ok, so I got more one-liners in my e-mail than full jokes.

Hey, here's a fun one. Check out the U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/statab/www/) where you can search pretty well every place in the United States and get an enormous amount of useful/useless information. For instance, did you know our little hometown of Lexington in Henderson County has 25,522 people in 2000, up 16.8% from 1990? And, that 6.5% of those are under 5 years old, 24% are under 18, 51.8% are female? Now you know.

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day."

There are calculators of all types at Calculators Online Center (http://www-sci.lib.uci.edu/HSG/RefCalculators.html). No, not handhelds. I'm talking about how to figure currency exchange, Ag/Farm costs or yields, recipe conversions, odds and percentages in betting, drag racing, astronomy, gratuities, lawyer fees, global positioning, whew, it goes on forever. In fact, they advertise 15,420 such calculators.

"It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a bad example."

I was wondering just the other day what time it was in Addis Ababa, and lo, there it was at The World Clock (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/). Also, nearly every other place on the globe.

And, as the old song queries, "Does anybody really know what time it is?" Why, yes, yes, they do, or so says The Official US Time site (http://www.time.gov/). Reckon' the old $5 special I've been wearing is almost exactly 1 minute slow. Boy, do I feel better.

"Some days, I don't know if I'm the bug or the windshield."

Why, here's a cute one, check out the fat cats, courtesy of your AFL-CIO at http://www.aflcio.org/cgi-bin/aflcio.pl. They've got the lowdown on all the major players (CEOs) anywhere listed alphabetically. According to this site, while the average stocks went down in 2001/2002 so far, CEOs have averaged a 7% increase in pay. Makes you wonder what their getting paid for.

Ah, springtime, when men's thoughts turn to planning vacation with the kiddies vs. the rising price at the pump (dating myself again, I know). It's about time to check out Gas Price Watch (http://www.gaspricewatch.com/) where you can find out all the cheapest spots to fill up around north America & Canada.

I got a virus in my e-mail this week. Went like this: You have just received the Amish Virus. Since we do not have electricity nor computers, you are on the honor system. Please delete all of your files. Thank thee.

Ah, finally, the last electronically driven insight delivered me this week:

A first grade teacher explains to her class that she is a Florida Gators fan. She asks her students to raise their hands if they are Florida Gator fans too. Not really knowing what a Gator fan is, but wanting to be liked by their teacher, their hands all fly into the air. However, there is one exception. A little boy named Timmy has not gone along with the crowd. The teacher asks him why he has decided to be different. "Because I am not a Gator fan," says Timmy. "Then," asks the teacher, "what are you?" Timmy says, "I am a proud Tennessee Volunteer fan". The teacher is a little perturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks Timmy why he is a Vols fan. "Well, my Mom and dad are Vols Fans so I'm a Vols fan, too," Timmy responds. The teacher is now angry. "That's no reason," she says loudly. "What if your Mom was a moron, and your dad was an idiot. What would you be then?" Timmy just smiled and said, "Then I'd be a Florida Gators fan."