So I spent the last few days in Tennessee, and during that time, I spent quite a bit of time on the roads. I can’t speak for most of the roads, only the freeway between Nashville and Knoxville (I40) and the roads between Seveirville and Knoxville. For the most part the roads are in considerably better condition than the roads in Seattle.

There were a few stretches of road where there was some construction work going on, with the inevitable delays, but even there the roads weren’t a massive collection of ever shifting potholes. It also looked like the construction work was actually taking place, unlike the dozens of so-called road construction sites I drive through every day on my way to work, where I almost never actually see any construction work taking place.

"Embrace and extend" - that's the Microsoft philosophy, and nowhere is it more apparent than in the latest browser offering.  Built for speed, it conserves system resources and offers innovative printing technology that's guaranteed to save you money on ink.  Tabbed browsing, and much more.  Cut through the clutter.  Do more by doing less.

The growing of vegetables appears increasingly unstoppable, both in the USA and abroad. In Austria, they're taking growing of vegetables to an entirely new level, as activists there push for a chimpanzee to be declared a person: In a case that could set a global legal precedent for granting basic rights to apes, animal rights advocates are seeking to get the 26-year-old male chimpanzee legally declared a person.

Things haven't yet gone quite that far in America as yet, but there are strong indications that we're plunging into the abyss - particularly where our first amendment right to freedom of speech are concerned.  In the insane world of political-correctness, speech is highly targeted.  In "Human Resources" departments across the country, rules are churned out that hold you accountable for the perception of another.  Literally, their view is that "What you meant to say doesn't matter; all that matters is the perception of the recipient."  If you say something that somebody else - for whatever reason - deems "offensive" or "discourteous", you can lose your job.  And there is no recourse, because the perception of the recipient takes precedence over your freedom of speech.