Grand Canyon National Park,,,is STILL hiding from the public,,,the Dangerous Exotic Plant there "poison oak" !!

I just checked the NPS-GCNP website and searched for "poison oak" and came up with a non-vascular plant list,which is totally irrelevant, from 2000. Then went to "Hiking FAQs" and under "Dangers" they talk about rattlesnakes and scorpions, but not the introduced non-native and PAINFUL RASH of poison oak, whether in the old Rhus genus or the newer Toxo. genus. So checked the 2007 most recent GCNP "Exotic Plant Species List" and ,,,oops,,,no listing of POISON OAK !!

I was there for a 2 week raft trip a few years back,,,in summer along the C. river it was over 120F in the SHADE, and 36F in the river below the first dam,,,and i got a super duper bad rash case for the full two weeks on the first day. Neither the espensive outfitter "we don't want to scare people away" nor the NPS warned me in advance, so i could have brought some TECNU white liquid soap from home to wash with daily and prevent a trip of a lifetime from being the most miserable physically painful "vacation" i had ever taken !!

PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF THE RED RASH AND BLISTERS FOR 2-3WEEKS AND LEARN WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE ,,,BEFORE YOU GO TO ANY NATIONAL PARK, ESPECIALLY "GRAND CANYON NATION PARK",,,AND IF YOU WANT TO BE SAFE AND PROTECTED IF YOU DO ACCIDENTALLY TOUCH THE PLANT AND CONTAMINATE YOUR DELICATE SKIN AREAS, AHEM, WITH THE OIL,,,THEN BUY SOME "TECNU" ,,,BEFORE ,,,AND USE IT EVERY DAY WITH JUST A FEW DROPS ON A SOAPY WASH CLOTH.

HAPPY HIKING !!

Sept.2009 and American Banks are STILL TOO POWERFUL,,,and DANGEROUSLY TOO BIG TO FAIL !!

American Banks expect to fleece about $38.5 BILLION in excessive and predatory "OVERDRAFT FEES". And if the Democrats had balls, they would stop such super-abuse last month.

Are you also FRUSTRATED and DISAPPOINTED at the GLACIAL PACE of 'CHANGE",,,after electing the first Black American President and Democratic Majority ?

I am so anxious for the new and improved SEC, FCC, EPA, AND FDA to actually start doing some good,,,instead of hiring government workers at huge expense to do little or nothing under the Republican wretched Rule of the past.

Wouldn't it be funny ,,,if years later,,we discover,,that the Democrats NEVER INTENDED TO PASS either 'Single Payer" or 'Public Option" improved

national health care. That all this sound and fury was just 'for show',,,'a circus for the masses',,,and that the fix was in from the start=More and More and More Corporate Profits, and More and More Lobbyists Money.

That would be so sad. Totally discounting the Republican Party as a bunch of bad sore losers, (Abramoff) unethical and greedy and un-Principled (the female reporter leak case) to the core.

Costco 100 % silk short sleeve shirts,,,the buttons ALWAYS FALL OFF

I like the comfort/feel of these cheap ,about $20, all silk shirts,,,but you would think by now,,,Sept.2009, someone at Costco would notice,,,that the buttons fall off right away ,before the first wash !! I must own 10 different ones; The yellow, the red, and the blue are my favorite. But every time i buy a new color, i have to sewing-rip tool the label off the sensitive neck, and sew all the front buttons on all over again.

Costco member-consumer food review: spare ribs, Curley's versus Niman Ranch,,,and Curley's WINS !!

We cut open the plastic bag and cooked the Niman ranch ribs first. The sauce was ok, and just a little heat, but the rib meat tho lean was too tough for this non-denture crowd.

The Curley's brand ribs were tasty and much more tender off the bones.

Sept.2009, It appears the Cal. State Legislature did not like the voters taking away GERRYMANDERING thier own safe districts, so they BANKRUPTED us

for REVENGE !!

Maybe it is time to vote "Green" Party, and vote out ALL INCUMBENTS, especially those that have been late with the budget for 20 years,,,and deregulated home energy resulting in 3br2ba homes paying $400-500/month in A/C summer cooling costs for electricity,,,

"Flush Sac.!!"

"Boycott Hertz" !! Care to join us in teaching them a civics lesson?

My 90 year old mother, a UCLA graduate and living on one state teachers pension with her 90 year old husband, was recently cheated by Hertz when they took her credit card and FAILED AT FULL DISCLOSURE to tell her that even tho she had been hit at a stop sign from the rear, the fully guilty driver was not going to pay the insurance on the rental car for her wrecked car,,,BUT HERTZ WAS GOING TO STICK THE " AGE DISCRIMINATION" nice old lady will the bill !! The car was in the shop for a long full 3 weeks,,,

"BOYCOTT HERTZ"

"Union Square West Hotel" ,,,BEWARE,,,is travel industry lie for "the infamous TENDERLOIN scary neighborhood"

Don't fall for this one. Even on many San Francisco maps, the "TENDERLOIN" neighborhood NAME is omitted , because most locals know how drug-dealer and prostitute and drunks peeing on the sidewalk SCARY this area, west of Union Square to the Civic Center and on both sides of Market Street, is !!

I just ,Sept 2009, checked one of the major travel websites ,,,and they are still using this DECEPTION.

BEWARE,,,,BEWARE,,,BEWARE,,,,

I do not recommend "La Crosse Technology" battery wall clocks, as my DuraCells AA leaked inside

It is about a foot square, with LARGE NUMBERS , which i like tho they could be darker and wider. But the clock caused the Duracells to leak and ruin the Costco purchase. The mfg was not supportive in this one person's opinion.

13 Sept 2009; "60 Minutes" tv new show; Hey, Steve Kroft !! you need to do your homework on "TORT REFORM", talk to some high quality MDs who are

paper-error, NOT patient-error, FINED by state governments like California to the tune of $25,000.oo to $250,000.00 EACH, for a PAPER mistake !! This is not traditional ,conventional , surgeon - patient "MEDICAL MALPRACTICE" that most of us think of, but this IS a failure of state government from the Governors to the State Legislature of California and probably other gouging misrun states, looking for easy marks , professionals who are very respected and do a very high standard of medical work, but ocassionally make a paperwork mistake with a sizeable staff of from 10 employees to over 20 per doctor, any of which employees could make such a paper filing mistake. No one is 100% perfect, so do we expect our State of California sorry-ass excuse for a government to be so unreasonable and unfair and impractical, with rampant greed, that scares away MDs and potential MDs from ever practicing in California or other incompetent state governments , when we have an aging baby boom population and the "Public Option" tettering because of a few million loser wacko fiscally-incompetent and debt tsunami-wave riding Republicans ?

So let me educate you, Steve Kroft. I talked to one of the most famous surgeons in California today. We have been friends for 50 years. And tho i am not in medicine as a career, i have heard him complain before about the low and late repayment of Medical work, for instance. But today at breakfast, he told me something that most of the public has not been told i believe, that the State of California is looking for any ,ANY, paperwork mistake, such as "sending the x-rays to the wrong insurance company" is an "AUTOMATIC $25,000.00 FINE THAT THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SAYS THE DOCTOR MUST ASSESS IMMEDIATELY ON HIS BUSINESS, WITH NO POSSIBLE REFUND". Steve Kroft, are you following this ? This is NOT what most people think about when they hear your cutting question of " TORT REFORM " to President Obama, big words , but there is so much more to this story. This is THE REAL CRIME OF MEDICAL MIS-REGULATION BY THE STATES.

Another paper error cost $250,000.00 ; yes, that is correct Two Hundred and Fifty THOUSAND Dollars. And that normal , understandable , no harm done cost must be passed on to patients like us. And it is not just the most competent but not perfect doctors, it is the highly respected and very professional dentists, such as mine in Cupertino who is "fine raided by the State of California regularly and fined for such silliness as wearing cotton instead of (cotton/polyester or polyester?) uniforms !! This same highly professional dentist recently had his office building bought by some Chinese who lowered the rents of the Chinese tenants,,,and raised it on the non-Chinese Caucasian tenants !!

This is ridiculous and unfair, when computer companies in Silicon Valley making $$$$$ millions have their property taxes reduced or waved by San Jose , because the city is rightly afraid of losing big employers due to incompetent city government. In California you can only sue a doctor or hospital in the first year, that is if you can find an attorney qualified to represent the patient's side !!

So Steve Kroft, please don't swing at our President with a loaded phrase like "TORT REFORM" in an accusing tone, until you have done your homework and presented it as a current issue re-examination on the once respected and once rightly famous for doing its homework "60 Minutes".

Why is it that garden hose reels with spool and handle are no longer avialable in long-lasting metal, just flimsy expensive plastic???

We had a metal garden hose reel with spool and handle for at least 20 years. It broke, and now all we can find is this $40-125 PLASTIC hose reels that cost more than they are worth, don't last, and are plastic so hard to fully recycle and not just dump in a landfill !! What is going on ??

Someone can make a $$$$$ MILLION DOLLARS, inventing/manufacturing a simple-design, reliable METAL garden hose reel with spool and handle !!

Sept.2009 and shopping for a new Refrigerator; Notice most brands STILL have 'hot' incandescent light bulbs, in stead of leds

The Japanese and the Germans and the Scandanavians would not buy this ATIQUATED JUNK they still push at us in the USA, from low tech engines in our cars, to refrigerators, or even computer 'high speed' internet connections that internationally are not 'high' at all. Yet we keep buying this schlock,,,

In California, for off-work injuries, YOU MUST APPLY FOR "SDI" BETWEEN 9-49 DAYS, or risk FORFEITING your legal claim !!

It is terrible what has happened to California in the last 40-50 years of decline. But now ,when California residents are really hurting in this near total fiscal and financial economic collapse in the USA caused by 8 miserable lying years of Republican rule in Washington,D.C., the state's EDD department tries to hide and confuse this basic fact, to cheat you out of your own payroll deduction insurance !! I have been contributing to SDI for decades, and now the State of California, with the Governators full knowledge, is trying to cheat me out of my proper and legal pre-paid insurance !!

SHAME ,SHAME, SHAME ON CALIFORNIA AND THE STATE EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT !!

Republicans, as pointed out in the recent "Newsweek" article, are OK with anti-American and UN-American DISCRIMINATION, as in allowing the status quo

in American health care. It is OK with the RNC that private medical insurance companies ,every day, and to thousands of born-in-the-USA Americans, deny paid for coverage to sick and UN-rich Americans. It is OK with the Republicans that thousands loose their medical insurance, not just every month or week, but daily. It seems to be OK with the Republican Party that more than half of the personal bankruptcies in the USA are caused by private medical insurance rising costs. Who are these extremist, greedy, selfish, uncaring ,uncivilized and unpatriotic Americans that call themselves Republicans like it was some badge of honor, instead of failure, shame, and dishonor? That is for-profit private discrimination, after the Civil War ,the Emancipation of slaves and women (and not just property owners voting rights like in the ancient days), the VietNam 'conflict' protests and the successful Civil Rights Movement and laws. But the Republicans are not in the 21st Century,,,or even the 20th Century,,, but way back in the American primitive days where money was king, just money ruled, only money mattered. And way back then who cared about DISCRIMINATION and if black men women and children were sold like cattle, raped /killed. And with that backward attitude, white women could not vote and thus had few rights, so where would former quiter Alaska Governor Sarah Palin be with such a double standard.

Remember , it is Republican rule by President Bush for 2 terms and 8 years that got us in this near total financial collapse and terrible deep debt and recession/depression, wasting money on the military and deregulating industries like home electricity prices that should have stayed regulated,,,like banking,,,and trucking with all the underpaid and incompetent heavy vehicle commercial incompetent drivers now unleashed on the roadways with us in our puny cars. The Republican Party will never 'man up' or 'stand up' to the national failure it put us in,,,so we must vote them out of power, and find more responsible and responsive Representatives and Senators. Maybe not just Democrats, but Greens with college degrees and real life experiences to help all of us.

Obviously NOT the Republican Party, that is so confortable with DISCRIMINATION, that is so UN-American !!

the once-famous "AT&T YELLOW PAGES" no longer have a green pages INDEX ,CROSS REFERENCE,,,and at+t does not seem to care

Talk about terrible, TERRIBLE, customer service,,,and using the old name of "at&t" ? The printed Yellow Pages are becoming less and less useful ,,,in this supposedly and much hyped 'digital' age.

BAD,,,BAD,,,BAD,,,"AT&T" !!

Sharp tv "Aquos Advantage" ,,,warranty program,,,grade of "F", a consumer's opinion

This so-called "digital" tv was purchased from a tv shopping channel in January, shipped in a double lined box, and took 3-5 minutes to turn on. The tv shopping channel technical support people told me this was "normal" for a digital tv and that the common misconception about digital was that it was fast to turn on and off and change channels, "when in fact it is much slower".Or so they told me.

It took only a couple months to figure out this was 'bull' ,,,and now , will the much touted Sharp Aquos Advantage warrranty program help me get a 42" tv box to send this defective junk back ,,,"no".

RECOMMEND YOU "AVOID SHARP TVs LIKE THE PLAGUE, AND ESPECIALLY THEIR AQUOS ADVANTAGE WARRANTY PROGRAM".

Look at Samsung or another brand instead.

UPS wants to charge over $660.00 to double box and send a 42" flat tv from California to N. Carolina !!

Did you save your digital flat screen tv box ?? You better. Mine was defective from day one, in January of 2009, and it took this long for the TV SHOPPING CHANNEL NAMELESS and the Sharp tv manufacturer to agree with me that it was an "out of the box defective" tv. Can you imagine, the Burlingame UPS store quoting such a ridiculous price to double wall box a tv and ship it from the west to the east coast in a week ??!!

OUTRAGEOUS PRICES !!,,,,,UPS !!

"sTATE FARM" car insurance is probably unnecessarily EXPENSIVE, because,,,

from personal experience recently, they don't seem to care how long a body shop has a car in for covered repairs.

Our family car recently had a dented rear fender from hitting a pole in a parking lot, so we took it in to a famous local body shop and they did a fabulous job in one week. Within a few months, an old lady ran into the same bumper, and "State Farm" told us to wait for permission before going back to the same excellent body shop-WHAT?!-and also tried to steer us to other "recommended " body shops that we did not want to go to-WHAT?!-and let us use an expensive rental car for 3 FULL WEEKS to do pretty much the same work that we had just done in a week-WHAT?!. They said the part was not available locally, and it would take more than 2 weeks. So i phoned around and found at least 2 of the same identical rear bumpers less than a mile away.

So if you have "State Farm" , you are paying for this longer repair time with larger bill for rental car. And if you get hit, at no fault of your own, by someone with "State Farm", well, expect a lot of nonsense like "permission" to have your car taken immediately to where you want to go instead of their "approved list",,,and then weeks and weeks, in this case 2 extra unnecessary weeks, in a much lower quality rental car not of your choice.

"CONSUMER REPORTS.ORG" website is removing the product evaluation publish dates from its online version. The public and other members need to tell CR

to "do it right", and put the date of the product evaluation report online ,,,just as they do in their magazine. Thank you.