I watched a video about a volcanic eruption in New Zealand. It was an eruption of ash and steam, and it took place on a small island while two groups of tourists were there. The first group had just left in a boat, but the second group was right by the rim. Many people were killed, and others received severe burns with lasting scars.

Before they took the boat ride to the island, tourists had to sign release forms, list next of kin, and were told that they would have to wear gas masks. It was described as "the most active volcano in New Zealand." They were headed for a volcanic island with smoke and steam issuing continuously from the volcano. The documentary makers interviewed a husband and wife who were badly burned and scarred. The husband implied that the company was at fault for not telling them that the volcano might erupt, and they could be killed or injured. He did that several times. This was not a Disneyland attraction. How could he not know that it was a dangerous situation?

I've seen this so many times. People get into risky situations and then deny all responsibility when they are injured.

My brother's Craftsman mower is leaking oil from the engine and soaking the drive belt. Not good news. We want to get a good riding mower with a good warranty from a reputable company that stands by their products, etc. We might want to get a zero turn mower. My neighbor has a Toro zero turn mower with a 2 year warranty he bought for $4,000 that he is pleased with. His has a 56 in. cut. We will probably stay with a 42 in. cut. Has anyone got any recommendations or opinions about brands, type, etc. from experience, good or bad ? It should be gas, not electric.This is your chance to complain or compliment.

I watched about a third of the video, Paul. It wasn't the first such video (or paper, or presentation, or dissertation) I'd seen that ran along similar (although in very different ideological) lines. Ms. Kent offers an 'ordered' and ostensibly 'logical' progression of factoids that suggests one might lend a degree of credence to her interpretation(s), but....

Who could have guessed that rock art would ever have been interpreted in LDS-centric terms? And in the State of Utah, no less. While she could be 'right', of course, I wonder how those same glyphs might be interpretated if, say, Vikings (ref., Barry Fell and others) had settled Utah eight centuries before the Mormons (and the largely Catholic Texas and New Mexico cattle ranchers who arrived shortly thereafter) arrived, or if the Hopi, Zuni, Ute or Navajo elders of today --that I've spoken with-- might, and were the many generations distant descendants of the "Anasazi" <Navajo term for 'Ancient Enemy'> and had their own sets of beliefs, or if, in fact, Aliens from Alpha Centuri had actually landed and if they didn't make the glyphs themselves, their presence inspired the residents of the time to 'document' in pictures the teachings of those Aliens.

I hope you don't see the above as me being dismissive or anything of the kind, but there is one thing I'm convinced of: the longer you study rock art the quicker you go crazy. Me, I've only done so (documented, studied, thought about, etc. - not necessarily 'gone crazy'), more or less directly, for about half my life. Indirectly, though parallel but decidedly non-roquertorial studies, experiences, etc., I'd say for maybe 7/8ths of my life. So I'm --CleARly-- not cOMpleeeeetLY; nUtZ.

I've always been interested in cars, and England had, and still has, a variety we don't have here. I read somewhere that England has had more independent car makers than any other country. In the USA, we have just the Big Boys cranking them out by the millions. Too bad.

One thing I noticed watching English TV is that there are small companies supplying virtually everything for old, unique cars. I doubt you would find shops like that here. One place makes body panels for cars that haven't been produced in fifty years. When I had T-series MGs, I could rely on Moss Motors in CA for virtually anything, but other old, limited production cars could be out of luck. One place the parts guy visited has 650,000 parts for old English cars. Another place specializes in parts for old Renaults, another one has Citroen parts. You name the make, and there is a specialty business supplying parts.

I know people are going to offer lists of specialty parts suppliers in this country. That's good, but I've never seen any.

Is it just my local store or does Best Buy want "out" of the camera business?

Maybe it IS just my local store (Simi Valley, CA). I was just in there today and there were literally only THREE cameras on display, a Sony A6000 and two entry-level Canon DSLRs. Not a single camera from any other manufacture, even the digital camcorders were nowhere to be seen. A few bags, a few tripods, that was pretty much it.

Compared to the store closest to my work (Woodland Hills, CA), where they have literally the complete current production line of Nikon, Canon and Sony, from pocket point-and-shoots to the highest-end DSLRs, plus the full lineup of lenses for all three. For Nikon, just to name one, everything from the 50mm f1.8G all the way to the "Holy Trinity" and even the 200-500 is on display.

So, maybe, it's a regional thing. Maybe my town isn't as affluent as where the other store is located. But, MY store, at least, looks like it isn't interested in selling cameras anymore. I have two independent camera stores near me. One closer to my work, but I don't get a good "vibe" when I'm in there, and the other store, which is about a half-hour drive in the opposite direction, but where they really know me and appreciate my being there. Fewer and fewer independent stores are still around. Many disappeared because of the "big box" stores, but even some of those, like MY Best Buy, are phasing it out.

Sad.