The SoapBoxers

Something that longtime readers of The Soap Boxers have noticed is the gradual morphing of the writing staff from one lonely writer to a merry band of writers who are actively pushing the magazine forward. A blogger friend of mine was intrigued at the fact that I was able to get some many quality writers to join. How did I do it? Contrary to what you might hear, I am not the Pied Piper.

Honesty and Fairness

The Soap Boxers has no funds to pay staff writers, in large part because we have no funds, period. This is something that I have always been very up front about, to avoid any possibility of someone jumping to the wrong conclusion. Giving someone unreasonable expectations makes for a very shake foundation.

Since I had no ability to pay my writers, I did the next best thing – I proposed a profit sharing agreement. The gist is this – once general overhead (i.e. items that I pay for out of my pocket) have been paid for, advertising revenue will be split proportionally. At this point, the site isn’t actually turning a profit, but if it suddenly becomes the hottest thing on the web, the writers share in the upside.

[Wondering why you aren’t seeing any of these ads that have the potential to shower the staff with revenue? Well, if you’re a regular visitor, you don’t see the ads. This is a courtesy to reward you for your support.]

Look for Untapped Potential

Do you have intelligent friends who often share insightful ideas with you? These people could be writers who are simply waiting for a platform. They might not have the interest in going through the steps necessary to set up a blog and build a readership. They might be interested in jumping up onto your platform and writing a weekly or monthly article, though.

Several of the staff writers are friends whose writing I have enjoyed over the years. These writers now have the ability to see what other people think of their writing.

Chase Some Stars

I reached out to a few people who were already established bloggers. The likelihood of getting them to write for my blog was relatively low. However, I pitched some ideas and one of the bloggers (Jonna) was interested enough to give it a shot. The others declined the opportunities. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

A couple of things to keep in mind here. First, there is a fine line between asking someone if they want to write for you and becoming a freaky stalker type person. Avoid being the freaky stalker type person. Give the person room to breathe. If they decline the offer, thank them for their time and move along. Don’t try to badger them. Second, try not to ask for too much. If the person already has a full time blog, it may be difficult for them to contribute more than once a month, simply due to time constraints. Third, try to approach them with an angle that is different than what they write for their existing blog. Finally, be somewhat reasonable in your expectations. For example, I’m not going to try to get Peter Gammons (of ESPN) to write baseball articles for my blog. (Although that would be pretty sweet.)

Be Flexible

Although I try to have a set schedule for articles, I am pretty flexible within that structure, and am even willing to push articles to other days, if necessarily. After all, I’m working with what is essentially a voluntary workforce. Making demands on them would really not be a smart choice.

On the technical side, I’m also very flexible. I have given my writers two basic options for submitting stories. They can either log into WordPress and write the story there, or simply email me the story. Everyone so far has chosen to simply email me the story.

Show That You Care

If your writers have blogs of their own, link to them in your blog roll. This is a common courtesy.

Leave comments on your writers’ articles. At this point, you are acting in the role of a typical reader of your blog. Read what your writers write, and share your own opinions on the subject.

Finally, make the phrase “Thank You” a normal part of the vocabulary.

What did you miss over the weekend?

• We announced the launching of TheFictionWriters.com on Friday.
• Jonna Wibelius made her debut on Friday, giving an international perspective to the US health care debate.
• Saturday featured Cheri’s Nobel’s review of the Jimmy Buffett novel A Salty Piece of Land.
• Kosmo did the math on ethanol fuel mileage on Sunday.

In the midwest, ethanol is often a key discussion point regarding alternative energy. I am not going to try to touch on the many political, environmental, and social issues regarding ethanol. Instead, I will touch base on a rather simply mathematical point.

It is often said that ethanol provides 70% of the energy of gasoline. Does this mean that your 30 mpg car will drop to 21 MPH (30mpg X 70%) when you use the ethanol pump?

No.

The 70% figure is the energy of straight ethanol (100% ethanol). What you see at gas stations is most commonly a 90/10 blend (90% gasoline, 10% ethanol) or E-85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline).

Let’s quickly run the math of the mileage for these two types of fuel.

• For the 90/10 blend (by far the most common type of ethanol based fuel), 90% of the fuel (the gasoline) will provide 30 mpg while 10% of the fuel (the ethanol) will provide 21 mpg (30 X .70). When we use weighted averages (.9 X 30) + (.1 X 21) = 29.1 mpg. This is 97% of the fuel economy of gasoline.
• For the E-85 blend (used in FlexFuel vehicles), 15% of the fuel (the gasoline) will provide 30 mpg while 85% of the fuel (the ethanol) will provide 21 mpg (30 X .70). When we use weighted averages (.15 X 30) + (.85 X 21) = 22.35 mpg. This is 74.5% of the fuel mileage of gasoline.

If you are trying to simply buy the most economical fuel, this should allow you to determine which fuel will provide the most miles per dollar.

Note: in some states, only 90/10 ethanol and E-85 is available – straight gasoline is not available. For this situation, bear in mind that E-85 provides 76.5% of the fuel mileage of the 90/10 blend.

I bought this book off a discount table for $4. I had my doubts that Jimmy Buffett could write a decent novel, so I pushed it to the side. Months later, I stumbled across the abridged audio book for $1 and took the plunge. Now that I owned the work in two different formats and had invested a grand total of $5, I really had to make an effort to read (or listen) to it. So I popped the first tape into the player, and off we went!

I quickly realized that I was a fool to doubt Buffett. After all, Buffet tells great stories in his songs, most of which he writes himself. Is this really much different than writing a novel?

Having said this, the book doesn’t quite fit the mold of a traditional novel. You could easily chop the book into several novellas that would stand on their own with minimal ties to the other parts.

The central character is Tully Mars. Tully began his journey in Montana before he was forced to flee from the injustice of bogus criminal charges. At points in the book, he ends up in Alabama, Florida, Mexico, Cuba, and Belize (come on, go grab a map and find it). The core theme of the book is Tully’s effort to help centegenarian Cleopatra Highbourne find a rare fresnel lens for the lighthouse on Cayo Loco. Caya Loco is the “Salty Piece of Land” referred to in the title.

During the course of the book, we are treated to rather length flashbacks of recent (and not so recent) events in Tully’s life. Tully really would like to settle down, but the bounty hunters that his former employer sent after him make it difficult to stay in one spot very long. Tully eventually ends up as a fishing guide at a fishing lodge in Mexico, where he does manage a bit of a respite before being forced to move on once again, this time to the lighthouse on Cayo Loco, where he works to restore the lighthouse to its former glory, while also coordinating an effort to find the rare fresnel lens.

While Tully is the narrator of the book, many other characters have significant roles. The aptly named musician Willie Singer tells his own adventures to Tully in the long letters he sends. Willie is attempting to circumnavigate the globe in an old sea plane, while also attempting to locate a fresnel lens for Tully and Cleopatra. Singer is welcomed in some interesting ways on his stops – including being welcomed as the second coming of a mythical US Navy pilot who had crash landed at the same place decades ago.

Then, of course, there is Cleopatra Highbourne, the 101 year old caption of the schooner Lucretia. While Cleopatra is completely consumed by her goal of restoring the Cayo Loco lighthouse to its former glory – complete with the elusive fresnel lens – so that it can serve as her final resting place, she also regales Tully with the story of her life. Even at her advanced age, Cleopatra spends much of her time sailing on the Lucretia. She is no figurehead captain, but is the unquestioned authority on board the schooner.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though. If you like lighthouses, fishing, airplanes, or simply enjoy a good tale, you might enjoy this book. My only regret is that I listened to the abridged edition – now I’ll have to read the unabridged version in order to avoid missing any good parts.

A Salty Piece of Land (book)

Today marks the debut of Jonna Wibelius as our international voice.  Jonna is a native of Sweden and currently lives in China (you can read all about it in her blog, SHEinChina).  Jonna’s monthly column will address a current issue from the point of view of a European.

“Help Obama!” says a red banner on the right side of a Swedish online newspaper. By clicking on the link you eventually end up on Avaaz.org, “a small team of global campaigners working in many countries,” or, in other words, an organization that is trying to make some difference, simply by the support of the public.

Avaaz.org wants Europeans to share their stories about the health care system in their countries. They want to defend national healthcare, as a respond to the “disinformation about international health systems from health reform opponents in the US health debate.” They ask citizens to contribute their personal stories and sign petitions. All in order to “show” US citizens that a health care reform isn’t in fact simply “risky and costly” but rather, essential and very right for the time being.

What Avaaz.org is doing is just the tip of an iceberg. For weeks, months, well, years, European papers have printed libraries of articles highlighting the deficient health care system in the US. The reasons for change are substantial, at least if we are to believe the facts presented to us in the newspapers:

The cost for health care in the US is twice as big compared to the costs in countries on the same level. Still, the general level of health is much worse. A large number of Americans, some 46 million, don’t have any health insurance.

Other reasons that the papers are pointing out are lack of incitement to seek health care, bureaucracy and expensive subpoenas. There also seem to be a lucrative business in the US to offer health care to those who are not in need of it. The demand for “flawless health” has never been bigger. And many people do an extra health check, just to “make sure.”

How the US Government should reform the system should be discussed in detail, and it already has been for many years. The Michael Moore movie “Sicko” made headlines around the world some years ago, but still failed to make something happen. During the presidential election in 2008, health care was on the agenda for many of the candidates. And now, when President Obama is finally trying to go on with his plans and actually do something, he bumps into resistance from every corner. Meanwhile, the health care system continues to cost the US Government millions. It has been estimated that between one fifth and one sixth of the US’s BNP goes to health care.

The criticism Obama’s health care reform has been given has been harshly criticized in Scandinavian media as it is not considered as constructive. Activists have been demonstrating, some have been armed, and Obama has been accused to turning America into a bad version of the Soviet Union, or even Nazi-Germany. Swedish media writes: “In fact, he’s just trying to turn the US into Sweden.”

The protests are so exaggerated that it is hard not to feel for Obama. After all, he’s only doing what needs to be done. In 1994, Hillary Clinton hit her head on the wall as she failed to engage her husband Bill Clinton in the mission to reform America’s health care system. Afterwards, a lot of American politicians avoided the subject.

In the current situation, it is the financing of the health care reform that seems to be the biggest issue. Suggested higher taxes worry a lot of US citizens.

As an outside observer that comes from a country with a well-developed health care system with social security and health care for all Swedish citizens, it is hard to imagine being in a situation as many Americans. Not having any health insurance sounds completely foreign to any Swede. We pay some of the highest taxes in the world, but we are also given free health care, free dental care (until we turn 20), free education and unemployment benefits. The security net is so thick that it’s almost hard to tumble and fall. Not to say that it is perfect, as the Swedish health care system obviously battles their own problems (long waiting lines at the hospitals are one), but at least we don’t have millions of people that are outside the system. Still, it is obviously not fair to compare a small country like Sweden to a big country like the US.

I guess my point is that I hope the US will get their much needed health care reform. There’s been a scream for a change for so long now. When so close, I hope the US doesn’t turn back, and I also hope Obama can get some more support from his own Government. After all, he’s only trying to make things better.

Yes, yes I am.

I am announcing the launching of a new blog, The Fiction Writers. What will this blog feature?

A large chunk of the articles on the site will actually be serialization of short stories I have written. There are already 4 posts containing portions of the short story Key Relationships. I post updates three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), starting next week. The updates will be about 500 words each.

These stories will have previously been made available to regular visitors of The Soap Boxers, in PDF form. Serialization will allow the stories to reach a new audience, while allowing the readers of The Soap Boxers to ge the first opportunity to see these stories. The readers of the serialized stories will get to the end of the stories months after the PDF is made available to readers of The Soap Boxers.

In addition to my own stories, I am interesting in having my readers submit their own stories. These stories would be published on Tuesdays and Thursday. I can use your name, or I can post the stories anonymously – the choice is yours. If there are writers who would like to produce work for The Fiction Writers on a more consistent basis, this may also be an option. If you are interested in seeing your work displayed on The Fiction Writers, send me an email.

Finally, I will pose a question about writing or writers each weekend. This weekend’s question asks how writers feel about the impact of libraries and used book stores on their income.

In closing, I would like to thank my friend Lazy Man, operator of the web sites Lazy Man and Money and How To Fix. Lazy Man provides hosting and technical support for my blogs simply because he’s a nice guy. If you haven’t visited his sites, drop by and see what he has to say.

We present a special Wednesday edition of Fiction Friday.

“Remember – twelve and half.”

Buck Schroeder nodded his head and left the diner. He slipped the envelope into the pocket of his jeans as he walked to the parking lot. Half now, half after the game – the same as last year. The money was begging to be spent, so he jumped in his jeep and drove to the electronics store, where he dropped a couple of c-notes on some DVD box sets he’d been wanting to buy.

He took his girlfriend Dana out for supper at one of the better steak houses in town. Buck loved the start of football season. Not only did it allow him to be the big man on campus, but the money from the payoffs helped him live a better lifestyle than he could afford in the off season.

Buck fell asleep that night reading his playbook. This was a critical early season test for the Jackals. The Cougars were much improved from last year. It was even possible that Buck wouldn’t have to shave any points to keep the margin of victory below the Vegas line of 12 ½ points.

The next morning, Schroeder headed to the dorm’s soundproof music room and hammered out a few tunes on the piano. It was a tradition that dated back to junior high, and it had served him well. There was nothing like a bit of Beethoven to get his competitive juices flowing.

Buck joined his team for pregame breakfast and indulged another ritual, scarfing down four eggs, three slices of toasts, two large glasses of orange juice, and seventeen slices of bacon. Although the medical community was skeptical about the energizing power of bacon, Schroeder was a true believer.

Before long, the Jackals were taking the field in front of a raucous crowd at Morgan Memorial Stadium. Down on the field, Buck could feel the vibrations emanating from the fans inside the great bowl of the stadium. The fans sensed the importance of the game.

The Jackals received the opening kickoff. Buck dissected the Cougar defense, completing all seven passes on the drive, eventually hitting Nate Gustafson on a fade route in the corner of the end zone for the first score of the game. The scored remained 7-0 until the first drive of the second quarter, when Jackals scatback Troy Maddux found the end zone from twelve yards away to put the Jackals up by two touchdowns.

The Cougars drove deep into Jackals territory on the next drive, before faltering toward the end and settling for a short field goal. The Cougars once again drove into Jackals territory late in the second quarter. The clock became their enemy, and they eventually had to call a timeout and bring on their field goal kicker for a an impossibly long 59 yard field goal – which he promptly drilled right between uprights to draw the Cougars to within 14-6 as the first half clock elapsed.

Schroeder hooked up with speedy wideout Sean Warren on a fifty yard strike early in the third quarter to put the Jackals ahead 21-6. At this point, Schroeder began to lose a bit of touch on his passes, ostensibly because of a hit he absorbed from one of the Cougar defenders. In truth, however, he needed to have the Cougars pull back to within 12 ½ points.

Two Cougars field goals made the score 21-12 as the clock began ticking down in the fourth quarter. Buck needed only to manage the game a bit in order to win the game while also keeping the winning margin below the point spread. On a third and ten from the fifty yard line, he threw an inaccurate pass in the general vicinity of Nate Gustafson. A stunned Schroeder watched as Gustafson adjusted his route as the ball was thrown, apparently sensing that the ball would be thrown too far toward the far sideline. Gustafson grabbed the ball off his shoe tops, dodged a defender, switched directions, and accelerated into high gear, leaving an army of Cougars defender in his wake.

Schroeder had difficulty watching, as the Cougars fought to get back into the game. A field goal would not do them much good at this point in the game – nor would it do much good for Schroeder, who needed to see the sixteen point lead erode by more than the value of a sole field goal.

The Cougars quarterback dinked and dunked down the field. The Cougars were inside the five yard line as precious time was eaten up. The Jackals defense held strong three times, before finally yielding on a fourth and goal from within the one yard line. The Cougars then proceeded to pound the ball back into the end zone on the two point conversion attempt.

Thirty seconds remained in the game. With the Cougars within eight points, every fan in the stadium expected an onside kick. The Jackals sent the “hands team” onto the field, and Buck breathed a sigh of relief. The Jackals simply had to recover the onside kick and then have Schroeder take a few snaps to run out the remaining clock and preserve an eight point win.

The ball popped into the air and was grabbed by reserve receiver Jeff Casey. Instead of falling to the ground to down the ball, the lead footed Casey took off down the sideline. The rest of the Jackals raced downfield to block for Casey and the senior walk-on waddled into the end zone for the first touchdown of his career.

Buck Schroeder winced as the scoreboard flashed the score of 34-20. The PAT was added to make it a fifteen point difference.

The Cougars attempted a hook-and-ladder on the ensuing kickoff, making it as far as the Jackals forty yard line before the ball carrier was tackled, ending the game, and putting Buck Schroeder’s part time job in jeopardy.

The felony murder statute (or felony murder rule) seems to pop up in the news every now and then, but the general public does not seem to have a great deal of awareness of it.  Some people think that the term simply refers to “normal” murder.  In fact, it is a special type of murder.  So, today, I’ll weigh in on the felony murder statute.

Although the specifics vary by state, the core of the statute is quite simple.  If you are involved in the execution of a felony and someone dies, you can be charged with first degree murder in their death.  This most often applies to cases involving robbery, rape, arson, burglary, terrorism, kidnapping, carjacking, and escape.

The felony murder statute can apply even if it’s not one of the “good guys” who dies.  For example, let’s take the case of robbery.  If you and your friend rob a bank and the police shoot and kill your friend when you attempt to flee, it is you who will be charged with the murder, not the police officer.  This is why, at times, you will see a defense attorney declaring that his client should not be convicted, because he did not kill anyone.  Indeed, his client did not directly cause anyone’s death.

What, exactly, is the theory behind the felony murder statute?  The theory is that the perpetrators of the crime are engaged in acts that are inherently dangerous, and that they should know that there is a relatively high likelihood that the activity could result in death.

Opponents of the statute claim that it is unjust, because the perpetrators never intended to kill anyone.  Thus they lack “mens rea” (premeditation), which is typically must occur in order for a crime to qualify as first degree murder (deaths that do not involved mens rea are typically prosecuted as lesser crimes).  While the perpetrators may have premeditated the robbery, they did not premeditate the death.

Supporters counter the lack of mens rea by saying that transferred intent exists; that is, the intent to commit the underlying felony transfers to other activities that occur during the commission of the felony.

Where do I stand on this issue?  Although I am often liberal in my views, I come down firmly in favor of the felony murder statute.  I believe that this is a case were common sense should substitute for mens rea.  Although the perpetrators did not specifically intend to cause death, it is only logical that certain types of activities have a high probability of resulting in a death.  Not only does the felony murder statute serve to adequately punish the criminals, but it is also my hope that it will cause some people to stop and think before committing crimes such as robbery and arson.

What are your thoughts?  Does anyone want to offer a counter-argument?  The floor is yours.

An exciting week in sports this week. I am still resting up from my trip to the Solheim Cup, and I am sure you are all ready to read something other than another golf article, so I will just touch on some golf briefly and move on.

Golf

A real win for the LPGA this week with a win for the United States Team in the Solheim Cup. It might have well spelled a coming out party for Michelle Wie, who along with Paula Creamer were clearly the stars of the US team. Wie went an impressive 3-0-1 in her four matches played. It is too easy to forget she is still very young has it seems like she has already been playing forever.

Sergio Garcia sees another opportunity slip by as he extinguishes a late lead on Sunday in yet another tournament. And what is up with the rugged bearded look Sergio? Go back to the clean shaven Michelob Poster Boy look, it is much better for you and I am sure your many sponsors would agree with that assessment.

Baseball

C.C. Sabathia became the majors first 15 game winner of 2009 as the Yankees continued to dominate over the Boston Red Sox. No love in Beantown right now as the Yanks have built an impressive lead and seem to be firing on all cylinders. The Yankees now have a huge 7 ½ game in the division … just a few months ago it seemed like this was totally out of the question for this year.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Pete Rose’s lifetime ban from baseball. What I have always found fascinating about the Rose lifetime ban is that very few people are on the fence with an opinion. You either think Pete Rose should or should not be in the Hall of Fame. Even current Hall members are on different sides of the issue. There is no disputing however that the all time hit leader has some statistical support in many categories that warrant a spot in Cooperstown, only time will tell if the decision of Bart Giamatti is ever overturned.

Football

Brett Favre is back …. again …. I think I would un-retire for a cool twenty five million dollars over two years. The Vikings have the running game, they have the defense, I am not sure they have the receivers. All the Vikings really need to do is to manage the game offensively. This could be a huge year for Adrian Peterson if he stays healthy.

Latest line from Vegas….over/under for number of times the new “JerryTron” 60 yard long High Definition Jumbo screen gets hit by punts at the new Dallas Cowboy stadium this year….14 ½.

And finally …

The crazy comment of the week:

Lou Holtz makes a bold post season prediction for the BCS Title game. “ I personally believe, if you ask me, ‘Who’s going to play in the national championship game?’ I’d say it’s going to be Florida and the University of Notre Dame. They return 11 starters on offense. They return all three running backs, the two best wide receivers, they have a great defense coming back.”

And to think …. ESPN pays this guy …. wow.

Until next week … Good Luck with your last minute Fantasy Football drafts!

I’ve noticed a slight increase in Google traffic this week as we made a push toward 250 articles. I suspect that 250 files (article + pages) may trigger Google to give you a bit more love. At this rate, we’ll have at least 3 unique visitors every day by the end of the year 😉

While I can sometimes sort of understand what Google is doing, I have some difficulty understanding what PEOPLE are doing sometimes.

In the aftermath of Google showing us a bit more love, the two most popular search terms over the weekend were:

• Johnny Goodman’s article, Live From the Solheim Cup
• A five month old article regarding How Many People Make More Than $250,000?

OK, these both make sense. Johnny’s article was very topical, and the article about how many people make more than $250,000 will be relevant as long as some politicians consider this to be a break point between those who are rich and those who are not.

So, you ask, what are some of the most commonly searched for articles, all time?

• What Are the Best Baseball Sites? – reviews of several baseball sites
• A Review of Librivox (a site that offers free audio book downloads for works in the public domain)
• Ferdinand The Turtle -a short story I made up while rocking my daughter to sleep one night. I also wrote a prequel later

The baseball article makes a lot of sense. It functions very nicely as portable baseball bookmarks file. Librivox was hot (OK, hot is an exaggeration, but definitely warm) for a few weeks and then suddenly dropped off for no apparent reason. Ferdinand the Turtle, however, has been a steady performer for several months. I honestly have no clue what these people are searching for. I suspect that they are not looking for a children’s story about a turtle who grows up to be king of Turtle Island (with the help of his trust gofer, Bob the Squirrel), but I may be wrong.

Are there some articles that I wish more people would be searching for? Definitely.

• Roth vs. 401(k) – compares the two retirement options under a couple of different scenarios
• My fictional account of Manny Ramirez signing with the Hanshin Tigers. I’m biased, but I think it’s funny.
• And, of course, the one that started it all – article 001 – my tongue in cheek Guerrilla Investment Advice

Apparently, however, more people are concerned about the exploits of Ferdinand the Turtle than a comparison of Roth vs. 401(k). And maybe that’s how it should be …

On July 23, I launched a dinosaur book giveaway as part of a multi-part dinosaur extravaganza.

I am happy to announce the following winners:

• The winner for “best comment” goes to Evan from 40tech.com. I’m not going to point out a specific comment, but I’ll just award it as a “monthtime achievement award”. Evan has been commenting for a while now – always with interesting comments. Now, if I can just figure out why his comments always go into my spam filter! Plenty of other folks had good comments during the month as well. Evan – I hope you enjoy Anonymous Rex – I know that I did! (Note: the rest of the winners won the DK Pockets mini reference Dinosaurs book)
• I also picked one random winner from among everyone who commented during the timeframe of the contest. People with multiple comments received multiple entries (a maximum of one entry per day). The winner is Spivey.
• I also picked a random winner from among people who retweeted a post from The Soap Boxers. Sate3 is the winner.
• Kelly from The Centsible Life is the winner for mentioning The Soap Boxers. She added The Soap Boxers to her blog roll.
• None of the RSS readers emailed me to enter. However, I still do want to give away all of the books – so I’ll give away the remaining DK Pockets Dinosaurs reference book to one commenter who expressed a desire to own it – Dana.

Winners – you should have an email from me (or, in the case of Sate3, a tweet). If you don’t see an email, drop me a lne at kosmo@observingcasually.com I hope you enjoy the book you receive, or have a family member or friend who will enjoy it. Didn’t win? Don’t despair. These books – and other dinosaur related items that were mentioned during the dinosaur articles are all available on Amazon. If you order them via the links below, I receive a small commission (and you still pay the exact same Amazon.com price ).

I have really noticed a surge in comments lately, especially in the last week. We appreciate the feedback – continue to comment on articles. Many times, the comments can spur the discussion into new directions. As a bonus to commenters who have their own blog, a link to a recent blog post will be included in your comment. Thus, commenting is a win/win situation – we get good comments on our site, and you get some exposure for your blog.

Anonymous Rex
DK Pockets – Dinosaurs
Jurassic Park – Book
Jurassic Park DVD combo pack All 3 movies!