Keith D Commiskey

A friend from work moved north to get back to his roots. Although I do believe consulting contractors might facilitate the process in many ways, I totally admire his dedication and willingness to do something on such a large scale, and wish him success in this endeavor. This is his story:I bought 10 acres of forest and a John Deere backhoe this spring. I then started building the footers for my 30' x 40' earth berm, passive solar, insulated slab house. My friend and I are doing this ourselves, no contractors. read more | digg story

American Express held a vote in which it's members would decide on where it would donate large sums of money. This is an excellent gesture and a most gracious award for the winners. Many kudos to American Express in doing this. The results just came in and I was quite dismayed. I guess I shouldn't have because I've been shocked before with the mentality of voters (gas taxes vs public transportation; Bush vs Kerry). Perhaps I'm just far too biased being this touched on the number one topic in my life; education. That said, here were the results: $1.5 million for 1st place goes to (24,101 votes): Alzheimer's Disease: Early Detection Matters and its fulfilling organization, Alzheimer's Association $500,000 for 2nd place goes to (20,650 votes): Help 100,000 children thrive in the classroom! and its fulfilling organization, DonorsChoose.org Not to make light of Alzheimers, but in my opinion, when should education play second fiddle to anything else? Never! At least n

Have fun with this. It lets you know how much selective listening you really do. Have you already made your selection? If so, is your selection really based on the 'promises' made by either party? It'd be nice if they did more of these blind tests. Match-O-Matic - Copyright © 2008 ABCNews Internet Ventures