Happy Belated Thanksgiving

today was thanksgiving at my parents house.
it's just one of those typical occurrences in the estranged family lifestyle i live.
basically, my ex had the kids on thanksgiving, and my parents observed and adapted.
i think i had chicken soup and some leftover halloween candy for my thursday dinner.
lol.

but today, thanksgiving.
lots to give thanks for, in my life, in my kids lives, and in my parents lives.
and finally, pie.

you know, i don't know exactly why i blog anymore.
maybe a few friends read this, and see how crazy i'm getting.
i read other peoples blogs for laughs, and to see how their lives are going.
suppose we'll all just be reading facebook pages for life updates soon.
seems to be the trend.

peace.

Maureen Dowd in The Times

i enjoyed this opinion article by Maureen Dowd: Visceral Has Its Value

not sure what to say about it.

 

i suppose it draws a contrast between the simplicity of running a book tour,

the increased complexity of running a campaign,

and the heavy responsibility of running the best country in the world.

 

am i the only who thinks of Palin as the female Dubya?

:-/

 

end#

 

i know i've mentioned Bucky Fuller before, but lately i find myself going to his wikiquote page for inspiration...

such a fantastic mind.

:)

Dreams can be frustrating

Woke up from a dream, a nice dream.
And reality comes to me, slowly...
And I get up with a sigh.

I love visiting with friends in my dreams.

Have a great day!
:)

funny stuff, insightful too...

"But maybe the immune system doesn't like being tricked so many times. "

:)

 

Bill Maher: Vaccination

 

this makes me an angry panda...

 

237 millionaires in Congress

 

more pumpkins!

lol, this is wonderful!

http://www.extremepumpkins.com/baby-eating-pumpkin.html

well, this past weekend was Hallowe'en, and also my weekend with my teenagers...

i didn't see them once.  lol.

 

got lots of texts and a couple phonecalls, letting me know they were fine, staying with friends.

handed out a couple of bags of candy myself, that tootsie-roll mix bag.  (only ate like 25 of the fruity ones).

 

but, in celebration of costumes, here is this:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/parenting/detail?entry_id=50788

 

enjoy!

:)

 

Who is John Galt?

Who is John Galt?

This was a slogan, painted and plastered on walls, in Ayn Rands famous (or infamous) book "Atlas Shrugged".
I was impressed by this book, I admit.  But perhaps in other ways than was intended by the author, and
definitely different than those on the so-called "right" are putting it to now.

Today, pundits are screaming about the dreaded "creeping socialism"
and holding up John Galt as their poster-child of the rightness of capitalism. 
Ha!

Very simply, I have always seen John Galt, and those like him, as the Do-ers or creative force,
in our society.  Those who have a love of accomplishing great feats, and being rewarded for such.
Their "enemy" in this society, is the User.  That type of person who looks to profit from others efforts.

In his radio speech, what I felt John said was "I see you, and recognize you, and I won't let you use me anymore".
Capitalism and Socialism are not really that different, in regard to that particular statement.
Both seem to be abused by the users in society.

The answer to the question: Who? - is... You.
Be John Galt.

welp, i missed it.

there was a contest to submit a new character, and i got excited.

the contest ended on the 24th, bummer.

 

but you get to see my awesometastic entry anyways!  hehehe

:P

 

Simpsons Contest
===========
Character: Allen "Tripper" Albertson
Longlost and semi-hated older brother of "Comic Book Guy" Jeff Albertson.
("Tripper" is from his penchant for long solo trips, aka walkabouts, Jeff hates the nickname)

 

Appearance: Looks exactly like Jeff, with ponytail, but is skinny and taller. 
Wears jeans & flipflops, & computer geekphrase shirts.

 

Behaviour: Upbeat, somewhat happy and goofily well-adjusted.  Contrast to Jeff.

 

Career: Computer programmer/geek (not a hacker), has a "normal" family, ex-wife, 3 kids, 2 dogs.

 

Catchphrase: (stolen from Donald Sutherlands character in Kellys Heroes: Oddball): "always with the negative vibes, Jeff."
- counterpoint to the "worst [noun] ever" catchphrase that CBG Jeff uses.

 

Allen has sought Jeff out, after a very, very long estrangement, begun when Allen belittled the comicbooks that Jeff loved.
Ironically, Allen was the one who got Jeff started on his first comic.  But then "grew out of" that phase of his life.
Childhood reveal of some kinda early nickname for CBG like "The Comic Book Kid" and a painful photo of halloween costume as such.

Homer runs into Jeff and Allen outside of the Quik-E-Mart, with slusheez, while buying Lotto tickets...
They are arguing about something, CBG angrily v. Allen amusedly. 
Both using duelling catchphrases, to illustrate points in their argument.

Pick your poison:
a. Jedi robes vs. Elfin robes
b. Star Wars vs. Star Trek
c. Cherry vs. Mixed (slushee)

 

Toss it all in The Mixer

went to a mixer last night, it was an impromptu get-together of multiple years from my highschool.
not quite a reunion. and i have to say it was a blast.

it was organized kinda thru facebook, where all of us contacted each other, etc.
most of the people i hadn't seen in over 20 years.
some i had seen at my last 2 reunions, but only briefly.

not to get all gushy, but it did my heart good to see all these people together.
wooot!
;)

ha HA !

somehow, what is happening on wall st. reminds me of some old comedy sketch i saw when i was younger...

cannot remember if it was a sat nite live skit, maybe with belushi?

basically, the punchline was:

ha HA !  they bought the feesh! (fish).

 

it's almost like all those ppl involved with the fiasco that was the street when it was crashing

forgot that the gov't stepped in, with taxpayers money, and saved those "too fat to fail".

see this Post article.

 

almost like they were saved from drowning, and then, once on the shore safely,

they say "hey! i was doing fine out there." 

 

hrm, maybe we should push them back in?

 

end#

 

we were talking about The Office and Office Space the other day, at my office...

 

and one of those involved sent along this link to an article, which was very insightful, especially for this loser.

and of course, we talked a little about unemployment figures, and california.

and an online friend was saying new jersey had it as bad or worse.

and george over at urbansurvival points out how the wars are masking the effect.

and none if this is related to anything very humorous, unless it's gallows humor?

 

moody today.

: |

 

ps. and i read a couple krakouer articles on outside online, and thinking too much...

 

Copper

so, i picked up this little flexy copper bracelet the other day.
not sure at what point during the night it came to mind,
but somehow i had it on my mind, when i was driving to work.
so, i stopped at a walgreens and picked one up.
guess i remembered something like this, about copper pain relief.

after wearing it for a couple days, my knees are feeling a little better.
might be psychosomatic, might be the efficacy of the home remedy. i dunno. :)

my achilles seems to be getting better, with all the sand volleyball i've been playing. and this will be the 3rd week of coaching soccer again, which i'm liking alot. it's crazy how much fun it is, watching these kids learn to love the game i love. really wonderful feeling.

take a look at urbansurvival.com sometime, for the news nobody else is reporting...

Somebody Smack that Kirk Cameron Dooshbag

i dunno, but how can people really push this creationist agenda?
sorry, people, it ain't workin'.
i've seen your pics of adam and eve riding the dinos, yikes!
what the eff are you thinking?

and trying to convince your kids that the founders of this nation,
the ones who finalized and ratified and transmogrified The Constitution,
wanted this to be a christian nation? sheesh. read a book.

a bit of history: yes, there were christians. but they didn't win.
the deists won. they kept this nation free for all religions.
here's a good article: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/farrell_till/myth.html - read all about it.

good night, and good luck.
;)

strange, yet beautiful

so many strange things this weekend...
coinkydinks, thoughts, etc

went to see '9' with my boys & a couple of their friends yesterday, we ran into my stepsons ex-stepmom.
i just observed while they talked and caught up.  it was strange, and beautiful, at the same time.

went to breakfast this morning, talked with the waitresses, all of whom i enjoy.
small but strange coincidences in our conversations.
maybe i am the only one they occurred for, but all good.

read a friends blog, she mentions vibram-five-fingers, and posts a pic.
i happened to buy a pair of these last month.  (i love them)

also, my twins share a birthday with one of her sons,
which we might've talked about, but i don't quite recall.

if my knees quit hurting, i might go play volleyball later.
go outside and play today.
facebook is the devil.

Lobbying Disclosure website

was thinking about this, this morning, on my drive in...
http://lobbyingdisclosure.house.gov/

oh, and google has a cool little banner for 09/09/09-09:09:09
check it out...
:)

townhalls

so, it's "unamerican" to express your dissatisfaction with the government now?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,538885,00.html
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/town-hall-mobs-attack-health-care-democracy-in-action-or-unamerican.html
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/white-house-disputes-pelosi-contention-that-town-hall-protests-are-un-american.html

i thought that freedom of speech was part of the first amendment?
maybe pelosi and hoyer need a refresher?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech

do they really think they can spin this kinda crap?
washington, in general, has been ignoring "we the people" for some time.
perhaps the townhall reactions are just a small indicator of the level of our discontent?
hint: it's not just healthcare, lady.

perhaps it's just a very small taste...
>:(

"And don't forget to use process! When you get your next property tax revaluation notice and some tin-horn bunglecrat says your home has gone up in price, demand a reduction in valuation since the S&P/Case-Schiller report implies that home prices are down nationally over 30% in the past couple of years.  The sword can cut both ways."

 

:)

 

i like this idea...

whatcha think?
http://www.reuters.com/article/smallBusinessNews/idUSTRE5660N620090708

First they came...

a poem, to not forget: First they came...


In Germany, they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
And then... they came for me... And by that time there was no one left to speak up.


- Pastor Martin Niemöller

Indian CEO Says Most US Tech Grads "Unemployable"

sorry to interject my workplace opinion into this, but FUCK THAT NOISE !
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/06/22/0019233/Indian-CEO-Says-Most-US-Tech-Grads-Unemployable?art_pos=21

i work in the tech world, and IMHO, this is total bullshit.
- how many times have i had to deal with H1Bs who have a "language barrier"?  uncountable.
- how many times have i encountered a US tech grad with a "language barrier"?  zero.
- how many times have i encountered H1Bs with falsified info on their resume?  maybe 50 times.
- how many times have i encountered US grads with falsified info on their resume?  maybe 5.
- and how many fucking times have i been told "it works perfectly", AND IT FUCKING DOESN'T?  too many.

this really gets me into full-rant mode.
personally, i won't phone-screen, interview, or hire another H1B ever.
i don't care if s/he's got PhDs, patents, articles, whatever.
they can't deliver?
fuck em.

oh ya, i HATE debugging their steamingpilesofcrap code, too.

Congressional Health Care Benefits

i've been concerned with health care & benefits lately...

basically, becuz i'm struggling with the HR & Benefits department at my own workplace.
my frustration and anger are peaked by this kinda thing: Health Care for U.S. Congress.

look how nice their package sounds: FEHBP
and apparently 75% is paid by you & I...

cool, huh?
X(

Time is up

I hope this article, or it's intent, is true:
The Private Health Industry's Time is up.
I really do...

My last few experiences at the doctors office have shown me,
that their hands and tied, and smacked, and twisted, too.
The relief in their eyes, when I ask if I can pay cash,
or do a payment plan, thru them, is palpable.

That the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, have any power, is sickening.
They aren't ambulance chasers.
They are misery makers.

Decomposing Plastic

Teen Decomposes Plastic Bag in Three Months

awesome! 

seen on the whiteboard where i bought my new bike

To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act.
- Anatole France
French novelist (1844 - 1924)

synchronicity

not sure if i've mentioned synchronicity lately?
but, it happens alot to me...

here are a couple of links:
http://www.carl-jung.net/synchronicity.html
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity

enjoy!

what is your plastic footprint?

what is your plastic footprint?

just as an exercise, please take a look at how much plastic you use...

• do you drink bottled water or soda?
• do you get your groceries in a plastic bag?
• do you stir your coffee or tea with a plastic stirring stick?

small examples, i'm sure, but how much do they add up to?
personally, i do those 3 three things daily.
and i'm not proud of it.

i'd like to change my plastic footprint.
join me, won't you?

a strange thought

had a strange thought the other morning, coming up from sleep.
it was that if there are many worlds, and new ones are being created all the time by actions & reactions,
that there must be some kind of spiritual effect too, if all these worlds are inhabited.

i was thinking of souls.  and the splitting or stretching of them, across these many-worlds.
and that the many-worlds theory has some interesting implications on spirituality.

are our souls stretched out, by all the worlds we inhabit?
does time-space get thinner, as the splitting of worlds occurs?

ps. i'm reading The Dark Tower series, by Stephen King.
which may account for my strange waking thoughts...
;)

happy cinco de mayo!

hope ye have a great day!
:)

ps. facebook is a sickness...
:P

phony, but real-sounding...

hrm, phony, but real-sounding science?

The Scientist has reported that, yes, it's true, Merck cooked up a phony, but real sounding, peer reviewed journal and published favorably looking data for its products in them. Merck paid Elsevier to publish such a tome, which neither appears in MEDLINE or has a website, according to The Scientist.

here's the post on bioethics.

i don't think Merck can blame this on the marketing department:

Mapping H1N1 with Google

someone had a great idea, and seems to be putting some nice work into this google map of the H1N1 vectors...

maybe it's just pissed off about oracle?

the sun seems depressed.
or maybe pissed off about oracle buying it's namesake?
ok, bad joke, i know.
:P

pirates of the somalian

i have some admiration for the pirates of somalia, they are fishermen who are struggling for a living, fighting against enormous corporations who are overfishing & polluting their coastline & fisheries.  they began seizing ships and extracting ransoms.  i don't recall seeing where they actually killed anyone.  seemed like good piratey fun, right? 
well, now they are being spun (by the world spiders) as bad men doing bad things. 
i have my doubts.

today:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7999350.stm

the situation with Cpt. Phillips was tragic, i grant that.  things went badly, on both sides, and the situation got nasty quick.  and the navy special ops team did what they do best - clean up the mess.  decisively.  hoozaah!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7996213.stm

oh wait, some pirates 'on the phone' threatened retaliation against french and u.s. ships?  um...
somalia is a country and people struggling at the edge of survival.  right?  what are they gonna do?
i'm sure if any of the huge corpgov entities wanted to, they could find the pirate 'motherships' on google maps, fly a few apaches, raptors, etc over there, and make a new coral reef.  think those somalian pirates have ship-to-air stuff?  they have AKs and shoulder rockets. 

awful lotta smoke in the air about all this pirate stuff, which is good for making us sheeple ignore the dire financial straits we are in, eh?  it's like going to the movies for free.  pirates of the somalian is on!  wooohoooo!  oh, look, pirates of the somalian 2 is on now!  get the popcorn.

or wake up.
:-/

nice byline or punctuation, or philosophy

Mr. Winchester, the sheriff in Enid, Okla., has the same thought. "Guns have always been a good investment," he says. "Guns are as good as gold."
from this article: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0413/p02s01-ussc.html

gollum?

wow, phil spector looks like gollum...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090414/ap_en_mu/phil_spector;_ylt=AmgKHC8WH3mEFqLcvVFbCrus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFrNG9mZTdsBHBvcwMxNTMEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50BHNsawNsYWp1cnljb252aWM-

/shudder

personal boycott: china products

i'm gonna start my own personal boycott of china & chinese products.
i don't want to be poisoned.

oops!

i just realized, that it's been almost 2 weeks, and i haven't even mentioned my futsal injury. ( i did put it on my facebook page, sorry ). so, anyways, not last sunday, but the sunday before, i was playing futsal, and i was rocking da joint. finally had hit my stride on getting in shape, and getting a good feel for the ball on a wood floor, etc.
we had been playing for about 1/2 hr or longer, and i had scored a few times, and played goalie too, saving some stuff (banged my hip again, but that's another story).
i was about midcourt, and had got the pass, saw an opening between two players i thought i could beat, and so i accelerated from about 1/2 speed to FULL SPEED (dribbling)... and... riiiiiiiiiip - i feel this 'old-sock-tearing-when-you-pull-it-on' feeling, and then two small pops or 'bites' at my heel and my calf. and i fall hard, with a load 'OH'.
this scares the crap outta me, and so i don't bother to get up, just roll over, and sit up, and tell the guys to drag me off the court. they do, and then decide it's time for beers, instead of playing for the rest of the hour we have the court reserved for.
i pull off my sock and shoe, take some offered ibuprofin, and start probing my achilles, which hasn't swollen at all (and i take to be a bad sign). my son is hovering and asking questions, and he's gonna make a good paramedic or doctor some day, cuz he's got a great 'courtside' manner, lol.
he helps me stand up, and it's bad, i can stand, but all my weight has to be on my heel, cuz i can't put any on my toes, or ball of foot, it just isn't there. not numb exactly, but it's a weird feeling.
well, we put my shoe on, and everyone heads out to drink at the pub, my son as my crutch, and voice-of-reason. :) he even offered to drive, lol.

so, it's gonna be two weeks this sunday. and i've been limping around, a little less each day. it's still swollen, still hurts, but i have full range-of-motion, which is good right? ;)

open & closed

just reading news this morning, and opinions, and fluff - all the MSM (main stream media) output available on the net.
( i like to see which version of the exact same story Google, CNN, Reuters, et al, have up on their sites )
and over at urbansurvival.com they are talking about topology (or topography since he mapped it) of belief sets...

which made me ponder, what am i open & closed to, in beliefs and ideas?
cuz i consider myself a fairly open-minded person...

gonna just list some fun & semi-controversial topics:
(and work up to some really woowoo areas)
scale: 0 being no possibility, 100 being certainty.

freewill : 90 - basically i believe in freewill, but also that each life has destiny (which might argue against freewill).
lifes purpose, destiny : 90 - seems contradictory, but i think our purpose is revealed, thru exercising our freewill, to choose.
soulmates : 50 - i think we might have soulgroups, rather than a single soulmate.
magic : 50 - i disagree with the term, but believe in the ability to manifest thru intent.
god : 99 - there is something, seriously doubt if it can be grasped by the human mind, currently.

gods & goddesses : 40 - in the hindu tradition of some level of being between ultimate god, and mankind.  maybe extinct.
jesus : 10 - i have a doubt.  maybe there was a wise man, or several men, nothing like the christian mythos.
immaculate conception : 0 - sorry, humans don't reproduce this way, if we did, jesus would've been a girl.
good & evil : 50 - not in the religious sense.  i believe in the capacity for each, and the choice by strength or weakness of will.
reincarnation : 99 - in the idea of returning again and again, until we choose not to.  (at least i remember some parts of past lives).

multiverses : 90 - subparticle physics has a theory.  our mind can only exist in one at a time.
ghosts : 90 - seen something a few times.  would i say an echo?  or a wandering soul?  or a dream body?
TPB (the powers that be) : 80 - someone is always trying to be the power.  human nature demands this.
illuminati : 25 - a group of TPB in the past, doubt if they passed on any lasting practices.
demons : 60 - similar to my thoughts on gods & goddesses.  shapechangers,  rakshasas.

area51 : 100 - it exists, we can see it, read FOI releases about it.  it's the skunkworks. 
aliens : 90 - highly probable, have they come here?  i've seen the phxlites, but nothing on the ground.
greys, zeta, blues, reptilians, insectoids, nordics : 30 - this is fun.  but so much disinfo.  like mulder, i want to believe.
bigfoot, yeti, sasquatch : 99 - i don't know why i am so certain of this, just am.
chupacabra : 100 - coyotes with mange.

socialists : 0 - bleh
liberals : 0 - bleh
democrats : 0 - ho hum
republicans : 0 - yuck
fascists : 0 - double yuck


whew!  that's a braindump right there...
;)

ice bridges & missile launches

so, i guess the ice bridge that was "anchoring" the wilkins ice shelf, has broke.
headline @ bbc: ice bridge ruptures in antarctic

and, those sneaky north koreans, they launched their big missile too.
article at voa: north korean launch.

(apparently there is some disagreement if anything actually was put in orbit,
either it splashed, according to south korea, or it's orbiting and singing songs,
according to north korea).

interesting day, so far...

wilkins icebridge

from my google alert on wilkins:

Collapse of the ice bridge supporting Wilkins Ice Shelf appears imminent

george hit's the bullseye

i read urbansurvival almost every morning,
cuz i enjoy george's wit and insight into the various info sources.

this morning, he has hit the bullseye:

It's all so disappointing to watch: 

Bankers getting more dole than common folks (must save the world, don'tcha know),

the PTB may be setting up a "hurt them to help them" showdown in a lot of places,

and meantime the second biggest headline on Goggle's News site this morning

when I looked was "Madonna loses Malawi adoption bid."

 

WTF people?

- - -

exactly.

continuing dumbness

ack, my feeble monkey mind is flying on this one:
- - -
so, having a balloon, as your launch platform, might be plausible?

your "fishing rod" doesn't have to be huge...

cuz we are dealing with small particles, moving very fast

we have to slow them down, somehow, then capture and reel them in

maybe a giant wad of chewing gum, on the end of the line?

and the little pieces of satellite, just thud into it, and stick, lol

maybe take some of the ideas of the space-elevator tether thing,
where you use the rotation of the earth to keep it up there,

and that could be your "fishing platform".

hrm, can i patent the balloon-fishing-gumwad-spacedebris-collector ?
probly can!  lol.  well, only in amerika...

space fishing

okay, dumb idea time...

space fishing
how high can you go in a fancy high-altitude balloon? 
once you have your "balloon launch platform" you use your "space fishing rod",
and sling the "magnetic bait" up into the "space ocean"...

and catch yerself a "big fish" and hold on.

sure, there's probly some small technical hurdles to jump for that to come true,
but i think you'd have alotta volunteers, maybe even space-tourists,
especially if you could bring a cooler of beer with ya!

bold statement

"All of their work has gone for naught," said Alfred Huger,
vice president of development for Symantec Corp.'s security response team,
referring to the hackers who created the Conficker worm.

from this article: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=network_security&articleId=9130902&taxonomyId=142&intsrc=kc_top

now, i'm not in the sec biz, and i'm no hax0r, but i think that's a pretty bold statement, since today isn't over,
and anyone who can produce that kinda sophisticated bit of work it has been touted as,
might not want to be provoked, don'tcha think?

maybe al wanted to be an anonymous source?
oops!
;)

she's kinda cute, she must be right

eh, just got back from lunch, at a place with cute waitresses and high prices.
i'm the kinda stupid old guy who tends to believe what cute girls have to say to him...

http://seekingalpha.com/article/128472-seven-uncomfortable-predictions-for-the-economy?source=article_sb_popular

april fools

i actually have nothing to say,
about april fools, or the financial fool's day, or myself.
sad, ain't it?

Cold fusion experimentally confirmed (by U.S. Navy researchers)

wow, nice disclosure:
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=XNC1WRBQ2SY14QSNDLSCKHA?articleID=216200272

woot!  free energeez!

Go Woz Go!

Woz is Da Man.
gotta love a geek enjoying the limelight!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/24/wozniak.dancing.stars/index.html

week ending: march 20th, 2009

in the news this week:

- first day of spring
- president obama on jay leno's tonite show last nite
- michelle's garden
- tea parties

- - -

i dunno, i feel pretty good.  it's spring!  and we hit 90+ degrees yesterday!

i didn't watch the prez on leno last night, but the media is eating it up.

i was very very impressed that the first lady is putting a garden in, at the whitehouse.

the tea parties are interesting, just like the originals were.
they are starting out small, as the originals did.
hopefully they continue to grow, as the originals did.
of course, there is a contingent behind them, as there was with the originals.
( repcorps protesters & radicals now, vs. tea smugglers & radicals then )

and...
there are things happening in the big wide world, that are not being talked about.
(news is simply distraction, no meat, no meaning)
the woowoo sites i read are anticipating all kinds of SHTF... but i don't see it.

what i do see, is news not worth reporting.
and it's killing my braincell.

Happy Friday!

nothing much to say, just happy to be here...
:)

in memory of...

SpaceBat - a glorious end for a mammal...

don't just unplug me, strap me on the outside of the shuttle, and light that fuse, baybee!!!
rock on spacebat, wherever ye may fly.

gardening at the whitehouse!

woot!
i love this: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/dining/19garden-web.html?ref=dining

throw these in the pot too

http://www.buffalonews.com/180/story/611215.html

distasteful?

out here in da west, we have us a saying:
string 'em up!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090318/ap_on_go_co/aig_outrage

there's another saying too:
hangin's too good fer 'em !

i'm kidding, kinda...

and again...

getting it again.  wow!
i swear it is almost pushing me over.
leftside of my jaw, neck, shoulder, upper arm, and side are vibrating...

thrumming

i'm getting thrummed!
started about 10 minutes ago, on my neck...
now i'm feeling it all over my left side,
and progressing to other parts of my body.
even pushed me back into my chair.
feels really amazing.
powerful.

who are you?

parenting techniques

i thought this article was hilarious:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/03/13/p.techniques.use.husband/index.html

and, i especially love this quote:
"It worked. Fifteen minutes of quality time bought me an epic bath-and-magazine session,
and by the time I stumbled into bed, my husband was fast asleep"
;)

ciao'

ice

i got an alert from this google news alert thing i setup, to watch for news articles that mention the wilkins ice shelf...
the article is here: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/37d38559748fef57cd9586aa75a635fe.htm
and here are some of the pertinent points:

• The Northern Sea Route along the Arctic Siberian coast opened, and the Northwest Passage through the islands of northern Canada was also ice-free, for the second year in a row. These two passages have not been open simultaneously since before the last ice age started, some 100,000 years ago
• The overall declining trend of sea-ice in the Arctic has now lasted three decades; the thickness of ice built up over the years is also decreasing
• A large part of the Wilkins ice shelf in the Antarctic collapsed in February 2008. "The shelves often act like corks in a bottle, holding back glaciers on land, whose loss will raise sea levels." More cracks were recorded in the Wilkins ice shelf in December 2008.
• The flow into the ocean of the Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier in western Greenland, one of the most important routes of ice loss, has doubled since 1997
• The loss of ice from the West Antarctic ice sheet increased by 60 percent in the decade to 2006
•  Ice loss from the Antarctic Peninsula, which extends from west Antarctica towards South America, increased by 140 percent
• The USA's National Snow and Ice Data Center recorded the second lowest figure for the area of ice surviving the summer thaw in the Arctic Ocean since satellite monitoring began in 1979.
• The atmosphere in the Arctic is warming twice as fast as in most other regions of the world; warming is amplified by the lower reflectivity of the earth's surface as ice and snow melt
• The International Polar Year, a scientific programme that focuses on changing Arctic and Antarctic conditions, has found evidence of large-scale water drainage systems beneath the polar ice sheets, causing renewed concern about ice-sheet stability. The two-year programme, which began in March 2007, will draw to a close in March 2009

so, i'm wondering, will it be waterworld?
or we just start moving north into the newly temperate zones?

more asskicking

my ass hurts.  and my hips hurt.  and my knees hurt.
and everything between my ass and my knees hurts.
my calves feel close to cramping, and my big toenails are discolored from impact or pressure or whatever.
my feet feel ok.

futsal, baby!

futsal

so, played futsal again last night - and i'm sore, again.
my kids and my (former) players get a big kick out of it, especially when they smoke me and i fall on my booty.
and i think i'll get used to the "haha oldman!".

it's fun, and i'm very very slowly getting into shape, or something.
actually, it's just me noticing that i have a lower % of soreness in my whole body.
and that i can actually run up and down the pitch a few more times.
( um, 55% of the former, 4-5 times for the latter )

after the first day, i was sore from my nips down (for a whole week).
the 2nd time, i was sore from my bellybutton down (for most of the week).
last night was my 3rd time, and i'm only sore from the top of my buttocks down (one day & counting).


haven't been playing pirate so much lately, reading more books...
The Hammer of God - currently.


and been goofing off on facebook too, strange that i only started a page to check up on my kids,
and now i'm getting contacted from h.s. and college people.


a good quote from a class i attended last week:
"other than your job; what is it your friends, family, and community come to you for - that's your calling..."


namaste'
peace
later

did you know?

original: http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Coup.htm


THE BUSINESS PLOT TO OVERTHROW ROOSEVELT

In the summer of 1933, shortly after Roosevelt's "First 100 Days," America's richest businessmen were in a panic. It was clear that Roosevelt intended to conduct a massive redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. Roosevelt had to be stopped at all costs.

The answer was a military coup. It was to be secretly financed and organized by leading officers of the Morgan and Du Pont empires. This included some of America's richest and most famous names of the time:

• Irenee Du Pont - Right-wing chemical industrialist and founder of the American Liberty League, the organization assigned to execute the plot.
• Grayson Murphy - Director of Goodyear, Bethlehem Steel and a group of J.P. Morgan banks.
• William Doyle - Former state commander of the American Legion and a central plotter of the coup.
• John Davis - Former Democratic presidential candidate and a senior attorney for J.P. Morgan.
• Al Smith - Roosevelt's bitter political foe from New York. Smith was a former governor of New York and a codirector of the American Liberty League.
• John J. Raskob - A high-ranking Du Pont officer and a former chairman of the Democratic Party. In later decades, Raskob would become a "Knight of Malta," a Roman Catholic Religious Order with a high percentage of CIA spies, including CIA Directors William Casey, William Colby and John McCone.
• Robert Clark - One of Wall Street's richest bankers and stockbrokers.
• Gerald MacGuire - Bond salesman for Clark, and a former commander of the Connecticut American Legion. MacGuire was the key recruiter to General Butler.

The plotters attempted to recruit General Smedley Butler to lead the coup. They selected him because he was a war hero who was popular with the troops. The plotters felt his good reputation was important to make the troops feel confident that they were doing the right thing by overthrowing a democratically elected president. However, this was a mistake: Butler was popular with the troops because he identified with them. That is, he was a man of the people, not the elite. When the plotters approached General Butler with their proposal to lead the coup, he pretended to go along with the plan at first, secretly deciding to betray it to Congress at the right moment.

What the businessmen proposed was dramatic: they wanted General Butler to deliver an ultimatum to Roosevelt. Roosevelt would pretend to become sick and incapacitated from his polio, and allow a newly created cabinet officer, a "Secretary of General Affairs," to run things in his stead. The secretary, of course, would be carrying out the orders of Wall Street. If Roosevelt refused, then General Butler would force him out with an army of 500,000 war veterans from the American Legion. But MacGuire assured Butler the cover story would work:

"You know the American people will swallow that. We have got the newspapers. We will start a campaign that the President's health is failing. Everyone can tell that by looking at him, and the dumb American people will fall for it in a second…"

The businessmen also promised that money was no object: Clark told Butler that he would spend half his $60 million fortune to save the other half.

And what type of government would replace Roosevelt's New Deal? MacGuire was perfectly candid to Paul French, a reporter friend of General Butler's:

"We need a fascist government in this country… to save the nation from the communists who want to tear it down and wreck all that we have built in America. The only men who have the patriotism to do it are the soldiers, and Smedley Butler is the ideal leader. He could organize a million men overnight."

Indeed, it turns out that MacGuire travelled to Italy to study Mussolini's fascist state, and came away mightily impressed. He wrote glowing reports back to his boss, Robert Clark, suggesting that they implement the same thing.

If this sounds too fantastic to believe, we should remember that by 1933, the crimes of fascism were still mostly in the future, and its dangers were largely unknown, even to its supporters. But in the early days, many businessmen openly admired Mussolini because he had used a strong hand to deal with labor unions, put out social unrest, and get the economy working again, if only at the point of a gun. Americans today would be appalled to learn of the many famous millionaires back then who initially admired Hitler and Mussolini: Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, John and Allen Dulles (who, besides being millionaires, would later become Eisenhower's Secretary of State and CIA Director, respectively), and, of course, everyone on the above list. They disavowed Hitler and Mussolini only after their atrocities grew to indefensible levels.

The plot fell apart when Butler went public. The general revealed the details of the coup before the McCormack-Dickstein Committee, which would later become the notorious House Un-American Activities Committee. (In the 50s, this committee would destroy the lives of hundreds of innocent Americans with its communist witch hunts.) The Committee heard the testimony of Butler and French, but failed to call in any of the coup plotters for questioning, other than MacGuire. In fact, the Committee whitewashed the public version of its final report, deleting the names of powerful businessmen whose reputations they sought to protect. The most likely reason for this response is that Wall Street had undue influence in Congress also. Even more alarming, the elite-controlled media failed to pick up on the story, and even today the incident remains little known. The elite managed to spin the story as nothing more than the rumors and hearsay of Butler and French, even though Butler was a Quaker of unimpeachable honesty and integrity. Butler, appalled by the cover-up, went on national radio to denounce it, but with little success.

Butler was not vindicated until 1967, when journalist John Spivak uncovered the Committee's internal, secret report. It clearly confirmed Butler's story:

In the last few weeks of the committee's life it received evidence showing that certain persons had attempted to establish a fascist organization in this country…

There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned and might have been placed in execution if the financial backers deemed it expedient…

MacGuire denied [Butler's] allegations under oath, but your committee was able to verify all the pertinent statements made to General Butler, with the exception of the direct statement suggesting the creation of the organization. This, however, was corroborated in the correspondence of MacGuire with his principle, Robert Sterling Clark, of New York City, while MacGuire was abroad studying the various form of veterans' organizations of Fascist character.

Needless to say, the survival of America's democracy is not an automatic or sure thing. Americans need to remain vigilant against all enemies... both foreign and domestic.

- - -

the link has a short biblio at the bottom...

back on 2.18.09

i thought i had seen something, but i think the blinders were slipped on for awhile...
here is something from 2.17: http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/16286/wilkins-ice-shelf-collapses
and this too: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1460070.php/Researchers_spot_huge_split_in_Antartic_ice_shelf_

kinda "funny" that i couldn't actually find anything on the 18th...
:-/
# end

duck!

so, we had an asteroid pass between the earth and the moon?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090304/ap_on_re_us/asteroid_close_call;_ylt=Ao0dmNyFv8HZOTpSNburoZqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFpZWlpM2g1BHBvcwMyNQRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX21vc3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDcGhld2FzdGVyb2lk

this makes me ask:

• are there any others in the same orbit?
• did this near miss change its orbit?
• how soon will it be back?

templates r teh suxor

totally effed up my template... *sigh*
i'll fix it later!
/stomps off

Happy Squareroot Day!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090303/ap_on_fe_st/odd_square_root_day

jim rogers "We're still going to eat, probably"

saw this article on urbansurvival.com, about jim rogers buying farmland...
(he's some kinda investment guru, btw)

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29477080

another quote from that article:
"If I'm right, agriculture is going to be one of the greatest industries in the next 20 years, 30 years."
Food inventories are at their lowest in 50 years, Rogers said, while the oil and mining sectors are also good bets.

i got my playpool, i got my seeds, i got my soil...
;)

urbanfarmer - woohoo!
now i need a website too...
:P

What do your friends and neighbors ask of you?

i asked someone a question the other day, becuz i'm constantly struggling with the idea, of "what should i be doing?".
he had a great answer: "outside of your work, what do your friends and neighbors ask of you?"
this turns out to have tremendous value to me.

ask the right question, they say...
:)

sites to visit

sites i would like to visit:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baalbek
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Br%C3%BA_na_B%C3%B3inne
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_spheres_of_Costa_Rica
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapa_Nui
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza

just a start...
;)

what are they planning for?

http://www.infowars.com/urban-warfare-drills-linked-to-coming-economic-rage/

questions to ask high school science students

a. if you were asked to incorporate solar cells into backpacks, briefcases, etc,
how would you do it?   would you use flexible solar cells?   would your design eventually biodegrade?
how would you link them into a "collector" (down-converter) that you could charge your ipod from?

b. if you were asked to come up with a plan to "cleanup" the space debris from a satellite collision,
what would it be?  how would you get it into orbit?  what would the "exit strategy" for your plan be?

c. if you were asked to cleanup the "plastic sea" that exists in the pacific ocean gyre(s),
how would you do it?  would it work in any ocean?  could it be automated (or robotic)?
what would you do with the plastic, etc?

# end

We don’t watch the news for the information, we watch if for THE LIE.

oh man, i love that quote!
it's from this article: Citi and BofA won't Live...

can't help it, i busted out laughing...
especially after reading this article about banks charging fees on the unemployment debit cards.

hey gordon gecko, greed is not good.
wait and see.

esa - wilkins

http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMYBBSTGOF_index_0.html

wilkins finally go?

for some reason, i thought i saw an article about the wilkins ice shelf finally going today...
and now, when i google it, nothing comes up.
was it my imagination?

airship

so, i'm kinda bored at work, and somehow i stumbled onto this link...
http://news.cnet.com/2300-11397_3-6247923-1.html?tag=mncol

it's the Eureka, from Airship Ventures.
and i'm a fan.
:)

Vitamin B6, is that in my Monster ? ? ?

FDA Declares Form of Vitamin B6 a Drug, Effectively Banning Pyridoxamine from Dietary Supplements

http://www.naturalnews.com/025606.html

don't deserve to be rescued, eh?

from this article: How Banks are Worsening the Crisis

"In public, financial institutions insist they've done their best to prevent foreclosures. Most argue that giving bankruptcy courts increased clout, known as cramdown authority, would reward irresponsible borrowers and result in higher borrowing costs. "What we're trying to do now is target the bill to make it as narrow as possible," says Scott Talbott, a lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable.
On the defensive, the industry nevertheless benefits from one strain of popular opinion that home buyers who took on risky mortgages -- even if the industry pushed those loans -- don't deserve to be rescued."

THIS TOTALLY PISSES ME OFF.

Get a Rope!

wake me up, shake me up, get me moving

the flu has been kicking my arse for the past week, well 6 days.
yesterday we (the ex, the kids, me) went to the doctors and got some meds.
expensive, but worth it.

i have to admire the doctors, they understand that things are hard.
and they dislike the insurance industry, probly more than we do.
(they have to deal with it daily, we only occasionally get pissed off by it)
they were really cool about payment, and such, and really nice.
(as opposed to the insurance fucks, who are total assholes)
so, that woke me up to their reality.  which i sympathize with...

now, this brings to mind a question about structure, or rather, supporting structure.
basically, alot of the abusive organizations that exist in capitalist society today,
depend on a huge downstream, picture the pyramid.
they depend on complacent sheep, lots of them, to continue buying their worthless product, be it paper, air, or words.
like, if me and the doc work out an agreement to pay for my visit, like 100 bucks.
and this means that instead of the 25 copay plus the 100 monthly premium, i just saved 25 bucks this month.
(well, that's how i'm justifying it)

and if i start my own garden, and start working it, maybe i don't need to buy so many veggies from chile?

i'm already in a credit-union, so i "think" i'm not supporting those frikken banksters (thieves is a word that comes to mind here).

and if i buy some silver, instead of throwing my 25 bucks into that 401k, that is gonna get heavily taxed soon,
(according to the wishes of some fatcats in washington), i might actually save some "real" money.

and i'm trying to think of more ideas of how to reduce my "support" of the pyramid.  shake up the paradigm.
how do i get out from under these organizations that are slowly stealing my pennies to add to their billions?
how do i wake up?  how do we all wake up??  how do we wake each other up???

who is john galt?
;)

the flu, yuck...

so, i think i'm at the end of the flu, yuck...
had it most of the weekend, and today, nasty stuff.
lotsa aches and pains, and coughing green junk.

too graphic?
maybe i'm up a little too late, reading blogs,
and watching youtubes?
sorry!

now if i can just get all this crap outta my system.
/yawn

Wakening the Sleeping Giant

"Wake up! Wake up! You little sleepy heads!", I shout at my teenagers as i bang on their doors and flick their lights on.

It's a rather rude awakening, but we're late, cuz i hit the snooze too many times, and they don't get up 'til I get 'em up, usually.
We rush thru our individual morning rituals, bumping into each other in the single bathroom and in the kitchen.
Knocks on the bathroom door, to get something while one person is in the shower.
Things start happening quickly, once we are awake...

And now we segue to America, slumbering thru current events.
Someone or something is gonna start yelling at us, to "wake up!" very soon, cuz we are late.
And things will start happening quickly for us, too.

Are you ready to go yet?

 - - - - -

http://www.revivevictorygarden.org/

Sorry, but it's bleak

here's something from urbansurvival.com (sorry, but it's bleak):

- - -

What you thought you were working 40-years for was:

• A sound retirement

• Equal or lower levels of work to achieve a given lifestyle

• Sound money

• A country you were proud to pass on to your kids

 

What you got and are getting more of is:

• Disappearing retirement plans - debasement of 401(k)'s

• More work, longer hours, less pay to maintain a lifestyle

• Continuously depreciating money.

• A country mortgaged to crooked financiers which your kids will either have to pay off or overthrow.

- - -

that kinda freaked me out...

- - -

on another note, i finished reading Neal Stephenson's Anathem.
fun thoughts.  i think i even learned a little math.
;)

a ray of sunlight?

ahhh, this made me feel more positive, this morning!
:)

http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2009/01/22/memorandum-on-transparency/comment-page-1/

a greater depression?

maaaan, my mind is spiraling downward quickly...

so, worldwide, things are looking bleak.
read that the UK was hours away from nationalizing it's banks back in october.
and it's obvious the US is in for some bad times.
then russia seems to be revalueing, again, and again.
china and japan seem to be in for some problems, nobody is buying.
south america?  no clue.

in the last depression:

• who got rich?
• who lost everything?
• who left the keys on the table, and walked away?

hope my thoughts improve sometime soon...
:(

online dialogue with martin fisher (kickstart)

i actually haven't read this yet, but it looks very interesting...
http://us.oneworld.net/perspectives/peopleof2008/359738-online-dialogue-with-martin-fisher

Iceland Government Collapses

wow!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090126/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_iceland_crisis;_ylt=AqUTFey8S7McWyuNNHTtO4Os0NUE

High Price of Ethanol

:(
http://www.truthout.org/012409C
:(

Lots of Excitement

history is being made.
lots of excitement today out in the big, wide world.
anticipation.
hope.

and now... we watch & wait.
:)

shape of my heart

listening to Sting... this is tearing at me.
:' )

- - - - -

He deals the cards as a meditation
And those he plays never suspect
He doesn't play for the money he wins
He doesn't play for respect
He deals the crads to find the answer
The sacred geometry of chance
The hidden loaw of a probable outcome
The numbers lead a dance

I know that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart

He may play the jack of diamonds
He may lay the queen of spades
He may conceal a king in his hand
While the memory of it fades

I know that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart

And if I told you that I loved you
You'd maybe think there's something wrong
I'm not a man of too many faces
The mask I wear is one
Those who speak know nothing
And find out to their cost
Like those who curse their luck in too many places
And those who fear are lost

I know that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart

i got ink

yo, i got ink done.  i'm sportin a(nother) tattoo.
(yes, paraphrasing a song)
bow chika wow wow...
:))

eh, it's just the outlines, actually.
i'll get the colorwork done is a few weeks.
if i ever get a good pic, i'll post that.

had a strange experience this morning,
which i somewhat attribute to the work done yesterday.
i fainted.

really, i did.  i passed out this morning.
scared the hell outta my son.

we were introducing the dogs to the new cat, and i was holding the little one back,
who was getting way too excited over a cat in the house.
and i was scolding her, and was bent over holding her collar, and boom.
my legs got weak, and i dropped to the ground.
tried to get up, and fell again.
it was weird.

:-/

um... worse?

did King George really say this ?
wow!  and holy crap!

from the NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/politics/13bush.html?ref=business

Looking back at the months of anxiety in Washington and across the country over America's financial straits, Mr. Bush said, "I readily concede I chucked aside some of my free-market principles when I was told by chief economic advisers that the situation we were facing could be worse than the Great Depression."

the story of stuff...

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

great info!

things change

it's a rule, yes?
i looked up some quotes, on the quotations site: http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/change/

Nothing endures but change.

    Heraclitus (540 BC - 480 BC)

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

    Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987), The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

Things do not change; we change.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)


the thing is, i'm expecting it.  that things will change.  maybe even wanting it.
and i can only say it's becuz i'm bored with my life, which is sad.

maybe i should simply change my life? 
instead of hoping that it will all change around me, and i won't have to do anything, but react.
that almost makes me pathetic, i think.
i'm too weak to do something about it.
yet i long for something...

i just finished watching The Road Warrior & Beyond Thunderdome, maybe that's why i'm in this weird mood?
but i do need to check myself, and perhaps examine my own motivation for dwelling on "the end times",
or whatever you want to call them. 

things do change, but not always for the better...
:|

In capitalism of the 21st century, there is room for the state.

a new capitalism?  wow.  maybe we can call it european capitalism?

from this article on yahoo news: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090108/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_france_new_capitalism;_ylt=AjdWZXr5GIxtPD7EGfJ23vxv24cA

excerpt:

Sarkozy blamed financial speculators for encouraging a system fueled on debt.

He called financial capitalism based on speculation "an immoral system" that has "perverted the logic of capitalism."

"It's a system where wealth goes to the wealthy, where work is devalued, where production is devalued, where entrepreneurial spirit is devalued," he said.

But no more: "In capitalism of the 21st century, there is room for the state," he said.

Blair called for a new financial order based on "values other than the maximum short-term profit."

"The greatest entrepreneur I had the chance to meet was passionate about what he had created, not what he had accumulated," he said.

those are some interesting words...
i'm not being sarcastic or pessimistic, either.
and i'm sure those words, might cause some fear and puckering, on the street.

on another note, how similar are oakland and greece?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/08/AR2009010803582.html?hpid=moreheadlines
more puckering is in progress...

have a beautiful day!
:)


If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.
  - Hermann Hesse

Huzzah for the Pirates !!!

as reported in this huffington post article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/you-are-being-lied-to-abo_b_155147.html
piracy is not quite what we are led to believe by "the powers that be".

as mentioned, in the golden age of piracy, it was rebellion against the oppression of sovereign nation navy policy.

today, in the glowing (read nukular) age of piracy, it is rebellion against corporate criminals dumping waste on their fishing grounds.

yarrr!  and avast!
we need more pirates, i says!!!

human migration wiki page

interesting info on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_migration
particularly, for me, the pre-modern migrations...

morning commute

rode the lightrail again this morning, sorry, it's "riding the metro" in local vernacular now...  :)
hehe, actually heard a girl singing the song, over the weekend.

i took the twins to tempe on the metro, over the weekend, too.
we had lunch on mill, and bought some t-shirts, gave away our leftovers to some street kids,
and both my kids actually said they had fun.  score points for dad :)

i'm entertaining some thoughts about human history lately, not sure why.

oh, and yellowstone is still quaking: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090102/ap_on_re_us/yellowstone_quakes;_ylt=AvbeIcCgiROqeP1Lp_k50Mus0NUE

journey of mankind

haven't watched this yet: journey of mankind
http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/

a 55-45% chance right now that disintegration will occur...

an article on Russian Professor Igor Panarin predicting the breakup of the U.S. into 6 pieces.

from the WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

sounds like hooey to me.
:)

Lightrail Rocks!

Rode the Lightrail into work today...

• ten minute drive from my house to the parkalot.
• fifteen minute wait for the next train.
• thirty minutes to the station close to work.
• thirty minute walk to work.
• feeling?  awesome!

yeah, an hour and a half is a bit long, compared to 45 mins in my truck.
but, i relaxed, i exercised, i saved gas, and it is a beautiful day for a walk.
besides it was free today!

i'll let ya know how the ride home goes, maybe.
;)

happy holidays!

hope you and yours are safe, are warm & dry, and have enough to eat...

an unknown quote?

from this article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20081222/cm_csm/ysalzman;_ylt=AooCxuocYGn3WP1UgbIS74Ss0NUE

an unknown quote?

"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship….

"Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage."

tried to google it: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Great+nations+rise+and+fall%22&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=
;)

and the word of the day is...

bailout.
and not in any kinda good way, more like in the "don't drive into a flooded wash dumbass" kinda way.
or in the "don't ask me for help with yer rent again, dumbass" way (to your old friend who drinks or smokes his rent money).

and it almost seems like the parents are stealing from the kids piggybanks, to bailout their dumbass friends.
over and over and over...

i gotta hide my piggybank in a new place!

congress gets a raise - cont.

Currently the average lawmaker makes $169,300 a year, with leadership making slightly more. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) makes $217,400, while the minority and majority leaders in the House and Senate make $188,100.

feel betrayed at all?

congress gets a raise

wow, just wow.
4700 dollar raise: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/with-economy-in-shambles-congress-gets-a-raise-2008-12-17.html
:(

SEC oversight?

SEC oversight?  ha! 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081219/ap_on_bi_ge/madoff_scandal_whistleblower;_ylt=AhHa_GbMW0uWfElROzAYX_es0NUE

i guess it's not surprising in this lameduck administration.

cavern inn

stayed here one night, very cool place off route 66...
the cavern inn?
http://www.swaviator.com/html/issueSO02/GCCaverns91002.html

amazing energy

this morning, i had an amazing experience...

i have been attending these talks by a friend of mine,
and i had asked if she would do some work on me,
and she kindly consented.

so, i think today was the 3rd or 4th session,
and, O.M.G. - is all i can say.
this amazing energy coursed thru me.
all thru me.

it was beautiful.

oops, the article

here's the article: http://www.infowars.net/articles/december2008/161208Unrest.htm

in extremis?

quote from a recent report, titled Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development:
"Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security," the report, authored by [Ret.] Lt. Col. Nathan Freir, reads.

i really wonder how many soldiers, after serving in afghanistan, iraq, and/or kuwait, would be willing to support that stance?
:(

monday morning coffee thoughts

*yawn*
really hard to get started this morning. 
i fell back to sleep after my alarm went off, and my daughter banging on my door woke me up later.
we still made it to school on time.
and work... also.

mas cafe por favor.

no newsworthy supermoon stuff, which is good!
no earthquakes, no tsunamis, no hammers of god.
yay!

hrm, some thoughts on hammer events:

• tunguska
• cando
• eastern-med
• vitim

and something from when i was a kid...
(which i have some memories of seeing, true or not, might've been the teevee)

highschool soccer

yesterday my kids had their first highschool soccer games.
i took off early from work, of course, to go watch.

the girls won 5-1, and my daughter played pretty well, i'm happy to say.
and she got to play almost the whole game, which was cool.

the boys won 2-1, against the only team that beat them last year.
it was a pretty exciting game, but my son didn't get to play that much.
the team has a very deep bench, and quite a few older players,
so the freshman don't see much playing time, sadly.
but, he played, and he did pretty well, considering.

i miss it.
:)

things not being reported?

in other news, are things not being reported?

demonstrations in iceland: http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20081122/NEWS01/81122005
http://icelandweatherreport.com/2008/11/of-angry-mobs-teargas-and-blackened-windows.html

russian analyst predicts u.s. breakdown: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/3521671/US-will-collapse-and-break-up-Russian-analyst-predicts.html

workers in china rioting over unemployment: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iB0ZWjx6YDmSneQE28z3JwOD8diA

Washington is Oz

oh, this quote makes me giggle:
"Washington is Oz right now. Everybody is marching in asking for a heart, a brain or a lot of cash," he said. "What Congress told the Big Three is to go back and bring them the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West."

from this article: http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/24/markets/thebuzz/index.htm?cnn=yes

stop the madness

ok, it's getting freakin ridiculous now.
just stop.  just freakin stop it.  stop the madness.

"protect the system" ?
protect their asses, more like it...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081124/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_paulson;_ylt=ApwA2h.gVYbQMjBaodzWs0.s0NUE

X(

more moon stuff...

supermoon:
| DEC 12, 2008 | 04:38 PM | FULL MOON | 21GE02 | X |    |   |   |

perigee:
 | DEC 12, 2008 | 09:38:00 PM | PER | 24 GE 14 | 356567*|

Full moon will align with perigee on December 12, 2008. Keeping in mind that the Full Moon will realign with perigee some 1 year 1 month and 18 days thereafter, that places the date of the following Full Moon/Perigee on January 30, 2010.

- - - - -

and from: http://www.earthsky.org/radioshows/52812/closest-and-largest-full-moon-since-march-93

Almanac: Full moon: December 12, 2008 at 16:37 Universal Time

Moon at perigee (356,566 kilometers): December 12, 2008 at 21:48 Universal Time (357,000 kilometers or 222,000 miles)

Extreme Perigees: The last time the moon was less than 356,400 kilometers distant was on January 15, 1930 (356,397 kilometers) and the next time will be on January 1, 2257 (356,371 kilometers), p. 39, More Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, by Jean Meeus

- - - - -

December 1st - Conjunction of Moon, Venus, and Jupiter. The crescent moon, Venus, and Jupiter will form a 3-degree triangle in the evening sky.

December 13th, 14th - Geminids Meteor Shower

December 21st - Winter Solstice

mindbend: what would depression 2009 be like?

from the boston globe article:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/11/16/depression_2009_what_would_it_look_like/?page=full

interesting quote: "There is, in fact, no agreed-upon definition of what a depression is."

it talks about years of extreme unemployment, and migrations, and crime.
ghost towns and gardens. 
and the neighborhood fixit shop...

he talks of isolation, people watching their tvs alone.
but i wonder...
in hard times, people come together.

last spring? really?

so, ummm, last spring, eh?
according to the professional forecasters, the pros, the feds pros... we've been in recession since april.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AG54L20081117

from the article:
"Even though the economy was technically growing in April this year it would not be unprecedented for the National Bureau of Economic Research to declare a recession was occurring then."

mmhmm...
if i remember correctly, we were being told something different.
since april.

X(

rollergrrls

last night, my daughter was babysitting for some friends of my exwife ( we are acquaintances, and i like them, but they're hers, lol )
one of them skates for the renegade rollergrrls rollerderby team, so my son and i decided to go downtown and watch.
i wish i had taken pics, cuz it was fun.

basically, downtown phoenix has its upscale areas, and it has its "bohemian artsy" areas.
this was definitely bohemian artsy.
i think i was the only over-18 person not sporting visible tatts, and/or piercings, out of some 200+ ppl.
not that i'm judging, just describing the crowd and players and families and support personnel.
;)

it was really fun, and there is this aura of violence that permeats the old warehouse converted into a rollerrink.
i'm sure it's all in good fun, the screaming and taunting.  i saw alotta smiles on the rink as well as in the audience.
but man, i was expecting a riot or moshpit to spontaneously breakout!  woo!  unf unf unf!

anyways, not sure what my point is here.
just had a new experience, that i might repeat.
think i need to draw on myself first... lol.
show up looking like bradpitt as mickey.

oh!  and some of those rollergrrls are SEXY!
(got this olde pirates head turning)
rawr!

thomas paine, clearly understood...

from: http://www.constitution.org/tp/rightsman1.htm

Whatever is the cause of taxes to a Nation, becomes also the means of revenue to Government. Every war terminates with an addition of taxes, and consequently with an addition of revenue; and in any event of war, in the manner they are now commenced and concluded, the power and interest of Governments are increased. War, therefore, from its productiveness, as it easily furnishes the pretence of necessity for taxes and appointments to places and offices, becomes a principal part of the system of old Governments; and to establish any mode to abolish war, however advantageous it might be to Nations, would be to take from such Government the most lucrative of its branches. The frivolous matters upon which war is made, show the disposition and avidity of Governments to uphold the system of war, and betray the motives upon which they act.

FED TARP unravels?

hrm, i guess we shoulda seen this coming?
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2008/11/13/tarp-and-fed-facilities-unravel/

basically, the FED pumped all that money into the banks, with the intent of freeing up credit.
but the banks, weaseled that money away, and have no intention of freeing up credit.

and lotsa money is being printed, which is causing a new bubble,
which will eventually make it's way into inflation, of perhaps a massive scale?

and a whole slew of "banks" are now ponying up to the TARP trough,
to get a little of that free money being made available.
(banks is in quotes cuz some companies are redefining themselves, see AMEX)

and foreclosures?  those are just kicking ass all over the country.

"bank" might be my new 4-letter word, today.
:(

five hedge fund managers testify

from this article: http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-CreditCrisis/idUSTRE4AC6JC20081113

• george soros
• john paulson
• philip falcone
• james simons
• kenneth griffin

and a list of the world's billionaires...

OH! not puzzled no more.

and i think i figured out my puzzlement about the supermoon.
rereading what i had posted, one link is to the time of the fullmoon: 6:19am today.
and the other is the time of moon perigee: 10:00am tomorrow.

oh, and i still play pp, so no worries, my little pirates...
:P

Armstrong

something a bit random: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_A._Armstrong
and
don't miss the link to It's Just Time.

hrm, some discrepancy there...

well, now i am puzzled...

found another link to the supermoon thing, in the same site, that shows:

NOV 14, 2008 | 10:00:00 AM | PER | 08 GE 43 | 358972
 

so, either it's the 13th at 6:30amish, or it's the 14th at 10amish?
/shrug
which day is socal doing that stop, drop, & cover thing again?

inconstant moon

interesting article at this link: inconstant moon

the day before...

so, yesterday, i got paged from work at about 3:30am.
i wasn't the one on-call, but the whole team gets the page,
and so i checked it out, text'd the lead to see who was on it,
waited for the reply, then tried to go back to bed...

not sure if i actually fell completely asleep, but the exciting sex "dream" i had, woke me back up.

then i couldn't sleep.

got up, logged onto the pirate poker, won a bunch of PoEz, got ready for work.
went in, kinda feeling okay, normal day until lunch.

ate lunch, and BAM!
i'm ready for a nap.
bigtime.

i couldn't even function, barely could type.
is this a sign that i'm just way too old for that kinda loss of sleep?
used to be able to do this, work thru 27 hours straight, etc.
but maaan, i became a total zombee.
went home and slept for 5 hrs.

in other news, november 13th is a supermoon.

NOV 13, 2008 | 06:19 AM | FULL MOON | 21TA15

http://www.astropro.com/features/tables/cen21ce/suprmoon.html
watch out california.

and for the woo: november 12th seems to be an event date for the time-monks...
woo!

joan baez is happy?

the ending quote from this article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/06/joan.baez/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

[In] Buddhism there's no real happiness without the struggle. But the struggle has to defeat you in a way [before] you get to be like the Dalai Lama. You know those monks all giggle? All the time! They've got it figured out. Because things are what they are on Earth, and you be as good as you can, and you die, it's the next life. So what's the big f****** deal?
;)

turnings...

the nation turns over a new leaf, and elects change.
yay!

oh, and sadly, michael crichton has died of cancer.
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b67285_michael_crichton_jurassic_park_author.html

it's monday...

changed the front brake pads on my truck this weekend, no big deal.
but, i had picked up the brake pads from checker friday,
and when i had the left side disassembled, i found they gave me the wrong pads.
( two different size trucks in my year, btw )
X(

but, when i went back to checker, they were cool about it.
exchanged them with little hassle, gave me 2 bucks back.
great customer service.
8)

the whole deal wiped me out.  i can't believe how tired i was last night.
so, i went to bed around 8ish.  but woke up around 2ish, with a huge headache.
like a spike thru my brain headache! 
figured i was dehydrated, so i drank a bunch of water, took some motrin,
swigged a little nyquil to put me out, and stumbled back to bed.
feel much better now.

and from a woosite: http://www.urbansurvival.com/week.htm
"But the BIG day for the market (other than Wednesday reaction to the election outcome) will be Friday when the unemployment, hourly earnings, and consumer debt are all tabled for your number crunching/dining pleasure."
/sigh

ever wonder about how to filter the wheat from the chaffe on the webtube?
i do.
there was an idea called "the semantic web" i remember reading about,
but i don't think anything ever came from it.  twas a good idea.
the web is fun, lots to entertain, lots to inform, lots to filter out.
and now that viral advertising and other shtuff is blurring the line betwixt "reality" and "cinemality"
it's becoming more important to have tools to filter "entertainment" from "news".
googlers: get on that, plz.

goodnite & good luck,
t

happy halloween!

hoping you all get more treats than tricks...


economy: don't panic, all is well (um, at least so far this morning).

reading: Finn Mac Cool...

pirates: had dinner with Spin last night, good talks.

soccer: kids start tryouts next week.

sex: yes, please!  (no, haven't had any)

twenty banks getting the hot cash injections

um, dayum !!!

- - - from reuters factbox: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idINN2837471720081028
 

 Oct 28 (Reuters) - Twenty U.S. banks have signed up for the
 government's offer of a cash injection, in addition to the nine
that joined the program initially. The injections are a bid to
revive the sector, which has suffered since lending has dried
up and many loans have gone bad.

 The U.S. Treasury Department plans to provide funds for 20
to 22 lenders in the current round of the $250 billion bank
recapitalization program.

 Nine of the largest U.S. banks said they will receive the
first $125 billion of capital infusions two weeks ago:

 Bank of America (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)/Merrill Lynch (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $25 billion

 Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                               $25 billion

 JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                   $25 billion

 Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                      $25 billion

 Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                         $10 billion

 Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                    $10 billion

 Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)           $3 billion

 State Street Corp (STT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                     $2 billion

 Since Oct. 24, the following banks have said they will take
part in the program:

 PNC Financial Services Group Inc (PNC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)    $7.7 billion

 Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)          $3.55 billion

 Regions Financial Corp (RF.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)               $3.5 billion

 SunTrust Banks Inc (STI.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                  $3.5 billion

 Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                $3.45 billion

 BB&T Corp (BBT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                           $3.1 billion

 KeyCorp (KEY.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                             $2.5 billion

 Comerica (CMA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                            $2.25 billion

 Northern Trust Corp (NTRS.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                $1.5 billion

 Huntington Bancshares (HBAN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)              $1.4 billion

 Zions Bancorp (ZION.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                      $1.4 billion

 First Horizon National Corp (FHN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)         $866 million

 City National Corp (CYN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                  $395 million

 Valley National Bancorp (VLY.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)             $330 million

 UCBH Holdings Inc (UCBH.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                  $298 million

 Umpqua Holdings Corp (UMPQ.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)               $214 million

 Washington Federal (WFSL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                 $200 million

 First Niagara Financial Group (FNFG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)      $186 million

 HF Financial Corp (HFFC.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                  $25 million

 Bank of Commerce (BOCH.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)                   $17 million

 NOTE: Old National Bancorp (ONB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it has won
 preliminary approval for $150 million but has not decided
whether to participate. Provident Bankshares Corp, the parent
of Baltimore-based Provident Bank, also said it has been given
preliminary approval but has not decided whether to
 participate.

 West Bancorp (WTBA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Friday it was seeking
 shareholder approval to raise between $12 million and $36
million under the Treasury program.

 FirstMerit Corp (FMER.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday it was deciding
 whether to participate. Paul Greig, chief executive, said he
expects the Treasury's investment in FirstMerit would be $80
million to $250 million. Sterling Bancshares (SBIB.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) also said
 it was considering participating in the program.

- - -

where do i sign up ???
:-/

hello everyone, my name is Tee, and i'm a wingnut...

:)
yes, i was just sitting here at work, and i figured it all out;  my life.
i'm a wingnut.

i sit out here in the fringe, and i read articles about ghosts, and ufos, and rothschilds causing the collapse of amerika...
and i giggle, and grin, and love every minute of it.
i send emails to friends about shtuff like that too.

and i swear, if i was drinking some guiness, i might get up and speechify about it.
maybe.
;)

abby normal, yep, that's me.
might have to start a new blog...
:P

strange dreams, stranger reality...

so, i had some strange dreams over the weekend, didn't really sleep very well.
the one with the most vivid picture, was of a mob or riot out in front of my house.
8-O

seems like i was waking up all weekend... :(

and reality?
hrm, most of the world seems to be melting down economically: http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/27/markets/world_markets/?postversion=2008102714
from something our country is being blamed for: the housing bubble bursting?  the hedge fund shtuff?  the bailout?  all of the above?

will the President's Working Group on Financial Markets save us?  or just prop it up with a fish and a stick?
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/manipulation.php

oh, and i saw W. on friday.  it was fun.  it was scary.  it was long. 
i think Laura should write a "tell-all" later on...
;)

all in all, i'm glad the mothership didn't come to "alabama" and save us on the 14th...
:P

me reminding myself

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for
people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

-Noam Chomsky

Mr. Bean?

"This is a once in a lifetime crisis, and possibly the largest financial crisis of its kind in human history,"
Bean told the Scarborough Evening News.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081024/bs_nm/us_financial5_150

sorry, that just made me laugh!

how to remove fluoride from drinking water

on about.com:
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/a/removefluoride.htm

gasp! phoenix was fluoridated starting in 1989

excerpt from here: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119997460/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

- - -

On January 31, 1989, the city council of Phoenix, Arizona, voted to approve water fluoridation. Despite a small number of campaign participants and a limited budget, profluoridationists launched a successful 16-month effort that included novel marketing techniques, intensive collaboration with media representatives, and an aggressive challenge of the antifluoridation movement. Public support was garnered through an advisory petition effort and positive media coverage; political support resulted from a carefully orchestrated educational strategy that included expert testimony and comprehensive reference materials. With a population of approximately 1 million people, Phoenix is the ninth largest city in the country and, until the measure was implemented, the third largest nonfluoridated city.

X(

fluoride & the pineal gland

this really isn't wooist material, it's some serious scientific research, from what i can tell:

http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/pineal/
http://www.fluoridealert.org/fluoride-statement.htm

just do a google on it: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=fluoride+%2B+%22pineal+gland%22&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

scary.

The Superior Man, The Way, and Other Stuff

reading a book, several actually, but this one is bugging the hell outta me.
i'm finding it really hard to read more than a chapter at a time (short chapters actually),
becuz i get upset with what the author is saying...

The Way of the Superior Man
A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire
by David Deida

first a little background: i've never understood women, not my wife, not any of my girlfriends, not my teenage daughter.
i accepted that as a given.  and i embraced a quote from The Last of the Mohicans movie:
(actually it's a scene)
Hawkeye: My father warned me about you...
Cora: Your Father?
Hawkeye: Chingachgook, he warned me about people like you.
Cora: Oh, did he?
Hawkeye: He said "Do not try to understand them".
Cora: what?
Hawkeye: yes, and, "do not try to make them understand you. That is because they are a breed apart and make no sense".

* it seemed like a good philosophy for men, concerning women...
:)

second, one of the concepts in the book is that there are masculine and feminine traits,
manifesting in both the male and the female, meaning you can have masculine males and females,
and feminine males and females.  and somehow attractiveness of one for the other depends on that, i guess?
maybe i'm getting that part wrong, but i didn't quite get that. 
ie. conan isn't attracted to the princess, he likes the warrior chicks.
(but maybe that's just my interpretation)

third, after reading a few chapters, i got the impression (which became a bias), that he wrote this book for chicks,
so they can wave it at their man, and say "see?!!  yer supposed to act like this!"
(actually my bias goes further; he wrote it for the women who read romance novels, and want their man to act like the guy on the cover).

so, i've started taking a very cynical view of the book, as you can see.
i mean, i get the part where he's saying we should all be true to our core purpose.
but he kinda alludes to the idea that if you don't know your core purpose yer wasting yer life.

and i completely and selfishly disagree!  ever try to find out your "lifes true calling" ?
it's a fucking painful process!  and the entire time, you have a life to live, a job to do, and perhaps a family to raise.
i think someone once said "when my true calling comes, i'll do that, until then, i'll do what i have to do..."
not everyone has the luxury to seek out their calling, or have it tap them on the shoulder when they're hanging out at the maltshop.

there are other concepts in the book that are bugging me, like "the masculine penetrates the world", and "the feminine nurtures the hearth",
or that a woman complains in order to "test" your ability to stay focused on your purpose...  but i'll just leave those alone for a bit.
i'm not even halfway thru the book, lol.

to me, male & female are two halves of a whole, shiva & shakti.
we switch top & bottom, lead & follow, very much the living yin & yang...
we are truly the sun & the moon, interacting yet never understanding.
it seems simple.  to me.

*yawn* - it's getting late.  too late for these thoughts.  big glass of wine too.  kinda losing my thread, lol.

finally:
i've been alone.  i've been in relationships, good & bad.  i have old & new friends.  i have family and children.
i try to stay centered, to provide for those i'm with and responsible for, to laugh and love and care for.
occasionally i fall off center, and do or say things that hurt those i love, after i try to make amends.
i hope that is enough.

don't panic.
all is well.
peace be with you.

interesting...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4047592

this is just a marker, so i know when i read about "an economic tipping point".

in short, i read alot of strange crap, online & in books.  (someone called it "that woowoo shit" once, a good term).
i've always been fascinated by "fringe ideas", and i guess it's my way of getting a cheap thrill.
i don't watch alot of tv, or horror films, so i guess i can be forgiven for this, yes?

so, this morning, i happened on the term "economic tipping point" on urbansurvival dot com.
basically, it's the point when a recession tips into a depression, due to consumers saving instead of spending.
and the author, george, is surmizing that the mainstream media isn't covering it yet,
and the gov't isn't talking about it, hoping it will go away.

on another note, over the weekend i took the twins and my stepson to breakfast with my parents.
it was pretty good, other than the normal modification of my own behavior, which happens on these occasions.
they had gone to D.C. for a Navy reunion, and had lotsa pictures and brochures from the sites.
very cool stuff.  my favorite picture is of Audie Murphy's gravestone.

and some pertinent advice from my dad, on the economy: "don't be scared, look for opportunity".
smart man, my dad.
;)

off to work...

it's a slideshow:
http://www.forbes.com/2007/05/03/overpaid-bosses-ceos-lead-07ceo-cx_sd_0503overpaidceo_slide_2.html?boxes=custom

big paychecks article:
http://www.forbes.com/2007/05/03/ceo-executive-compensation-lead-07ceo-cx_sd_0503ceocompensationintro.html

just fyi, i'm kinda curious about what the fatcats made...

http://finance.yahoo.com/futures?t=metals

first,
understand the VIXs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIX
then,
look at the quote: http://finance.yahoo.com/lookup?s=VIX

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
and an article:
http://nymag.com/news/features/51170/

the final debate last night

i almost posted last night, cuz i was pissed...

it wasn't the debate that irritated me, i enjoyed it, both candidates were fairly wellspoken, hit key points, etc.
it wasn't even the neverending references to joe the plumber. 

it was that i watched the debate on fox news.

and they have this talking-head; shepard smith - who is the biggest tool i've ever seen.
his comments and snide manner, after the debate, totally pissed me off.
last night, i used alotta foul language, and many bad wishes were thrown his way.

this morning, eh, i don't care to do that.
but i do hope someone smacks his smarmy face.
hard.  the shmuck.