Passing Time...

And, November 5th, 2010, 3:30pm passes by with a small sigh of relief...

-_-

 

Prof. Kotlikoff says

14-fold higher?!?!?!?!?  wut wut WUT???

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/neil-reynolds/the-scary-actual-us-government-debt/article1773879/

 

night of the living fed, haha!

"Capitalism has been manipulated far more, and more dangerously, by the last two Republican-appointed Fed bosses than everything else added together," Grantham added. "It is naive, if fashionable, to blame the rather current lame Administration for all of our problems. They inherited a cake already baked, or better, 'half-baked,' and the master bakers were the current and former Fed bosses."

 

from this interestingly titled article:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-zombies-hungry-for-quantitative-easing-2010-10-26

;)

 

clinging to the shore

well, life takes interesting twists and turns, much like a river...

 

there are people we connect with, seems like instantly,

and sometimes we have the pleasure of spending significant time with them.

they become part of us, and hopefully we become part of them.

and like all things, this too passes.

 

the parting hurts a bit, sometimes a bit more than we like.

but i suppose it depends on our attitude, if we accept that all things end,

and if we don't struggle and fight against the current, it can be easier.

 

but, i don't think it's in our nature to peacefully let go.

we cling, we struggle, we kick and fight and scream.

just our nature, or maybe my nature ;)

 

eventually, we let go, or are carried off, and the river sweeps us on down it's path.

and if we are lucky, we bump into the shore again, and get to spend some time.

i haven't quite got to the space where i completely trust the river.

 

but i'm working on it.

;)

 

some quotes from the buddha

started looking for good quotes on love, and this played on my heartstrings:

"It is wrong to think that love comes from long
companionship and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of
spiritual affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment, it
will not be created for years or even generations."
~ Kahlil Gibran

- - -

then i started looking for quotes from the buddha, and these made me smile:

"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."

"Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity."

"Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it."

"What we think, we become."

"When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky"

. . .

peace...
-_-

PETscan results

picked up my results today, without getting into the medical language, it looks like i'm all clear.

probly should wait to hear from my doctor, but seems like good news.

:)

 

PETscan

just got to work after my petscan, this morning...

and i am Starving!  lol.

 

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

 

basically, they told me to eat a hi protein, lo carb "last" meal. 

( i had steak, salmon, and broccoli at lonestar )

and then fast this morning.  i thought they said not to drink any water, so i didn't.

but they gave me some when i got there this morning, as i guess it's ok.

 

so, i show up early, read until the appt time, sign in, and was treated very well by the staff at Az Molecular.

David was very nice, and explained how everything would go, then he took some blood for a sugartest.

and after that he injected me with some radioactive sugar...

( apparently cancer cells love that shit )

 

then, i had to "rest" for an hour, while the sugar uptake process occurred thru-out my body.

not being allowed to read my book was a bit difficult, as i was supposed to try to be very quiet and still.

reading apparently works out our facial muscles, and that might skew the sugar uptake.  ( who knew? )

 

so, after I was told to pee ( gotta be empty ), changed into some scrubpants, and a few more minutes of rest,

David came and took me to the scanning room.  I had him put KUPD on the radio, WWBD was on, but i dint pay much attention.

then I mounted the very narrow table, and David strapped my arms to my sides, and threw a nice warm blanket over me.

he also put some spacers around my head, so i wouldn't move too much, then he said "cya in a bit", and left.

 

The machine is quietly humming.  The radio is playing, but I'm not listening.  I'm quieting my body and my mind.

I'm not claustrophobic actually, until someone straps me to a table under a big humming machine, then i am.

Just a little bit...

;)

 

So, twenty minutes later, after a lot of sliding back and forth, and trying not to move or itch, I was free again.

It's a funny thing, when you know it's done, and it's soooo quiet, and you know someone is coming soon.

"don't forget me!"  "hurry!"  "gaaaah!  untie me arms!"  all ran thru my head... lol.

but, David didn't forget, and his smile looked like he read my mind, and he got me off the table quick-like.

and I thanked him with a foolish smile.

 

Another thing, right?

It's just another thing.

And it's just another day beginning...

 

surgery

well, long story short:
went to the doctor on tuesday, after 2 weeks of antibiotics for my throat.
she sent me down to the E.N.T. guy, and he looked in my throat and said:
"oh, that has to come out, this week". 
so, i went in for surgery on thursday.
he took out the growth and most of my left tonsil...
saturday he called, and after a little phonetag i got hold of him.
he said it was cancerous, but he was pretty sure he got all of it out.
i'm not in any pain, and actually feel great.

but, i have to start going in for tests soon.
an interesting twist...
:-/

doublethink...

"he who controls the past, controls the future.  he who controls the present, controls the past" - 1984

 

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/charting-statistical-fraud-bls-22-out-23-consecutive-upward-revisions-initial-jobless-claims

 

Watching BP

it's frightening to see how this BP situation started: washington's blog

and even more sphincter-tightening to listen to Clif from HPH talk about in on Rense...

 

i wonder what the live feeds will show as TS Bonnie comes into play?

:-/

 

is there really a blackout on the gulf disaster?

i see mentioned in this article, that there is now a news blackout on the gulf disaster?

dunno if that's true, but if so, we are in some serious shit.

E.L.E. type stuff maybe?

 

X(

 

no love for the refs.

i suppose all highly visible events get some kind of controversy...

and this worldcup is no exception.

no love for the refs and their difficult job.

 

calls by refs have been making huge impacts in the worldcup games.

usa had it's fair share, or maybe a bit more.

england had it's comeback goal unfairly taken away.

ireland would have qualified, instead of the shameful french.

 

watching these games, it became more than obvious to the world

that the current 1 center, 2 linesmen fifa setup is horribly inadequate.

 

just 1 ref in the booth, with a 5 second replay window to review,

mic'd into the other 3 would fix it.

their sole duty to review and advise, not overrule.

 

hey fifa, get with the technology of the times.

this would help the game, not hinder it.

nor would it make it less beautiful.

 

the beautiful goal

i haven't posted my jubilation on facebook.

i haven't posted here.

i haven't called all my soccer buddies and gloried in the beautiful goal.

 

but, i'm smiling.

:)

 

and my throat hurts a bit...

lol.

Killing the World

so, is it morbidly funny to watch BP bumble thru their handling of the gulf crisis?

 

i guess it is, in the same way watching the Stooges perform openheart surgery on me, live, would be...

somehow, the pres pointing gun fingers at anyone, bothers me.

blame is a useless game.

 

how long will they let the stooges fumble the ball,

before they step in and do something to end this fiasco?

they both are, in fact, killing the world.

 

:-(

belief

there are things, true or not, that it is good to believe in:
honesty, equality, fidelity, self-protection, protecting the weak, resisting tyranny...
these are just some of the concepts that help us to be a good person in our community.
we were given a body, brain, and breath; use them to achieve good things.
we were given a garden to live in; protect it, and make it beautiful.

 

Spill, Baby, Spill

gawd, this looks crazy awful...

might get bigger than The Deez?

 

yikes!

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/apr/29/deepwater-horizon-oil-slick-us-coast

 

what's next?

offbeat ideas running in my head this morning...

 

i'm reading Caribbean, by Michener, currently.

and i'm in the chapters dealing with the sugar trade,

and how battles were fought between France and England over it.

 

prior to sugar, gold & silver made Spain rich.

and the Dutch and English fought with them over those riches.

 

in the recent past, oil has made certain countries rich.

and certain countries have been fighting over those riches.

 

so, what's next?

and who will fight over its control?

:|

 

i'm sure there are other examples of economic wars,

just citing the ones that spurred my thoughts.

 

(oh, and i'm also reading The Dome, by King - no discussion)

market watch? or death watch?

wow, check out this article @ marketwatch:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mighty-americas-5-stages-of-rapid-decline-2010-04-06?pagenumber=1

 

interesting final line.

;)

 

patients...

my numbering scheme began at zero...

and i think we are up to 4 or 5.

 

and i think i don't wanna track these anymore.

it saddens me. 

:(

 

desperate times are upon us.

: |

 

my heart is aching for the people.

those who are lost and wandering in the wastes.

and those who think it's important to just keep doing their soulless jobs...

 

please remember history and do not rewrite the tragedies.

find the path with heart, brothers and sisters.

 

patient one?

i remember george at urbansurvival.com talking about patient one (zero?) the other day...

don't think he posted about this patient one (2?) yet: john patrick bedell.

:(

 

Yikes! i thought i was pessimistic

dr. doom?  wonder what kindof research this marc faber does?

interesting that he "predicted" the crash of '87, and the current economic turmoil, tho...

 

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article7035913.ece

 

guess i need to do some more reading and practice my doomsayer-ese...

;)

 

where am i? where are you?

is our cellphone tracking us?

yes, it is: http://www.newsweek.com/id/233916

 

of particular note:

...some Michigan cops who, purportedly concerned about a possible "riot,"

pressed another telecom for information on all the cell phones that were

congregating in an area where a labor-union protest was expected.

 

technology is wunderbar, no ?

 

patient zero

interesting comment from george over at urbansurvival.com,
he called joe stack "patient one" of a new epidemic...
( i think he meant patient zero, actually, but i may be wrong )

not sure what to think of the whole media circus show on this.
i know alot of ppl probly share his frustration, if not his anger...
:-/

good words

i liked what the Pres said last night.
but the partisan reaction within the chambers was disappointing.
seems that the career politicians in that room didn't like what was said.

those chambers were filled with a majority of lawyers.
and there are a large number of millionaires within both house & senate.
both of those facts have recently disturbed me.

they are out of touch with We The People.
i hope they know that We Are Watching.
and when they disrespectfully filed out at the end, i got a little pissed.

i'm glad he put the S.C. and the J.C. on the line.
they didn't like it one bit, and i think the judges showed some fear.
the military wouldn't ever show it, even if they were puckering.

the words were good.
what will their effect be?
change? or more of the same?

wake up, ye giants, wake.
:|

what is accomplished ?

ok, this might appear, at first blush, to be a very pessimistic post... it's not.

it's a call to action.

 

first, this is not in any way pointed at anyone who i know, read, or watch on the teevee.

 

now, i ask: what is accomplished by writing a blog?

not much i suppose, if it's simply me being snarky about my life, my work, my neighbors...

but, if i'm entertaining, and i write adequately, that in itself may brighten someones life, somewhere.

that's a good thing, right?  i agree.  it is.

 

but, what if i have greater ambitions?

like, i want to write a book, and not hassle with publishers, and book tours, and such.

that, would be even better, maybe? 

 

and, if i have even more ambition, what if i want to influence a great many people?

that i want my ideas of how to create a wonderful community, and how to build your house to be energy efficient.

or i want everyone to go out and work in their own garden?  or just talk with their neighbors over the fence?

how would i do all that?

would i blog?

i dunno.

 

would you?

 

ok, i admit.  i'm not that ambitious.

but, Buckminster Fuller was...

;)

 

gotcha!

Rainy Monday

it's raining!  the desert flora & fauna rejoice!  it's a holiday!  the office flora & fauna rejoice!
or something, something, something...

yes, i'm happy.  giddy even.
has to do with a wonderful friday evening watching movies.
well, there's lots more to it, but let's just keep it at that...
( to use an eff-word: i'm pheeling phreakin-phantastic )
:)


so, back to the rain.  apparently there are a series of storms coming from el nino.
( george at urbansurvival.com had the link, go see him for it )
this is probly not-so-good news for the rest of the country, but i like it.
of course, it would be perfect to spend a rainy holiday in bed,
but it's just cozy to hang out at the computer, reading blogs, too.

on the international news front: there is all kinds of bad stuff happening.
i'm sure some good things are too, but they don't sell papers, right?
oh wait, nobody even buys newspapers anymore, according to the web pundits.
everyones favorite gynormous-talking-head; sarahpalin; has a new gig too.
she has joined the ranks of pundits as well.  /yawn

so, um, looking over the google news page, i don't see anything else to snark at.
there's some politics, and some movie stuff, and some sports too.
oh, and there is some kinda chocolate corpwar going on, better not affect my supply.
cuz then i know i'm gonna get pissed, and vote with my wallet, or something.

and haiti.
i don't mean to make light of that tragedy.
that's serious.  and sad.  and getting more tragic, serious, and sad daily...
but i can't look at it.
:(


and in closing, a quote on friendship: ( which i think applies to love as well )
Friendship with oneself is all-important because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

peace.

yikers, more doom & gloom? or simply: truth?

this article damaged my calm: http://seekingalpha.com/article/182072-here-comes-the-double-dip-recession

not that i did any fact-checking on it, too shocked...

 

but, yikers!

3 things popped my eyes a bit:

• banks are hiding trillions of dollars of bad debt on their books (and can until sold)
• very little lending was done by banks to strengthen the economy (wasn't there a gov't mandate?)
• the residential mortgage meltdown may just be a trickle to the flood of commercial (still coming)

 

and i'm not even gonna talk about the unemployment numbers, except to say: phantasy.

 

banksters, mortgages, and corpgov, oh my!  ( i might cry )

:(

 

 

yes, Haiti.

heartrenching.  no words.

:'((

 

wanna live a better life?

wow.  it seems that men have been right all along...

seriously! 

 

wanna live a better life?

be happy?  lose weight?  stop smoking?

just have more sex.

 

really!  i swear!

look here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/07/sex.health.benefits/

 

so, get busy!

;)

 

twenty ten

2010 - has a nice ring to it, eh?
feels good saying it...

but then i'm having all kinds of good feelings lately.
a kindof bliss has taken hold.

nothing weird.
just wonderful.

:)

already moved mine

i love this idea: move your money...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/move-your-money-a-new-yea_b_406022.html

 

already moved mine.

;)

 

Change

Things are changing, slowly.
It has to be good, right?
Yes, I think so...

And i met someone.
:)

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#

 

Inspiration

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!
:)

Bill Maher does NOT want to be "The Vaccine Guy"

funny stuff, insightful too...

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

:)

 

Bill Maher: Vaccination

 

237 ? - Two Hundred and Thirty Seven ?!?!?

this makes me an angry panda...

 

237 millionaires in Congress

 

more pumpkins!

lol, this is wonderful!

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

Hallowe'en

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.

new simpsons character

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#

 

office humor

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...
>:(

oh i love this quote!

"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...
;)