INTERESTING: Mark Steyn argues financial collapse

Sunday, August 28, 2011

http://www.booktv.org/Program/12751/quotAfter+America+Get+Ready+For+Armageddonquot.aspx

“After America: Get Ready For Armageddon”
Mark Steyn

About the Program

Mark Steyn argues that the United States is destined for financial collapse and a decline in its role as a world leader if current political and cultural norms continue. The author contends that American debt has placed the country in a precarious position and that regulation and lack of innovation have become hallmarks of the country’s business climate. Mark Steyn speaks at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Political Library at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.

About the Authors

Mark Steyn is a syndicated columnist, whose writing has appeared in several publications, including the National Review, The Irish Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Steyn is the author of America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It. For more information, visit steynonline.com.

Future Airings

Sunday, September 4th at 3pm (ET)

Monday, September 5th at 10:45am (ET)

Monday, September 5th at 10:45pm (ET)

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In an attempt to escape the non-stop Irene-o-blab-a-thon, I dvr-ed anything that looked interesting. This show was pretty good and assumption challenging. FWIW

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POLITICAL: ConEd’s electrical infrastructure

Sunday, August 28, 2011

FROM THE DRUDGE REPORT

*** begin quote ***

BLOOMBERG PULLS TRIGGER: ORDERS 370,000 TO FLEE…
Staying behind ‘is against the law’…
Might shut off power in low-lying areas…
RESIDENTS IGNORE MAYOR’S ORDER…

*** end quote ***

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This caught my eye by implying that Bloomberg was going to shut down the power. I thought: “Who’s he to insert himself between ConEd and their Customers?”

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http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/con_city_warns_of_power_cutoff_as_4mYxvuBCisJTm06rBaBnLJ

City braces for Irene’s arrival: Transit shut down, some power could be cut
By CANDICE M. GIOVE, DAVID SEIFMAN and WILSON DIZARD
Last Updated: 5:15 PM, August 27, 2011
Posted: 11:36 AM, August 27, 2011

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Meanwhile, Con Edison considered zapping power to lower Manhattan starting sometime tomorrow at 2 a.m. and 10 a.m. – leaving lights out for up to three days.

Con Ed feared that flooding salt water would ruin and short out two underground networks.

“If salt water gets on these cables when they are being used the damage is substantial,” Mayor Bloomberg said.

*** end quote ***

Pretty sad statement about the ConEd electrical infrastructure.

Has to be because it’s a “regulated” monopoly?

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GUNS: Gun owners must be extra aware of the law

Saturday, August 27, 2011

http://www.gazette.com/articles/jury-123946-burglar-lot.html#ixzz1WAJvzqf5

Burglar’s family awarded $300,000 in wrongful death suit
August 26, 2011 12:13 PM
LANCE BENZEL
THE GAZETTE

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An El Paso County jury on Friday awarded nearly $300,000 to the daughter of a burglar who was fatally shot in 2009 while breaking into an auto lot.

*** end quote ***

“Make my day” law?

Sounds too good to be true.

But, there’s a fine balance to be found here.

Druggies stealing the stereos get the death penalty?

That’s over the top.

But what were the donut eaters doing for these businessmen? Taking reports.

If we ended the “(pseudo) War on (some) Drugs” then theft probably wouldn’t necessary to support a habit.

All signs point at the stupidity of the diktats of the politicians and bureaucrats!

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RANT: Irene is real or hype?

Saturday, August 27, 2011

What is a “mandatory” diktat?

If the bozo refuses to evac, then they have to be aware that there’s not any help coming if the need it.

Politicians, may — although I doubt it — have the best of intentions, “strongly advise”, but “order”.

Argh!

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MONEY: Savings Bonds?

Saturday, August 27, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/19/opinion/save-the-savings-bond.html

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Save the Savings Bond
By FRED T. GOLDBERG Jr. and PETER TUFANO
Published: August 18, 2011

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FOR generations of children, the idea of saving first became real when a savings bond landed in a birthday or holiday card, the image of a famous American staring out from the elaborate, earth-tone etching on a stately certificate. These fond memories may explain why this year nearly 50,000 Americans — the vast majority of them modest wage-earners — decided, under a new I.R.S. policy, to buy savings bonds with a portion of their precious tax refunds.

*** end quote ***

sorry but if I was buing for a youth, I’d buy a bullion coin.

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ADMINISTRIVIA: I’m giving (gave) a bag of platelets today

Friday, August 26, 2011

With all the talking heads talking about the storm, no one has mentioned blood supplies.

When ever Frau Reinke needed some, it was there. Even during a snow storm twice. She needed it and someone had donated it.

Thanks to those people, she survived as long as she did.

Now you know this stuff is perishable. And, you know it doesn’t grow on trees … yet. (They are working on some genetically egnineered stuff. But it ain’t here yet.)

So, in the words of a long lost injineering prof: “You’re probably not too stupid to bleed correctly. Go prove me wrong. Class dismissed.”

(The stupidity started immediately after donation down at the local tavern — Greenleaf. Although there was substantial support for the Pinewood. Greenleaf was closer. Ahh to be young again, maybe I should have went the extra mile — probably only 250 feet. But why waste time.)

So what’s your excuse!

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Update:

I survived. They took two bags. ~700+ ml. Guess that will make three bag full for some needy soul or souls.

Makes “my” debt 72 bags. :-)

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WRITING: The 1957 Hungarian Pie Plate (an index card novel)

Friday, August 26, 2011

The 1957 Hungarian Pie Plate

Dearest Emily,

Miss you. Love you. Be back soon.

Well, as soon as I get the travel permits. I have so much to tell you.

Grand cousin’s estate is now settled here. It was very simple as expected. The family will now know what he was doing for the last 35 years. The weirdo was inventing. It turns out he was instrumental in Vermont Independence. Sounds a little Communistic but he’s a “Hero of the Revolution”. There are a lot, but his speciifcally has ribbons and clusters that I do understand. Nor remember. I’m told its among the highest.

The arrival was interesting. Crossing the border on our side, I had to <***** REDACTED BY HOMELAND SECURITY *****> but once on the other side all I had to do was lick my thumb, press a button, my picture was taken, and the machine dispensed the equivalent of our green card. Their’s is gold, issued by an insurance company, and acts as a real time credit card. Cousin guaranteed the whole family. So it also issued me some various denomination paper and gold coins. If allowed, I’ll bring some home for you to see. <***** WARNING BY HOMELAND SECURITY — foreign money may not be imported; it’s taxed at 100% *****> We should all come for a visit if we can get permits. <***** WARNING BY HOMELAND SECURITY — entire families are not permitted out of the country together *****>

Cousin invented a novel solution. Remember he was always concerned about what would happen if New Hampshire succeeded? Would the Federal Government roll tanks? Of course, the answer was yes. We know how well that worked out. <***** REDACTED BY HOMELAND SECURITY *****> He invented a distributed solution and wrote an IPAD app for it. Basically, the app was like FourSquare where “friends” voted on picture. Threat or no threat? No one is sure where the app is hosted or how it runs, but if enough votes are cast, this think called a “turtle” drops in and soon after things start to appear. Most common is what the natives call “pie plates”. They come in like frisbees. If a tank rolls over them, bang. One less tank. Any attempt to move them, bang. People can step on them; cars can drive over them. They are targeted on the tank. Should the tank fire on and destroy the turtle. One on the pie plates morphs into a turtle. Once targeted, most tank crews abandon the tanks and walk back to the border. Never did find out how the local got rid of these road blocks. They are all over the state on almost every road.

Cousin had a bunch of other inventions — the P51 Mosquito that would do the same thing to something flying, the Red Baron Butterfly that would protect people, and the 1911 R2D2 that would attack troops with a 10 shot 45 cal hand gun. All controlled from the same app. <***** WARNING BY HOMELAND SECURITY — non approved material is not importable – for your own safety *****>

He’s famous here and infamous on our side.

As you know they have no patents here, but some how his company, no corporations here either, is very profitable. It’s invented a solar power unicycle that is quite fun. I’ll bring one home.

If it wasn’t for my love for you, I’d stay. Be home soon. Waiting on approvals and reeducation.

All my love,
Ricardo

p.s., Cousin would be so pleased. Ferdinand and Ferdinanina are now a very popular name for children here. He got his wish — namesakes.

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INSPIRATIONAL: West Point’s code

Thursday, August 25, 2011

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903327904576524680928198272.html

MAIN STREETAUGUST 22, 2011, 11:09 P.M. ET
Duty, Honor, Football
What West Point could teach Miami.

*** begin quote ***

The ingredients of Miami’s vices—the nightclubs, the prostitutes, the yachts—make it far juicier than the typical pay-for-play. The scandal here is not that teenage football players behave badly when a wealthy benefactor indulges their every appetite. The scandal is what it says about the impoverished sense of community on our college and university campuses, and the fecklessness of those who know better.

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Time for the NCAA to admit it’s all about the Benjamins and drop the pretense of “amateur”. But then what do we accept bad conduct from our politicians?

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TECHNOLOGY: The hidden meaning of pronouns

Thursday, August 25, 2011

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-language-code

Mind Matters | Mind & Brain
The Secret Language Code
Psychologist James Pennebaker reveals the hidden meaning of pronouns
By Gareth Cook | August 16, 2011 | 5

*** begin quote ***

These differences hold up across written and spoken language and most other languages that we have studied. You can’t help but marvel at the fact that we are all bombarded by words from women and men every day of our lives and most of us have never “heard” these sex differences in language. Part of the problem is that our brains aren’t wired to listen to pronouns, articles, prepositions, and other “junk” words. When we listen to another person, we typically focus on what they are saying rather than how they are saying it.

Men and women use language differently because they negotiate their worlds differently. Across dozens and dozens of studies, women tend to talk more about other human beings. Men, on the other hand, are more interested in concrete objects and things. To talk about human relationships requires social and cognitive words. To talk about concrete objects, you need concrete nouns which typically demand the use of articles.

No matter what your sex, if you have to explain that Sally is leaving her husband because of her new lover, you have to make references to all the actors and you have to do some fairly complex cognitive analyses. If you have to explain why your carburetor in your car is broken, your causal analysis will likely be relatively pallid and will involve referring to concrete nouns.

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So where is the website that analyzes my emails and tells me what a wack job I am? I can use the dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) to figure out how to get from here to there.

Argh!

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POLITICAL: Churches are an off-shoot of the Gooferment

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

http://dumpdc.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/%E2%80%9Ccome-out-of-her-my-people%E2%80%9D/

“Come Out Of Her, My People”
by Chuck Baldwin

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(Editor’s Note: I wrote the article “Who Should Be The State’s Mortal Enemy? about this very subject. Chuck, a pastor in Montana, frames the subject in more religious terms than I did. If you like a good sermon, read on.)

It is no hyperbole to say that the vast majority of today’s churches do not remotely resemble the New Testament pattern. In the first place, the Church was never intended to be a government corporation! Yet, that is exactly what every 501c3 non-profit “religious” organization is: it is a government-created corporation. In the eyes of the government, pastors, elders, and deacons are not pastors, elders, and deacons; they are corporate officers. And put to the test, virtually any and all of these so-called “pastors,” “elders,” and “deacons,” will confirm that they are corporate officers. So, right out of the gate we must understand that we are dealing with government corporations and corporate officers, not with New Testament churches, pastors, elders, and deacons.

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The Gooferment absorbs everything.

The Golden Rule tells you who’s running the show.

That tax exemption moderates what and how criticism is leveled at the “churches”

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