INTERESTING: Life after basketball “fame”

Thursday, April 1, 2010

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20100401_The_1985_Wildcats__Where_are_the_champs_now_.html?viewAll=y

Posted on Thu, Apr. 1, 2010
The 1985 Wildcats: Where are the champs now?
Compiled by Pat Maguire and Anthony Machcinski
Inquirer Staff Writers

*** begin quote ***

Villanova’s stunning 66-64 win over Georgetown for the NCAA basketball championship took place exactly 25 years ago.

*** end quote ***

While most are dithering through life, or prattling about April Fool jokes, here’s some wisdom — life goes on. I found it because of a modest “manhattan college” connection. But in reading it, it gave me a sense of “continuity”. Well written. Only apparently one man’s life was a “train wreck”. One was unfindable. And, everyone else made their way. Is it always like that? In those proportions. Throughout history, do we all “labor in the vineyard” and pass namelessly away without much of a splash?

Sadly seems so.

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INTERESTING: Better to walk a human?

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/the-best-walking-partner-man-vs-dog/

December 14, 2009, 12:27 pm
The Best Walking Partner: Man vs. Dog
By TARA PARKER-POPE

*** begin quote ***

Is it better to walk a human or to walk a dog?

New research from the University of Missouri has found that people who walk dogs are more consistent about regular exercise and show more improvement in fitness than people who walk with a human companion. In a 12-week study of 54 older adults at an assisted living home, 35 people were assigned to a walking program for five days a week, while the remaining 19 served as a control group. Among the walkers, 23 selected a friend or spouse to serve as a regular walking partner along a trail laid out near the home. Another 12 participants took a bus daily to a local animal shelter where they were assigned a dog to walk.

*** end quote ***

With very surprising results.

Unless you’re a student of human nature!

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INTERESTING: Two views; we need the third

Saturday, March 27, 2010

http://www.bspcn.com/2010/03/23/no-to-socialism/

*** begin quote ***

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock, powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department of Energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watch this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time as regulated by the US Congress, and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads built by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank. On the way out the door, I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After work, I drive my NHTSA bar back home on DOT roads, to a house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.

I then log on to the internet which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post of FreeRepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right.

*** end quote ***

http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/Mises-Economics-Blog/2010/0326/Samizdat-The-Libertarian-alarm-clock

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   “This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock built by the ingenuity of millions of individuals all working for their own gain, but whose efforts were coordinated by the prices for labor and materials and finished goods provided by the free market. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the shower head, pipes, and sanitation facilities whose construction also involved the efforts of thousands of people acting in their independent interest. After that, I turned on the TV to The Weather Channel, whose owners include one of the largest multi-national corporations and private equity companies, to see the week’s forecast presented in a clear, informative (and even entertaining) manner. I watched this while eating breakfast of General Mills’ inspected food and taking drugs whose strong brand name gives me confidence in its safety.

   At the time which millions of people coordinate their activities to take advantage of each other’s knowledge and skills, I leave for work. I get into my Japanese-designed, Mexican-supplied, Michigan-assembled automobile and set out to work on the roads built by construction contracting companies and named after corrupt politicians, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel that was shipped from the Middle East by an oil company at a per gallon cost many times lower than the price of having a letter delivered across the street by the government monopoly that loses millions of dollars each year. To make the purchase there is no need to leave the pump; I am able to slide a piece of plastic into a small slot and get credit extended to me by a bank who has never met me in person. On the way out the door, I put out the Fed-Ex envelope containing the documents I need to arrive across the country tomorrow morning and drop the kids off at the public school which is attended by only the best students, thanks to the high home prices in the area.

   After work, I drive my Japanese-Latino-Midwestern car back home, to a house which has not burned down in my absence because of materials developed in the research and development departments of hundreds of corporations and which has not been plundered of all is valuables thanks to the lock on the door and a sign advertising the security company whose services I employ. My piece of mind was not interrupted by the thought of these events anyway, as I have both fire and homeowners insurance through privately held insurance company.

   I then log on to the internet to watch and listen to artists who don’t appeal to a broad enough audience to make it onto one of the few channels that a government monopoly allows to be broadcast. I then log onto the democraticunderground.com to post about how DEREGULATING the medical industry is BAD because low-cost, quality health care can never be provided by greedy, self-interested people.”

*** end quote ***

It feels like there could be third one. What would it look like if humans weren’t deluded at all by the meme of government?

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INTERESTING: Disputed Island Disappears

Friday, March 26, 2010

http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/03/26/1342258/Disputed-Island-Disappears-Into-Sea

Disputed Island Disappears Into Sea from Slashdot by samzenpus

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RawJoe writes “India and Bangladesh have argued for almost 30 years over control of a tiny island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have ended the argument for them: the island’s gone. From the article: ‘New Moore Island, in the Sunderbans, has been completely submerged, said oceanographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Its disappearance has been confirmed by satellite imagery and sea patrols, he said. “What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming,” said Hazra.'”

*** end quote ***

Great, now that’s how to solve problems. Talk until they disappear. Wonder if it works with politicians?

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INTERESTING: “Deal or No Deal” strategy

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Did you ever see “Deal or No Deal”?

As an IT Architecture / BPR kinda guy, I think you have to have a strategy to get through the game. (Hey, I play penny slots too. No genius here.)

The only way to get a MILLION is to have two MILLION cases at the end.

Strategy is critical to escape with a prize.

I think that can apply some elementary statistics or probability theory.

You can predict the “banker’s offer” approximately and that leads you to a process to play.

It seems to me that you can compare the offer based on picking a low or high case. Then you make the decision from that.

Suppose, for example, at any point in the game, the distribution of cases can tell you what to do relative to the offer.

The offer is “fair” if EV = ∑ (p sub i * V sub i) is equal to the Banker’s Offer.

When receiving the Banker’s Offer, one can calculate the EV (ALL) of the current set of cases, the EV (HIGH) dropping the highest case, and the EV (LOW) dropping the lowest case. In a truly random game, you can calculate the potential loss EV (LOW) – EV (ALL) . And the potential gain EV (HIGH) – EV (ALL).

The offer can then be subject to the same test.

IF there is only ONE high value, the OFFER is usually cut in half.

By comparing the potential gain versus the potential loss, that determines if the contestant should take the offer or not.

You can’t pick cases, (although 26 seems to have a MILLION more than probability would dictate), but you can have a money management strategy.

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INTERESTING: A taxonoly for conspiracy threories

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Since I stand accused as a tin foil hat, I thought I should embrace it.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/233518

Know Your Conspiracies
NEWSWEEK’s guide to today’s trendiest, hippest, and least likely fringe beliefs.
By David A. Graham | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Feb 12, 2010

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Like recurring nightmares, conspiracy theories aren’t necessarily gone for good just because they disappear for a while. They often come back, sometimes in slightly different forms. Their last golden age came during the middle of the Bush administration, which saw rumors from the political left about connections between the Bushes and the bin Ladens, insinuations about the military-industrial complex and the Patriot Act—actually, pretty much every plotline in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. Nothing breeds paranoid theories like political exile, which means that with Democrats back in the White House, it’s the right’s turn to take up the standard, a task it isn’t shirking. And of course, several leftist theories remain in circulation. If you’re having a hard time keeping all these paranoid points of view straight, here’s a handy primer.

*** end quote ***

*** begin quote ***

1. Barack Obama was not born in the United States
2. Anthropogenic global warming is a hoax.
3. Goldman Sachs intentionally created the economic crisis.
4. Democrats’ health plan will create death panels.
5. Barack Obama is a secret Muslim.
6. Sarah Palin is not the mother of her 1-year-old son, Trig.
7. ACORN is part of a liberal conspiracy to steal elections.
8. FEMA is establishing detention camps.
9. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is trying to infiltrate Capitol Hill and spread jihad.
10. Obama wants to conscript Americans into a civilian defense corps.
11. Time magazine wants to restrict the Internet to licensed users.
12. 9/11 was an inside job.
13. The Omnibus One-World Government, Unified Currency, Dollar-Abolishing, Free Trade–Advocating Theory of Everything

*** end quote ***

That’s a list; not a taxonomy!

What makes up a “good conspiracy”?

Buzz, coverups, and some truth in the the theory.

My taxonomy: (1) Government; (2) Political; (3) Historical; and (4) Miscellaneous.

(1) Government

(1-1) 9/11 Truthers have shown enough to convince me that we didn’t get the whole story.

(1-2) Did FDR deliberately provoke the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor and act to ensure it was a disaster.

(2) Political

(2-1) “Barack Obama”. Not that he wasn’t born in the USA; I don’t know. Just that there is a tremendous coverup of all his documentation. AND, someone is spending a ton of money to keep it hidden.

(2-3) The “Progressive Movement” is a conspiracy to convert the USA into a Marxist state.

(3) Historical; and

(3-1) Kennedy Assassination. Does any one believe that Oswald shot a magic bullet from a terrible rifle at an angle at moving target?

(3-2) The Lusitania was carrying contraband arms and should not have been an incident.

(3-3) The Federal Reserve Bank is “The Creature From Jekyll Island,”

(4) Miscellaneous

(4-1) Man Caused Global Warming, Please come shovel out my sidewalk!

(4-2) Apollo moon landings were “staged”

Is there a better taxonomy?

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INTERESTING: Chaos creates order

Friday, March 5, 2010

http://www.economics21.org/commentary/health-care-chaos-and-challenge-chickens-manhattan

Health Care, Chaos, and the Challenge of Chickens in Manhattan
John O’Leary and William D. Eggers | 02/24/2010

*** begin quote ***

The paradox is that chaos creates order, while control can result in chaos. In an effort to control outcomes, free exchange is curtailed and the essential ordering signals of price and profit are lost—leading to misallocation of resources and outcomes that nobody likes.

Few of us appreciate how mundane chaos really is and how we are essentially surrounded by it.

Consider: Who is in charge of getting the right number of chickens to Manhattan every day? After all, few chickens live there, but a lot of chickens get eaten there. The typical Manhattanite downs about sixty pounds of chicken a year, in every imaginable form, from chicken chow mein to chicken nuggets, from organic chicken to those little cubes that float in your can of chicken soup. Untold thousands of people participate in providing for Manhattan’s ever-changing chicken needs, from truck drivers to restaurant owners, from grocery store managers to Arkansas chicken farmers. Who is in charge? Who makes sure that New York City winds up with the right amount of the right kind of chicken?

The answer is: No one. The chaos of the uncontrolled buying and selling of the market produces an orderly pattern of exchanges that coordinates the activities of independent yet interdependent participants. The result, without any central planning, is an adaptable and ever-changing arrangement that generally meets the needs of Manhattan’s chicken eating public. The government provides certain oversight and context for the market. The U.S. Department of Agriculture watches over chicken farms and the city’s Board of Health licenses and inspects restaurants. Chickens are hauled over public roads and contract disputes between chicken farmers and truckers are resolved in public courts. But when it comes to the essence of the chicken delivery system—how much chicken, of what kind, at what price—it is the invisible workings of supply and demand that align the productive activities of a loose network of thousands of people (and companies) in making sure New Yorkers get their chicken potpie, chicken vindaloo, and extra-spicy buffalo chicken wings.

*** end quote ***

Interesting, no central authority using force to “enforce an orderly market”. No “market failures”. Just lots of folks seeking their own best interests as they see them. That’s called “freedom”. If the gooferment didn’t “inspect” chickens — ignore for the moment that this is a farce because they don’t do any “inspecting” — just look into what they really do! — do you think the marketplace wouldn’t figure out how to make chickens safe? Kosher, Halal, WalMart, supermarket guaranties, Consumers Reports or Underwriters’ Laboratory, consumers or buyers talking to each other.

And don’t even get me started on the “roads” argument. No roads in Disney World?

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INTERESTING: GLenn Beck does the Nolan chart

Friday, February 26, 2010

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/36981/

Glen Beck is “doing” the Nolan Chart.

Wonder if he’s going to mention the Zero Aggression Principle?

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http://www.ncc-1776.org/whoislib.html

*** begin quote ***

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle (“Zap”)

   “Zero Aggression Principle”:

   A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being for any reason whatever; nor will a libertarian advocate the initiation of force, or delegate it to anyone else.

   Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim.

   — L. Neil Smith

   Formerly called the “Non-Aggression Principle”, or “NAP”

*** end quote ***

Or Amendment Zero?

*** begin quote ***

I propose a Constitutional Amendment providing that, if any public official, elected or appointed, at any level of government, is caught lying to any member of the public for any reason, the punishment shall be death by public hanging.

— L. Neil Smith

*** end quote ***

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INTERESTING: A screw job

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

http://www.impactlab.com/2010/02/14/a-screw-in-coffin/screw-coffin2/

February 14th, 2010 at 10:54 am
A Screw-In Coffin
in: Great New Product, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

*** begin quote ***

A series of burial containers having means by which they can be pressed, agitated, screwed and or self bored into a receiving material, provide low cost interment methods with hermetic sealing, security locking, plaque and memorial markers and built in flower and flag receptacles. They greatly excavation labor and burial costs while providing the respectful funeral services currently practiced. They also decrease the land space required for each burial and provide for burials in normally unused areas within the cemetary, greatly increasing the number of burials possible in each cemetary. The apparatus and methods can be used for all sizes of humans and pets as well as for undergound storage of equipment. supplies, food, water, fuel or other such material as may be reaquired to be made.

*** end quote ***

Most interesting.

Seems like it could be a cemetary space saver. Or a way to cache “contraband”!

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INTERESTING: Meme, like genes for ideas

Sunday, February 14, 2010

meme: A cultural element or behavioural trait whose transmission and consequent persistence in a population, although occurring by non-genetic means (esp. imitation), is considered as analogous to the inheritance of a gene.

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INTERESTING: Reduce signs; reduce accidents to zero?

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=271482

A sign of movement: Don’t Walk
BY BRUCE KAUFFMANN FOR THE  
Telegraph Herald – Dubuque, IA

*** begin quote ***

In 2004, the good citizens of Christianfield, Denmark — libertarians to the core — decided to remove all of the traffic signs and signals, including the Denmark equivalent of “Don’t Walk” signs, from their most dangerous intersection. This was done to determine if they would be safer without government intervention, which is what traffic signs unquestionably represent.

“What if,” these citizens asked themselves, “it was up to us, not Denmark’s transportation department, to determine the safest way of crossing an intersection?”

After several months of forgoing government traffic signs and depending on their judgment — including approaching the intersection cautiously — the number of serious accidents dropped to zero.

An isolated, non-representative example? Maybe.

*** end quote ***

Maybe we can try “freedom” and “liberty”?

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INTERESTING: “Survivalists survive by staying out of survival situations”

Monday, February 8, 2010

http://commanderzero.com/?p=1369#comments

What is the very first rule of surviving a disaster?
January 27th, 2010

*** begin quote ***

Im not saying everyone who gets in a disaster and stuck on a FEMA food line is responsible for what happened to them. Sometimes Mom Nature can be a nasty old broad. But there are plenty of situations out there that a little common sense and self-preservation would suggest you avoid.

The best way to survive any disaster: do not be there.

*** end quote ***

How many “victims” have their head up their a double q?

Self-reliance, help your neighbors, prep!

The Amish and The Mormons have the right idea.

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INTERESTING: 1962 Pa. coal town fire still burns

Sunday, February 7, 2010

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100205/ap_on_re_us/us_centralia_s_final_days

Few remain as 1962 Pa. coal town fire still burns
AP
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer Michael Rubinkam, Associated Press Writer
Fri Feb 5, 10:40 am ET

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After years of delay, state officials are now trying to complete the demolition of Centralia, a borough in the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania that all but ceased to exist in the 1980s after the mine fire spread beneath homes and businesses, threatening residents with poisonous gases and dangerous sinkholes.

More than 1,000 people moved out, and 500 structures were razed under a $42 million federal relocation program.

But dozens of holdouts, Lokitis included, refused to go — even after their houses were seized through eminent domain in the early 1990s. They said the fire posed little danger to their part of town, accused government officials and mining companies of a plot to grab the mineral rights and vowed to stay put. State and local officials had little stomach to oust the diehards, who squatted tax- and rent-free in houses they no longer owned.

*** end quote ***

Interesting in that the gooferment created the problem and can’t solve it.

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INTERESTING: Saudi girl, 13, sentenced to 90 lashes

Saturday, February 6, 2010

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1244689/
Saudi-girl-13–sentenced-90-lashes-took-mobile-phone-school.html#ixzz0dvUDdTrr

Saudi girl, 13, sentenced to 90 lashes after she took a mobile phone to school
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 12:45 AM on 21st January 2010

*** begin quote ***

A 13-year-old Saudi schoolgirl is to be given 90 lashes in front of her classmates after she was caught with a mobile camera phone.

The girl, who has not been named, was also sentenced to two months in jail by a court in the eastern city of Jubail.

She had assaulted her headmistress after being caught with the gadget which is banned in girl schools, said Al-Watan, a Saudi newspaper. The kingdom’s use of such punishments has been widely condemned by human rights organisations. (snip) The punishment is harsher than tha (sic that) dished out to some robbers and looters. Saudi Arabia is the world’s leading country in the use of torture-by-flogging, public beheadings and publicly crucifying condemned prisoners.

*** end quote ***

This is shocking. It offends my sensibilities. And, I’m an ijineer!

Now I have run into children that I’d have liked to give lashes too, but never 90. Never even one. It’s just a brief idle daydream. Maybe for cell phone abuse.

No one has the right to inflict pain on anyone. Any child, no matter how annoying, no matter bad the transgression, no matter how … … how frustrating deserves to be treated this way.

Where are the women’s libers? Where are the politicians?

Gooferment only has ONE purpose: to protect its citizens and residents from aggression. In a primitive society, one step away from extinction, one can expect brutality to ensure compliance necessary for group survival. In an advanced civilization, brutality is inefficient and ineffective.

We, The People, need to instruct our Gooferment that (a) that’s unacceptable; and (b) they need to exert some moral pressure to help the bozos see the error of their ways. Perhaps, PNGing (Persona Non Grata) male Saudi Ambassadors until they send us a woman as an ambassador might get our point across.

No man can be free until all men are free?

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INTERESTING: Newgrange on the Winter Solstice

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

http://www.irishcentral.com/travel/IrishCentrals-top-10-sites-in-Ireland-41098302.html

Top 10 places to see in Ireland
By CONN CORRIGAN AND MEGHAN SWEENEY, IrishCentral.com Staff Writers
Published Wednesday, March 11, 2009, 2:15 PM
Updated Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 4:11 PM

*** begin quote ***

1. Boyne Valley

Brú na Bóinne (the Boyne Palace) in County Meath contains some of the most important historic sites and monuments in Ireland, and is a designated World Heritage Site.

It features the massive megalithic ancient passage tombs – which are graves dating back to ancient times – of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. These tombs are older than both Stonehenge in England and the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

Newgrange, which was built about 5,000 years ago, is Ireland’s most famous prehistoric site.

It’s especially famous for a spectacular event on Dec. 21, also known as the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. The tomb was built in such a way so that on this day, it is illuminated by a narrow beam of sunlight which shines through a specially designed roof box. Those who have seen this say its an unforgettable experience.

*** end quote ***

As an injineer, that has been to Stonehenge, (How the hell did they move those ****** ******* rocks?!!?). O may have to add this to my “bucket list”!

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INTERESTING: Celtic Woman. a strange allure?

Sunday, January 31, 2010

http://www.irishcentral.com/IrishAmerica/Celtic-Woman-the-women-behind-the-Irish-musical-phenomenon-82109502.html

Celtic Woman: The women behind the Irish musical phenomenon
By Aliah O’Neill, Irish America Magazine
Published Thursday, January 21, 2010, 11:14 PM
Updated Friday, January 22, 2010, 7:29 AM

*** begin quote ***

The answer as to why American audiences have responded so enthusiastically to Celtic Woman has not always been clear. When I asked Lynn Hilary, who joined the group in 2007, why she thought American audiences continue to be so responsive to Celtic Woman, she admitted that at first, she wasn’t sure. “I didn’t really understand it for a long time, that they would react in such a way,” she said. “They’d be crying and on their feet every night applauding us. But American people really identify with Ireland, and a lot of Americans have Irish in their ancestry, so Celtic Woman allows them to re-identify with their roots and gives them a feeling of belonging.”

*** end quote ***

Have to admit, I’ve seen the ads, watch some of the PBS, and there is some sort of strange allure? Just like Riverdance, which having seen live twice, it has that “grab” characteristic. Maybe it’s like Irish hip hop? Or with Celtic Women, it’s full size real women in movement — as opposed to the hollywood “heroin chic” that makes women look like refugees from a Nazi Death Camp? But 40$ for a DVD of 20 songs. Not going to happen.

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INTERESTING: The term retronym

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/whats-a-retronym/

What’s a Retronym?
by Maeve Maddox

*** begin quote ***

Earlier than that, back when he mowed the grass, my big brother longed for an “electric mower.” Now the kind of mower he called a “lawnmower” is called a “push lawnmower.”

“Cloth diaper” and “push lawnmower” are retronyms.

The term retronym came into the language in 1980 when William Safire credited Frank Mankiewicz, president of National Public Radio, with its first use.

*** end quote ***

I never heard of this. Have you?

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INTERESTING: Notre Dame is a hollow shell

Monday, January 25, 2010

http://www.irishcentral.com/sport/Notre-Dame-Coach-Brian-Kellys-religious-values-questioned-81879027.html

Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly’s religious, Catholic values questioned
By SEAN O’SHEA, IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Saturday, January 16, 2010, 9:09 AM
Updated Saturday, January 16, 2010, 4:31 PM

*** begin quote ***

Good for him. It is absolutely no one’s business what private views Coach Kelly holds and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous. After all, few blinked an eye when Lou Holtz campaigned for a Republican candidate when he was head coach.

*** end quote ***

What a joke!

We KNOW that long ago Notre Dame sacrificed EVERYTHING to the FOOTBALL program.

And, we know that the administration sacrificed the CATHOLIC identity for a chance to give pro-abortion BHO44 with an “honorary degree”.

So, while he is Constitutionally free to believe whatever he wants, Notre Dame can only pretend to be a “Catholic” institution of higher learning. It’s not about being “Catholic”, and it’s not about “learning”. It’s about “winning”.

Unfortunately, their “winning” is all short-tern short-run meaningless “achievement”!

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INTERESTING: Fixing Haiti long-term

Saturday, January 23, 2010

http://economics.gmu.edu/wew/articles/10/Haiti%27sAvoidableDeathToll.htm

A MINORITY VIEW
BY WALTER WILLIAMS
RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010

Haiti’s Avoidable Death Toll

*** begin quote ***

The way out of Haiti’s grinding poverty is not rocket science. Ranking countries according to: (1) whether they are more or less free market, (2) per capita income, and (3) ranking in International Amnesty’s human rights protection index, we would find that those nations with a larger free market sector tend also to be those with the higher income and greater human rights protections. Haitian President Rene Preval is not enthusiastic about free markets; his heroes are none other than the hemisphere’s two brutal communist tyrants: Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Cuba’s Fidel Castro.

*** end quote ***

We can’t fix it, but let’s keep the crooked leaders out of the USA. Persona Non Grata.

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INTERESTING: Dangerous impact of globalization

Sunday, January 17, 2010

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/farming/6958013/The-dairy-farmer-reduced-to-tears.html

The dairy farmer reduced to tears
By Olga Craig
Published: 9:30PM GMT 09 Jan 2010

*** begin quote ***

All across the country, diary farmers are facing the loss of their livelihood. In 1985, there were 28,000 diary farmers in England and Wales. By last November, when Mr Rickatson became one of the nine dairy farmers that throw in the towel each week, there were 11,551 left. As recently as two years ago Britain was self-sufficient in milk. Now we import 1.5 million litres a day. For the farmers who struggle on, their working lives – and that of their herds – have become a grind: such is their despair that one a week commits suicide.

*** and ***

The chief villains are the supermarkets which, by driving down milk prices, are forcing farmers to intensify production or go out of business and leave the way clear for foreign imports. Currently one litre of full fat milk costs around 75p – of which farmers get around 26p, the exact cost of producing it.

*** end quote ***

Interesting.

And, what happens when “foreign imports” can’t or won’t come?

Surely this is happening all around the world. The movie Gandhi had moving sequences about national economics.

Maybe Pat Buchanan is right?

How does one maintain a minimum national capability to feed itself?

It must all revolve around the definition of money?

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INTERESTING: DNA profiles aren’t unique

Sunday, January 10, 2010

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/01/09/1321219/Scientists-and-Lawyers-Argue-For-Open-US-DNA-Database
“New Scientist has an article questioning the uniqueness of DNA profiles. 41 scientists and lawyers recently published a high-profile Nature article (sub. required) arguing that the FBI should release its complete CODIS database. The request follows research on the already released Arizona state DNA database (a subset of CODIS) which showed a surprisingly large number of matches between the profiles of different individuals, including one between a white man and a black man. The group states that the assumption that a DNA profile represents a unique individual, with only a minuscule probability of a secondary match, has never been independently verified on a large sample of DNA profiles. The new requests follow the FBI’s rejection of similar previous requests.”

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Interesting? I never knew that DNA profiles weren’t unique. Isn’t that what CSI teaches? It would seem that it’s urgent to prove or disprove this very troubling assertion!

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INTERESTING: Kon Tiki

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/knut-haugland-a-reallife-adventure-story-1851472.html

Knut Haugland: A real-life adventure story

He fought the Nazis. He braved the Pacific. And he hated being called a hero. Jonathan Brown looks at the extraordinary career of Knut Haugland, the last Kon-Tiki survivor

Monday, 28 December 2009

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Adventure stories rarely come more epic than that of Knut Haugland, the Norwegian resistance fighter who died on Christmas Day at the age of 92. His exploits were already the stuff of legend even before he joined Thor Heyerdahl’s crew aboard his balsa wood raft, Kon-Tiki. Together they not only conquered the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean using only the most primitive of technologies – but in doing so, they helped rejuvenate the crushed spirit of human endeavour in the bleak aftermath of the Second World War.

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I remember reading Kon Tiki in high school. The good brothers were always challenging us to be skeptical. (That lesson took in my case. I rarely believe ANYTHING!)

I remember seeing the Kon Tiki movie and the Telemark movie (I loved movies. I’m an escapist.) Who knew that the same men were involved in both.

Reminds me of the guy who championed the idea that a Chinese admiral found “America” and Marco Polo brought the discovery back to Europe.

Guess that’s why I’m a “tin foil hat” kinda guy.

If we “know” so little about the past, then what make you think we “know” current events.

Sheeple are so easily manipulated.

Remember it’s all propaganda!

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INTERESTING: Roy Roger’s Museum closed

Monday, January 4, 2010

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/roy_rogers_museum_closes_dale_evans_trigger/celebrity/67877

KING OF THE COWBOYS ROY ROGERS REIGN ENDS WITH NO HAPPY TRAILS . . .

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Roy Rogers and his trusty steed Trigger may have come to the end of their “Happy Trails” – television’s most famous horse is going on the auction block, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.

The beloved golden palomino’s home, the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum, has closed – doomed by bitter family feuding, greed, mounting debts and IRS demands.

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This saddens me. I loved Roy’s shows.

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INTERESTING: What’s the rest of the story?

Monday, December 21, 2009

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/12/18/3649762-wash-woman-gets-15-months-for-tax-evasion

Wash. woman gets 15 months for tax evasion
Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:39 PM EST
Associated Press

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SEATTLE — As the secretary and treasurer of Falcon Construction, Michelle Bielaski was supposed to turn over to the IRS taxes withheld from employee paychecks.

Instead, the 48-year-old Bellevue, Wash., woman spent the money herself — $2.5 million of it.

Now she’s been sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay the taxes back in restitution.

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I’m sure the gooferment doesn’t like a thief stealing its loot!

Serious, was she sentenced for the theft? In which case, the article’s title is wrong.

Where is she going ot get 2.5M$ for restitution?

And, based on what little I know, I bet the construction company has to pay the 2.5M$ to the IRS. So I guess a bankruptcy is in their future.

I just find this “interesting” on so many levels.

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INTERESTING: A mini-FED to spark the States

Saturday, December 19, 2009

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2009/03/how-nation%E2%80%99s-only-state-owned-bank-became-envy-wall-street

How the Nation’s Only State-Owned Bank Became the Envy of Wall Street
  — By Josh Harkinson | Fri Mar. 27, 2009 5:33 PM PDT

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The Bank of North Dakota is the only state-owned bank in America—what Republicans might call an idiosyncratic bastion of socialism. It also earned a record profit last year even as its private-sector corollaries lost billions. To be sure, it owes some of its unusual success to North Dakota’s well-insulated economy, which is heavy on agricultural staples and light on housing speculation. But that hasn’t stopped out-of-state politicos from beating a path to chilly Bismarck in search of advice. Could opening state-owned banks across America get us out of the financial crisis? It certainly might help, says Ellen Brown, author of the book, Web of Debt, who writes that the Bank of North Dakota, with its $4 billion under management, has avoided the credit freeze by “creating its own credit, leading the nation in establishing state economic sovereignty.” Mother Jones spoke with the Bank of North Dakota’s president, Eric Hardmeyer.

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An interesting way to attack the FED?

Reenforcing State sovereignty to cut into the FED’s action and fiefdom.

As much as don’t like the gooferment, this seems like a good idea.

Fifty mini feds without the power to inflate or to borrow seems better than one big central bank with enormous powers over fiat currency.

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INTERESTING: Tiger Woods has really stepped in it

Friday, December 11, 2009

Guess that just kills his squeaky clean image.

Too bad.

The media will rub everyone’s nose in it as they define “deviancy” down.

Hopefully, for the children’s sake, everything will work out peacefully.

What is it with the sport’s ego? NBA players, MLB, and the “rock stars”.

I would hope that if I had their gifts, I’d have the humility to kiss the ground every morning.

Sigh!

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