INTERESTING: Will Vermont be the first State out of the “union”?

Saturday, October 16, 2010

http://www.vtcommons.org/blog/2010/10/13/code-purple-student-article-possibility-independent-vermont

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From 1777 to 1791, Vermont was its own Republic. Now, in 2010, a group of Vermonters is fighting to secede from the United States. Their goal is to save the Green Mountain State from centralized control and establish the Vermont Second Republic. The secessionists believe that the United States of America, which they refer to as the United States of Empire, isn’t the pinnacle of democracy it once was and that Vermont would do better as an independent republic.

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Too bad Aunt Marion sold her farm to the developers instead of my Mom. Imagine how life would have been different? I could be in the thick of an active secessionist movement. Vermont may be the first out. Vermont was the promised land in my novel “CHURCH 10●19●62”. So those of you, who slogged through it, know how Vermont could use its advantages to lead in the future. Wish I was there to help. Argh!

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Warning sign of diabetes

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Read this in a twitter feed:

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I drink soo much water. At least 8 glasses per day. I’m always so thirsty. Idk why!

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And, I tweeted back:

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Excessive thirst is a classic sign of diabetes. It’s killing my wife Frau Reinke. Not today, but soon. Suggest ASAP test!

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I hope my fellow Jasper takes immediate action. The life she save may be her own.

http://diabetes.about.com/od/symptomsdiagnosis/p/Symptoms.htm

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Unquenchable Thirst

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Hope she will.

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: ebne it!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

http://www.debonosociety.com/profiles/blogs/2696260:BlogPost:2299

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The word is ‘ebne’ which means ‘Excellent But Not Enough’. If you want to change something you need to attack it. — Edward De Bono

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Interesting in that lateral thinking, you need to be able to get past a blocking idea to get to a better idea. You need to label the current stte “ebne”!

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: A word for an adverse outcome that’s not a failure or mistake

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

http://www.extensor.co.uk/articles/new_words/new_words.html

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One new word that is badly needed is one that describes ‘a fully justified venture which for reasons beyond your control did not succeed’. The project’s lack of success is seen as a ‘failure’ or ‘mistake’. Because of this, people are unwilling to take risks.

— Edward De Bono

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A good bet gone bad?

So is “agoodbetgonebad” too long?

What word would you propose?

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: An optimistic outlook; delusional thinking

Monday, September 20, 2010

My Most Exciting Day

http://www.flixxy.com/european-film-school-winner.htm

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An optimistic outlook and a little imagination can help to make the best out of a non-optimum situation.

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I’m not a “soft touch” for sob stories. But this should be an award winner. There has to be a better way to (a) deal with povtery; (b) prevent / mitigate it; and (c) help women, and men, make better choices. Argh! Human beings are dumb. It’s amazing the species survives. But, it’s a good!

And, in a smidgen over a minute? Wow!

This demonstrates the power of paradigms. We have to change our memes on a lot of things. “Poverty” is just one of them.

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Making decisions

Saturday, September 18, 2010

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Re: what’s to lose doing somewhere else

I’m just not sure X is a good idea, but Y’s becoming more open to the idea itself. Y’s frustrated. Which I think is EXACTLY the wrong motivation.

• This maybe imho a “below the waterline” decision. And, not I, nor you, nor any one, but Y “owns” the problem.

• When it’s above the WL, your bias should be to act. When below, the bias should be to carefully consider action. First, do no harm? Blundering about doing “stuff” ain’t a formula for success.

• It moved below the waterline when <something bad changes>. (And, you become aware of it!)

• Hence, I’ve changed my bias. When it wasn’t so severe, I was anxious to go somewhere else for “the answer”. Now, I’m scared

• Doing something just to do something maybe the case of jumping from pan to fire.

• You don’t know that you’re going to get better care; unimaginable, but it could be worse. Much worse?

• It’ll certainly be father away from our base, from supportive relatives.

• You have NO assurance that the next set of docs has an answer.

• You have NO assurance that there is an answer.

• And, chasing a “false hope” may distract you from being in the moment. And “paying attention”.

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: The economic predicament of today

Friday, September 17, 2010

http://www.keywestlou.com/2010/09/i-really-screwed-up-yesterday.html

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I suspect such is a major reason we are in the economic predicament of today.

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May I disagree with your “major reason”?

I’m just fat old white guy injineer, a decade younger than you, but I look further back in history. And it’s a multiple part answer.

❶ The Progressives pulled off a silent coup in several areas during the woman sufferage movement. Giving women the right to vote, giving universal suffrage, and detaching the right to vote form owning land — all set the wheels in motion.

❷ Prohibition was the direct result of the women’s vote. That started organizaed crime. That justified the FBI and the Gooferment getting into the policing business.

❸ The Progressives got the Gooferment into the school business. It’s was allowed to propagandize future voters. Remember the Prussian school model was to make cannon fodder for the Army, good workers for the factory, and pliable idiot voters to be led by the elite. (Where DO politicians send their kids to school?)

❹ The Progressives created the Federal Reserve System. That allowed the Gooferment to spend without raising taxes. That was key. Up to that point, prices always declined. After than, inflation was institutionalized. From 1913 to day, the dollar has lost 99% of its purchasing power.

❺ FDR took us OFF the gold standard, got social security, and created wage / price controls. The gold standard restrained the Gooferment’s ability to print money. Social Security destroyed the multi-generational family — Grandparents could afford to retire to Florida. Wage Controls set up the benefits trap that Obamacare will supposedly rescue us from.

❻ The Progressives passed the Sixteenth that allows the Gooferment to grow unchecked by taxation; Milton Freedman created withholding to fool folks into accepting it.

❼ Johnson’s welfare warfare state just destroyed the inner cities and made everyone dependent on the Gooferment dole.

So essentially there are SEVEN reasons we, future generations, and the soon to retire are so screwed. The ability to vote — with its subsequent social change, welfare, and warfare — was the reason.

Voters have to have a stake in paying for what they vote for.

Sigh!

We are SO screwed. I’m not sure we can avoid the fate of the USSR.

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Situational Awareness

Monday, September 13, 2010

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/PGE-Investigating-Complaints-of-Gas-Smell-in-San-Bruno-102625569.html

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People who live in the in the Crestmoore neighborhood told reporters thay had complained to Pacific Gas and Electric about the smell of gas in the area and wondered why the utility had apparently not done anything about it.  Late Friday, the California Public Utilities Commission established a toll-free number and an email address for anyone who has information on a natural gas smell in the San Bruno area in the weeks before Sept. 9 explosion.

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How many of us, if we smelled gas, would activate our GOOD plan? Sounds like nine people have paid the ultimate price for complacency. Complain to the Gas Company, or other quasi-Gooferment bureaucrats doesn’t help those 9 people. Clearly, before every other skill, one must have situational awareness. imho!

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: A goat in every pot?

Saturday, September 11, 2010

http://www.lewrockwell.com/luongo/luongo12.1.html

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Respect the Chicken
by Thomas Luongo

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To me, the history of humanity can be summed up thusly. There once was a group of people living peacefully until some jackass decided that because he controlled a resource he had leverage over them and thought it a good idea to enslave them to his control. That attempt to control can be rendered moot by vacating that place, which some members of the group did. However, they can only do so if they have the means to sustain themselves. Well, to me, the chicken and the goat represent the two animals that give you the best chance at survival on your own. Both can turn low-quality land into high-quality food and other resources. Both can work with a nomadic group. Cows can’t do that, neither can sheep. Horses provide work and transport once you have become established in a place. They all need high-quality land to survive, no less thrive. But, the chicken and the goat, well, to me, they just scream liberty in a way that few others can1. The Free State Project missed the boat on their choice of mascot. My choice to raise these animals is on the one hand accidental (the chicken) and on the other planned (the goat) but both represent the life I want as well as the world I want to live in. They form the foundation while the others provide the super-structure.

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Chickens and goats in a survival situation.

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: FIve questions

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2010/09/trying-to-make-a-touch-decision-try-asking-the-five-fateful-questions.html

Trying to Make a Tough Decision? Try Asking the Five Fateful Questions.

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When I’m reluctant to take a risk or face something uncomfortable, I ask myself these five questions which, in melodramatic form, I call the “Five Fateful Questions.” They help me think clearly about a situation.

  • What am I waiting for?
  • What would I do if I weren’t scared?
  • What steps would make things easier?
  • What would I do if I had all the time and money in the world?
  • What is the worst, and the best, that could happen?

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I find myself reluctant to examine what’s wrong or what’s coming. If I was to pick out some questions to “get started”, i try some different ones?

  • What am I trying to accomplish?
  • What are the entry criteria? (Prerequisites?)
  • What is the single exit criterion, or what are the multiple exit criteria?
  • When something fails, is that failure above or below the “waterline”?
  • Have I fully explored the various aspects of what I seek to do?

Seeking to define the opportunity represented:

  • PMI (Pluses, Minuses and Interesting Points)
  • AGO (Aims, Goals and Objectives)
  • CAF (Consideration of All Factors)
  • OPV (Other People’s Views)
  • FIP (First Important Priorities)
  • APC (Alternatives, Possibilities or Choices)
  • C&S (Consequences and Sequels)

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