 | "There's Justice In The Universe" |
| Posted 9/12/2008 6:41 PM CDT It seems that the religious fundamentalists of the world are experiencing a revival in this "End of Times". Be they Muslim or Christian, their unreal belief systems that are based on religious notions not based on the "Eleventh Commandment" are hazardous for our health. Sarah Palin's extensive pattern of association with the Wasilla Assembly of God (Alaska's Bible Belt) & Obama's with the Trinity United Church of Christ (Chicago's South Side) show us that they both have some strange notions. [Don't be fooled by the fact that they've both VERY recently left their congregations for more 'politically correct' surroundings.] Since both Palin and Alaska Lt. Gov. Parnell were publicly blessed, onstage before an estimated crowd of 6,000, through the "laying on of hands", I thought it appropriate to listen to Palin address her congregation (at a different event): Sarah Palin: War in Iraq is "God's Plan": (00:18) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H-btXPfhGs&feature=related (08:16) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQq4b5IQhq8&feature=related 'Neo-charismatic' aka 'Third Wave' churches: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocharismatic |
| Posted 9/12/2008 8:34 AM CDT Despite the fact that cell phones emit "non-ionizing" radiation (waves of energy that are too weak to 'break' the chemical bonds within cells), it is known that ten years of heavy cell phone use (by people who hold it to their ears) doubles the incidence of 'acoustic neuroma' (a tumor that occurs where the ear meets the brain). Multiple international studies show a slightly higher incidence of various kinds of brain tumors in these same heavy users. Researchers cannot prove a causal relationship between cell phone usage and negative health effects; but, they do advise using headsets, earpieces, or the speaker mode to avoid putting the cell phone to the head. It is studies involving children growing into adulthood that will likely provide the most definitive results in the future. It should be considered noteworthy that sleep disturbances are often noted when people have been using a cell phone 'unsafely' within a few hours of bedtime. Meanwhile, I personally continue to curse under my breath when I'm driving and see another driver holding their cell phone to their ear. They're not giving their full attention to the changing conditions of the highway & I could care less about whether or not they develop a tumor. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/health/03well.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin |
| Posted 9/11/2008 1:01 PM CDT "We’ve worked too hard fighting the big credit card companies to let this critical opportunity slip away! Tell Congress to pass the credit card reform bill when it returns this month to wrap-up business. This bill will give consumers a fair shake -- stopping card companies from arbitrarily hiking interest rates on your balances, and more fairly distributing your payments to costly, high-interest debt first. The powerful bank lobby is working hard to kill this bill. They want to keep their unfair advantages and big profits, while the rest of us struggle with this economy. Only four short weeks remain before Congress is slated to break for the year. Tell your member to support this bill now. We don’t need another credit crisis!" [While credit card company abuses neither directly nor personally impacts me (I'm what's called a convenience user of credit cards), when I see an obvious abuse being perpetuated on others, it bothers me. The kinds of 'ripoffs' the banking industry gets away with in this arena needs to stop.] Take Action: www.creditcardreform.org |
| Posted 9/10/2008 5:04 PM CDT The "will-of-the-people" is the reality that generates the gravity that keeps our political system viable. Obama and Palin seem to know exactly what their constituencies are looking for. Palin's staff even calls this ability in her "Sarah-dipity". Meanwhile, far, far away (5.6 billion light years worth of awayness) the most spectacular and significant cosmic event ever observed by mankind is unfolding. Two clusters of galaxies collided and are now 'un-merging' -- with the result (of such a high energy event) being that 'dark matter' is made 'visible' to our instrumentation. [Note prior blog entry.] Comparing this cosmic event and our current governmental situation, a loose analogy can be made that 'dark matter' (which is not always directly observable) is like the 'will-of-the-people'. It's un-merging into two 'clusters of power'. Meanwhile, 'ordinary matter' aka 'the political arena' (in a 2-party system) are gravitationally caught up in their own drama & seemingly being left behind. Those politicians who are best able to recognize the changing 'will of the people' shall survive. |
| Posted 9/10/2008 11:42 AM CDT Click On: http://tinyurl.com/DarkMatter www.tinyurl.com/SeeDarkMatter Results from the new study of a collision [see pictures above of MCSJ0025] between two ‘clusters of galaxies’ (the most energetic cosmic event, besides the Big Bang) is about 5.7 billion light-years away. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory show dark matter from each cluster appearing to pass through the cosmic mess unscathed, leaving ordinary matter behind in the galactic pileup. Hot gas from each cluster collided and slowed down (ordinary matter, seen in pink), but the dark matter did not. That separation provides evidence to support the view that dark-matter particles interact with each other only very weakly or not at all, apart from the pull of gravity The latest observations of the MCSJ0025 cluster appear to back up earlier findings from another cosmic collision in what's called the Bullet Cluster. That impact also tore ordinary matter and dark matter apart and demonstrated their forcible separation. The same separation suggests that dark-matter particles interact only weakly outside of gravity's influence, given that they passed by one another inside the collision zone with little visible effect. Dark matter, mysterious stuff that exerts a gravitational force on other matter, was explains what holds spinning galaxies, like the Milky Way, together. Observations suggest it outweighs ordinary matter by a factor of about 6 to 1. But no one knows what it is made of, and normally dark matter and ordinary matter are too well mixed to observe the dark matter independently. http://tinyurl.com/6mbfrt http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060821_dark_matter.html |
| Posted 9/9/2008 9:41 PM CDT In my previous blog, I'd incorrectly stated that Palin had cut Special Ed funds. I was apropriately corrected. The misinformation on the internet relating to this was caused a misreading of the budget documents for the state of Alaska. The article relating to this is as follows: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2008/09/gov_palins_budget_for_special_1.html Quote: "As many know by now, Palin's son Trig has Down syndrome. But, while Palin was governor, did she slash special education funding from the state's budget? That was the latest charge that was flying around the Internet soon after her speech, and a reader has posted the same criticism of Palin on this blog. I've seen the same critique from posters on several Web sites now, all of whom seem to suggest that while Palin courts the disability community on the one hand, she's cutting the budget for needed services on the other. From what I can tell, however, these charges against Palin are false, driven by a misreading of the budget documents for the state. The "proof," as has been presented, is the part of the fiscal 2007 budget for the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, which includes funding for the Alaska School for the Deaf, students who are patients at the Alaska Psychiatric Hospital, and the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy, a statewide, boot-camp-style program. The budget that year was $8,265,300. But the next year, fiscal 2008, the budget is shown as $3,156,000, leading to the accusation that Palin cut the department's budget. The difference in funding, however, is because the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy moved to a budget line item of its own. In the fiscal 2009 budget, you can see that the academy alone has a budget of $6,082,100. When you add that to the $3,156,000 that is being spent on all the other projects, it adds up to $9,238,100--an approximately 12 percent INCREASE in spending on all those particular programs, put together, since fiscal 2007." |
| Posted 9/9/2008 1:31 PM CDT Sarah Palin cut Special Ed funding and funding to help Teen Mothers. Coupled with her hard right 'abstinence' only educational stance, it's ironic that now, she has both an special needs baby and an unwed teen mother in her immediate family to deal with. Perhaps she'll learn a little 'compassionate conservatism'? She needs to realize that when you stir up the spiritual energies in your life, you amplify the "Absolute Law of Cause and Effect" aka "karma" in your life. |
| Posted 9/8/2008 6:02 PM CDT http://www.militarymuseum.org/LockheedAirTerminal.html During the1930's, Lockheed Aircraft Company evolved into one the nation's largest aircraft manufacturers, and in 1940 Lockheed purchased the airport. It was then renamed Lockheed Air Terminal and used to test and delivery Lockheed aircraft. It also remained Los Angeles' primary civil airport and remained the area's only civil airport throughout the war. During the war Lockheed built P-38 fighters, Hudson and B-17 bombers. The Royal Air Force's Air Technical Services Command and US Army Air Forces Western Technical Training Command had operations at the field. The airport and the Lockheed plant were extensively camouflaged during the war. The main Lockheed plant and runways were made to appear as grain fields and houses, and the parking lot was covered over with netting to appear as alfalfa fields. In addition, an extensive smoke screen system was installed to hide the plant under smoke. http://www.flickr.com/photos/15760311@N03/ |
| Posted 9/7/2008 5:48 PM CDT Unless you are a 'convenience credit card user' who always pays off the balance each and every month, then you need to seriously consider "killing" your credit card(s). We all know about the debtor mentality that credit card users fall into and can't escape -- but also consider the fact that people generally buy 30% more when using a credit card than when using a debit card (simply because they're more 'attentive'). And since debit cards are accepted wherever credit cards are, do yourself a favor & cut up your credit cards. |
Posted 9/6/2008 7:40 PM CDT
Today, I came across an old book that I've had since 1959 ["All About The Ice Age" by Patricia Lauber]. In it, the author talks about the basic causes for climate change and the last Ice Age. There is information about the Earth's wobble and the variance in Earth's orbit, as well as a paragraph about carbon dioxide affecting Earth's climate. In summary, any change in the amount of carbon dioxide would affect the Earth's climate.
Sitting on the shelf right next to this book was another one that I've had since the second grade ["All About Dinosaurs" by Roy Andrews, 1953]. Besides talking about fossilized bones and fossilized wood and the great length of time it takes for organic material to become fossilized, it talks about how the Age of Mammals began 60 million years ago after the dinosaurs had become totally extinct.
Now, what I'm getting to is the fact that I understood that CO2 was a greenhouse gas that causes climate change (it makes the Earth warmer, the more of it there is & makes it cooler, the less of it there is) & that the Earth is certainly more than 6,000 years old. And this was during that period in my life when we recited the Pledge of Allegiance & The Lord's Prayer in public school / and this was in rural Idaho. Sarah Palin was born in rural Idaho (5 years later).
Sarah Palin moved to Alaska and grew up there during that period of time when the gravestones of the original white settlers were starting to tip over because the permafrost was melting & Eskimoes were complaining that the berry bushes that they depended on were disappearing and being replaced by plants that had formerly only been found much further south in warmer climes. Even I knew this -- and I had since moved to South Texas.
I think Palin's Pentecostal upbringing stilted her educational development -- at least as far as 8th grade Earth Science goes --- that concerns me. Also, the way she shoulders a rifle (as seen on her official "Sarah Palin for Vice President Web Ad") tells me she's perhaps not used to handling rifles (despite her being a paid member of the NRA).... and/or neither are the blokes who allowed it to be aired as it was. And, as far as her being a reformer in a state that's second only to Louisiana for corruptness, it sounds good --- but ???
All in all, she's an appropriate 'fit' for the Republicans & probably has more testosterone than any of the other 'three candidates for national executive office'. If I were the Russians, I'd be watching the American election closer now than ever before.
Sitting on the shelf right next to this book was another one that I've had since the second grade ["All About Dinosaurs" by Roy Andrews, 1953]. Besides talking about fossilized bones and fossilized wood and the great length of time it takes for organic material to become fossilized, it talks about how the Age of Mammals began 60 million years ago after the dinosaurs had become totally extinct.
Now, what I'm getting to is the fact that I understood that CO2 was a greenhouse gas that causes climate change (it makes the Earth warmer, the more of it there is & makes it cooler, the less of it there is) & that the Earth is certainly more than 6,000 years old. And this was during that period in my life when we recited the Pledge of Allegiance & The Lord's Prayer in public school / and this was in rural Idaho. Sarah Palin was born in rural Idaho (5 years later).
Sarah Palin moved to Alaska and grew up there during that period of time when the gravestones of the original white settlers were starting to tip over because the permafrost was melting & Eskimoes were complaining that the berry bushes that they depended on were disappearing and being replaced by plants that had formerly only been found much further south in warmer climes. Even I knew this -- and I had since moved to South Texas.
I think Palin's Pentecostal upbringing stilted her educational development -- at least as far as 8th grade Earth Science goes --- that concerns me. Also, the way she shoulders a rifle (as seen on her official "Sarah Palin for Vice President Web Ad") tells me she's perhaps not used to handling rifles (despite her being a paid member of the NRA).... and/or neither are the blokes who allowed it to be aired as it was. And, as far as her being a reformer in a state that's second only to Louisiana for corruptness, it sounds good --- but ???
All in all, she's an appropriate 'fit' for the Republicans & probably has more testosterone than any of the other 'three candidates for national executive office'. If I were the Russians, I'd be watching the American election closer now than ever before.
