"There's Justice In The Universe" |
Posted 8/29/2008 8:42 AM CDT America is the land of "fair weather" bicycle commuters. How can I tell? No fenders on the bicycles-- no baskets or racks, either. [Yes, I know about backpacks... but not everything is feasibly transportable in a pack]. The only way you can have fenders, etcetera in order to make bicycle commuting more feasible is to buy a special order 'Commute Bike' & then pay the special 'customized' price (for what used to be standard on any 1950s Schwinn)... unless you special order clip-on fenders, etcetera / which seems rather Mickey-Mouse to me. So, when you hear someone raving about "we should all go green" and ride a bike to work, break it to them as gently as possible -- it won't work, as is. If you can't transport what you need to carry with you & the cars don't get you, then the summer heat and humidity will. Even those who ride bicycles for fun can only do so if it hasn't been raining, unless they're ready for the front & backside splattering they'll collect. p.s. -- When I search for images on 'Europe bicycles' & 'China bicycles', I see almost only bicycles with fenders and many, many with baskets, carriers, etcetera. http://www.go-one.us/tech/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/cartoon.gif |
Posted 8/28/2008 10:14 AM CDT Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages: Hidden Dangers "They have more booze than other single-serving beverages. Budweiser and Mike's are both about 5% alcohol; by comparison, Sparks Plus is 7%, and four maXed and Joose are about 10%. The single-serving 'combination' of a depressant (alcohol) and various stimulants carries a certain "nightclub logic"; Anheuser-Busch used to advertise its caffeinated beer, Bud Extra, with lines such as YOU CAN SLEEP WHEN YOU'RE 30 and WE SUGGEST 18-HOUR MASCARA.... from a psychological perspective, drinking caffeine with your alcohol is much riskier than drinking alcohol alone. One of the fascinating things about how humans process alcohol is that we have at least some capacity to overcome its effects by sheer force of will. In other words, people who are aware of their impairment of being intoxicated are more 'cautious' --- but people who are led to mistakenly believe that their impairment is reduced by the energizing effects of caffeine (stimulant) are much less cautious & are a greater danger to themselves and to others." A wired drunk is still a drunk. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1823953,00.html In addition, it only takes 400 milligrams a day to begin experiencing the effects of caffeine overdose... so read the labels / not only about the caffeine amount, but the other ingredients as well (especially if you're diabetic, etcetera). http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/06/energy_drinks.html |
Posted 8/27/2008 2:47 PM CDT During the early 70s, I was working for the welfare department in Pharr, Texas. I was officed across the street from the ACLU headquarters (where I observed the comings and goings of many well publicized characters). I'd worked an 'Aid to Families with Dependent Children' case for the family of a man killed in the "Pharr Police Riot" (relates to racial tensions) at a time when the United Farm Workers (UFW) was very active there in the Rio Grande Valley (a predominately agricultural region, at that time). I even, in passing, shook the hand of César Chávez. La Raza and the Indianismo movement were coming to the fore of Chicano pride. LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) was gaining political strength. And the one symbol that kept popping up was the UFW flag (Aztec eagle from the Mexican flag as the logo’s main symbol) -- http://tinyurl.com/Indianismo So, when I see a picture at Statesman.com of Gonzalo Barrientos, a former state senator, carrying the red flag with the black Aztec eagle, I remember the above. Reading that he was one of the people who felt slighted by City Manager Marc Ott reminded me of growing up in the Valley. I understand 'Latino pride'.... especially as how it was explained to me by 'Freddy Fender' (before he became nationally famous). One night as we chatted over a beer(s) / he very colorfully made a point of how 'false pride' (my term, not his) had caused him much grief in his past -- and how he was learning to deal with it. A lesson we can all learn. [Yes, I know that the drama in Ott's office was more about demonstrative politics than pride.] |
Posted 8/26/2008 7:45 AM CDT "Since the breakup of The Soviet Union in 1991, most of Russia's former republics came together in the Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.), which is still led by Russia. The Baltic nations joined NATO and the European Union in 2004--a course Ukraine and Georgia have flirted with recently--while the resource-rich Central Asian republics have remained largely loyal to Moscow. But after the invasion of Georgia, former members of the U.S.S.R. are now nervously eyeing a resurgent Russia on their borders." Read about former Soviet Republics: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1834661,00.html Points: Russia is intent on dominating its neighbors and restoring its clout on the world stage. Putin thinks the West cherishes 'his' oil and influence over Iran too much to block his moves in Georgia. Saakashvili was a fool to bait the Russians. Because of his miscalculation, Georgia will lose control of its rebellious provinces. But Russia’s attack was also intended to bully Ukraine into dropping its NATO bid and to cow other former Soviet satellites into submission. This war, like so much of modern geopolitics, was also about petroleum. Russia controls the pipelines linking oil and natural-gas producers in former Soviet republics to the West. With Europe already dependent on Russia for a quarter of its natural gas, Western officials plotted a $12 billion pipeline through Georgia to transport gas from the Caspian Sea, circumventing the Russian monopoly. By crushing Georgia, Russia has shown investors that it could easily take out such a pipeline—which now probably will never be built. http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/751154.html |
Posted 8/25/2008 2:23 PM CDT When I started teaching school, my students complained that I made them stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance each and every morning (no other class in the school did). Now, it's required by law for all schools to do so. At the start of this new school year, I offer the following YouTube clip to inspire those who find the 'Pledge' tiresome: Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance (04:20) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfz2XDXaeqc&feature=related |
Posted 8/23/2008 3:09 PM CDT Climatic variability on the timescale of tens of thousands of years used to be a predominant pattern in earth history… until the Isthmus of Panama rose to impede the equatorial flow of the Atlantic into the Pacific. Since then, the past few million years has been punctuated by many rapid climate transitions, most of them on time scales of centuries to decades or even less. All the evidence indicates that most long-term climate change occurs in sudden jumps rather than incremental changes… all I can safely say at present is that the planet was some 5° to 9°F warmer during the last interglacial period (Eemian) than it is today…. and that was without extra greenhouses gases being added ‘into the mix’. |
Posted 8/22/2008 1:57 PM CDT Antarctica is losing mass at an increasing rate (59% increase in the past decade according to measurements by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites). Geophysicist Donald Blankenship of UT Austin points out that even if the ocean's temperature miraculously and suddenly stabilized, Antarctica would continue to lose mass -- because the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) glacier bed, as one moves inland from its edge, plummets farther below sea level and the ice gets thicker.. and as the glaciers melt and retreat inland, more and more of their ice will come into contact with the already warmer water, while the area on which new snow can gather will decrease. http://tinyurl.com/56bcok This is a double hit that will cause the WAIS to melt at a further increased rate -- leading to the point where there won't be enough mass in the WAIS to for its decrease to remain predictable. Looking at Greenland, the 1 1/2 mile thick ice layer that has been accumulating there since the last interglacial period ended 130,000 years ago is also shedding ice at increasing rate. It's doing it so fast that the scientists in the North Greenland Ice Drilling (NEEM) project are seeing it disappear right from 'under their noses'. It is probably this scientific endeavor that will lay to rest any remaining doubts as to the role that CO2 plays in our current climate change reality. Since increased CO2 levels correlated directly with previous geologic eras' warming periods, the completion of the NEEM project will cause greatly increased panic... especially when you consider that temperatures during the peak of an interglacial period are much warmer than what we're experiencing now --- even without the increased CO2 levels that we'll be carrying when that time interval hits. So, it's now time to learn how to pronounce 'anthropogenic'.... |
Posted 8/21/2008 2:38 PM CDT Organic Consumers Association and allies sent a letter to Kellogg's, requesting that Kellogg's not use sugar from genetically engineered sugar beets in its products or face a consumer boycott. Kellogg's has responded, claiming that US consumers do 'not' care if their food contains Genetically Engineered (GE)... however, poll after poll have demonstrated that Americans want GE foods labeled and restricted. Monsanto Corporation's RoundUp Ready Genetically Engineered Sugar Beet is designed to withstand massive doses of toxic weed killers. Roughly half of all processed foods contain sugar from sugar beets. Monsanto's GE sugar beets will expose millions of consumers to untested and unlabeled "Franken Foods" & exposure to Round Up [Note - Round Up doesn't completely break down in less than a year as Monsanto claims... which means some goes into you.] http://www.organicconsumers.org/kelloggs.cfm http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm |
Posted 8/20/2008 5:33 PM CDT With the number of out-of-wedlock births increasing every year in the USA, half of the births in 12 years will be "single mother" births. That's not what we called it when I was a kid, but that's another sign of changing social mores & values. Another thing that's increasing is the number of people shacking up.... done 'ostensibly' to avoid the financial obligations of marriage. What's occurring in Australia that will cause 'cohabitation' to lose some of its allure is a new law that treats couples who are 'shacking up' as having "de facto relationships".... which means that a couple who are shacking up will have the same financial responsibilities to deal with when they try to go their separate ways. For example, if Sarah and Simon are cohabiting and Sarah suddenly inherits a pile from her grandmother, Simon can claim some of that money when he dumps her. In other words, a gold digger wouldn't have to get a ring on her/his finger to lay hands on someone's fortune. http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/de-facto-choice-deserves-respect/2008/08/03/1217701846384.html http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/till-debt-do-us-part-a-rude-shock-for-de-factos/2008/08/03/1217701853597.html |
Posted 8/19/2008 11:51 AM CDT
The following is written by a friend:
Doesn’t this ad on TV sound Great? Except we are not going to tell
Doesn’t this ad on TV sound Great? Except we are not going to tell
you serve your country when we need you. BUT don’t ask for any help or support when you get discharged.
You can turn in a claim for medical and financial help but make sure you don’t need it soon that is within 3 years. This way it can get lost in the system (black hole).
I am a 62 year old disabled Vietnam Veteran that got spit on when returning from Vietnam in 1969 in the Dallas airport. Why do any of our Veterans have to beg for medical or financial assistance? Should it not be easy to give assistance? Those now homeless hungry Vets were proud men and woman when ask to serve their country.
Now because they are handicapped, old and disabled we, the American Government/people make them beg for any and all help. The VA says fill out this claim and it will take on the average of 2-3 years to be processed. This way the Vet will get frustrated and give up or just DIE.
I personally have claims/appeals that have been on someone’s desk for over 3 years. I will state “It did not take me 3 years to sign-up when my country needed help in March of 1966“. I have written letters begging for help as high as President Bush. Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas was the only one that was willing to help. I even requested to be considered a financial hardship. That had no meaning, claims and appeals are still stuck in the system.
I ask for help because I was about to lose my home. The foreclosure date had been set for my home to be sold. I forwarded the foreclosure notice to the Congressional VA office in Waco. This had no weigh, in other words no one in Waco’s VA office cared whether my family ended up another disabled VET on the street.
This is a major problem, it seems that our government had rather care for homeless, hungry people of other countries than their own Veterans.