Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has challenged Bush to a debate. Mahmoud is the president of Iran. I don't think he really has a lot to say over there as it appears the religious guys have the drop on the average citezen over there, including the president. Religious guys usually have an easier job getting what they want since they can claim divine guidance and who can argue.
This Ahmadine fellow puts a new face on the phrase "looking presidential." Here we see him looking like he has a part time job panhandling in Tehran, or perhaps his razor broke. My wife wouldn't let me go to the hardware store looking like that and here he is, obviously having a press conference (what with all the microphones and all).
I am thinking that if Bush is going to debate anyone, this might be the guy. Bush could definately out dress him, and if they make a rule that they have to debate in English, Bush just might have the jump on him there. As far as being in touch with the real world, they are evenly matched. Both seem to be visionaries in their own way.
Instead of a classic debate, maybe Alex Trebek, the "Jeopardy" guy could run the debate in that sort of answer and question style. Or they could judge them like they do on "American Idol." Maybe even get Randy, Simon, and Paula to do it. Heck, he might even be Paula's type. It could be a debate between Bush and bushface. I really like this idea.
30 August 06 - 06:06The Brain falls Mainly in the Plane
If anyone ever walks up to you and says, "Hello, I'm Seth Temin," don't trust him with anything of importance. Reading Seth's dufus statement tonight after I got home sort of punctuated an evening of listening to educated people revealing extreme wackiness.
As I was driving home tonight from a business trip, I listened to University of Wisconsin Islamic studies professor Kevin Barrett being interviewed by Alan Colmes on KLIF. Kevin Barrett believes that the United States attacked itself on 9/11. He is a bit fuzzy on the details (which makes it impossible to reason with him), but he is simply sure that 9/11 was part of an intricate and well executed government concocted event to throw us into war. Wacky.
Now I read that John Karr has been dropped as a suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey case, an action prudent folk everywhere expected at any time. We can see that the guy is a nut case, he is also seems to be a pervert and likely hurts little boys and girls. Apparently there is strong evidence he was into child pornography and his wife of that time divorced him because of it (the second wife, not the 13 year old he married). Double Wacky.
Back to Seth Temin. Today he expressed his outrage. That's right, outrage, at the arrest of John Karr. According to the Associated Press and apparently speaking of himself in the plural, Temin said, "We're deeply distressed by the fact that they took this man and dragged him here from Bangkok, Thailand, with no forensic evidence confirming the allegations against him and no independent factors leading to a presumption he did anything wrong," Extremely Wacky.
Do lawyers really believe their own bullshit or are they programmed in lawyer training to spew out stupid stuff like that, even once the battle has passed. I think they love to hear themselves talk and don't really know what they say, just as long as they say something.
For the information of all of you out there, I would rather eat a turd than defend the likes of John Karr, and folks like Kevin Barrett were probably just put here on earth by aliens for entertainment purposes.
I keep thinking about this John Karr fellow and how he could know things about the Jjonbenet murder that were "secret." If you Google "Jonbenet Ramsey" in quotes as shown you get over 14 million pages found. Fourteen Million!!! Thats a lot of pages. In fact, if you go to some of the crime sites, like I did you will find a lot of well researched information on the act.
Since I have only looked a little bit, it seems that a person obsessed with Jonbenet's murder would have looked at a lot more information that the half dozen sites I have looked at in any detail. When the autopsy report, drug analysis, photos, opinions, and all sorts of other "stuff" are "out there." It seems unlikely that there is too much a person could not find in 10 years of obsession.
Try it yourself. Find the autopsy report, the myriad of theories, and ample copies of the ransom note. They are all out there.
I still have about a 50-50 mix of ethanol in my tank. At this level the car runs fine. It seems that the car will not accept 100% E85 without some sort of modification. Since the car seems to run, but complains with a "check engine" light, it would appear that the modification to the car could be done completely in the car's computer.
I have not run across anything about this and do not know how to modify the computers on cars. I really think that I need to find a way to do this reprogramming in order to try using E-85 on a regular basis. I need a person, place, or thing that can rewrite the program in my car's computer.
These were sent to me, I can't claim credit, but I think there is some truth here. I have heard them before, but why not share.
WORDS WOMEN USE
FINE This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.
FIVE MINUTES If she is getting dressed, this is half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given 5 more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.
NOTHING This is the calm before the storm. This means "something," and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with 'Nothing' usually end in "Fine"
GO AHEAD This is a dare, not permission. Don't do it.
LOUD SIGH This is not actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A "Loud Sigh" mean s she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you over "Nothing"
THAT'S OKAY This is one of the most dangerous statements that a woman can make to a man. "That's Okay" means that she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.
THANKS A woman is thanking you. Do not question it or faint. Just say you're welcome.
WHATEVER It's a woman's way of saying "(expletive deleted) YOU"
Of course my honey would never use any of these phrases......
25 August 06 - 18:40Headline: Polar Bear Genitals Are Shrinking
It never ceases to amaze me what scientists will study. Apparently this is the result of eating contaminated seals. The seals eat in polluted water and then carry "stuff" in their fat which gets into the fat of polar bears which makes their weiners smaller.
To me it seems that almost worse than the fact that scientists are measuring and cataloging polar bear dingalings is this quote from FOX news: "Scientists report that this shrinkage could, in the worst-case scenario, endanger polar bears on Greenland and elsewhere by spoiling their love lives and causing their numbers to peter out." The copy writer who wrote that should have his or her brain checked for "shrinkage." Still, it isn't as bad as scientists running around measuring peters.....
Finally, good old American know how gets recognized! Fountain, Colorado has the distinction of being America's millennium city because it best symbolizes the overall composition of America, blares the New York Times. Fountain was featured in the New York Times Millennium Edition on Sunday, December 5, 1999. Now they prove that they have it all.
Late Saturday night, police say 19-year-old Dustin Finch told emergency dispatchers he had a bomb strapped to his body, and that if he didn't get what he wanted he was going to set it off. Finch demanded $1,000,000, and an airplane out of town. When authorities searched Finch, instead of C4 explosives, all they found taped to his body were packages of cigarettes.
Truely Fountain has come of age. Millenium City, their own home grown terrorist. They have it all.
This Tom Cruise thing is strange. He apparently didn't injure or kill anyone, drive drunk, beat his wife, steal or shoplift, embezzle, rob a bank, or kidnap anyone. He has acted a bit strange and insulted some folks publicly, but it doesn't seem to exceed what has been done by others who still keep plinking out movies.
I agree with Bill O'Reilly of FOX television, there is something more going on here. Perhaps it is just the result of a flurry of insults ending in "you're fired." Perhaps it was what they said (recent public reaction to his behavior).
What ever it is, it doesn't really hit very hard on the hit parade of human importance when we have many things in the world more worth our attention and worry than why Tom got the axe. Good bye, Tom? Probably not.
24 August 06 - 07:07Which Poster Child do I Prefer
As you will recall, I have already blogged about Ann Coulter a couple of times. Tell you what. It is easy to consider Ann Coulter a poster child for the far right and Michael Moore a poster child for the far left. Since I tend to the right, I see Ann Coulter as more normal, and better looking.
When I was a college student in developmental psychology, I had a professor who always said that "good things go together." What he meant was simple. Good looking people are often also intelligent and athletic. Or the other way around. Retarded people often look that way.
With this new knowledge in mind, you men will certainly have to swing a little more to the right just because of how good the poster child looks. You women out there will want to swing to the right to avoid the associating yourself with Michael Moore. Oh, yes, they are reversed in the picture right and left. Michael Moore is the one on the right.
23 August 06 - 06:33Katie Holmes: Prisoner of Mind Control?
Scientology has its headquarters in Clearwater, Florida. So does Hooters. I don't think they are related, but I only point this out because I lived there once and learned both of these facts.
There were few I knew in Clearwater that did not think the religious order less than mainstream. Consipiracy theories and abduction stories abounded. Even stories of murder and death due to the church.
It seems to me that Tom Cruise's relationship with Kate Holmes has been strange to say the least. It is almost like he has decided she has the look he wants and all he needs to do is tweak her mind a bit and she will be the girl of his dreams.
And has anybody seen Suri? Certainly an infant does not need to be brainwashed like a potential wife does.
I hope that darn baby turns up some time soon. I know something is wrong with Tom Cruize because I have seen him in public forumns acting in distinctly strange ways. For as proud of the baby as Tom was when it was inside Katie you would think he would be parading the child around all over the place now it is out.
I suspect conspiracy and dark motives.....
I am afraid that the Church of Hooters is holding all of them prisoner.
22 August 06 - 21:07Dark Matter Proof Found (So Scientists are Saying)
As a former physics major I sometimes read “Physics for Idiots” books and a lot of the stuff for idiots these days deals with cosmology and other things relating to the fabric of the universe. One of the things that is needed for current theories to work is called “dark matter.”
Researchers have found the first direct proof for the existence of dark matter which is thought to make up almost a quarter of the universe. Dark matter does not absorb or emit light so astronomers infer its presence by measuring the gravitational effects. Ordinary matter which makes up stars, planets, and everything on Earth is estimated to be no more than 5 percent of the universe. The other 70 percent of the universe is believed to be made of dark energy.
Dark energy is even more elusive to find and is said to be pushing the universe apart at an ever increasing rate. If this stuff starts showing up frequently I guess I will have to spend more time learning about it. For now go here, National Geographic Article.
I am out of town, staying at a Holiday Inn, and I have a free drink ticket. Can't let something like that go to waste. Since I got in rather late, it was after 10:00 before I arrived at the Holiday Inn Bar which had about 6 people in it. A local couple who were not really together, but knew each other, one salesman type, one local, the bartender (Cassie) and myself.
The topic of the night seemed to be John Karr's flight back to the US. Apparently he flew business or first class and had champagne during the flight and some pretty nice meals. the question to me was, do you think that John Karr should have had champagne and luxury meals at the taxpayer's expense.
I pointed out that this really was not an issue, since the meals and drinks either consumed or uncomsumed did not effect the price of the ticket, and the reason for the seat location was undoubtedly security.
At this point the girl decides I am an expert on the topic and starts asking more questions. What she does not realize is that I am sober and she is not, thus my answers probably sound a lot more lucid than they really are. So now I am asked if I think he is guilty, why, why not, etc. I further my cause by pointing out the little I actually know, however, she is so happy she wants to buy me a drink as well as one for the local guy (not the one she is with). This desire disappeared when she found out the drink was not in the bartender's repetoire nor in the bar's book of mixed drinks.
Not to matter, since she forgot about the whole thing anyway when she claimed she agreed with me that Karr was lieing and I responded by claiming I believed that O. J. was innocent. That left her somewhat confused, at which point I left.
I have friends that send bazillions of forwards of anonymous things they have run across on the net. Sometimes it is fun to share them. Since I will be looking forward to retiring in the next 10 or 12 years, I pass along the "Retirement FAQ." Thanks, Jerry.
Retirement FAQ
Q: For retirees, how many days in a week? A: 6 Saturdays, 1 Sunday
Q: When is a retiree's bedtime? A: Three hours after he falls asleep on the couch.
Q: How many retirees to change a light bulb? A: Only one, but it might take all day.
Q: Why don't retirees mind being called Seniors? A: The term comes with a 10% percent discount.
Q: Among retirees what is considered formal attire? A: Tied shoes.
Q: Why do retirees count pennies? A: They are the only ones who have the time.
Q: What is the common term for someone who enjoys work and refuses to retire? A: NUTS!
Q: Why are retirees so slow to clean out the basement, attic or garage? A: They know that as soon as they do, one of their adult kids will want to store stuff there.
Q: What do retirees call a long lunch? A: Normal.
Q: What's the biggest advantage of going back to school as a retiree? A: If you cut classes, no one calls your parents.
Q: Why does a retiree often say he doesn't miss work, but misses the people he used to work with? A: He is too polite to tell the whole truth.
Share this one with all the retirees that you know. I'm sure they can relate to some of them! AND, If you have not yet retired, look what you have to look forward too!! Hi, mom!
I am really having a good time with this new blog software. Since you can now read my blog from an RSS aggregator I thought it only appropriate to have an RSS feed on the front page, so I have one. You also get the added benefit of more hot air from ME!!
As far as the RSS feed goes, I like the balanced news, so that is what you see. I cringe when I see CNN, and some of you are not yet ready for FOX, Yahoo is a bit to corny sounding for me (although I like their business pages), so I am currently using a Bloomberg News Feed. I intend to learn more about reading RSS and Atom, but for now I am using a service to obtain the feed.
Also, with the new software Sandra should not have to complain about things being boring. At least not because there is not enough to read. I have a new sense of invigoration so for at least a few weeks you will have plenty of "opinions for free."
By the way, I am in Minnesota right now and in my opinion, the weather is a lot better than the weather in Dallas right now which is a sucky 100+ and has been for way too long. I like the 70's.
I have already blogged about Ann Coulter. I have heard her name, seen her on television, listened to her on the radio and so on. Last Saturday I skimmed a book she had written while in Costco getting tires on my daughter's car. (That's another story.)
In order to learn more about Ann Coulter's viewpoint on things, I purchased one of her books. She has written several. The book has a light hearted title "Slander - Liberal Lies about the American Right" and I peeked inside to note that the print is double spaced. There do not seem to be any pictures. Other than reading inside the cover I have not yet read the book. I will be doing that during my travels this week to Minnesota.
I use some of my time on airplanes as minivacations where I do exciting things like read books, do crossword puzzles, and watch people try to maneuver to the restrooms. Even in small private planes there are restroom options. (You might be surprised.)
I'll tell you what. If the Ann Coulter is a poster child for the far right and Michael Moore is a poster child for the far left. I am feeling very good about being a conservative. Don't count me in either Ann's or Micheal's corner, I just tend more to the right and the view on the right is definately better.
Here are three more facts reported from the Jonbenet case. Its like the pendulum swings back and forth on this. Probably due to too much reporting, so lets jump in...
A bear being hugged by Karr in a boyhood picture of him was said to be the same as the one that appeared briefly in JonBenet's bedroom after her slaying in Boulder, Colorado, on December 26, 1996. Even though the teddy bear cannot be found and was never entered into evidence.
KARR gave a graphic account of the condition of JonBenet's body, this information was known only to a few investigators a law enforcement source claimed (although the autopsy report has been on the internet for 10 years Autopsy Report on "The Smoking Gun")
SOME inconsistencies with Karr's original version of events were blamed on misreporting by Thai authorities. I wonder if the "I drugged her." thing was one of these inconsistencies. Did that come out in a public interview or a statement? I don't know. The toxicology report is also at the link above as part of the autopsy report.
I am really enjoying this new software. I just can't say enough nice things about it. Pivot is amazing! What a difference an interface can make. It is also nice to be using software that is currently being supported. The software creates RSS output if someone wants it, allows me to queue up articles for when I am out of town upload graphics on the fly, and all of the features I still haven't figured out.
The technical folks might be interested in the way the articles are stored, and I did look into that when I decided to switch. However, as I have always said, the look and feel of something is far more important in most instances than the gears and wheels behind it. I am interested in results, and barring legal or moral issues, I am not always that concerned about how the results are realized.
Anyway, the picture is of rose colored glasses which are what some people accuse me of looking through....
One last thought. Since the software I was using was so old, maybe I am being impressed for the wrong reasons. Naw, you can't fool me.
You are probably wondering how the ethanol experiment is going with the Mark VIII. If not you will be hearing about it anyway.
As you recall I had mentioned a "soft" check engine light coming on periodically. I was into the third fill (second complete fill) and the light just kept going on and off as I drove. As a test I put five gallons of regular gas into the car. The light situation stopped.
I haven't had the code read, but it is an indication that the car is operating far enough outside what the computer wants to see that it believes there is something wrong. I don't know at this point whether to look into a retrofit, go back to the recommended fuel, or say "damn the torpedoes full speed ahead." For the near term I will revert to regular gasoline per the warning on the pump.
It always seemed to me that the nice folks at the ALCU (American Civil Liberties Union) are a bit whacked out. Collectively they do more harm than good, but they are sincere in their belief that they are doing the right thing.
Even though they are so far left I can hardly see them from where I stand, I have often felt that there is not a counterbalance to their lunicy. I have found the counterbalance to the ALCU and it is Ann Coulter.
Politicians who I consider conservative want to stand for "Mom, Apple Pie, and the American Way." Ann Coulter stands for this, but in a very alacritous and give them hell sort of way. I consider myself a conservative, so do I agree with everything she says and everything she is? Of course not.
Here is what she does. The ALCU has views so far to the left that I listen when they come up with their misguided ideas as balance to my point of view. It is the details of what the ACLU is trying to do that makes them worth while. They must be listened to, even if I do not agree with them more than 10% of the time).
Now I have found a viewpoint so far right that it can shed light on a conservative viewpoint that is extreme. So I listen to the details of her viewpoint and even if I find I do not agree with her I find her viewpoint useful and I agree with it over half the time. Further, she is very good at supporting her positions with facts, so it is the details that I seek.
Do you want a percentage? Hmmmm. I probably agree with her 70% of the time and her research is great. She does shoot herself in the foot a bit of them time, but I enjoy her fiestiness. A tip of the Armstrong hat to Ann Coulter, true American.
17 August 06 - 23:22Something is Wrong (Again) with the Jonbenet Case
Well, it's time to guess again on the Jonbenet case. Police are saying more work needs to be done to complete the case against John Karr. If enough work is done on the new Jonbenet Ramsey suspect to convict him of this crime, it will be a work of fiction longer than "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
One of the reasons that the Ramseys (Patsy the mom, John the dad, and Burke the brother), were suspects was due to the weakness of evidence of an outside intruder. The following is an excerpt of an article by Ryan Ross of Crime Magazine. In this passage he discusses the possibility of an outside intruder. You can find this article on the net at Solving the Jonbenet Ramsey Case.
The best case for murder has always rested on the possibility of an intruder. Among other mysteries, unidentified DNA under JonBenet's fingernails and in her panties, an unidentified pubic hair in the white blanket found with her body, an unidentified palm print on the door to the room in which JonBenet's body was found, an unidentified Hi-Tec boot imprint in the basement room in which JonBenet's body was found, and bruises on JonBenet's body that suggest to some the use of a stun-gun mark all combine to make it clear there is no way of excluding the possibility of an intruder. Lou Smit, the retired Colorado Springs cop hired by Boulder D. A. Alex Hunter to sift the evidence, is right: Possible intruders have to be identified and investigated.It doesn't help the intruder theorists, however, that many of the list of clues Smit says point to an intruder fell by the wayside as the investigation proceeded:
* Forensic examiners said the pubic hair might not be a pubic hair, and in any event many Ramsey houseguests slept in JonBenet's bed when she wasn't home.
* The DNA under JonBenet's fingernails was old and degraded, according to the Rocky Mountain News, and didn't indicate she had struggled with anyone.
* The DNA in her panties wasn't from seminal fluid and was so flimsy, the News quoted a prosecutor as saying, that the manufacturer could have put it there.
* Dr. Spitz says that what appears to be stun gun marks aren't such marks. * The palm print on the basement door turned out on further review to belong to Melinda Ramsey, one of John Ramsey's children from his first marriage, the News reported last year citing "a source close to the case."
* ...the mystery of the Hi-Tec boot imprint was solved in grand jury testimony. Prosecutors disclosed in the 2000 interviews of the Ramseys that Burke and one of his friends had told jurors that Burke owned a pair of Hi-Tec boots...
More importantly, as an explanation of what happened that night, the intruder theory is problematic. It's difficult to get around the ransom note Patsy Ramsey reported finding early the morning of the Dec. 26th. The author clearly had no fear of detection because he or she wrote the mother of all ransom notes while in the Ramsey home, using paper and pen from the home. Under the intruder scenario, he/she entered the home and killed JonBenet without detection while the child's parents and brother slept, and was therefore free to leave without being detected. For the intruder to pen a three-page ransom note and leave behind the strongest evidence that would link him or her to the killing suggests he/she was either stupid or trying to get caught.
I don't want to second guess this new twist, but it looks today like it is very hard to argue that he or anyone accosted Jonbenet in the basement. We will all have to wait and see.
Ten years ago I was saddened when I heard of the murder of Jonbenet Ramsey. Of course, like most others I followed the case even after the news faded away. Back then I felt that the parents were somehow involved. Not because of anything to do with them personally, or even a clear evidentiary trail, but simply because the odds are in the favor of family members. Also, much of the media hype indicated that there was not much chance that it was an outside job implying the murder was committed by someone in the family.
Sadly, Jonbenet’s mother recently died from cancer at the young age of 49. Happily, her husband, John, indicated to the press that she had learned before her death that authorities were closing in on the killer. If you have not read the news reports, you should. It seems the murderer has been living in “pervert heaven,” Thailand. From what I have just read, it seems the child prostitution industry is very robust in that country. Say a prayer for Jonbenet, Patsey (her mother), and John (her surviving father. Also say a prayer for her brother, although I do not recall her name. Those that are still living need closure. I personally feel bad that I felt blame fell on the parents and I was apparently wrong.
Apparently the police are very sure they have their man. He knows things only the murderer could know that were not previously revealed. For example, among the facts not generally known was the murder weapon and what the killer did with it.
Just a bit about what is going on at work. Somebody must want to know.
Whenever you start a project the project starts out as a fuzzy ball. Not only is the ball fuzzy, since it is fuzzy, people see different things when they look at it. That makes projects interesting. Not only do different people see different things, at times people see things that aren't really there which could be, or things that will radically change the outcome of the project. It is at this stage, just as the project is becoming gelled that I find myself.
We will be making ethanol. When we started, I had a general idea of how ethanol was made. Every day my understanding increases. Each day, those working around me add to the ball of knowledge. As the ball gells, the picture starts to clear, but it is still wavy. In the next few weeks, not only will the project become clearer, it will start to take physical form.
To see the ethanol process, click on the picture and a diagram will appear. The diagram is what I call a "Richard Scary" diagram after the author of children's books I used to read with my son.
I'll keep you informed. The project is just starting to get interesting.
16 August 06 - 02:53Tom and Katie and 67 Million Bucks
Let's put things in perspective here. When I was a young guy with those hormone things circulating in me on a regular basis I would imagine how great it would be if I was a movie star. Movie stars, I surmised, would attract women like a magnet attracts scrap metal. I would have an endless supply of beautiful honeys just waiting in line.
Now I read this, Tom offers Katie $67m marriage deal. Excuse me? Why does this Katie toots require a 67 million dollar sack of dough to marry Tom Cruise? It doesn't make sense. I would think that there would be zillions of hot baby containers just hoppin' to be Tom's bride for a much lower price.
Of course, there is lesson number two. Remember Hugh Grant getting the back alley hummer? That had to cost way less than 67 million. It would seem that there is a lot to discuss here, but I think we have discussed it enough. I hate to compare Divine Brown and Kate Holmes one to another, but in the overall scheme of things, it does seem that Divine is a lot more economical than Kate. Purchased womenwise, that is.
Tonight as I was paying a mountain of bills (I have been busy and they piled up) I heard voices coming from "My Honey's" computer. It was a woman being interviewed about discussing what color numbers were with her dad. She discussed how they would agree that 1 was red and 9 was green, and so on. I have never sensed color with numbers. The fact that some people do I find veeeeeery interesting. The fact that a daughter and father each have the same sense of color with numbers and the same colors with the same numbers is astounding.
I got to thinking, there is something I have always percieved that way. I haver always felt "higher" sounds to be "brighter" and "lower" sounds to be "darker". In fact as I think of it I sense lightness and darkness as a result of these sounds. It is subtle, however. Since I had "learned" in music classes about musical qualities I never thought beyond it.
Apparently, I now find, there are people who have a sort of "cross circuit" of the senses in a variety of areas. Take a look here:
The phenomenom has a name, synesthesia. The way I see it, it is not a disease or condition which could be considered abnormal, it is an enhancement to senses. In fact, what I read says it is always additive to the senses and never replaces senses.
I will definately be looking into this a lot more (maybe).
Here is the pump where I have been getting ethanol for the Mark VIII. The pump looks like a giant ear of corn. According to the naysayers, the expected problems involved with burning ethanol are 1) Running lean 2) Burning valves because of running lean, and 3) dissolving seals and diaphragms not designed for use with alcohol. Even so, I ran the car on E85 all weekend and all seems to be well.
I will take the car in if there seems to be any trouble. I get a "check engine" light periodically, but it goes out. Usually this is an oxygen sensor or the like since the engine seems to run fine. The engine does not die, idle funny, or seem to lack power (however, the car started out with a lot of extra horsepower in my opinion). The exhaust smells sweet and seems to be hot steam rather than the foul smelling stuff one expects out of a tailpipe.
As near as I can tell, there are only three locations selling ethanol in the area, all three are Kroger stores.
I intend to carry on burning E85 as long as things seem to be working out.
I can see that one thing I will need to find is the clock reference. That is certainly screwed up. For anyone that wants to know, I have found that the blogging software out there works well with my web provider. Both Greymatter and Pivot set up without problems and the instructions were easy to follow.
In fact, the Pivot software has a seperate routine that allows the Greymatter files to be converted. Needless to say I am delighted. You all have a great day. As soon as I can figure out how to upload pictures (the right way) I will post some pictures of the E85 pumpt that I am using to fill the Mark VIII.
I got a couple of soft check engine lights Friday night, but not since. My major concern (since the car runs fine) is whether or not various parts will dissolve when subjected to concentrated alcohol.
As you may have noticed, the blog has changed its format. It is now on a platform called "Pivot." The old platform "Greymatter" is fine, but is no longer being supported and I want to diddle with RSS and Atom feeds.
For all practical purposes the switch is complete. I need to review some file locatons so I can add pictures to entries and clean up a few missing items and that is about it.
Also, I may have hosed a template when I was editing, but can replace it with the default.
As you may remember I am now working for an alternate energy company. One of our projects is the production of ethanol from corn. In order to put my "money" where my mouth is I am now fueling my "baby" (My Lincoln Mark VIII) with E85 fuel. The two common ethanol fuel mixtures in the United States are E10 and E85 which contain 10% and 85% ethanol respectively. The project we are working on will make alcohol next summer using what is called the "dry mill" process.
If you want to know, the basic steps for dry mill production of ethanol are: milling (grinding) the source of starch (often corn), liquification and saccharification (creation of sugar using amylase), fermentation, distillation, dehydration, and denaturing (usually adding gasoline). The big benefit is this; carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas you are hearing so much about, is given off during fermentation and burning of ethanol. However, the net effect is more than offset by the uptake of carbon gases by the plants grown to produce the ethanol. The overall effect of using ethanol is to reduce greenhouse gases. Remember that carbon dioxide relased from gasoline was locked into the gasoline from the long ago era in time when the gasoline formed. That was a jillion years ago. With ethanol it is a much closer circle of time.
The science of the situation is this; Ethanol has less energy per gallon than gasoline. In fact, E85 will produce approximately 27% lower mileage than gasoline. Since the Mark VIII has a computer which tracks fuel useage I will be watching to see what happens. The other part of it is this; the experts warn that you need a car especially designed to use E85. The concern is that the gaskets, orings, etc are not designed to function in high concentrations of alcohol. According to the owners manual on my car, it is not designed to use E85. My car can burn "E10" which is something all cars supposedly can burn. I am now determining if this E85 stuff will work or not. Once again, you do not need to accept risk as I will accept it for you. Also, FYI, I just paid $450 for new plug wires and plugs to ensure that the car is tuned and ready to go for the test. The tank is 100% full of E85 (I have filled for the second time). The test has started!!
12 August 06 - 11:47Play Station 3 versus Nintendo Wii
More for you from You Tube. Don't you love those commercials for Apple computers where the Apple is a "with it" young guy and the PC is a more frumpy middle aged guy. The commercials are great and have even made me consider getting an Apple for home use. A fringe benefit of the commercials is this video which is a parady of the Apple versus PC commercial showing a faux PS3 versus Wii commercial. Unfortunately if the Wii is as much fun as this commercial leads one to believe, my sweet honey will not allow me to get one (chuckle). Take a look at this hyperactive funny video PS3 vs Wii. In order to see this you need to have Flash installed. To start double click either the little start arrow in the lower left or the big arrow in the middle, if you click elsewhere on the object you will be directed to the You Tube site you will need to register, however, that is not a bad idea as it has a lot of good stuff (like this).
From time to time I get requests to see the doggies. Their names are Anabel and Rugby. Anabel is a female (fixed) "mostly" coon hound (from the dog pound) and Rugby is a pure bred Yorkshire Terrier (expensive). Both are very loveable. They go crazy when you come home for the day. They are part of the family.
Dogs (like other animals) have their own personality. The same is true of these dogs. The thing that I find interesting is how well they get along together. Anabel is older and weighs ten times as much as Rugby. Even so, they get along fine.
Some interesting opinion in the Guardian. I have heard it before, Hezbollah exists because there is a belief among Lebanese that their government is not protecting there borders from Israel. Read this:
"...Hizbullah operates as a state within a state, with its own highly motivated private army.... It is Hizbullah, not the Lebanese government and its army, which has controlled the Lebanese-Israeli border ever since Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000...."
Thank goodness nothing like this could happen in the United States. Here we can depend on our government to take the lead in protecting our interests and our borders. Nothing can cause anything like that to happen in the United States. Nothing.
Ooops, wrong picture. Sorry about that.
09 August 06 - 19:10What are those Secret Ingredients???
Wow, here is some news from India (Zaman Online):
"India parliament agreed on ban of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products following last week?s discovery of toxic chemicals in the Indian manufactured cola products.
The New Delhi-based Center for Science and Environment said last week that tests conducted on 57 samples found pesticide residues in Coke and Pepsi products that were 24 times above the limits set by the Bureau of Indian Standards."
Looks cut and dried. Poison should not be sold. If you inspect the articles further you will find there is an awful lot of politics going on here. Conspiracy too, don't you know. Some in India claim that all of the bad ingredients from around the world are shipped to India for distribution in their soft drinks.
This is a quote I really like (from NCTimes.com):
"India's top court has asked Coca-Cola and Pepsi to disclose the ingredients in the soft drinks they sell here amid allegations the drinks contain high levels of pesticide."
What??? Does India's top court think that pesticides are part of the secret ingrediants? Conspiracy? Politics? More intrigue in the news!!
Desperately seeking Suri in a frenzy of suspicion - The Age - 8/6/06 'Where's Suri?" ran a recent headline in People magazine, as the pressure mounted for a photo - any photo - of the baby girl sired by megastar Tom Cruise, and delivered by actress Katie Holmes, on April 18. As the Suri watch drags into its fourth month...
Cruise buys ultrasound machine - BBC News - 11/24/05 Holmes and Cruise announced their engagement in June Tom Cruise has bought an ultrasound machine for his pregnant actress fiancee Katie Holmes so they can monitor their unborn child at home....
Ultrasound may affect fetal brains: study - CTV.ca - 8/8/2006 Scientists are investigating whether ultrasound scans during pregnancy may harm the brains of unborn babies....
Three headlines, unrelated, or inter-related? My theory is that Tom and Katie plan on stealing a normal baby and replacing it with their brain damaged baby. A baby damaged by ultrasound! ! ! The only problem is that they have not been able to make the switch. When (and if) we see a baby, will it be the real Suri? Or will it be a substitute!!?
There is also some talk where my wife works that Tom is an interterrestrial alien. I will pass on the word as soon as I make it up.
If I were to learn Spanish it would be for the same reason I would want to learn German. For me, one of the great mysteries that I would like to understand is the charisma of Fidel Castro and Adolf Hitler.
I have always been fascinated by leaders such as Castro and Hitler who have lead what I consider to be essentially failed societies. And yet, people follow them. I think part of it is the ability to be insane, yet sane enough to function in public and sane enough to develop a strong network of cronies. However, the ability to speak charismatically in public seems to be an important element in the control of a country. I nwould love to have my own country. Even a hot humid one, prone to hurricanes, like Cuba.
If reincarnation is possible, I will either come back as a squash or a charismatic lunatic. I have not yet decided which. Either way, it will be different from my current life.
07 August 06 - 21:23Suggestive Music Leads to Teen Sex
I have been very careful not to listen to certain music lately. I just read the headline Suggestive Music Leads to Teen Sex. Further, I read, the music tends to be hip hop or rap as often as not. I was thinking of the trouble I could get into. I could be driving down the street, I listen to a few hip-hop songs and the next thing I know I am lead to "teen sex." Horrors!!!
Something like that could be ruiness. But there is a simple cure; no more hip-hop and no more rap for me. I would suggest that anyone of over the age of 17 follow suit. Do not listen to this type of music. Being suddenly driven to teen sex is a risk you do not want to take.
My new slogan, "Crappity crap, no more rap, Bippity bop, no hip-hop."
This is just too funny. I remember when Al Gore said that he had invented the internet, but apparently his new movie has captured the interest of at least one creative person. Here you will see a preview of the effect this movie had on at least one viewer.
My nice wife wanted me to see "March of the Penquins" and now I feel fullfilled seeing this march with Al Gore AND the penquins. Two for the price of one, as they say.
Again, if you haven't seen You Tube this is the kind of thing you will see. If you don't want to see You Tube I will continue to bring the best of You Tube to you whenever possible. Hey, Al, Orrrk orrk orrrk.
05 August 06 - 22:34I want a Set of Balloon Launchers!
The things you don't find on the internet. Remembering launching water balloons at the neighbors when I lived in Houston, I spent a bit of time tonight searching for balloon launchers. Have they improved these things since I used them 8 years ago. We had some surgical tube strung between a wood yoke that we mounted on a fencepost. It seems the current breed of launcher is more organic in nature.
I am certainly planning on doing more research into water balloon launchers. Try going here Sling King Site to get more information.
05 August 06 - 22:07Postal Service Loses a few Bills
A truckload of 90,000 telephone and cable bills was abandoned in a Tennessee trucking company parking lot. This caused a delay in the bill's delivery and confused customers who received bills long after they were due.
The Postal Service only found the truck after getting calls from the companies who had sent the bills asking if something had happened. How long did the truck sit? Three weeks.
Once again, neither rain, nor snow, nor gloom of night can stop the mail, but stupidity and incompetence always seems to work. As you know, I always think of the US Postal Service as bad service waiting to happen. I am surprised they did not charge demurrage.
Oh, yes, the late charges were excused for those involved. Have a great day.
Remember the movie "Star Wars" when Princess Leia Organa was projected as a tiny 3-D image saying "I need you Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi" over and over. Well here is some new (and cool) technology that resembles that technology. Real 3-D? No, but it is a good start.
Also, this is a chance for you to see an example of YouTube.com. If your browser crabs about dangerous content that may hurt your computer, rest assured that this YouTube feed is not only safe, but funny.
At $20,000 I will not be getting one of these any time soon, and I hope that in the future the image doesn't look like a flag in the breeze. But, hey, take a look, this is really "way cooool"!!
What do fish from the Appalacians and Great Britain have in common? They are sexually disoriented.
Wierd sex changing fish are showing up downstream from West Virginia. These fish are also showing up in Great Britain. These are "Gender Bender" fish. They are fish that are changing their gender.
Apparently this is due to something in the water. Read more here and let me know what is going on....
At first I thought it was just the usual West Virginia stuff, but this is also happening in England where fish rarely marry their sisters.
After years of paying for AOL, I will only need endure a long wait on hold and I will be able to retain my AOL email address for free. I realize it was a business decision that was not based on my use of AOL, but I joined AOL before the internet was the internet. Let me take you back.
The timeframe is the mid to late 1980's. I have owned computers since late 1977 when I started with a Radio Shack Model I with many optional add-ons (memory, disk drives, etc.). In 1984, however, I added a modem to the list of options and moved up to a Radio Shack Model IV which included a serial port. My modem was a dual speed, direct connect, auto-dial, 150/300 baud modem. It was state of the art. Later I upgraded to a 1200 baud modem, considered to be possibly the fastest speed possible over phone lines.
I used to access "Compuserve," "Prodigy," and "The Source" through a dial-up intermediate service called Tymnet. Tymnet had dialup lines in most major cities in the 1980's and these menu and command line driven computer "Superbulletin Boards" were the top end of personal cyber communication prior to the internet.
My first email address was on Compuserve, but nobody I knew sent me an email as few were computer literate at the time. It was my AOL membership (I was practically a charter member) in the early 1990's where I started the email address "rlincolna@aol.com" as a part of my membership. I have had this email address for 15 years and now it will be free.
Thank you AOL. Incidentally, it was also through my AOL "portal" that I first used the internet.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has challenged Bush to a debate. Mahmoud is the president of Iran. I don't think he really has a lot to say over there as it appears the religious guys have the drop on the average citezen over there, including the president. Religious guys usually have an easier job getting what they want since they can claim divine guidance and who can argue.
If anyone ever walks up to you and says, "Hello, I'm Seth Temin," don't trust him with anything of importance. Reading Seth's dufus statement tonight after I got home sort of punctuated an evening of listening to educated people revealing extreme wackiness. 
I keep thinking about this John Karr fellow and how he could know things about the Jjonbenet murder that were "secret." If you Google "Jonbenet Ramsey" in quotes as shown you get over 14 million pages found. Fourteen Million!!! Thats a lot of pages. In fact, if you go to some of the crime sites, like I did you will find a lot of well researched information on the act.
I still have about a 50-50 mix of ethanol in my tank. At this level the car runs fine. It seems that the car will not accept 100% E85 without some sort of modification. Since the car seems to run, but complains with a "check engine" light, it would appear that the modification to the car could be done completely in the car's computer. 
These were sent to me, I can't claim credit, but I think there is some truth here. I have heard them before, but why not share.
It never ceases to amaze me what scientists will study. Apparently this is the result of eating contaminated seals. The seals eat in polluted water and then carry "stuff" in their fat which gets into the fat of polar bears which makes their weiners smaller.
Finally, good old American know how gets recognized! Fountain, Colorado has the distinction of being America's millennium city because it best symbolizes the overall composition of America, blares the New York Times. Fountain was featured in the New York Times Millennium Edition on Sunday, December 5, 1999. Now they prove that they have it all.
This Tom Cruise thing is strange. He apparently didn't injure or kill anyone, drive drunk, beat his wife, steal or shoplift, embezzle, rob a bank, or kidnap anyone. He has acted a bit strange and insulted some folks publicly, but it doesn't seem to exceed what has been done by others who still keep plinking out movies.
As you will recall, I have already blogged about Ann Coulter a couple of times. Tell you what. It is easy to consider Ann Coulter a poster child for the far right and Michael Moore a poster child for the far left. Since I tend to the right, I see Ann Coulter as more normal, and better looking.
Scientology has its headquarters in Clearwater, Florida. So does Hooters. I don't think they are related, but I only point this out because I lived there once and learned both of these facts.
As a former physics major I sometimes read “Physics for Idiots” books and a lot of the stuff for idiots these days deals with cosmology and other things relating to the fabric of the universe. One of the things that is needed for current theories to work is called “dark matter.” 
I am out of town, staying at a Holiday Inn, and I have a free drink ticket. Can't let something like that go to waste. Since I got in rather late, it was after 10:00 before I arrived at the Holiday Inn Bar which had about 6 people in it. A local couple who were not really together, but knew each other, one salesman type, one local, the bartender (Cassie) and myself.
I have friends that send bazillions of forwards of anonymous things they have run across on the net. Sometimes it is fun to share them. Since I will be looking forward to retiring in the next 10 or 12 years, I pass along the "Retirement FAQ." Thanks, Jerry.
I am really having a good time with this new blog software. Since you can now read my blog from an RSS aggregator I thought it only appropriate to have an RSS feed on the front page, so I have one. You also get the added benefit of more hot air from ME!!
Here are three more facts reported from the Jonbenet case. Its like the pendulum swings back and forth on this. Probably due to too much reporting, so lets jump in...
I am really enjoying this new software. I just can't say enough nice things about it. Pivot is amazing! What a difference an interface can make. It is also nice to be using software that is currently being supported. The software creates RSS output if someone wants it, allows me to queue up articles for when I am out of town upload graphics on the fly, and all of the features I still haven't figured out.
You are probably wondering how the ethanol experiment is going with the Mark VIII. If not you will be hearing about it anyway.
It always seemed to me that the nice folks at the ALCU (American Civil Liberties Union) are a bit whacked out. Collectively they do more harm than good, but they are sincere in their belief that they are doing the right thing.
Well, it's time to guess again on the Jonbenet case. Police are saying more work needs to be done to complete the case against John Karr. If enough work is done on the new Jonbenet Ramsey suspect to convict him of this crime, it will be a work of fiction longer than "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. 
Ten years ago I was saddened when I heard of the murder of Jonbenet Ramsey. Of course, like most others I followed the case even after the news faded away. Back then I felt that the parents were somehow involved. Not because of anything to do with them personally, or even a clear evidentiary trail, but simply because the odds are in the favor of family members. Also, much of the media hype indicated that there was not much chance that it was an outside job implying the murder was committed by someone in the family. 
Let's put things in perspective here. When I was a young guy with those hormone things circulating in me on a regular basis I would imagine how great it would be if I was a movie star. Movie stars, I surmised, would attract women like a magnet attracts scrap metal. I would have an endless supply of beautiful honeys just waiting in line.
Tonight as I was paying a mountain of bills (I have been busy and they piled up) I heard voices coming from "My Honey's" computer. It was a woman being interviewed about discussing what color numbers were with her dad. She discussed how they would agree that 1 was red and 9 was green, and so on. I have never sensed color with numbers. The fact that some people do I find veeeeeery interesting. The fact that a daughter and father each have the same sense of color with numbers and the same colors with the same numbers is astounding.
Here is the pump where I have been getting ethanol for the Mark VIII. The pump looks like a giant ear of corn. According to the naysayers, the expected problems involved with burning ethanol are 1) Running lean 2) Burning valves because of running lean, and 3) dissolving seals and diaphragms not designed for use with alcohol. Even so, I ran the car on E85 all weekend and all seems to be well.
As you may remember I am now working for an alternate energy company. One of our projects is the production of ethanol from corn. In order to put my "money" where my mouth is I am now fueling my "baby" (My Lincoln Mark VIII) with E85 fuel. The two common ethanol fuel mixtures in the United States are E10 and E85 which contain 10% and 85% ethanol respectively. The project we are working on will make alcohol next summer using what is called the "dry mill" process.
From time to time I get requests to see the doggies. Their names are Anabel and Rugby. Anabel is a female (fixed) "mostly" coon hound (from the dog pound) and Rugby is a pure bred Yorkshire Terrier (expensive). Both are very loveable. They go crazy when you come home for the day. They are part of the family.
Some interesting opinion in the Guardian. I have heard it before, Hezbollah exists because there is a belief among Lebanese that their government is not protecting there borders from Israel. Read this:
Wow, here is some news from India (Zaman Online):
Three headlines for your consideration.
If I were to learn Spanish it would be for the same reason I would want to learn German. For me, one of the great mysteries that I would like to understand is the charisma of Fidel Castro and Adolf Hitler. 
I have been very careful not to listen to certain music lately. I just read the headline Suggestive Music Leads to Teen Sex. Further, I read, the music tends to be hip hop or rap as often as not. I was thinking of the trouble I could get into. I could be driving down the street, I listen to a few hip-hop songs and the next thing I know I am lead to "teen sex." Horrors!!!
The things you don't find on the internet. Remembering launching water balloons at the neighbors when I lived in Houston, I spent a bit of time tonight searching for balloon launchers. Have they improved these things since I used them 8 years ago. We had some surgical tube strung between a wood yoke that we mounted on a fencepost. It seems the current breed of launcher is more organic in nature.
A truckload of 90,000 telephone and cable bills was abandoned in a Tennessee trucking company parking lot. This caused a delay in the bill's delivery and confused customers who received bills long after they were due.
What do fish from the Appalacians and Great Britain have in common? They are sexually disoriented.
After years of paying for AOL, I will only need endure a long wait on hold and I will be able to retain my AOL email address for free. I realize it was a business decision that was not based on my use of AOL, but I joined AOL before the internet was the internet. Let me take you back.
I did not say this myself, but it is definately true in at least the immediate time frame.