30 September 09 - 20:40Pants on the head stupid....
Arrogance, to me, is a group of world leaders thinking they can control Mother Nature. Read this,
WASHINGTON
- US Sen. Barbara Boxer unveiled ambitious legislation Wednesday to
slash the nation's use of carbon-emitting fossil fuels and reduce the
country's dependence on foreign oil....
As a youngster I was enthralled with science and scientists. This
inspired me to study science and fulfilled that dream with a degree in
physics and math. Later I earned another degree in engineering. I
also taught science and math at every grade level from seven through
twelve over the course of my nine years of teaching.
I grew up in a time where there were issues with waste disposal.
Rivers were polluted, the word smog was invented to describe the air in
Los Angeles, things needed to be done. I was so proud when we created
the EPA. I recycled even when others did not and I anticipated a great
future with the coming of what was then called atomic power.
The first divergence from my childhood dream came when a malfunction at
Three Mile Island (a nuclear power plant) was mishandled by everyone
with a hand in it right up to President Jimmy Carter (a nuclear
engineer, it seems). As the rest of the civilized world moved forward
with nuclear energy, in the USA listened to movie stars and other ill
informed goof balls, including "so called" experts who convinced the
scientifically inert brains of middle America that nuclear energy would
bring about the end of the world.
Although this was more than a disappointment, the same type of
misguided "expert" individuals are now everywhere, including the EPA.
The EPA is no longer a sentient organization. They are now telling us
that Carbon Dioxide is the new poison.
We have had many environmental issues over the years that the alarmists
have brought forward, some reasonable, some not, only the latest of
which is global warming. With bad statistics, even worse scientific
method, and simulations that cannot properly simulate the most
ubiquitous green house gas in existance (not carbon dioxide) these
geniouses have decided that CO2 emissions are warming the world by
slowing the escape of energy back into space. I don't believe them,
but the politicians do. They really do.
This only tells me that our educational systems here in the United
States as well as many other places have failed to properly teach the
sciences. Now our politicians will use the EPA to tax the air. It is
little comfort to know I am right as I watch this celebration of
humanity's belief in itself as being so powerful that they can control
the climate with taxes.
What a concept. Now Barbara Boxer can BE Mother Nature....
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30 September 09 - 00:19Back in the old Lisbon ND days....
What's in a picture?
I picked up ont this picture today. This is a postcard from the mid fifties. This picture could have easily been taken on the very day I moved to Lisbon, North Dakota (ND) as a three year old in 1954. i really intend to start a website as a hobby where I talk about Lisbon things, but today, everyone gets to learn.
When I started school in 1957, this was the main school building.just out of view to the right on the hill was the "old red school" which was actually an annex to the original three story school which was located directly behind this building which went up in about 1937. As I look at this picture here is what I see.
First, I do go to Lisbon about every two years. The building here was the main building for high school until about 1970 after which the "new" high school was built on (Technically) Maple Street with the back side on Prospect where the atheletic stuff is located. The building in the picture still is used, mostly, I understand, as a middle school.
Back to the fifties. Let me tell you what you do not see in this picture. The cars are parked along the street, but also in the "parking lot" across from the school. The parking lot (which would be out of sight across the street and to the left in the picture would be the site of a softball game at noon break. Technically the game was called "workup" in which p;ayers covered the bases, the outfield. and two or three were batters. The game worked in a manner such that whoever caused another player to go "out" would move up to be a batter and the person who went "out" would move to last place in the outfield.
If you approached the game after eating and it was already underway, you took a place in the outfield and hope to catch a fly to get to bat. For me that probably happened one or two times and I probably popped out upon batting, but that was tentertainment in the fifties and sixties when I went to this school.
There is more to tell about this pictures, but that is for another time. What a picture!!!
http://www.lisbon.k12.nd.us/
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28 September 09 - 00:39Conspiracy Theory
Today I read about Bill and Hillary Clinton's belief that there is a vast right wing conspiracy out there to get him (and her and Obama, by the way). Wow, I thought, with Bill talking about a virulent right, I wondered why he didn't notice the virulent left when George Bush was in office. Both seem to exist, and Google finds both a left and a right wing conspiracy.
What exactly is a conspiracy, I really am fuzzy on this point, so I checked Reference.com to find out. We have five choices.
1. the act of conspiring.
2. an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; plot.
3. a combination of persons for a secret, unlawful, or evil purpose: He joined the conspiracy to overthrow the government.
4. Law. an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime, fraud, or other wrongful act.
5. any concurrence in action; combination in bringing about a given result.
Definitions 1 doesn't help, so the selection is down to four. The next three all sound rather nefarious, but I think this is what Bill and Hillary had, or have in mind here. In looking at HIllary's application of the term "right wing conspiracy" to the Lewinsky dabbling that Bill lied about, this would indicate that nothing illegal was happening, just something that he and Hillary found "nasty." Bill also used this term in describing a wish by the "consipracy" group for Obama's failure.
Since nothing is illegal or probably even evil about wanting someone to fail (Obama's case) or be brought to justice (Clinton's case), this leaves out definitions 2, 3, and 4, so we have definition 5.
Isn't number 5, and I paraphrase, "any concurrence in actions combined to bring about a given result" really simply the definition of activism, political and/or social in this case? So it really boils down to whining, I guess.
Bill and Barack are politicians. Both are lawyers. Trust me, lawyers do not see reality. They see winning and strategy, and that's it. If they saw justice, . . .. Well, let me stop here, I don't want to drop another of those "pants on head" opinions, do I?
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19 September 09 - 21:12What is the goal here?
News Flash
Teen birth rates highest in most religious states
Link may be due to communities frowning on contraception, researchers say
By Jeanna Bryner
MSNBC Updated 6:11 p.m. ET, 9/16/09 - U.S. states whose residents have more conservative religious beliefs on average tend to have higher rates of teenagers giving birth, a new study suggests....
Article Link
As a Christian raised with a strong Christian upbringing, the study was predictable. The goal of Christian child rearing is to raise honest, world aware, God loving people who are in touch with both reality and God. Human frailty is taught to be the source of undesired actions which we Christians call "sins". These sins are something that happen and our religious beliefs teach us how to live with our shortcomings.
The study shows, from my Christian viewpoint, that the sex drive is very strong and hard to resist. I also feel that Christians usually believe abortion should be avoided for reasons of convenience. Compared against the "unreligious" or opposite viewpoint in this case which in my opinion would be:
1) Contraception is a good idea to prevent the undesired results of fornication since abstinance is difficult, and
2) If that nasty situation of pregnancy occurs, killing the fetus will allow a more carefree immediate future.
The results of the study seem consistent with "relgiousness".
Note that I did not use the words liberal and conservative in my dissertation. Oh, yes, I took a lot of statistics in college, so I graphed the raw data in the article in total as well as by decile and the ranking data shows a very strong correlation. It is what I would have expected. The goal of religion is not to prevent teen childbirth through contraception or abortion, it is to build a person of strong character, in touch with reality, and a person who has the tools to deal with reality in difficult situations.
Love those liberal interpretations I read in the article on MSNBC. They are really funny. It's almost like they are surprised.
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19 September 09 - 00:43Just another day
I was thinking of living here and there tonight. When you get right down to it, I stand by what I said maybe 30 years ago, "Wherever you live, the time you spend in this day and age in inside your home, and if the outside walls are in Houston, or Neche, ND, once in the house it looks the same.
To a certain extent this is true. Life in any venue has its perks and it's perils. Overall, however, I would have to say that when I lived in small communities, my life was richer. People are so much more important that metropolitan opportunities. In fact, I saw this picture of the Hamilton fair in ND. Back in the early seventies, just a couple of years before he died, my Grandad Armstrong was recognized as having been at every Pembina County Fair ever held in Hamilton. That's the kind of thing they do up there in Sunny North Dakota.
If I were to step into this picture, I would ride the Ferris Wheel. What can you see from the top? It's hard to say. But, once I get off there will be friends to talk to.
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13 September 09 - 13:59When Daddy lets me Drive
I read a little piece a while back. My point was well taken by someone who signs in as Dylan. I think he understands that I am saying I do not think government should be so heavy handed in dealings such as this. In his way of understanding, he obviously disagrees. His reply is helpful in understanding what I was saying about viewpoint. I think it is safe to say Dylan's viewpoint and mine differ.
I will repeat myself in a different way. I believe that family life is under attack by democrats and liberals. I remember having conversations with my son (an only child) while he sat in a car seat beside me. That was the way it was done then, and, while driving, I could see him and he could see me. He was not handled as baggaqe by placing him in a padded crate to be trucked along in the back seat. Apparently in opposition to the liberal manner of thinking, I feel the interaction is more important than slightly increased risk of injury or certainly death due to placement of the child chair in various locations in the car. Although I think 5 years old is a bit young to start, both myself and my dad and the dads of others I knew "taught" us how to drive by putting us in their laps. It was a wonderful experience. A risk? certainly, but it added something far greater than any belated "thank you, Dad" I might get from my son once at the age of reason for being warehoused in the back seat for a positive statistical change in the level of injury he might receive if in an accident. I think the bonding is more important.
Dylan would not do this sort of thing and I might not at the age of five, but that is not the point. This father thought it appropriate and worthwhile. The level of intrusion mentioned in the article that the man received from his (yes his) goverment was intrusive and, in my "pants on the head" opinion, over done. I fully agree with Dylan when he says "If nothing....NOTHING else, he was speeding!" Based only on what the article said, I do not agree with yanking a father away from his child in public and throwing him in jail until $5,000 bond is posted. That is intrusive and divisive of a father and daughter.
This is a reprint below of the article and Dylan's extremely colorful comment. No trouble understanding how he feels
********************************* [Previous Post]
This is what Democrats and Liberals get you
Booo hissss
Quote.....
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Police charged the father of a 5-year-old girl with child abuse after the girl was spotted behind the wheel of a speeding pickup truck. KRQE-TV reported the father was arrested Thurday when police saw his truck speeding and swerving on the city's west side. Police said the father told them he was trying to teach his daughter how to drive by having her sit in his lap.
KRQE said the man was released from jail on $5,000 bond.
End of quote.....
In my way of thinking this is just wrong. You may not agree with me, but I am soooo tired of government feeling the need to micromanage our lives.
********************************* [End of Previous Post]
Dylan's Comment:
Are you Effing Retarded? You are blaming "Democrats and Liberals" For this obvious moron getting arrested? They were not only swerving but Speeding. Are you denying that he put the child in obvious danger? If nothing....NOTHING else, he was speeding! By going above the speed limit, and having his 5 year old...barely old enough to have their motor functions down, mind you, completely in control of the wheel, he was putting not only his own and his daughters life at risk, but those on the road with them!
And you are blaming "Liberals and Democrats" for "Micromanaging" your lives?
You are pants-on-head retarded.
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10 September 09 - 20:57Computer Simulation
A joke from Jerry... Very cute.
HOW TO START EACH DAY WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK
1. Create a new file in your computer.
2. Name it Barack Obama.
3. Send it to the Recycle Bin.
4. Empty the Recycle Bin.
5. Your PC will ask you: 'Are you sure you want to delete 'Barack Obama'?
6. Firmly Click 'Yes.'
7. Feel better?
GOOD! - Tomorrow we'll do Nancy Pelosi
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08 September 09 - 23:28Eight Days a Week
As many of you might know, the Bay Bridge in San Francisco was closed to replace a span, taking advantage of the holiday weekend, over a four day period which started last Thursday evening and ended Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, the bridge was found to have additional issues during inspections that were carried out during the shut-down. The problems were severe enough that officials warned the public that the bridge would not be opened until Wednesday, a day later than planned. The additional time was required to repair the new problem.
Amazingly, the bridge opened this morning. How did they do that? Here is a quote from today's news that gives us some insight.
"Through the night, the crews have worked nonstop - for almost 70 hours - and were able to complete repair work on the damaged eyebar beam," Caltrans Director Randy Iwasaki said at a hastily called news conference on Yerba Buena Island at 6:10 a.m. "The bridge has been inspected, and it's safer than it was when we closed it."
If only I could cram 70 hour work into the night shift, I could do this type of magic as well. I am also happy that the bridge was safer after repairs were done than before they started. Sort of makes maintenance sound like it is worth the effort.
Later.
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01 September 09 - 23:46Obama puzzles rather than pleases. . . Again!
Obama Marks Ramadan At White House
Voice of America - Paula Wolfson - 02 September 2009 - .S. President Barack Obama hosted an iftar dinner Tuesday evening at the White House - the special meal used to break the daily sunrise to sunset fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Ambassadors, top administration officials and members of Congress joined him in saluting the contributions of Muslim Americans.
Again, Mr. President, I hesitate to mention that America is not a Muslim nation, and that I find it a bit strange that you are celebrating Muslim holidays in the While House, I will however remind you that getting back to your Muslim roots is not what is important today. It is JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!
Please start representing us, please hear our pain, mr. Obama. The economic engine is still very broken and in need of your leadership. I think the Muslims can celebrate on their own without your help. Oh, if you want to celebrate Muslim holidays, don't forget to celebrate that great event of Muslim Gihad. it will be here again on September 11th!
Don't forget that the teams of Muslim men on these planes dedicated and gave their lives to Allah.
This presidency is getting to be like a very, very bad dream. Unfortunaely, when I pinched myself, I didn''t wake up.
Yuck.
(Nothing in this article is meant to detract from the celebration of religious holidays by practicing Muslims. The problem I have is with the sitting president of the United States saying he is a main stream Christian, then deems it necessary to use his office to celebrate the religion which includes a religious construct, Gihad which was the reason for an attack on American citizens. Clearly the message Obama intended has been lost with me.)
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