Welcome!
Welcome!
So what is this section all about?... well, i think it will be a muse on anything that is crazy, amusing, frustrating or just needs to be aired.On the other hand it could be posts highlighting something very cool or interesting... to me;)
I have no particular topics planned and i am going to say it "as it is"... sorry, but comments offering lessons in political correctness, grammar, form, narrow minds or ego 'bs' will be ignored... i want to keep it light but meaningful and fun too.
DISCLAIMER: "The thoughts contained herein are those of my mind and not necessarily those of the owner!"
Injury-inducing collisions aren't the only safety issues football coaches and trainers need to worry about, physiologists say. High temperatures and humidity can also take a serious toll on players wrapped up in pads and uniforms.
A study in Nature shows that egalitarianism begins to appear in most kids between ages 3 and 8. Scientists who studied 229 Swiss children found that at age 3, 9 percent were willing to share candy with another person. But by age 8, that number rose to 45 percent.
Painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs are being prescribed to out-patients in high doses, without the oversight of a doctor. A new study found that in the last 20 years there has been a 500 percent increase in the death rate from medication errors made at home.
Last week we reported on a study that showed that self breast exams don't help prevent death from breast cancer in women. The interview generated quite a response from listeners. Several women wrote in to say that they had found cancerous lumps in their own breasts and wouldn't be alive today if not for breast self exams.
A new Web site called "Hospital Compare" evaluates hospital death rates around the country and shows how individual hospitals stack up against the national average. Guests discuss the reliability of the data on the site and describe the measures hospitals are taking to improve performance.
McCain has some kind of symptom Open Thread below
Follow That Sound is apparently the theme song for The Cleaner on A&E.I wouldnt know anything about that.What I do know is that, when this song came over the wireless FM device in my car, I pulled over and jotted down Sharon Little AwesomeLNMC on the nearest available scrap paper.
Questions answered. My fellow Democrats, I say to you: Barack Obama is ready to lead America and to restore American leadership in the world. Barack Obama is ready to honor the oath, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States. Download|Play Download|Play [...]
What did you think about John Kerry and Bill Clintons speeches? Open thread below
Joe Scarborough goes after bloggers (I mean, who else is watching your show, Joe?) on a regular basis, denigrating us as Cheetos-eating Star Wars fans living in our mothers basements. Joes court jester Willie Geist interviews bloggers in the DNC Big Tent, and finds very few bloggers who fit Joes slurs. Download|Play Download|Play As with [...]
Tonight's Rescue Team is Louisiana1976, taylormattd, ItsJessMe, YatPundit, drbcladd, and pico:
- Marcion tears apart the belief of many Americans that the war in Afghanistan is a good one in Ungrateful Afghan civilians resent dying for freedom. (Louisiana 1976)
- Pris from LA reminds us of the distressing fact that New Orleans' Charity Hospital has not re-opened 3 years after Katrina as a new hurricane threatens in Waiting for Gustavo. (Louisiana 1976)
- In this fourth installment in a series on potential McCain VP Rob Portman, Ohiobama focuses on the Piketon plant as an "elephant in the playpen" at the heart of Ohio political machinations, in Nuclear Politics, Rob Portman, and McCain's VP Pick. (ItsJessMe)
- fractal details the need for an electricity superhighway in our country, in It's time to democratize energy with an Electranet. (ItsJessMe)
- davidwalters explains how the energy industry in South Korea is thriving due to its extremely well-run nuclear industry and its investments in wind and solar, in Korea: a Country that Understands How to Address the Energy Crisis. (ItsJessMe)
- fake consultant offers an interesting perspective on the economy's downturn in On Economic Forecasting, Or, Notes From The Golf Tournament. (YatPundit)
- Frank Cocozzelli explains how Catholic neoconservatives have hijacked that church's theology for their own purposes in Saving Monsignor Ryan. (YatPundit)
- professorfate synopsizes How to Convince Reluctant Clinton Voters to Vote for Obama. It is a great, focused comparison of actual votes made by three different US Senators. (drbcladd)
- My Philosophy offers Lincoln-channeling as How Barack Can Bring Down the Republican Party Tomorrow Night; it sounds like an interesting idea. (drbcladd)
- Liberal Youth discusses the effect of election reform measures on voter participation in Voting Reforms and Turnout. (taylormattd)
jotter has High Impact Diaries: August 26, 2008
Carnacki has tonight's Top comments - Obama to battle for West Virginia
Please feel free to suggest your own rescues, and otherwise use as an open thread.
As day three of the convention winds down, the crowd was treated to an unexpected visitor and we all got a preview of tomorrow night.
In other news, rumor has it that John McCain will name his running mate tomorrow ahead of Barack Obama's speech. It's hard to decide whether to laugh at the thought of a green screen running mate, or roll our collective eyes at what kind of a petty, petty person would do that. And if it turns out to be only a rumor, I'll apologize for calling him petty. I will, however, still call him an asshole.
Biden's speech began with lovely tributes to his family, including his mother, of whom he said:
My mother's creed is the American creed: no one is better than you. You are everyone's equal, and everyone is equal to you.
Biden ends by using his authority on foreign policy to detail how Obama's foreign policy judgment has time and again been correct while McCain has been wrong. Biden's foreign policy judgment will not be substituted for Obama's; instead, his credibility will be used to affirm Obama's judgment.
John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was right -- again, and again, and again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John McCain was wrong and Barack Obama has been proven right.
And here comes Obama, introduced by Biden's wife Jill.
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What if the LAW was the LAW?
What if the LAW was the LAW?
and not some individuals opinion of what it is!I am often exhausted trying to keep up with the legal issues of copyright, plaigarism, fair use, service agreements, terms and conditions... and all the various expert interpretations of the law... because they are all just that... interpretations!
Have you noticed how lawyers never seem to give you a de facto answer in most advices... is it to protect their revenue source, their on going billing engine?... i think it could be just that... because, if there were definitive answers to the law then one could just simply have a database, matching subject to answer and... 'Bob's not your Uncle'... problem solved... he is your Aunt!
Simple... and in the enlightened age of the Internet, one could just go to a website, enter the question needing clarity on the law and out pops a definitive answer... just for a few cents or better still a free public service.
Yes, there are some so called free services you can use, but they generally limit you to a simple question and answer... promoting that you will need to engage an attorney (of theirs generally) and pay a lot more money to get a more comprehensive (read expensive) answer. And if you do just that and ask the attorney for a definitive answer, he/she will invariably say "well, that is my opinion".
Unfortunately, if you act on his advice and end up in a court of law, your justice will depend not on his opinion but on the 'opinion' of someone completely different!!! .... what a joke!... unfortunately in most cases it is not a funny joke!
So what is the problem? Well most friendly lawyers... there are some... will tell you that it is because the law is so badly written... and because the process 'we' (who?) have adopted is to allow the changes to fix the badly written law of the first instance, forming a chain of modifications that take a team of agile and intelligent minds to unscramble and try and make some sense of... and then present that opinion to a wise old person to give their opinion about their interpretation... convoluted?... you bet!
This is, of course, further complicated by another team of agile and intelligent minds trying to find an opposite opinion that is also believable... in order to present same to the same wise old person, to get agreement on their interpretation!
And all of this process has to be paid for by the poor innocents who are caught up in this grandiose game of 'Find the flaw in the Law'.
Well to hell with paying for the mistakes of someone else who was already paid (taxes) by us to define the law correctly in the first instance.
My naive mind tells me, lets scrap all those laws that can't be clearly understood by reading a couple of clearly understandable sentences and have them rewritten by someone who does understand what they are doing and can clearly communicate what should or should not be done in reference to that law.
Do away with precedence and the need to search for precedent and the debate this lengthy and costly (to you again) procedure of other formed opinions by other wise old souls!
Laws from the dark ages should automatically be scrapped and rewritten... as our society and norms and language has changed considerably since the time they were first written.
Why won't this happen unless there is a miracle?... because the industry that thrives on this almost deliberate travesty of justice is the justice industry itself... it is much too profitable to even think of simplifying the law and lose it's carefully crafted and protected revenue streams... just like the power industry won't allow anyone to easily take their market away in order to have a healthier planet to live in!
So, if i end up in court or just disappear after this article... please, someone pass on this message ... on and on and on... and on and on... after all this is one of the benefits of the net, isn't it... free speech!... hmmm... until someone with a lot to lose doesn't like what you say and asks a lawyer to give an opinion and...
"oh no... not again"... that person who penned the defense of 'but don't spill a single drop of blood' now has a lot of blood on their hands!
What if political lobbying was a crime?
Posted on: 02/09/07
What if political lobbying was a crime?
Well, don't you think it should be?Think about it... big business with money, wines and dines political decision makers, offers them fund contributions... for what?... so that their investment interests are protected by the law makers!... at whose expense?... ours... yours and mine and the children of the future!
Read this article for an example of blatant bribery:
Scientists offered cash to dispute climate study
"Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today....."
Doesn't this get your blood boiling?... Especially as the reality of it all, is that this goes on ALL the time and more so than this example portrays... much more i'm sure!
And we all sit back and say... "Well, that's political lobbying"... SO WHAT!... that is bribery and corruption!... it is a crime in any other jurisdiction ... so why not in political circles?!
Am i being naive here?... shouldn't we the people whose lives are jeopardised by this corruption say "ENOUGH NOW... punish these people for their crimes... outlaw this legalised corruption we so politely call Lobbying!"
What do you think?
What if fear rules?
Posted on: 02/05/07
What if fear rules?
Well, we all have one fear or another about something. I remember the fear i had about the first post i did in a forum of intellectuals... what if they though i was an idiot and proceeded to tell me, how would i take that, how would my ego react? I pondered whether i should submit the post that i had spent much too long forming, editing and re-editing it to perfection... in the end i held my breath and hit the submit button and prayed they would be kind.So what happened in the end?... nothing much, i was treated like anybody else and my confidence grew with every post and i really enjoyed the process.
Then one day i branched out on my first personal blog and the same fear crept in again, but i challenged it the same way and now i embark upon this new adventure and the same fear raises its ugly head again but it gets less and less with every repetition.
So why do i do this?... therapy probably or perhaps, I'll get lucky and be rewarded in attracting greater, wiser minds/souls to help me on my way or just help me to look at things differently... that will be reward enough. But who knows, maybe I'll even manage to help someone else... now, isn't that the best reward anyone could ask for?... along with a bit of Adsense revenue too;)
So onward I go, for doesn't therein lie the value of "Action" .. take that first step down that new road and we will be well on our way to a new adventure... No, we don't know where it will lead us to, that is the whole point isn't it?... there is no adventure or a whole lot of learning walking the same path, doing the same stuff over and over again after you have mastered whatever it is you are trying to master.
Where is the value in seeking to look wonderful just because we have perfected some disciplines, talents, skills etc... does a painter spend the rest of their life painting the same picture, a musician perfecting the one song, a blogger perfecting one post?... No they don't and nor should we, methinks.
Where is the value spending the rest of our lives just repeating the same things over and over in order to show ourselves off to rapturous applause, to bask in fleeting admiration or just to be perceived to be 'so confident'... 'so cool'.
Where is the value in collecting assets, if we have to spend the rest of our lives doing mundane repetitive tasks in order to just maintain our collection and have time for nothing else.
Where do these assets go when we die? What do we take with us in our never ending adventure?... i think we take our experiences and their vibrational influences on us... we take our wisdom... wisdom comes from our experiences, not from reading a book, getting a degree or watching TV... For sure, knowledge accelerates our learning but putting the knowledge into "Action" gives us the experiences which then stay with us forever.
What do we do in the sunset of our lives?... we remember the important, happy events of our lives, we continuously play back these movies... so my advice is make sure your movies are full length feature movies and not just promotional trailers!
No there is nothing wrong with being comfortable, clever, rich or having our toys to play with, but we mustn't become a slave to them and we shouldn't waste our life building an image of ourself which is tethered to our material gains, academic status or other peoples evaluation.
Yes, some things do require regular repetition to keep us healthy and strong, like brushing our teeth, breathing, exercising, maintaining positive thoughts and images in our mind .. and yes we have got to make a living, so some degree of repetition is required to survive but leave time for new adventures, for learning and for new experiences .. don't stand still in the comfort of doing the same old thing, for don't old things invite decay?.. and don't let fear of the new keep you frozen still because you will just end up a very well preserved empty vessel!
So if i let fear rule i would never have had this adventure and many more in my life and i would have been so poor for it.
What if I didn't start this blogzine?
Posted on: 02/05/07
What if I didn't start this blogzine?
Who knows and who cares? .. nobody right!... well that's not quite true because I'm sure the trees care and so does the kind soul that cleans my office and tries to tidy my desk which is often cluttered with pieces of paper recording random thoughts and ideas .. and I care! .. hell, that's important enough for me! .. and so I embark upon a new adventure not knowing where it will lead, not wanting to structure it too much so that it can just flow the course it finds, as does a conversation or discussion, not wanting to inhibit creative expression by being too concerned about grammar and form.
So onward we go .. if you care to comment please be my guest :)









