Can somebody explain this to me?

Preferably in small words and with pictures?

We throw a $700 billion blank check at the financial industry (that got us INTO this mess), and we're balking at around $50 billion in LOANS to the Big Three? What's up with that? We're willing to let 75,000 people lose jobs in this economy while we make sure BearStearns executives get their golden parachutes?

SOMEBODY'S priorities are outta whack...

Now, THIS is pretty cool, too...

There's a company that is also working on turning ocean waves into electricity. You can click on the adsense link above if you see one that says "Ocean Energy Converter". If not, click here.
(Frankly, I'd rather you use the ad link - I get paid a little for that...)

ANOTHER time I made a total fool of myself...

This was last February on a Carnival Cruise - they have 3 Vegas-style shows each week, and the last one (last night of the Cruise), their show is "Carnival Legends". In this, passengers who've auditioned in the Karaoke bar over the course of the week get to play one of 10 parts - James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Britney Spears, Madonna, Garth Brooks, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra. The video is of "Elvis", and yes - that idiot in the Elvis suit is me.
GOD, that was fun!

NOW you're in trouble...

As I've said, I occasionally perform at my Church, Unity of Fremont: this is one of those times.

ASTOUNDING energy discovery!

A new discovery could let us harness curent from the oceans and slow-moving rivers. To say this could revolutionize everything would, IMHO, be in the running for "Understatement of the Century"!

From The Telegraph of London:

"The technology can generate electricity in water flowing at a rate of less
than one knot - about one mile an hour - meaning it could operate on most
waterways and sea beds around the globe.
Existing technologies which use
water power, relying on the action of waves, tides or faster currents created by
dams, are far more limited in where they can be used, and also cause greater
obstructions when they are built in rivers or the sea. Turbines and water mills
need an average current of five or six knots to operate efficiently, while most
of the earth's currents are slower than three knots.
The new device, which
has been inspired by the way fish swim, consists of a system of cylinders
positioned horizontal to the water flow and attached to springs.
As water
flows past, the cylinder creates vortices, which push and pull the cylinder up
and down. The mechanical energy in the vibrations is then converted into
electricity."

Explain it again, REAL SLOW...

"… ‘cause I’m having a R-E-A-L problem understanding the concept.And that
leads me to believe that one of two things is going on here: (1) I am
extremely slow on the up-take, or (2) you are not making any sense.

I appreciate the whole "our guy lost" thing – a circumstance that, by its
very nature, is bound to incite anger, encourage a desire for revenge, and lead
otherwise decent and intelligent people to glut themselves on sour grapes to the
point of losing all common sense – along with their sense of perspective.

But what I am still struggling to understand is this whole anti-Christ thingy
that’s been attributed to Democrats and liberals for decades, an epithet now
squarely aimed at our president-elect, Barack Obama, with a vengeance that I
seem to remember – and please, correct me if I am wrong – was once His and His
alone – or so sayeth, or speaketh, or whatevereth the Lord God Almighty (who
some pseudo-Christians might still vaguely recall from some sermon they heard in
a land long ago and faraway, in the time before Jesus and his teachings
became available in the Xtreme DVD edition, complete with extras, out-takes, and
behind-the-scenes footage never before aired in the churches of the nation)
might have said, at one time or another, when the MSM wasn't there to report
it.

Yep, still strugglin’ here – struggling to understand how speaking up for
middle-class workers and their right to a decent wage is an affront to the
Sermon on the Mount (and if you haven’t checked it out lately, it’s worth a
second read). Still struggling to understand how promoting affordable
healthcare for every American is a direct slap-in-the-face to the Nazarene,
who pointed out that we are our brother’s keeper – and whether we’d applied
for the job or not, it was expected that we’d at least give the idea
some serious thought – and maybe even a little bit of effort."

See the rest here.

For all the Conservatives in a fetal position

Read the full thing here

We all know that tonight Barack Obama will be elected President. And that
has neocons quivering and snarling. I've seen message boards across the web
polluted with comments about how the world is ending, America will be dead, they
are lining up to buy ammunition (seriously!), etc. As usual the loyal McCain
supporters insist we're deluded for not choosing the GOP, despite the fact their
party has run the show for eight years and done an abysmal job at it, and
they've run a pair of clowns too old, incompetent and stupid to possibly deserve
election.So I'd just like to say to the infuriated GOP loyalists right
now:You're NOT going to be driven underground to live in the sewers for the next
four years.You're NOT going to be deported.You're NOT going to start
contributing 50% or 75% or 90% of your paycheck for "socialist wealth
redistribution."You're NOT going to see your religion banned or outlawed.You're
NOT going to receive a visit from the Federal government asking you to hand in
your guns.You're NOT going to see the Russians/Chinese/Al Qaeda walking down
Main Street in your town having "been handed the keys by Barack Obama" or some
such drivel.You're NOT going to see your children forced to marry blacks, turn
gay, become Satanist, or any other insane nonsense.You're NOT going to see
abortionists in your children's schools looking for eager customers.And in four
years, when all these fears and terrors you have concerning President Obama fail
to materialize, I hope you will have the guts and decency to admit you were
wrong about him and vote for his re-election.

Has this woman been reading my mind?

Can't be - she writes it FAR better that I could...

Those among us who have recognized the hypocrisy of the GOP over the years – a charge which, when made, often fell on deaf ears – have now been fully vindicated, thanks to the McCain campaign, its supporters, its defenders, and its hard-core adherents.

While Republican voters screamed for McCain to take off the gloves, what actually slipped off was the mask that Republican powers-that-be have
hidden behind for decades – and the face that was
exposed for all the world to see was, to say the least, not a pretty one.

It seems that we have heard the carefully-crafted talking points forever – and while we have staunchly pointed out the discrepancies between what was being said and what was being done, we have been told that we are,
at best, nit-pickers … and at worst, delusional.But now everybody can see the GOP for
what it is, and know it for what it’s been all along: a smoke-and-mirrors sideshow meant to distract the public eye away from the truths of any number of matters – and then some.

We all vividly remember having the term fiscal
responsibility drummed into our heads by a party who has now been proven to have plundered our treasury to the point of not only monetary
but moral bankruptcy. And while the backs of the middle-class workers have now been broken, as we not-so-presciently predicted, we as a nation face the consequences of no one having taken heed of the oh-so-obvious warnings we’ve given voice to for years. And being able to say “I told you so” is no comfort at all.

We all recall having been dubbed "anti-American" as we decried the occupation of Iraq, and insisted it would inflame rather than calm already troubled waters. And now the truth is out; this is an unwinnable “war” that has cost us lives, untold billions of dollars, and the respect of the world – and the campaign that has desperately tried to sell it as anything more than the disaster it was always destined to become is on the ropes, begging for mercy.

We’ve been told again and again about thesuperior leadership of the Republicans. But we have now all been treated to what they consider “leadership” – a presidential candidate who doesn’t know the
difference between Sunni and Shia, who doesn’t “get” the economy, who believes that tax-cuts for the wealthy will be a widely-accepted “cure” for
the current economic crisis, and honestly believes that his own delusions, be they of grandeur or Joe-Six-Packery, will catapult him into the White
House.

See the rest here.

One thing I do disagree with her on, though, and that is this: If we DON'T hold out the "hand of forgiveness", we become just as bad as those she decries. And THAT simply will not get the job done.

A little rant (that I agree with every word of)

With all the vitriol I’ve been hearing from the right-wingers of late, I
can’t help but recognize myself as the target of their obsessive hatred. So
I thought I’d take this opportunity to out myself, just so they know who it is they’re spending so much time talking about.

Yes, I’m that American-hating broad who believes in life, liberty and
equality for all Americans, not just those of a “socially acceptable” color,
religion, address, pay scale or political affiliation.

I’m that baby-killer who thinks that every child should be a wanted child, and that the ultimate decision to give birth is the domain of the woman whose body is involved. I also believe that people who really care about saving babies might want to
think about the ones who are already born – especially the ones born in
places our government is currently blowing off the map, or might plan to
in future.

You can read the rest of the "un-American-ness" that I happen to agree with at:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=7568435&mesg_id=7568435

Now THIS is a scream...

See the whole thing here, but here's a bit:

Sarah Clark
National Geographic

Dear Ms Clark,

I've always suspected that National Geographic was a liberal publication.
My suspicions were confirmed today when I saw your map of the Middle East.
Venezuela is nowhere to be found. Obviously, you put up new maps to embarrass
John McCain after he
called out Venezuela as a Middle Eastern country.I also noticed that your
maps showing the shape and location of Pakistan, Alaska,
Russia, and Spain do not
match the descriptions given by Sen. McCain and Sarah Palin.I'm enclosing new
maps that conform to Palin-McCain specifications. Please use them.

Don't know WHY I waited this long...

Here's a pretty cool video of an F6F Hellcat (WWII Naval fighter, for those of you who don't know) Taking off from Watsonville, CA last May:

One of "The Few"...

The sound of a Spitfire engine stirs mixed memories for 91-year-old Jimmy
Corbin because it reminds him of when he lived life on the edge, writes Ian
Read.For Jimmy is one of the band of pilots Winston Churchill dubbed the 'Few'-
the men who won the Battle of Britain.

see the rest here.

Great article about one of the few remaining of "The Few"; Spitfire pilots who faced down the Nazis and won the Battle of Britain in 1940 - no big deal, only saved the world...

Hmmm...seems Sarah Palin is NOT all that popular in Alaska...

http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/09/14/alaska-women-reject-palin-rally-is-huge/

Seems the GOP needs to debate ITSELF before Obama...

Seem to have a little trouble making up their minds...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8uGenNjOAI

JibJab's at it again!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

John McCain's fellow POW speaks his mind

This coming from Dr. Phillip Butler. Read the whole thing at http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859,00.html

John was a wild man. He was funny, with a quick wit and he was intelligent. But he was intent on breaking every USNA regulation in our 4 inch thick USNA Regulations book. And I believe he must have come as close to his goal as any midshipman who ever attended the Academy. John had me "coming around" to his room frequently during my plebe year. And on one occasion he took me with him to escape "over the wall" in the dead of night. He had a taxi cab waiting for us that took us to a bar some 7 miles away. John had a few beers, but forbid me to drink (watching out for me I guess) and made me drink cokes. I could tell many other midshipman stories about John that year and he unbelievably managed to graduate though he spent the majority of his first class year on restriction for the stuff he did get caught doing. In fact he barely managed to graduate, standing 5th from the bottom of his 800 man graduating class. I and many others have speculated that the main reason he did graduate was because his father was an Admiral, and also his grandfather, both U.S. Naval Academy graduates.

People often ask if I was a Prisoner of War with John McCain. My answer is always "No - John McCain was a POW with me." The reason is I was there for 8 years and John got there 2 ½ years later, so he was a POW for 5 ½ years. And we have our own seniority system, based on time as a POW.

John's treatment as a POW:

1) Was he tortured for 5 years? No. He was subjected to torture and maltreatment during his first 2 years, from September of 1967 to September of 1969. After September of 1969 the Vietnamese stopped the torture and gave us increased food and rudimentary health care. Several hundred of us were captured much earlier. I got there April 20, 1965 so my bad treatment period lasted 4 1/2 years. President Ho Chi Minh died on September 9, 1969, and the new regime that replaced him and his policies was more pragmatic. They realized we were worth a lot as bargaining chips if we were alive. And they were right because eventually Americans gave up on the war and agreed to trade our POW's for their country. A damn good trade in my opinion! But my point here is that John allows the media to make him out to be THE hero POW, which he knows is absolutely not true, to further his political goals.

Looks like the "Rebooted" Star Trek might work after all -

For the full story, see http://trekmovie.com/2008/08/04/first-cut-of-star-trek-complete-paramount-preview-goes-well/

The Paramount buzz on Star Trek went into high gear last week. One source tells TrekMovie that first cut showing was “a hit.” Another old studio hand who isn’t even working on the projects called the cut “very impressive.” And yet another source said that the reaction in the screening room was “far beyond expectations” and as we know expectations have been high at the studio since the powers that be decided to move it from a Christmas 2008 release to their first summer tent pole of 2009.

Well, well, well. Seems we Trek fans have something to cheer about after all. When I first heard of this, I thought "Oh, God. They're going to wreck Star Trek once and for all. Same characters with NEW actors? This should totally suck!" Seems I was wrong, but time will tell. The expectations for this are going to be SKY-high, so it needs to be excellent in order to be considered adequate. I'd LOVE to be wrong.

A new supermarket opened..

A new supermarket opened near my house. It has an automatic water mister to keep the produce fresh. Just before it goes on, you hear the sound of distant thunder and the smell of fresh rain.

When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and you experience the scent of fresh mown hay.

In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks with onions.

When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle, and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying.

The bread department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread & cookies.

I don't buy toilet paper there any more...

Jonathan Alter on "The Obama Dividend"

Full text at http://www.newsweek.com/id/128548

"The Presidency," Franklin D. Roosevelt told a reporter shortly after he was elected in 1932, "is pre-eminently a place of moral leadership." We don't know yet whether Barack Obama can get himself elected president, much less prove a success in office. He could get swamped by unanticipated problems or suffer from crippling flaws we haven't seen yet. All presidents are blind dates. But Obama is showing signs that he could project his voice in the theater of the American presidency. Even if his legislative agenda founders, he might be able to help the nation raise its sights in new ways. You might think of it as the Obama Dividend.

As the afterglow of last week's landmark Philadelphia speech on race fades, even many conservatives agree with liberal editorial writers that Obama's approach was brilliant. I'm skeptical of that adjective and reluctant to hazard a guess about the political impact of the speech on blue-collar whites. Until the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, we won't know if they even heard about the story of his white grandmother, or how he gave voice to white frustration about affirmative action and busing. But I do know that the speech was "presidential" in the best sense of that word, and for reasons beyond a tone of gravitas and a backdrop of American flags. To succeed in a crisis (and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.'s inflammatory sermons were at least a mini-crisis for Obama), presidents must do more than rally the country enough to win backing in polls for a course of action. That's relatively easy. The hard part is using the bully pulpit to instruct and illuminate and rearrange our mental furniture. Every great president has been a captivating teacher. By talking honestly and intelligently about a subject that most Americans would rather ignore, Obama offered a preview of how he would perform as educator-in-chief.

As usual - my A's get NO respect...

Never mind 4 World Series titles, never mind they've won more games since 2000, never mind they're the ONLY team not named "Yankees" to win 3 STRAIGHT World Series, Japan's only interested in the damn Red Sox:

(03-24) 04:00 PDT Tokyo -- Perhaps they aren't quite the Washington Generals of the Tokyo Dome, but the A's open the season Tuesday night as the anonymous foil to their opponents, the Boston Red Sox. That has been abundantly clear since Oakland arrived in Japan last week.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/24/SPGJVP781.DTL

Well, boys, time to kick some bean-eatin' ass...

So - hot chocolate IS good for you, after all!

"Based on a recent study, researchers found that hot cocoa can help your
muscles recover from an intense workout. The tasty drink contains twice as
many
antioxidants as a glass of red wine, and almost five times as many as
black tea."

This from http://www.thatsfit.com/2008/03/18/hot-cocoa-a-health-drink/

Turns out that free radical damage can also come from intense exercise, and that antioxidant-rich hot chocolate can help with that AND the sore muscles that come after a hard workout.

The best show you're probably not watching

Battlestar Galactica begins its 4th (and regrettably, final) season on Friday, April 4th at 10PM on the Sci-Fi channel. This was a decision made by the producers, who wanted to culminate the story while the show was still good.
If perchance you remember the '70's show of the same name, and think it's the same thing, think again. The only resemblance to the old show is the title, and the names of some of the characters.
This time, instead of being cheesy sci-fi, the show was totally reimagined as a drama in a science fiction setting, with Oscar-caliber actors (Edward James Olmos, 1988 Best Actor nominee for Stand and Deliver, and Mary McDonnell, 1990 Best Supporting Actress nom, Dances With Wolves, and 1992 Best Actress nom, Passion Fish) in the leading roles, and a uniformly excellent supporting cast. Seasons 1-3 are now on DVD, and, as I understand it, Sci-Fi channel is planning a marathon leading up to the seaon 4 premiere. Check this show out - you won't regret it.
http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/home.html

A GREAT take on the Obama speech...

This from Democratic Underground:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5157337&mesg_id=5157337 for the full text.

We watched Obama's speech over the Internet last night--all 38 minutes of it. Because there are going to be a million people out there addressing the content, let me tell you why listening to that speech has convinced me that although he is certainly a politician and certainly calculating his words in order to win, Obama is at the same time in a different league altogether than the politicians we've been getting used to for the past 10 years.After Edwards dropped out my partner got out Dreams of My Father and read it, figuring that since we were going to have to support Obama we may as well learn something about him. She reported that the book was interesting because it showed Obama thinking about race in an unusually nuanced and complex--and therefore actually useful--way, and that she was afraid that becoming a presidential candidate would force him to abandon that project and embrace the same crude, binaristic, distorted paradigms that shape the way the media and the political establishment talk about race. Last night, instead of performing the "Sister Souljah moment" that the media were clearly demanding from him, Obama did something completely different. He laid out for anyone who felt like taking the time to listen a new paradigm for dealing with racial issues in America, one that actually takes into account the enormous complexity of this country's racial and ethnic makeup, the failures of American history and democracy, and the links between racism and forms of economic injustice that I have long despaired of hearing any American politician, let alone a viable presidential candidate, address in any kind of useful way. Instead of just stringing together a bunch of sound bites that would defuse the manufactured political crisis du jour, Obama took his 38 minutes--an eternity in the world of broadcast news, though it's about ten minutes shorter than the average lecture in the average college classroom--and he actually taught people something.You know how we talk about not letting the other side control the terms of the debate? That's what that looks like.

Next time you're at the doctor's...

Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam> were quite humorous...... A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies:

1. 'Take it easy, Doc. You're boldly going where no man has gone before!

2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?'

3. 'Can you hear me NOW?'

4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'

5. 'You know, in Arkansas , we're now legally married.'

6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'

7. 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out...'

8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'

9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!'

10. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.'

11. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?'

12. 'God, now I know why I am not gay.'

And the best one of all..

13. 'Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?'

Barack Obama's Speech on Race in America - 2008-03-18

Wow.
Just...wow.
Refreshing honesty on the subject of race in America. Obama is speaking truths that need to be heard in every corner of this nation.
IMO, he just won the Presidency.

I always had a feeling about intuition...

According to the British Journal of Psychology, it seems there IS something to this "intuition" business, after all. According to the article (full text at http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/go-your-gut-intuition-more-just-hunch-says-research-15620.html )

the researchers conclude that intuition is the brain drawing on past experiences and external cues to make a decision – but one that happens so fast the reaction is at a non-conscious level. All we’re aware of is a general feeling that something is right or wrong.

I think we've all had that - that moment our gut told us something wasn't quite right, and we ignored it, usually to our detriment.

Welcome to my mind!

Or at least a piece of it, anyway.

I figured it's about time I got into this blogging game - got a lot on my mind these days, and I'll give YOU, dear reader, the dubious honor of finding out all about it. You'll learn that I love baseball (Oakland A's), football (Raiders, 49ers, and ANYONE playing the Denver Broncos), and the ORIGINAL Star Trek - though Next Generation did well, but that's another subject for another time.
Comments welcome, and TTFN!