My thoughts.....

Fri, 30 May 2008 19:47:21 GMT

Been a while I know. Well. I have lost 25lbs since New Years. This is from not going thru drive-thrus anymore. Lifting and cardio/fatburn. Eating fish/baked items/wheat bread. Low sugar. I look at everything now on the labels.

Bought a house in April. So happy. 4 bedroom 3 and 1/2 bath. pool across the street in back of neighborhood. Pool room downstairs. Deck on the hole back side of house elevated.

Wife has lost almost 60 lbs from last year. In shape. We are both drug sober since last year. The drinking is still a issue, but we are getting closer. I do have faith, but sometimes I am unsure.

Work is ok, going thru a bad time with people owing us $$$, but we should be ok. Flying to Dallas in a couple weeks for a wedding, without the kids....yeah.

Going to Perdido Key in July for some r & r with the kids.

Are you happy with this country?

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:52:41 GMT

Jay Leno wrote this; it's the Jay Leno we don't often see....
"The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true, given the source, right?
The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of A mericans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3's of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.
So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?''
Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?
Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?
Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?
Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?
Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?
I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.
Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and
Provide services to help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.
Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.
Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.
This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or mi litias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.
How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?
Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.
Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens . They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have , and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.
I know, I know. What about the President who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The President who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same President who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The President that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?
The Commander-In Chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?
Think about it...are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.
Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.
They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.
So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want , but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads; and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by "justifying" them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about "how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way"...Insane!
Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.
We are among the most blessed people on Earth, and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.
"With hu rricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"
Jay Leno 2007
Please keep this in circulation. There are so many people that need to read this and grasp the truth of it all

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:53:11 GMT

So, I will be debt free by the end of this year besides the house. My 2002 Silverado os paid off. My Wife's Navigator has just under $3k on it. Only the house will be owed. Nothing on credit fiel except positive things by 12/01/08. Had a physical, EKG, and bloodwork done. I am heality. All bloodwork was great. My new gym will open in a few weeks, I am so ready. I want my body back. I am 10 - 15 pounds over weight. Family doing well.

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:49:19 GMT

75% Mitt Romney
65% Fred Thompson
64% Tom Tancredo
64% John McCain
58% Mike Huckabee
57% Rudy Giuliani
55% Bill Richardson
49% John Edwards
49% Hillary Clinton
47% Ron Paul
46% Barack Obama
44% Chris Dodd
42% Joe Biden
34% Mike Gravel
28% Dennis Kucinich

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 04:30:15 GMT

Long time no post. Life has been interesting. Went to the White House over the summer. Was in New York city. Went to the Jersey shore. Almost became divorced. Yeah it has been a bumpy road. Shelly and I are in full time counseling. We have lost most of our friends because I am not into getting drunk every weekend. We are in a chapter in our life of paying off debt and living better. The new year has high hopes for us and our kids. My daughter is now two and she is a daddy's girl. We spent the holidays here. Baby crying gotto go

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:32:51 GMT

Been a while since I have written. Was on vacation down on Perdido Key in Alabama. Loved it, had a great time with the family. My wife looks great. She has lost so much weight and feels so good about herself. She is down to 145 from 195. She works out 3 to 4 times a week and we are eating great. I work out twice a week and am down from 227 to 205. I would like to get to 195. My waist is down from 38 to 42 inches. Eating many small heathy meals during the day, helps too. Trinity and Alex are doing great. Alex had his first hospital visit for ten stitches on Sat evening...scooter accident. Trinity's hair is coming in and so is her attitude. Just sold my investment property and paid off some old debt. Sucks not having that tax writeoff. I have pretty much written off my friends in Dallas. There are all pretty much into drugs, dealers, strippers, and porn people. There are a few that I might still write, but I can't go down that road again. It was fun while it lasted, but I will be 36 in July, so it pretty much over. Write more later...

e-mailed to me

Tue, 29 May 2007 15:11:04 GMT

>Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb, and Quasimodo were all talking one day.
>
>Sleeping Beauty said, "I believe myself to be the most beautiful girl in
>the world." Tom Thumb said, "I must be the smallest person in the
>world." Quasimodo (the hunchback of Notre Dame) said, "I absolutely
>have to be the most disgusting person in the world."
>
>So they all decided to go to the Guinness Book of World Records to have
>their claims verified. Sleeping Beauty went in first and came out
>looking deliriously happy. "It's official; I AM the most beautiful girl
>in the world." Tom Thumb went next and emerged triumphant, "I am now
>officially the smallest person in the world."
>
>Sometime later, Quasimodo comes out looking utterly confused and says.
>"Who the hell is Rosie O'Donnell?"

Thu, 10 May 2007 12:18:38 GMT

A Florida senior citizen drove his brand new Corvette convertible out of the dealership. Taking off down the road, he pushed it to 80 mph, enjoying the wind blowing through what little hair he had left.

"Amazing," he thought as he flew down I-75, pushing the pedal even more. Looking in his rear viewmirror, he saw the state trooper behind him, blue lights flashing and siren blaring.

He floored it to 100 mph, then 110, then 120. Suddenly he thought, "What am I doing? I'm too old for this," and pulled over to await the trooper's arrival.

Pulling in behind him, the trooper walked up to the Corvette, looked at his watch and said, "Sir, my shift ends in 30 minutes. Today is Friday. If you can give me a reason for speeding that I've never heard before, I'll let you go."

The old gentleman paused. Then said, "Three years ago, my wife ran off with a Florida State Trooper. I thought you were bringing her back."

"Have a good day, Sir," replied the trooper.

Tue, 08 May 2007 13:29:53 GMT

Subject: American could learn alot from this!

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on
Wednesday to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to
Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John
Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a
crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament.
"If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on national television. "I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia: one the Australian law and another, the Islamic law that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option", Costello said.
Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he
Said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the
other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off.
Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he said. Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians." "However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge
against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia."
"However, there are a few things that those who have recently come
to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand." "This idea of Australia being a multicultural community has served
only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."
"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles,
Trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"
“We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese,
Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!"
Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right
wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on
Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."
“We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask
is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."
“If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go",
then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.
“This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will
allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."
"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here.
You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."

Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, American citizens
will find the backbone to start speaking and voting the same truths!!

SEND THIS TO EVERYBODY YOU KNOW!

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:34:04 GMT

The Evolution of Math in the United States

Last week I purchased a burger and fries at McDonalds for $3.58.

The counter girl took my $4.00 and I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies. While looking at the screen on her register, I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried. Why do I tell you this?

Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1960s...

Teaching Math In 1960

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1970

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1980

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

Teaching Math In 1990

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20 Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

Teaching Math In 2000

A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers.)

Teaching Math In 2006

Un ranchero vende una carretera de madera para $100. El cuesto de la produccion era $80. Cuantos tortillas se puede comprar?

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:29:46 GMT

So my wife askes me where I would like to have Dinner Sat night. I say a strip club. Well we end up going down to the Cheetah for dinner and enertainment woth the ladies. Had a good time and plan on coming back end of March...college basketball..many more ladies.

Inconvenient Kyoto Truths

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:46:18 GMT

Was life better when a sheet of ice a mile thick covered Chicago? Was it worse when Greenland was so warm that Vikings farmed there?

Feb. 12, 2007 issue - Enough already. It is time to call some bluffs. John Kerry says that one reason America has become an "international pariah" is President Bush's decision to "walk away from global warming." Kerry's accusation is opaque, but it implies the usual complaint that Bush is insufficiently enthusiastic about the Kyoto Protocol's binding caps on emissions of greenhouse gases. Many senators and other experts in climate science say we must "do something" about global warming. Barack Obama says "the world" is watching to see "what action we take." Fine. President Bush should give the world something amusing to watch. He should demand that the Senate vote on the protocol.
Climate Cassandras say the facts are clear and the case is closed. (Sen. Barbara Boxer: "We're not going to take a lot of time debating this anymore.") The consensus catechism about global warming has six tenets: 1. Global warming is happening. 2. It is our (humanity's, but especially America's) fault. 3. It will continue unless we mend our ways. 4. If it continues we are in grave danger. 5. We know how to slow or even reverse the warming. 6. The benefits from doing that will far exceed the costs.
Only the first tenet is clearly true, and only in the sense that the Earth warmed about 0.7 degrees Celsius in the 20th century. We do not know the extent to which human activity caused this. The activity is economic growth, the wealth-creation that makes possible improved well-being—better nutrition, medicine, education, etc. How much reduction of such social goods are we willing to accept by slowing economic activity in order to (try to) regulate the planet's climate?
We do not know how much we must change our economic activity to produce a particular reduction of warming. And we do not know whether warming is necessarily dangerous. Over the millennia, the planet has warmed and cooled for reasons that are unclear but clearly were unrelated to SUVs. Was life better when ice a mile thick covered Chicago? Was it worse when Greenland was so warm that Vikings farmed there? Are we sure the climate at this particular moment is exactly right, and that it must be preserved, no matter the cost?
It could cost tens of trillions (in expenditures and foregone economic growth, here and in less-favored parts of the planet) to try to fine-tune the planet's temperature. We cannot know if these trillions would purchase benefits commensurate with the benefits that would have come from social wealth that was not produced.
In 1997, when the Kyoto Protocol's essential provisions were known, a "sense of the Senate" resolution declared opposition to any agreement that would do what the protocol aims to do. The Senate warned against any agreement that would require significant reductions of greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States and other developed nations without mandating "specific scheduled commitments" on the part of the 129 "developing" countries, which include China, India, Brazil and South Korea—the second, fourth, 10th and 11th largest economies. Nothing Americans can do to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions will make a significant impact on the global climate while every 10 days China fires up a coal-fueled generating plant big enough to power San Diego. China will construct 2,200 new coal plants by 2030.
The Senate's resolution expressed opposition to any agreement that "would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States," which the Senate correctly thought Kyoto would do. The Senate said any agreement should be accompanied by "a detailed explanation of any legislation or regulatory actions that may be required to implement" it, and an analysis of the agreement's "detailed financial costs and other impacts" on the U.S. economy.
challenge of climate change. The confronting is one reason for his fascination with new fuels. (Another reason, he says, is U.S. imports of oil from unstable nations. Our largest foreign source of oil is turbulent Canada. Our second largest is Mexico, which is experiencing turbulence because of the soaring cost of tortillas. They are made from corn, which is ... well, read on.)
Ethanol produces just slightly more energy than it takes to manufacture it. But now that the government is rigging energy markets with mandates, tariffs and subsidies, ethanol production might consume half of next year's corn crop. The price of corn already has doubled in a year. Hence the tortilla turbulence south of the border. Forests will be felled (will fewer trees mean more global warming?) to clear land for growing corn, which requires fertilizer, the manufacture of which requires energy. Oh, my.
President Clinton and his earnest vice president knew better than to seek ratification of Kyoto by a Senate that had passed its resolution of disapproval 95-0. Fifty-six of those 95 senators are still serving. Two of them are John Kerry and Barbara Boxer. That is an inconvenient truth.

Global Warming: The Cold, Hard Facts?

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 21:15:58 GMT

Global Warming: The Cold, Hard Facts?
By Timothy Ball

Monday, February 5, 2007

Global Warming, as we think we know it, doesn't exist. And I am not the only one trying to make people open up their eyes and see the truth. But few listen, despite the fact that I was the first Canadian Ph.D. in Climatology and I have an extensive background in climatology, especially the reconstruction of past climates and the impact of climate change on human history and the human condition.“Few listen, even though I have a Ph.D, (Doctor of Science) from the University of London, England and was a climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg.” . For some reason (actually for many), the World is not listening. Here is why.

What would happen if tomorrow we were told that, after all, the Earth is flat? It would probably be the most important piece of news in the media and would generate a lot of debate. So why is it that when scientists who have studied the Global Warming phenomenon for years say that humans are not the cause nobody listens? Why does no one acknowledge that the Emperor has no clothes on?

Believe it or not, Global Warming is not due to human contribution of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). This in fact is the greatest deception in the history of science. We are wasting time, energy and trillions of dollars while creating unnecessary fear and consternation over an issue with no scientific justification. For example, Environment Canada brags about spending $3.7 billion in the last five years dealing with climate change almost all on propaganda trying to defend an indefensible scientific position while at the same time closing weather stations and failing to meet legislated pollution targets.

No sensible person seeks conflict, especially with governments, but if we don't pursue the truth, we are lost as individuals and as a society. That is why I insist on saying that there is no evidence that we are, or could ever cause global climate change. And, recently, Yuri A. Izrael, Vice President of the United Nations sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed this statement. So how has the world come to believe that something is wrong?

Maybe for the same reason we believed, 30 years ago, that global cooling was the biggest threat: a matter of faith. "It is a cold fact: the Global Cooling presents humankind with the most important social, political, and adaptive challenge we have had to deal with for ten thousand years. Your stake in the decisions we make concerning it is of ultimate importance; the survival of ourselves, our children, our species," wrote Lowell Ponte in 1976.

I was as opposed to the threats of impending doom global cooling engendered as I am to the threats made about Global Warming. Let me stress I am not denying the phenomenon has occurred. The world has warmed since 1680, the nadir of a cool period called the Little Ice Age (LIA) that has generally continued to the present. These climate changes are well within natural variability and explained quite easily by changes in the sun. But there is nothing unusual going on.

Since I obtained my doctorate in climatology from the University of London, Queen Mary College, England my career has spanned two climate cycles. Temperatures declined from 1940 to 1980 and in the early 1970's global cooling became the consensus. This proves that consensus is not a scientific fact. By the 1990's temperatures appeared to have reversed and Global Warming became the consensus. It appears I'll witness another cycle before retiring, as the major mechanisms and the global temperature trends now indicate a cooling.

No doubt passive acceptance yields less stress, fewer personal attacks and makes career progress easier. What I have experienced in my personal life during the last years makes me understand why most people choose not to speak out; job security and fear of reprisals. Even in University, where free speech and challenge to prevailing wisdoms are supposedly encouraged, academics remain silent.

I once received a three page letter that my lawyer defined as libellous, from an academic colleague, saying I had no right to say what I was saying, especially in public lectures. Sadly, my experience is that universities are the most dogmatic and oppressive places in our society. This becomes progressively worse as they receive more and more funding from governments that demand a particular viewpoint.

In another instance, I was accused by Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki of being paid by oil companies. That is a lie. Apparently he thinks if the fossil fuel companies pay you have an agenda. So if Greenpeace, Sierra Club or governments pay there is no agenda and only truth and enlightenment?

Personal attacks are difficult and shouldn't occur in a debate in a civilized society. I can only consider them from what they imply. They usually indicate a person or group is losing the debate. In this case, they also indicate how political the entire Global Warming debate has become. Both underline the lack of or even contradictory nature of the evidence.

I am not alone in this journey against the prevalent myth. Several well-known names have also raised their voices. Michael Crichton, the scientist, writer and filmmaker is one of them. In his latest book, "State of Fear" he takes time to explain, often in surprising detail, the flawed science behind Global Warming and other imagined environmental crises.

Another cry in the wildenerness is Richard Lindzen's. He is an atmospheric physicist and a professor of meteorology at MIT, renowned for his research in dynamic meteorology - especially atmospheric waves. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has held positions at the University of Chicago, Harvard University and MIT. Linzen frequently speaks out against the notion that significant Global Warming is caused by humans. Yet nobody seems to listen.

I think it may be because most people don't understand the scientific method which Thomas Kuhn so skilfully and briefly set out in his book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions." A scientist makes certain assumptions and then produces a theory which is only as valid as the assumptions. The theory of Global Warming assumes that CO2 is an atmospheric greenhouse gas and as it increases temperatures rise. It was then theorized that since humans were producing more CO2 than before, the temperature would inevitably rise. The theory was accepted before testing had started, and effectively became a law.

As Lindzen said many years ago: "the consensus was reached before the research had even begun." Now, any scientist who dares to question the prevailing wisdom is marginalized and called a sceptic, when in fact they are simply being good scientists. This has reached frightening levels with these scientists now being called climate change denier with all the holocaust connotations of that word. The normal scientific method is effectively being thwarted.

Meanwhile, politicians are being listened to, even though most of them have no knowledge or understanding of science, especially the science of climate and climate change. Hence, they are in no position to question a policy on climate change when it threatens the entire planet. Moreover, using fear and creating hysteria makes it very difficult to make calm rational decisions about issues needing attention.

Until you have challenged the prevailing wisdom you have no idea how nasty people can be. Until you have re-examined any issue in an attempt to find out all the information, you cannot know how much misinformation exists in the supposed age of information.

I was greatly influenced several years ago by Aaron Wildavsky's book "Yes, but is it true?" The author taught political science at a New York University and realized how science was being influenced by and apparently misused by politics. He gave his graduate students an assignment to pursue the science behind a policy generated by a highly publicised environmental concern. To his and their surprise they found there was little scientific evidence, consensus and justification for the policy. You only realize the extent to which Wildavsky's findings occur when you ask the question he posed. Wildavsky's students did it in the safety of academia and with the excuse that it was an assignment. I have learned it is a difficult question to ask in the real world, however I firmly believe it is the most important question to ask if we are to advance in the right direction.

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 14:35:58 GMT

What's so hot about fickle science?

February 4, 2007
BY MARK STEYN Sun-Times Columnist
From the "Environmental News Network": "Science Is Solid on Climate Change, Congress Told." "The science is solid," says Louise Frechette, deputy secretary-general of the United Nations.
"The science is solid," says Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

"The science is really solid," says TV meteorologist Heidi Cullen. "The science is very solid."

And at that point, on "Larry King Live" last week, Richard Lindzen, professor of atmospheric science at MIT, remarked: "Heidi says the science is solid and I can't criticize her because she never says what science she's talking about."

Indeed. If the science is so solid, maybe they could drag it out to the Arctic for the poor polar bears to live on now that the ice is melting faster than a coed's heart at an Al Gore lecture.

Alas, the science isn't so solid. In the '70s, it was predicting a new ice age. Then it switched to global warming. Now it prefers "climate change." If it's hot, that's a sign of "climate change." If it's cold, that's a sign of "climate change." If it's 53 with sunny periods and light showers, you need to grab an overnight bag and get outta there right now because "climate change" is accelerating out of control.

The silliest argument is the anecdotal one: "You only have to look outside your window to see that climate change is happening." Outside my window in northern New England last week, it was minus 20 Fahrenheit. Very cold. Must be the old climate change kicking in, right? After all, December was very mild. Which was itself a sign of climate change. A few years ago, the little old lady who served as my town's historian for many decades combed over the farmers' diaries from two centuries ago that various neighbors had donated to her: From the daily records of 15 Januarys, she concluded that three were what we'd now regard as classic New Hampshire winters, ideal for lumbering or winter sports; eight had January thaws, and four had no snow at all. This was in the pre-industrial 18th century.

Today, faced with eight thaws and four entirely snowless Januarys, we'd all be running around shrieking that the great Gaia is displeased. Wake up and smell the CO2, people! We need to toss another virgin into the volcano. A virgin SUV, that is. Brand-new model, straight off the assembly line, cupholders never been used. And as the upholstery howls in agony, we natives will stand around chanting along with High Priestess Natalie Cole's classic recording: ''Unsustainable, that's what you are.''

As we say in the north country, if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes. And if you don't like the global weather, wait three decades. For the last century or so, the planet has gone through very teensy-weensy warming trends followed by very teensy-weensy cooling trends followed by very teensy-weensy warming trends, every 30 years or so. And, even when we're in a pattern of "global warming" or "global cooling," the phenomenon is not universally observed -- i.e., it's not "global," or even very local. In the Antarctic, the small Palmer peninsula has got a little warmer but the main continent is colder. Up north, the western Arctic's a little warmer but the eastern Arctic's colder. So, if you're an eastern polar bear, you're in clover -- metaphorically, I hasten to add. If you're a western polar bear, you'll be in clover literally in a year or two, according to Al Gore.

And, if you really don't like the global weather, wait half-a-millennium. A thousand years ago, the Arctic was warmer than it is now. Circa 982, Erik the Red and a bunch of other Vikings landed in Greenland and thought, "Wow! This land really is green! Who knew?" So they started farming it, and were living it up for a couple of centuries. Then the Little Ice Age showed up, and they all died. A terrible warning to us all about "unsustainable development": If a few hundred Vikings doing a little light hunter-gathering can totally unbalance the environment, imagine the havoc John Edwards' new house must be wreaking.

The question is whether what's happening now is just the natural give and take of the planet, as Erik the Red and my town's early settlers understood it. Or whether it's something so unprecedented that we need to divert vast resources to a transnational elite bureaucracy so that they can do their best to cripple the global economy and deny much of the developing world access to the healthier and longer lives that capitalism brings. To the eco-chondriacs that's a no-brainer. As Mark Fenn of the Worldwide Fund for Nature says in the new documentary ''Mine Your Own Business'':

''In Madagascar, the indicators of quality of life are not housing. They're not nutrition, specifically. They're not health in a lot of cases. It's not education. A lot of children in Fort Dauphin do not go to school because the parents don't consider that to be important. . . . People have no jobs, but if I could put you with a family and you could count how many times in a day that that family smiles. Then I put you with a family well off, in New York or London, and you count how many times people smile. . . . You tell me who is rich and who is poor."

Well, if smiles are the measure of quality of life, I'm Bill Gates; I'm laughing my head off. Male life expectancy in Madagascar is 52.5 years. But Mark Fenn is right: Those l'il malnourished villagers sure look awful cute dancing up and down when the big environmentalist activist flies in to shoot the fund-raising video.

If "global warming" is real and if man is responsible, why then do so many "experts" need to rely on obviously fraudulent data? The famous "hockey stick" graph showed the planet's climate history as basically one long bungalow with the Empire State Building tacked on the end. Completely false. In evaluating industrial impact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change used GDP estimates based on exchange rates rather than purchasing power: As a result, they assume by the year 2100 that not only South Africans but also North Koreans will have a higher per capita income than Americans. That's why the climate-change computer models look scary. That's how "solid" the science is: It's predicated on the North Korean economy overtaking the United States.

Could happen. Who knows?

But that's the point: Who knows? You could take every dime spent by every government and NGO and eco-group to investigate "climate change" and spend it on Internet porn instead, and it wouldn't make the slightest difference to what the climate will be in 2050.

However, it would make a dramatic difference to the lifestyle of the "climate change" jet set. Which is why, even before latest new IPCC doomsday scenario was released, the Associated Press was running stories like: "New Climate Report Too Rosy, Experts Say." The AP's "science writer" warns that even this "dire report" is the "sugarcoated version." It's insufficiently hysterical, in every sense.

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 21:32:32 GMT

Kinda watched the State of the Union....more of the same. So sick of our government...might just sick my head in the sand for a while in regards to politics. Have plenty enough to deal with. Have to travel to the Gulf Coast to check on some dewartering projects. And have to finish the EPD reports. I am looking at the 6 inch open binders.....16 of them half full. Funny how the EPD makes me cut down a small forrest to give them their reports. Moving in a week. Going to court tommorrow to sue my landlord and Remax....thant enough for now.

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 14:36:57 GMT

Moving in two weeks. Been traveling. Life is doing well. My EPA reports and testing are due soon, life is hell for the next 30 days.

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 16:51:41 GMT

Daring, confident, animalistic

You like to have a lot of sex and try a lot of things. You are very kinky and have a lot of confidence in yourself. You like to explore all aspects of sexuality because it is something that interests you a lot.

Take this quiz at QuizUniverse.com

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 15:48:15 GMT

GEORGE CARLIN

(His wife recently died…)

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings and shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you and a time when you can choose either to share this insight or to just hit delete…

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember, to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 17:00:58 GMT

Moving at the end of this month. I am so glad I did not buy this house and lived in it for a while to see the amount of problems that arose. We are moving just up the road on the other side of the lake. Less taffic and it has a gameroom for a pool table. Yeah for me and I am going to look at some tables this weekend. Shelly is doing fine...feeling under the weather today. Alex goes back to school on monday and trinity is walking around on her own a lot.

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 18:11:55 GMT

Well.. back from Vail for 10 days....it was so much fun....the whole family had fun doing different things...skiing...snowmobilling.....snowboarding....Ice-skating...drinking...eating....shopping(kindafun).

Stolen....

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:48:26 GMT

If ever there was a case screaming for the assistance of the ACLU on behalf of defendants suffering denial of their civil rights and the need to go after a prosecutor abusing his power, the Duke lacrosse case is it. Yet the ACLU remains silent.

By now and for months, the prosecutor’s flouting of the most basic legal and civil rights procedures has become transparent and beyond question to all those following this case. The defendants have been accused by a plaintiff who misidentified them when given her chance during the police photo line-up. Worse, the DNA results of the semen taken from the accuser do not match those of the boys she is accusing of rape. There are contradictions in the timeline first provided by the plaintiff, and her partner at the scene presents a story at odds with what the accuser is positing. We now hear that the accuser has even gotten herself pregnant, somewhere else.

The ACLU is not moved. Instead, it is out there every day bringing lawsuits on behalf of known terrorists planning or already guilty of committing acts of terrorism against innocent U.S. civilians. Unlike the Duke case, where the deprivations to the boys involve civil rights matters firm and already settled in decades of case law, the claims by the ACLU on behalf of the jihadists are mostly spurious and flimsy.

While hardened terrorists who have announced their vile intentions against Americans, and boast of it, pull the heart strings of the ACLUniks, the ongoing plight of the accused American boys who deny guilt and are, in principle, against such crimes, does not stir the conscience of the ACLU. They don’t care that these boys are not getting a fair shake. Rules of procedure, duration, evidence, authority, and secretion apply only to non-U.S. Muslim terrorists, according to the ACLU, not white, Christian, mainstream, middle class Americans.

This case has been going on for months, with even more procedural and evidentiary aberrations and yet the “civil rights industry” remains silent as these young men are left hanging , with their reputations tarnished, their schooling interrupted and their families held in suspension while the Durham district attorney continues his crusade.

How well I remember the Central Park jogger rape and assault case here in New York City during the early 1990s when the civil rights industry and leftists, now silent, were demanding that the mob of black men accused of the vicious and cruel crime leading to a white girl being millimeters from death be spared anymore investigation so that “the boys could continue with their young lives and proceed on with their future.” This, despite the incontrovertible evidence of their guilt or accessory.

The Durham district attorney has consistently ignored the most basic procedural rules by hiding evidence from the lawyers of the defendants that would help the case of the young athletes. Not once, but twice. Be it by secreting the evidence of the private lab results or what happened the day of the photo lineup. There are other abuses of procedural conventions. Many believe this is a political case, with the Durham district attorney’s offering the scalps of some “privileged white kids” in return for the black vote so necessary if the D.A. is to be re-elected in this heavily black precinct.

And yet, while the ACLU is bringing a law suit against our President, authorized by the Constitution during time of war to spy on and investigate enemy combatants, as well as the U.S. attorney general, working in the executive branch on behalf of the President, they are taking no action against the Durham district attorney, who is clearly overriding the limited powers granted him and abusing and exploiting his government position at the expense of regular citizens, indeed it appears, harassing these young men and their families for his own personal reasons.

To be sure, for many liberals the boys are assumed guilty anyways since liberals believe—this is one of their mantras—that young, very white men do these things to poor black girls. They are presumed guilty until proven innocent, since even if they didn’t do it this time, they wanted to do it and would have done it if given the chance and if they wouldn’t get caught. We heard the same sentiment echoed by many liberals during the Tawana Brawley case, another fabricated case against white men involving a black girl. In other words, we need to show our outrage and teach a general lesson, though at the expense of a few innocent white individuals.

For decades already, most in the left/liberal community have viewed civil rights as an imperative for minorities only and not of import when involving mainstream America. Indeed, mainstream Americans are, in their view, not entitled to these basic rights when counter-facing minorities—witness affirmative action, bussing, and choosing Islamist sensitivities over our own safety.

On the other hand, Muslim terrorists are presumed innocent since, in the mind of many liberals, it is our white racism against Arabs and Moslems that impels us to deny them their civil rights. Of course, that is not true. The truth is that the terrorists are not citizens and thus un-entitled to constitutional rights and, furthermore, have announced their desire to kill us. In both situations, it is a prejudicial mindset by liberals against mainstream America that brings them to their warped conclusions and endeavors.

As to the ACLU specifically, it has long been obvious that they do not look at civil rights as an absolute and neutral edifice to be applied across-the-board but a selective tool to be used in behalf of their agenda to topple mainstream and historic America. The last people the ACLU wishes to defend are white, middle class, young Christian men from Garden City, N.Y., an enclave of mostly Catholic Republicans. That is the very American template they have sought over the last fifty years to destroy.

The ACLU takes up the cases of those viewed as anti-establishment, those who they see as part of the struggle to topple the WASP hegemony, Americana, and American traditions and values: namely, terrorists, abortionists, Islamic “multiculturalists,” atheists and secularists, minorities with grievances against “the system,” illegal aliens, and the anti-family provocateurs. Once in a while, they will represent a traditional American as a way to declare their “neutrality.”

Anybody can file a lawsuit. The ACLU is successful, however, because our courts are presided by judges who themselves believe in the de-construction of America and are already members of it or would be providing pro bono advocacy for ACLU clients if not busy meddling from the bench.

Most members of the ACLU despise serious and influential Christianity since, as non-Christians, they feel outside it and wish to destroy that which they can not control. Others are lapsed Christians, getting back. A preponderance of its acolytes can’t stomach our wholesome, traditional ways. They remain, however, immune from the effects of the sleazy gutterism their rulings create due to their ability to live in high-rise, door-manned luxury dwellings, or in lily white suburbs, or in privileged gated communities. This insulation provides them safety from the rulings they impose on others, the plebeians in fly-over-country.

Though wealthy, many are, at heart, command-and-control Communists who do not see their wealth as a consequence of the American capitalism they detest. They, self-righteously, view the legal profession as outside “crass capitalism”, indistinguishable from the universal professions like medicine, art, etc. They are not “business men.” In other words, their money is OK, and virtuous. Though raised to believe in economic equality, they, instead, now champion across-the-board cultural and sexual parity.

Mostly, the ACLUnik has been raised to believe that the greatest calling and mission is not patriotism, tradition, religion, reverence or love of country, rather “dissent.” Dissent shows you are doing something! You care! Dissent proves you are endowed with a greater social conscience, are better than others, yes, more enlightened.

But it must be a dissent against that which the ACLUnik was taught early on is the source of most of the world’s problems, specifically, the society of “privileged and racist” white, male, Christian, America. This privileged society is bad, they feel, and the root of all “minority” inequities. By trying to bring this society down, the ACLU’s own abundant money and access (its privilege) becomes sanitized, indeed something necessary to finance “the struggle.”

The ACLU is anti-American and hateful of what we cherish. The only thing American about it is that it operates in America and uses the American system to destroy historic America. The Islamists and their cohorts are doing the same thing. Birds of a feather.

2 days stolen adn a pic of my son holding my daughter.

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:14:47 GMT

On the twelfth day of Christmas, anightwlkr sent to me...

Twelve tattoos lightning

Eleven thunderstorms socializing

Ten cartoons a-spanking

Nine athletics dancing

Eight motorcycles a-camping

Seven stars a-traveling

Six girls a-clubbing

Five la-a-a-as vegas

Four road trips

Three cell phones

Two martial arts

...and an america in a neurology.

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 20:33:13 GMT

To anyone with kids of any age, and to all of us who were kids once,
here is some advice Mr. Gates recently dished out at a speech to the
Mount Whitney Student Assembly.
He talked about how feel-good, and politically correct teachings,
created a generation of kids with no concept of reality, and how this
method was setting them up for failure in the real world. He concluded
by outlining the following 11 Rules:

Rule 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it.

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. However, the world
will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you start feeling good
about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $40,000 a year right out of high school, and
you won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers at McDonalds should not be beneath your
dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping ...
they called it OPPORTUNITY ..

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they
are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes
and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the
rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try
delousing the closet in your own bedroom.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with recognizing that there are
winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have even
abolished failing grades, and they'll give you as much time as you want
to get the right answer on an exam. This doesn't bear the slightest
resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off,
and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. You
are supposed to do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have
to leave the coffee shop, and go out and find a job

Rule 11: Be nice to NERDS. Chances are you will end up working for one.
Bill Gates.

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 14:06:24 GMT

Being so pulled in so many directions. Work...home...kids. Family is very rewarding, I would not give it up not for a momment. But it has been busy. I might have to move again...house we were going to buy. Has some issues and the owners are nuts. This house sits up on a hill in the woods and there have been millions of leaves. Family is in town for Thanksgiving and starting nto get ready for trip to Vail for Christmas.

2008 Democratic Convention Schedule of Events

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 20:00:54 GMT

2008 Democratic Convention Schedule of Events

7:00 P.M. Opening flag burning.

7:15 P.M. Pledge of allegiance to U.N.

7:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

7:30 - 8:00 P.M. Non religious prayer and worship. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton.

8:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

8:05 P.M. Ceremonial tree hugging.

8:15 - 8:30 P.M. Gay Wedding-- Barney Frank Presiding.

8:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

8:35 P.M. Free Saddam Rally. Cindy Sheehan--Susan Sarandon.

9:00 P.M. Keynote speech. The proper etiquette for surrender--French President Jacques Chirac

9:15 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

9:20 P.M. Collection to benefit Osama Bin Laden kidney transplant fund

9:30 P.M. Unveiling of plan to free freedom fighters from Guantanamo Bay. Sean Penn

9:40 P.M. Why I hate the Military, A short talk by William Jefferson Clinton

9:45 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

9:50 P.M. Dan Rather presented Truth in Broadcasting award, presented by Michael Moore

9:55 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

10:00 P.M. How George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld brought down the World Trade Center Towers-- Howard Dean

10:30 P.M. Nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Mahmud Ahnadinejad

11:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

11:05 P.M. Al Gore reinvents Internet

11:15 P.M. Our Troops are War criminals-- John Kerry

11:30 P.M. Coronation of Hillary Rodham Clinton

12:00 A.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

12:05 A.M. Bill asks Ted to drive Hillary home

Sounds like a lot of fun, huh? Wanna go?