What are the odds of dying? 1:1. Death is inevitable, but how will you go? National Geo had a graphic that displays the common reasons for death. I came across the graphic at the National Safety Council's website. If you surf over to their site the statistics are displayed in a tabular format as well.

Free articles from this week's edition of The Economist
Japan's assertive new prime minister | Virtual online worlds | Lula's record in Brazil | A bitter new debate about Iraq | Yahoo! | Why is the yen so weak? | Two new members join the EU club | China excises Shanghai's party chief | Oil in Iraqi Kurdistan | Wal-Mart in Britain | Venezuela's bid for a UN seat | Theoretical physics | An atlas of brain genetics | John Coltrane and Miles Davis | Ann Richards, governor of Texas

More free articles »

Politics this week

Sep 28th 2006
From The Economist print edition

Shinzo Abe, who was confirmed as Japan's prime minister by the country's parliament, picked a cabinet. He also cut his pay by 30% as a symbolic gesture to help reduce Japan's huge public debt. See article

Getty Images

The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Hamid Karzai and Pervez Musharraf, held talks in Washington, DC, with George Bush. Tensions between both countries have increased lately with each blaming the other for the surge in Taliban violence, which was illuminated by a suicide-bomb in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province that killed 18 people. See article
The leaders of Thailand's military coup resurrected a dormant corruption commission so it could begin investigating the previous government. A week after tanks rolled onto the streets, the coup retained the support of most Thais. See article

Sri Lanka's navy said it had engaged Tamil rebels in a sea battle 80km (50 miles) off the strategic port of Trincomalee. The navy claimed to have killed 70 rebels in the encounter; the rebels said three.

George Bush released some parts of a classified report on trends in global terrorism after it was leaked to the press. The document stated that a number of factors were contributing to the spread of jihadist ideology, including the “cause célèbre”—as the authors called it—of the Iraq war. See article
As Congress prepared to adjourn ahead of November's elections, the White House reached a compromise with Republicans who opposed Mr Bush's plans for interrogating and trying terrorism suspects. But legislation that sought to settle the legality of Mr Bush's wiretapping programme was held up by differing versions of the bill.
The Republicans chose Minneapolis-St Paul as the site for their convention in 2008, an indication of how close the party thinks the presidential race in the Midwest will be. The Democrats are still considering whether to hold their jamboree in Denver or New York.
New Orleans held a party to celebrate the city football team's first game at the Louisiana Superdome since it was used to house evacuees from the flood that followed Hurricane Katrina.

Saddam Hussein's chaotic trial in Baghdad was adjourned until October 9th. The defence lawyers had walked out after a change of chief judge, and Saddam himself was ejected from court three times in a week.
British forces in Iraq killed Omar al-Farouq, said to be a top lieutenant of Osama bin Laden. Captured in Indonesia in 2002, he escaped from an American military prison in Afghanistan last year.

AP

Israel freed Nasser al-Shaer, the Palestinian deputy prime minister, but about 30 Hamas politicians remain in custody.
An Israeli newspaper reported a secret meeting between a senior Saudi official and Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert. Saudi Arabia has been trying to revive a 2002 Arab initiative calling for recognition of Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders.
Russia and Iran signed a deal over Iran's nuclear reactor at Bushehr, which they say should be fully operational in November 2007.
The latest report of a UN inquiry into the assassination of Rafik Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister, confirmed that he was killed by a suicide bomber but did not elaborate on who was behind the attack.
Islamist forces captured the Somali seaport of Kismayo, strengthening their hold on the south of the country. See article

The European Commission gave the go-ahead for Bulgaria and Romania to join the European Union next January. But it set tough conditions so as to monitor the two countries' progress towards EU standards. Most existing members will impose labour-market restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians. See article
Tension rose between Russia and Georgia after the Georgians arrested four Russian officers in Tbilisi on spying charges. Russia demanded their immediate release.
Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister, admitted to receiving several large loans from friends when he was finance minister in the 1990s. Mr Ahern insisted he had broken no ethical, tax or legal codes, and said the lenders refused his offers to repay the money.
Tony Blair gave his final speech as prime minister to the annual Labour Party conference. It was well received, even by his enemies, easing pressure on him to step down sooner than next May's touted departure date. See article
A top Bosnian Serb leader, Momcilo Krajisnik, was given a 27-year jail sentence for war crimes by the UN tribunal in The Hague. Mr Krajisnik, who was once speaker of the Bosnian Serb parliament, was a close aide to Radovan Karadzic, who is still wanted on war-crimes charges.
A German opera company cancelled a production of Mozart's “Idomeneo” because it featured a severed head of Muhammad, among other religious leaders. The row over self-censorship for fear of Muslim extremism overshadowed an Islamic conference held by the government. See article

Final opinion polls before Brazil's presidential election suggested that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva would win a second term, probably without the need for a run-off ballot. See article
The governor of the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, whose capital city has been brought almost to a halt by protests for four months, called for the dispatch of federal police to impose order. The protesters want the governor sacked as they claim he was fraudulently elected. See article

I recently saw a Bajaj (Auto Rickshaw style) driving down Hempstead Highway in Houston, Texas. I haven't seen one since leaving Indonesia 1998, so I was rather surprised.

Upon further review, it seems that you can purchase street legal Bajajs in the U.S. for about $7,000.

Here's the site: Bajaj USA



In Texas there are dealers in Houston, Austin and Dallas. Check out the site for more information.

Wow. It must be nice: Diary of a billion-heiress

To outsiders, my life can look incredibly glamorous and incredibly shallow at the same time. But I know just how lucky we are, I really do.

It sure does seem shallow to me.

A brief look at what's happening in the world today.

Oil:
NRO - The Energy-Sufficiency Myth
Happy News - Willie Nelson introduces Alternative Fuel


Cartoon Controversy:
Internet T-shirt Vendor Profits from Mohammed Cartoon Conflict

On their website (http:
//www.shopmetrospy.com/), MetroSpy denounces the tactics of Islamic extremists and encourages its customers to stand up against terrorism. "Failing to print these images mean the terrorists have won", the site says.

“We wanted a simple way to exercise our freedom of speech and to stand up to the terrorists. This design was perfect,” said Thomas.

Newspapers Slowly Starting to Report Arab Governments' Role in Inciting Cartoon Riots


Iraq & the Interweb:
Danger? Drabness? No Date? Iraqis Find an Outlet Online


Politics:
DEMS - One sorry mess of a party

AND FOR ANOTHER week, the Democrats managed to hold themselves hostage to, well, themselves.

Dad Slams Attack On Bush At King Rite

(CBS) Former President George H.W. Bush has expressed dismay and anger at attacks on his son, President Bush, at the funeral for Coretta Scott King.

"In terms of the political shots at the president who was sitting there with his wife, I didn't like it and I thought it was kind of ugly frankly," the former president said in an exclusive radio interview with CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer.

"Anybody that shoots at the president of the United States at a funeral, I just didn't appreciate that," Mr. Bush added.

Former President Carter and the Rev. Joseph Lowery criticized the president during remarks they made at the King funeral in Atlanta.

France secretly upgrades capacity of nuclear arsenal

France has secretly modified its nuclear arsenal to increase the strike range and accuracy of its weapons. The move comes weeks after President Jacques Chirac warned that states which threatened the country could face the "ultimate warning" of a nuclear retaliation.

Brown Blames DHS for Poor Hurricane Katrina Response
Chavez Forces U.S. Missionaries Out of Jungle Outposts


The Border:

Texas boosts border watch


Media:
Worst NYT Issue Ever?

Mediacrity thinks today's New York Times might have been the worst ever: Drudge: White House Seeks Retraction from NYT

I've been rather busy lately or just haven't made time to post anything new.

Iran
Iran seems to be headed for referral to the UN Security Council. Russia and China are behind the referral, too. That's a fascinating development. Honestly, I think Iran is going to try and buy itself as much time as possible. Israel will not stand by, though, and watch their nemisis develop nuclear weapons.

Speaking of nuclear weapons, it was the evidence that Iran was trying to buy documents detailing the shaping of a nuclear warhead that has convince so many nations to agree to Security Council referral.

I will post more about this later with references to news stories.

Palenstine
Hamas has been elected to government. Many nations are going to withhold aid to the Palestinian government until certain reforms are met.

This is honestly a jaw dropper. Scott Adams has a funny post about this: Dog Catches Car.

Bush's Speach
I would comment on Bush's State of the Union Speech, but I haven't watched it yet. I will watch the recorded feed and blog about it this weekend, thou

Well, I'm off for now. I'll try to get back with another post or two today.

A notion has come across Sr Yeager and I today at lunch. Counter-Pirating ops in the Carribbean!

First we would need an ocean going tug.

Then we would need Class III firearms (Full Auto)

And third, not to be outdone by other pirates, we would need our OWN pirate flag... which one, though? There are so many to choose from. Check this one out:



These are the e-mail threads where Yeager has researched the vessels:

-----Original Message-----
From: Yeager, Justin
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 12:54 PM
To: Bond, Colin
Subject: possible boats for THE 'Operation'

First...this would be a nice base of operations:

http://www.apolloduck.us/display.phtml?aid=28197

This one would be great for the actual 'work':

http://www.apolloduck.us/feature.phtml?id=27844

This one is just cute...might be fun after we make our first fortune:

http://www.apolloduck.us/display.phtml?aid=32600

All joking aside...this is the kind I was really talking about though

http://commercial.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=27484

And then another tug. This one is really cool, and relatively cheap.

-----Original Message-----
From: Yeager, Justin
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 1:04 PM
To: Bond, Colin
Subject: another good one...


http://commercial.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=28763

Research vessel. Note the A-frame over the stern. Plenty of lifting capacity there!!! Also has 2 RIBs, plenty of berths and full galley. Got a good bit of deck space too.

"Her massive aft deck makes her attractive, her a frame makes her a dream come true for the salvage business, whether it is sports or commercial salvage."

Yesterday I posted about a homeless study that declared Houston the 7th meanest city towards the homeless. There is also an e-mail thread that I included about a discussion on this study found in this post.

So, who's the first meanest city? Sarasota, Florida. The article is available from Fox News.

I wonder how much better our vagrants in the United States have it over the vagrants in other countries? I'm sure they have a lot more resources available to them here than the would in, say, Rwanda or Somalia.

The annual list of the 20 worst cities for treating the homeless in 2005 ranks Lawrence, Kan., as second meanest, and Little Rock, Ark., third. Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas and Houston were also among the top 10.

Sarasota bans sleeping outside overnight without permission on public or private property. A judge recently upheld the ordinance passed by city commissioners in August after two similar no-camping rules were declared unconstitutional.

"They could have been taken off the mean list if they would have just done away with that ordinance," said Michael Stoops, acting director of the Washington-based National Coalition for the Homeless.

Sarasota officials say the no-lodging rule helps keep the city's homeless out of unsafe and unhealthy camps.

Forty-five people were arrested last year for violating the ordinance, which gives police the option of transporting suspects to a shelter instead of jail.

Having the police give taxi rides to shelters for filthy vagrants really sounds mean to me. It's like the advocates who deride the United States military for force feeding terrorist prisoners who are on a hunger strike. It's just Soooooooooo mean. Whatever.

Resources
NSO Blog Post - January 12th
NSO Blog Post - Homelessness is a problem
Fox News - Sarasota, Fla., Nation's Meanest City, Homeless Advocates Say

And the award goes to... the Pirate movie

That went to Pirates, a relatively high-budget story of a group of ragtag sailors who go searching for a crew of evil pirates who have a plan for world domination.

Speaking of pirates, Yeager and I ordered some shirts yesterday from Cafe Press with customized pictures and wording. There were two styles that we ordered, t-shirts and polos. The t-shirts have the Skull and Saber from the Jolly Roger with the words "male pacifism is a contradiction in terms." and the polo says "HSLT : High Speed Lead Therapist". We were impressed with the ease of use for customizing clothing and accessories on the site.

Tee:


Polo:


And then speaking of High Speed Lead Therapy, a conversation came up at lunch. Yeager and I were discussing liberalism and folks who question fire-arm ownership.

We often hear the question "Why do you need to carry a concealed handgun?"

Justin has an excellent response: "Because I can't carry it in the open."

We refuse to be victims. Personally, any one who describes themselves as a victim makes me physically sick. Why were they a victim? Did they not have time to prepare for the dangers peppered throughout life? By carrying a concealed handgun, I guarantee that I will not be placed into a situation in which I cannot escape from. I will not let some thug rob me of my hard earned money, assault me or otherwise make me a crime statistic. By carrying a concealed handgun I am protecting myself from the unseen and uncontrolloble situation that will arise in life. How many people in your life have been 'victimized' by crime? The rational is that it's not a matter of if, but rather when a violent event will occur. When that time comes I would really lament wishing I had the means to protect myself rather than actually being able to do so.

And if you are against private firearm ownership, that's fine. You can stand behind me when the shooting starts.

Just to finish this post off in a completely random way, here's a list of FTP command line options.

There are a few things I thought worth sharing this morning.

Fox News - Geniuses Are Just Like Us
The Fox News article discusses the very real side of geniuses, from their infedelities, vices and other habits that make them just as human as the rest of us.

I was thinking about this just last night. With very few exceptions, heros/heroins, leaders and other icons from history have had major flaws. After all, we are all human. None of us on this Earth are perfect, but that's not to say that we shouldn't strive to conduct ourselves with integrity. Alas, don't dwell on your shortcomings as it seems all great figures from history have there's. I suppose the trick is to just get over it and move on. With global communication technology, though, it's so easy to spread information about someone to billions of people. This allows for intense scrutiny of personal character traits. In politics, this is an ugly game. Still, Senior Senator, er, um, Kennedy cheated on exams in University, was expelled, drowned a girl whilst drunk driving, and still gets elected to his position.

Anyhow, we're all human.

Today's Dilbert
If you've ever worked in an office environment, you will appreciate today's comic:

Scott Adams blog on the Devil
Scott Adams, the comic strip author of Dilbert, maintains a blog. I found the post (linked above) amusing.

By my count, the score is Devil 1,720 and Believers 0.

Homelessness is a problem
A Houston Chroncle article about Houston being the 7th Meanest city towards the homeless caused me to post a blog entry. That blog spawned a short e-mail thread which I am sharing:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Colin
Sent: Thu 1/12/2006 10:38 AM
To : Justin; Gennie

Okay, I'm done for today (so I say): http://blog.nonsufficitorbis.com/prcIndyPostMain.asp?reqBlogPK=65

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Gennie
To : Colin; Justin

I heard about that on the drive in. At least about the meanest cities...

Because we don't allow them to piss randomly on the street corners or allow 'smelly people' into places of business...
Yeah... we are mean. Hell.. if we are mean, might as well get rid of all those programs, halfway houses, handouts, and just stone them. Stoning practice. They are the devil. That's what you do with all of them.

(above written commentary in no way applies to my actual beliefs.. it's just a rant)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Colin
To: Gennie; Justin

:)

"How do we make 6,000 people disappear?"

How about making them work for their handouts?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Justin
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 10:51
To: Colin; Gennie

Nice disclaimer Gennie...

I think you're on to something Colin...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Colin
To: Gennie; Justin

I know that some people are going to fall through the cracks. That's GOING to happen, but if we all stopped giving handouts to these leeches then they would have no choice but to find a program to help them (or get shot for B&E). The rest, well, the rest would likely just kind of go away... so to speak.

I don't know. In Austin over the weekend I saw WAY too many vagrants on the street corners. At 2222/290 and I-35 there was at least one bum for each corner. And it's a massive interchange with many lights and 'corners'/intersections. Unbelievable. One guy, I just stared at him, had a sign that read ".49 cents to go for a Taco". Riiiiight. A taco. Is that what you kids are calling it these days? GET OFF OUR STREETS!!!

Anyway, Austin encourages that kind of stuff. It's just the way the city is. Every time I go to Austin the liberalism stands out more to me... this time it was extremely visceral.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Word of The Day
The Word of the Day for January 12 is:

vicious circle \VISH-us-SER-kul\ noun
1 : an argument or definition that assumes as true something that is to be proven or defined
*2 : a chain of events in which the response to one difficulty creates a new problem that aggravates the original difficulty

Example sentence:
Lower profits lead to spending cuts, which cause falling sales, in a vicious circle.

Did you know?
"Vicious circle" originally referred to a circular argument, that is, an argument that assumes the conclusion as one of its premises. That sense was first documented around the end of the 18th century. Approximately 50 years later, "vicious circle" acquired the now more common "chain of events" sense as people began to think of the circle as a metaphorical circle rather than a circular argument. Today, "vicious cycle" is a common variant for the "chain of events" sense. "Vicious spiral," in which the ill effects are cumulative as well as self-aggravating, puts in an occasional appearance as well.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

From the safety tip of the week:

Name one American Idol judge. 38% of adults over 50 can, but they don't know colorectal cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer related deaths in the US.

Fair enough, two completely incongruous facts put together to prove that more people over 50 are aware of pop culture than medical science. Seemingly this makes sense, after all the first fact is about pop culture. And pop culture doesn't take a medical degree, just a tv. The fact that colorectal cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer is a drilled down fact. I'm sure I can't name the third or fourth leading cancer as well. I do know that cancer is bad, though.

I always find fact linking an interesting past time.

I wonder, did 0% of the 38% of adults over 50 not know what the 2nd leading cause of cancer was? Did they nail the 1st leading cause of cancer? Did they poll my mother? She's over 50 and a nurse. I bet she knew. So the facts here in the safety tip fail to let us, the readers, know what percentage of adults over 50 are in the dark about colorectal cancer.

Moving on, what percentage of the people over 50 who watch American Idol get colorectal cancer? Is there a direct correlation? I would imagine not, but to splice the two facts together and tout them as evidence would be fun. Unless you regularly watch American Idol. In which case you might soon find out that you're dying of the 2nd leading cause of cancer.

Too bad you couldn't have been whacked by the number one, huh? I mean, there is some prestige to being nailed by the number one rather than the number two. In my opinion anyway.

Resources

I disagree with the safety tip of the week:

IGNORE aggressive drivers. It is too dangerous to react to a driver that is rude.

Technically, though, that would make us enablers, thus perpetuating aggressive driving behaviors. By not opposing such behavior, we are only enforcing it. Such techniques should be fully analyzed before conveyed to a wide ranging audience. The impact of the advice to ignore bad driving behavior will only degenerate driving conditions to an intolerable level.

Perhaps an alternative method would be to train everyone with a CHL and arm them. This would cause the 'aggressive' drivers to be wary of their maneuvers, thus creating a safer environment for us all. At this time, though, if you are unarmed perhaps you should think twice about engaging erratic drivers in an open exchange of colorful and vivid dialogue. Either way I will continue to honk my horn and flash my lights if I think that your driving patterns are unfit for my roads.

A colleague steered me toward the following CNN Article. A British student devised an online ad site that is unique and sure to be copied. He's manage to bring in just under a million dollars. You can find his site here: Million Dollar Homepage.

Resources
CNN Article
Million Dollar Homepage

An ISP, speakeasy, has a tool you can use to determine download and upload rates.I found it useful.Okay, so I really don't have anything to expand on or ponder over, so here's a graphic indicating the results I got.What're your speeds?



I don't remember where I saw this first, so my apologies for not giving credit to the blog/news site where I linked from.

Resources

An article in the Houston Chronicle this morning sites a study comparing office stress between European countries and the United States. Apparently we have a 'results' driven working culture... and quite honestly, 'results driven' is one of my favorite managerialisms, so I had to blog about it.

Lewis bases his conclusion on results of an online survey last summer of 2,544 office workers 18 and older in the United States and five other countries. He says long office hours and a 'result-driven' working culture are causing stress, anxiety and depression at more severe levels for Americans than their foreign counterparts, increasing potential health risks for ulcers, high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes.

Unfortunately for workers, only one of the five major causes of stress in a 'toxic' office — disorganization — is within the typical worker's control, he concluded.

My comment on this study is that many people let their jobs get to them. Their own disorganization and lack of essential skills prevents them from efficiently completing their assignments. I can appreciate, though, having a managerial team that has unreasonable expectations. 'Results Driven' expectations.

Work hard, but don't let it get to you!

Resources
Houston Chronicle Article

US News has an article this week referencing a study that finds two cups of Joe a day is good for you.

If you drink coffee, though, you're likely to have other vice's:

"Coffee lovers are more likely to do harmful things like smoke and drink alcohol in excess, so coffee was often falsely incriminated."

Resources
US News article

The link will take you to Google Video where you'll see a guy firing a full auto Glock. Full Auto Glock

Resources
Full Auto Glock

The AP uses the word 'activist' when it should use 'criminal'. This guy really does have a set of brass ones:

Activist claims no law supports IRS
Anti-tax guru urges jurors to send a message to the government
By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS - An outspoken anti-tax author told jurors in his criminal tax evasion trial Monday that no law requires Americans to pay income taxes and the Internal Revenue Service has no authority to collect them.

"It's the greatest program of organized extortion ever conceived by man," Irwin Schiff said in his closing argument. He insisted that paying income taxes is voluntary.

Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Neiman called Schiff's teachings "sophistry."

"The defendants know what they're selling is flat-out wrong," Neiman said as the five-week trial of Schiff and two followers came to a close.

Schiff, representing himself, repeatedly tested the patience of U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson.

The 77-year-old anti-tax guru told the jury it was up to them to send a message to the government.

"You can do a big favor to the rest of the workers in this country who are holding down two and three jobs," he said. "We're not slaves of the United States government. Our wages don't belong to the United States government."

Schiff and co-defendants Cynthia Neun and Lawrence Cohen were indicted in 2004 on charges including tax evasion, conspiracy and aiding in the filing of fraudulent tax returns.

The indictment alleges the three caused hundreds of individuals to file fraudulent tax returns and promoted tax-evasion schemes through Schiff's Las Vegas business, Freedom Books.

Schiff is the author of The Federal Mafia: How the Government Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes. He previously served prison time for tax fraud.

If convicted, Schiff faces a maximum sentence of 43 years in prison and $3.3 million in fines on charges that he failed to report income on federal tax returns from 1987 to 2002, and evaded payment of $1.3 million in taxes, penalties and interest from 1979 to 1985.

Neun, 52, and Cohen, 64, also face long prison terms and heavy fines if convicted.

"Ultimately, what this case boils down to is willfulness," Neiman said. "A belief is not enough. Simply saying 'I believe' is a not a license to break the law."

Lawyers for Cohen and Neun said their clients, who worked at Freedom Books, subscribed sincerely to Schiff's anti-tax theories and never received notice from the government that they were violating the law.

Resources:
Houston Chronicle:  article

Resources

Good morning, it’s FRIDAY!  Jefe is back to Iraq this morning.  We had drinks at The Fox & Hound last night, so things are a bit iffy this morning.  

News of the Day:

• Well, more abhorrent behavior is reported in The Houston Chronicle this morning.  Apparently thieves took advantage, naturally, of people who evacuated the Houston area for Hurricane Rita.  Pretty sad.


• There’s some bad news regarding Iraq’s readiness.  The Washington Post reports: Of Iraq's 86 battalions, only one ready to fight


• There are some interesting stories in the Out There section of Fox News this morning.   Check them out.

So I was surfing and came across an ad for ABB.  I clicked the link and ran into this managerialism.  ARGH!  “ABB is the world’s leader in Results-Driven Automation Technology.”  Why do people think its appropriate to talk/write like that?   “Results-Driven”.  How about just being a leader in automation?  What’s so bad with that?  What is “results-driven”?  Don’t most businesses rely on their results to guide them?  Why would anyone continue when they’re not getting the results they want?  Does ABB have competitors that DON’T care about results??? Money is what matters to companies and poor results equate to poor net profits.

Enough of that.

That’s all I found to be of any interest.  Unless you spent yesterday away from the media you already know about John Roberts confirmation as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  Congrats to him.

The weekend is back upon us and so enjoy!


Resources

Macro Post… I’m trying to catch up from several days of not posting.

Yo soy el tiviri tavara: Harrigan on the hunt in Mexico’s Nuevo Laredo.  Fox News.

Web of Crime: (A PC World Series)

• Day 1: Enter the Professionals


• Day 2: Zombie PC Armies Designed to Suck Your Wallet Dry


• Day 3: Web Gangs Go Global

New taxes could slam Net phone users: Why is it that politicians can’t stay away from taxes?  Certainly we need to fund certain public utilities, infrastructure, and security apparatus.  But why can’t the pols just stop spending money?  The more they spend the more they require and we, the citizens, get stuck with big government pilfering our money in conspicuous and clandestine ways.  

Peak Oil? Wanna bet?: With the price of oil and conservation on everyone’s mind, this is a good piece to read.  We’re not running out of oil.  The Economist had a survey several months back on the state of Oil & Gas.  The Economist’s survey may require a subscription.

Drink ‘Fuels Transport Violence’: The licensing of alcohol for bars, clubs or any other establishment often spurs knee jerk reactions from anyone with an opinion.  There are many organized groups that want prohibition and their nemesis in the free market arena that wish alcohol to be completely free of restrictions.  I maintain that in any argument the extremists (from any viewpoint) should be immediately dismissed.  There are many points to which impose controls on alcohol; such as underage drinking, operation of motor vehicles, public nuisance, etc.  On the opposite side the prohibitionists need to realize that free market principles will endure regardless of government interference.  This is the situation with the war on drugs.

I digress.  I don’t think the groups calling for greater restrictions in the UK on alcohol licensing are using fact and logic in their assessment that alcohol ‘fuels transport violence’ or any higher level of violence than if the time limits were eased.  
There is a greater issue with alcohol and drug abuse.  There are forces, personal, social or otherwise that drive the culture of intoxication.  The roots of these issues and education are the only ways you can control the by products of the binging (such as violence).  

Personally I think the restriction on the alcohol licenses should be lifted in the UK.  I don’t see how it affects public safety one way or another.  Perhaps a study should be mandated to find out why these groups feel it necessary to control everybody?  

Jackson Lee Visits Anti-War Campers:  I am a critic of Shelia Jackson Lee (D – Houston, TX).  I think she is a media fiend and I often feel as though she only exacerbates already tense situations.  I do not agree with her political beliefs nor have I ever agreed with legislation she’s introduced in the House.  I think she should leave the anti-war protests to the anti-war protesters.  Does she realize that she is undermining the morale of our brave men and women???  I doubt it.  Find Jackson-Lee and you’ve found a camera.  

I would like to see her voted out of office.

Tour de France Head: Armstrong Needs to Come Clean:  As the article indicates, the French rag that leveled the doping charges has always been against Armstrong.  That would indicate that for reasons (unknown to me) that there is a vendetta against him from this organization.  

The article further mentions that the group which developed the test for EPO did so using blind samples under the caveat positive results would NOT be investigated.  It seems there is a legal issue here.

Finally there are issues regarding chain of custody in the handling of the samples.  Since the medical company used the secondary sample, no further tests can be undertaken.  The current allegations can’t be further proven because all samples from the 1999 batch have been used.  The French rag that broke the story abhors Armstrong and the argument can be made that they are simply bent on destroying his credibility.  Since they performed their self-professed ‘conclusive’ investigation the world should be weary of their partiality!

I think Armstrong is being railroaded by these crude bastards!

U.S. Judge Summons Rebel Kidnappers:  Just a reminder, we still have Americans being held hostage by the FARC.  The back-story is very interesting.

Barbecue Ignites Blaze at Chargers Game:  Just a reminder to all would be barbecuers, don’t forget to properly dispose of your coals!

Common in China, Kickbacks Create Trouble for U.S. Companies at Home:  This article touches on a cultural subject that is indicative of living abroad.  What is considered illegal in the U.S. may be part of normal business practice in other countries.  Ignoring the indigenous cultural norms is to preclude oneself from conducting business.  

What then, should be done?  I think the U.S. should worry about business practices at home and leave foreign cultures to their own devices.

Truth in Recruiting:  Excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but is anyone so naïve to think that the military doesn’t go to war?  It’s presumptuous to state that recruits don’t know what they’re getting into when they join the armed forces.  The recruiters are highlighting facets of service that are NOT well known to prospective recruits.  

I agree that deceptive practices should not be allowed and that the recruiters may be a bit over bearing, but to say that they are sugar coating service?  Who doesn’t know that we’ve been at war since 2001?  

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Woman Sells Forehead on eBay

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — For $10,000, Kari Smith has had her forehead tattooed with the Web address of a gambling site.

Smith, 30, who sold her unusual advertising space on eBay, said the money will give her 11-year-old son a private education, which she believes he needs after falling behind in school.

"For the all the sacrifices everyone makes, this is a very small one," she said. "It's a small sacrifice to build a better future for my son," she said.

"To everyone else, it seems like a stupid thing to do. To me, $10,000 is like $1 million. I only live once, and I'm doing it for my son," she said.

Tattoo artist Don Brouse said he and his staff spent nearly seven hours Wednesday trying to talk Smith out of putting "GoldenPalace.com" above her face.

When he did go through with it, he kept the inch-tall letters close to her hairline, where bangs or a hat could provide some cover.

Smith's eBay auction attracted more than 27,000 hits and 1,000 watchers. Bidding reached $999.99 before Goldenpalace.com, an Internet gambling company in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, Canada, met Smith's $10,000 asking price.

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The story that accompanies these photos is:

The Swedish Police had this vehicle/bike "cleaned out" on Completion of their investigations and put it back together to show what can happen in a motorcycle accident.

The Honda rider was traveling at such "very high speed", his reaction time was not sufficient enough to avoid this accident. Swedish Police estimate a speed of ~250 KM/h before the bike hit the slow moving car side on at an intersection. At that speed, they predicted that the riders reaction time once the vehicle came into view wasn't sufficient enough for him to even apply the brakes. The car had two passengers and the bike and rider were found INSIDE the car. The Volkswagen actually flipped over from the force of impact and landed 10 feet from where the collision took place. All three involved (two in car and rider) were killed instantly. This graphic demonstration was placed at the Stockholm Motorcycle Fair by the Swedish Police and Road safety Department. The sign above the display also noted that the rider had only recently obtained his license.

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