Fear and Loathing on Sesame Street

I don’t know why I like this so much, but the more I look, the more I like it.  Hunter S. Thompson used to write amazingly insightful political pieces in Rolling Stone, but I wouldn’t want to have him as my neighbor.

Update:  Original link from Imageshack gone, removed link

Technorati Tags: literature

The TSA is not interested in science

Thank you, XKCD

Technorati Tags: TSA,science,politics

We are doomed, I say…

Thanks to source…

Technorati Tags: politics,Lieberman

NJ Job Posting

I am among the unemployed in the state of New Jersey in 2009.  I think the NJ Unemployment web site is amazing – they have done a very good job at automating the process of applying, tracking, and payment of unemployment benefits.

HOWEVER, the process of linking unemployed NJ residents with available jobs leaves much to be desired.  There is a process that apparently links the data on file regarding my experience with available jobs.  The exact phrase in the e-mail is:

“To assist you in your job search, the Department's nightly match of new employer job orders with our job seeker database has identified the job(s) listed below as a potential employment opportunity that appears to match your recent job experience.”

Not to be elitist, but the jobs have required “less than a high school education” and have all been warehouse, entry level, permanent and temporary jobs.  I have a B.S. Chemical Engineering, and twenty three years of domestic and international experience in information technology. 

There isn’t a job in the New Jersey database that is a better fit than ‘Lite Packaging’ for $8.00 per hour requiring “Less Than High School” education?  Details below.

While they are at it, perhaps they can find a job for my oldest daughter, with a B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Georgia Tech.  By the way, her senior design project was creating biodiesel from algae.  Not that this would be a technology we should pursue in 2009…

<sigh>

My head hurts, and I’m going to bed…

Technorati Tags: unemployment,NJ,jobs

Palin's Resignation: The Edited Version

This is an interesting article, if only from an educational standpoint.  I sent this link to my daughters as an example of how to properly edit a rough draft for publication.  The editors of Vanity Fair did a pretty good job, and offer insight into the editing process as well as demonstrating proper editing symbols/shorthand.

From a political standpoint, it’s sad that Sarah Palin, with her Journalism degree, can’t seem to write beyond the level of a New Jersey eighth grade level.

Palin's Resignation: The Edited Version | vanityfair.com

Technorati Tags: journalism,English,grammar,publish

A Prescription for the Goose… - WSJ.com

This is something we discussed at home.  The House and Senate has one of the most comprehensive and least expensive health care benefit programs available.  Why shouldn’t they consider actually using a government-run health care plan.  If it’s good enough for the average US Citizen, it should be good enough for our elected representatives.

Health care and retirement are my family’s two biggest concerns.  Sarah lost my health benefits when she graduated from Georgia Tech.   Now she does not have a job (anyone looking for a Chemical and Biomolecular Engineer?) and COBRA will cost just under $400 per month.

A Prescription for the Goose… - WSJ.com

Technorati Tags: health care,COBRA,benefits

Ride of Silence- www.rideofsilence.org

 

The Mount Laurel Ride of Silence is TODAY

Wednesday May 20th @ 7:00PM

I will update this site if there are any changes.  I will be on site at Shop-Rite by 6:30PM. We can shorten the ride very easily depending on the group.  This is a memorial ride, not a training ride and I would like as many people as possible to participate.

Below is information on the Ride of Silence scheduled for Wednesday, May 20, 2009.
We will meet in the far corner of the Shop Rite Shopping Center at the intersection of Elbo Lane and Union Mill Road.
The ride cue sheet and map are below or click here.  There is one hill (Mount Laurel Hill) on the route, otherwise it is flat.

Depending on the size of the group, we may split into two or more groups for safety. 
You are encouraged to wear a black arm band in memory of those killed or injured on a bicycle. 

Weather looks like it will be nice on Wednesday, we will ride as long as it is not actively raining at 7PM. 
Helmets are required for this ride.
Pace will be held to 12 mph.
I can configure a shorter route for less experienced or slower riders.

Towne Square Center
892 Union Mill Road
Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054

Technorati Tags: bicycle

(un)Scientific American

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126995.600-were-we-right.html

 

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/03/20/creationist-heh-master-of-science-haha-degree-hahahahaha/

"In Texas, a state legislator wants the ironically-named Institute for Creation Research to be able to grant a Masters degree in science. In fact, the bill submitted to the Texas congress would make it legal for any private group calling themselves educational to be able to grant advanced degrees in science. So, now's your chance: that lack of a PhD in Astrology and Alchemy won't hold you back any longer."The Institute for Creation Research made a similar request to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board last year, but were shot down.

Technorati Tags: science,politics

Easter 1916 by William Butler Yeats

I have met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.
I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

That woman’s days were spent
In ignorant good will,
Her nights in argument
Until her voice grew shrill.
What voice more sweet than hers
When young and beautiful,
She rode to harriers?
This man had kept a school
And rode our winged horse.
This other his helper and friend
Was coming into his force;
He might have won fame in the end,
So sensitive his nature seemed,
So daring and sweet his thought.
This other man I had dreamed
A drunken, vain-glorious lout.
He had done most bitter wrong
To some who are near my heart,
Yet I number him in the song;
He, too, has resigned his part
In the casual comedy;
He, too, has been changed in his turn,
Transformed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

Hearts with one purpose alone
Through summer and winter seem
Enchanted to a stone
To trouble the living stream.
The horse that comes from the road.
The rider, the birds that range
From cloud to tumbling cloud,
Minute by minute change;
A shadow of cloud on the stream
Changes minute by minute;
A horse-hoof slides on the brim,
And a horse plashes within it
Where long-legged moor-hens dive,
And hens to moor-cocks call.
Minute by minute they live:
The stone’s in the midst of all.

Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is heaven’s part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead.
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse –
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

 

Technorati Tags: Ireland,politics

Suffragettes 2008

This is my favorite PhotoShop of the year.  The Alice Paul house is in our town and it’s a research and meeting center for Women’s groups.  They have school projects and tours every year as well.

Technorati Tags: suffragette politics election

Nope

Nope

Quote from youngest daughter last night: “If Sarah Palin doesn’t approve of sex education in schools, I guess kids will have to learn by experimentation, just like her daughter.”.

You can’t make stuff like this up.

Technorati Tags: Palin,election,politics

If--

Poems - If--
Written by Runyard Kipling in 1895 , "If--" seems to be very contemporary on the evening of the 2008 Presidential Debate.
If--
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

 

Technorati Tags: kipling,poem,politics

McCain - I have questions

 

• I want John McCain to release his medical records.  He has serious health problems which directly impact his ability to act as President.  There is a growing list of doctors asking this question. 
• When Karl Rove (aka Satan) stated that "some McCain spots go “beyond the 100-percent-truth test.”"  I didn't know there was a less-than-100-percent truth test and when Karl Rove makes a negative public statement about a Republican presidential candidate, it's Not A Good Thing for McCain.
• Any comments on the NY Times Editorials?  They aren't very positive, and don't blow off the NY Times just because it's a New York newspaper and writes at a eighth grade reading level.
  • Bob Herbert in the NY Times stated Palin is not ready.
  • The NY Times Editorial is concerned about Palin's world view.
• I am concerned about Republican's obfuscating voter rights and registration issues.  They appear to be threatening students at Virginia Tech, and McCain's campaign sent out mailers in Wisconsin with incorrect information about absentee voting and registration locations.
• What about the Alaska Women Reject Plain Rally?  It was attended by more women than the Welcome Home rally for Palin in Anchorage.  Not a good sign...
• Why was Cindy McCain complaining about the 'tough interview' on The View?  Come on!  One of the women is a Republican lapdog, another isn't sure if the earth is flat and doesn't believe in evolution.  Granted Whoopi Goldberg is articulate and aggressive and Barbara Walters credentials speak for themselves, but to say they "picked our bones clean" isn't a good sign.  What will McCain do in the debates? 

Technorati Tags: McCain,Rove,Satan,politics,questions,medical,voting,registration

2829521895_a990813f22_b.jpg (JPEG Image, 1024x819 pixels) - Scaled (73%)

2829521895_a990813f22_b.jpg (JPEG Image, 1024x819 pixels) - Scaled (73%)

 

Technorati Tags: politics,buttons,McCain,Palin,vote

McCain - Palin - Ridding World of Moose and Squirrel since 1959

Technorati Tags: McCain,Palin,politics,sticker,comic

Karl Rove - telling the truth

I'm not a fan of Karl Rove.  I have questioned why he is not in jail for contempt of Congress, which is still an open question.  However, I found his comments on Face The Nation last week:

I think he's going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice," Rove said. "He's going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he's going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He's not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president."
Rove singled out Virginia governor Tim Kaine, also a Face The Nation guest, as an example of such a pick.
"With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he's been a governor for three years, he's been able but undistinguished," Rove said. "I don't think people could really name a big, important thing that he's done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America."
Rove continued: "So if he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, `You know what? I'm really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States? What I'm concerned about is, can he bring me the electoral votes of the state of Virginia, the 13 electoral votes in Virginia?'"

Having said that on August 10th, I found his comments regarding McCain's selection of Sarah Palin on August 28th.  It's 'pandering' when Obama *may* select Kaine as a running mate, but it's not when McCain selects a governor with less experience, from a smaller state, and mayor of a town that is smaller than our local high school district.  She also has fewer credentials (BA Journalism from University of Idaho) than anyone running our local schools, much less our state.

Rove lived up to my expectations yet again.  A partisan, political felon (well, hopefully someone will wake up and file charges soon). 

So sad, so sad.

Technorati Tags: politics,Palin,Rove,felon

Sarah Palin

As is everyone in the United States, and the World, I’m stunned at McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate.  To this end, I am tabulating a list of facts that are pertinent to the election as well as some questions that I want to answer as we learn more about her background.

Questions

• Has she ever traveled outside of North America, and does she have a current passport?
  Answer:  Yes, she received a passport in July, 2007 before she visited members of the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait.  She also traveled to Germany on the same trip.
• Censorship (aka book burning) – does she believe government (local, state, or federal) has the right to restrict any book, for any reason, from public libraries?
• Medical – both Sarah Palin and John McCain should release their medical records for public review.  This would address legitimate questions about McCain’s general health (POW, ex-smoker, survivor of multiple cancers) as well as resolve unanswered questions about Palin’s last pregnancy.
• Creationism – does she also believe students should debate issues surrounding Mathematics, Geography, etc? 
  • Does she believe that pi is a transcendental number, or does she round it up to 3?
  • Does she believe Earth is 6000 years old? 

Facts

• Sarah Palin was governor of Alaska for 20 months.
• In 2006, the state of Alaska had a population of 670,053
• In the rest of the country, we call a population of 670K a city, not a state.  I live 15 miles from Philadelphia, and neighbors commute to NYC, and Washington, DC.  
• Sarah Palin was on the city council and mayor of Wasilla, AK.  At this time Obama was an IL state senator, not a community organizer (as stated in her speech on 9/3/2008).  The Republicans appear to just make up things and turn them into ‘facts’.  A full timeline of Obama and Palin’s professional live is below.
• In 2004, the city of Wasilla, AK had a population of under 6000
• In 2005, the enrollment in our regional high school was 7500
• Our local high school had a larger budget and more construction projects than Wasilla, AK.
• Sarah Palin is not related to Michael Palin.
• She promotes teaching creationism in public schools.
• She has a BA in Journalism from the University of Idaho.
• The University of Idaho is considered a third tier college.
• All public Universities in NJ are ranked tier 1.   The only other tier 3/4 school I know is Regent University, where the Bush DoJ staff received law degrees.

Technorati Tags: Palin,politics,science,election

Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries

Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries:

"The top sources of US crude oil imports for May were Canada (1.840 million barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1.579 million barrels per day), Mexico (1.116 million barrels per day), Venezuela (1.030 million barrels per day), and Nigeria (0.851 million barrels per day)."

I found this very interesting. Canada is our single largest source of crude oil, about 17% more than Saudi Arabia. Iraq isn't even in the top five, and if you walk through the list, it's not a very pretty sight. Lots of unstable countries, and countries that are not very friendly with the United States. These include Venezuela, Nigeria, Angola, Algeria, and Libya.

I'm posting and commenting on this list for several reasons.

First, to my friends in Canada. If Karl Rove wants to visit, I highly recommend not letting him into your country. No good can come from a visit by Rove. Double that for McCain, but he was already there and apparently he doesn't realize Canada is a foreign country. I would keep an eye on him. He keeps running ads about off shore drilling and his energy plan. After re-reading through his plan, it's a quick read and requires no technical background, he *may* be considering Canada part of his plan. Again, keep an eye on him.

Next, I don't agree with either party, but at least Obama is using credible technical resources (academic and industry) rather than industry-only.

Here is what I think the US should focus on in the next five to ten years:

• Drill off shore and in ANWAR. By drill, I don't mean pump oil from production wells, perform the studies necessary to accurately estimate the size and scope of any and all reserves in the United States. There is little risk to the environment and it will provide accurate information, currently not available, to make an informed decision.
• Nuclear Power. This has to be revisited. Consider a standard design for reactors, which increases safety and reduces cost. Also, plan to reprocess waste material instead of burying it in a salt mine. It doesn't have to be safe enough for humans to ingest, but somewhere in between. Charter the appropriate scientists to come up with some options and review, and this is not a ten year study, give us your best information within a year. At this point, we will have enough information to make an informed decision. Sound familiar?
• Forget ethanol.  It can’t be pumped, it’s hydrophilic (absorbs water), it’s corrosive, poor net energy, need I go on?
• Forget Hydrogen, at least for now and as a vehicle fuel.  Read “The Hydrogen Myth” and other references.  Look at the specifications for the BMW mixed fuel car – it generates half the performance when using hydrogen fuel.
• Biofuels are viable, just don’t compete with food (use non-food source material), and target generation of diesel or clean burning oils.  I’m quite interested in generating methane and other simple hydrocarbons from algae.
• Wind power generation – there are huge possibilities in some areas of the United States.
• Solar generation – we need tax benefits and contracts to sell back power to local companies at pre-defined rates.  Tax benefits have to be long term to make it a simple decision for homeowners and encourage wide spread adoption.  I’m an engineer and I can barely figure out how to complete energy rebate forms for my new HVAC system installed last year.  One page and you should be able to do the math in your head to figure out the payback and net cost.

 

Technorati Tags: politics,energy

Hunter S. Thompson’s 9.12.2001 Essay predicted the future

Fear & Loathing in America

This essay by Hunter S. Thompson was published September 12th, 2001. I'm not sure how I missed the original article. Hunter S. Thompson was prescient.  Thirty years ago, he was the first person I read to realize that Jimmy Carter would win the presidential election (Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, Rolling Stone, 1975) and in 2001, he was the first person to predict the reaction of the Bush Administration.

Given the state of the nation in 2008, I think this article bears reading. Everything Thompson said, possibly including the death tolls from 9/11, was entirely accurate. I was mildly amused by his description of President Bush II:

This is going to be a very expensive war, and Victory is not guaranteed -- for anyone, and certainly not for anyone as baffled as George W. Bush. All he knows is that his father started the war a long time ago, and that he, the goofy child-President, has been chosen by Fate and the global Oil industry to finish it Now. He will declare a National Security Emergency and clamp down Hard on Everybody, no matter where they live or why. If the guilty won't hold up their hands and confess, he and the Generals will ferret them out by force.

Technorati Tags: politics,Thompson,Bush,terrorism

The upside to FISA and government monitoring

 

Technorati Tags: politics,privacy

Slaughterhouse 1945

http://www.newsweek.com/id/143739/output/print

This is a letter from Kurt Vonnegut to his family when he was a POW in Nazi Germany in 1945.   It’s an amazing letter and is included in a collection of writings on war and peace, “Armageddon in Retrospect”. 

The timing of the book, as the US enters it’s fifth year of war in Iraq, is fortunate.  The more people read about the horror of war, the less it is sanitized and glamorized. 

Technorati Tags: Vonnegut,war,books

Gas Prices - what's the fuss?

Businesses are significantly impacted by the price of gas, particularly trucking, but I am tired of hearing news outlets incessantly beating the drum about the price for regular gas.

I maintain that for every dollar increase in the price of gasoline, the cost to the average consumer is $50 per month.

The average person in the United States drives 12,000 miles per year.  The average car gets 20 mpg.  At this rate, they buy 600 gallons of gas per year.

12000 miles per year/20 miles per gallon = 600 gallons/year

The price of gas has increased about $1 per gallon since last year, so this is $600 per year or $600/12 = $50 per month.

I'm more concerned about the increase in the price of cream for my coffee, which has almost doubled in the past year.  Bread and other staples have increased at an alarming pace, and quite frankly, I spend quite a bit more on food than gasoline in a month.

$50 per month is less than the cable bill for most households.  $50 per month is less than my than my home water/sewer bill. $50 per month is less than I spend on coffee.

Every time I see the news on TV, they lead with the price of gasoline.  I don't care about the price of gas, I care about health insurance, food, education, and my local taxes.  $50 per month is a rounding error on my monthly budget, not something that I need to hear about every night.

 

Technorati Tags: economy,energy,news

Debunking the Reagan Myth - New York Times

Debunking the Reagan Myth - New York Times

Very interesting article. I think the myth of Regan is not standing the test of time. I remember how the Republican weenies were tripping over themselves to put his image on some currency (Jackson was falling out of favor). They already named an airport after him (but I still refer to it by it's old name in the hope that people will just give up on it...).

On the other hand, after reading excerpts from his diaries, there are some facets of his personality that I appreciate much more now than when he was alive. My favorite entry is actually a stab at Michael Kinsley, but perhaps, it is an accurate assessment of George W. Bush as well:

"May 17, 1986. A moment I've been dreading. George brought his ne'er-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida. The one who hangs around here all the
time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy
work."

RIAA

RIAA

 

I think the pent up disgust with the RIAA has reached the boiling point.  I don't condone vigilante justice, but the intellectual property 'land grab' by the MPAA, RIAA, and other groups has run roughshod over copyright laws (Bono Act, aka Disney Act), fair use, the Constitution, habeas corpus, and other rights we used to have as citizens of the United States.

At this point, people are fed up and I can only hope that it boils over into a grass roots revolt in the 2008 election.

It is one year and counting until George Bush and Dick Cheney are out of the White House.

Technorati Tags: RIAA,MPAA,fair use

Melinda Gates goes public - Jan. 7, 2008

Melinda Gates goes public - Jan. 7, 2008

This is a very good article about Melinda Gates. It paints a pretty even picture of how they have setup and run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I did work for a non-profit they helped fund in the late 1990's and I was impressed with how focused they were and how effective the projects are.

In the past, the US government initiated projects to eliminate polio and some childhood diseases. These projects were highly successful. However, in the current climate, our government sees fit to spend countless dollars the war in Iraq.



It disturbs me that it makes so much sense for someone like Bill and Melinda Gates to step into the gap, identify projects like malaria prevention, and bring appropriate resources to bear. I hope they are successful, and I think they are headed in the right direction

Deficiencies of the Do Not Call List

I received a call at home this evening.  During dinner with my family.  At 6:00PM EST.  It was Valerie from Datascension, a market research firm which is exempt from the Do Not Call legislation.

In no uncertain terms, I told Valerie I didn't want to speak with her.  My exact phrase was "I would rather have glass shards placed in my eyes than speak to you.".  She didn't blink.  She asked if there was anyone else in the house who was available to be interviewed.

I stated that we were eating dinner.  I *should* have asked her to hold, put the phone down and finished my meal, but the throbbing vein on my forehead had a mind of its own.

They maintain a do not call list, but she asked me to go online to www.datascension.com and opt out.  Actually, you can't, but you can send a note to dnc@datascension.com and it appears that they want to limit the opt-out to a current research project.  This is totally unacceptable.

I called the toll free number (below) and transferred to Reception.  The woman answering the phone was very professional and she took my name and phone numbers and assured me that they would be removed from the Datacension database.  I asked, and she confirmed, that this was a permanent removal.  I find it odd that the original caller did not offer me this service and the e-mail opt-out does not appear to be permanent.

Contact Datascension, Inc
407 W. Imperial Highway, Suite H314
Suite H314
Brea CA 92821
Tel: 888-996-9238
Fax: 714.276.9080
Email: information@datascension.com