Just got back from a weekend golfing trip to Kauai. It was great. More details and pictures to come.
A friend won a golf trip to the Princeville resort and when he asked around for any golfers to go, I quickly volunteered. We selected the Thanksgiving weekend as the long weekend that wouldn’t eat up many vacation days.
Continue reading Aloha
I am contemplating the current set of American Values. From what I have seen of current history, they would appear to be:
These are not the American Values I grew up with, not the Values I learned in my youth. Did I grow up in some warped, white-bread America where fair-play, level playing-fields, and the Bill of Rights were the guiding lights of American Values? Where self-reliance and self-determination were bulwarks of personal responsibility, but not the sole supports? Where compromise to reach common goals made society work and easy to get along with?
*I always have a problem with “The Ends justify the Means” value statement. Just what or when is the Ends? Is it when Mankind is extinct? Is it when Earth gets swallowed up by the Sun? Is it the Heat Death of the Universe? Is it “The Rapture”? Just when is the End?
There are other recurring American Values that still seem to survive, like:
Actually, those values seem to be universal and not just American. Americans just do it better!
Here’s One More Thing to Hate: Splogs – Newsweek Columnists – MSNBC.com
I was wondering how these spam blogs were supposed to make money. Outsourcing the ‘clicks’, huh.
I suppose the advertisers know enough not to pay for more than a few clicks from a single IP address or group of addresses.
‘Confessions of a repentant Republican’ at The Smirking Chimp
An interesting essay by a Republican that has begun to see some light. Thanks to Avedon for the link. I thought most of the comments after the essay were trash-talking nonsense.
I’m sure it was mentioned at the time, but, in my own oblivious way, I completely missed it. I didn’t realize that George Bush was a Nick Cave fan!
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS LYRICS – Bring It On
So bring it on, bring it on
Bring it on
Every little thing
Bring it on
Every tiny fear
Bring it on
Every shattered dream
And I’ll scatter them into the sea
I heard this come around on my iRiver last night and I smiled.
Uh-oh. I checked around a bit and found out Bush said “Bring them on”, not “Bring it on”. Nevermind.
Column from PC Magazine: Whitacre: Threat or Menace? You Tell Me
The Triple Play option I have heard about in the Telecom world refers to Voice, Video and Data, not Voice, internet, and mobile referred to in the original article.
Cable companies are trying to add Voice and Data to their existing video cable systems. Telcos are trying to add Data and Video to their existing wirelines. All to get into the customers home.
Some arguments can be made that Mobile phone systems may carry all three to wireless terminations, but we will need to see how well that will work given the general bandwidth restrictions on cell systems.
The SBC CEO is saying that SBC owns the telco pipes that carry all this information and that they can tariff the content providers so they can get a cut of the pie. This can be in reference to Voice bypass service providers such as Vonage or Skype or Video providers such as whoever is streaming video over the internet. Both of these potential competitors are using the internet to provide their services to the end customer, who is requesting these services. And there is the rub.
Continue reading Column from PC Magazine: Whitacre: Threat or Menace? You Tell Me
Special Report from PC Magazine: Maximum Security: 94 Essential Tips for Staying Safe
Maybe they should have made it 95 and called the “tips”, “Theses”
94 Essential Tips, sort of redefines Essential.
WorkingForChange-This Modern World: Of Course!
This bit from Tom Tomorrow came out April 1, 2003, so it must be an April Fool’s prank, right?
If you are interested, Working For Change has an archive of Tom Tomorrow strips.
Yes, we don’t get hurricanes, just High Wind Advisories. This one only has gusts up to 80 MPH. It’s one way to keep the yard cleared. This morning the tumbleweed I saw wasn’t tumbling; it was screaming like a bat out hell, straight across the fields.
Nothing to do for this except don’t go out in it or be prepared to be sand-blasted. This is probably why 75% of all windshields in Colorado are replaced every two years. Hard to drive into the sun with a sand-blasted windshield. The other 25% is for the rocks kicked up after snow-melt.
This is a weather adivisory. I emboldened the parts of interest to me.
National Weather Service Zone – COZ084
PUBNPWPUB
WWUS75 KPUB 031548
NPWPUB
URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
848 AM MST THU NOV 3 2005
DAMAGING WINDS OCCURRING ACROSS THE EAST FACING SLOPES OF THE
SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS IN SOUTHEAST COLORADO.
.A STRONG JET STREAM MOVING OVER THE REGION IS CAUSING STRONG TO
LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS ACROSS THE EAST FACING SLOPES OF SOUTHEAST
COLORADO.
COZ072>075-078>088-040000-
/O.NEW.KPUB.HW.W.0002.051103T1548Z-051104T0000Z/
NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 8500 AND 11000 FT-
NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FEET-
SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT-
SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT-
WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY BELOW 8500 FEET-
WET MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 6300 AND 10000 FT-
WET MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT-
TELLER COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE ABOVE 7500 FT/PIKES PEAK BETWEEN
7500 AND 11000 FT-PIKES PEAK ABOVE 11000 FT-
CANON CITY VICINITY/EASTERN FREMONT COUNTY-
NORTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/MONUMENT RIDGE/RAMPART RANGE BELOW
7500 FT-
COLORADO SPRINGS VICINITY/SOUTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE
BELOW 7400 FT-PUEBLO AND VICINITY/PUEBLO COUNTY BELOW 6300 FT-
WALSENBURG VICINITY/UPPER HUERFANO RIVER BASIN BELOW 7500 FT-
TRINIDAD VICINITY/WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY BELOW 7500 FT-
INCLUDING…LA VETA PASS…PONCHA PASS…BLANCA PEAK…CUCHARA…
STONEWALL…WESTON…SPANISH PEAKS…SILVER CLIFF…WESTCLIFFE…
RYE…GREENHORN MTN…WOODLAND PARK…PIKES PEAK…CANON CITY…
PENROSE…BLACK FOREST…AIR FORCE ACADEMY…COLORADO SPRINGS…
PUEBLO…WALSENBURG…TRINIDAD
848 AM MST THU NOV 3 2005
HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PUEBLO HAS ISSUED A HIGH WIND
WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON.
FOR THE PIKES PEAK REGION…
STRONG WINDS OF 30 TO 50 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 80 MPH WILL CONTINUE
ACROSS PARTS OF EASTERN TELLER COUNTY AND FAR WEST EL PASO COUNTY
THROUGH LATE MORNING. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL OCCUR MAINLY WEST
OF INTERSTATE 25.
FOR AREAS FROM PUEBLO COUNTY SOUTH TO THE NEW MEXICO BORDER…
STRONG TO LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ON THE
EAST FACING SLOPES OF THE WET MOUNTAINS…AND THE SANGRE DE CRISTO
MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING AND LAST INTO THE AFTERNOON. WEST WINDS OF
20 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 85 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE.
WIND PRONE AREAS…ESPECIALLY ALONG INTERSTATE 25 FROM COLORADO
CITY TO TRINIDAD WILL BE ESPECIALLY PRONE TO STRONG TO LOCALLY
DAMAGING WINDS.
HIGH WIND CAN CAUSE POWER OUTAGES AND CAN DAMAGE OR DESTROY
MOBILE HOMES. LIGHTWEIGHT OBJECTS CAN BECOME FLYING MISSILES…
WHICH CAN BE DANGEROUS OR LIFE THREATENING TO PEOPLE AND ANIMALS.
HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES AND VEHICLES PULLING TRAILERS CAN BE
FLIPPED. BLOWING DUST CAN QUICKLY REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO
NEAR OPEN AND PLOWED LAND…WHICH CAN CAUSE VEHICLES TO SLOW DOWN
AND CAUSE CHAIN-REACTION ACCIDENTS. BLOWING DUST OR SAND CAN ALSO
BE A HEALTH HAZARD FOR THOSE WITH RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS. STAY
INDOORS IF THERE IS BLOWING DUST OR SAND IN YOUR AREA. SECURE
LIGHTWEIGHT OBJECTS. CONSIDER NOT TRAVELING ON ROADS WITH
CROSSWINDS.
I can survive on $50 a week, but I can not grow. I can grow on $250 a week but I can not thrive. I can thrive on $500 a week but I can not contribute to society. What does it take to survive, grow, thrive and contribute, in today’s America? $1000 a week, or more?