Skin Cancer Prevention

I now know that the American Academy of Dermatology has a free skin cancer screening program thanks to Dear Abby Advice. The good news is that 95% of skin cancers are cured primarily because of early detection. Go the AAD's website to find a screening near you . . . click here or call 888-462-3376

California government is not as open as it should be

Californian's Aware is a non-profit organization that supports and defends open government and designed a test to determine how state agencies and their compliance with state laws on open government are doing. Recently, most agencies failed the test . . . read the results at their website . . . click here

Mason Dixon Line

You know where it is don't you? The Mason Dixon line which is so often referred to as the dividing line between the Northern states and Southern states was created by two British astronomers in 1765. The line runs horizontally along the border of Maryland and Delaware . . . read more at this link

General Harold Johnson, Army chief 1964-68

All of this reminds me of another general 40 years ago. His name was Harold K. Johnson. He was chief of staff of the Army from 1964 to 1968. Johnson was a 1933 graduate of West Point. He was in the Philippines when World War II broke out and survived the Bataan death march and four years in the Japanese prison camps. His faith kept him going. He was a Baptist preacher when he wasn't soldiering.

Harold Johnson commanded at battalion and brigade level in the 1st Cavalry Division in Korea and earned a Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's 2nd highest award for valor.

In early July 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and other sizeable units to deploy to South Vietnam in a major escalation of the war. What he refused to do was follow the advice of his military commanders and declare a national emergency that would freeze discharges of all soldiers.

President Johnson wanted to fight the Vietnam War on the cheap and on the quiet. He didn't want to disturb middle-class America or Congress for fear they would want to pay for the war by cutting back on his Great Society social and welfare programs. So he would send off Army units seriously under strength, leaving behind the best-trained soldiers whose enlistments or draft tours were near an end.

Gen. Johnson was furious. He summoned his car and on the way to the White House he removed the eight silver stars from his shoulders. But the general was debating with himself the whole way, and just short of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue he ordered the driver to turn around. Gen. Johnson had convinced himself that if he resigned in protest LBJ would replace him in a matter of hours with someone much worse and more pliable. So it was best to remain and work from within to fix what he could.

Not long before he died, in the fall of 1983, Harold Johnson sat beside an old friend at a West Point Alumni Association officers meeting. He recounted that day and told his friend: "I count that as the greatest moral failure of my life. I should have resigned and fought the decision."

March was the wettest month on record

if you live in Central or Northern California, I don't have to tell how much it rained in March . . . YOU KNOW. as of 4PM Tuesday, Oakland, CA was 133% of normal rainfall for the year that ends July 1, with 28.69 inches, more than 7 inches above normal, San Francisco is at 154% and on and on. more rain is in the forecast too. click here to read the story

Dylan's first LP only cost $402 to produce

That's all it cost to record Bob Dylan's first LP for Columbia Records in 1961. He recorded 18 songs in 2 three hour sessions accompanying himself on the guitar. Interstingly, Columbia wasn't too sure about the LP and began to think that legendary John Hammond's golden years had erroded so they delayed releasing it until March 1962 and it only sold 5000 copies in the first year!

Taxaholics take note

Two recent newspaper stories underscored a problem several states are experiencing--stagnant or falling populations. The New York Times ran a piece about young people fleeing the Green Mountain State of Vermont for greener pastures, citing the lack of job opportunities. Around the same time, the Des Moines Register ran a special section on Iowa's population problem. A century ago the Hawkeye State was home to 3% of the U.S. population; today it's home to just 1%. Young people have been leaving in droves for decades. Both stories cited experts and politicians who offered up various solutions to stem the tide, yet both papers ignored the proverbial elephant in the room: taxes. These two states are punishers when it comes to laying levies on income. In Iowa the top income tax rate is nearly 9%, one of the highest in the country. In Vermont it's even worse, 9.5%.

Old Irish Proverb

There are two versions of every story and twelve versions of every song.

Love's Gonna Live Here

No matter what you thought about Buck Owens, he was huge to country music. Rockabilly owes itself to Buck. One of my favorite songs that he wrote is "Love's Gonna Live Here". Ringo has Buck to thank for his biggest hit, "Act Naturally".

Google

When Google launched it's finance page last week, I said it was time to buy, heck it's down from $470 so I picked up some shares at $350 then watched it promptly head down to $340 . . . . then it was added to the S&P 500 on Friday . . . . instantly $26 higher. Google has a market cap of $104 billion.

the Real Estate bubble bursting . . . are we there yet?

So, is the wealth created by real estate an illusion or not? That comes down to what side of the housing bubble debate you are on. What is clear is that without the gains in household real estate equity during the past several years, there would have been no wealth creation. This just adds to the danger of the housing bubble. Essentially, we have not been creating other wealth to go along with the increase in real estate equity. Therefore, if the housing bubble bursts, then we have not created other wealth to fall back on. Remember, when you account for inflation the picture is even worse. Adjusted for inflation the mean household net worth in the U.S. from 1999 through the 3rd quarter of 2004 is down substantially. It should also be noted that median household net worth in the U.S. is far less than the mean. In 2000 median household net worth was $55,000. Accordingly, most households don’t have as big of a nest egg as the mean household net worth numbers suggest.

Avian Flu legislation . . . whatever happened?

Remember back a few months ago when the political hot button was Avian flu and how the US is unprepared for a pandemic? Back then President Bush called for $7 billion dollars to make us ready . . . . wonder what ever happened to that legislation? Isn't interesting that something that has been lableled by most administration topsiders as more threatening than terrorism has lost it's place in the media spotlight?

When you're on your own in the wilderness . . .

Drink before you're thirsty, eat before you're hungary, get warm before you're chilled to the bone and rest before you're exhausted. You just can't let your energy reserves fall danerously low.

Remebering Harry Browne

One of the great intellectual and political thinkers has passed away. Harry Browne was the heart and soul of libertarianism. He was also the party's Presidential candidate during the last two elections (I voted for him both times). If you ever wondered what libertarianism is all about, you didn't have to go any further to read or listen to

Harry Browne

Harry died as a result of complications from Lou Gehrig's disease. We must find a cure for this disease.

Technology is where it's at . . . .

Aside from their economic importance, technology stocks also are a good measure of speculative health. When market players are especially bullish and anxious to put cash to work they will almost always gravitate to technology stocks simply because they tend to be fast movers. If we don't have strong speculative action in the group we have to be concerned about how long it will persist elsewhere.

Billionaires

According to Forbes Magazine, last year saw and addtional 102 billionaires come on board to that most rare list. Now there are 793 billionaires on the planet. For those of you who can't quite get it . . . ... a billionaire is

1,000,000,000.00

Opium production in Afghanistan is now 90% of the world's supply

According to an internal report for the American Special Forces on what's been going on in Afghanistan, opium production has gone from 74 metric tons a year under the Taliban to an astonishing 3600 metric tons, which is almost 90% of the worlds production. Profits from the drug trade equal $2 billion per year and is funding the insurgency.

Does God sanction homophobia??

In a very thought provoking op-ed piece in the Miami Herald, Leonard Pitts writes about how some people use the bible to promote their biases by quoting scriptures and ignoring other quotes from the bible that are conflicting at best . . . read his piece here

AIX is the symbol for Access Integrated Technologies

Most theaters are still run the old-fashioned way. Studios duplicate film reels and ship them out to the theater owners. It costs the moviemakers about $1,000 for every screen showing their film. It was never an attractive proposition, even before the patron defections. AIX specializes in digital projectors. Studios don't need to ship out costly copies of the film. Instead, they simply beam the movie over to the local theater.

It doesn't just make economical sense. It also gives the studio and theater operator a great deal of flexibility. Studios can beam over new versions with things like bonus footage, new endings, and bloopers to keep audiences coming back. Digital distribution also opens up the potential for live concert and sporting event broadcasts. AIX isn't the only company in this promising field. Thomson's Technicolor Digital Cinema subsidiary is making major inroads here. AIX just happens to be the pure play. Learn more about Access IT here

Housing Comments from the NY Times

". . . .Washington Mutual Inc., one of the nation's largest residential mortgage lender, had announced that it was closing ten ( or 38%) of its loan processing centers, which would result in a 2,500 person staff reduction. Well, in the grand scheme of things, 2,500 workers is not even a rounding error. But we have not yet experienced the housing bust, five consecutive months of declining used home sales notwithstanding.

But if we do have a housing bust -- and we likely will if Bernanke does not soon declare a ceasefire -- then a lot more than a rounding error of workers could be lining up for unemployment insurance. The cutback in spending by these unemployed would have a, excuse the Keynesian _expression, multiplier effect on total spending in the economy -- adding some homeowners not associated with the residential real estate industry to the length of the unemployment lines." read the whole story here

The Largest Telephone Company

Let's see now, the government broke up AT&T in 1984 amid cries that it was too big and not in the best interesets of consumers . . . . fast foward to yesterday when AT&T announced that it would buy Bell South. SBC owns AT&T so aren't all the pieces back together again?

Photos of the 1906 SF Earthquake

A new exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will show a wide range of photographic views of the earthquake stricken city. After 2 years of considering thoughsands of candidates from public sources and private collections the curator, Corey Keller selected 100 images for the exhibit. learn more at

Crash

Knew it would win. What a great film.

What's causing the volatility and weakness?

The main driving force for this weakness is interest rates. An easy way to see this is to look at the iShares Lehman 20-year Treasury Fund ETF (TLT:AMEX), which has fallen sharply for four days now and is approaching levels we saw in November. In some respects this is a positive, because it indirectly accomplishes what the Fed said it plans to do by raising interest rates.

Rain falling on the surface of the ocean can be heard a mile deep

and at some frequecies it's louder than passing ships, according to oceanopgraher Jeff Nystuen. Nystuen, of Applied Physics Laboratory at the U of Wash, is one among scientists studying how sound travels through the ocean to better understand how loud, manmade noises might affect marine creatures. Loud underwater noises, particularly US Navy sonar, have long been blamed by environmentalists for the fatal beachings of whales. The Natural Resources Defense Council and other plaintiffs alleged in a federal lawsuit last fall that the Navy's mid-frequency sonar used for detecting enemy submarines disturbs and somtimes kills whales and dolphins. The Navy settled a similar lawsuit 3 years ago by agreeing to limit it's peacetime use of experimental low-frequency sonar.

They are not the Anaheim Angels!

Orange Country Superior Court Judge Peter J Polos ruled that he had no authoirty to reverse the ruling of a jury that 3 weeks ago decided in the teams favor . . . . they are the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

is this funny or what?

Tom Paine

Progressives have to be a like the Irishman walking down the street who comes up to a brawl and says, "Is this a private fight or can anybody get in?" check out what progressives think and say at TomPain.com

Posturing over Ports more hypocrisy

David Corn at Tom Paine.com writes

Furthermore, these critics are overlooking a not-so-easy-to-exploit reason for questioning the transaction.

The UAE is an autocracy that affords its residents few, if any, guaranteed rights. Human Rights Watch reports that the UAE

does not hold elections for any public office, and political participation is limited to the ruling family in each emirate. The government has not signed most international human rights and labor rights treaties. Migrant workers, comprising nearly 90 percent of the workforce in the private sector, are particularly vulnerable to serious human rights violations.

If it is the United States' mission and obligation to spread democracy and freedom across the globe, as George W. Bush insists, should it be doing significant business with autocrats? Just last Friday, Bush defended the war in Iraq by saying, "Our freedom agenda is based on a clear premise: the security of our nation depends on the advance of liberty in other nations." Dubai Ports World is controlled by a government that does not allow its people to govern themselves. What message does Washington send if it opens its arms to corporate entities run by such rulers?

Google Video

just another great website developed by Google. Google Video Google is partnering with the National Archives to make available all of the films held there (which heretofore were only available if you went to Washington DC to see them). There are also TV shows, Sports, News, Music Videos and on and on . . . . pretty soon I won't need my TV set.

Folk Music

Jazz musician Louis Armstrong and blues musician Big Bill Broonzy have both been attributed the remark "All music is folk music. I ain't never heard a horse sing a song."

1 Billion iTunes later

I was considering purchasing my first iTune from Apple's website Music Store on Sunday (Feb 26) . . . a great tune from Randy Travis, A Better Class of Losers but I decided against it. Darn, if I had done so, maybe I'd have been the 1 billionith tune buyer and been showered with gifts like Alex Ostrovsky was when he downloaded Coldplay's "Speed of Sound". Apple has only been in the "itune" business for 3 years!
Mr Ostrovsky (16 years old) received 1 20" iMac G5, 10 fifth generation iPods and a $10,000 iTunes gift card.
That could have been me.

Tour of California

Did you get a chance to watch any of the Amgen Tour of California? Worldclass racers from Europe and the US raced from San Franciso to Redondo Beach in the inaugural event watched by over 1,300,000 during the route that came down Big Sur Highway 1 to San Luis Obispo through Santa Barbara and on to Redondo Beach. Many of the riders have competed with Lance Armstrong and won stages in the Tour of France and other major tours in Europe. check it out at TOC Floyd Landis, former teammate of Lance Armstrong won the 596 mile event.

Comparing Diets for Weight Loss and Heart Disease Risk Reduction

The Journal of American Medecine reported last year an interesting comparison

click here

Google . . . . . is it time ?

Just in case you've been waiting to buy Google GOOG, it's now fallen a breathtaking 26%. That number doesn't impress you? OK, how about $475 to $342, that's a $133 haircut in a little over a month.

Bicycle Tour de France . . . . . nah

The Tour of California stops in San Luis Obispo after completing the leg down Big Sur.

Learn more at The Tour of California

Real Estate Values

interesting website to look at values

zillow.com

Voice Over Internet

Have you thought of making a telephone call over the internet? There are many computer/internet based systems but what about another way. My friend Steve Curtis works with a company that offers another way to save money on long distance Chatterbug

Fix Congress, Not the Lobbyists

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE moments when you realize Congress is not an altogether serious body. There have been others. One that comes to mind is the frantic effort several decades ago to stop the National Football League from blacking out home games on local television (unless stadium tickets have already sold out). This time it's worse. The current drive for lobbying reform is purely cosmetic. And it skirts the real issue. Lobbyists, for all their selfish intentions and dubious methods, aren't the problem. Members of Congress and the way they spend taxpayers' money are. The case that does involves Republican Rep. DukeCunningham of California, who resigned from Congress after admitting taking bribes. This case exposed the incentives to corruption produced by the spending and budget practices of Congress. For a price, Cunningham would slip spending measures into appropriations bills with practically no one's noticing. The sheer complexity and opaqueness of the budget made it easy to do so. read more at the weekly standard

Supergrass in Bakersfield

The California Bluegrass Association is putting on the first big Bluegrass Festival in Bakersfield. I'm here, it's great and the music on stage is excellent but the jamming in the rooms and hallways of the Holiday Inn is just as exciting. Learn about it at this link . . . . http://supergrasscalifornia.org/

Bank Horror Stories

Do you have a story about a bad occurence at your bank (or better yet, your old bank)? Everyone does . . . . well, Steve Lopez or the LA Times did a couple of articles on the subject. here is is latest piece . . . you go to this link and then follow the rest . . . . it's a great read. Steve Lopez

SEX.COM domain name sold . . . . don't you wish you had registered it?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Representation Bias

That daily bar chart is a good example of the first heuristic, which everyone uses, called the "law of representation." What it means is that people assume that when something is supposed to represent something, it really is what it is supposed to represent. Thus, most of us just look at the daily bar and accept that it represents a days worth of trading . . . . in reality, it's just a line on a piece of paper - no more no less. I might add that depending on which source of data you receive, the bar can be correct or incorrect. Many times, I've looked at a daily bar that was very long only to discover that a bad tick occurred at some extreme end of the price distribution, which the data provider didn't correct. This error resulted in a bar that was incorrect. Why is this important? Because many indicators use the range of prices of the day to represent something, ie and moving average.

Judgemental Bias series

I'm going to post a series of articles describing the various biases that affect people and especially those trying to master markets (trade).

"We typically trade our beliefs about the market and once we've made up our minds about those beliefs, we're not likely to change them. And when we play the markets, we assume that we are consdering all of the available information. Instead, our beliefs, through selective perception, may have elinminated the most useful information." Van K. Tharp, Ph.D. and founder of IITM

If you dug a very deep hole somewhere . . . .

where would it come out? like on the other side of the planet from where you started. well, now you can find out. click on DIGHERE and give it a try

Kopi Luwak coffee

OK, I know that you've never heard of it . . . . that's why you check my blog, right? to learn about "interesting or what" stuff like this.

check out Wikipedia Encyclopedi

These coffees, from Jamaican Blue Mountain to Kona to Tanzanian Peaberry, command a premium price. But perhaps no coffee in the world is in such short supply, has such unique flavors and an, um, interesting background as Kopi Luwak. And no coffee even comes close in price: Kopi Luwak sells for $75 per quarter pound. Granted, that's substantially less than marijuana, but it's still unimaginably high for coffee. click here

Norman Vaughn climbed Mt Vaughn 3 days before his 89th birthday

Days before his 89th birthday he and his wife, Carolyn Muegge-Vaughan, returned to Antarctica and climbed to the summit of 10,320-foot Mount Vaughan, the mountain Byrd named in his honor.

"It was the climax of our dream," he told The Associated Press in a 2005 interview at his Anchorage home. "We had to risk failure to get there. We dared to fail."

Vaughan continued to seek adventure his entire life. His exploits included finishing the 1,100 mile-Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race six times after age 70. At age 96, he carried the Olympic torch in Juneau, passing the flame from a wheelchair, 70 years after he competed in the Olympics as a sled dog racer.

you learn more at the CNN.com article on his passing last month . . . . .

DARPA and the $2,000,000 un-manned vehicle award

you probably never heard of DARPA , the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency . . . . your tax dollars at work . . . . and I really think this is good stuff. DARPA is apart of the DoD . . . It manages and directs selected basic and applied research and development projects for DoD, and pursues research and technology where risk and payoff are both very high and where success may provide dramatic advances for traditional military roles and missions. The Grand Challenge website is where you can learn about the innovations around the US working to meet the challenge and create vehicles that will save lives and advance technololgy. $2,000,000 was awarded to the winner, Stanford's "Stanely".

According to Keith Richards . . . .

I've been reading my "Rolling Stone Interviews '67-'80" and just finished reading one with Keith Richards in 1971. He talks about Rolling Stones Records with the "Kali" tongue. We all know what that image looks like and it truly has become a brand image for the Stones but in this interview Keith knows that it will become this icon. Kali is the Hindu female goddess with 5 arms, a row of head , a saber in one hand, flames coming out the other and she stands there with her tongue out. So now you know where that image came from . . . . .

Friday the 13th

I've never had a problem with Friday the 13th. In fact tonight I'll be playing my first gig in town and am sure we'll have a blast.

But how about this for a Friday the 13th event : On Friday, August 13, 1982, the Dow had an historic breakout day, leaping 11 points to 788. (Eleven points is roughly equal to 153 points at today's elevation.) The market never looked back. That was the beginning of the Grand Bull Market that didn't end until the year 2000.

Sedan or Sudan . . . . ah, it was a mistake

I'm revisiting a note from my friend Dan Dominy who noticed this little piece last March . . . . transcribing is always a problem if no one is checking. If you're like me, you're pretty skeptical of the media . . .

from CNN writer Mike Ahlers

"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- There's an old saying that a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth puts its boots on. Let it be known that mistakes can travel just as fast -- and just as far. Take the case of Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-California, who at a hearing on Capitol Hill last week spoke about a 1962 nuclear test in the Nevada desert. The test was code named "Project Sedan." Tauscher's remarks were little noticed, until they were transcribed -- incorrectly -- in an unofficial transcript of the hearing. One letter was changed. The "Sedan" nuclear test became the "Sudan" nuclear test.

And the government of Sudan took notice. Less than a day after Tauscher uttered her words, and after they were incorrectly transcribed, Sudanese officials evidently were alerted to the transcript. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. charge d'affaires in Khartoum and demanded an explanation about the supposedly secret nuclear tests in the east African country . . . . "

you can read the rest of the story at here

A Million Little Pieces is a million dollar fraud

Over the holidays it seemed like everywhere you looked someone was reading Oprah's book of the month or whatever it was, called "A Million Little Pieces". Yep, my wife was reading it and so I decided to take a gander at it after she finished it. Lying by the pool in Mazatlan I quickly got the feeling that this was a hoax . . . . I mean, if the guy was that drugged out and boozed up for 20 years or whatever . . . he wouldn't have remembered his own name let alone the details of all the crap he wrote about but the real clincher for me was the part where he had 2 root canals without anasthesia . . . . huh? did you believe that part?? Yeah, I was cringing while I read it but all the time knew if was a bold faced lie . . . . . then I asked a dentist friend of mind why someone would have to go through a root canal without drugs because he was a drug addict. My friend said . . . . topical pain suppressants wouldn't cause a relapse or any problem . . . and then she said that she hadn't heard of anyone having a root canal without anasthesia. That satisfied me . . . the book was bull%#*^. I knew then the book was a hoax.

Now I feel vindicated as the whole world knows that it's a hoax. The publishing industry is now on notice that they cannot be trusted.

Most interesting point is that when Double Day first decided to publish it, the book was offered as fiction . . . . yeah. Then they decided no one was interested in it as fiction so they decided to publish it as non-fiction.

Oprah has a credability problem now too. And she's still standing behind the book's author. duh????

read about it in at CNN.com

check out thesmokinggun.com for more.

Howard Stern

talk about getting a boatload of money . . . . no CEO of a publicly traded company on the planet can match the Howard Stern bounty from Sirius Radio . . . first they sign up with a 5 year $500 million deal . . . . now they announce they're giving Stern and his agent 34,400,000 shares of stock - read about it here

iTunes selling at an amazing clip

Steve Jobs announced today at MacWorld that Apple is selling 3 million songs per day . . . . PER DAY. Wow. I've never purchased a song over the internet but I use iTunes everyday.

iPod Users Beware

Pete Townsend (the Who) is warning people to turn down the volume, I think his hearing loss is from years and years of fronting one of the loudest bands ever (also the best) not from studio headphones but you can read about it here

Denial

Three areas of denial: debt, age and law.
People deny they are in debt and add more
People deny they are getting older by medically trying to look younger and last longer.
People deny the law, breaking it with no compunction. Ever drive the speed limit and get run off the road?

People are denying today like they've never denied before. Think about it.

Common Cold Time

I came down with a cold right before New Year's Eve . . . . and I thought I was healthy. But that really has nothing to do with catching the common cold. Learn more at a great new website Common Cold

The Passenger

from a review by Jake Meany of Stylus Magazine . . .

"And then there's the simply stunning release, the consummation of both Locke's journey and that of the restless camera. As Locke flops down on a hotel bed to meet his end, the camera pans away and comes to rest gazing out through the barred hotel window. An apt metaphor, this prison that always awaits us at the end, no matter how much we try to escape it. Except, in a remarkable single tracking shot that must go on for a good eight or nine minutes, the camera begins a long slow glide towards the window, pushes through the bars and then makes a circuit of the barren town square just outside the hotel, as the girl wanders about confusedly, a young child throws stones at an old man, and cars arrive bearing the guerrillas, and then the wife and the police—and then it slowly curves back towards the hotel, back through the window, to find Locke dead on the bed. It's brauva filmmaking, as confident and exciting as the famous opening of Touch of Evil, and is probably the only way The Passenger could've satisfactorily answered its central conundrum in a way that wasn't totally despairing. In this shot, in this final release, this ultimate disappearance, this pushing out through the bars, Locke finally yields to the void he'd been trying to escape throughout the film, and only then does he find his salvation, closing the circle and vanishing into it—freedom, at last."

this is a must see film

John Lennon follow up

In 1979, after Iran took 52 American Embassy staffers hostage, an FM station in Fresno, CA decided to do a radio promotion for the station (Y94). The rally was called "Bomb Iran Rally" and was held in Radcliffe Stadium. On the day of the rally, 3 buddies who had recently started up a new FM station in Fresno (KKDJ) decided to counter the "Bomb" rally - they hired a hot air balloon and one of the guys got in the basket with a giant stereo system (yes, that's what they were called back then) and drifted towards Radcliffe Stadium where several thousand pro-war frenzy Y94 listeners were blaring air horns and cops were pacing nervously. Then as the balloon crossed over the 50 yard line, "Give Peace a Chance" came pounding out of the speakers . . . . . . . the rally fell silent and some began to applaud, causing consternation among the Y94 staffers, a feeling further aggravated when the flyover garnered most of the press. John Lennon to the rescue again.

I read this story in the local SLO "New Times" written by Dean Opperman

IPTV

Are you aware of what IPTV is? An IPTV service model offers a complete multi-channel video line-up as well as on-demand programming.

Learn more about it here What is IPTV

Merry Christmas

Yes, Merry Christmas. It's Christmas Day and I wish everyone lot's of cheer and happiness.

Apple Computer Valuation !! Wow

Is it possible that Apple Computer could become more valuable that Microsoft?? Maybe. Today, Apple's market cap is $60 billion (from $6.5 bil 2 1/2 years ago).

World Community Grid

The WGC is just one of several projects aimed at doing research-analytical work using "distributed computing or grid computing". Another project is SETI@home. What is this all about you ask? SETI is all about analyzing electronic noise from space to determiine whether or not anyone is out there. You can imagine how much computing power it takes to do this type of analysis.

That's where grid computing comes in . . . linking together many thousands of computers which are idle and using their computing power to analyze the data.
In 2003, the Human Proteome Folding project came up with more than 40 possible smallpox treatments ina quarter the time it would have taken without distrbuted computing capability.

Yes, you can volunteer your computer to the projects without fear of anything happening to your data or systems. Want to learn more? go to BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing). there you can see other projects and download the software to enable your computing power.

thanks to Dan Logan, author and computer expert for writing about this in his weekly Central Coast Tech column at the SLO Tribune . . . . dlogan@thegrid.net

The First Motel in the World

San Luis Obispo lays claim to the first motel. Established 80 years ago just off Highway 101 at the foot of Cuesta Grade, The Motel Inn is no longer in operation but can still be seen. Arthur S. Heineman, a Pasadena architect and developer, opened the Spanish/Mission Revival Inn on Dec 12, 1925 as part of a plan that called for a string of such overnight inns to stretch from San Diego to Seatle. Each would be a day's mortoring apart.

Who says it's the first motel? Well, "Palaces of the Public", a history of American's hotels and motels does.

Why are the Makets harder to trade NOw??

Anyone who trades the stock market knows that it's much more difficult today than ever and we have so many tools to analyze what's going, etc. I thought this remark from Don Worden, whose company develops charting software, is prescient.

"I think we probably have more traders trying to "profit off the news" than has ever been the case in history. Consequently the market gets kicked around from day-to-day by transitory events of fleeting significance. Traders seem quick to jump on events that have no direct connection to even the short-range market outlook. For example, one day's fluctuation in the price of crude oil or in the number of casualties in Iraq offer little valid insight into how the market is likely to be affected a month from now, or two weeks from now, or even next week. But admittedly, playing the micro-moves in the market can yield frequent profits to a skilled, say, hedge fund operator. It doesn't take much thoughtfulness to play the market's fits and starts. "

Valdez Oil Spill follow up

The Valdez oil spill was a tragic accident that the company deeply regrets. The company took immediate responsibility for the spill, cleaned it up, and voluntarily compensated those who claimed direct damages. ExxonMobil paid $300 million immediately and voluntarily to more than 11,000 Alaskans and businesses affected by the Valdez spill. In addition, the company paid $2.2 billion on the cleanup of Prince William Sound, staying with the cleanup from 1989 to 1992, when the State of Alaska and the U.S. Coast Guard declared the cleanup complete. ExxonMobil also has paid $1 billion in settlements with the state and federal governments. That money is being used for environmental studies and conservation programs for Prince William Sound.
Virtually all Valdez compensatory -- actual -- damages were paid in full within one year of the accident, and the trial court commended ExxonMobil for coming forward "with its people and its pocketbook and doing what had to be done under difficult circumstances." The punitive damages suggested by Alaska Judge Holland are not a debt that is owed -- they represent a windfall in excess of the amount the jury found necessary to compensate the plaintiffs for their losses.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has twice thrown out Judge Holland's decisions in this matter, which is a clear indication that there is validity to ExxonMobil's arguments that the punitive damage award is indeed "excessive." In fact, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals used that very word in vacating the Anchorage judge's first decision.
The plaintiffs' attorneys have not hesitated to seek appeals and delays in this case when they believed it was to their advantage to do so. These attorneys, many of whom do not live in the state and have not made any contributions to the quality of life in Alaska, stand to make an enormous windfall off the Valdez accident if the punitive damage award is upheld.

this is from the Exxon Mobil website

Uhuru Peak - Tanzania

One of my closest friends, Dan Dominy (an emmy winning cameraman and world traveler) sent me an email with a link to photos from their summit of Kilamanjaro, the highest point in Africa and one of the worlds largest volcanoes at 5895 meters of elevation. Yes, he did this last February but I wanted to share it again.

You can see everything by clicking here Climb for Care

Dylan on XM Satellite Radio

"Songs and music have always inspired me. A lot of my own songs have been played on the radio, but this is the first time I've ever been on the other side of the mic," said Dylan. "It'll be as exciting for me as it is for XM."

Bob Dylan is one of music's most enduring performers. He has released more than 44 albums containing more than 600 songs that have been covered by more than 2,000 different artists ranging from The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and Guns N' Roses to Duke Ellington, Garth Brooks, Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine. His last two albums have been critical and popular successes with 1997's Time Out Of Mind garnering three GRAMMY® Awards, including Album Of The Year. In 2001, he won an Academy Award® and a Golden Globe® for the song "Things Have Changed." In 2004 his best selling memoir, Chronicles Volume 1, spent 19 weeks on the New York Times' Bestseller List. For the past eighteen years Mr. Dylan has been a mainstay on the concert stage performing over a hundred shows a year around the globe.

"Bob Dylan epitomizes the American music experience and his unflagging integrity and vision defines everything we hope for XM to be," said Lee Abrams, Chief Creative Officer, XM Satellite Radio. "It is an honor to count Bob Dylan among the members of the XM artist family, and is further testimony of XM's commitment to create original music programming that makes a difference."

Best New Website

If you want to learn more about John Lennon than you ever thought you knew . . . . . check out John Lennon

Bob Bryn's hole in one

I had the pleasure today of participating in the second-hole-in I've ever witnessed. The first one I saw was the first one my playing partner in the Windword (Bodega Harbour Men's Invitational), Ed Vail. Now Ed is one of the best amateur golfers I know and had never had a hole-in-one in 40 years of playing golf and he's a 2 index. So we're on the 7th hole at BHGC (135 yards or so) and he's toying with the idea of a 7 iron. It's a very difficult hole to judge: big elevated tee, across a canyon, into a crossing wind, green has two tiers, long and you're dead, left and your dead, etc. I tell him it's an 8. So he goes with the 8, one hop into the cup!

Today, I'm playing with 81 year old Bob Bryn (my landlord no less) at Laguna Lake GC and we get to the 4th hole (85 yards) and I've been on fire, I lob a 53 degree sandwedge and it hits the pin and rolls 5' away. One of the other guys in the group tells Bob to "get inside Craig". So I say to Bob just as he's about to take a swing with a 9 iron, "hit the pin a little lower than I did." Sure enough he does and it goes in. Don't ask me if I made the birdie putt.

Congrats Bob, we'll all read about in the Tribune soon.

the president doesn't give out credible information . . .

in a recent op-ed piece, David Brooks of the NY Times and ardent administration supporter recently wrote a great piece on why the US should stay with Iraq despite all of the bungling. He concludes his piece with "Because the president doesn't give out credible information, it's no wonder Republicans are measuring success by how quickly we can get out; it's no wonder many Democrats are turning the war into a political tool to bash the president; and it's no wonder that people like well-meaning but weary Jack Murtha have simply given up."

early in the piece he describes the Sunni and Shiite factions warring with each other and how the Iranians are itching to come to the aid of the Shiites, the Syranians, Saudis and "who else" coming in to aid the Sunnis . . . . . . . essentially a total civil war.

Is the "News" News? Rarely

Two reports in the media (maybe I should disregard it) illustrate why in many cases the "news" isn't news. In my world, news is supported by data or visual confirmation from independent sources . . . facts. But for many years, "news" organizations report opinions and beliefs as news more and more. A reporter observes or learns something from investigative research and then turns in his story to an editor who decides how to "make" it better and to check on the facts, etc. But if you've ever seen something happen and then read about it in the paper the next day, you know what I'm talking about.

Back to the reports in the media today . . . . The US military command in Iraq defended the practice of paying Iraqi news media to produce positive stories about US military efforts to bring stability to Iraq . . . . saying it was needed to counter falsehoods and propaganda from the opposition . . . hmmmm, if that's justifiable then what can we believe?

Then there's Superior Court Judge Llooyd Connelly, who recently ordered the Schwarzenegger's administration to remove a state-produced video that was intended to look like an objective news report from a state Web site. The Governator was using your tax dollars to promote a myth. Just another example of how promotions become "news". . . .

BE CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU READ AND DON'T THINK IT'S THE NEWS.

Sports Rage and How to Handle It

Some time ago there were some great letters in Sports Illustrated and this one said it the best . . . .

"On Sept 15, 2004 a soccer match between AS Roma and Dynamo Kiev was abandoned at halftime after a spectator in Rome's Olympic Stadium hit the referee on the head with a thrown object. The league ordered AS Roma to forfeit the game 3-0 and to play it's remaining two first-round home games in an empty stadium. If the NBA emulated this penalty, the loss of revenue might persuade teams to get serious about arena security."

I also think that certain violations need to be applied against the team rather than the individual, then you would have group pressure on each individual to act responsibly.

David Grissman mandolin Christmas

I've just uploaded a tune created by renowned mandolinist David Grissman. You can listen to it at my website by clicking on the "Merry Christmas" image

craigkincaid.com

Clark Foam closes

If you've ever bought a surfboard, Clark Foam probably made the blank that the shaper started with. But that will not be the case going forward because due to violations of safety and pollution regulations over the years that would have cost Clark millions of dollars to rectify, the company will close it's doors and lay off several hundred employees immediately.

Mac's vs PC's

My computer guru friend Dave Baldwin recently wrote . . . .
I have finally figured out the difference between Mac and PC users. Both actually have about the same amount of problems with their computers. The difference is that PC users are told that the PC is a pile of shit so they blame the machine and complain bitterly about it. Mac users are told that their machines are Wonderful so if (when) there is a problem, they assume it's their own fault and keep their mouths shut so they don't seem stupid. At that point, Mac users often turn away from the machine and find a different way to do what they need while PC users will beat on their machines until they work. Or break completely so they can go buy a New one.

need help with a computer or a fine guitar player . . . go to his website at Dave's Place

Earthquake Indicator

1. During the time of the 2003 Winter Solstice, the moon was in conjunction with the double alignment of the sun, earth and equator of the Milky Way along the Line of Solstices. This was the time of the San Simeon and Iranian earthquakes.
2. During the time of the 2004 Winter Solstice, the moon was again in conjunction with the double alignment. This was the time of the 9.0 Asian earthquake.
3. During the time of the 2005 Summer Solstice, the moon was again in conjunction with the double alignment and we had the offshore 7.2 California - Crescemt City earthquake.
4. During the 2010 Winter Solstice, the moon, sun, earth and equator of the Milky Way will all be in alignment along the Line of Solstices.

there are many earthquakes but this does seem to be an eiry "coincidence"

learn more about earthquakes at : wikipedia earthquakes list

Bastiat's Law

Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was a French economist, statesman, and author. He did most of his writing during the years just before - and immediately following -- the Revolution of February 1848. This was the period when France was rapidly turning to complete socialism. As a Deputy to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Bastiat was studying and explaining each socialist fallacy as it appeared. And he explained how socialism must inevitably degenerate into communism. But most of his countrymen chose to ignore his logic.

Learn more here Frederick Bastiat

Jackie Greene getting more attention

Sacramento's musical son is poised to become a household name.
Verve/Forecast Records, the storied singer-songwriter label, will announced last January that it is signing 23-year-old Jackie Greene to a recording deal.

The move gave the artist serious music-industry muscle. Verve/Forecast's parent company is Universal Music, one of the world's largest music conglomerates. A series of auditions with some of the world's biggest record companies preceded the deal.

Greene has attracted national attention as a multifaceted singer-songwriter who also plays guitar, keyboards and harmonica. His independent album, "Gone Wanderin'," was listed by Rolling Stone magazine as a Top 10 critics' pick for 2002. His songs have received airplay from San Francisco's KFOG (FM 104.5/97.7) to WFPK (FM 91.9) in Louisville, Ky. Greene has also performed as an opening act for B.B. King, Los Lobos, John Hiatt and Buddy Guy.

He moved to Sacramento from Cameron Park three years ago and quickly became a local star. Fans from around the country, dubbed "Greeneheads," fly into Sacramento for his concerts. His three albums and a DVD on DIG Music, a Sacramento-based independent label, have sold a combined 50,000 copies.

www.jackiegreene.com

my website

Just in case I haven't mentioned it yet . . . . you can learn about hardwood lumber, music and stock trading at my website

www.craigkincaid.com

Life is Like Golf

People say golf is a microcosm of life, but I always thought it was the other way around. Life is more like golf than golf is like life. Think about it: The idea is to obtain control and plenty of distance without too much effort. You want a sense of rhythm and consistency. You want to be successful, but not at the expense of friends, family or breaking the rules. Life is fair for the most part, but not always – I lost both my parents within the space of three years, and my wife is in remission in her battle with breast cancer. You relish the good shots and learn to forget the bad ones. Trying to force the issue rarely works. You just keep going and try to get a little better every day. So, life is like golf.

Fred Couples 2000

California continues to be the place

California's population now stands at 36,591,000


California's population grew by nearly 600,000 in the year ending June 30, 2005, according to new numbers released recently from the Department of Finance. Just over half (52.7%) of that increase came from the natural growth of births over deaths, while 38.1 percent came from foreign immigration (legal and illegal) and 9.2 percent from domestic migration.

The Bridge to Nowhere

Oh, you havne't heard about the Bridge to Nowhere?? Congress has approved $223 million to connect Gravina Island, Alaska with the "city" of Ketchikan. Ever been to Ketchikan, Alaska?? I have. It's one of the places that Charles Kerault (On the Road) would have returned to if he could have visited his 12 favorite places during his final year of life. It's a neat place to visit if you like a lot of rain in July (the driest month of the year) . Many cruise ships visit there and there's plenty of flight seeing into Misty Fjords National Park, but I don't think they need a bridge there

It will be nearly as long as the Golden Gate Bridge and 80 feet taller than the one in Brooklyn.

The beneficiaries of this undertaking? The good citizens of Ketchikan, of course, all 8,900 of them, not to mention the soon-to-be-liberated population of Gravina Island--at last count somewhere south of 50--for whom a half-hourly ferry is apparently insufficient. We must presume that the dire necessity for this bridge was not dire enough that the locals were willing to pledge, say, some bond money for it.

Government is rife with affronts like this to the public sensibility, but nowhere as much as in Alaska, which nailed down 67 pages worth of piggy fat in the Transportation Bill alone.

Our largest state (by a factor of more than 2 over Texas), and third-least populous (beating out Vermont and Wyoming in the 2000 census) is like a foreign country to most Americans. Remote, cold, overwhelmingly wilderness. Yet in Washington it is one very hot property indeed.

This is largely the result of the efforts of Ted Stevens, at 36 years and counting the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate. He is affectionately known in his home state as "Uncle Ted," for his legendary ability to funnel federal dollars their way. CAGW has ranked Uncle Ted #1 every year since it began calculating lawmakers' proficiency at bringing home pork in 2000. So far in 2005, Stevens has helped ladle out more than $645 million or $984.85 for each Alaskan, the group says--tops in the country.

Is the Theory True?

In a recent "letter to the editor" I found this line of thinking quite reasonable (I'm not sure about his syntax) . . . .

The writer said, "While I enjoyed Leonard Pitts takiing Pat Robertson to task, I take issue with his statement, 'gravity is just a theory, but I don't hear anyone arguing with Isaac Newton'. Sir Isaac Newton's theory is, in fact, known to be wrong. For example, it does not correctly explain the orbit of Mercury. Why teach it then? Because it is useful - it does allow the prediction of motion of the planets, and NASA's spacecraft, as accurately as makes no difference. Einsteins general theory would be much harder to use and unless a spacecraft was very close to the sun, would not give better answers. Perhaps it is best not to talk about whether a a scientific theory is 'true', but instead ask if it provides a useful explanation of the observed facts."

There.

Waist to Hip Ratio

Waist-Hip Ratio and Apple/ Pear Shapes

Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) looks at the proportion of fat stored on your body around your waist and hip. It is a simple but useful measure of fat distribution. Most people store their body fat in two distinct ways: around their middle (apple shape) and around their hips (pear shape). Having an apple shape (carrying extra weight around the stomach) is riskier for your health than having a pear shape (carrying extra weight around your hips or thighs). This is because body shape and health risk are linked. If you have more weight around your waist you have a greater risk of lifestyle related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes than those with weight around their hips.

I'm told that more and more insurers are looking at this ratio to determine health risk premiums for prospective insureds.


here's the calculater
http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/whr

here's an article from WEBMD Medscape
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/516170

Tired of waiting 20 minutes for the movie to start?

Aren't you tired of showing up at the theatre for the 8 PM showing of "xlld8**4$$" and then having to wait through 6 previews and a couple of commercials before the movie starts?

Well, maybe that will end with a grass roots movement afoot to force theatres to post the "actual" starting time of the movies in their advertisements. Indiana Representative Duane Chaney plans to file a bill in the upcoming legislature to do just that but he might have a difficult time getting it passed. Earlier this year, Rep Andrew Fleischmann of Connecticut tried to get a similar bill passed but failed.

I have cut down on about 50% of my movie going experience for a variety of reasons but the commercials at the beginning was a prime motivator plus the fact that most films do not need to be seen in a large theatre to get the impact of the film, DVD on a home theatre system does the job just as well. On the other hand, films with great specail effects can only be enjoyed in the theatre and I'm there for them.

Black Friday . . . the day after Thanksgiving

Black Friday is the kickoff to the Christmas selling season and shoppers are giddy about the specials that retailers promote to attract customers to their stores that day . . . but shoppers don't get to know what's going on special until a day before if at all. UNTIL NOW.
There's a college student at Cal Poly SLO who has created a website to give shoppers (bargain hunters) weeks of advance notice. Black Friday 2005 is the name of the website and the deals there are pretty spectacular. Just another way that the internet is leveling the playing field for savy shoppers.

You can see more at http://www.bfads.org/

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster vs Darwinism and Creationism

"Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him . . .

Some find that hard to believe, so it may be helpful to tell you a little more about our beliefs. We have evidence that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. None of us, of course, were around to see it, but we have written accounts of it. We have several lengthy volumes explaining all details of His power. Also, you may be surprised to hear that there are over 10 million of us, and growing. We tend to be very secretive, as many people claim our beliefs are not substantiated by observable evidence. What these people don’t understand is that He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 10,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage. We have numerous texts that describe in detail how this can be possible and the reasons why He does this. He is of course invisible and can pass through normal matter with ease."


http://www.venganza.org/

The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.



http://www.mentalsoup.com/mentalsoup/basic.htm

MacMartin PreSchool Ritual Abuse Follow Up

In my last post I said I would tell you about what the outcomes were from the McMartin PreSchool Ritual Abuse trials were and here they are :

After the trial:

The events at McMartin caused extensive disruption:

Hundreds of Manhattan Beach children, now young adults, believe that they were abused during bizarre rituals. They are probably suffering various degrees of disability. We have been unable to find any follow-up studies to measure the degree of damage that they have suffered.

The 7 adults who were charged have been financially impoverished.

Mcmartin preschool was closed, and leveled to the ground.

The other 8 schools were closed down and never re-opened.

The pastor of St. Cross church was the victim of harassment and death threats. "He closed the church and moved to another part of the country."

The county had to pay the $13 million costs of the trials. These were the most expensive trials in U.S. history. The O.J. Simpson trial, in comparison, cost 8 million.

Many copy-cat prosecutions subsequently occurred across North America.

Children's stories of mysterious, secret tunnels appeared in various other MVMO cases around the world. None were ever found.

Tens of millions of Americans falsely began to believe that young pre-school children across the U.S. were being terribly abused.

Actions by the principals in the case included:

Peggy McMartin immediately filed a civil suit against the city, county, the CII and an ABC TV station for a shopping list of improper behaviors. A few months later, Virginia McMartin and two of the defendants who were charged but never tried also filed suits. These actions failed because state law and previous court decisions have granted absolute immunity from prosecution to child protective services workers, persons involved in the prosecution. This protection was extended to the CII in this case because they were working for the prosecution.

"Peggy Buckey sued to get back her teaching credentials. In granting them, and restitution of $180,000 from the state in lost teacher's pay, the judge found the children's statements so lacking in credibility as to not constitute evidence. [In 1995] Married, with two children, she now teaches extreme-case disadvantaged children in a special school in Anaheim, Calif." 9

In 1991, the accused sued the parent of one student for slander. They won the case, but were only awarded $1.00 in damages.

Ray Buckey went on to finish college and, in 1995 was preparing to enter law school. 9

Virginia McMartin died in 1995-DEC-18 at the age of 88.

On 2000-DEC-6, Senior Trial Deputy Lael Rubin, the prosecutor in the McMartin case, was promoted to special counsel.

On 2000-DEC-15, Peggy McMartin Buckley died in Torrance, CA, at the age of 74.

In 2001-FEB-19, Betty Evans Raidor, a former teacher at McMartin, died at the age of 81. She had been charged with 32 instances of child molestation, along with four other teachers. The charges were dropped after the preliminary hearing. The trial ruined her financially. The publicity turned her into a pariah.

You can find more information at http://www.religioustolerance.org/ra_mcmar.htm

No Followup by the Media

Why is that we love to read about the scandilous behavior of politicians, actors, musicians, even ordinary citizens, et al in the newspaper and then we forget to ask the question, "What ever happened?" In way too many incidences, the followup would have been more interesting than the original story. Did the bad behavior ever result in a punishment? Was the criminal sent to prison? Let's take a look at one example:

The McMartin Pre School Ritual Abuse Case in Manhattan Beach during the 1980's.

I lived in Manhattan Beach then and had friends who believed their children were abused. The newspapers made much hoopla about the case but then it faded as the trials eventually began but how much coverage took place once the decisions were handed down and the counter lawsuits began . . . . very little.

The next post will show what the outcome was of this famous and widely followed witch hunt in the toney city of Manhattan Beach.

Well I'm back

It's been a while since I last posted anything to this blog but now that I'm settled into my new home on the Central Coast I've decided to get things going again.

see you later

this will be the last post . . . that's if anyone is even reading this

Samsung accounts for 16% of South Korea's exports! and not listed

SEOUL, South Korea -- At Samsung Electronics Co.'s boisterous annual meeting last year, a shareholder suggested the company's chairman should step down. In response, Samsung's chief executive officer lost his cool.  "Just how many shares do you have?" Yun Jong Yong shouted at the shareholder. "Stop saying 'our company.' "
Samsung Electronics has become a household name in consumer electronics and a leading supplier of components to manufacturers world-wide. In 2004, its net income was greater than that of either Microsoft Corp. or Intel Corp. By Samsung's own reckoning, it accounts for 16% of South Korea's exports and 18% of the country's stock-market capitalization.
Yet as it takes a larger role in the global economy, Samsung is resisting pressure to retool its paternalistic and secretive corporate governance. The family that controls Samsung through a minority stake has battled to maintain its grip and often shields itself through appeals to Korean nationalism. Samsung provides scanty financial information to investors. With a market capitalization of about $70 billion, it's one of the world's most valuable companies without a stock listing in a major financial market, something that would subject it to tougher accounting rules.

fastest rising cost at Mather Golf Course

Now I don't know about other golf courses but I would guess it's no different at Mather. Since people don't carry cash anymore and prefer to use ATM machines or debit cards instead for cash purchases, it has become a necessity for businesses to provide a "cash" retrieval system for their customers and golf courses are no different. At our course affairs meeting yesterday, I learned that the ATM machine is being removed for several reasons: one, it's old and can't be upgraded and two, it doesn't pay for itself. It doesn't pay for itself??? Now, I can't reconcile that with the outrage that people are showing when they can't get cash from the proshop, etc. But it is what is.
Then I found out that the fasted rising cost at Mather is no longer workers compensation but BANK CARD PROCESSING FEES. Yes, you read that correctly.

Maureen Dowd

Maureen is one of the top columnists for the NY Times, some people think she's a little too liberal but I think she's provocative. Her latest piece has to do with the "weak-minded homeland defense" which I happen to totally agree with. Heck you can't find a CHP on the freeway or get a sheriff to come to your house if you've been robbed but we're spending $85 billion in Iraq. I stray . . . . here's a little of what Maureen has to say :

The FBI has abandoned it's latest computer follies: the $170 million effort to upgrade the bureau's computer system so analysts can accomplish such difficult tastks as simultaneously searching for "aviation" and "schools". Now it's going to take at least 3 1/2 years to develop a new system . . . . . Our intelligence services are only now trying to recruit agents who speak Arabic and Farsi. Who didn't realize after the Iranian hostage crisis that it might be smart to invest in some spies who could infiltrate the places that were calling us Satan? The LA Times reported on Tuesday that about 40 Americans seeking jobs at US intelligence agencies were turned away because of possible ties to terrorists groups. Paul Redmond, a longtime CIA officer, said it was an "actuarial certainty" that spies had infilitrated US security agencies : "I think we're worse off than we've ever been."

You can read the rest by going to www.nytimes.com and searching for her column.

Berkshire Hathaway

WARREN BUFFETT, THE LEGENDARY "Oracle of Omaha," issued his eagerly anticipated letter to shareholders last week. In addition to his usual homespun charm, Buffett was unusually apologetic for generating a 10.4% increase in Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.B) book value last year, slightly less than the 10.9% dividend-inclusive gain of the benchmark S&P 500. From my vantage point, Buffett is being overly modest.

The Largest Surfboard

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- More than 40 surfers cruised into the record books by riding a single giant surfboard off an Australian beach, according to newspaper reports.

A crowd of more than 5,000 gathered Saturday to watch the riders crowd onto the 12.2-meter (40-foot) -long board at the Queensland state tourist city Gold Coast, where the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro surf competitions were held, newspapers said on Sunday.

The three-meter-wide board, nicknamed Nev after its creator, Gold Coast board shaper Nev Hyman, arrived on a trailer truck and needed more than 20 people to carry it to the surf.

Is History Correct?

I've always believed one essential fact about history . . . it's written by the winners. I just finished reading the "Sam Houston" story in "Profiles in Courage" and decided to find out what Sam Houston's role in defending the Alamo was all about. At a very in depth website on the Alamo I found this introduction . . . .

Five minutes after a car accident you can't get the victims to agree about what happened. Yet we blithely base military history on written accounts made years after the event, often by people whose sole reason for writing is to evade responsibility. Journalist interviews differ chiefly in that they draw out people who would not, by themselves, have written anything.
With the Alamo it is even worse. Many accounts that are relied on to flesh out accounts of the battle are third-hand narratives (an interview of someone who tells a story he heard from someone else) recorded decades after the battle. Joe was only interviewed briefly, and Mrs. Dickinson was not interviewed by a journalist until 1871. The last messenger out of the Alamo, James Allen, who was there for the bulk of the siege, became a Texas Ranger and lived until 1901 -- and was never interviewed at all. On the Mexican side, the accounts that do seem reliable appear to come from spectators. It may be that the intensity of the fighting was such that no Mexican in the front lines was able to write his memoirs, to put it delicately.

Anyway, Sam Houston was an amazing man. He was steadfastly against secession from the Union by Texas and captured General Santa Anna shortly after the Siege of the Alamo. Governor of Tennesee, Senator and Governor of Texas.

The Bush Deficit in Revenues

In 1962, US federal government spending amounted to 18.8% of GDP; 2001, 18.5%; 2004, 19.8% . . . 24 of the last 40 years the government has spent more than 20% of GDP so a reduction seems OK. Now the real news . . . in 2000 federal revenues were 19.8% of GDP (between 1962 and 2002, only once have federal revenues fallen below 17% of GDP, yet in 2003 revenues were 16.3% and 2004 equaled 16.4. Now one could say that's a good thing . . . taxes are lower and government is forced to do more with less but unfortunately that's not what government is good at and today, everyone in America wants more from their government than ever before . . . hence big deficits and there's no way to grow our way out them.

ChoicePoint notifies Californians

Did you realize that California has the only law in the US which requires companies to notify it's residents if a breach occurs of it's confidential data? I didn't get notified, did you?