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.