Whoa is the Democrat who cannot accept health reform is lost

If there is a lesson in the health insurance reform bill's collapse, and the ensuing anguish from disheartened Democrats, it is that those who put their faith in politics will most likely find that what they get in return is, in fact, more politics. So for those ailing Democrats whose belief in this bill has shaken their faith in the power of politics to produce political change, well, grief is a terrible thing, but as any therapist will say, it's never too late to get help.

Morning Sunrise photo by Craig B. Kincaid

Yesterday morning I woke up and saw the sunrise, grabbed my camera and took this picture from my dock.

Ever want to learn how to tie a truckers hitch knot?

This is a great site for learning about all kinds of knots . . . . click here

Clickstream

Find out about this really interesting data set click here

Chef's Holidays 2010 at the Ahwanhee Hotel

Each year in Yosemite at the Ahwanhee they put on a top chef's demonstration of fine cooking, tour of the kitchen and culminating with a banquet in the Great Dining Hall. We stayed at the Lodge at Yosemite where we had snow and rain showers most of the time but great visuals except Half Dome was conspicuously absent. My friend Rob Davidson said that they had taken down for repairs. click here for a look at the Chef's Holidays.

The Most Famous Person

One day, a kindergarten teacher said to the class of 5-year-olds, "I'll give $2 to the child who can tell me who the most famous man who ever lived was."

An Irish boy put his hand up and said, "It was St. Patrick."

The teacher said, "Sorry Sean, that's not correct."

Then a Scottish boy put his hand up and said, "It was St. Andrew."

The teacher replied, "I'm sorry, Hamish, that's not right either."

Finally, a Jewish boy raised his hand and said, "It was Jesus Christ."

The teacher said, "That's absolutely right, Marvin, come up here and I'll give you the $2."

As the teacher was giving Marvin his money, she said, "You know, Marvin, since you're Jewish, I was very surprised that you said Jesus Christ."

Marvin replied, "Yeah. In my heart I knew it was Moses, but business is business!"

Kurzweil part two

Kurzweil has now written what may be his opus, "The Singularity is Near." If you are at all interested in what the future might hold, and are not afraid to get out of your box, you should get this book and read it. What is the singularity? Kurzweil suggests it is a future period in which technological progress becomes so rapid that it radically transforms humankind. The difference between human and our machines becomes less and less as we adapt to an increasingly technological civilization. Increasingly, out nanotech starts to inhabit our bodies. "To picture the singularity, imagine computers trillions of times smarter than Newton, Einstein and Edison inventing new technologies while continually enhancing their own abilities. Kurzweil argues that the Singularity will occur around 2045."

Ray Kurzweil

Ray Kurzweil is perhaps the primary spokesman of our generation documenting the change in the pace of technology. Some of that change he has personally been responsible for. He is the inventor of speech recognition, scanners, music synthesizers and many other technical marvels. He is a certifiable genius in multiple fields. You can learn more about him by going to his web site click here

What's the true story on Chinese individual income?

here is an excerpt from the Seeking Alpha blog challenging Jim Chanos assertion that China is in a bubble about to burst . . .

"If anything, incomes are grossly under reported in China. A simple look at how accounting works will show why. Whereas in the U.S. individuals must report their income to the Internal Revenue Service every year, in China all individual tax is reported and paid for by companies, except for that of high earners. Many Chinese companies limit the tax they pay by reporting low salaries and then paying their employees higher amounts while accounting for the difference as business expenses like phone bills. The employees are happy because they make every bit as much as they were promised, and the companies are pleased to lower their tax exposure.

Also, many companies pay for housing and cars for their employees, a holdover from the old system of state-run businesses. Most Western economists don't count those expenses as income, but they should. Deceptive accounting of income is so widespread that the government has announced plans to tax some business expenses in state-run enterprises--the kinds of expenses that let executives pay taxes on earnings of $300 a month while living in multimillion-dollar homes and driving Mercedes." to read the whole thing click here

The Challengers

Here's the back side of The Challengers LP.

The Challengers

Along with the Beachboys, The Challengers were a top So Cal surf band. I recently found my only LP of the band and here's the cover. Check back tomorrow after I post the backside with liner notes by Rick Griffin and Murphy image (thanks to a reader who corrected me on Murphy, he wasn't Murph the Surf)

Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities

Ever wonder who and how much foreign countries own US debt obligations??? Yeah, I know you've wondered . . . well, click here and find out from the Treasury Dept directly.

great body boarding video on Posterous via Vimeo

I love the Posterous site, not only do I have one but I subscribe to several. Mine is here.

But the body boarding video is here on Vimeo but here on Posterous-Reflection of Me site.

Video - 48 Hour Jam in Bakersfield

Enjoy a quick look at what went on during the weekend where bluegrass pickers gathered to do nothing but enjoy each other's company and pick!

Successful Big Family Party 14 or more

Lots of space, so everyone can feel free to stretch out for a break if the need/want to.

A little of what everyone has at home : cut meats in the frig, a keg of beer, a lot of good wine and malted whiskies, mementos of those in attendance or relatives, an environment where everyone feels at ease, good food, close and good accommodations, something to familiarize everyone with the local area : parks, downtown, beaches, hiking trails and walks, parks, golf, surfing, etc.

Mark Twain on the newspaper

"If you don't read the newspaper you're not informed; if you read the newspaper you're misinformed."

Mark Twain

Still lot's of debt - too much to get the economy moving

"With all of the talk of the difficult borrowing environment and de-leveraging, very little debt is actually gone, despite massive write-offs by banks," Andy Matthes, portfolio manager at Matthes Capital, wrote in a recent letter to investors, a copy of which was obtained by MarketWatch. Most of this debt mountain is still tied to the fragile, government-supported housing market. At the peak of the real estate boom in 2006, U.S. households owed $9.8 trillion in mortgage debt. By the end of September, that had climbed to $10.3 billion.

Such high debt levels leave households with less cash available to spend on other things. With consumers typically accounting for two-thirds of U.S. gross domestic product, this situation should dent economic growth. However, personal consumption currently makes up more than 70% of GDP, well above the average of 66% since 1929, according to Matthes.

Consumption has likely remained high because of government transfer payments, which help people who have fallen on hard times through the social welfare system.