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I used to like flying. I really did. As time goes on, I find that I hate it more and more. It's not so much the actual flight itself. I am fine once I am in the air. In fact, flying is an excellent way to practice release of control. You get in that seat, and well, whatever is going to happen will happen. You have no control.
Anyway. Like I said, the actual flying isn't bad. It's all the bullshit that you have to go through to get on/off/in/out of planes. Security, I am ok with. I don't need to have any security problems on planes. Neither does anyone else.
As I think though my intense hatred of the act of flying, I am starting to narrow down the two things that really make me miserable.
In case you are now wondering "where is Bryan going?", I will tell you. I am on my way to Newburgh, NY for some work training. I was supposed to go back on Friday, but unfortunately, my grandmother (on my dad's side) passed away adn there is a memorial service for her on Sunday. So, in addition to the week, I am also staying the weekend. I will be back in Austin a week from today.
This training is for the Microsoft IAG product which will be extremely helpful for me in my professional life.
In other news, you may have seen pictures or heard us talk about Astoria. She was a black border collie/lab mix that we had for a few weeks. Unfortunately, it did not work out with her. She had just way too much energy and we were not able to provide enough of an outlet for her. She chewed up a bunch of stuff in the closet including 3 pairs of my shoes and my sparring gear (see ya in class without it, no gear, no contact, tee hee). I can only assume that she did this because she was left alone for so long with nothing to do. I can't really blame the dog or anything for this other than we didn't provide enough of an outlet for her, so she chewed.
In light of that, we gave her away to someone from Austin that works at a dog friendly office. He will be able to bring her there so she can expend her mountains of energy every day.
It was hard to give her up, but it was the right thing to do. We were, perhaps, a little over zealous in picking her. Thinking back, if we had seen her in a shelter or something, we probably wouldn't have taken her. She was a little too big for what we want. For me (I can't speak for V), I felt like it would have been crazy to say no to taking her after driving almost 2 hours to get to Seguine. Still though, we did our due diligence in trying to give her what she needed. Since we couldn't, we had to give her to someone that would.
I remember when I was maybe 10-13 in that area, my parents brought a dog home from the North Shore Animal shelter. It was a pretty large dog named Bruno. When it stood up, it could rest it's front legs on my shoulders.
This dog was insane. It needed to live on a farm. When my dad would it out, it would just run laps around the house. It tore a Nerf football into a mountain of foam snow. It would get off the leash and have my mother chasing it around the neighborhood at 6am. It pulled the framing off of our front door. It took a crap right behind the closed front door... so when it opened.... ew.... my parents tried bolting it to the stairs. That didn't work either. It ripped the bolt right out.
You can see where this is going. We had to take the dog back b/c it was too much for them to handle. I didn't understand at the time because I was just a kid. I cried my head off b/c, duh, after like 2 days I was in love with the dog. I'm sure my parents wanted to muzzle me.
These memories all came back to me when we decided to put an add on Craigslist for her. Surprisingly though, I was only sad for a few hours and then got over it. Don't get me wrong, I did care about the animal, but I hadn't really bonded that much with her yet. I didn't really feel like she was "our dog" yet, so letting go wasn't terribly painful.
Later in the day, yesterday, we went to the Williamson country shelter to look and see what they had. We actually decided on a much smaller (roughly 1/2 the size and weight) white terrier mix named Atley. From what I can tell, he looks like a Brazilian terrier, but I am not sure. Victoria will most likely pick him up on Tuesday after he finishes up with their vet. Although a high energy breed, I think we can do the same that we did with Astoria, but he will still get tired. My walking speed was Astoria's slow walk speed. My walking speed will be this dogs trotting speed. Big difference.
Finally, although I am happy to be getting this training (believe me, I have been asking for it for a LONG time), I am sad to be away this week. I am sad to be away from Victoria. I am sad to miss classes. I am really sad to miss the pancake theater party on Friday night as well as Sam's birthday on Saturday night. Oh well, though. I am sure that my grandmother didn't die with the intention of making me miss social events. I only hope that when I go, people will be willing to forgo something they had been looking forward to to come and see me one last time.
I think we are landing soon. It's a short flight.
So, I'm experimenting with WordPress. I installed it on my domain and have been messing with it. One feature is an import from blogger. When I try to do it, I get this error:
Huh?
I was watching some Science channel this morning. Particularly, I was watching a show about atoms and quantum theories. It was mostly a historical account of how physics has gotten to where it is today.
One of the cool things they talked about was the "Schrodinger's Cat Thought Experiment". I had read about this a few years ago in some cosmology book, maybe one by Brian Greene.
Anyway, it's a really cool thought experiment, so I thought I would share. Due to my laziness, I found a summary of it on some website:
Schrodinger's cat
Schrödinger's cat is a famous illustration of the principle in quantum theory ofsuperposition , proposed by Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. Schrödinger's cat serves to demonstrate the apparent conflict between what quantum theory tells us is true about the nature and behavior of matter on the microscopic level and what we observe to be true about the nature and behavior of matter on the macroscopic level.
Here's Schrödinger's (theoretical) experiment: We place a living cat into a steel chamber, along with a device containing a vial of hydrocyanic acid. There is, in the chamber, a very small amount of a radioactive substance. If even a single atom of the substance decays during the test period, a relay mechanism will trip a hammer, which will, in turn, break the vial and kill the cat. The observer cannot know whether or not an atom of the substance has decayed, and consequently, cannot know whether the vial has been broken, the hydrocyanic acid released, and the cat killed. Since we cannot know, the cat is both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer's paradox : the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. (That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.)
We know that superposition actually occurs at the subatomic level, because there are observable effects of interference, in which a single particle is demonstrated to be in multiple locations simultaneously. What that fact implies about the nature of reality on the observable level (cats, for example, as opposed to electrons) is one of the stickiest areas of quantum physics. Schrödinger himself is rumored to have said, later in life, that he wished he had never met that cat.
So, the cat's in the box, but, we don't know if it's dead or alive, so we assume both when the box is closed. Interesting, huh? What do you think?
When you apply the thought experiment above to particles in space, it gets more interesting. Basically, until we look at an atom, its everywhere. It only "somewhere" when we actually try to measure it. Interestingly enough, I can't help but think of all of the metaphysical books I read when I was younger that say that our reality is created by, you guess it... US.
Thanks to Bren... ugh...
We did a crossfit benchmark in this morning's conditioning class. The workout consisted of the following:
The goal was to finish all of the above in 20 minutes or less doing everything with the best form possible. Initially the reps were set at 100, but Bren lowered the number due to moans and groans from the class.
Personally, I think 100 would have been way more challenging. Not to say that 75 is not hard, but I think 100 would have put me closer to 20 minutes. Anyway... here are my times:
My times were:
Total time (rounded milliseconds): 13:06 (2nd in the class, I am sure 3rd if Bren were working out)
We've got a really busy weekend lined up. Here's the brief to-do:
Saturday:
Sunday:
I can't freaking wait for my vacation time the week after next.
I check Howard Kunstler's site every week to read his weekly ranting. This week's was particularly good, so I thought I would share.
November 17, 2008
In the Reality LoungeThe G-20 came to Washington for the weekend and sucked all the air out of the city before announcing that they werereally serious about patching all the leaks in the foundering ship of globalism. Well, they have to at least pretend that they are doing something. Meanwhile, the former bit player known as reality has taken center stage in the ship's main lounge. It is putting on an act even gnarlier than the Kit Kat Klub show in Cabaret.
This reality show is sending some clear signals to the denizens of the real and really crowded world. The main signal is that the trade and financing rackets of recent decades are over. The extravaganza of economic hypergrowth based on cheap resources is over. The promiscuous swapping around of risk and rewards is over. There is no global institutional framework for managing the impairment left in the wake of this binge. It will be up to the individual nations now to figure out their national lives and livings.
Alas, the financial impairment is still on-going world-wide and has quite a ways to run before it's finished working its hoodoo on the so-called advanced economies. The lame duck US economic posse so far has done everything possible except the two things that really matter: allow the fraudulent securities at the heart of the problem to be exposed to the light of day to determine their actual value; and allow those companies who trafficked in them to suffer the full consequences by going out-of-business. For the moment, they're content to shovel cash into the truck-bed of every enterprise in America that shows up at the Treasury loading dock. This can only have the effect of eventually destroying the value of that cash.
President-elect Obama's cagey appearance on 60-Minutesshowed that he's hardly in a position to say anything of substance about this country's predicament as long as the old posse holds the levers of the economic machinery -- and retains the ability to run it into the ground before January 20, 2009. So many tribulations are now underway in our Republic that it is hard to fathom what the head of the federal government might do besides act as a kind of psychological counselo-in-chief to a land full of people in distress.
The world has changed faster than anyone realizes. One big question is how long the American people will stumble around in a daze before we get back to work doing constructive things in this country -- and by that I mean activities scaled to the resource realities of the years just ahead. More specifically, I mean how we are going to grow the food we eat without massive quantities of diesel fuel and petroleum-based "inputs" and also how we are going to make any of the useful products we need in an energy scarcer time.
Perhaps Mr. Obama knows that we're not going back to anything even close to the business-as-usual that shaped our lives for the generations born after 1945. I would advise him to begin thinking about this by dividing the problem into two parts. The first part is how his government might handle the sheer emotional fallout of a people whose standard-of-living will be pulled out from under them. For a while, perhaps the first year or so, the public is apt to be trusting and generous, especially regarding a president who has had some acquaintance with being short of cash himself, and who can speak English both clearly and empathetically. Mr. Obama stands a good chance at playing that role successfully, at least for a while.
The second part, though, is the more difficult operational and administrative matter of promoting the necessary downscaling of all the essential activities of daily life. This is especially difficult given the current trend of the government suddenly taking ownership of everything, from the banking system perhaps to certain areas of heavy industry (if Detroit gets its way). The Obama government will have to resist the temptation to prevent enterprises from failing. These failing things have to get out of the way before new activities can get underway. It will also require government leaders to tell the public the hard truth that it can't do everything we would like it to do.
The fiasco of medical care is certainly a product of connivance between greedy and heartless insurance companies, profit-driven hospitals, and avaricious drug-makers. But the public itself is responsible for its own suicidal diet of double cheez burritos and Dr. Pepper. How about a national health-care system with one basic requirement: to qualify, participants must be within ten pounds of their appropriate weight. Pretty harsh, huh? Maybe. But times are harsh too, and bound to get harsher. This system would have the great advantage of being absolutely clear. Let the United Way and other charities devote their resources to educating the recklessly obese about diet and exercise so they can eventually qualify.
The transportation quandary suggests that we have to move away from the private automobile and commercial trucking, and that the airline industry is certain to contract dramatically. When are we going to start the discussion about rebuilding a US public transit system that was once the envy of the world? It no longer matters how much Americans love their cars, or even how much investment we've made in car infrastructure. At some point, we just have to face the fact that democratic mass motoring is no longer on the program. Nor is a commercial economy based on incessant motoring. One other implication of this is the necessity to use our waterways for moving things and people again. Has anybody noticed, for instance, that the once-bustling New York City Harbor, possibly the biggest and best sheltered deepwater harbor in the world, has next-to-zero operating docks left along its massive perimeter? While you're at it, have a look at the waterfronts of Louisville, Cincinnati, Kansas City and a score of other inland port cities on great navigable rivers. What you'll see are condo sites, festival marketplaces, picnic grounds, and plain old empty lots -- everything but the infrastructure for commerce. We can't afford this anymore. We have to put these places back to work.
The G-20 leaders in Washington last week made a lot of noise about ramping up domestic spending. In the decades to come, this will not happen without import replacement -- which is just what it sounds like: instead of importing things you need, you make them at home, and people get paid a living wage to do it. Import replacement, by the way, is exactly how the United States rose in the 19th century to become the world's preeminent manufacturing nation. It doesn't foreclose trade with other countries, but it self-evidently changes the terms of that trade, and it would spell the end of the kind of predatory "globalism" that has led to the current state of gross imbalance and reckless destruction.
I believe this will happen whether we like it or not, because these things occur in cycles and the current cycle is obviously ending with a thundering crash of economies, modes of operation, habits and practices, and expectations. For better or worse, we have to move on to new ways of doing things.
I regard the most dangerous fantasy in America right now to be the wish that we can keep running things just the way they are now (my recurring synecdoche of WalMart, Walt Disney World, and the interstate highway system) by replacing oil and gas with "alternative fuels." This just ain't gonna happen. We're going to use every kind of alt.energy there is and they will still require us to live very differently than we did the past sixty years. The public just doesn't get this. I don't know whether President-elect Obama gets this. I hope he does, and I hope part of his new mission will be to clarify this state of affairs for the public in clear and effective speech. It's going to tick off a lot of them, but it's the theme music playing in the reality lounge right now, and Mr. Obama would be advised to take up the tune.
So last night, I had a whole conversation with my mother regarding health and fitness. She has been going to the YMCA since the beginning of the year, but from what she tells me, has gotten minimal results.
After finding out what her routine was (spinning and weights multiple times per week resulting in over 1 hour stays in the gym), I had a few thoughts:
I then went on a tangent about how we all lie to ourselves about what we eat. I do this all the time, apparently, now that I think of it. The times when I say, "oh a little of this is ok" or "I worked out hard today"... those are mostly bad and I, like you probably, am lying to myself about just how bad something is for me. I say mostly bad because you cannot be a food nazi at all times. You have to allow yourself the things you really like, but you have to earn them.
Anyway, I recommended to her that she keep a food log to see just what she is eating. I didn't suggest to actually change anything, just start logging which will enable her to see, from an empirical standpoint what exactly she is ingesting. Recognizing this deficiency in myself I too decided to start logging my food today. In the past, I have done this with just pen and paper, but that eventually failed because I got tired of carrying it around with me. In light of that I decided to re-purpose my mobile blog from well, mobile blog to food log.
Using my iPhone, I will upload an image of everything that goes into this fat mouth of mine for the world to see. Actually, I just like that it auto-tags the food with the date and time. Even if I am out somewhere, all I have to do is take a picture of it so that I can remember it. Later, I can go back into the blog and edit the details of what I actually ate. I only have one thing on there right now, but if you want to check it out or RSS it, feel free. The address is http://bmgfoodlog.blogspot.com.
Hopefully, this will help me to better understand in total what I am ingesting.
I am pissed off that I didn't go to conditioning class this morning. I hurt my shoulder last Friday in a very lame attempt to do a shoulder roll, which pretty much resulted in me crashing into the freakin' ground shoulder first. It's still giving me some trouble when I move it in different directions, so I decided to take the safe option and let it rest for a few more days.
I will be going to black belt class tomorrow morning to be sure I don't fall behind in the material. After that, Victoria will be testing for her senior blue belt in TKD. She feels like she is not ready, but I think I have more confidence in her than she does =).
Up for this weekend, I think Madagascar 2 is being seen tonight. There's a UFC tomorrow. Not sure where/if we are going to watch that. The Shaolin open house is tomorrow which we may or may not get to. It depends on when Victoria is finished with her testing. Sunday is the sparring festival at the Shaolin school as well. I don't think I will be sparring due to my shoulder but I would definitely like to go, watch, and support.
Have a great weekend.
So, yeah... I don't like Halloween. It's only been recently that I couldn't care any less of the "holiday" i.e. way for people to make a ton of money (see "prices of Halloween costumes"), fell completely off the face of the map.
I don't like blood, gore, or generally disturbing things. I can't watch gore movies. Here's the odd part though, it's not the violence by itself that makes it unbearable for me. For example, I have no problem watching war movies with large scale violence. I saw the new Rambo movie. I didn't have to look away. People got blown up with land mines and got arrows through the head... no problem. Now, when you add in the sick and twisted "I'm gonna torture then dismember you slowly for no reason what-so-ever b/c I'm a fucknut and I can" and I can't watch it.
We tried to go to a haunted house last night with some friends. I was a bit reluctant to go, but Victoria wanted to and I wasn't going to let her do it alone. I haven't been to a haunted house in a while, but with a name like "Mansions of Terror" you gotta know there's gonna be some bad shit there. In short, haunted houses today are NOT the same haunted houses from when I was a kid. You know what I'm talking about. When I was a kid, a haunted house was like, some guys house that he put a bunch of scary crap all over, and MAYBE he jumped out at you ONCE. No so today. Today's haunted houses are more disturbing than anything. It amazed me how people can take so much pride in the murder/rape scene that they "create" on their front lawns or in buildings like "and here we have Frankenstein, who, after not being able to land the woman of his dreams decided to commit seppuku, Dracula is holding the katana ready to cut his head off and here we have the wolf man jerking off all over the scene b/c he a necrophiliac and hes about to get some. Oh, in the tree there, we have a guy snorted like a ton of blow then hung himself after coming home to find his wife fucking the mailman. He killed them both with a blunt rusty spoon, and ate them, that's the "in the house portion", but anyway, look at the detail, you can really see the veins and neck bone protrusion. Awesome, huh?".
Uh... sorry... anyway... back to the haunted house... then...
Most of the people on the outside were dressed up in zombie like makeup. One had a chainsaw and would chase people around the parking lot. The other was like, a priest guy wearing long robes that would walk around next to you and throw up. Walking up to the front door, I could see what looked like a zombie bride essentially cutting herself or something. Retarded.
Needless to say, we never made it in the door. I was fine with this.
This leads me to my next point... movies...
Where is the psychological thrill in "either you give yourself a hysterectomy or you DIE! That's right, you cut out your own ovaries, or this cast iron spiked suit will collapse on you but only stab you slowly so you slowly bleed to death but you won't die right away, you will get tetanus and then you'll die slowly of tetanus, so the question is HYSTERECTOMY OR TETANUS DEATH!"?
This, to me, is degradation of society at its best. I find it disturbing enough that people can even think this shit up. That's fine... we are in a free country (hopefully for a little while longer) with freedom of speech and expression (hopefully for a little while longer). Still though, I cannot process in any way shape or form how people can see a trailer for a movie where it's clearly about torture and butchery and say to themselves "hey! that sounds like a great time!". Fuck that. Not me.
So I say, let me be totally gay and only want to see funny kids in costumes, eat candy, and maybe watch some movies on Halloween. Otherwise, I don't want to hear about it. I'm perfectly happy in my old man fuddy duddy house, thank you.
A few years ago, John Adams said this:
There is nothing I dread so much as a division of the Republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader and converting measures in opposition to each other.
I think he might have known what he was talking about.
Up until this point, I have been pretty active in political discussions with people. I post articles that I find interesting for one reason or another and try to have debates with the people that seem to find political opposition with whatever it might be on that particular day.
I quite believe that my political switch has been turned off tonight. Something inside of me just doesn't feel like it anymore. I think the reason for this is... in the big picture, it doesn't fucking matter. My argument with you DOES NOT MATTER. I am not changing your mind and you, most likely, are not changing mine. I understaaaaaaand your opinion and your point of view, but in many cases, I don't agree with you and you don't agree with me.
It doesn't matter whether we elect McCain or Obama. The choice is between crap or more crap. You decide which is which. I don't feel like arguing with you. I don't feel like reading your 17 page dissertation on why Obama is the 2nd coming of Christ or why McCain knows anything about anything. I know he was a P.O.W. I don't think I can ever go through what he went through, however, when I see him in debates I find myself saying "huh?" a lot.
They go back and forth. They change their minds. They change their stands. They have epiphanies. They say one thing at 9am, something different at 11am, and then the polar opposite at 6pm.
I was talking with one of my friends who shall remain nameless lest he be dragged out into the streets and lynched for having strong opinions and he said something to me which I find to be very true. Democrats will not fix your problems. Republicans will not fix your problems. Only people will fix these problems. Politicians are mostly the same in that they are here to further their agendas and most likely do not give a rat's ass about you.
Ooo... hockey fight. No, that was not a plug for Palin. Fuck you.
Sorry, back to business.
I officially withdraw my hat from public political discussions. I would like for the sham that we call election day to come and go as quickly as possible so that I can stop arguing with people who I want to be friends with.
If I have spoken to you about this and we tend to agree on things, I will still probably talk to you about this stuff. You know who you are.
I know what my morals are. I know what my beliefs are. I know where I stand on issues. I know where the people that I care about stand on issues. At this point, I no longer care where you stand. At this point, I am certain that I will not see a president that will reflect said morals and beliefs.
Best of luck to us all over the next few years we are going to need it.
If there is hope, wrote Winston, it lies in the proles.
If there was hope, it must lie in the proles, because only there in those swarming disregarded masses, 85 per cent of the population of Oceania, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated. The Party could not be overthrown from within. Its enemies, if it had any enemies, had no way of coming together or even of identifying one another. Even if the legendary Brotherhood existed, as just possibly it might, it was inconceivable that its members could ever assemble in larger numbers than twos and threes. Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflexion of the voice, at the most, an occasional whispered word. But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength would have no need to conspire. They needed only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it ? And yet - !
Michael Savage wants to start a new political party. I can't say that I agree with every single point here but I do find it interesting. Here is the manifesto:
The Savage Manifesto
Domestic
A. Regulate Wall Street: End short selling. Try tycoons who profited from bailouts.
B. Cut Federal Income Taxes by 2 percent per year over four years, for a minimum total of 8 percent over four years.C. Reduce Federal Government Departments in size by 4 percent each year, for a total reduction of size by 16 percent over four years.
D. Eliminate all public assistance for able-bodied recipients. Cut off all public assistance for immigrants for five years. Repatriate those who are not working, after two years.
E. Immediately impose tariffs on cars and trucks owned by foreign entities, even if they’re manufactured in America.
F. Cause illegal aliens to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, and then, repatriate them. Pay them a one-time worker fee.
G. Increase pay for active duty combat troops by 10 percent. Number Two. Fire any unmarried military person becoming pregnant while on active duty.”
H. Make abortions illegal, except when the physical survival of the mother is threatened, to be determined by three medical doctors. Require Norplant for all women on welfare of childbearing age.
I. Close all houses of sex and massage.
J. Expand the DEA, while decriminalizing most drugs.
K. Regarding the media; one, eliminate all foreign ownership of any American media entity. Two, break up overly large conglomerates, like News Corporation.
L. Encourage child bearing among tax paying citizens. Create a marriage incentive, through lower taxes for married heterosexual couples. And a government subsidy for each child conceived and carried to birth. Increase the subsidies for each year the couple remains married.
M. Repatriate all illegal immigrants now incarcerated. Encourage all other illegals to self-repatriate through double taxation on wages and fines on employers.”
International
A. Iraq. Send in Iraqi troops to mop up pockets of resistance. Make Iraq pay with their oil for the cost of the war. Cordon off Sadr City, force all residents to leave, then go in and mop up all resistance fighters. Divide Iraq into three to four sectors; Sunni, Shiite, Kurd, and International. Next, remove all U.S. troops after above achieved.
B. Iran. One, sanctions embargoes and mine their harbors. Nothing goes in, nothing comes out.
C. North Korea. Destroy their launching platforms, impose a Naval blockade on all goods coming in or out, except food.
D. Israel Arab Entities. Give Israel four years to become self-sufficient. Cut off all foreign aid to all nations.
E. China. 20 percent tariffs on all China made goods immediately; rising by 5 percent each year for each year China refuses to revalue their currency.
F. United Nations. Withdraw immediately. Remove all Diplomats and staff. Convert the United Nations building into housing for the working poor.
G. Mexico. Force Mexico to pay one barrel of oil for every illegal alien in the United States of America per month.
Practiced 4th spear last night... I think I am getting it down. I can get through the whole thing and didn't have to think about it. Did iron palm again for the first time in months. Amazingly the arms were just fine. 35 rolls with little to no pain. The shins however, that's well, completely different. I was lucky to get 10. Suck.
Got a giant chunk, in fact finished the "a side" of broadsword two man set. I love it... so much fun.
Realized that I need to do a lot more "working out" than I have been...
Watched the new South Park... I am so happy to see someone publicly stating just how incredibly bad the last Indiana Jones movie was. I mean literally scenes of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg holding down and raping the Indiana Jones character. Freakin hilarious.
This morning, while I was making breakfast, I had CNN on and was watching some stuff on the economy and then I had an interesting thought. Ever watch "House"? Well, the majority of episodes follow a similar format. House is a savant at diagnosing people.
At the beginning of every episode, someone comes in with some mystery disease. They think it's this, then they think it's that. They run some tests, maybe some against the persons will. Sometimes they use shady tactics to get the patient to do what they want. In the end, most of the time, a successful diagnosis is made and the patient is saved.
I told you that to tell you this. Imagine now, if you will, that our economy is the patient and the federal government and the federal reserve are "House". The only difference, though, is that in our case, the economy doesn't have House for a doctor. They have a failing first year medial student that doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. It seems at this point, the patient should have died about 3 seasons ago, but, well, this med school fuck up apparently knows enough to keep said patient in a persistent vegetative state. Time to pull the plug, in my opinion.
Seriously, I am not saying I can do any better. I am not trained in the ways of national and global economies, however, it is my understanding that THESE PEOPLE ARE?!?!?!? The words "spend less than you have available" seem to be logical.
On a final note, while I was tagging this blog, I saw some tags I haven't used in a while, particularly "optimistic" and "proud". There are things in my life that I am very optimistic and very proud of, however, many of my recent posts have been government/politics related. So, with regard to the United States and the direction that it's going. I am neither optimistic nor proud. Sad... I know...
So sad in fact that I have been thinking more and more about the people I would like to band with when the shit really hits the fan. Yeah, I know, I'm crazy, but whatever. Can anyone say kung fu commune in the middle of nowhere?
Ok, I'm done now. Bye.
You have GOT to be fucking kidding me...
LET
THEM
DIE!!!
AIG hits up Fed for more money
Three weeks after an $85 billion bailout, AIG is turning to the New York Fed for additional funding.
By Tami Luhby, CNNMoney.com senior writer
October 8, 2008: 5:52 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The New York Federal Reserve is lending up to $37.8 billion to American International Group to give the troubled insurer access to much-needed cash.
In exchange, AIG is giving the New York Fed investment-grade, fixed-income securities that it had previously lent out to other institutions for a fee. Those institutions are now returning these securities and want their money back.
The new program, announced Wednesday, is on top of the $85 billion the federal government agreed to lend to AIG last month to prevent the global company from collapsing. AIG said last Friday it had drawn down $61 billion.
The lending program is a way for AIG to get funding for its businesses, said a New York Fed spokesman. The system is similar to lending facilities the Fed provides to banks, which can also exchange collateral for cash.
The latest announcement does not jeopardize the government's ability to recoup its loan to AIG, experts said.
"AIG will repay the loan," said Stewart Johnson, portfolio manager at Philo Smith, an investment bank specializing in insurance. "It's just a matter of how much of themselves they will have to sell."
I am not a drunk driver. I rarely ever drink if I am driving. If I have 1-2 drinks, I stop well before I have to drive anywhere.
When I lived in NYC, I remember seeing roadblocks from time to time where the police would give you the once over and if they thought you might be drinking, give you a sobriety test.
I came across this article today:
Texas Becomes Roadblock Battleground
Interest groups battle over roadblocks ahead of the 2009 Texas legislative session.Interest groups are pressuring Texas lawmakers to authorize the use of roadblocks ahead of their return for the 2009 legislative session. The practice of setting up barricades on roads to stop and interrogate motorists suspected of no wrongdoing has been unlawful since a 1994 state appeals court decision ruled that a "politically accountable governing body at the state level" must first approve their use. Now Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has scheduled an October 23 deadline for briefs to decide the Texas Public Safety Commission's request to bypass this requirement and approve roadblocks on its own authority.
Texas is one of fewer than a dozen states that currently prohibit warrantless searches of motorists. For that reason, the new president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Laura Dean-Mooney, made convincing the Texas legislature of the need for roadblocks a high priority for her organization.
"I have a special place in my heart for Texas," Mooney said upon taking the top job in July. "But so much more must be done. Passing interlocks for all drunk driving offenders and sobriety checkpoints to deter drunk driving would be a great start."
MADD came close to a legislative victory in April 2007 when the state Senate voted unanimously to establish the waterborne equivalent of a roadblock. The proposed "boating safety checkpoints" would have allowed police to pull over and question all recreational boaters on lakes within the state. The legislation would also have given police the discretion to use force to take a boater's blood to determine sobriety. The measure died when the state House declined to act on the bill.
The alcoholic beverage industry feels threatened by the chilling effect such draconian measures would have on sales of beer and wine at restaurants.
"By calling for roadblocks and mandating breathalyzers for first time offenders, regardless of their BAC level, MADD is ignoring the root cause of today's drunk driving problem -- hard core alcohol abusers," American Beverage Institute Managing Director Sarah Longwell said. "Because they are highly visible by design and publicized in advance, roadblocks are all too easily avoided by the chronic alcohol abusers who comprise the core of today's drunk driving problem. That leaves adults who enjoyed a glass of wine with dinner, a beer at a ball game, or a champagne toast at a wedding to be harassed at checkpoints."
The possibility of innocent drivers being arrested at such checkpoints is increased by a state police policy that gives troopers an incentive to accuse motorists of drunk driving. In a June meeting of the Public Safety Commission, a twenty-seven year veteran of the state police testified about drunk driving (DWI) arrest quotas.
"Also, my second item, some of the troopers that have earned vacation and putting in requests for vacation are being told that their vacation request will not be considered unless they are getting a certain amount of DWIs," retired Trooper Coy Lorance testified.
The commission responded by attempting to get around the prohibition on drunk driving roadblocks by referring to them as "license checks." The group put in the request to the attorney general last month after receiving an inconvenient response from the state police chief.
"Mr. Chairman, you had asked at the meeting prior to... prepare a document that would relate the legal responses to conducting driver's license, registration, and insurance checkpoints," Department of Public Safety Director Thomas Davis testified in June. "I think it's the recommendation of general counsel that without the authority being granted by a governance is that we're not able to do that legally."
In a 2005 decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that 99.29 percent of drivers stopped at state roadblocks were innocent. The results also showed that it took 53 percent more effort to make an arrest with a roadblock than to use traditional roving patrol techniques. Nonetheless, the court upheld the validity of roadblocks (view ruling).
The request letter sent to the attorney general is available in a 170k PDF file at the source link below.
Source:Request for Attorney General Opinion (Texas Department of Public Safety, 10/6/2008)
No doubt, I am pissed off that this bill was passed. We are up shit's creek with no arms. The paddle was gone a long time ago.
Apparently, I didn't have to do all of that work to figure out who from Texas voted for and against this bill. This site, govtrack.us does it all. This is great. No matter where you are, look up your reps. If they votes for this bill, DO NOT vote them back into their comfy congressional seat...
Ok, so here is a listing of who represents Texas...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congressional_Delegations_from_Texas
Here's how they voted for this bailout cluster-fuck bill:
| Name | Party | Yes | No |
| Louie Gohmert | R | X | |
| Ted Poe | R | X | |
| Sam Johnson | R | X | |
| Ralph Hall | R | X | |
| Jeb Hensarling | R | X | |
| Joe Barton | R | X | |
| John Culberson | R | X | |
| Kevin Brady | R | X | |
| Al Green | D | X | |
| Michael McCaul | R | X | |
| Mike Conaway | R | X | |
| Kay Granger | R | X | |
| Mac Thornberry | R | X | |
| Ron Paul | R | X | |
| Ruben Hinojosa | D | X | |
| Silvestre Reyes | D | X | |
| Chet Edwards | D | X | |
| Sheila Jackson Lee | D | X | |
| Randy Neugebauer | R | X | |
| Charles Gonzales | D | X | |
| Lamar Smith | R | X | |
| Nick Lampson | D | X | |
| Ciro Rodriguez | D | X | |
| Kenny Marchant | R | X | |
| Lloyd Doggett | D | X | |
| Michael C. Burgess | R | X | |
| Solomon Ortiz | D | X | |
| Henry Cuellar | D | X | |
| Gene Green | D | X | |
| Eddie Johnson | D | X | |
| John Carter | R | X | |
| Pete Sessions | R | X |
Totals:
| Yes | 9 |
| No | 23 |
Total by party:
| Party | Yes | No |
| Democrat | 5 | 4 |
| Republican | 4 | 19 |
So there you have it. The names of people that votes "yes" for this incredible stinking pile of crap:
Regardless of your party affiliation, you would be MAD to vote these people back into office. This election day.. let's vote them out. The two here that represent for my district are Carter and Lamar Smith. When I pull the handle this November, I will NOT be voting for Lamar Smith. How did your rep vote?
I urge you to see who your reps are and see how they voted. Wikipedia, I am sure has a listing of everyone that represents for your state.
I don't get it. Can anyone explain this to me?!? Does the bracket mean that that shit is 4.6 and the LDAP connector is 6.10?!? What?
Preface: For all of you that have done this already and know this feeling please feel free to skip =) I know it's not really a big deal to you all.
I started dabbling in martial arts when I was about 18 or 19. I really can't remember. I have always been drawn to the Chinese arts as opposed to Okinawan or Japanese. Not that there is anything wrong with those, I just always liked the Chinese stuff much more.
My first experience in martial arts was with my Uncle Robert. Since I wanted to learn Kung Fu, I would drive to his house in Brooklyn once or twice a week and he would show me some of what he knew. He would make me do exercises with large rubber bands, handstand pushups, tiger walking... he would take me to the park by his house and have me scratch at trees to develop strength in my hands (must have looked retarded to the ppl in the park). At the time I was in my teens and really self conscious so I was more concerned about people watching me than actually doing the exercises.
I soon stopped doing that as I started college and didn't have time. I would still practice some of the stuff that he had taught me, but it wasn't enough.
After my first year at Manhattan School of Music, I transferred to CUNY @ Staten Island and lived back at home. That being the case, it was easier for me to devote time to practicing. I joined a Shotokan school and was off and running. I was really good at it, but it always felt sort of wrong to me. It always felt very rigid and very unyielding. Their forms were very linear and really easy to learn. I found that I picked them up quicker than others at my level. In fact, I used to go to this Shotokan website that had the katas written out and I would actually learn them off the site. I know that you are thinking "no way, I'm sure they looked nothing like the way the school taught it". Well, one time I told my Sensei that I had done this, so he asked me to show him. It was a purple belt kata, roughly 2-3 ranks above where I was at the time. When I finished the kata, he looked at me and said "damn, that's pretty close to how we do it here".
As I started moving up the ranks in Shotokan, the classes started getting crappy. There was a lot of goofing around and it just was not going where I wanted it to go. I left the school.
Soon after that, I joined a Hung Gar kung fu school that was close to my house. Finally, I was learning some stuff that was more up my alley. At this school, they did Chi Kung as well as forms, self defense, etc. They were a very traditional school that also did things like the Lion Dance during Chinese new year in Chinatown. The master there was Chinese and made a few trips a year to go back and study. All seemed really well. After about a year, I ended up leaving the school under somewhat dubious circumstances.
<Dubious Circumstances>
At this point in time, I worked at the Cargo Cafe and stated being quite flirtatious with a girl that worked there names Sara. Sara was friends with this guy Adolpho, who was a student at the Hung Gar school. I think you can see where this was going.
I started dating Sara and apparently Adolpho didn't like that. To my knowledge, from what she told me, they were friends. Apparently, he took that as me stepping on his toes with her. I asked before I proceeded. I am not a douche bag. Had she told me, "well, we are kinda dating" I would have not pursued the issue, but when I asked, I was told "oh, no, we are just friends". Rock, game on.
After I started dating Sara, the tension between he and I was high all the time. In light of that, I ended up leaving the school under the mentality that he was there first. May be silly, I know, but that is how I felt at the time.
</Dubious Circumstances>
Finally, I moved here to Austin and found Shaolin-Do, my current school. When I started going, I opted to start in the internal program (TaiChi) as work was stressing me out. About 6 months into that, I started in the external program. I won't bore you with the details b/c most of you that read this have been through them, but after roughly 3 years of busting my ass, I finally, from the first school ever, earned a black belt!
One of the things that I have said before in this blog is that it is only the beginning. Now, the cool stuff happens and well, I know I have said it before, but now being here, I can see that this IS just the beginning. The last 3 years were a preface, so, I say, man, let the good times roll!
Congratulations to everyone else that tested with me, job well done! And special thanks to Sifu Ryon for not sweeping the shit out of me during San He =)
Lastly, click here for some pictures from after the test. I will post some videos of me as soon as I get them off of Victoria's camera.
Dear Texas Sun,
This is not going to be easy for you to hear, but, I think it's important that you do. We should all be looking to better ourselves and I think this could really help you.
Ready?
Ok...
It's too much. It's just TOO much. You are too much. Can you tone it down a bit please? You are WAY too overbearing.
The New York sun isn't nearly as oppressive as you. What is your deal? Were you beaten as a budding proto-star by your red giant parents and now need to take out your frustration on us tiny people? If that is the case, I suggest you start seeing a shrink because that's just messed up.
Among the aforementioned, my additional complaints are as follows:
Well, Texas Sun, I hope that the above information has been informative. I am pretty sure you are a self centered asshole and won't take any of this to heart. I still think that it is important for you to know these things. I ask, no... plead... no BEG that you consider the above grievances and take steps to resolve them.
Thank you,
Bryan
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