I Still Hate Politics

We've all heard the phrase, "There are 2 kinds of people in this world, those who (blahblahblah), and those who (yadayadayada)." Here is my favorite: "There are 2 kinds of people in this world: those who believe there are 2 kinds of people in this world, and those who don't." When it comes to politics and a lot of other subjects, it boils down to...."There are 2 kinds of people in this world: those who believe the same way you do, and those who don't." Of course it's not that clear-cut, but you get my drift. And this is one reason, among many, why I hate politics.

I'm not an arguer. I'm a co-dependent. I will nod my head, listen for minutes-on-end, smile, and appear agreeable to anyone who wants to complain, all while deep inside clinging to my core beliefs. I don't speak up much because I don't want to get into an argument, or a discussion of why my beliefs may be wrong or right. I avoid that at all cost. However, thru the magic of impersonal communication known as email, I have forwarded a few items that reflect my beliefs without having to argue anything, but mostly to those who believe the same way I do.

The emails that I have forwarded have mostly dealt with Barack Obama's past and beliefs. Here are some of the things that you may or may not have heard about:

1. Why has he not released his medical records? McCain has released ALL of his records. Obama has released only a 1-page summary. He's been a smoker for several years and quit when he started campaigning. He has a better chance of getting cancer and heart disease than McCain.

2. Why has he not released his official birth certificate? He has posted a certification which is not official, and a lot of experts say it's a forgery. If you look at it closely, it does look fake.

3. A lot of his statements closely resemble socialist/marxist statements. You can see some very convincing videos of his speeches on YouTube. Plus he has a history of talking/writing about his socialist ideas.

4. His view of abortion is all abortion, any time, and is the right of every female. Even if the baby is aborted at birth.

After forwarding such information to some friends, one friend of mine was offended and asked me not to send anymore "degrading emails about Obama" to him. The emails I was sending were just trying to inform people that there is more to Obama than the major media is allowing us to see. But sending the information seemed about to cause a rift in our friendship and I didn't want that. So I have stopped trying to educate him about Obama's faults. This just illustrates one of the reasons I hate politics.

Thanks again for reading! Don't forget to vote on Tuesday.

Rick

Geek Squad R Us

Someone made a comment suggesting that my blog isn't fun. Actually, it's really not meant to be fun, but at least a little interesting. I'd really like to make it fun or at least more interesting, so here is a weak attempt.

I'm a geek. Or at least I wish I was. Geek is "in". I love geek stuff. I love math and science and the gadgets that go along with it. Computers, electronic devices, mechanical gadgets, puzzles, brain teasers, quizzes, IQ tests, comics, Sci-fi movies and stuff....I love it all. Sadly there isn't enough time to spend on all of that, so I guess I'm really a half-geek. Blogging is kinda geeky so I can add that to my geekness.

It's cool that Geek is "in". Even the TV show "Chuck" is a hit and it's about a geek who works at a computer store and gets caught up in espionage. There may be others, but I think NBC got this one right. "Lost" is awesome, and is geeky in it's way with puzzles and mystery.

I guess one measure of ultimate geekness is how many digits of pi you can memorize. I have memorized 18: 3.14159265358979323, and that's the easy part. Here is a website that has a lot more digits AND a really cool, awesome, sweet, rocking video of a guy playing Guitar Hero with drums. Check it out: PI + Video.

So for all you fellow-geeks and fellow-geek-wanna-bes, I'm listing a bunch of fun geeky websites. And if I can manipulate the HTML, they will have clickable titles, and I'll be just a little more geeky.

Geek Test (I am 31.36095% geek)
Geek Gifts
Geek Cartoons
More Geek Gifts (great for Christmas! ;)
Lost-pedia
Chuck
Continuing Online IQ Quiz
MENSA

I was gonna add a couple cool IQ tests, but I lost the links for them. I'll add more stuff when I can.

EDIT 1: I also am a big fan of cars and watches. Here is a link to the unveiling of Ferrari's newest:
Ferrari California

EDIT 2: Another sign of geekness is that awesome icon of the puzzle world, Rubik's Cube. The fascination with this "toy" has grown exponentially and people all over the world try to break records with it daily. There are amazing videos of Cube acrobatics on YouTube. Just click the link and put in a search for "Rubik's Cube" and be astounded at what you find. Even robots solving the puzzle. I found a website that posts all the records of the Cube in all of it's variations, including the 4x4x4, the 5x5x5, the 6x6x6, as well as blindfolded and with feet! Check out Speed Cubing.

Have fun and thanks for reading!

Rick

Hot/cold/hot/cold.....cycling can be exhausting

Firesign quote of the day:
"Mom: Oh, dear, look at the time. I'm late for my bridge club meeting.
Peorgie: Gee, mom, isn't that bridge built yet?
Dad: No, son! And it won't be until free hands on both sides of the Big Ditch can hit the same button at the same time!"

Gobal cooling. Yup, it's real. Global warming has had its day and it's stepping down. The global warming alarmists (Al Gore and his minions) will cling to it as long as it's humanly possible to cash in on it, but they will reluctantly let go while chiming that global cooling is caused by humans.

I admit that I hesitated in accepting global warming, but the data shows it was real. Apparently the global temperature spiked big-time in 1998, but has been descending since then with some smaller spikes. A lot of meteorologists, including Meteorologist John Coleman, founder of The Weather Channel, have noted that the warming peaked in '98, and has been cooling since.

http://www.newsmax.com/brennan/Global_Warming/2008/07/17/113657.html

There is a lot of data that shows several different cycles and we are headed into a cooling period. It's true. In the 1800's there was a cooling period referred to as the "little ice age." We are hopeful it doesn't get that cold. Personally, I prefer the hot weather.

As for the cycles, too many to enumerate here, and they all interact. Whatever happened to the Ozone layer? That was all the rage in the 80s and 90s. Some really smart people showed that the "hole" (actually "thinning") in the ozone layer was caused by sunspot activity. And sunspots are in cycles, and they also affect the global temperatures. Amazing. When there is sunspot activity, solar radiation increases, the particles are attracted to our magnetic and radiation belts, and collect mostly in the South Pole, where the ozone thinning occured. That has nothing to do with "greenhouse gases". I suppose the particles could interact with elements in the atmosphere, but I'm just speculating there. Anyway, the ocean cycles affect the global temperature, as well as sunspot cycles.

Speaking of ocean temperatures, this is really cool. For the past few years, oceanic scientists have placed buoys in oceans all over the world. 3000 of them! They are called Argo buoys and they have a little device on the bottom, in the water, that periodically detaches, descends, gathers data, then ascends. After ascending back to the buoy, the buoy transmits the data to satellites, which is relayed to stations back on earth. This data is collected and reviewed. This data is kept in data banks on the internet and ANYONE can access the data for FREE. (Google "Argo buoys" to get all the info) Very kewl! And guess what has happened? Reports for the past few years show that the oceans have been cooling, not warming! The scientists think something is wrong since they expect warming to continue. Check out this report on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88520025

And here are a few more articles about Global Cooling:

http://www.startribune.com/nation/19095579.html

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=74121 (Al Gore banned in UK)

http://groups.google.com/group/sci.geo.meteorology/browse_thread/thread/eee4569d26c24a9c

http://blatantreality.com/category/global-cooling/

http://www.icecap.us/ (Includes some cool charts)

One thing I should note, being "green" is good. Taking care of the earth is a responsibility that God gave us "way back when". Technology and progress have made our lives more abundant in many ways. But greed takes a toll wherever it appears, and being green couldn't escape it either. A lot of corporations have made a lot of money by adding "green" to their labels. Making money is good, but greed is not. We have seen a lot of that lately.

Ok, that's enough truth for now. Thanks for reading!

Rick

I hate politics

Firesign quote of the day:
"It all came rushing back to me like the hot kiss at the end of a wet fist."


The political arena is a place where a lot of lies are told, but there are a lot of truths told, too. I thought my blog about truth could start here. Each politician claims the other is lying, and they lie while they accuse each other. It's quite interesting, and maddening, and the poor voting tax payer has to sift through all of it to try to make an informed decision, and then usually vote with his heart instead of his head. Ok, I guess that was a rant. Sorry. I'll try not to do that too often.

Case in point: Sarah Palin says she was against the "Bridge to Nowhere". If you don't know what it is, look it up. The Democrats say she was lying, and that she was for it. The press, which loves to point out mistakes and lies from the Republicans, dug up the truth. The press reported that Palin was, at first, for the bridge, then later changed her mind to be against the bridge. Ok. People change their minds and politicians do that, too, and are often given nasty labels for doing so. In the end, Palin was against the Bridge, it failed, and that's really what matters, I guess. She was truthful in saying she was against it. Done. No big deal.

The truth can be hard to find in the politcal arena, but thanks to the new-fangled internet, tons of information is at your fingertips. But it's not all truthful either. If you have time, you can sift through that info and make an informed decision on matters. I was wondering about campaign finances and found a rather handy site. One hears a lot about how much the candidates are spending, and often it seems the richest candidate wins. If he has a lot of money, he can buy a lot of advertising to try to persuade the voter to his side. One also hears a lot about the "rich Republicans". If they are really rich, it seems they should win. Take a look at this website and see how much the candidates, of any race, are spending:

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/index.php

If you're interested in the latest polls, try this:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/latestpolls/index.html

Enough truth for now. Thanks for reading!

rick