November 6, 2009
Greets and Huggers. Posted the evening of November 6, 2009. Read an interesting article this week: BBC NEWS – Logging caused Nazca collapse. “The ancient Nazca people of Peru are famous for the lines they drew in the desert depicting strange animal forms. A further mystery is what happened to this once great civilization, which suddenly vanished 1,500 years ago. Now a team of archaeologists have found the demise of the Nazca society was linked in part to the fate of a tree. Analyzing plant remains they reveal how the destruction of forests containing the huarango tree crossed a tipping point, causing ecological collapse.” A whole civilization collapsed, disappeared, because they over exploited the natural resources that sustained them. Sounds somehow familiar, doesn’t it? Didn’t the same thing cause the collapse of the Mayan Empire? “There is evidence that the Maya population exceeded carrying capacity of the environment including exhaustion of agricultural potential and overhunting of megafauna.” In 1900, here, in our America the average person could expect to live around 47 years. Today they can expect to live 78.11 years. In 1800, the world population was 978 million, in 1900 it was 1.6 billion and as of 2008, 6.79 billion. In spite of 2 horrendous global world wars in the last century, the worlds human population has almost tripled. It more than doubled between 1950, (2.5 billion), and 2008, (6.7 billion). I suppose that begs the question: How many human beings can our planet sustain? Is it really in our best interests as a species, (in the big picture), to interfere in natural environmental processes, like plagues, floods and droughts to save life, if doing so endangers the survival of our species? Do organizations like “Save the Children“, really serve personkind when the saved children become adults that create more children that will need to be saved? And here, in our America: WASHINGTON -� Half of US kids depend on food stamps during childhood: study. “Nearly half of all US children, including an overwhelming majority of black children, will eat meals at some point during their childhood paid for by food stamps, an indicator of poverty, a study showed Monday. “If you get food stamps, you are by definition in poverty and your household doesn’t have many assets,” said Mark Rank, a co-author of the study with Thomas Hirschl of Cornell University. “The fact that half of American children at some time during their childhood find themselves in this position really ought to be a wake-up call to America,” he told AFP.” 1/2 of all children in our America? 90% of African American children? What did parents do prior to the implementation of Federal Food Programs in the 1930’s? Before, the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program and the Summer Food Service Program? As individual persons and as a society, no doubt, the moral, ethical thing to do, is to help. But share with me … when “Global Warming” becomes a threat because of the shear number of human beings generating body heat … is there a point, where not helping becomes the only viable option to preserve our species? When that time comes, and it has to, given the logarithmic increase in world population … who will get to decide who lives … and who must be sacrificed for the greater good?
And a testament to why government “health care” may not work. Look at the “Cash for Clunkers Program”. The goal, two fold: get gas guzzling vehicles off the road to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and create jobs, get Americans back to work. After spending 3 Billion dollars, the result? (AP) – ‘Cash for clunkers’ = cash for big new pickups. “The Obama administration’s $3 billion “cash for clunkers” program should be renamed “cash for gas-guzzling pickup trucks,” according to an Associated Press analysis of the data. AP reports that for 8,200 deals � the most common � buyers traded in their old Ford 150 pickups for new Ford 150 pickups. Fuel economy for the new trucks is just 1 to 3 mpg better than the clunkers � less than 20 mpg. Right on Ford’s bumper were big old Chevy and Dodge pickups that were traded in for big new Silverados and Rams. Overall, more than 95,000 new vehicles � about one in seven � got less than 20 mpg. On top of that, taxpayers subsidized scores of deals � totaling $562,500 � for new cars and trucks that got worse mileage than the trade-ins.” … and … NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Obama signs jobless benefit extension. “President Obama said he signed into law Friday a bill to provide up to 20 additional weeks of jobless benefits to unemployed Americans and extend the $8,000 tax credit for new home buyers into the middle of next year. The signing came after the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate spiked to a 26-year high of 10.2% in October, with 190,000 jobs lost in the month.” Does anyone have any idea as to how we are going to pay for this? Do you really believe there will not be a tax increase?
BBC NEWS — ‘Lie still’ for pregnancy boost. “Women undergoing fertility treatment with artificial insemination may boost their chances of pregnancy if they lie still afterwards, a study shows. Researchers found 27% of women who lay down for 15 minutes after the procedure went on to have a baby compared with 17% who got up and moved around.” A valuable lesson for husbands who would prefer to not have engaging in the marital appurtenances result in a pregnancy: kick her out of bed and encourage her to do a couple of laps!!
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) – Stolen 1965 Volkswagen van recovered after 35 years. “A 1965 Volkswagen van stolen 35 years ago in Spokane, Washington, was found by customs agents in a shipping container in the Los Angeles port last month, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said. The blue van, in pristine condition, was bound for Germany along with several vintage Volkswagens, Customs and Border Protection Port Director Todd Hoffman said. The Arizona company that was shipping the van had no idea the vehicle was stolen from a Spokane auto shop in 1974, Hoffman said.” Tonight, no doubt, somewhere in California, there is a former “Hippie”, sans hair or graying hair, toking a medical marijuana joint, (obviously, like Bill Clinton, not inhaling), while reliving some fond memories of the back seat of the van … from the 1960’s.
(TIME) – Are You Getting Scammed by Facebook Games? “Facebook games � Mafia Wars, FarmVille, Restaurant City � have become surprisingly effective at diverting time wasters among the social-networking crowd. More than 63 million people alone play FarmVille. But now accusations have surfaced that the games can lead some more gullible players, including children, into Internet scams, especially if they have a cell phone. Here’s how it works. You join FarmVille, a game on Facebook in which you can create a virtual farm by growing crops and livestock and tilling the earth. Through your toil, you earn virtual money, but to farm more efficiently or quickly, you can also invest real cash (through PayPal or a credit card) to buy virtual goods, such as seed or a tractor. Should you not have any real cash to spare on things that after all do not actually exist, you can instead accept an offer from one of the advertisers on the game site and get virtual cash in return. These offers, generally known in the business as lead-gen (lead generators), will give you some seed/tractor money in return for signing up for, say, a subscription to Netflix or a credit card. But less scrupulous advertisers lure players in with an offer to take a bogus survey or IQ test. Once it’s completed they require a cell-phone number to send you the results. When you enter your cell number and create a password, you have unwittingly subscribed to a service you never wanted but will be billed for”. I wonder how many of you on “Facebook” question that $4.99 charge on your phone bill?
London, England (CNN) – Virtual businesses: Going to the office in Second Life. “As travel budgets are squeezed and slashed in the recession, companies are increasingly seeking innovative ways of bringing employees together for conferences and meetings remotely. Virtual community Second Life is seeking to tap into that market by creating a new tool that allows businesses to have virtual meetings on their own computer networks.” Interesting concept. Perhaps OSCA, (Office State Courts Administrator), could set up a “Second Life” account? Make it available to the judges … and we could have our docket calls in “Second Life”? In order to cut costs, perhaps the Missouri Department of Corrections could have prisoners serve their time in a “Second Life” prison? Not so far off. Have you seen the movie, “Surrogates“?
Sitting here editing these Ramblings, (the Editorial Staff on the chair next to me). Strange times we live in. On the evening news, the murder of some of our men and women in uniform at Ft. Hood. A senseless killing. I do not believe any person of faith, if rational, could justify the killing of strangers who pose not threat. No doubt, the killer will be hailed by the likes of Al Qaeda as a martyr, should he die. I hope he lives for many. many years, in a small cell, the walls adorned with painted images of his victims and their families so will be reminded daily of how he soiled his soul. My heart and Susan and I’s prayers go out to the victims families. I got 30 sheets of 11 x 17 inkjet canvas sheets in yesterday: I plan on printing and texturing some of my favorite images to give as Christmas presents. The 8 x 10 canvas prints I have already done, are stunning. They look and feel like oil paintings. Susan is in her office/craft room making a book for my mother: “My Grand Fur-babies”, pictures and the story of each of Susan’s “babies”. Time to post these Ramblings, then spend a quiet evening here at Ft Timmerman looking through some of my images, (some going back to 1997, (Yes: I had a digital camera in 1997!!) … then to bed, where I will say a prayer of thanks for being able to see Susan first thing in the morning, when I wake up, a prayer for the families of our murdered soldiers … and a prayer for the safe and soon return of our men and women in uniform, (care to join me?) Be and sleep well because while our Red and Blue Pigs are talking the talk in Washington, we have heros’ in uniform walking the walk, so you can. If my post offends, I apologize … that is not my intent. As always … since February of 2002 …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
KarlT (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri and the Editorial Staff, Willie, Karly, my ‘Lil Buddy, Dinker, Floyd the copy boy and “Olga“, a 6 month old, tiny, tiny, (5.5 pound), miniature Daschund.)