Bookmarks

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I've had a lot of bookmarks over the years, but at the moment these are my favorites.

I bought the Bronze Bear and Charlemagne's Tomb from some nuns who were holding a sort of rummage sale in the annex to the Treasury of Charlemagne's magnificent 1,200 year old Cathedral in Aachen, Germany. Both are printed on thin aluminum.

The real bear is to your right as you come into the cathedral. I guess it is about 3 or 4 feet tall and allegedly dates to the Roman era, almost 2,000 years ago. In Germany they call Charlemagne "Karl The Great." His throne is on the second floor, looking down at the people in the church.

I got the now well worn Clan MacGregor bookmark on one of my trips to Scotland. We have distant ancestors who were a part of Clan MacGregor.

The You Are Here came with a used book which I purchased from a bookstore in New York City.

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Sanctuary

One of my top five favorite TV shows is a science fiction series out of Canada called Sanctuary.

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Dear Hilary,

Dear Hilary,

I guess people before you have asked our diplomats to spy on the diplomats of our allies, but if so they did it a little more discretely.

You should have learned by now: If you are going to discuss doing something illegal or something which has the potential to be extremely embarrassing, do it in person, with no one else in the room. You should know better than to leave such a great paperwork trail.

Emails are never actually erased. You may click that button which says erase, and your copy may go away, but you can be sure that there are backups upon the backs of backups of your original incriminating email.

You won't be fired over this, but only because President Obama is such a weak and inexperienced leader. You should have the dignity to resign over it.

Best Regards,


Paul Garland
El Paso, Texas

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World AIDS Day

Wednesday is World AIDS Day. Worldwide so much more could be done to reduce further spread of HIV/AIDS.

The media has been been very honest and straightforward in telling needle drug users not to share needles. Governments have even instituted programs of giving way free hypodermic needles.

The same sort of honesty needs to be heard about male-male homosexuality and anal intercourse. I don't hold any religious beliefs for or against being a gay or a lesbian. But the male homos are wasting many millions of dollars every year with their expensive taxpayer paid treatments. This money should be going to poor, sick people's medical care who did not cause their disease by constantly doing dumb things.

We need to be open and honest about it. Anal intercourse is something that only really stupid and/or abusive people do.

So I don't care if two men want to kiss and pretend they are married, as long as there is no anal intercourse or oral sex either. They will just have to get by with hand jobs.

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Wikileaks

I'm sure that lots of people hate Wikileaks. Especially those who are trying to keep things hidden from public view: corruption, dishonesty, and all different varieties of sick manipulative behavior.

I can't say that I fully 100% agree with everything they are doing, but in general I think that in the long term, most things work out best when one is honest. Letting the sun shine in can solve all sorts of problems. "Does this dress make my ass look enormous?" That is a trick question, and if you answer it "Yes" this is not honesty...it is brutality.

It is just too bad that most of the investigative reporters and journalists have been let go and are now employed in new career fields. With the rise of the internet and blogs, newspapers are dying. Greed and excessive concern for the short term bottom line by the owners of these papers is another part of the problem. With all the dishonesty and corruption going on in Washington, D.C., we never needed honest, career investigative journalists more than we do now.

Only repeating what someone says is simply being their publicist. Verifying and digging into the details of what they are saying to see if they are coloring the truth is essential to the proper functioning of a Democracy. There isn't a lot of this going on anymore in the just-in-time 24 hour news cycle.

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Bipartisan My Ass

“Whenever a fellow tells me he's bipartisan I know he's going to vote against me” - Harry Truman

Homeland Security Is Totally Out Of Control

The Somali born Portland bomber once again reinforces an important point. This guy is a university student and a naturalized U.S. citizen. The U.S. Government, and in particular the ignorant cretins at Homeland Security continue to try and pretend to themselves and try to convince other people that 60 year old white grandmothers and 9 year old blonde haired boys pose as large a security threat as some 20-30'ish dark skinned fellow with a name like Mohamed.

While the former cannot be totally ruled out, the later is far more likely to be the person that Homeland Security needs to be worried about.

These people at Homeland Security are delusional, they are casing all sorts of headaches to innocent travelers, and they are wasting large chunks of taxpayer money.

Now they have excluded pilots and big muckity-muck government workers and elected officials from the humiliation of getting publicly molested and felt up, not to mention the cumulative effects of small doses of scanner radiation.

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Is President Obama a Bully? Honest...

Since Barack Obama has become President there have been persistent reports about him using his sharp elbows very aggressively while playing basketball. There is a problem with this. Back when he was merely another struggling young lawyer, if he wanted to get physical with his opponents that was his legitimate option. The guys he elbowed could in turn inflict physical pain on him if they were that kind of person.

This syndrome of excessive competitiveness combined with aggression and even physical violence is fairly normal among some not very morally and spiritually advanced men. Read jocks. Ray Decerega, who works for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, was playing basketball with the President. Apparently he had taken all the elbowing that he could handle. He very deftly elbowed our bully of a young President right back, and Mr. Obama required some 12 stitches to his lip.

The difference now is that most people are in awe of the office of President, and all the regal trappings of wealth, glory, and power. Not to mention that the President is constantly surrounded by his bodyguards, the very competent secret service agents. When one has a job that confers great prestige and power, one has a duty to behave in a civilized fashion and not abuse the power which comes with the job title.

Getting a reputation as the kind of guy who vigorously elbows his opponents while playing basketball indicates that one has problems with the abuse of power and being a bully. Of course in real life if you actually confront a bully, maybe even slap him around a little (intellectually or physically), they normally just slink off whimpering with their tails solidly between their legs.

This is just the exact syndrome we have grown used to seeing every time that President Obama has been confronted by the right wingers and political opposition. He will go down in history as our "no-backbone president." Maybe being raised in a household without a father present caused this.

What a pity.

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Energy Consumption

Looking at the latest bills from the electric company and the gas company together is interesting to me. My little energy efficient house uses almost no natural gas except during the winter, and then it peaks in January.

The electricity consumption of the house is almost exactly the inverse. Average usage is fairly low but goes up greatly during the summer when the air conditioning is running. Electrical usage peaks in July.

I have had my second Toyota Prius for just over a year now. One of the trip odometers keeps track of average fuel economy since the moment I drove the car off the Toyota dealer's lot almost 9,000 miles ago. My average including bad days and good ones is just over 56 miles per gallon.

My overall energy footprint is far below the American average. I live comfortably too. It is possible to have a nice lifestyle while wasting far less energy.

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Virgin Mobile Mifi

This is unsolicited. I don't sell these devices or have anything to gain financially. I'm just an owner/user.

The Virgin Mobile Mifi is wonderful. It is about the same size as a thick credit card. It is your own personal wifi hot spot. The program I am on is $40- per month full internet access, unlimited usage. But it is a pay as you go set up, so if I choose I can not use it for several months and not pay. Then, like this morning, when I do want to use it I simply do a few clicks and another one month at $40- goes into it.

Today is the day after Thanksgiving. Some call it Black Friday. I guess lots of people are at home using their AT&T DSL because mine is running a bit slower than normal. Today I am getting much faster internet access using the Virgin Mobile Mifi.

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Barack Obama - Enemy Of The Working Man

I find it interesting how often after you get to know people that they end up being something entirely different than they appeared at first. Some of this is self delusion, hoping that they will be a certain type of person, and some of it is very intentional dishonesty. People pretending to be something they really are not.

Barack Obama certainly is not at all who we thought he was when we were working on his campaign for President. He allegedly had the very most liberal voting record of anyone in the U.S. Senate, and he described himself as a Community Organizer.

It turns out that in real life Obama is just another Republican sympathizer masquerading as a Democrat. He continues to say many of the right words, but his actions are almost always right-wing. When he actually does finally, eventually take some action. He has shown himself to be a timid, spineless man who quickly sells out his campaign promises and the principles of the Democratic party pretty much every single time he gets into any kind of a negotiating situation.

Obama and his team are now openly working to destroy social programs like Social Security and Medicare. The idea that the rich would receive a tax increase and the middle and working classes would not is losing favor and just isn't going to happen.

Obama and his fellow travelers are completely opposed to reducing the grossly wasteful spending on the military, defense, homeland security, and intelligence. Instead they want to destroy the meager social safety net which was in place when he became President. If Obama were a genuine Democrat he would be doing everything he could to improve this social safety net.

There is a genuine problem with increasing the age of normal retirement under Social Security. While white collar workers and the rich are indeed living longer, farmers, farm workers, truckers, construction workers, factory workers, janitors, and cooks are not living longer. Increasing their normal full retirement age to 69 is cruel and barbarous.

Obama loaded up his deficit reduction commission with right-wingers. If this was not absolutely intentional on his part then it shows a neglect and incompetence on the scale one would expect from the intellectually challenged ex-beauty queen Mrs. Palin.

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Thankful in 2010

Experiencing and showing gratitude, humility, and thankfulness may well be the most important qualities needed in order to lead a happy life.

Certainly resilience and the ability to make major moves and changes when necessary are also important. Having tried very hard to make three marriages work, I can say with certainty that realistic (i.e., lowered) expectations are critical to both a successful marriage and a fulfilling life.

The leukemia is getting pretty advanced now, and it is almost like the alcoholics say, "One Day At A Time." Perhaps I'll be around for another Thanksgiving, but equally likely not. So now is a good time to openly be thankful.

My life has been blessed with lots of success and good luck. Of course there are those who say that the harder you work, the luckier you get. Yes, I have worked hard. Isn't that what turns an irresponsible boy into a man?

I've traveled widely abroad, I've been a certified scuba diver, a pilot, an amateur radio operator, a photographer, I have raced bicycles in Europe, owned horses, and have occasionally been an enthusiastic lover. I learned computer programming just as home computers were first beginning to come out in the 1970's, and I was on the ballot and got elected to a post as a minor Democratic Party official.

Between the love of reading (thanks to my parents for that), an open mind, some great professors at the University of Texas campuses in El Paso and Austin, Texas and the Ball State University campus in West Germany (plus an ulcer and migraine headaches) I was fortunate to end up being a fairly well educated man. My main career in food processing was challenging - and I mean that in the good way.

As I went along I've managed to gather together world class collections of oil lamps from the late 1800's, carbide bicycle lamps from the early 1900's, fluorescent minerals, vaseline glass, cameras from the twentieth century, Renaissance and middle age stoneware pottery, some African art, and a good collection of two thousand year old Roman coins and antiquities. I've collected a bit of art along the way too. In some ways the chase was the best part.

I've had some great friends and a few really wonderful bosses too. There were a few scoundrels and bitter enemies along the pathway too, but they just made me even stronger and wiser. So if there is some kind of higher being out there (doubtful but possible) I would like to thank him for all these opportunities I was given. To my friends and family, thank you for your support, loyalty, and friendship.

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Tavis Smiley Interview of Jimmy Carter

Last night from my DVR I watched an interview of President Jimmy Carter by Tavis Smiley which was conducted just a few weeks ago. Carter is on a publicity trip promoting his newest book "White House Diary."

I found this interview to be really amazing. Carter is almost 90 years old, but he is just as sharp as a tack. And the really amazing part is that he is still humble. I can't recommend this interview highly enough.

Jimmy Carter explained very succinctly why we must achieve campaign finance reform, discussed negative campaign ads, and other presidents from Reagan to Obama.

One little minor part of the interview sticks out in my memory. Jimmy Carter is at heart a very enthusiastic, upbeat, and positive thinking man. No negative energy for him! Somehow the conversation got around to whether the federal government in Washington, D.C. has evolved into something that cannot accomplish anything meaningful, and has actually become an ungovernable monster. Carter said that in national politics things were worse now than he had ever seen at any time in his long life.

This interview is only about 20 minutes long. You can be apathetic and go back to watching TV or surfing Facebook and Twitter. Or you can make the decision to take a few minutes to watch this. Its up to you.
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LINK TO INTERVIEW VIDEO: http://video.pbs.org/video/1625548776/
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Fluorescent Minerals

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A few of my fluorescent mineral pictures from the website of the Flourescent Mineral Society:

http://uvminerals.org/gallery/v/members/hpgarland/

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Old Folks Voting Patterns

One of the reasons that the Democrats suffered such a big loss in the recent mid-term elections is because so many of the swing voters switched from the Democrats to the right wingers like the Republicans and the Tea Party.

If you look deeper into the numbers you find that the main group which made the switch were us old geezers; and old folks vote in large numbers. Seniors may no longer be able to do many things, but this generation of seniors still realizes the power they wield when they go into that polling place to vote.

This move to the right may be in the self interest of old people, or it may not. But in large numbers they became convinced that Obama and the liberals wanted to institute death panels and make cuts to sacred programs like social security, medicare, and medicaid. In fact as it turns out there have been some cuts made, and there is talk of even deeper cuts. Whether the right or the left has been responsible for these cuts is difficult to say. Generally speaking traditional Democrats supported social programs like social security. Over the last thirty years the Democrats have gradually shifted further to the right wing, so as not to alienate their large campaign contributors. It is now often to tell the difference between a Republican and a Democrat.

Even though old people are consistently high voters, they can easily be misled and actually end up voting for politicians who cut their favored programs once they get in office.

Defense, the military, and intelligence gathering have to see their funding cut substantially. On the order of 40% budget cuts. Once this is done there will be more than enough money to adequately fund the programs which help out seniors.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has one purpose: Making certain that the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution stays alive and that no legislation is passed limiting the right of individual citizens to own and carry loaded guns. Primarily for self protection, but also for hunting. The focus of the NRA is extremely narrow. They are a single issue group, and they do not allow themselves to get weakened by branching off into other issues like abortion. This focus on one issue (pro-gun) and one group of constituents (gun owners) has helped make them the most effective lobbying group in Washington.

Old folks need this same kind of narrow focus, single issue group. I had hoped that the American Association of Retired People (AARP) or the Grey Panthers might become this sort of advocacy group. Instead both have become top heavy bureaucracies where most of their revenue comes from being an insurance sales agency. Survival and growth of the group has become the first priority, and supporting the political programs which help old people has gone far down their list of priorities.

Neither has been the slightest bit effective at communicating to old people the issues or politicians who want to cut their social security, medicaid, and medicare. Alerting old people to contact their senators or representatives regarding a particular bill, etc. The NRA does a great job of this day-to-day work. AARP doesn't even seem to care. As the demographics of our population and our society gradually gets older, this need will become even more urgent. There is a real void here that is not being properly filled, so the right wing weirdos are inserting themselves. The result has not been good for old people.

It is a pity to see old people voting in such really large numbers, but in their ignorance actually voting for issues or people which are harmful to old people. The internet can be helpful or it can lead people astray. What is essential is having a narrowly focused, single minded, effective group like the NRA which is strong and active in Washington, D.C.

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Blue Moon

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We had a full moon last night, and technically it was a blue moon. I took this picture by removing the lens from my Nikon D300s digital SLR camera, and using a Meade RB-60 telescope as the lens. This gives me an effective focal length of 1050 mm in 35 mm equivalents.

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The TSA is Out Of Control

In totalitarian states like North Korea, Iran, China, or the old USSR the government routinely abused its citizens in a variety of ways.

This is not the USSR. America is a Democracy, and our government is By The People and For The People. It is inexcusable that the TSA was allowed to get to this bad. We tolerated them because we sort of believed that maybe it was helping protect the country from Terrorists. No More.

These are just low paid, power mad little people showing us all that they can get away with this crap. In a representative Democracy our elected officials are supposed to protect us from this sort of overbearing abuse. But these jerks with the TSA are even doing the same stuff to our elected representatives.

Out of control. Yet President No Balls Obama says that we just have to put up with it. Sorry Pal, you lose.

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TSA Caves In to Pilots

The TSA has granted pilots an exemption from both getting scanned and getting felt up.

What about the waitresses, oops, stewardesses and stewards. They also might receive excessive radiation from all the constant scans, and is it really appropriate to have some fat dyke who works for TSA constantly feeling up their breasts and vaginas? I think this is borderline rape.

This whole TSA thing is B.S. anyway. They have never caught one single terrorist. And they should in fact be profiling. None of the terrorists have been white grandmothers or children. Most were males with dark skin in a certain age group, with a foreign sounding name like Mohamed. They all came in on international flights. The problem is not flights originating in America.

And our timid, "don't kick sand in my face, please" president, Barack Obama, just says we have to put up with this crap. I have been a liberal Democrat for more than 40 years now, but I mean it when I say that if Obama ends up being a single term president that is probably all for the best.

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Boner

Emotionally unstable.

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War With China?

War with China? Just get in line behind Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Iran.

They used to try and hide their enormous egos and arrogance, and at least pretend. But the pretense of courtesy and international diplomacy is gradually being dropped. Whether it is artificially manipulating the value of their currency, restricting the importation of competing foreign goods, human rights, taking a no prisoners approach with the Japanese over rare earth metals, the disputed islands between their two countries, internet censorship within China, exporting very hazardous children's toys, or briefly taking over the world wide internet on two different occasions.

I am not a Catholic, so I shouldn't care that China's state-backed Catholic church has challenged the Vatican by ordaining a bishop without papal approval. This is a clear indication of their excessive pride and high handedness.

The Chinese have been behaving like poorly raised teenaged boys, constantly testing the limits of what they can get away with. Pushing further and further.

Lets hope that internal dissension by the Chinese people solves this problem before it becomes necessary for the Western powers to take the Chinese leaders down and notch or two. One sure wouldn't want to go into something like this with a weak and timid leader like the U.S. Has at the moment.

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Coal

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BBC's article today about the coal mine explosion in New Zealand has a graphic showing the coal seams in the area. It intrigued me. It made me wonder, how was coal formed, and why is it found in just in these thin seams?

I say thin, but looking at the Brunner seam in the Pike River mine it shows that the coal seam is 7 meters (23 feet) thick. That is thick enough to be significant and easily workable with heavy machinery. Twenty three feet of compacted, fossiled ferns is one hell of a lot of ancient plant life.

“Coal begins as layers of plant matter accumulate at the bottom of a body of water. For the process to continue the plant matter must be protected from biodegradation and oxidization, usually by mud or acidic water. The wide shallow seas of the Carboniferous period provided such conditions. This trapped atmospheric carbon in the ground in immense peat bogs that eventually were covered over and deeply buried by sediments under which they metamorphosed into coal. Over time, the chemical and physical properties of the plant remains (believed to mainly have been fern-like species antedating more modern plant and tree species) were changed by geological action to create a solid material.” - According to the Wikipedia article on coal.

I have been to several coal mining museums over the years, and it is indeed rather common to find fossilized ferns embedded in the coal.

There is a lot of coal around the world. It is really a shame that the term “clean coal” is just marketing hype and spin. No such thing exists at this time.

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CLL Symptoms

I am not a doctor or any kind of medical professional; I am merely a patient who is doing his best to be well informed. CLL seems to wax and wane, but over time gradually gets worse.
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I have had chronic lymphocytic leukemia for at least eight years now. No telling what caused it, but I did spill massive amounts of the weed killed 2,4-D on myself twice during the year or so before I was diagnosed. The symptoms I have experienced have changed and evolved over time, but pretty much they all are the ones described in the literature and research on CLL.

The first symptom was massive night sweats. I was in England the first time this occurred. Now these night sweats are no longer quite as severe, but they take place most nights.

Itching is another symptom. Severe itching, so bad that sometimes people scratch themselves bloody. Normally I don't draw blood, but I admit that I have occasionally.

Swollen lymph nodes are another common symptom. Especially around your neck, under your arms, your abdomen or groin, etc. Mine have grown absolutely massive...like grapefruit. At first they are soft, then they turn hard. They do get really quite painful at times. Some people get massive swelling of the spleen and/or liver.

Tiredness and an extreme lack of stamina is a frequently mentioned symptom.

Of course a gradual decrease in the effectiveness of the body's immune system is almost normal with CLL. This suppression of the immune system causes more pneumonia and upper respiratory problems, and surprisingly tooth decay becomes a genuine problem. Healing of common cuts and scrapes takes much longer than before.

As the amount of defective cancerous white blood cells increases dramatically, both the platelets (which help clotting) and the hemoglobin containing red blood cells start decreasing. So blood clotting becomes a big problem, and as the red blood cells decrease one gets to the point where insufficient oxygen reaches important organs like the body's major organs and muscles such as the heart, the brain, the digestive process, the arms and legs, etc. This anemia has a simple name, but it really is quite devastating and debilitating. With this poor oxygen supply comes an urge to dose off. If one is driving at the time this is problematic.
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A few days ago just lifting up my digital SLR camera (with a long telephoto lens) to my eye to try and get a nice moon shot required so much oxygen that I honestly thought I was having a heart attack. This phenomenon occurs every week or so, or pretty much whenever I forget that I need to move very slowly and take things really easy. The dog barking and thinking there might be a night time intruder (getting my loaded pistol out, etc.) with all the adrenalin is another example; or just the effort of hooking up the little utility trailer to the car.

Nocturnal leg cramps are frequently associated with CLL, and I have dealt with this problem for several years. It now is a several times nightly occurrence. The muscles in my lower legs have become so stiff that it is now very difficult for me to walk. My fingers now cramp and involuntarily contract also. All of this falls under the medical terms myopathy and tetany.
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There are other unpleasant symptoms, but I'm not certain if they are caused by the CLL, are actually as a result of various diseases I have acquired because of the weakened immune system; or might be side effects of the various antibiotics I have had to take: One's hands and feet become quite numb and are mostly unable to perform normal tasks. I have now completely lost all sense of smell, which of course greatly affects one's ability to taste. Very significant loss of hearing, although this seems to be gradually improving.
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At first this disease is not really a big deal, but as one gets to an advanced stage CLL is an unpleasant experience indeed. Some people even begin to question their quality of life. If this disease is not curable, and things are gradually going to get more and more unpleasant, does one reach a point where it no longer makes sense to keep beating one's head against the wall?

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Civilian Guantanamo Trial

Everywhere I see people who seem profoundly disappointed that a civilian jury found Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani guilty of only one of more than 280 charges levied against him by the U.S. Government, various secret intelligence agencies, and the U.S. military.

I think many people, especially the right-wingers, wanted vengeance. These fat, lazy Republicans, most of whom never even served in the military, were like members of a Roman crowd 2,000 years ago watching the Christians and the lions. They mostly just wanted to see blood, suffering, and watch who they thought was the bad guy get convicted and punished.

In the current political climate no one wants to be perceived as disloyal or as un-American. You can be sure that the prosecutors used their finest team of lawyers. The jury was not made up of socialist radical college students from San Francisco.

The fact that a jury only found him guilty of one charge is certainly not an indictment of President Obama or any of the current team of government workers. It is a clear cut proof that what Cheney, Bush, and Rumsfeld did was in harsh violation of America's constitution and laws. How many other dark skinned, poorly educated men spent years and years in Guantanamo, some being openly tortured, when they were in fact clearly not guilty?

But Mr. Obama does not have clean hands either. Now that the American military has figured out how rigorous the American system of jurisprudence is, they have changed their tactics. They no longer take prisoners, it is just too much hassle. They simply kill anyone they think is a bad guy using an unmanned drone. Him, his family, friends, and everyone around him. All without the benefit (or silly waste of time) of a judge, jury, or antiquated rules like the American Constitution.

We are watching the guilty until proven innocent crowd gone wild.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/nyregion/19detainees.html


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New Cellphone

I ordered a new cellphone, and it arrived today by FedEx. It is made by Nokia.

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Nokia is a Scandinavian company headquartered out of Helsinki, Finland. They are by far the world's largest manufacturer of cellphones. I have been to the city of Helsinki, and I find it to be a very nice place.

I was a bit surprised by what I saw on the back of the packaging. But just a bit. Everything is so tied in and international now.

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The Failing European Common Currency

First it was Greece. Now Ireland, then probably Portugal. Next Spain or Italy? It really is a terrible shame, but the Euro common currency is doomed. It has been from the very beginning.

The men who set it all up were politicians, not economists. They were good, decent men who had gone through world war II and knew first hand how terrible warfare is. The idea was to bring the countries in Europe together so closely (financially and most other ways) that they would talk to each other rather than fighting wars with each other.

Very admirable and lofty goals for sure, but these bozo politicians got the math part of it all completely wrong.

You can see the same sort of gross ignorance today among most of the American politicians. Instead of focusing on the political policy goals of job creation, a reduction in poverty, and improving life for the middle class they all mistakenly think they have now suddenly been transformed into economists...even though they have problems balancing their own personal check books. So in their arrogance they are doing exactly the complete opposite of what they should be doing. The consequences are going to be disastrous.

The same thing happened back at the beginning of the European common currency. Decent men who were good salesmen but lousy economists. It is not difficult to see how this is going to play out. At some point Germany, Austria, Finland and other northern Europeans will get tired of supporting the dishonesty and irresponsibility of their mostly dark skinned southern European colleagues. Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, etc. The Germans will set up impossible conditions for these economically failing countries. The Euro currency will cease to exist, and along with it the whole idea for the European Union may fail too.

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Democracy in El Paso

In America we mostly practice representative democracy, although occasionally the voters directly decide things by voting, which is called direct democracy.

In many different elections over the past 2 or 3 years, the voters in America have been asked whether they want to authorize things like gay marriage or taxpayer paid health insurance benefits for partners of gay and lesbian government workers. In the vast majority of cases the voters have clearly rejected any sort of approval or affirmation of the homosexual, lesbian, and gay lifestyle.

The city council in El Paso, Texas authorized health insurance benefits to the partners of gay city employees. The voters got this issue put on the ballot, and they rejected the idea. Now several elected officials want to find some tricky way to go ahead and do it anyway. Regardless of what the voters want.

To some people this is a religious issue. Other voters say, “Private industry doesn't offer these benefits to live in partners of our homosexual employees, why should my tax dollars go to fund this outrageously generous employee benefit for city workers?” For some it is just fiscal responsibility.

One thing is clear. The city council did something the voters didn't like. Once it was placed on the ballot the voters reaffirmed that this was not their desire. There are now almost half of the members of the city council who are perfectly happy to blow off the wishes of the voters and implement it anyway.

This feels like arrogance. Opposing democracy in a high handed and blatant way like this is dangerous to their future political careers. This feels like the city council telling the voters just how its going to be, when in fact things need to go the other way around. The voters tell our representatives what to do. Or the bums are voted out of office.

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Deflation or a Seriously Undervalued Chinese Currency?

I was at Wal-Mart this morning buying groceries, and I happened to see this. A made in China, solar powered calculator, which Wal-Mart sells at a normal price of $1.11

There is enough profit all along the supply chain to make this work, and it sells at this incredibly low price. Inflation is certainly not the problem right now.

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Terlingua Type Calcite

Axel Emmerman in Belgium is one of the nicest and funniest guys I have ever known. Probably the smartest too.

If you have any interest in fluorescent minerals or calcite fluorescing under UV lights, this link is invaluable:
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LINK TO AXEL EMMERMAN ON TERLINGUA TYPE CALCITE: http://users.telenet.be/axel.emmerman/FiatLux/TerlinguaexperimentEN.html#top

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The Disaster Called Barack Obama

I am not some tea partier fanatic. I am not an ignorant, racist Republican. I am a life long, active, Liberal Democrat.

Mr. Obama really is terribly way far out in space. The latest issues he is caving on are tax cuts for the rich and beginning to leave Afghanistan in 2011. Has he no dignity or self respect at all? No principles? Apparently not.

Please take a moment to open this link and read what Paul Krugman is saying today. He is far more articulate than I am.

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LINK TO KRUGMAN: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/opinion/15krugman.html?

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Alien Invaders

Our neighborhood has been invaded by aliens.
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And I don't mean the good kind of alien that does construction, picks vegetables and fruit, cleans your house, and does your laundry.
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I'm talking about scary little UFO type extra-terrestrial guys, masquerading as scarecrows.
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I haven't seen any rusty tin men or scraggly yappy dogs yet.
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Worldwide Oil Supplies

The demand for oil continues to grow, and this growth shows no signs of abating or slowing. Just look at all the Chinese and Indians who are beginning to use automobiles.

The world's supply of economically recoverable oil is past its peak and is declining. People who think there is an unlimited supply of economically recoverable oil are just poorly informed or not very bright. Why do you think oil companies have been forced to begin hazardous deep water drilling? Or fracking for natural gas? It is simple reality that the earth's supplies of oil, water, and clean air are not unlimited.

People and countries who plan ahead will be able to maintain a decent quality of life complete with good cars, flush toilets, and air conditioning. The way to do this is to become far more efficient – stop foolishly wasting so much energy. Those who are unable to adapt and are afraid of change are indeed going to suffer badly.
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LINK: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/is-peak-oil-behind-us/?src=twt&twt=nytimesscience

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P.S. My second Toyota Prius is now a year old. I drove my first Prius all over western Europe. Over its entire life so far, good days and bad, I have averaged 55 mpg with this latest Prius. This includes more than once/week leaving it and my dog in the parking lot of the supermarket with the airconditioning running...if I didn't do that the average would be above 60 mpg.

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Economic Austerity

The debate regarding the American economy is talking about the wrong issues. The discussion should not be about additional fiscal stimulation versus radical budget cutting and fiscal austerity. These are merely short term issues.

The real issue is that all the good manufacturing jobs have been going overseas for years. This was mostly to help American companies evade rules regarding the environment, workplace safety, and providing decent livable wages for the workers. If you have children in China or Thailand doing the labor of making your tennis shoes, it allows you to increase your profits. Greed.

The jobs that have been created in America at the same time that we have been losing these good manufacturing jobs are in no way comparable. They are low pay, low benefits, low security jobs working at McDonalds, Wal-Mart, or in a bank or mortgage company.

I doubt that America will have the strength of character to solve this problem. Honest. My best assessment is that our decline will continue, and we will gradually go out with a whimper. I am quite sincere about this.

But if we are to solve the problem of the decline of America, then we have to: Stop worrying about Wall Street or Markets. The goal must be to be effective in having much of the manufacturing return to American soil. If we get all hung up about free trade or the WTO then we will just see more of the same. Free trade is what has caused our problems...it is the problem not the solution.

We must impose significant import duties on most manufactured items coming into the country. These import duties will be to balance the playing field, making things a bit more equal. What is the cost of requiring companies to not pollute the air and the water too much? Child labor, workplace safety, job security, decent livable wages and benefits like fully company-paid health insurance, and genuine pensions. Food safety, product safety, proper disposal of hazardous waste, and consumer protection in general.

I don't know what the amount of these import duties will need to be, but it certainly won't be something on the order of 5% or 10%. Just plucking a number out of the air, I think that we are probably looking at something more like 35% to 65% import duties, depending upon the item and the individual circumstances. If the country in question prevents our goods from entering their country, then maybe the number will have to be more like 85%.

The American tax regulations currently encourage companies to move overseas. This has to end immediately; no phase in. To reign in all the money we are sending to people who hate us in the middle east for oil, we need to significantly increase gasoline prices and taxes on vehicles averaging less than 40 miles per gallon.

Government spending on the military, intelligence, and everything that President Eisenhower called the “military industrial complex” needs to be cut deeply. On the order of 35% initially, with a 5 year plan of taking it down 50% to 65%. This foolish and wasteful spending on warfare is bankrupting America.

Of course large import duties can't just be imposed suddenly and overnight. This could possibly cause a world wide economic slow down. So these import duties need to be phased in over a two to three year period. This will give American companies the opportunity to ramp up domestic production.

This program is simple, and it will work. Will the America politicians and elected officials have the strength of character to implement this? No, of course not. Corruption will stop them. Too many of the powerful senators and congressmen (most actually) have simply been bought and paid for by big business. They call it campaign contributions, the proper words are bribery and corruption.

Unless and until genuine campaign finance reform happens (which it won't because all the bribery and corruption among elected officials will prevent reform) America is doomed to continue its decline.

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Joan Walsh on Tavis Smiley

Recently Tavis Smiley did a truly outstanding interview of Joan Walsh on PBS. I had recorded it on my DVR and just watched it last night. She is a 50'ish, very intelligent, sensible, and moderate sounding lady. I recommend highly that everyone watch this interview.

One of the points that she made during the interview is that during the last 30 years the Democrats have been forced to move closer to big business in order to get the funding they needed to get candidates elected. Inevitably this has meant that the Democratic party's position on a great many issues has gradually moved much closer to that of the Republicans. Sometimes it has become difficult to tell the difference between the two political parties.

She contends that this is one of the factors that caused the Democrat's stunning defeat. I would add that the conservative Democrats (Blue Dogs) suffered far more electoral losses than the liberal and progressive Democrats.
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LINK TO PBS TV SHOW: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/201011/20101108.html

LINK TO WIKI ARTICLE ON JOAN WALSH: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Walsh

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http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joan_walsh/politics/2010/11/07/2010_elections/index.html
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Remembrance Day

I was thinking I might wear my Veteran baseball cap today. After all, I am a Veteran, and I did serve in time of war. The Vietnam War was just as stupid as the wars today. In retrospect anyone with half a brain can see that we should never have gone into Vietnam. All you have to do is change this to Iraq to modernize it.

Anyway, I was going to wear my Veteran's hat today, but then I find out that this isn't even officially called Veteran's Day anymore. It is now Remembrance Day. Sort of like Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. What a load of crap.

I did actually serve in the Army during the Vietnam War, so I am a Vietnam era veteran. But I served in Frankfurt, West Germany so my time in uniform wasn't nearly as hazardous as those poor bastards who were sent to Vietnam.

Most soldiers sent to Vietnam were cooks, or telephone repairmen, or clerks. But the few who actually did shoot and kill and fight went through hell; they came back pretty screwed up too. After just one tour of duty. Imagine the trauma that these kids today in Iraq and Afghanistan-Pakistan are suffering. Tour after tour after tour. Many of them really will be screwed up for the rest of their lives.

And we don't even have the balls to call it Veteran's Day anymore. Civilians just want to ignore the Bush wars, and try to pretend that these young people who are so terribly messed up don't exist. No doubt the Republicans are trying to scheme some way into reducing these soldier's benefits, and then through more tax cuts to the rich, stealing the money.

I took the picture in Verdun.
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LINK TO WIKIPEDIA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day

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Substantially Cutting Social Security

If any legislator wants to commit political suicide, just try voting to reduce Social Security. Old folks and employers paid a lot of money into the mythical trust fund over their 40 year working careers.

Just try screwing with old folks. We vote. We know we won't be around that much longer, so we are not afraid to do what needs to be done. I'm not sure what I mean by that, but elected officials really shouldn't risk messing with Grandpa or Grandma.

It is clear, if big cuts need to be made in the Federal budget (an assumption) then begin with the military and intelligence.

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The Uninsured Keep Growing

According to a CDC analysis that was reported today by Reuters, 22 percent of adults aged 18 to 64 in America do not have health insurance. The CDC analysis found that in the first quarter of 2010, an estimated 59.1 million people had no health insurance, which is a dramatic increase from 58.7 million in 2009 and 56.4 million in 2008.

The Republicans who have just taken over the U.S. House of Representatives keep loudly and repulsively saying that one of their highest priorities is to completely cancel the new health insurance law.

Republicans sometimes wonder why I find them so loathsome and revolting. The Republicans represent rich and racist people who have no concern at all for their fellow man. They wrap themselves in the flag and thump the Bible, while they are canceling the health insurance on people. This is inhumane. It doesn't fit traditional American values nor Christian-like behavior.
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Sticking up for the powerless is not the moral equivalent of sticking up for the powerful.

These disgusting Republicans who intentionally take away health insurance coverage from people just to save a buck are the lowest form of life that America has yet produced. They can be fairly compared with the KKK and the Nazis.

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Who Is Responsible For The National Debt?

The Republicans like to say that the Democrats are fiscally irresponsible, but in fact the exact opposite is the case.

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These right wingers lower taxes on the rich, and start expensive wars that they don't raise taxes to fund.

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Two thirds of the total national debt is from the last 3 Republican presidents...the 2 Bushes and Mr. Rayguns.

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Let me emphasize that: 2/3 of the entire National Debt is because of the intellectually bankrupt policies of the last three Republican presidents. Bush I, Bush II, and Reagan.

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The Correct Focal Length For Portraits

Perspective depends upon camera and subject location, not lens focal length. All focal lengths in this blog entry are based upon the 35mm full frame (Nikon FX) format. If you are shooting with a camera that has an APS-C sized sensor (Nikon DX) you will need to do the mental conversions. For example if you put a 50mm lens on a DX Nikon camera it ends up having an equivalent 35mm focal length of 75mm.

In real life photographers normally try to fill the frame with the subject in order to maximize quality and resolution. This means that if you are using a 16mm super wide angle lens, you need to put the camera right up in the face of the subject. This does tend to annoy the person being photographed. It also distorts reality greatly by making the person's nose appear very large in relation to their ears.

If you are using a standard 50mm lens you move somewhat further back and still fill the frame, but your camera is still close enough that the subject's nose is somewhat enlarged. An 85mm takes you further back, and a 105mm even further.

You will hear old and wise photographers say that an 85mm lens or a 105mm is best for portraits. But whether they know it or not, these are just conventional wisdom and old wife's tales. These focal lengths are chosen more for their cost, availability, or convenience.

When shooting with a 35mm film camera, or a digital camera which has an FX full sized digital sensor, using “a 135mm lens the perspective and amount of subject matter are just right for a pleasing portrait.” That is a quote from the 1955 edition of the famous Leica Manual And Data Book as recommended by Ansel Adams.
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Most of the concepts related to light, perspective, lens distortion, focal lengths, aperture, and shutter speed are determined by physics and the laws of nature, and they are the same now as they were a half century ago. So when shooting with a digital camera that uses an APS-C sensor this would mean shooting with a lens which has a focal length of 90mm.

So your 105mm lens would be good for DX cameras like the Nikon D40, D70, D80, and D300 but if you have a full sized FX sensor like in the Nikon D700 you should use a focal length of 135mm if possible. These focal lengths are long enough that you should either use a tripod or a fast shutter speed – say 1/200 second or shorter. Vibration reduction would be helpful too. Choosing a fairly large aperture like f/2.8 or f/2.0 will lower the depth of field thus blurring the background.

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Panasonic Microwave Oven

My microwave died last night.

It was the very first microwave I ever owned. A full size, very powerful unit. It had been a part of my life for around 30 years. When I moved to South Louisiana it came along. Then I moved to Europe, and I brought it with me. It worked fine on 50 hz electricity, just a bit weaker.

Then after 15 years in Europe when I moved back to America it came along. It was happy to be fed 60 hz current and got strong again. That was 3 years ago.

So we have travelled a long way together.

Since I have a smaller, weaker backup unit sitting on the counter in my kitchen there is not a tremdous urgency about replacing it. These things weigh about 30 lbs. Rather than buying one at Target or Wal-Mart today, having to put it in my cart, put it in the car, etc., I just ordered one from Amazon. No sales tax, free shipping, their price was marked down $50, and it will be delivered right to my front door.

I decided on another Panasonic full size, powerful unit. The old one served me well for many years. It seems like when I bought the first one it cost a lot of money. Now it is not that I am more wealthy, but prices on microwave ovens have actually been deflationary over the years.

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Ignorant & Dishonest Elected Officials

So Governor Perry and all you other ignorant right wing politicians, what was that you were saying about how your policies had made the Texas economy so much better than other states?
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LINK: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/texas-two-step/

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Sagrada Familia - Barcelona, Spain

The Pope has been visiting Spain, and among other things he has finally opened (consecrated) the famous church begun by the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi in 1882 in Barcelona.

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It still is not nearly completed, but enough work has been done that they are going to begin holding church services there.
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I looked through my archive photos this morning of Barcelona. I had many pictures, and I found three of the Sagrada Familia that I thought might be worth using; but for various different reasons each was fairly poor. Two of them had the problem associated with many architectural photos, where the building appears to be be leaning over significantly. After I used my photo software to improve them, I made composites showing the original photo and what I was able to do with it using the computer. These pictures were taken with a Nikon 3500 digital point and shoot camera and were modified using Photoshop Elements 8.

If you click on the pictures they will enlarge.

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LINK TO WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia

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The Nikon 135mm DC lens rules!

Ken Rockwell says, “The Nikon AF 135mm f/2 DC is Nikon's, and arguably the world's, greatest portrait lens. It has a very similar smaller brother, the 105mm f/2 DC.

The 135mm DC is also Nikon's sharpest 135mm lens, and an extraordinarily great lens for nature and landscape photography. It is worlds sharper and freer from spherical aberration than any of the the old manual focus 135mm f/2 lenses.”

I have read where people claim that this is the finest lens one will ever own. I'll bet that is a little bit of hyperbole. If price is an indicator that may be correct. Time will tell. I need at least a few days playing with a lens before I can properly judge it.

All the lens pictures come from Ken Rockwell's website.

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LINK TO KEN ROCKWELL'S WEBSITE: http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/135mm-f2-dc.htm


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Unwed Mothers in America

According to an Associated Press story today, “Seventy-two percent of black babies are born to unmarried mothers today, according to government statistics.… The black community's 72 percent rate eclipses that of most other groups: 17 percent of Asians, 29 percent of whites, 53 percent of Hispanics and 66 percent of Native Americans were born to unwed mothers in 2008, the most recent year for which government figures are available. The rate for the overall U.S. population was 41 percent.”

These high numbers amaze me. It is really difficult being an unwed or single mother, and these children suffer from effects as well.

I don't have any great words of wisdom and certainly not any solutions. But I do see clearly that this indicates a basic sickness in American culture. It will have negataive effects on the future, of that I am certain.
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LINK TO ARTICLE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101106/ap_on_re_us/us_unwed_births72_percent


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Pompeii

Many people have complained over the years about the poor upkeep of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Having visited the sites extensively, I am convinced that the Italian government has not invested enough money in preservation. I understand that there has been significant mismanagement and looting too.

This morning when the site was opened for visitors it was discovered that the 2,000-year-old "House of the Gladiators" had collapsed and lay in ruins. This is causing fresh debate about whether the Italian government is doing enough to protect these world treasures which sit on the bay of Naples right under the still active Mt. Vesuvius.

This is a link to a Reuters article about it: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A51BE20101106

This is a link to my flicker photo collection of pictures that I took at Pompeii and Herculaneum: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_garland/sets/72157600579901237/

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Speaker Of The House Of Representatives

Nancy Pelosi was the first female speaker of the house, and she was the most effective speaker of the house in a lifetime. Maybe in the entire history of the nation.

In the recent mid-term elections large numbers of conservative, right wing, Blue Dog Democrats were given their pink slip by the voters. So the remaining Democrats in the House look far more like genuine Democrats, rather than Republicans masquerading as Democrats. The Democratic House is now much more progressive and interested in helping people, rather than only helping out the super rich, Wall Street, and the bankers like the Republicans want.

The right wingers are now absolutely outraged that she has not resigned from Congress and slunk away with her tail between her legs. These people on the right wing are so far out in space. Delusional. She was effective and still can be. Maybe the right wingers are just afraid of her and her capabilities.

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Are The Republicans Brain Damaged?

Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and are still out of work because of the insane policies of deregulation allowed to rule during the Bush years. Latest projections are that it will take many years to fully recover from the Bush Recession.

Millions of Americans have lost their houses, and it looks like millions more are going to be foreclosed upon. The massive fraud in the housing and mortgage market was a direct result of the deregulation allowed to rule during the Bush years. And the Republicans want to invalidate the minor, tepid re-regulation that has occurred under the Obama administration.

Millions of Americans still do not have health insurance, even those with serious diseases like cancer. Yet the Republicans are adamant that they want to kill the very modest health care reforms passed under Obama.

Millions of Americans are suffering horribly, yet the top man in the Republican party has stated very clearly that their Number One priority is to make sure that President Obama doesn't serve a second term. These guys are not problem solvers; they are problem causers.

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Blue Dog Democrats Get Asses Kicked

The right wing did very well in the mid term elections. The Democrats in the House of Representatives have gotten more progressive and liberal. This is because so many of the Blue Dog Democrats lost their cushy jobs and were sent packing. Out of a prior 54, only 23 of them still have their jobs.

It makes sense. Among Democrats there has been general concern that President Obama's actions, as opposed to his rhetoric, were timid at very best. Universal Health Care became Cost Control. Ending the wars morphed into radically increasing troop levels and military funding. Financial industry re-regulation ended up being timorous at best. The Obama administration seemed intimidated and browbeaten by the big money of the bankers and Wall Street. His legislation to keep people in their homes, when their home is now worth half of what they owe on their mortgage, has been a complete failure. He has been an absolute disaster for the gays and the environmental community. His tenure so far has not supported the working man or Unions. Good talk, very little action - or in many cases even counterproductive action.

So the biggest concern among Democrats has been that Obama's behavior has been quite similar to what one might expect from a Republican President. The right wingers say he is too liberal and progressive, whereas the reality is he incorporated too many of their ideas into his legislation.

These Blue Dogs oppose much of what the Democrats traditionally have believed in. They almost seem like Republicans who are just pretending to be Democrats. It is good that many got sent away. I doubt that the 23 remaining are bright enough to learn the lesson: Support the policies that Democrats want. Decent livable wages, Universal Health Care, pro-Unions, pro-environment, anti war, and genuine support for the nation's workers rather than the greedy bankers and Wall Street.

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Open Letter to President Obama

President Barack Obama
Washington, D.C.

Dear President Obama:

I see in the news today several accounts which say that you think American voters are frustrated with the speed of economic recovery, and that is why us Democrats suffered the largest debacle in 50 years. This is a part of it, of course, but not the biggest problem.

Young people, liberals and progressives, gays, the environmental community, the Universal Health Care folks, the financial industry re-regulation people, and the anti-war people are all really disgusted with you Mr. President. To them YOU are the problem, far more than the economy. They feel like they have been used by you and then just cast aside.

In their guts they feel like you lied to them, time and again, so they have lost faith and trust in you.

Yes the economy is really bad after all that time with Bush and his loser right wing advisers. But you surrounded yourself with the same type of Republican and right wing advisers who got us into the mess in the first place, with all their fanatical and radical deregulation.

You expanded the war and killing greatly, you authorized drilling in environmentally sensitive areas which even Bush didn't dare, you turned your back on DADT, your financial industry re-regulation legislation is extremely weak, and your health care plan is very far from anything even resembling Universal Health Care.

If you keep this dishonesty up, not only will you not serve out two terms, but you won't even be viewed as a good one term president. You will go down in history as one of the worst and least effective single term presidents.

Stand up for what the Democrats are for and people will at least respect you. But if you continue to always take positions which closely resemble what the Republicans have supported, of course you will keep losing support.

Sincerely,


H. Paul Garland
El Paso, Texas

Gays In America

Gays, lesbians, cross dressers, same sex marriage types, and all the other varieties of gender confused people make up far less than 10% of the American populace.

President Obama has sure shown that he doesn't care about their problems. He pays them lip service, but he isn't about to spend one dime of his political capital helping them. Every time that the voters get the opportunity they very clearly show that they think marriage is something that a man and a woman need to do before they have children. Gay marriage and same sex living together partner benefits are just not issues that the American voter cares about.

I really don't want to see the Morality Police breaking down doors to get into people's bedrooms at night, or good soldiers being kicked out of the service because they are found to be gay or lesbian. All the homos I have ever known have been really nice people.
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But the queers need to accept reality: In America being a homosexual is not considered “just as good” as being a normal heterosexual...not nearly. Americans still view this as an unhealthy aberration.

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