Entropy

2009-11-12T06:14:00.001-08:00

This facebook thing is a peak into a world that I am about to give up on. It seems to be dominated by one sentence posts with links but with no real discussion. I originally thought that I would connect to others like me who are agast at the leap into Marxism that we now see in this country. Other conservatives like me seem to be rare here. Now seated in the White House, we have the most radical of leftist politicians ever to be schooled in the muck of Chicago politics. Our enemies love him, he gets the Nobel Peace Prize for smooth talk, and he hates the U. S. Constitution.

Where is the critical thinking on the part of liberals? They love the sound that comes out of a smooth talker's mouth, but ignore history and facts. Many Americans loved Castro for the way he sounded when he tore into the Batista administration. Do we really want to go down that road?

Now, on top of all this we see the bankruptcy of "Workforce Diverisity" exemplified at Fort Hood. When we give up the idea of rewarding excellence and substitute political correctness, "forgetabowdit".

Come on Freedom Fighters, let's hope Americans continue to wake up and that Obamacare dies.

Back to Tampa by November 7th

2009-10-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

Winding up trip to northeast in the next few days. I look forward to getting back to my woodworking projects in Tampa.

Congratulations American Citizens!

2008-09-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

You have just had the biggest one day screwing in U. S. history! The government has saved all those investors (investment bankers, foreign countries, pension funds, etc.) buy having you guarantee the debt of those two wonderful Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac! So now instead of a National Debt of over 9 trillion you will be responsible for about 15 trillion! Hey, it's only numbers on a sheet of paper, isn't it?

In government words the FHFA will be the conservator of the GSEs while the Federal Reserve will maximize the least counterproductivity through The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) is a formal interagency body empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), and to make recommendations to promote uniformity in the supervision of financial institutions. In 2006, the State Liaison Committee (SLC) was added to the Council as a voting member. The SLC includes representatives from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), the American Council of State Savings Supervisors (ACSSS), and the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS).

I did not make any of this up.

Better teach yourself Manderin.

And you want this government to manage healthcare?

Art Buckwald

2007-01-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

My hero, Art Buchwald, has passed away and I remember what he said about President Nixon years ago: "I worship the quicksand he walks on."

Thank God For California!

2006-03-20T13:28:00.000-08:00

I should move to LA. Here's a view of the city from my son's blog:

LA Marathon

Muslim Cartoons

Humanity --- Mistake Made By Mother Nature?

2006-03-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

Some of us think it is. Surely, Mother Nature must have some regrets. She does her best to come up with solutions here and there, but so far we are able to outwit her. It seems that we can adapt to just about anything.

Is Mother Nature coming up with a new solution called "Bird Flu"? This may be interesting to watch.

Buy Danish

2006-02-07T13:03:00.000-08:00

Food:
Arla Foods
Danish Crown
Danisco Food
Toms Chocolate
Lagermann's Candy

Beverages:
Tuborg Beer
Carlsberg Beer
Aalborg Aquavit (snaps)

Healthcare:
Novo Nordisk

For The Home:
Royal Copenhagen
Georg Jensen
Stelton
LEGO (toys)
Raadvad (cutlery)
Skagerak (furniture)
HTH- kitchen
Morsoe (Fireplaces)
Bang & Olufson (radios,televisions, etc.)

Other:
Ecco
Watco Danish Furniture Oil
Hummel

Islamic Political Cartoons

2006-02-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

You can click here or the one on the left side of this page for Islamic Political Cartoons and you will see many more of the kind pictured below.

Applet Test

2006-02-04T13:26:00.000-08:00

This is a test for referencing an applet on another site:

Sorry! You do not have a Java enabled browser and are missing the Debt Clock.

Something We Should Adopt From The Muslims:

2006-02-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

Although I believe Islam is WHACKO in a lot of ways, I really do like the idea of taking your shoes off before entering the house. I do this now myself and it keeps me from draging dirt into the home. It also keeps Entropy from increasing that much more.

While I'm thinking of it, can I borrow from an Islamic bank with no interest if I convert? It would be worth it if I could borrow a big hunk.

"I spent a lot of my money on wine, women and gambling - the rest I squandered."

2006-02-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

George Best - deceased football great

Muhammad Cartoons (For Infidels Only)

2006-02-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

I was wondering why so many Muslims were getting upset about some cartoons and set about to see what they looked like. I found a few images on my own and then a few others with the help of comments here. I know that it is offensive for muslims to view an image of the Prophet but this is for others to see what all the furor is about. These embrace the overall Muslim theme, not just Muhammad. Here are some of them:

If you are muslim, especially don't click here.

The Retracted Page From Danish News

The Original 12 Cartoons

From Cox and Forkum Editorial Cartoons

I don't know where I got the following two cartoons:

Detail of the original 12:

Others will be added if you send them or give me a link.

I wonder if Muslims laugh?

On Torture

2005-12-23T11:41:00.000-08:00

It is hard for me to believe the debate going on about torture with the Dark Ages so far behind us. The argument I hear now is that if 911 could have ben avoided by torturing someone, such torture could be justified.

Being an atheist, shouldn't I be the one tolerant of torture? I am not saying that the god-fearing are in the Dark Ages, but shouldn't they be against it in any case? The end does not justify the means. Isn't utilitarianism tyranny against ethics? The older I get, the less I understand.

More tortured logic

Depressed!

What do we do here? (May, 1981)

2005-12-02T14:30:00.000-08:00

OK, I've been here for a couple of weeks and I am still not able to tell my wife, Monina, what I do here. I do know that this office is involved with evaluating quality issues of certain medical items that DOD buys. We answer complaints that come in from users around the world on surgical items and laboratory supplies but I am just observing so far. It looks like one of the fellows close by (not in our office) is spending a lot of time answering complaints about condoms. There seems to be a problem in the Central American areas with them breaking. What great material for cocktail parties! It will be my luck to answer complaints on tampons. I gotta get out of here!

There are hundreds of people on this big open floor and I sure would like to know what they do but the guy next to me has been here for 30 years and does not know himself. The computer systems here are so old that engineers fill out long sheets of coded forms in order to have some other person enter input.

There are no normal looking people here. Must be where I belong! Sigh!

Dark Matter

2005-11-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

The subject of Dark Matter has always puzzled me, but the following link has helped me out: Dark Matter

My take on Intelligent Design

2005-10-23T04:58:00.000-07:00

With "Intelligent Design" becoming more and more the zeitgeist, I am particularly upset on how much it relies on clouded thinking. Promotors of ID love to pick on evolution as being just a theory. OK, I'll accept it is just a theory just as I accept that neutrons and protons are theoretical. The evidence is there for both evolution and atomic theories. There is not an iota of evidence for some spiritual being designing the nature of things which the ID people are trying to push. Spirituality is a matter of belief. You either believe it or you don't. Evidence is not required for intellectual laziness.

If you believe in "Intelligent Design" go ahead and teach it as part of a philosophy or religion course, but don't try to palm it off as science.

I challenge John H. Calvert, Esq. to respond.

Damn you ID guys to hell!

Believe It or Not!

2005-10-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

According to a 2005 Gallup poll, 55% of Americans believe in psychic or spiritual healing. Overall, three in four Americans believe in the paranormal such as extra sensory perception (ESP), haunted houses, ghosts, mental telepathy, clairvoyance, astrology, communicating with the dead, witches, reincarnation, and channeling. See it at the Gallup Web Site

What do we do here? (April, 1981)

2005-10-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is the beginning of the end. It's Monday morning, April 20, 1981, as I walk up to the gate. A 10 foot high gate made of those long verticle iron spikes about 4 inches apart looks typical for this DOD place. The guard lets me go through the turnstyle when I asked for "Personnel Department".

The only reason I am here is because I called the previous Friday and wanted to know if there was any action on my application for a job. They said "Oh yes, come on in on Monday". Now they say that I was "picked up" to be a General Engineer in "Medical". I wonder what the hell a General Engineer is, but I don't care very much as long as I get some kind of paycheck. I need money. After filling out an application all over again (The one I filled out months earlier was of a different design) and getting a physical, I am escorted through a maze of hallways for about 1/4 mile until reaching a huge room with large color coded ductwork reminding me of the movie, Brazil. I will find out later how much this place is really like Brazil.

Now comes the good part. After being introduced to the Chief of the Technical Division, I am assigned a desk in theTechnical Assurance Office. What the hell is technical assurance?! After being introduced to some fellows in the area, I sit a little dazed at the desk (1940 vintage) and given a catalog dated in the early 70s to study. I still have no idea what this place is except that it is called the Medical Directorate. Trying to get my arms around the idea of what this place is, I ask if there is an organization chart available. I just get blank stares on that one, so I ask: ........... "What do we do here?".

Nature Hates A Gradient

2005-09-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

Mother Nature must always deal with a gradient. She can't stand to have one. A temperature difference will be dealt with by heat flowing from a hot end of a rod to the cold end. A high pressure area will do what it can to travel to a low pressure area. The same applies to energy levels, voltage, or any other natural phenomenon. This being said, I am wondering if the advent of life on this globe was inevitable and not a random event at all. Perhaps DNA is so logical it would have to happen on other worlds that are presented with the same forces that this planet faces. This is just a thought and I wonder if this thinking is addressed anywhere out there.

2005-09-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

S = k log W

Was the Shmoo Al Capp's view of Entropy?

2005-09-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

Back in the 1950's the shmoo was very popular. Al Capp pictured the shmoo as something that multiplied all the faster if you tried to get rid of them. Was this Al Capp's way of telling us he had a handle on entropy? He is still a hero of mine.

STAMP OUT ENTROPY!

2005-09-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living.

JULES-HENRI POINCARÉ

The above quote introduces chapter four of the book, "Into the Cool", by Eric D. Schneider and Dorion Sagan. I love this book because it focuses on nonequilibrium thermodynamics to show evolution and thermodynamics as part of a single stream. If you love nature and accept that truth is forever changing, take a look:

"http://intothecool.com/index.php"

Summary of the 4 days in LA (June 3 to 7)

2005-07-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

Rick picked me up around 11PM on Friday night the 3rd and I was suprised how cool it was. The house they have looked so much better than I imagined and you could see the California touch. So nice to see so many books. CDs and DVDs filled a whole bookcase. They still seem like newlyweds.

On Saturday morning, Rick and I had breakfast at Joe's Diner where I had a great omelet and some turkey sausage. Cay had some ceremony at Brentwood High School while we took a long walk past the Santa Monica pier and back home again. Cay's mother came over for a visit around 5 PM and we then finished off the day with wine and Mexican picked up on the next block. Gee joined us and after the breakup for the evening I tried to watch "The Cell" but I crashed when it was about halfway done. Would be a much better movie without JayLo.

Waking up Sunday, I snuck out and had coffee and chocolate cake and Joe's Diner. Renee, the waitress there is so cute. From Georgia.

The three of us went to a food fair a few blocks away and then it was time for brunch. Had a great meal but a tooth popped off my upper plate and for awhile I thought I lost the tooth. I did have it and was able to fix it with some epoxy glue that Gee had. Watched "The Cell". Weird movie, man!

So Monday it was time for a walk to Venice Beach for some real color and a lot of picture taking. Great lunch at "Waterfront ..."
A nap and then Rick and I were off to the center of Santa Monica for some great sushi and saki. Cay was at a meeting for parents but showed up just as we were finishing. Back home to watch "The Great Lebowsky". I love Jeff Bridges in this one.

Tuesday morning and I'm back to Joe's Diner one last time before Rick and I bicycled to Marina Del Ray (about a 15 mile round trip). Just enough time for lunch at a local Irish pub where I enjoyed the traditional cornbeef and cabbage with some Bass Ale. A quick bath in that tub of theirs and off to LAX.

Party!

2005-05-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

One hour away from guests arriving for party to celebrate combination birthday party for Bruce, Betty, and me. Tomorrow, I will start to close up this house and make way for Pennsylvania.

Must now get ticket for LAX and see Rick and Cay's new home in Santa Monica.