This is my first entry since 2012!

I arrived here at my son's house on Feb 13 to be with him and support him on his death watch over Cay which has been torture for him.  Cay passed away on March 6th and the past 10 days have been full of mixed emotions.  Sadness over Cay's passing but also relief that there is no more pain for her.

A new chapter in Rick's life now begins.

The two of us had a great trip to Yosemite where we stayed at the Ahwahnee Hotel for 2 nights. After that we stayed overnight in Cambria where we saw elephant seals then on to Moro Bay to see the sea otters. Got back to Santa Monica on Saturday the 14th.

I am now pretty well packed to go back to Clearwater tomorrow morning.

The past month has unbelievable when you consider the trial of Cay's death combined with the crisis we now have with the Coronavirus.  My flight takes me to Las Vegas on a stopover.  With Vegas nearly shutdown, I doubt there will be many on the plane.

Now in Media, PA

Now staying with Lisa in Media, PA.  It's been 6 days since I left San Francisco after enjoying the best time ever with my son. This photo stream is from his Flickr site.

Getting ready to head back to Tampa next week.

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

George Best - deceased football great

Muhammad Cartoons (For Infidels Only)

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?

What do we do here? (May, 1981)

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

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

My take on Intelligent Design

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!

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