This is a short list of the drugs Michael Jackson was supposedly taking recently (all at once): Demerol, Vicodin, Soma, Xanax, Dilaudid, Zoloft, Paxil, and (of course) Prilosec. If this cocktail doesn't kill you, nothing will. What were they thinking? 
A reserved parking space in Manhattan costs about $700 per month. The same space in Memphis will set you back $20 per month. That's a pretty big difference. Likewise, an art piece found by a maid in an abandoned apartment is thrown in the trash because it is judged to be practically worthless. The same piece is found by someone who works at a museum and is saved and taken to the museum curator. It is now judged to be worth $2,000,000. A tattoo on the arm of a man hardly draws any attention. Put it on the lower back of a woman and you will notice a huge difference in the response. A house on the poor side of town has a value of $100,000. That same house in a pricy neighborhood is worth $145,000. A country in the hands of lazy, uneducated people has little value. In the hands of educated, hard-working people, it is priceless. An idea in the hands of a timid person will get nowhere. The same idea in the mind of a born salesman might be worth millions. What does all this mean? I don't know. You figure it out.
People get paid thousands and thousands of dollars to figure out safety issues and it is money very badly spent - totally wasted. From a news story on the internet today: "WASHINGTON – For the third time in nine months, a major subway or commuter rail crash occurred in a big city. Until last September, rail systems — much like their airline counterparts — were cruising with far fewer accidents than in previous years and decades. That changed in a hurry. In September 2008, a commuter rail train crashed with a freight rail in Los Angeles and 25 people died. The crash was blamed on an engineer on the commuter rail texting on a cell phone. Last month about 50 people were injured in Boston when a trolley rear-ended another trolley. The conductor admitted to texting when the crash took place. On Monday, one subway train rear-ended another in Washington during rush hour above ground. At least six people were killed, the mayor said, including the operator of the trailing train. It's too early to know the cause of this accident, but this third collision has got a top safety expert concerned."
From a story on the internet: "PARIS – President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Muslim burqa would not be welcome in France, calling the full-body religious gown a sign of the "debasement" of women. In the first presidential address to parliament in 136 years, Sarkozy faced critics who fear the burqa issue could stigmatize France's Muslims and said he supported banning the garment from being worn in public. "In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity," Sarkozy said to extended applause at the Chateau of Versailles, southwest of Paris. "The burqa is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement — I want to say it solemnly," he said. "It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic."
From a story somewhere on the internet: “LONDON – In the last two decades, the world has spent more than $196 billion trying to save people from death and disease in poor countries. But just what the world's gotten for its money isn't clear, according to two studies published Friday in the medical journal Lancet. U.N. agencies, universities and others working on public health routinely take from 2 to 50 percent of a donation for "administrative purposes" before it goes to needy countries. Others said there is little incentive for health officials to commission an independent evaluation to find out what their programs have achieved. "The public health community has convinced the public the only way to improve poor health in developing countries is by throwing a ton of money at it," Stevens said. "It is perhaps not coincidental that thousands of highly paid jobs and careers are also dependent on it." That kind of expenditure translates to $27,223,000 PER DAY, in case anyone really cares. The money creates jobs for health professionals but it does not help unhealthy populations all that much – that’s for sure. If you want to stay healthy, just wash your hands frequently, and stay away from sick people and from doctors. Please.
From a story on the internet: “WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Tuesday dashed hopes that the federal government would help California overcome a mammoth budget crisis that has brought the state dangerously close to an economic meltdown, saying the state will have to solve the problem on its own. "It's obviously not an easy time for the state of California," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told a briefing when asked if the administration would provide emergency financing for the state. "We'll continue to monitor the challenges that they have, but this budgetary problem unfortunately is one that they're going to have to solve," Gibbs said.” Pity the State of California. Perhaps as long as it doesn’t fall into the Pacific Ocean when the next earthquake hits, all is not lost. This woman does not care all that much - she doesn't live in California.
As the U.S. steers to the left - becomes more and more liberal - Europe steers to the right. We will start seeing a trend which will see more and more affluent Americans leaving this country, becoming expatriates in Europe. It will be interesting to see how many members of Congress start buying property over there. If they say it's for vacationing, don't believe them. It's for security.
The news is telling us that the conservatives have picked up seats in the European Parliament elections. It's really no big deal since that body is toothless. However, it's an indication that Europe is moving to the right (as I have been saying for about two years) as the U.S. moves to the left. As they begin to play this tug of war, old friendships will erode and treaties will become meaningless or worthless. However, remember that I know next to nothing about these matters. Either way, my sweetheart is very happy.
It appears that another actor has taken his death into his own hands. It was reported that David Carradine hung himself in his hotel room in Bangkok. It was not a publicity stunt - take my word. He was 72. Perhaps he was just so bored and tired of life he decided to take the fast track exit? It's important to enjoy the simple things - even a bologna sandwich should delight you, with or without beer. Enjoy the sunrise, the sunset, a dinner roll, a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream, a slice of tomato, a book you have read twice already, the green grass, the yellow grass, the scorching heat, the bitter cold, the struggle to accomplish your goal - everything. Take the bad with the good. Even some very, very, very poor people in India don't take their own life.
From a story in the Wall Street Journal: “Carlos Araya used to order lobster, filet mignon and $200 bottles of red wine at the Palm Restaurant in midtown Manhattan. Now, he seats customers at its Tribeca branch. Nowadays, during Mr. Araya's late nights at the Palm, reminders of his old life crop up when former colleagues come in. Some are encouraging and offer hugs. Others sneer, he says. "The way they look at you, you know they're thinking negatively," he says. Some are laid-off like him, and ask if the restaurant is hiring.” Few people realize that the Federal government had a lot to do with the financial collapse on Wall Street. Deregulation? No. That is not the entire story. The real story is that the federal bureaucrats (back in the 90s) thought that affordable housing was the panacea for lots of social ills. It was pushed in such a big way that everybody bought into the myth and soon, like lemmings, even people who should have known better were in favor of putting people who could not afford homes into homes they could not afford. That created a housing bubble of historic proportions which eventually led to abuses on an unprecedented scale. The financial mess was created by no more than five or six people - all of them somewhat delusional - and everyone who just went along. People are afraid to tell their bosses that they are wrong.
It's all over the news - China has blocked several internet services - YouTube and Twitter and several others. Not Blogger. Not that I know of. The disconnection does not bother me - I'm not there. What I want to know is, how do they do it? Do they disconnect the servers? I have no clue. I guess officials who must maintain control must first control communication between and among people, especially dangerous people. It's like dispersing a bunch of ants. It really doesn't take much. Birds of a feather flock together. Those who are in charge and those who are controlled (or manipulated.) People are like cattle - very easy to herd. Good luck.
Posts
