Another Book About Sex

From a Yahoo! News story: “WARSAW, Poland – The Rev. Ksawery Knotz has a message for all married Catholic couples out there: there's nothing wrong with a steamy sex life. In fact, it's a good thing. In his new book "Sex as you don't know it: For married couples who love God," the Polish friar provides a theological and practical guide for Catholics that has little in common with the strait-laced attitudes often associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Clergymen, including Knotz's countryman Pope John Paul II and his successor Pope Benedict XVI, have written about the ethics of love, marriage and sexuality before, but few if any priests have taken Knotz's explicit approach to sex — including everything from the theological to the practical, from oral sex to contraception and the number of children a Catholic couple should have. The book received the necessary approval from Poland's church authorities that it is theologically in line with Catholic teachings. There also has been no sign of a backlash in the heavily Catholic and conservative homeland of the late Pope John Paul II. Still, Knotz acknowledges that a priest writing a book about sex "is in and of itself a bit of a sensation."
Well, I’m guessing that God invented sex anyway, so I am not one bit surprised by this.

AN IDEA

From a Yahoo! News story: “WASHINGTON – Tinkering with Earth's climate to chill runaway global warming — a radical idea once dismissed out of hand — is being discussed by the White House as a potential emergency option, the president's new science adviser said Wednesday. That's because global warming is happening so rapidly, John Holdren told The Associated Press in his first interview since being confirmed last month. The concept of using technology to purposely cool the climate is called geoengineering. One option raised by Holdren and proposed by a Nobel Prize-winning scientist includes shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays.” Why not just use mirrors to shoot some rays back at the sun? Let me see, I’m sure we can come up with many other ways of cooling the climate down. How about manufacturing a giant refrigerated air unit and pointing it straight at the bad guy – the sun? Put the thing in Siberia where everything is colder. How about shooting ice cubes at the sun? How about wearing more layers of clothing so that your body heat stays with you and is not let off into the atmosphere? Is that feasible? Sure. How about capturing heat in small boxes during the day and closing the lids? Could someone invent a heat trap – like a mouse trap except for heat? Has anyone asked why it is we are trying to save the Earth anyway? Is it worth all the trouble? PLEASE.

Crystal Balls

From Business Week (the magazine): Some of the worst financial predictions for 2008 and you can see why: “1. "A very powerful and durable rally is in the works. But it may need another couple of days to lift off. Hold the fort and keep the faith!" — Richard Band, editor, Profitable Investing Letter, Mar. 27, 2008. 2. AIG "could have huge gains in the second quarter." — Bijan Moazami, analyst, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, May 9, 2008. 3. "Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are fundamentally sound.... I think they are in good shape going forward." — Barney Frank (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee Chairman, July 14, 2008. 4. "I'm not an economist, but I do believe that we're growing." — President George W. Bush, July 15, 2008. 5. "I think Bob Steel's the one guy I trust to turn this bank around, which is why I've told you on weakness to buy Wachovia." — Jim Cramer, CNBC commentator, Sept. 15, 2008. 6. "Existing-Home Sales to Trend Up in 2008" — Headline of a National Association of Realtors press release, Dec. 9, 2007. 7. "I think you'll see $150 a barrel [of oil] by the end of the year." — T. Boone Pickens, June 20, 2008. 8. "I expect there will be some failures.... I don't anticipate any serious problems of that sort among the large internationally active banks." — Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman, Feb. 28, 2008. 9. "In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules." — Bernard Madoff, money manager, Oct. 20, 2007. 10. "There's growing evidence that parts of the debt markets...are coming back to life." — Peter Coy and Mara Der Hovanesian, Business Week, Oct. 1, 2007” THE WOMAN AT LEFT is saying something like "SAY WHAT?"

Stock Market Up

I told you so. Today, the market is at 9325 and going up steadily. If you didn't buy at least 100,000 shares when I first advised you three weeks ago, it is a little late now. Sure, the market will continue to go up, but only a little at a time. The time was ripe when the market hit 8500. If you don't have a broker, go outside and look for the hemlines on ladies like the one on the left. That is the only sure indicator of where the market is headed. I told you so.

Is it LOVE or is it Memorex?

If you know me at all, you know I like breaking things down to their lowest common denominator. So, to get to the point, people always want to know whether someone is really in love with them or not. Two things: If he is always generous with you and if he always forgives your errors, then the answer is yes. It is really that simple. Actually, generosity seems to be the key ingredient in love. When the person stops giving, it's over.

Advice column

I am an experimenter - I should have been a researcher. I am about to conduct an experiment on this blog, such as it is. Effective immediately, I will be posting unsolicited advice on various topics - too numerous to mention - from anaconcada death grip avoidance to zebra stripe interpretation. I will try to avoid relationship advice - that's way too touchy a subject - now and then, if I can't help myself, it will be here too. I am the writer after all - and, best of all, it will be free. Very soon also, I will start posting profiles of various orchestra members. That will be interesting. They say that truth is stranger than fiction. So, how do you keep an anaconda from strangling you to death? If you can't totally stay away from the rain forest, keep a lighter in your pocket at all times. Light a fire under the snake's belly as soon as you notice it wrapping itself around you, being careful not to catch your own garment on fire. That's my best guess.