When the Demos won control of Congress in '06 I figured that, if nothing else, the price of gasoline would go down. I mean we had been told time and again about Bush's buddies in the business of crude... oil that is, Texas Tea... and well, what would make a Demo more happy than to rain on a Bush Bud???
Evidently attacking Bush appointees about such alleged crimes as firing ADA's and becoming confused about what they said on "Meet The Press" was more important than the citzen's pocketbook. But I digress.
I have long believed that the price of gasoline is set by a group of guys who secretly meet in a local Denny's, after driving around town and wrting down what is on public display at all the quickie marts and filling stations and doing such intensive research as:
"Morning Joe, how's business?"
"Wonderful Mike, we didn't slow down a bit when the price cracked $12.99."
In the meantime the world holds its breath to see if the Fed's interest rate cut will sand bag the river and the government's giveback will stem the tide. And while I hope, I sure don't know. As Brother Dave Gardner said, "Dear hearts, the problem is" oil.
More specifically the almost 100% run up in price over the past two years.
Now I don't believe in price controls. The last time we tried that, under Nixon it was, we wound up with inflation and shortages. But we could do something like pouring a few billion dollars into basic research on stuff like fusion, batteries, etc. It would be wasteful as hell but all government is wasteful. And it might work.
Building some nuclear reactors would reduce our dependence on imported natural gass and heatung oil.. Might have to kick a few environmental wackos in the butt, but that's a good thing.
Paying people to grow corn to make alcohol increases the price of corn meal and other food products. Doing it for sugar beets would be better because you can import all the sugar you want from a variety of places, and the world price wouldn't change that much..
But that won't buy you many votes...
So I wonder. Does our Congress want us to be free of the Shieks of Arabia? Or have they developed a secondary addiction.... to ME oil money?? Ask Bill Clinton. I think he gets about $10 million a year..... and just who is his wife???
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The dog ate his homework... uh... vote
Barack Obama angered fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child welfare office on Chicago's West Side. But Obama had a ready explanation: He goofed.
"I was not aware that I had voted no," he said that day in June 2002, asking that the record be changed to reflect that he "intended to vote yes."
And then....? and then....?
Of those, according to transcripts of the proceedings in Springfield, he hit the wrong button at least six times.
Anybody besides me thinking of nuclear trigger buttons???
Link to LA Times
The religion of peace
again asserts its rights to kill over insults.
He now needs protection.
Let me know when a Muslim leader decides to defend religious freedom and/or freedom of speech/expression.
I won't hold my breath.
....Geert Wilders has made the ten minute film promoting his belief that the Koran inspires people 'to do the worst things'. His views have inspired him to talk about a 'Tsunami of Islamisation' in Europe, for the Koran to be banned, and for Dutch Muslims to either give up their religion or leave the country.
He now needs protection.
He needs it. The last Dutchman to make a film which angered some ended up with a knife in his chest attached to a note insulting Jews and Christians. Theo Van Gogh's murderer, an Islamist, also attempted to behead his victim in the street.
The violence of the Danish Cartoon protests of 2005 roared around the world and resulted in dozens of deaths. Now, hearing of the Wilders film, the Iranian Parliament has warned of 'extensive repercussions around the world' if it's shown
It could all come to nothing, but it could get ugly. The Grand Mufti of Syria accuses Mr Wilders of 'inciting wars and bloodshed and he will be responsible'.
This in effect means, 'it's your fault if I'm violent' which is an interesting argument but not one which would stand up in a court of law. If someone insults your family and you hit them you are still guilty of violent physical assault.
Let me know when a Muslim leader decides to defend religious freedom and/or freedom of speech/expression.
I won't hold my breath.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
msken wrote that
I should do a post or so on poker since my moniker is Poker Player...
In Texas Holdem, here is some basic information to start thinking about. If it is of interest, I'll do more.
The best way to double your money is to go the cashier's cage. Stop. Take out your money. Fold it over and put it back in your pocket. Go home. (Same will work for Craps, Slots, Blackjack, etc....)
The game was designed for the "drop." That's the money the house takes from each pot and drops down a slot. This pays for them to run a safe, honest, secure game.
Now the drop will vary based on the size of the pot, with a maximum amount. Let's say that would be $3.00.
Look at the number of hands you will play per hour. Multiply that times the drop and you have what you can't win. The typical mid limit game, say $15-$30, will have about 35 hands per hour. That's $115.00 that you can't win, but if you play no hands, you can't lose. If you play say 10 hands, that's $30 you can't win. Let's say you win 3 hands for a combined total of $400, less the drop, or $391. Let's say you loose 7 hands in which you have invested $400. Broke even, right? Wrong. You lost $9.00. To break even you need to win $409. Now I know that doesn't sound like much, but over time it adds up.
Note - A "fast" Internet game can run up to 80 or more hands per hour. So if you are playing on the net you will see a bigger impact.
BTW - Some casinos charge "time." Time is collected on the half hour, say $10, or $20per hour. That's $160 for a 8 hour stint, so you may need to think about playing more hands in a shorter period of time. This is one of the reasons "time" games are looser than "drop" games, irrespective of the dollar size.
Look at the size of the pots you win vs the size of the ones you loose. If your winning pots are all small compared to the pots you loose, then you should consider quitting that game, or change your strategy, if you can afford to. If not, quit.
Card value changes with the number of players. In a 5 handed game big pairs and big cards are more valuable than in a 9 or 10 handed game. But also consider this. If 4 people average seeing the flop in a loose 5 handed game and 4 people average seeing the flop in a medium 9 handed game, the result is the same, right? Wrong. In the 9 handed game there are more hands out, thus it is more likely that the hands will be better on the average. Big card value is inversely proportional to the number of players.
That's a start.
In Texas Holdem, here is some basic information to start thinking about. If it is of interest, I'll do more.
The best way to double your money is to go the cashier's cage. Stop. Take out your money. Fold it over and put it back in your pocket. Go home. (Same will work for Craps, Slots, Blackjack, etc....)
The game was designed for the "drop." That's the money the house takes from each pot and drops down a slot. This pays for them to run a safe, honest, secure game.
Now the drop will vary based on the size of the pot, with a maximum amount. Let's say that would be $3.00.
Look at the number of hands you will play per hour. Multiply that times the drop and you have what you can't win. The typical mid limit game, say $15-$30, will have about 35 hands per hour. That's $115.00 that you can't win, but if you play no hands, you can't lose. If you play say 10 hands, that's $30 you can't win. Let's say you win 3 hands for a combined total of $400, less the drop, or $391. Let's say you loose 7 hands in which you have invested $400. Broke even, right? Wrong. You lost $9.00. To break even you need to win $409. Now I know that doesn't sound like much, but over time it adds up.
Note - A "fast" Internet game can run up to 80 or more hands per hour. So if you are playing on the net you will see a bigger impact.
BTW - Some casinos charge "time." Time is collected on the half hour, say $10, or $20per hour. That's $160 for a 8 hour stint, so you may need to think about playing more hands in a shorter period of time. This is one of the reasons "time" games are looser than "drop" games, irrespective of the dollar size.
Look at the size of the pots you win vs the size of the ones you loose. If your winning pots are all small compared to the pots you loose, then you should consider quitting that game, or change your strategy, if you can afford to. If not, quit.
Card value changes with the number of players. In a 5 handed game big pairs and big cards are more valuable than in a 9 or 10 handed game. But also consider this. If 4 people average seeing the flop in a loose 5 handed game and 4 people average seeing the flop in a medium 9 handed game, the result is the same, right? Wrong. In the 9 handed game there are more hands out, thus it is more likely that the hands will be better on the average. Big card value is inversely proportional to the number of players.
That's a start.
Once upon a time
there was a guy named Douglas Bruce who lived in Colorado Springs, CO. Now being an astute sort, and having lived in a state that was known for its boom and bust cycles, he observed that what happened during the fat years was that the legislature would start all kinds of new programs with the extra tax dollars, and then demand tax increases during the lean years to fund the "essential programs." The result being a never ending cycle of tax increases. (Sound familar?)
He became kind of a gadfly, flirting about pushing the simple concept that the state could not spend more than it's budget and that any surplus had to be refunded to the tax payer prorated based on the amount the tax payer had paid in the previous year.
What a country!
He was, of course, not well liked by the politicans, by the media and the special interest groups. In fact it seemed that his property was always getting inspected and fined...among other things. Now Colorado is an initative state. The citizens can change the constitution and add/remove laws by ballott. So after some years he got his idea on the ballot, and it passed. And it remained passed until Colorado got enough Californiaians moving in to change it back.
I thought of all this when I happened to see the linked story. I hope he did no permanent damge to the photographer..
and I glad to see he is still kicking around.
He became kind of a gadfly, flirting about pushing the simple concept that the state could not spend more than it's budget and that any surplus had to be refunded to the tax payer prorated based on the amount the tax payer had paid in the previous year.
What a country!
He was, of course, not well liked by the politicans, by the media and the special interest groups. In fact it seemed that his property was always getting inspected and fined...among other things. Now Colorado is an initative state. The citizens can change the constitution and add/remove laws by ballott. So after some years he got his idea on the ballot, and it passed. And it remained passed until Colorado got enough Californiaians moving in to change it back.
I thought of all this when I happened to see the linked story. I hope he did no permanent damge to the photographer..
and I glad to see he is still kicking around.
Anybody looking for a job??
Asnaco Enterprises
Accra, Ghana
West Africa
Hello,
I am Brian Clarke. I am the Managing Director of Asnaco Enterprises, a company which deals in African Prints, textiles, and fabrics. We are located in Ghana, West Africa. We currently seek to recruit overseas based receiver-agents who would receive payments on our behalf from our international clientele. We have clients in parts of Europe, North America and Asia.
We had to embark on this recruitment drive as a result of the difficulties we experience whenever we receive payments from our international clients. Due to a lack of supporting local infrastructure in our country, we are unable to receive payments via online payment systems, paypal and credit cards. Also the lengthy processing of international checks and other money instruments from foreign countries, causes cash flow problems.
As an individual would you be interested in acting as our receiver agent in your country on a part-time basis? All you have to do is receive payments from our clients on our behalf. For rendering this valuable service, you get to keep ten percent of whatever amount you receive from our clients, and send the rest to us as cash according to our payment instructions.
please note: you are not paying for anything and no one is asking you for any banking information. We only require your honesty and reliability.
If you are interested in our offer then send your full names, country of residence and mobile number when responding to this offer to the underlisted emailaddress:
Email:
We would respond with further details about this arrangement.
We appreciate the time taken by you to read our offer, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
Brian Clarke
Managing Director
Asnaco Enterprises
I have eliminated the email address becaise I may decide to take it myself...
;-)
It's hard to imagine this
but for a mere 200,000 pounds sterling you can become an astronaut...
Source article.
I read science fiction in my youth and still do, though not as much. I also collect it and have about 2500 magazines plus books... Many go back to the mid 20's. As a young man I spent a great deal of time flying around in some Naval Aviation aircraft that looked as if they wouldn't get off the ground, much less fly....
So this has to go on my "bucket list." Now if the market will just cooperate..
And I have to wonder if they will serve domestic only wine??
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