Category Archives: General

General

Mystery find in Baltic Sea

I first heard about this fascinating story a little while back. When exactly I can’t remember, but this video from CNN is probably the best update (to now) of that particular story, involving a very mysterious looking shape -a UFO?- discovered by sonar at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

The most fascinating thing about the story -other than the odd shape of the object!- is its size.  That combination adds to the mystery.  According to the report, we’ll have to wait until at least May, when the Baltic waters become smoother, before getting a closer look.  I’m curious to hear what they find then!

General

Billion Dollar Bank Error

Read this article by Bruce Watson on the Daily Finance and had to pass it along:

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/01/19/what-would-you-do-with-a-billion-dollar-bank-error/

Yes, indeed, the story is about one Parijat Saha who found that he had 9.8 BILLION dollars in his bank account and what he did afterwards.

I’ll spoil it a bit for you:  He did the right thing.

However, if you read the rest of the article it presents some other examples of errors in people’s bank accounts and the actions of said people with the…ahem…extra cash they found at their disposal.

I’m rather torn about this.  On the one hand, if you find a huge amount of cash appear in your bank account that you know isn’t yours, it seems stupid to think that you can simply claim it as your own, use it as you please, and assume no one will ever find out.  Particularly when the amount of money that appears in your account may be very, very large.  Someone will eventually figure it out.

On the other hand…you didn’t make the error.  The bank did.  And if they made the error why should you be held…

Ok, Ok, I know.  Fanciful thinking.  It’s not your money to begin with and by using it you are effectively “stealing” what is not yours.

But at 9.8 billion dollars…what a temptation!

General

The other side of Rick Steves

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Another post from the past, one that featured a fascinating interview with one Rick Steves.  If you are at all familiar with him, he appears on the show to be someone in the Mister Rogers mold.  My comments are quite brief and the link to the interview is presented at the end:

This is why I like websites like Salon and Slate.  The link below leads to an interview with PBS traveller/showhost Rick Steves, who offers some interesting comments on the world, terrorism, and marijuana!  Fascinating stuff, whether you agree or disagree with his views (and interesting to note that such an apparently laid back and pleasant host could have such strong views on a host of issues!).  The interview appears in Salon.com and was conducted by Kevin Berger.

http://www.salon.com/2009/03/20/rick_steves/singleton/

Re-reading the interview today, now almost three years old, it is fascinating how much/little we’ve progressed in that time.  I can’t say I agree with everything Mr. Steves says, but this question and answer from the article, in particular, I found very enlightening.  Your mileage, as they say, may vary:

What’s the most important thing people can learn from traveling?

A broader perspective. They can see themselves as part of a family of humankind. It’s just quite an adjustment to find out that the people who sit on toilets on this planet are the odd ones. Most people squat. You’re raised thinking this is the civilized way to go to the bathroom. But it’s not. It’s the Western way to go to the bathroom. But it’s not more civilized than somebody who squats. A man in Afghanistan once told me that a third of this planet eats with spoons and forks, and a third of the planet eats with chopsticks, and a third eats with their fingers. And they’re all just as civilized as one another.

General

Olivia Munn…naked!…well…for PETA ad…

For the past four or so days, whenever I click on to CNN.com and view the “latest news” items on the left side of the page, toward the bottom of this list I’ve seen this headline and link to the Entertainment Weekly posting:

“Olivia Munn poses nude for PETA ad”.

Now, I grant you, Olivia Munn is a very, very pretty woman.  I first discovered her on G4’s Attack of the Show where she was not only gorgeous (something I suspect she is incapable of not being…it’s in her DNA), but also delightfully funny.

However, having said all that, is CNN so starved for news that this article/link deserves to be up there for all these days?  I mean, I’m as red blooded a male as anyone out there, but…

…hell…

Those are some nice pictures! 😉

General

Friday the 13th…

My friend Mike Shoemaker posted this on Facebook and I just had to re-post it:

Today is a good day for all promiscuous, pot-smoking camp counselors to stay away from Camp Crystal Lake. Just sayin’.

Thanks for the advice, Mike! 😉

General

Paving Paradise

Articles like these by Charles Kenny and posted on Foreign Policy are incredibly fascinating -to me- and open my eyes to realities I hadn’t quite considered.

While many point out the negatives of the concrete jungle many of us live in, Mr. Kenny points out that living with a bit of concrete is actually a good thing, both financially and from a health standpoint.

As I said before, a fascinating article:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/01/03/paving_paradise

General

Iowa…

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Politics, like sports, can be a fascinating thing to watch, and last night turned out to be another example, in my mind, of why the Republicans face an incredibly uphill battle to unseat Barack Obama.  Yes, I know there are pundits far more knowledgeable of the system than me who speak of a “squeaker” election.

So far, I have strong doubts about that.

The Republican’s most viable candidate, again in my mind, is John Huntsman, but he was an almost complete no show in Iowa.  While he may surge a bit in New Hampshire, it just doesn’t seem like he’s got enough interest to secure the nomination.

The “strongest” candidate and yesterday’s Iowa winner was Mitt Romney.  But he appears to have a ceiling of support that rises to not much more than 25% (which is what he scored, not so coincidentally, in Iowa).  I suspect he will eventually get the nomination, but when one on one up against Barack Obama, I believe Mr. Obama will prevail.

Then again, I also feel that both these individuals, Mr. Obama and Romney, are essentially the same politician…moderate Republicans of yesteryear who show some liberal tendencies but may be more comfortable with the policies and philosophies of a Eisenhower, Nixon, or Ford rather than a Roosevelt, Kennedy, or Johnson.

Then again, we’re talking politics, and individual opinions are as easy to find as solid truths are virtually impossible to ascertain.

Books/Literature, General

Once More Into The Brink…

I was growing increasingly dissatisfied with the blog software I was using and decided the New Year was a good time to make a change.  What you see here is a quick fix, a temporary blog that is nonetheless to my eyes far nicer than what was going on before.  As time permits (and my knowledge of Word Press increases), I’ll do tweaks as well as links to my old posts.

In the meantime, I hope that those reading this post have taken advantage of the FREE KINDLE EBOOK download of my short story collection Shadows at Dawn.  If you haven’t, the promotion will be in effect through Friday, January the 6th and can be reached at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-At-Dawn-ebook/dp/B0063NGIUE/ref=ntt_at_ep_edition_2_4?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2