chuck kottke

I would think they'll announce something of it at some point in time??! Anyhow, unless they're really Amoeba in disguise, the tour schedule can only go so many places. Where in South America would be best??

Ouch! Looks a bit tender yet..:cry: And it appears that the lightning grounded to just the one side (as the burns show) hence did not stop the poor cow's heart. Looks like it will heal in time - and a healthy young animal, so it'll keep getting better...:)

New Amsterdam or Old Amsterdam?:P RaNdoM ThOuGHt: Where is the farm bell heading next??

Nude will be played.:P

How was it awful??

811 jump just fractions of a second before the elevator stops when ascending flights, and get the extra "lift" in the jump! (elevator zero-gravity effect).:P

:stunned::rolleyes:Why are you snapping that whip at poor ren, Julia?:laugh3: (a person could get whiplash that way!) Quarantine - sounds vaguely phobic of germs to me.. Arachnophobia like?

Take heart, brother Ricardo! I do as well take the environment very seriously! So seriously some say, that I've become a bit of an eccentric..:beatnik: So, given the state of things, I'm always interested in Green technologies, innovations, designs, better ways overall, and others. Actually, I'm convinced that the modern world is changing albeit slowly and with great hesitation towards greening of products, houses, lawns, gardens, autos, etc. I'm fascinated by how much better we can be just by being more efficient. Gardening is one great example - it's almost a zero-emitter of greenhouse gases, and provides excellent fresh produce within a stone's throw from one's home. No need to go galavanting across the universe for that elusive melon or squash, potato or tomato - there it all is, in season! No power outage, fuel shortage, price hike, or traffic to wrestle with - just good old fashioned cultivation, mulching, watering, and fertilizing, and a little TLC - and it's productive! Now in places where the weather is inclement for 6 months, we've got to rely on food storage, or else be forced to eat the slim pickings at the stores. So, to be green, the answer is (a) freezing is the next best thing to fresh food, and (b) find the greenest freezer around. For anyone on a budget, there's always the traditional ice house (ice is cut and hauled off lakes in winter, and stored in simple buildings, packed in sawdust and shavings as insulation. Keeps all year, if done right). More modern is the super-efficient freezers available, which if kept in a cool basement, can do the job and use only a trickle of electric juice. Supplied with solar panels, solar-electric turbines, wind turbines, etc., and you're going green! So simple, yet often everyone's in a rush. So, there's the local markets, greenhouse growers, and wild foods to be gathered as well. Here we have an abundance of Watercress, which is a super-nutritious plant, and grows year-round in the seepage springs in a pond on the farm. One could sow wild rice and perpetually harvest it as well. Mexico sounds too ideal for me to even imagine - I'd be making juice from the cactus fruits, growing avocados, mangoes, and oodles of sapote trees! What grows well in your neighborhood?

This is why people from here are selected to work in Antarctica..:dozey: Just think of it as space-suit time!:laugh3: Outside=outer space. Missing glove=frozen hand! Missing insulation=frostbit leg! It's why we make better astronauts too!:lol: Now I must go and brave the cold arctic tundra, in search of dry wood...

Check this out!! Silicon 42 is the magic isotope!"Magic" numbers remain magic - physicsworld.com

:cool:Oh, to be basking in 43 degree heat! It's not that bad tonight -10F (-24C), which I am told is tolerable because it's a dry cold. That's like saying dry ice to me, but they tell me it's not as bad as if it were a wet cold.:laugh3: One day it got up to the freezing point, and I was jumping for joy! Count your blessings + 43F is California Dreaming on Such a Winter's Day to us in the Ice Box!:P

I know, I know - Twisted!:laugh3: But it does highlight the absurdities; where the two universes intersect.

Raisin capitol!:cool: You Californians need some toughening up to appreciate your climate!! Try some 26 below zero weather to really know why anything above 30F (-2 C) is paradise!:P Anyhow, Bryce, have you got that hot air- cold air exchange pipeline completed yet??

Time to Bump this thread!:P

I used to bowl in the 80's and 90's, but sometimes 100.. Once I think I bowled a 135, but that's probably my best ever..:P

Pardon me??:stunned: Oh, probably long ago, no doubt! But then they've got all our accounts, Ian; so many so, that it's a blizzard of information that so-far has kept us somewhat safe from Big Brother. Although, new software is being developed/resurrected - artificial intelligence programs to sift the mountains of data for connections, and thought patterns. Soon, they'll be able to steal all our oatmeal cookie recipes, and guess who's getting the cookies!:P All to an agency that's literally unaccountable; lovely, isn't it!;) I think, and this it just my bias, but living here in a nation that has never experienced Orwellian control like a Soviet state under Stalin, or China under Mao, we just haven't a clue why this is wrong. McCarthy should have given us an incling of what goes wrong when a demagogue gets ahold of everyone's personal information for political use (as in destroying people's lives); more recently, Nixon and his xenophobic tendencies. Yet, every time something bad goes wrong, it takes decades to undo the lost rights. Which leads to the question of "why if the agency knew everything ahead of time, did it not pass the information on, or act on it??" "why did the 9-11 commission not investigate our own intelligence failures?". And it's not the fault of the employees - it's the bosses. I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but I can see how people can get caught up in the idea of one!! Bill (a former employee of CARNIVORE/ESCHELON) tells me that he thinks it's for growing the agency's bureaucracy; but he's spooked. A more likely scenario is turf wars over credit for the big case to be won. All the chiefs wanted to be the ones to break the case and nab the conspirators, so nobody would share information. Cruel to think they would choose petty cap feathers over preventing shockingly deadly acts of violence, but this is unfortuantely one of the failings of power. But who holds them accountable? Historians? McCarthy died before justice was served. Rumsfeld will probably perish before his decision to use torture will ever cause him to face justice. I think stemming the problem at the source is the only answer, and that requires a better system of checks and balances, and more accountability of officeholders to we citizens, lest they simply brush off their duties because campaign cash and old alliances have blinded them to the needs of justice. So, has someone tapped my account? No doubt, but probably just for laughs!:lol: [ame=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5464625623984168940]nineteen eighty-four 1984[/ame]

:rolleyes:Non sequitur ?? Like the US doesn't maniplate our Dollar?:laugh3: I still think it's simple - get the corrupting influence of money out of politics as much as is possible, and then more equitable solutions abound. We sell wonderful equipment to China, but are flooded with very inexpensive Chinese tools and other goods. Maybe a re-examination on economic stability in general needs to be done; too much dependence either way limits competitors and creates monolithic manufacturing chains, where only the brand and features vary. Obviously, we cannot live without China, nor can China live without us, simply because this is the way the modern global supply and manufacturing chain is set up. But we do need to have real GDP and savings to have a stable economy, so the idea of borrowing and spending wildly as consumers is risky and unsustainable to say the very least.. I took a look at how the Chinese live and invest - they're amazingly cautious (wisely so), and I like the casual atmosphere of their way of investing - like a comfortable recreation room, with ping-pong tables, foosball, and small computer screens; it strikes a sharp contrast from the wild maket floors in the US! (perhaps this was a media view of family investors, though??). But more to the point - we need to put people back to work in the US, and for the life of me, I can't see everything going to the service sector. That's not sustainable! What does appear to be happening is more specialization into one facet of the manufacturing supply chain, and fewer competitors. Then there's specialty custom products for those with the cash (luxury boats, luxury furniture and interiors, etc.). But now the economy is slow, so orders for new "durable goods" is down, and so the supply line is slow, laying off; the luxury boat market, I haven't a clue!:laugh3: (no tax breaks to the wealthy, and that could slow up too!). Ever wonder if anyone, and I mean anyone, really and truly understands the global economy? I'm seriously thinking it's beyond comprehension, and the best we can do is take an educated guess. The truth is that it's really all about raw materials, educated dedicated people working in teams, natural exchanges, technologies applied and technologies developing, and a whole host of irrational human factors that defy mathematical models and predictions. Truthfully, if one word can change the whole global market system - "manipulating" currency; this is beyond rational explinations. Better to say every nation and corporation tries to manipulate things to their advantage, which if they're smart, is also to the advantage of their trading partners, since we're all in this boat together. Too self-interested, and we all suffer in the end. What bothers me is the lack of intelligent planning in the whole process. Buildings pop up faster than the moon rises at night; farming has to shift from place to place; the complexity grows, and makes us weary of the rush-rush nature of it all.. we've got to get smarter about our collective civilization, else it's growing with no thought about efficiency, durability, or human comfort qualities that matter; it's too removed from reality, and by extension, becomes both unwieldy and unsustanable.

Obviously it is, but my question is why? Do older rock stars get insecure when they're out of the spotlight, as only music aficionados familiar with their genre will quickly recall their contributions. That's not to say Joe isn't great, but so are 1000's of others who influence rock music today. I think they just want attention - some type of tribute to their creative efforts, or what they perceive as their contributions, however the process of ideas and sound combinations make their way around the globe. What gets me is how they always zero in on the top acts. You'll never hear of them suing some virtually unknown new band, eh?;) What ever happened to that older Dutch singer residing in Italy who wanted recognition for Clocks??:laugh3: (and believe me, there's absolutely no connection there whatsoever!) Well, this is the down side to fame and fortune - all the attacks, the papparazi, the negative gossipy press, and the travel schedule...

Welcome to the greatest show on earth, Kaylee!:) Are you related to Peter Gabriel?? One of my favorite artists, and very inspirational.

Sounds like an excellent program!;)

did you bowl above 100?:inquisitive::)

This interesting program on NOVA aired today - any thoughts? NOVA | The Spy Factory | PBS

Bummer!:cry: I was so hoping for a fresh strawberry!:p How did you do @ bowling??

Hey, I'm just trying to promote the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything!:P Silicone, that's what Pamela's jugs have in them, not Silicon! If they were silicon, they'd clink when they bounce!:laugh3:

Hello Loretin! How are the strawberries doing down in Chile? :P