Arm yourself with more reality than you will ever get from a Michael Mooron film.
If you're a Brit, you might not qualify for the healthcare you need. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6742149.stm
If you're Canadian, you may, probably will, wait forever to get your treatment. http://www.freemarketcure.com/whynotgovhc.php
If you're worried about the "45 million uninsured in America," see the reality. http://www.freemarketcure.com/uninsuredinamerica.php
Heck, see what USA Today has to say: In Canada, even the anti-privatization Canadian Health Coalition laments long lines. In France and Britain, the tax burden is 42% and 27% respectively, as opposed to 12% in the USA, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In Cuba, equipment and drugs are scarce. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-06-21-michael-moore-side_N.htm
Monday, June 25, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Where Oh Where Did The Carbon Go
The National Center For Atmospheric Research, NCAR, reports CO2 climate models are wrong - again.
All these years teh global warmers have been telling us northern forests absorb almost twice as much CO2 as they really do. They've also been telling us tropical forests remove much less than they do.
What that means to you and me is simple:
Every CO2 climate model in use today is wrong. Every stinking one of them. The causes of global warming, what can or should be done about it, and predictions about it are wrong. Every single stinking one of them.
What should we do? If you live in a state that bought into the the Kyoto garbage, start pushing your government to change the way it allocates global warming funding.
If they really want to fight global warming, they have to start working very hard to bring those countries destroying their forests into the 20th century.
The poor need better than slash and burn agriculture as a means of survival.
The countries need to get serious about protecting the forests.
Someone must find ways to recover tropical forest already destroyed. They are notoriously hard to recover; no one has a good way to do it. Someone must find a way to regrow them; it might as well be you.
Get busy.
Don't forget to see Problems with Man Did It Global Warming for more inforamtion on global warming.
All these years teh global warmers have been telling us northern forests absorb almost twice as much CO2 as they really do. They've also been telling us tropical forests remove much less than they do.
What that means to you and me is simple:
Every CO2 climate model in use today is wrong. Every stinking one of them. The causes of global warming, what can or should be done about it, and predictions about it are wrong. Every single stinking one of them.
What should we do? If you live in a state that bought into the the Kyoto garbage, start pushing your government to change the way it allocates global warming funding.
If they really want to fight global warming, they have to start working very hard to bring those countries destroying their forests into the 20th century.
The poor need better than slash and burn agriculture as a means of survival.
The countries need to get serious about protecting the forests.
Someone must find ways to recover tropical forest already destroyed. They are notoriously hard to recover; no one has a good way to do it. Someone must find a way to regrow them; it might as well be you.
Get busy.
Don't forget to see Problems with Man Did It Global Warming for more inforamtion on global warming.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Coke: The 20 Oz Dribble Glass
I admit it. I'm a Pepsi drinker. But, sometimes you find yourself in an undesirable situation where Coke is all there is.
It was just such a situation I found myself in at 8 AM the other day. Coffee or Coke products. (You would expect better from a high end car dealer wouldn't you?) Don't drink coffee. Doing without caffeine at that hour is not an option. Coke it is.
So there I sit in my very comfortable waiting room leather chair. Watching the big screen TV with a remote customers can actually use.
Sip.
Dribble.
What? Am I missing my mouth that badly? Not even at 8 AM; just can't be. Way too many years practice for that.
Sip.
Dribble.
Now it's on my shirt. Time to get serious.
Turns out these 20 oz plastic bottles have an insane modification to the screw tops. On the bottle the threads are disrupted by channels on opposite sides of the bottle. If you don't get the bottle in your mouth the right way or further than most of us do, it has to drip.
Has to. Even Coke can't avoid physics.
I can only conclude the person who approved this design saw a chance to stick who knows how many thousands, maybe millions, of Coke drinkers with dribble glasses.
It was just such a situation I found myself in at 8 AM the other day. Coffee or Coke products. (You would expect better from a high end car dealer wouldn't you?) Don't drink coffee. Doing without caffeine at that hour is not an option. Coke it is.
So there I sit in my very comfortable waiting room leather chair. Watching the big screen TV with a remote customers can actually use.
Sip.
Dribble.
What? Am I missing my mouth that badly? Not even at 8 AM; just can't be. Way too many years practice for that.
Sip.
Dribble.
Now it's on my shirt. Time to get serious.
Turns out these 20 oz plastic bottles have an insane modification to the screw tops. On the bottle the threads are disrupted by channels on opposite sides of the bottle. If you don't get the bottle in your mouth the right way or further than most of us do, it has to drip.
Has to. Even Coke can't avoid physics.
I can only conclude the person who approved this design saw a chance to stick who knows how many thousands, maybe millions, of Coke drinkers with dribble glasses.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Is Ditech Laughing At Us?
How dumb do they think YOU are?
Ditech has a commercial right now asking us what would happen if a company thought people were smart.
Then they tell us how smart we are hiding keys in plastic rocks – how dumb is that since every burglar worth the title knows what those rocks look like.
Worse, they have a Bill Clinton voice saying, “People are smart.” You and I and every thinking creature, including marine mammals, on the planet knows BJ thinks we’re all stupid. Then he proved how many really are stupid by convincing enough people felony perjury is just a blow job that he avoided conviction.
Sorry Ditech. We’re on to you. And we are getting better loans elsewhere.
Ditech has a commercial right now asking us what would happen if a company thought people were smart.
Then they tell us how smart we are hiding keys in plastic rocks – how dumb is that since every burglar worth the title knows what those rocks look like.
Worse, they have a Bill Clinton voice saying, “People are smart.” You and I and every thinking creature, including marine mammals, on the planet knows BJ thinks we’re all stupid. Then he proved how many really are stupid by convincing enough people felony perjury is just a blow job that he avoided conviction.
Sorry Ditech. We’re on to you. And we are getting better loans elsewhere.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Another Nail In AlGore’s Foot
The inventor of the internet made Mt Kilimanjaro's disappearing glaciers a centerpiece of his movie.
Turns out the Inconvenient Truth is global warming by any cause has virtually nothing to do with Kilimanjaro's disappearing glaciers.
In the American Scientist, Jul-Aug, 2007 issue, Philip W. Mote, a University of Washington climate scientist, and Georg Kaser, a glaciologist at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, report what is happening.
It seems the glacier has been disappearing for a century, well before the 70s when GW was first noticeable. They report a lack of new snow, something that was already happening in 1880, combined with features of the glacial shape that prevent growth, are the primary causees of shrinkage.
From http://www.exduco.net/news.php?id=1747
They attribute the ice decline primarily to complex interacting factors, including the vertical shape of the ice's edge, which allows it to shrink but not expand. They also cite decreased snowfall, which reduces ice buildup and determines how much energy the ice absorbs -- because the whiteness of new snow reflects more sunlight, the lack of new snow allows the ice to absorb more of the sun's energy.
Not surprisingly, a local weather cycle of about 1,500 years seems to be involved.
Warning note: When arguing against MDI global warming, do not apply this information to temperate glaciers. They grow and shrink differently.
Don’t forget to check Problems with Man Did It Global Warming. for more information
Turns out the Inconvenient Truth is global warming by any cause has virtually nothing to do with Kilimanjaro's disappearing glaciers.
In the American Scientist, Jul-Aug, 2007 issue, Philip W. Mote, a University of Washington climate scientist, and Georg Kaser, a glaciologist at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, report what is happening.
It seems the glacier has been disappearing for a century, well before the 70s when GW was first noticeable. They report a lack of new snow, something that was already happening in 1880, combined with features of the glacial shape that prevent growth, are the primary causees of shrinkage.
From http://www.exduco.net/news.php?id=1747
They attribute the ice decline primarily to complex interacting factors, including the vertical shape of the ice's edge, which allows it to shrink but not expand. They also cite decreased snowfall, which reduces ice buildup and determines how much energy the ice absorbs -- because the whiteness of new snow reflects more sunlight, the lack of new snow allows the ice to absorb more of the sun's energy.
Not surprisingly, a local weather cycle of about 1,500 years seems to be involved.
Warning note: When arguing against MDI global warming, do not apply this information to temperate glaciers. They grow and shrink differently.
Don’t forget to check Problems with Man Did It Global Warming. for more information
Saturday, June 16, 2007
The Great Medical Equipment Scam
Have you ever needed or wanted something only to find out you couldn’t get it because it is “medical equipment” available only through certified providers and/or with a Dr’s orders?
Say you want to have a hit of oxygen. I understand in CA., you can stop at an Oxygen Bar and get a couple of hits. To relax you and rejuvenate all those parts that may be a bit low because they worked so hard, you understand.
Can you do it at home? Say “medical equipment.”
How asinine can you get? Here’s someone who made an oxygen generator as a 15 year old kid http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Stories/001.1/ Stick a jar over the O2 terminal, a pump from your aquarium in the jar, and breathe the output from the pump. There’s your medical equipment. Just don’t try to buy a safer, more convenient, cheaper in the long term, model. You don’t have a prescription.
Oh yeah. Be sure and test to make sure you have the right terminal. Breathing pure hydrogen can be seriously bad for you.
For those of us who snore big time, we potentially face the scam every month or two. If you’ve ever been diagnosed as snoring due to sleep apnea you see it. You likely have a CPAP, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, machine, an air pump.
What does it do?
It is designed to run continuously for extended periods. Just like the pump on an aquarium.
The pressure can be set very exactly. Just like any pump with a properly fitted pressure valve.
It can probably take secondary input, from an oxygen tank for example. Just like any pump with a T connector in the intake
If you’re lucky, it has a heated moist air system to prevent drying your throat and nose. That’s a hot plate and water jug to most of us.
Then there are all the little plastic, rubber, or whatever they are parts like the air hose, the face mask/nose insert and the part that started this rant.
The inch long, inch diameter, connector from the pump to the water jug. That should be 20 cent part is also “medical equipment.” Just because insurance covers it, doesn’t mean we should sit quietly and let highway robbery continue in the guise of “medical equipment.”
Neither of these items, the CPAP machines and oxygen generators, as well as many other items of "medial equipment" should be hard to get. They should be on the shelves at Wal-Mart, Walgreen’s, and Irv's Discount Electronics. They’d still be safer than pet food from China.
Time to see if our congresspersons work for the medical equipment industry or us. If you don’t already know, here are your elected officials: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
Say you want to have a hit of oxygen. I understand in CA., you can stop at an Oxygen Bar and get a couple of hits. To relax you and rejuvenate all those parts that may be a bit low because they worked so hard, you understand.
Can you do it at home? Say “medical equipment.”
How asinine can you get? Here’s someone who made an oxygen generator as a 15 year old kid http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Stories/001.1/ Stick a jar over the O2 terminal, a pump from your aquarium in the jar, and breathe the output from the pump. There’s your medical equipment. Just don’t try to buy a safer, more convenient, cheaper in the long term, model. You don’t have a prescription.
Oh yeah. Be sure and test to make sure you have the right terminal. Breathing pure hydrogen can be seriously bad for you.
For those of us who snore big time, we potentially face the scam every month or two. If you’ve ever been diagnosed as snoring due to sleep apnea you see it. You likely have a CPAP, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, machine, an air pump.
What does it do?
It is designed to run continuously for extended periods. Just like the pump on an aquarium.
The pressure can be set very exactly. Just like any pump with a properly fitted pressure valve.
It can probably take secondary input, from an oxygen tank for example. Just like any pump with a T connector in the intake
If you’re lucky, it has a heated moist air system to prevent drying your throat and nose. That’s a hot plate and water jug to most of us.
Then there are all the little plastic, rubber, or whatever they are parts like the air hose, the face mask/nose insert and the part that started this rant.
The inch long, inch diameter, connector from the pump to the water jug. That should be 20 cent part is also “medical equipment.” Just because insurance covers it, doesn’t mean we should sit quietly and let highway robbery continue in the guise of “medical equipment.”
Neither of these items, the CPAP machines and oxygen generators, as well as many other items of "medial equipment" should be hard to get. They should be on the shelves at Wal-Mart, Walgreen’s, and Irv's Discount Electronics. They’d still be safer than pet food from China.
Time to see if our congresspersons work for the medical equipment industry or us. If you don’t already know, here are your elected officials: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Word Abuse
In which we abuse words on a whim. Got a good one? You know the address.
______________________________________________________
Gibbous Moon More than plumbers butt, not enough to get you arrested in most jurisdictions.
______________________________________________________
Flocculation An entire chicken herd orgy.
______________________________________________________
Hydrophilic Inflatable sexual device using water to achieve the most pleasing temperature and firmness.
______________________________________________________
Paranormal A straight couple; two “normals.”
______________________________________________________
Rosie Broken dyke. "The Little Dutch Boy saved Holland when he stuck his finger in the rosie."
______________________________________________________
Treadmill Modern milling device used to grind down hip joints.
______________________________________________________
Parthenogenesis Greek cover band playing only one venue.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Waitri Collective noun for waitress/waitpersons. Compare to murder of crows, gam of whales.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Gibbous Moon More than plumbers butt, not enough to get you arrested in most jurisdictions.
______________________________________________________
Flocculation An entire chicken herd orgy.
______________________________________________________
Hydrophilic Inflatable sexual device using water to achieve the most pleasing temperature and firmness.
______________________________________________________
Paranormal A straight couple; two “normals.”
______________________________________________________
Rosie Broken dyke. "The Little Dutch Boy saved Holland when he stuck his finger in the rosie."
______________________________________________________
Treadmill Modern milling device used to grind down hip joints.
______________________________________________________
Parthenogenesis Greek cover band playing only one venue.
______________________________________________________
Estaboga (Yankeespeak) Unexpected find on that Easter morning the bunny had such a bad cold.
______________________________________________________
Waitri Collective noun for waitress/waitpersons. Compare to murder of crows, gam of whales.
______________________________________________________
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Just Do Something! Death By Enviro Do-Gooder
Many members of the MDI global warming crowd want to do something to save the world and they want it NOW!
Most all of us think reducing our pollutant output is good as long as it doesn’t go too far. Too far being reductions causing third worlders to continue suffering disease, malnutrition and the consequences of bad or insufficient water when technology could not only help those problems but lead to an overall reduction of pollution.
That’s not good enough for the ecowakies. They want to leap off the cliffs and do all sorts of things we could do but don’t know what the results will be. They have a history of going off half cocked with bad results. Somehow, they never seem to recognize past results of their poorly understood actions. With that in mind, it’s time to toss out a pair of examples.
Example 1
In today’s news we learned about 2 million tires tossed overboard in the name of reducing landfills by creating artificial reefs, places fish to live. http://www.local10.com/news/13454371/detail.html
Sounds like a good idea. Too bad they didn’t do the research first. Not only do fish prefer not to hang our around petroleum products, the tires didn’t stay together neatly. Now the tires are moving freely with storms and current, slipping into existing reefs they then damage or kill. If they’d not gotten their panties in a bunch, instead of a cost of millions to clean up, those tires could have made better road base or made fuel replacing new carbon based fuel.
Wonder how long it will take us to see the effects of Atlantis Memorial Reef, http://www.atlantismemorialreef.com/home.htm
Example 2
Rachel Carson and her book, Silent Spring, are personally responsible for tens of thousands of third world deaths. Malaria. For those not familiar with the story, it goes like this:
In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring indicting DDT as the cause of many environmental problems. Somewhere the information got lost that a) DDT was being massively overused; any problems DDT was causing were attributable to that abuse, not to DDT used properly, and b) DDT was, and still is, the only known effective weapon against the malaria mosquito.
Because of the book, it's claims, and the flood of wackies, Othmar Zeidler's DDT was effextively tossed world wide by bans on use and manufacture. Fortunately, some organizations have recently had their eyes opened.
Reason Magazine carried an excellent article on the subject called Silent Spring at 40 by Ronald Bailey http://www.reason.com/news/show/34823.html
Most all of us think reducing our pollutant output is good as long as it doesn’t go too far. Too far being reductions causing third worlders to continue suffering disease, malnutrition and the consequences of bad or insufficient water when technology could not only help those problems but lead to an overall reduction of pollution.
That’s not good enough for the ecowakies. They want to leap off the cliffs and do all sorts of things we could do but don’t know what the results will be. They have a history of going off half cocked with bad results. Somehow, they never seem to recognize past results of their poorly understood actions. With that in mind, it’s time to toss out a pair of examples.
Example 1
In today’s news we learned about 2 million tires tossed overboard in the name of reducing landfills by creating artificial reefs, places fish to live. http://www.local10.com/news/13454371/detail.html
Sounds like a good idea. Too bad they didn’t do the research first. Not only do fish prefer not to hang our around petroleum products, the tires didn’t stay together neatly. Now the tires are moving freely with storms and current, slipping into existing reefs they then damage or kill. If they’d not gotten their panties in a bunch, instead of a cost of millions to clean up, those tires could have made better road base or made fuel replacing new carbon based fuel.
Wonder how long it will take us to see the effects of Atlantis Memorial Reef, http://www.atlantismemorialreef.com/home.htm
Example 2
Rachel Carson and her book, Silent Spring, are personally responsible for tens of thousands of third world deaths. Malaria. For those not familiar with the story, it goes like this:
In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring indicting DDT as the cause of many environmental problems. Somewhere the information got lost that a) DDT was being massively overused; any problems DDT was causing were attributable to that abuse, not to DDT used properly, and b) DDT was, and still is, the only known effective weapon against the malaria mosquito.
Because of the book, it's claims, and the flood of wackies, Othmar Zeidler's DDT was effextively tossed world wide by bans on use and manufacture. Fortunately, some organizations have recently had their eyes opened.
Reason Magazine carried an excellent article on the subject called Silent Spring at 40 by Ronald Bailey http://www.reason.com/news/show/34823.html
Friday, June 08, 2007
Cheap Labor, Drunk Deer, Pears, and Ice Cream Salt
I’m lazy. No point in trying to hide that from anyone. I’m also frugal.
I’d really like to thank the hunters I know for giving me this idea to let me be more of both.
I have a couple of places I’d like to kill off the stuff growing, mostly poison ivy. I’d also like to create small shallows to make starting the new plants a bit easier.
I have deer!
Deer like fruit. Apples make great bait but just about any fruit works.
I also have a pear tree, baking pears, with fruit I never use.
Voilà. Half the answer.
Here’s the plan. Grab enough pears, unripe, bug infested, fallen and rotting, doesn’t make any difference, to fill about a gallon bucket.
Slice, dice, mash, so there’s exposed meat on each pear. Add enough warm water – any temperature you can hold your hand under – to cover the pears. Speed things along with a couple of table spoons of sugar. Drop in a yeast packet.
Set in sun for the rest of the day. You can keep it for up to a week but that requires protection from insects and hungry critters.
While it's fermenting, prepare the bait spot. Dig small shallow spot, big enough to hold salt so it is level with the natural sufrace; add salt. I used ice cream salt but table salt works too. If you've got a big area, prepare several shallows and buy hundred pound bags of salt or get cattle salt with minerals.
Dump fermenting fruit and any liquids in the bucket on top of salt.
And there’s the cheap – nearly free – labor. Let the deer do it.
Why fermenting fruit? Because the odor carries further. Better chance the deer will notice. And salt because when it warms up, deer like salt licks.
Now all I have to worry about is coons getting there first. Drunk deer are bad enough. Have you ever seen a drunk raccoon?
I’d really like to thank the hunters I know for giving me this idea to let me be more of both.
I have a couple of places I’d like to kill off the stuff growing, mostly poison ivy. I’d also like to create small shallows to make starting the new plants a bit easier.
I have deer!
Deer like fruit. Apples make great bait but just about any fruit works.
I also have a pear tree, baking pears, with fruit I never use.
Voilà. Half the answer.
Here’s the plan. Grab enough pears, unripe, bug infested, fallen and rotting, doesn’t make any difference, to fill about a gallon bucket.
Slice, dice, mash, so there’s exposed meat on each pear. Add enough warm water – any temperature you can hold your hand under – to cover the pears. Speed things along with a couple of table spoons of sugar. Drop in a yeast packet.
Set in sun for the rest of the day. You can keep it for up to a week but that requires protection from insects and hungry critters.
While it's fermenting, prepare the bait spot. Dig small shallow spot, big enough to hold salt so it is level with the natural sufrace; add salt. I used ice cream salt but table salt works too. If you've got a big area, prepare several shallows and buy hundred pound bags of salt or get cattle salt with minerals.
Dump fermenting fruit and any liquids in the bucket on top of salt.
And there’s the cheap – nearly free – labor. Let the deer do it.
Why fermenting fruit? Because the odor carries further. Better chance the deer will notice. And salt because when it warms up, deer like salt licks.
Now all I have to worry about is coons getting there first. Drunk deer are bad enough. Have you ever seen a drunk raccoon?
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Male Prostitute Theme Song
He works hard for the money
Sometimes smells kinda funny
Makes sure socks fit jus’ right
Sometimes smells kinda funny
Makes sure socks fit jus’ right
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
What Number Am I Thinking Of?
Number? What number? I’m thinking “Free credit report my arse.”
You may have seen the constant commercials for a free credit report from the Experian credit reporting agency. Just go to a couple of web sites, give them your personal information, and, like magic, you get a free credit report.
Your “free” report requires giving Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring a ton of personal information. Social Security Number, credit card information, everything required for identity theft, information they should be paying you for.
After giving that information for free, you are automatically enrolled in their $12.95 a month program. I quote from their site:
Payment Information
When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring. If you don't cancel your membership within the 30-day trial period, you will be billed $12.95 for each month that you continue your membership. If you are not satisfied, you can cancel at any time to discontinue the membership and stop the monthly billing; however, you will not be eligible for a pro-rated refund of your current month's paid membership fee.
Your “free” report comes from one of the three major credit reporting agencies. Reports from the other two, Equifax and TransUnion, may contain different information.
If you want real deal, free, credit reporting, get all three reports directly from the agencies by filling out one form.
You may say to yourself, “How do I order my free report?
Take advantage of the federal law requiring them to give you free reports. From the only website authorized to get that free information for you:
The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up a central website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address through which you can order your free annual report.
To order, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The form is on the back of this brochure; or you can print it from ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit. Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually. They are providing free annual credit reports only through annualcreditreport.com, 1-877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
You may order your reports from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies at the same time, or you can order your report from each of the companies one at a time. The law allows you to order one free copy of your report from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.shtm
Now I’m thinking of a number. 90. Ninety days for each member of management at Triple Advantage. Attempted consumer fraud.
You may have seen the constant commercials for a free credit report from the Experian credit reporting agency. Just go to a couple of web sites, give them your personal information, and, like magic, you get a free credit report.
Your “free” report requires giving Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring a ton of personal information. Social Security Number, credit card information, everything required for identity theft, information they should be paying you for.
After giving that information for free, you are automatically enrolled in their $12.95 a month program. I quote from their site:
Payment Information
When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring. If you don't cancel your membership within the 30-day trial period, you will be billed $12.95 for each month that you continue your membership. If you are not satisfied, you can cancel at any time to discontinue the membership and stop the monthly billing; however, you will not be eligible for a pro-rated refund of your current month's paid membership fee.
Your “free” report comes from one of the three major credit reporting agencies. Reports from the other two, Equifax and TransUnion, may contain different information.
If you want real deal, free, credit reporting, get all three reports directly from the agencies by filling out one form.
You may say to yourself, “How do I order my free report?
Take advantage of the federal law requiring them to give you free reports. From the only website authorized to get that free information for you:
The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up a central website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address through which you can order your free annual report.
To order, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The form is on the back of this brochure; or you can print it from ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit. Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually. They are providing free annual credit reports only through annualcreditreport.com, 1-877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
You may order your reports from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies at the same time, or you can order your report from each of the companies one at a time. The law allows you to order one free copy of your report from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.shtm
Now I’m thinking of a number. 90. Ninety days for each member of management at Triple Advantage. Attempted consumer fraud.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Let's Start Nuclear War
Vlad says a US missile defense shield in Europe increases the chances of nuke war.
We've been hearing about how a protective shield could cause a war since at least the beginning of SDI - Star Wars - under The Great Communicator. Each time I've heard it, I've thought "What a frellin dumb arse" or even less kind things.
Today, I realized they are right. Without defense, a sneak launch of any significant scale wins. No war, just a hostile takeover.
Defense shield in place, there are survivors to launch defensive strikes. AKA, war happens.
I must reluctantly agree with Putin. Even more reluctantly, I find myself saying
Let's get ready to start a nuclear war.
We've been hearing about how a protective shield could cause a war since at least the beginning of SDI - Star Wars - under The Great Communicator. Each time I've heard it, I've thought "What a frellin dumb arse" or even less kind things.
Today, I realized they are right. Without defense, a sneak launch of any significant scale wins. No war, just a hostile takeover.
Defense shield in place, there are survivors to launch defensive strikes. AKA, war happens.
I must reluctantly agree with Putin. Even more reluctantly, I find myself saying
Let's get ready to start a nuclear war.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Diabetic Testing Glucose Spreadsheet
Not long ago my Dr decided I should do a long term glucose tolerance test. Three months worth.
No biggie you say.
Not so fast sucker. That's three times a day for 90 days. By the time you're done, it is a real pain in the - no the butt is about the only place that might not be in pain 300 pokes later.
If you scribble like I do, you probably won't be able to read what you've written a couple of hours later to transfer it to wherever you're recording it. Record it you must. Your meter probably doesn't remember or average more than 100 sticks.
I have the big sky blue L for Lazy emblazoned on my forehead. It's not that I can't add 300 numbers and average them, not even when I have to sort them into fasting and not-fasting first. It just feels too much like work. Especially when we can make a computer the work for us.
Without further ado, I present a spreadsheet for your use.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pnHgzDmM6ac7dXPnNt3oIUw
Just remember where you got it when you pass it along. (Oh, and keep your fingers out of the hidden columns :P )
No biggie you say.
Not so fast sucker. That's three times a day for 90 days. By the time you're done, it is a real pain in the - no the butt is about the only place that might not be in pain 300 pokes later.
If you scribble like I do, you probably won't be able to read what you've written a couple of hours later to transfer it to wherever you're recording it. Record it you must. Your meter probably doesn't remember or average more than 100 sticks.
I have the big sky blue L for Lazy emblazoned on my forehead. It's not that I can't add 300 numbers and average them, not even when I have to sort them into fasting and not-fasting first. It just feels too much like work. Especially when we can make a computer the work for us.
Without further ado, I present a spreadsheet for your use.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pnHgzDmM6ac7dXPnNt3oIUw
Just remember where you got it when you pass it along. (Oh, and keep your fingers out of the hidden columns :P )
Abstract, Concrete, Imaginary, and Just Plain Dumb Numbers
(Reviewed by a Master of Science in Mathematics I am lucky enough to know and would count knowing her as lucky even if she knew nothing about math (Yes, girl, if you read this, it is a compliment :-) ). )
I was recently in a discussion started around one of those on-line Mensa tests. Parts of the discussion traveled into word problems and math problems.
It went like this:
All problems are word problems.
1+1=?
Like you, when I see 1+1, I automatically think 2. But, does it really equal two?
Answering that led to thinking about numbers in general. (PurpleMath is a good site for thinking about numbers: http://www.purplemath.com/modules/index.htm )
Even though you may have looked at the many types of numbers at PurpleMath, there are two primary types of numbers.
Abstract numbers represent nothing but themselves.
Concrete numbers represent something more than themselves. An apple, an orange, a complex mix of units like horsepower.
I threw in Imaginary numbers because they sound neat. Despite their name, they are a subset of concrete numbers. They represent something even though that something cannot exist in the real world as we understand it. The item represented involves the square root of a negative number.
Just Plain Dumb Numbers is a phrase I made up because they represent by their very nature either a false impression or a lie. We sometimes see them appearing in breathless medical news reports. “Eating more than one unicorn horn a day doubles your chances of cancer.” Frightening, isn’t it? Double your chances of cancer. Your chance of getting cancer from eating unicorn horn is 1 in 1,000,000,000. Doubling your chances of unicorn horn induced cancer raise them to 2 in 1,000,000,000 or 1 in five hundred million. (Your chances of finding a unicorn horn to eat, being zilch, are never mentioned in the report.)
As you can imagine, abstract numbers aren’t much use to us beyond learning very basic math. Math so basic we begin to leave it behind about the third grade when a math book first dropped a question with concrete numbers on us. Your first contact probably went something like this:
Johnny has 1 apple. He has 1 orange. How many apples does Johnny have?
If you are like me, you probably got that one wrong when you saw it presented in the form:
1 apple
+1 orange
-------
_2_ apples
That’s fine for a grade school student to get wrong a few times.
We expect scientists, engineers, even inventory takers, to instinctively recognize the simple concept that numbers without words are pretty much useless.
Imagine the inventory taker coming back to the office. “I counted 849,322 today.” What? Where are the cans of beans, bags of rice, cups of soup? Here’s 1. Your pink slip.
Engineers, even if it’s not instinctive, should know just from their everyday work that words are essential to math.
“My car has 360!” Yeah. So? Degrees, lug nuts, horsepower? In my case, the answer is horsepower.
Horsepower (HP) makes an even more obvious example of why math without words is pointless. Without words, a horsepower is 550.
We have to have the words for HP even more than apples and oranges. HP is a mixed measurement. One HP means moving 550 lbs one foot in one second. 550 foot-pounds per second, ftlb/sec. A HP is 550 foot-pounds/second.
If you are still here, you’re probably asking if there is a point or reason for this rant.
Yes, there is. That any student could get into college believing math and words are exclusive is a sad statement about our educational system.
That the advancement of that student is the result of elementary Ed teachers who don’t know enough about basic math is an indictment of a failed system. It has failed the teachers and now fails their students.
I was recently in a discussion started around one of those on-line Mensa tests. Parts of the discussion traveled into word problems and math problems.
It went like this:
All problems are word problems.
1+1=?
Like you, when I see 1+1, I automatically think 2. But, does it really equal two?
Answering that led to thinking about numbers in general. (PurpleMath is a good site for thinking about numbers: http://www.purplemath.com/modules/index.htm )
Even though you may have looked at the many types of numbers at PurpleMath, there are two primary types of numbers.
Abstract numbers represent nothing but themselves.
Concrete numbers represent something more than themselves. An apple, an orange, a complex mix of units like horsepower.
I threw in Imaginary numbers because they sound neat. Despite their name, they are a subset of concrete numbers. They represent something even though that something cannot exist in the real world as we understand it. The item represented involves the square root of a negative number.
Just Plain Dumb Numbers is a phrase I made up because they represent by their very nature either a false impression or a lie. We sometimes see them appearing in breathless medical news reports. “Eating more than one unicorn horn a day doubles your chances of cancer.” Frightening, isn’t it? Double your chances of cancer. Your chance of getting cancer from eating unicorn horn is 1 in 1,000,000,000. Doubling your chances of unicorn horn induced cancer raise them to 2 in 1,000,000,000 or 1 in five hundred million. (Your chances of finding a unicorn horn to eat, being zilch, are never mentioned in the report.)
As you can imagine, abstract numbers aren’t much use to us beyond learning very basic math. Math so basic we begin to leave it behind about the third grade when a math book first dropped a question with concrete numbers on us. Your first contact probably went something like this:
Johnny has 1 apple. He has 1 orange. How many apples does Johnny have?
If you are like me, you probably got that one wrong when you saw it presented in the form:
1 apple
+1 orange
-------
_2_ apples
That’s fine for a grade school student to get wrong a few times.
We expect scientists, engineers, even inventory takers, to instinctively recognize the simple concept that numbers without words are pretty much useless.
Imagine the inventory taker coming back to the office. “I counted 849,322 today.” What? Where are the cans of beans, bags of rice, cups of soup? Here’s 1. Your pink slip.
Engineers, even if it’s not instinctive, should know just from their everyday work that words are essential to math.
“My car has 360!” Yeah. So? Degrees, lug nuts, horsepower? In my case, the answer is horsepower.
Horsepower (HP) makes an even more obvious example of why math without words is pointless. Without words, a horsepower is 550.
We have to have the words for HP even more than apples and oranges. HP is a mixed measurement. One HP means moving 550 lbs one foot in one second. 550 foot-pounds per second, ftlb/sec. A HP is 550 foot-pounds/second.
If you are still here, you’re probably asking if there is a point or reason for this rant.
Yes, there is. That any student could get into college believing math and words are exclusive is a sad statement about our educational system.
That the advancement of that student is the result of elementary Ed teachers who don’t know enough about basic math is an indictment of a failed system. It has failed the teachers and now fails their students.
The Rosie Spin
An employee of the loud, foul, and ugly-mouthed former talk show host has smuggled a video of her bathing into public domain.
If you thought her claims about WTC7, Iraqi Civilians, and being the Queen of Nice were unbelievable, you should see the way she's trying to deny the video.
Rosie O'Donnell bathing.
If you thought her claims about WTC7, Iraqi Civilians, and being the Queen of Nice were unbelievable, you should see the way she's trying to deny the video.
Rosie O'Donnell bathing.
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