tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109084973988618202024-03-12T19:22:33.459-07:00IJHFOIN JAY'S HUMBLE F-ING OPINION ~ A random collection of what I'm thinking about on any given subject at any given time.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-66502483360062646552011-09-29T19:36:00.000-07:002011-09-29T19:38:00.915-07:00Karma Komes KwiklyLast week my partner Edson, an architect and interior designer, worked with a team of 4 other designers (all women) for a fundraiser for the Cincinnati Horticultural Society. Various organizations sponsored the decoration of dining rooms in a recently-built retirement center. Guests pay to dine in each of the rooms all this week with all the proceeds going to the society. The Cincinnati Opera sponsored the room Edson's team was to design and construct. Edson designed a sculptural branching structure that sweeps around the room around the dining table.<br /><br />During the construction, one of the designers from some other room saw Edson coming in with the cut sections of PVC pipe. As he passed he sarcastically said to Edson: "Oh good, the plumber is here!" Too bad Edson isn't sarcastic enough to reply as such.<br /><br />During the grand opening reception Monday night we saw all the rooms, and none of them looked anything like Edson's. All were very elegant and rather restrained in a very conservative, "old money" way. <br /><br />On their way out the guests were asked to mark which room design was their favorite. Apparently the guests are tired of what most of the rooms represented as Edson's group (the plumbers) won! Karma comes around to smack smart-asses awfully quick in the 21st Century, doesn't it? =DJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-9928716073181768412011-08-17T13:02:00.000-07:002011-08-17T13:03:30.596-07:00Worth InvestigatingFact: S&P took money in exchange for AAA ratings. This begs the question: Would they accept money to DOWNGRADE a rating? Say that of the US government? Notice no other ratings agency followed suit. Anyone want to check to see if the Koch brothers made out real well after the recent downgrade? They don't seem above wrecking the nation for their own gain...Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-35439081411498094812011-07-01T05:02:00.000-07:002011-07-01T05:32:21.821-07:00HandwrittenYesterday the state of Indiana joined 40 other states when it said it was no longer mandatory to teach handwriting in schools. <br /><br />I take the bus to work each day and I see the print in the notebooks of University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati State College students. They all look as if a 5 year old was the one to take their notes. Everything is printed and ill-spaced. It is embarrassing.<br /><br />Japanese students must learn hiragana and katakana (over 40 characters) plus kanji (2,000 characters) as well as our alphabet (26 letters) and how to form all these on paper and we can't even teach something as simple as handwriting? Studies have proven that handwriting helps people learn and retain information(<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704631504575531932754922518.html">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704631504575531932754922518.html</a>), yet states and even many parents are saying handwriting is a waste of time. <br /><br />Are Americans really this stupid?<br /><br />Yesterday when <a href="http://www.local12.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=2596997">WKRC-TV Channel 12 in Cincinnati broadcast the news</a> about the decision in Indiana they took a viewer poll and the results showed over 90% of viewers were against the idea of eliminating handwriting from schools. What I want to know is if we don't teach 1st graders this, what are we teaching them in its stead? Indiana claims it is typing. Typing has been shown not to help in memory retention or learning, unlike handwriting. So are we helping or hurting our children? I know geography has largely been eliminated already. Is school really just another baby-sitting service? Do we care?<br /><br />Or are Americans really just that stupid?Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-16414122743776922972011-03-25T19:25:00.000-07:002011-03-25T20:27:23.002-07:00"Partner"So today one of my co-workers tells me about his doctor appointment yesterday. It was with a new doctor, and he was giving the doc all the information he needed and telling him a few things about himself. He began speaking about his work and was telling the doc the story of how he has been working at his job for the past 17 years with a guy he has known for over 30. He referred to this guy as <span style="font-style:italic;">my partner</span>. So the doctor stops him and asks about his sex life.<br /><br />Oops!<br /><br />Apparently <span style="font-style:italic;">my partner</span> has become such a common way for we gay people to refer to our <span style="font-style:italic;">significant other</span> that it has lost its original intent as a business relationship. So my poor co-worker had to go about defending his heterosexuality before his new doctor! (I can <span style="font-weight:bold;">so</span> picture <span style="font-style:italic;">Married With Children</span>'s Al Bundy in this situation!)<br /><br />Anyway, after relating his adventure, my co-worker tells me "this is all your fault - messing with the language!"<br /><br />My reply? "Gay people wouldn't have to give new meanings to words if straight people would just let us marry. Until then, we're going to screw with you. You brought this on yourselves."<br /><br />Now don't be misled that any of this was a serious conversation. All of what he said to me was completely in jest. The smile on his face as he said it and his howls of laughter at my reply were testament to that.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-49040693621761494732011-02-20T14:18:00.000-08:002011-02-20T15:14:19.357-08:00Riding the BusI ride the bus every Monday, Thursday, and Friday to and from work. Sometimes I read, other times I listen to music on my ipod, and other times I just sit, listen, and observe.<br /><br />That's what this post is about: what I listened to and observed on a few notable occasions lately.<br /><br />On one trip I happened to overhear the young woman behind me talking to her friend on her cell phone....<br /><br />First she begins by saying she doesn't feel like getting off the bus. She'd already passed her stop and was heading downtown, but just didn't feel like getting off the bus. Didn't know what she'd do that day, but didn't feel like getting off the bus.<br /><br />Then she calls in to work and asks the person on the other end if her co-worker can fill in for her. She'd left home and was on the bus, had passed by work, but just didn't feel like getting off the bus.<br /><br />Then she calls someone else and tells them she's not at work, still on the bus, and doesn't feel like getting off the bus. Doesn't know if she'll get off before she gets home because she has nothing to do and no money.<br /><br />That's where I got off the bus.<br /><br />I was left thinking "hmmmmm....has no money and doesn't feel like getting off the bus to go to work....ya think there's a connection?!" <br /><br />The next occasion was even more interesting...<br /><br />A guy sits down beside another guy and begins to tell him his life story. He isn't old; in fact, he tells the guy he's just 25. Apparently he's been in prison the past seven years. He's glad he got his high school diploma before he went to prison, otherwise he'd have been there another three years. He was upset that a security camera hidden inside a stuffed toy caught him as he committed the crime for which he was sent to jail. The guy beside him agreed that it was wrong to have hidden cameras - unfair to guys like them trying to get by. <br /><br />You could see and feel the looks of astonishment by those sitting around them. I expect to see his mug shot on the local news soon.<br /><br />On a third occasion...<br /><br />I was seated directly behind a large woman with a slight cough. Seated beside her was another woman - younger, and holding a cell phone. Apparently the young woman was annoyed with the large woman's slight cough - almost imperceptible to me. I could see what she was texting on her phone. The text read: "Ima gonna kill this bitch she coughs one more time."<br /><br />Did she think that the woman couldn't see her texting and read it as well as I could? The phone was only a foot or two away for crying out loud! I wanted to slap her right then and there.<br /><br />Lastly...<br /><br />During one recent conversation I had a very difficult time as I couldn't understand much of what was being said due to the dialect of the three women speaking. They were certainly loud enough though. Even the bus driver had to shout to them to keep it down. I think he did so as much in response to their volume as their vocabulary. A good three-quarters of every sentence consisted of "hell", "damn", "bitch", "ni**a", "ho", "fuck", etc. Most memorable was when one said, "Dat ho come at me, Ima pop that ni**a bitch."<br /><br />Classy. Real classy.<br /><br />Really, if any of these people want to know what's wrong in their lives, all they have to do is look in the mirror.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-41940475766985141892010-08-23T15:42:00.000-07:002010-08-23T15:50:12.817-07:00Some Stats on Divorce in the USI have always thought divorce to be the biggest threat to marriage, despite what conservative Christians say...<br /><br />FACT: Every country today with gay marriage has a lower divorce rate than the USA, which leads me to believe the real threat to traditional marriage in this country is that couples will actually remain together if gay marriage is legalized. That's Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Spain...all with LOWER divorce rates than here....and a few of those have better health care systems as well! (So of course there's NOTHING we could possibly learn from them!)<br /><br />36% of FIRST marriages today end in divorce in the US.<br /><br />36%?! Over 50% of SECOND marriages end in divorce...and over 70% of THIRD marriages end in divorce! What happened to "'til death do us part"?<br /><br />Well, I suppose a 36-70+% divorce rate is better than a high murder rate (that being the only other way to end a marriage and also fulfill "til death do us part" without waiting around for the targeted spouse to die).<br /><br /><br /><br />Here's a little quiz:<br /><br />Guess the US state with the LOWEST divorce rate.<br /><br />Your first thought is somewhere in the Bible Belt, right? -Guess again! Conservative Christians are actually the MOST-LIKELY to divorce, and Bible Belt states have some of the HIGHEST divorce rates! As Christian denominations go, Baptists have the highest divorce rate (29%), followed by Protestants (25%), Mormons (24%), then Catholics and Lutherans (tied at 21% with Atheists, btw). Fundamentalist evangelical Christians not tied to any of the above denominations have a whopping 34% divorce rate! (Remember: these are the ones who are MOST AGAINST gay marriage rights!)<br /><br />Midwest? -Nope.<br /><br />Conservative mountain states? -Nope.<br /><br />Southwest? -Guess again.<br /><br />California??!!! -Oh, please! <br /><br />The "uber-liberal" New England state of Massachusetts, which has been wedding same sex couples since 2004 has the LOWEST divorce rate in the entire USA. (Methinks those southern Bible-beaters ought to practice what they preach!)<br /><br />Interesting, huh? Also interesting is numbers show states with gay marriage bans are those with high and INCREASING rates of divorce.<br /><br />So, according to statistics, all those who want a strong marriage should move to Massachusetts; if Christian, should convert to Catholicism or Lutheranism - or become a Hindu. Hindus have a mere 5% divorce rate in the US. A Hindu in Massachusetts has an almost 0% chance of getting a divorce, while also having a family with significantly higher income and education levels than other groups.<br /><br />(Data was collected from the Barna Research Group (an evangelical Christian organization), the Associated Press, and state census data.)Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-22712856110492645932010-06-20T18:14:00.000-07:002010-06-20T18:18:44.015-07:00Love that SPAM Filter!In today's collection of messages in my SPAM filter I received an email from the Irish National Lottery...<br /><br />...<br /><br />...<br /><br />...<br /><br />...<br /><br />...<br /><br />...<br /><br />...written in Spanish!<br /><br />Hahahahaha....I love going through the SPAM filter for good laughs!Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-6757455440816065192010-06-11T13:05:00.000-07:002010-06-11T13:09:01.697-07:00Tea Party HypocrisyThursday in her blog, Sarah Palin called for president Obama to enact harsh new regulations on the oil industry, even going so far as to tell him to take over BP.<br /><br /><br />Sarah, are you feeling well? Sarah?<br /><br /><br /> Today, when progressives implement government programs to oversee and regulate business so business meets standards of safety to protect our nation and its workers, this is labeled un-American and socialist. Conservatives, who dismantle such oversight and regulations (and who have sat on their hands the past 2 years), complain there needs to be oversight and regulations - now that a major disaster has struck!<br /><br /><br /> Historically, progressives plan for the worst by implementing regulations. With regulations, certain disasters could be eliminated or minimized. Conservatives want business to regulate itself because, after all, they are always looking out for our well-being...except for now...when it's too late.<br /><br /> Who would you trust? Those who plan ahead, or the obvious, blatant hypocrisy of right-wing conservatives? The Tea Party's cover girl (and shameless, selfish propagandist) Sarah Palin has also now proven (in writing, no less) that she's both a quitter and Flip-Flopper. <br /><br />May God save America from today's conservatives and the Tea Party.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-91236465629020392612010-05-28T12:53:00.000-07:002010-05-28T13:27:04.292-07:00Plug the Damn Hole<span style="font-style:italic;">Plug the damn hole.</span> Those were President Obama's words. America and the world couldn't agree more. Bush-era policies of deregulation, a questionable federal regulator, BP/Transocean's cutting of corners and efforts to do everything on the cheap (to protect their meager $220 billion in profits last year) all lead to the world's worst environmental disaster.<br /><br />Right wingers and the Tea Partiers think the president is being too hard on BP and think the government should be the ones cleaning up the mess, leaving BP to pay their meager $75 million in maximum liabilities. (Gotta protect their bottom line you know.) These are the same people who think government is too big, spends too much, and should be less involved.<br /><br />Sound contradictory? It is. <br /><br />Do the right wingers and Tea Partiers realize this obvious contradiction? They still don't realize most of the crowds attending their events are only there if Sarah Palin is there; and she's only out to make millions being a celebrity. She hasn't expressed one real idea/plan since she first appeared on the national stage. She's little more than an older, better-looking version of Snookie, from Jersey Shore.<br /><br />Back to the oil spill...<br /><br />If the federal government were left to clean this up, how would they do it? The government doesn't have the equipment related to oil drilling. The government doesn't drill for oil; BP and other private companies do. Even if the government commandeered the equipment, who would operate it? The Coast Guard? The Marines? IRS? <br /><br />Let's face it: whether anyone likes it or not, BP has to be the one to solve this problem. Only they and the rest of the oil industry have the proper connections to talent and technology to stop the continued leakage of oil into the gulf. The only role the government can play is as a facilitator, seeking to ensure as rapid a response as possible as strategies to stop the oil from gushing forth come forward. Aside from that, the Coast Guard can only really help in oil slick containment measures. <br /><br />BP should be held to the full cost of this cleanup, not only the $75 million in liabilities under current law. This cleanup will cost much, much, much more. Remember: BP made $220 <span style="font-style:italic;">billion</span> last year! They can afford to pay every cent it will take to clean this up - and they must. Even if the Bush administration had relaxed regulations, BP didn't have to comply. The company could have run their business as if the tougher, safer regulations were still in effect - going the extra mile. After all, year after year they continue to make more and more in profits; this time at the expense of the entire economies of the gulf states and island nations.<br /><br />My advice: until BP ensures they will pay ALL COSTS, BOYCOTT BP. After all, there's always another gas station down the block.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-9651798233162449262010-05-12T13:48:00.000-07:002010-05-12T13:59:22.909-07:00They're Working on the Wrong End!P&G advertises their Charmin brand of toilet paper using cartoon bears to show how their tissue doesn't leave little bits on your bottom, so why then does P&G's Puffs brand facial tissue leave little bits under your nose / above your lip? I can live with little bits on my bottom, but it's embarrassing to go through your day constantly concerned about bits over your lip!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_UAHze_L-4Bgfv04A8cGFZi6qP_UpsrwZnJ1x5mnkq2Eno9W0LsNJ1LnPzIOhaSLWoaCYd829AfNrG3KcIk4mPn0yv8CeoA0LYUc6P1BBWsda7dDp3pWxmeoBnXXktBIKqzYgmq8Cj52/s1600/charmin-bears.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_UAHze_L-4Bgfv04A8cGFZi6qP_UpsrwZnJ1x5mnkq2Eno9W0LsNJ1LnPzIOhaSLWoaCYd829AfNrG3KcIk4mPn0yv8CeoA0LYUc6P1BBWsda7dDp3pWxmeoBnXXktBIKqzYgmq8Cj52/s400/charmin-bears.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470489262677132114" /></a>If I were a bear, a dog, or a cat I can see how this would be of great concern. Unlike bears, dogs, or cats, humans don't require sniffing each other's hind quarters; we're more concerned with each other's faces in recognition and identification.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-11448766304822969202010-03-10T08:39:00.000-08:002010-03-10T08:50:10.619-08:00Toyota's Bad Car-maI used to own a Toyota product, a Corolla badged as the Chevy Nova. Worst car I ever owned. It cost more in repairs than any car I've owned. It also frequently left me stranded, as it had a fondness for overheating. It went through head gaskets like Pizza Hut goes through pepperoni. It finally died the day before I replaced it with a Saturn SC2, a car which gave me only one problem before it hit 100,000 miles. The Corolla/Nova thing didn't make it that far. <br /><br />I have a lot of good memories from that Saturn. I have none from the Corolla/Nova.<br /><br />Now I know others have better experiences from their Toyotas, just as others have worse experiences from their Saturns, but Toyota has some awfully bad karma for this to happen....<br /><br />From the Associated Press, March 10, 2010<br /><br />EL CAJON, Calif. – Before he called 911, James Sikes says he reached down with his hand to loosen the "stuck" accelerator on his 2008 Toyota Prius, his other hand on the steering wheel. The pedal didn't move.<br /><br />"My car can't slow down," he began when a California Highway Patrol dispatcher answered his call.<br /><br />Sikes, 61, rolled to a stop 23 harrowing minutes later, he and his blue Prius emerging unscathed but Toyota Motor Corp. suffering another big dent. Toyota has watched its reputation for quality crumble with recalls tied to risks that cars can accelerate uncontrollably or can't brake properly.<br /><br />Todd Neibert, the CHP officer who gave instructions to Sikes over a loudspeaker as they went east on mountainous Interstate 8 in San Diego County Monday afternoon, said he smelled burning brakes when he caught up with the Prius.<br /><br />The officer said he told Sikes to push the brake pedal to the floor and apply the emergency brakes as the Prius neared 85 mph. The car slowed to about 55 mph, at which time Sikes says he turned off the ignition and the car came to a stop.<br /><br />"The brakes were definitely down to hardly any material," Neibert told reporters Tuesday. "There was a bunch of brake material on the ground and inside the wheels."<br /><br />The officer found the floor mat properly placed and the accelerator and brake pedals in correct resting position.<br /><br />The freeway incident happened at the worst possible time for Toyota — just hours after it invited reporters to hear experts insist that electronic flaws could not cause cars to speed out of control under real driving conditions.<br /><br />Another driver in suburban New York told police Tuesday that her 2005 Toyota Prius accelerated on its own, then lurched down a driveway, across a road and into a stone wall. The driver, a 56-year-old woman, escaped serious injury. Police said the floor mat did not appear to be a factor; Toyota said it's not yet known whether the company will investigate.<br /><br />The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has sent two investigators to examine Sikes' car. Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons said the automaker is sending three of its own technicians to investigate.<br /><br />Another Toyota spokesman, John Hanson, said the company wanted to talk to the driver.<br /><br />Sikes' car was covered by Toyota's floor mat recall, but the driver said the pedal jammed and was not trapped under the mat.<br /><br />Sikes, a real estate agent, said he was passing another car when the accelerator stuck and eventually reached 94 mph.<br /><br />During the two 911 calls, Sikes ignored many of the dispatcher's questions, saying later that he had to put his phone on the seat to keep his hands on the wheel.<br /><br />Leighann Parks, a 24-year-old dispatcher, repeatedly told him to throw the car into neutral but got no answers.<br /><br />"He was very emotional, you could tell on the line he was panicked," Parks told reporters outside the CHP's El Cajon office. "I could only imagine being in his shoes and being that stressed."<br /><br />Neibert told Sikes after the CHP caught up with him to shift to neutral but the driver shook his head no. Sikes told reporters he didn't go into neutral because he worried the car would flip.<br /><br />The driver rolled down the window and Neibert told him to apply both brakes. Sikes said he lifted his buttocks from the seat to press the floor brake, an account backed by the officer.<br /><br />The cars maneuvered around two trucks going uphill to a "clear, wide-open road," Neibert said. The officer had only about 15 miles to stop the vehicle before a steep downgrade and was considering spike strips to puncture the tires as a last resort.<br /><br />In the final minutes of the 911 call, Sikes tells the dispatcher, "My brakes are almost burned out."<br /><br />After the car stops, Sikes sighs with relief.<br /><br />Neibert, a 14-year CHP veteran, worked with Officer Mark Saylor, who was killed in August along with his wife, her brother and the couple's daughter after their Lexus' accelerator became trapped by a wrong-size floor mat on a freeway in nearby La Mesa. The loaner car hit a sport utility vehicle and burst into flames.<br /><br />Toyota has since recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide — more than 6 million in the United States — because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius. Regulators have linked 52 deaths to crashes allegedly caused by accelerator problems. Still, there have been more than 60 reports of sudden acceleration in cars that have been fixed under the recall.<br /><br />___<br /><br />Associated Press writers Stephen Manning in Washington, D.C., and Greg Risling in Los Angeles, and AP Auto Writer Dan Strumpf in New York contributed to this report.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-73013169250201371402010-02-17T07:43:00.000-08:002010-02-17T07:49:11.258-08:00Oh! What a Feeling!Let's see....<br /><br />Recalls for gas pedals sticking....<br /><br />Recalls for brakes that don't work....<br /><br />Now recalls for steering problems....<br /><br />Investigations into former regulators being hired to cover up problems and delay recalls...<br /><br />What a feeling to own a Toyota!<br /><br />Perhaps they should change their website, buyatoyota.com to pleasepleaseprettypleasebuyatoyota.com.<br /><br />Just thinkin'...Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-56954923781485508202010-02-02T18:24:00.000-08:002010-02-02T18:25:16.925-08:00Bumping Into the PastI just had one of those rare and weird days - I bumped into people I haven't seen in years - all in the same place! A few errands I thought would take a few hours were never done as a result. The entire afternoon was spent chatting. It left me with no energy for a workout, but that's OK.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-87696676551224222702010-01-19T19:20:00.000-08:002010-01-19T19:43:58.892-08:00So What the Hell Does this Have to do With Anything???I received a disturbing email the other day. In it, the originator tried to insinuate Muslims had contributed virtually nothing to the world. <br /><br />The proof?<br /><br />The poster compared the number of Nobel Prizes won by Muslims vs. Jews; claiming Muslims had been awarded 7 to the Jew's 129. Furthermore, noting Muslims far outnumber Jews in the world, so therefore Jews are that much better due to their high concentration of prizes per capita.<br /><br />Amusing. Comparing Nobels.<br /><br />Doesn't surprise me though. Since the vast majority of Muslims live in impoverished countries with poor to no education, how would we expect them to have Nobels? Those countries that do have wealth have only had it since oil was discovered there in the 1950s/1960s. The Nobels listed were won mostly beginning in the 1970s, so that seems about right given the years it must take to build an education system and put out a significant number of graduates (who finally had the money to obtain their college educations in America and Europe) capable of Nobel-worthy achievements.<br /><br />The Jewish people by contrast, have had the advantage of European and American education, politics, hegemony, and wealth for hundreds of years.<br /><br />Of course, the Nobel Prize has only been in existence for a little over a century. This comparison ignores contributions for the centuries of human progress preceding it, including such trivial Arab contributions as <span style="font-style:italic;">algebra</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">astronomy</span>. While Europe was living in the Dark Ages, cowering under a blanket of a repressive Christianity, the Arab world was flourishing in the sciences of math and the stars.<br /><br />As civilizations flourish and fall throughout time, so Europe arose during the Renaissance and the Arab world eventually went into decline. <br /><br />It really pisses me off to see markedly stupid people successfully brainwashing large groups of others through their biased, narrow, and simplistic arguments ignorant of all the facts being disseminated through mass emails forwarded to tens of thousands of people who read and digest this trash without question.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-76084353561142013332010-01-11T18:43:00.000-08:002010-01-11T18:44:16.458-08:00Sarah Palin's New JobToday it was announced Sarah Palin would become a commentator on Fox News.<br /><br />She hasn't even begun on the air and she's already made her first guffaw.<br /><br /><blockquote>"I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News," Palin said in a statement posted on the network's Web site. "It's wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news."</blockquote><br /><br />You can hear the cries of "YESSSS!!!" over at Comedy Central as writers for the Daily Show and Colbert Report wept with joy at the thought of not really having to work that hard for new material for the next few years. It may not last so long though. Like all multi-year deals Sarah has signed on for, she'll likely leave before her contract is up to do something like run for president in 2012.<br /><br />It was also reported that according to the multiyear deal, Palin will offer political commentary and analysis on the cable channel, as well as Fox's Web site, radio network and business cable channel.<br /><br />Analysis?<br /><br />You've gotta be kidding!<br /><br />#1: She doesn't read. We know that thanks to Katie Couric and her 'gotcha' questioning.<br /><br />#2: Everything will be analyzed in basketball terminology a'la her resignation speech. Sounds about right. Fox viewers don't know anything but sports either. If they did, they wouldn't be there for news on politics. After all, if you want to know about politics and politicians, everyone knows (unbelievably and unfortunately, but definitely accurately) you have to watch Comedy Central, since none of the news networks actually does much (OK, any) fact checking. <br /><br />Fox gets much of its viewers from people searching for the next clips Jon Stewart or Steven Colbert will tear apart later that week, so you know her ratings will soar, just like Glenn Beck's. It's fun to watch Beck make a fool of himself crying all the time. Do you suppose college kids make a game of it like they did with "Hi Bob" on the old Bob Newhart show?Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-31201968532447506992010-01-08T19:59:00.000-08:002010-01-08T20:04:25.637-08:00No Reason to Elect GOP PoliticiansOn January 6th's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Hardball</span>, Chris Matthews said to Republican strategist Todd Harris: "Tell me what the Republican party has done for this country in the last ten to twenty years." (I'm assuming he was looking for a positive answer.)<br /><br />Harris couldn't come up with an answer, in the end remaining silent. <br /><br />Their top strategist can't come up with <span style="font-style:italic;">anything</span>??!!! He's effectively telling the American people they have <span style="font-style:italic;">no</span> reason to elect Republicans to office.<br /><br />As responder "talkitreal" on Huff Post noted:<br /><br /><blockquote>"If you owned a business, and the person you hired did nothing for an entire year - would you think they earned their paycheck? No! Would you keep them at their job, just so they could repeat doing nothing for another year? No!<br /><br />Republicans need to be taught that when you have no policies, and you have no solutions for the problems America faces, and you spend your time in Congress doing nothing but trying to obstruct people who are trying to solve problems, then you do not deserve to keep your job. You have not earned your paycheck or its free health care, and you do not deserve another one paid for by the taxpayers!"</blockquote><br /><br />Doing nothing is just as bad as doing wrong...and Republicans lied us into Iraq, went wild with spending bills that exploded the deficit....so there's plenty in the negative column...<br /><br />...he can't come up with anything positive???!!!<br /><br />Hmmmm.....I wonder what Chris would get out of a top strategist for the Dems?Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-65775400782343658402009-12-09T06:28:00.000-08:002009-12-09T06:31:30.347-08:00Bill O. asks Sarah Palin a questionTranscript of his interview with Sarah Palin on her book tour:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Bill O'Reilly</span>: Let me be very bold and fresh again, do you believe that you are smart enough, incisive enough, intellectual enough to handle the most powerful job in the world?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Sarah Palin</span>: I believe that I am because I have common sense and I have I believe the values that I think are reflective of so many other American values, and I believe that what Americans are seeking is not the elitism, the uhm, the ah, a kind of spineless, spinelessness that perhaps is made up for that with some kind of elite, Ivy league education and, and a fat resume that is based on anything but hard work and private sector, free enterprise principles. Americans are could be seeking something like that in positive change in their leadership, I'm not saying that that has to be me.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Um, wow.<br /><br />So you don't need an education and you don't need much of a resume, just a belief you have common sense and values.<br /><br />Okieee....<br /><br />Some argue if you aren't a supporter of Palin, you are intimidated by her (and her presumed electability to the office of president). By her benchmark most house cats could be qualified. After all, most house cats don't do things that will get them hurt, they lie in the sun to warm themselves when they are cold and by the air conditioning vent when they are hot...common sense. <br /><br />Check.<br /><br />Cats value life, liberty and happiness. They have good food, water, and loving people to care for them...and anyone with a house cat knows they have liberty all over the house and are quite happy eating, sleeping, and lounging about...values. <br /><br />Check.<br /><br />There you have it: most house cats have just gone through (and <span style="font-style:italic;">passed</span>) the vetting process Sarah Palin would put a vice-presidential nominee through.<br /><br />Liberals aren't against Sarah Palin because they are afraid of her. They are against her because she isn't very bright yet believes she is qualified to be president of the United States. The even more frightening thing is that there are many out there who believe she is qualified and would vote for her if she were to run in 2012.<br /><br />What is even more startling is that earlier in the interview, she claimed one of the reasons she resigned as governor of Alaska was that she was entering her lame duck session and <span style="font-style:italic;">"didn't want to put Alaskans through it"</span>. How considerate. Doesn't that seem to indicate she'd resign other offices (including the presidency) once she entered a lame duck phase of those as well?<br /><br />Sounds like a quitter to me.<br /><br />Good-bye and good riddance, Sarah.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-77840661371290494752009-12-08T12:35:00.000-08:002009-12-08T12:50:23.467-08:00What Keeps 'Em Coming BackI was dining at <a href="http://www.campwashingtonchili.com/">Camp Washington Chili</a> with my brother the other week. Our server, Peri, was great at her job. She was quick and confident and knew her clientele well. Suddenly, about 3/4 of the way through my meal, she plopped down a fresh coke in front of me. (Apparently she forgot to make it a diet for the person behind me.) Seeing how I had a new drink but my brother did not, when she returned with the other diner's diet drink, she brought my brother a refill of his beverage as well.<br /><br />Peri, we'll be back to Camp Washington Chili.<br /><br />Over the weekend Edson and I were in <a href="http://www.steaknshake.com/">Steak 'n Shake</a> in West Chester, OH. Our waitress, Pilar was quick with a smile and had such a great personality we didn't even mind those times she would come around to ask if everything was OK...we enjoyed it.<br /><br />Pilar, we'll be back to Steak 'n Shake.<br /><br />The food at Camp Washington Chili and Steak 'n Shake is almost always great, but servers like Peri and Pilar are the big reasons people will come back.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610908497398861820.post-795249276795750102009-11-12T09:15:00.000-08:002009-11-12T10:45:35.528-08:00In Jay's Humble F-ing Opinion: New Urbanism in CincinnatiToday I was listening to a discussion on the radio (WVXU 91.7 in Cincinnati) about a plan to re-route I-75 as a bridge is being built to replace the highway's Brent Spence bridge which crosses the Ohio River into Kentucky. They were putting forth ideas to transform the Mill Creek corridor (through which the highway passes) into a more attractive area, not only in appearance, but also in usefulness and looking towards the long-term benefit of the city as a whole.<br /><br />Right there I knew they'll be in trouble.<br /><br />They began talking about the roles modes of transportation other than automobiles could have in the plan. Cincinnatians don't know modes of transport other than automobiles exist. Oh sure, they see planes overhead and at the airport. They might even use one at some point. They see boats as well, but see them as for someone else. Cincinnatians also see trains, but have no clue as to how they impact their lives, and likely assume that being a quaint relic of past times, they don't. And bicycles are something for children, right?<br /><br />The speakers specifically mentioned bike paths and light rail/streetcars as possible elements of the revitalization of the Mill Creek corridor. <br /><br />Despite the fact that all other cities that build light rail/streetcar systems experience higher property values, increased economic activity, new businesses and jobs along those lines, Cincinnatians and the residents of Hamilton County have for a long time been informed that these systems will lower their property values and increase crime. Why should that be the case here, when it has been just the opposite in every other city? Cincinnatians don't ask those questions. They accept what they are told largely because the people who tell them this are longtime fixtures in Hamilton County government (ie: officials who haven't experienced anything better). Change isn't very popular in Cincinnati/Hamilton County, which is why so many for so long have voted over and again for a Republican-dominated county board of commissioners. Republicans don't like change either. The party of values as they are; they yearn for a return to "the good old days", strong families, and simpler times.<br /><br />This is where it gets weird.<br /><br />The good old days, strong families, and simpler times depended largely upon streetcars/rail systems and urban centers. In our rush to the suburbs we've ignored all that. Instead of walking to work, we drive up to two hours we live so far away. There's no train or streetcar to take; and in many cases, not even a bus. We've made sure we are completely dependent upon our cars to get to work, go shopping, get the kids to school and sports practice; even to get out of our neighborhoods, now crazy communities of isolated cul-de-sacs, instead of interlocking blocks of homes, shops, and churches as before. <br /><br />There's this "new urbanism" movement the speakers were talking about and how Cincinnati can benefit from it. Movements scare Cincinnatians. So does the word "urban". But new urbanism shouldn't. Basically, new urbanism is in many ways a return to the best ideas of the past. It is the idea of creating neighborhoods in which people can walk to many of the places where they shop, study, and work. A range of housing, shopping, and job types located in one community benefits all. The residents are healthier, they spend more time together, they need not drive so long or far every day, and if they must commute to work, streetcar/rail/bus systems are easily accessible, rendering the daily drive for many obsolete. Healthy, vibrant neighborhoods like this are the very things that enabled the development and sustainability of the world's great places to live, as well as created those "good old days" of which people hold so fondly. <br /><br />Call it "new urbanism" or going "back to the future" if you will. Whatever you call it, and whatever your politics, it is what will propel Cincinnati successfully into the future.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00799497892846386116noreply@blogger.com0