Stay Cool ..... Troops

By DAVE LINDORFF

The United States Military is spending $20.2 billion a year for air-conditioning the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Read that again please: $20.2 billion just to provide air-conditioning for our troops in these two desert countries.

How much is $20.2 billion?

The snippet above had me laughing all over again.  People who love the war circuses that the USA puts on across the globe would argue that "nothing is too good for our troops" ........ including getting their arms and legs and heads shot off ..... including economic hardship when they come back to the USA .... including psychological damage from being in a war zone......   indeed , nothing is too good for our troops.

99guspuppet

Obama rails at the rich and fat cats "bring them down" he says

Obama rides around in Limousines and has body guards.  He has multiple luxury jets.  He has many servants.  He throws fabulous parties.  He can jump to the head of any line.  People stand up when he enters a room.  He does not have to pay for golfing, skiing, sailing, ............  He does not pay taxes on most of his benefits.  He has a fabulous pension. 

Is he a fat cat ?

99guspuppet

Going out with a bang ............ bang bang bang

Below is described an organization that gives dying kids a last chance to take a whack at something.  I have no real objection .... it just strikes me funny that this is what a dying kid would want to do.  How about this as an idea ???   We get a bunch of dying people who are still mobile ( maybe in wheelchairs ) and we set them loose on each other in an especially designed combat zone.  There could even be handicapping to make it "fairer" ...........

99guspuppet

 

When a dying kid's wish is to kill

A nonprofit helps terminally ill children with the unusual -- and to some, alarming -- dream of hunting an animal

By Robert Ito

iStockphoto/MoniqueRodriguez

Tina Pattison is in the wish-granting business. As president and founder of the nonprofit organization Hunt of a Lifetime, Pattison helps kids with life-threatening illnesses fulfill their dreams of shooting their first elk, or moose or boar. If your son is dying and wants to visit Disneyworld, well, she can't do anything for you. But if your son wants to go out in the wilds of Maine with a high-powered rifle and bring down a really big bear, Pattison's the woman you want to see.

Some thought experiments

Below are some thought experiments

#1  Imagine two plots of land that are right next to each other and are identical as can be accomplished....... same acreage , same amenities .......  except :

Plot A has the full advantages of America ... police protection, fireman protection , taxes , regulations , protection from terrorism, etc.

Plot B has no goodies .... no taxes, no police protection ( police will not come on the land ) , no fire protection, no protection from terrorists , no inspectors , no emergency medical services, ..........

Plot A sells for X dollars...... what will Plot B sell for ?

#2  Imagine a planet where the intelligent beings ( IBs ) develop robots and technology to take care of nearly everything...   farming, manufacturing, gardening , fixing internet crashes, creating additional robots, fishing , running restaurants .....  The planet has 100 million IBs of varying skills and creativity.  What do they do ?  Do they have jobs ?  Do they toss the robots ?

#3  You are transported to another dimension for a short visit.  Lucky for you, the translator box you have works really well.   You wear a big sign that says "GUEST".  You are having a lot of fun partying and hanging out.  Your "GUEST" sign means no one messes with you.  When you travel on the super-fast rocket trains or fly to another country on the orbital sonic Xcraft , you do not have to wait in the long lines.  Your hosts get to skip the lines too.  They get free access to the best food, the best entertainment, the best resorts and hotels.  So you ask them ..... " How come you get all the goodies ? "  They tell you that a small group  ( 10% ) are chosen at random to be special and get most of the benefits.  Once someone is chosen , they are top dogs for the rest of their lives.   Your visit ends and you can stay or leave.  If you stay, you pick a stone out of a hat.  One stone is white, the other nine are black.  If you pick the white stone, you are "special".  If you pick a black one, you join the "not special" and you will be waiting in lines and following orders.   Will you stay or leave ?

to be continued .......

99guspuppet

Let Gaddafi have a hole to crawl to... stop the killing

A group of 17 leading Libyan football figures have announced their defection to the rebels.

They include the nation's goalkeeper, Juma Gtat, three other national team members, and the coach of Tripoli's top club al-Ahly, Adel bin Issa.

Mr Gtat and Mr bin Issa announced the group's defection to the BBC during a late night meeting in the rebel-held Nafusa Mountains in western Libya. 

(snip )

The above is encouraging news   .... now if Obama and Hillary and others would leave Gaddafi a way to withdraw without martyrdom   .... that would allow the killing to stop and the treatment of CG would suggest to other villains that one way out was to stop their villainy.

99guspuppet

Moon Dust is recovered.... Americans can sigh with relief

24 June 2011 Last updated at 11:35 ET
Stolen Apollo 11 moon dust recovered

 

The dust was brought back by the Apollo 11 astronauts in July 1969

The US has recovered a scattering of moon dust stolen from Nasa after the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, just as it was about to be sold at auction.

The dust was smuggled out of NASA by a staff photographer who gathered it from a camera the astronauts used on the lunar surface, officials said.

NASA investigators discovered the dust - affixed to a scrap of tape - at a St Louis auction house this month.

It is illegal in the US to possess moon rocks or moon dust.

"It wasn't much to look at, but I will never be that close to the moon again," US attorney for eastern Missouri Richard Callahan said in a statement.

 (snip )

Forget the fact that moon dust returns to the possession of a group of elitists... a oligarchy.   Instead, focus on whether it is a big deal that someone took some moon dust they had found inside a camera.  The dust would have been thrown away if the "civilian" had not collected it.  Perhaps the IOA just missed a plague from the moon !!!!  ... f so, we have been saved by government experts once again.  And the USG has provided employment of redundant humans.

99guspuppet

Entrepreneurial meeting at Regis College

Sorry about the mis-spelling of "entrepreneurial".  I used to be a better speller.

I want to help out budding entrepreneurs ..............................
How about meeting next Thursday ( June 30 ) at Billy's Bar ( Lowell and 44th Ave )  at 1900 hrs to kick some ideas around ?
720 222 1309
http://www.meetup.com/Regis-Entrepreneur-Club/

Two videos are at vimeo.com     search for ==> REGIS2011EC

Meeting warm-up ........   NREL   National Renewable Energy Lab

I did not record the presenters name. The  NREL power-point presentation was very ordinary.  I don't find NREL ( a division of the US Energy Department ) to be entrepreneurial or innovative.  The gestalt is more like some USG employees trying to hang onto their jobs in these uncertain times.   Some of the comments and data were mis-leading.   Some of the presenters "definitions" were not as I know them.

I would guess the hydrogen car cost more than 1 million dollars.  I would guess the gas station for this one car cost many millions of dollars.  When asked about the cost of fuel, the presenter tossed out a cost of 40 cents per kilogram.  It appeared he said you could drive a mile for 4 cents in fuel costs.  That sounded good since my partner pays about 34 cents per mile in fuel costs.  Then the presenter amended his earlier statement and said something that appeared to indicate actual fuel costs would be more like 50 cents per mile.  I was not really clear on what he was saying.   The hydrogen car was touted as carbon free...... that is true only if you ignore some inconvenient facts.   Like where did the car come from ?  Where did the hydrogen come from ?  How was the hydrogen delivered ?
NREL's yearly budget is around $300 million .......

Main Meeting

Karl Dakin ( the host ) said some rebellious things with zero passion.  He took some shots at government regulations ..... but I could not tell if he was serious.  His was also a new high/low in power-points.  I have to congratulate Karl on that.  People often joke about powerpoints.  Karl did not have to read from the power-point slides.  The slides had repeating animation that had little do with what he was saying.  The repeating animation on his slides totally invoked my ADD.  

#1 This meeting was not a discussion...... Karl said how it is going to be.

#2 Intellectually I am on the fence about how "fun" this group is going to be.....

#3 Emotionally I think this group is no fun.

Karl wants people to invite people until the meetings must be held at Invesco field.  I reminded me of MLM  .... although Karl talked about money flowing to the students in the club.   His focus was on benefiting Regis students.

I have never experienced more rational dissonance than at this meeting.  I went home and had an allergic reaction.  I am unable at this time to dissect exactly what happened at this meeting.  A lot of people seemed to already know each other.  A community activist pro showed up and wants to be involved.  I saw no one flying the freak flag.  The group reeks of conventionality. Underneath the various facades ....... who knows ?

I don't.....  

I had offered to provide ( gratis ) streaming video of this meeting.  Karl did not get back to me on that.  I offered to talk about some emerging opportunities in high tech.  This is an area that I avidly track.  Karl emailed me that " it is not that kind of meeting".

What kind of club is this ??????    I am clueless at this point.

I will be posting some images and audio of this meeting.  Look on vimeo.com  for tag ==>  REGIS2011EC

I will be pondering how I and others of my ilk can assist budding entrepreneurs and inventors.

99guspuppet