I just finished The Darkest Jungle by Todd Balf which is a true account of the Darien Expedition and America’s role in trying to find a route for the Panama Canal in the 1850’s. An area known as the Darien Gap was thought to be the best route for construction and in 1854 the U.S. sent an expedition with maps of earlier explorations. The 27 member crew landed on the Atlantic side to start their exploration. Led by 33 year…
The announcement of the Mississippi Katrina damage settlement prompted reports about the shifting weather patterns due to global warming. An environmental scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy said "There’s a shift going on to more frequent, extreme weather events. It’s as much an issue in the heartland as on the coast." The Department of Energy says that weather caused damage has increased from $1 Billion a year in 1970’s to $17 Billion a year over the last decade. In…
I reported Senator Trent Lott’s (R-Miss) declaration of war on State Farm Fire & Casualty Company when it refused to cover his house damage after Katrina. (It depends upon whose ox is being gored 12/4/06) He went from the best friend the insurance industry ever had to Attila the Hun attacking the entire insurance industry and threatening to take away their sacred cow immunity from anti trust laws. Now it looks like the insurance company decided it wasn’t in their…
Global warming! What global warming? "Global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetetrated on the American people" Sen James Inhofe (R-Okla) Photo taken of record breaking snow fall in Scottsdale, AZ on January 21, 2007 at the home of Paul & Lita Luvera. [Click on photo for larger image]
Over the years of reading books, I’ve kept excerpts from some that amused me or interested me Here is a brief sampling of a few of the excerpts I saved. More to follow: All My Friends by George Burns. In the book, Burns related the story about the man and woman who were driving to a masquerade party. He was dressed like a bull and she as a cow. The car broke down and they were walking across a pasture…
Last night I was fascinated to watch, on television, bidding on a car which set a thirty six year record for the most money ever paid for an auctioned car at the Scottsdale, Arizona Barrett Jackson Classic Car Auction. The bidding for the 1966 Cobra began high and rapidly climbed to $1 million. As other bidders dropped out only two bidders competed against each other. One was seated close behind the other and as the numbers grew in size, the…
I’ve posted before about Mr. Bush’s inept selections to important government positions (12/29/06, 12/23/06 & 12/06/06). He has shown a pattern of appointing the wrong people to the job he appoints them to. This wouldn’t be so bad if they were inconsequential political appointments, but too often they are very significant government positions. We have the example of his appointment of Lurita Alexis Doan, a Virginia businesswoman, who was his selection in April of 2006 as Administrator of the General…
Last night I watched a replay of a l951 black and white TV show, Life is Worth Living, featuring Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. In 1951 the Archdiocese of New York had decided to use television to promote a Christian message and selected Sheen to do the broadcast. The broadcast featured Bishop Sheen, standing the whole time, all alone, talking for thirty five minutes about a Christian view of life. It was a weekly televison show, before a live audience on…
Neuro-Linguistic Programing – NLP – has been a very helpful teaching in my life since discovering it years ago. It involves proven concepts about how we think and react, our attitudes and how we see things internally that impact our actions as well as our thoughts. One of the principles is expressed in the phrase "the map is not the territory." What we think is our reality irrespective of the actual facts. We experience our personal reality no matter what…
Justice Scalia, I’d like you to meet James Waller. Why am I introducing you? Well, in light of your opinion in Kansas v Marsh (548 U.S. 2006 5-4 opinion) and your claims about the rarity of innocent people convicted of crime I thought you would like to meet Mr. Waller – an innocent man convicted of a crime he did not commit. In Marsh, once again, you use sarcasm to sustain your views.You label those concerned about innocent people convicted…
