Monday, October 31, 2005

syn: Halloween, Hallowe'en, Allhallows Eve

In honor of Half Moon Bay (20 miles south of San Francisco) which is famous for its pumpkin festival and Maverick’s!

Hallowe'en, the evening (October 31) before All Saints' Day, and celebrated in the United States, Canada, and the British Isles.

Nota bene: In the seventh century C.E., the church moved its All Saints' Day, a holiday for honoring early Christian martyrs, from a day in May to November 1, thus associating it with the old Druid death rituals of October 31.

By the tenth century C.E., the Catholic Church had added a new holiday, All Souls' Day (and what we know today as Halloween). This day was set aside to honor all of the dead, not just the early Christian Saints.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Message to get off my chest!

Whatever your message, get it out there---get it off /on your chest, to wit: What does Laura Bush know about fathers except having one...I think!

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Daylight-Saving Time ends

@3 a.m. Sun. Oct.30 "fall back" to 2 a.m. local time...

The official spelling is Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight Saving'S' Time.

Saving is used here as a verbal adjective (a participle). It modifies time and tells us more about its nature; namely, that it is characterized by the activity of saving daylight. It is a saving daylight kind of time.

Similar examples would be dog walking time or book reading time. Since saving is a verb describing a single type of activity, the form is singular. Nevertheless, many people feel the word savings (with an 's') flows more melodiously off the tongue.

However, Daylight Savings Time is also in common usage and can be found in dictionaries. Adding to the confusion is that the phrase Daylight Saving Time is inaccurate, since no daylight is actually saved! Daylight Shifting Time would be better, but it is not as politically desirable.

:::In the European Union, clocks change at 1:00 a.m. Universal Time:::

Friday, October 28, 2005

More Newsworthy! & Equal Time!

The Maginot Mind is just as worthy, and in the alternative, more worthy than other posts included in other blogs!!

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Breaking the Curse of the Black Sox - 1919

  • Please refer to The Maginot Mind blog of Sunday, October 02, 2005 of Alfonso Ramon Lopez!

Notwithstanding the Chicago ~ north-side south-side thing/rivalry... The Chicago White Sox won the World Series last night!

Good for an 11-1 postseason record that ranks among the finest in the annals of the sport. Good for the team's first world championship since 1917, two years before the Black Sox threw the World Series and scarred a franchise.

A team that relied not on stars, but cohesion! A steely trust as any game went on, one or another of them would do something to win it. A potent compound (code: "chemistry") of ingredients that clicked, when no one else saw it coming.

In a sport of curse's:
  • Curse of the Black Sox
  • Curse of the Bambino
This team won without a 0.300 hitter. This team ended an eighty-eight year drought (1917) to become world champions.

:::However, all-time favorite teams are still the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, and the 1927 New York Yankees!:::

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

COMFORTABLY NUMB

In memoriamSunday 10/16/05 - for an acquaintance who could have been a friend but his karma ran over my dogma.

Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd
Album: The Wall
Date: 1979

--->>with chords--<<

D.............................A
There is no pain you are receding,
D...............................A.........G/B
A distant ships smoke on the horizon,
C.................................G
You are only coming through in waves,
....C.........................................G
Your lips move, but I can't hear what your saying,
....D...............................A
When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse,
D........................A......G/B
Out of the corner of my eye,
C..............................G
I turned to look, but it was gone,
............................C
I can not put my finger on it now,
............................G
The child is grown, the dream is gone,
A...............G/B....C...........G..................D
and I___________________, have become comfortably numb.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Blogging a Blog!

The reason! The blog!

Monday, October 24, 2005

BARF!

BARF! aka Bankruptcy Abuse Reform Fiasco! became effective last Monday, October 17, 2005.

This new bankruptcy law, backed by lenders and credit card issuers, is trying to put bankruptcy attorney's out of business. That is, under BARF!, attorneys can't advise their clients how to deal with the law.

Ergo, we have a bona fide CATCH 22 - If an attorney advises a client, the government can fine the attorney, and if the attorney fails to advise the client, the client can also sue the attorney!

The only thing bankrupt is the logic behind this BARF!, oops...'Reform!' Oscar Wilde said it best: "It is often with the best intentions that some of the worst work is done." This 400-page magnum ugly opus is pure unadulterated BARF!

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Special Prosecutor Web Site

Special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald investigating the outing of a covert CIA operative opened a Web site on Friday, October 21, 2005.

The site will enable the posting of possible indictments next week that focus on whether top White House aides tried to conceal their shenanigans from government investigators.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

:::Stockholm Syndrome redux:::

In reference to the Thursday, October 13, blog on the Stockholm Syndrome---this appears to be more a case of racism!

Friday, October 21, 2005

Tampa reprieve!

Tampa, Florida was spared, its first hurricane since 1921, as Hurricane Wilma path slows.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Progressive vs Liberal REDUX

:::Progressive versus Liberal debate and context:::

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Continuum <---- vs----> Spectrum

Progressive or Liberal?

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

God exists?

:::Those for and more!
::::Those against!

Monday, October 17, 2005

The real "Deadbeats" - Congress & former President William Jefferson Clinton

~ Meet the Press (Transcript from Sunday, October 16, 2005) ~

Tim Russert's conversation with former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh:

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Charles Grassley, Republican, said you had plenty of money and he cites the comments you made before Congress in May of 2001, where you say, "We received the human, technical and financial resources needed to keep the FBI at the cutting edge of investigations. ...Over the nearly eight years that I have been Director, Congress has increased the FBI's budget by more than $1.27 billion...That is a 58% increase ..."

You could have asked Congress to redeploy people to cover terrorism rather than some other areas, but you didn't.

MR. FREEH: Well, look, on the budget--and the budget is a very interesting and a very arcane process, as you know, here in Washington--I doubled the number of agents that were working in counterterrorism in my period. I tripled our resources. I was very thankful for those resources; I still am. But that wasn't any way to fight a war. The FBI today has 1,400 more agents than it had when I left office, 1,400 more agents. And the priority that counterterrorism has taken on for the FBI, which is appropriate, takes resources from civil rights cases, from white collar crime cases, from public corruption cases. And I couldn't move people around as I wanted to.

When Congress appropriates resources, it tells us "OK, you've got 100 new agents for health care. You've got 25 new agents for deadbeat dads cases," believe it or not. It's very programmed and we have very, very little discretion. One of the recommendations I made to the 9/11 Commission, give the FBI director and the attorney general the discretion to move resources around as necessary. We've never had that.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Misfiling as prologue...to War



LAWRENCE of Arabia’s vision for the Middle East has been revealed in a map he created after the First World War.

T. E. Lawrence, the British colonel whose wartime collaboration with the Arabs against the Turks was immortalised in David Lean’s film Lawrence of Arabia (1962), attempted to reward Britain’s Arab allies by dividing territory between them.

His sympathy for the cause of Arab self-determination is well known, but the full details contained in the map eluded historians because it was filed at the National Archives under the wrong date.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Addendum to Friday 9/23/2005 Post!

Another 36th Anniversary on Saturday, October 29, 1969.

Friday, October 14, 2005

1965 Redux

1965 all over again...!@#&%

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Stockholm Syndrome


The Stockholm syndrome is the psychological tendency of a hostage to bond with, identify with, or sympathize with his or her captor.

What causes Stockholm syndrome? Captives begin to identify with their captors initially as a defensive mechanism, out of fear of violence. Small acts of kindness by the captor are magnified, since finding perspective in a hostage situation is by definition impossible. Rescue attempts are also seen as a threat, since it's likely the captive would be injured during such attempts.

It's important to note that these symptoms occur under tremendous emotional and often physical duress. The behavior is considered a common survival strategy for victims of interpersonal abuse, and has been observed in abused children, prisoners of war, and concentration camp survivors.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

NOBEL LAUREATES

Robert J. Aumann (75) and Thomas C. Schelling (84) won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science (Monday, October 10, 2005) for their work in game theory, which explains the choices that competitors make in situations that require strategic thinking.

Their work has helped to illuminate the dynamics in labor negotiations, business transactions and arms negotiations, among other situations. An article that Thomas Crombie Schelling wrote prompted the director Stanley Kubrick to make the movie "Dr. Strangelove," consulting with Mr. Schelling during the filming.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Einstein Centenary

In Bern, Switzerland, during the year 1905, Albert Einstein (1879-1955) had five pioneering papers on physics.

In September 1905 was a small paper...an afterthought...almost a footnote...that would change world history.

A little known fact about Einstein's 1905 paper is that he didn't actually write E=mc²; he wrote the mathematically equivalent (though less euphonious) m=E/c², placing greater emphasis on creating "mass" from 'energy' (as in the joust) than on creating "energy" from 'mass' (as in nuclear weapons and power stations).

Monday, October 10, 2005

3 Wrongs Don't Make a Right

January 1, 2001 was the start of this decade/century/millennium and the baseball salary cap post is correct; but the posts about skepticism can't see the forest for the trees!!

Ergo...the issue, when framed in a political context, is cynicism...not skepticism.
  • Cynicism n : a cynical feeling of distrust
  • Cynical adj : believing the worst of human nature and motives; having a sneering disbelief in e.g. selflessness of others [syn: misanthropic, misanthropical]
  • skepticism n 1: doubt about the truth of something [syn: incredulity, disbelief, mental rejection] 2: the disbelief in any claims of ultimate knowledge [syn: agnosticism, scepticism]

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Disposophobia

Pack rat
Related: Vertebrates

Rodent of the genus Neotoma, of North and Central America, noted for its habit of collecting bright, shiny objects and leaving other objects, such as nuts or pebbles, in their place; also called trade rat or wood rat.

The fear of getting rid of stuff may have something to do with
evolution
. But there is a cure for the chipmunk who hoards acorns.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

AGE - irreverent or irrelevant?


Poor Eric Clapton thinks he's too old?

What do you think? Comments...

Friday, October 07, 2005

Big Shoes to Fill

St. Augustine said, "I cried for boots, till I saw a man who had no legs."

Life is full of difficulties and obstacles, from birth to death. At times, life seems like a hurdle race. We are sure of encountering hurdles, but almost always we are taken by surprise. It is necessary to accept that life in general is full of difficulties and adversities. This recognition is the first step.

When faced with problems, we often feel, "I am the only one having such problems." Or, we tend to exaggerate our problems and regard them as the most complex, most painful, and as an extreme case. But if we look around us, we find people in much worse conditions.

When faced with adversities, we either grumble or seek to dodge them. We behave like an ostrich in the desert. It is said that when there is a storm in the desert, the ostrich buries his head in the sand—hoping that the storm will go away if he ignores it—and finally gets buried under a heap of sand and dies.

Then there are those who not merely survive, but prevail!

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Egbert Roscoe Murrow

From book review to movie on the life of Edward R. Murrow ~ we are left with a parable for our times and not a history lesson.

Is the issue that modern journalists have been cowed by those in political power? Or is this merely a superficial cliché?

Is the truth that modern journalism is potent comparted to Murrow's vastly overrated televison output? Or are today's bloggers the new journalists?

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Brains & Stupid

George Will – a conservative but at least an intelligent conservative!


But, alas, poor fool...the Donald.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

:::Porko::Porco:::

LET'S ELIMINATE PORK BARREL SPENDING!
For those who care, read on and on.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Fall Session

The new Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts, 50, presides over today’s opening of the new Supreme Court term.

Chief Justice Roberts, who is replacing the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, could have a significant impact on the nation's highest court for decades to come.

President Bush must now nominate a successor for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, 75. Beginning next week, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear cases on a number of complex legal issues.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Alfonso Ramon Lopez


Trivia time – The NY Yankees were in every World Series but two from 1949 to 1964. The Cleveland Indians (1954) and Chicago White Sox (1959) were the American League representatives in those two. What did they have in common?

They had the same manager, Al Lopez.

Born: August 20, 1908, in Tampa, Florida.
ML Debut: 9/27/1928......Primary Uniform #: 42
Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 1977.

At age 97, he is currently the oldest living member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Check out what he has said about his career.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Fairy Tail(s) or Tale(s) ?

In the current debate about Evolution versus Intelligent Design…let’s not forget to do the math. Whether pixie-like, or playfully mischievous, or pixy-led, and bewildered...let's not forget that like human beings, fairys live in a universe of contradictions.

Farey's occur all over the place in fractal & chaos theory; they're kind of like an eye in the center of the storm. Not to be one to generalize, but the generalization for fractions are "Farey Numbers."

Farey Numbers are ordinary fractions, but are endowed with a funny addition:
a/b + c/d == (a+c) / (b+d)

Note that the following farey sequence has a fibonacci number, which is always an integer, in the numerator & denominator.
e.g. 0/1 + 1/1 = 1/2
0/1 + 1/2 = 1/3
1/2 + 1/3 = 2/5 etc.
(although most farey's do not have fibonacci's in them -- e.g.
0/1 + 1/3 = 1/4, etc.)

The farey sequences of orders 1 to 8 are :
F1 = {0⁄1, 1⁄1}
F2 = {0⁄1, 1⁄2, 1⁄1}
F3 = {0⁄1, 1⁄3, 1⁄2, 2⁄3, 1⁄1}
F4 = {0⁄1, 1⁄4, 1⁄3, 1⁄2, 2⁄3, 3⁄4, 1⁄1}
F5 = {0⁄1, 1⁄5, 1⁄4, 1⁄3, 2⁄5, 1⁄2, 3⁄5, 2⁄3, 3⁄4, 4⁄5, 1⁄1}
F6 = {0⁄1, 1⁄6, 1⁄5, 1⁄4, 1⁄3, 2⁄5, 1⁄2, 3⁄5, 2⁄3, 3⁄4, 4⁄5, 5⁄6, 1⁄1}
F7 = {0⁄1, 1⁄7, 1⁄6, 1⁄5, 1⁄4, 2⁄7, 1⁄3, 2⁄5, 3⁄7, 1⁄2, 4⁄7, 3⁄5, 2⁄3, 5⁄7, 3⁄4, 4⁄5, 5⁄6, 6⁄7, 1⁄1}
F8 = {0⁄1, 1⁄8, 1⁄7, 1⁄6, 1⁄5, 1⁄4, 2⁄7, 1⁄3, 3⁄8, 2⁄5, 3⁄7, 1⁄2, 4⁄7, 3⁄5, 5⁄8, 2⁄3, 5⁄7, 3⁄4, 4⁄5, 5⁄6, 6⁄7, 7⁄8, 1⁄1}

For every rational p/q, there is a corresponding farey; you can use the above to fill out the mapping from rational's to farey's.

The mapping for farey number to reals is bizzarre: its infinitely differentiable, its derivatives are all zero at all rational numbers -- i.e. its infinitely flat at all rational numbers. But its not a straight line; its a bumpy curve that is increasing ...

Thus, brought back to this broggers topical question tangentially concerning the current theological versus scientific brouhaha...is mathematics an accident, or was math cleverly designed by an omnipotent God?"

We will never know, since knowing would probably violate Kurt Gödel's (1906-1978) theorem, which states that some things can be true without being provably true!

But, let's not forget that "... we have learned from much experience that all philosophical intuitions about what nature is going to do fail." -- Richard Feynman