TALKING TO STRANGERS CAN BE FUN

Today as I was icing my knee at Physical Therapy, after an hour of exercises, I was reading my book, Brain Droppings by George
Carlin. It always makes me feel a bit awkward to be laughing so hard I have to exert every pubococcygeus muscle of my pelvic floor. Not too far away, a man in a black shirt and pants caught my eye and said, "I want that book to read after you." His salt and pepper hair suggested to me that he was a quite bit younger than I, nice looking, and oddly dressed in black pants and a black shirt. We began a conversation, first about humor, and then about life, which then segued to Faith.

I was blissfully unaware initially that the man was probably a priest as I replied to his saying that 'lots of people seemed more relaxed about life when they had Faith', and I answered, "Yes, and some people do well with placebos." He laughed and told me that was good, he had never heard that before. It was then that I saw that his black shirt had a small black collar standing up, as well.

Having put my irreligious foot in my mouth, I felt there was no turning back. I said I respected everyone's right to whatever beliefs worked for them, though they might differ from mine. I added that I followed the Golden Rule and lived an honest, moral life with integrity and I sincerely believed I would be in oblivion when the CPU in my cranium stopped working. I doubted that I would later suffer for my life beliefs. He smiled, kindly and not at all disapprovingly, and I wished our conversation could have lasted longer.

Since I have never gotten over the habit of talking to everyone who is willing to talk back, I tried to recall more of our conversation though I've never been good at total recall other than getting the gist of things. It started to be a conversation when I pointed out why I liked Carlin's humor so much. Carlin thought outside the box, which is what I like to see in myself whenever I look out there. It is both a curse and blessing, to use that as a metaphor, because people who are traditional or rigid, often see you as somewhat frightening as you deviate from their view of what should be. It would be a dull life, indeed, if one stopped seeing new things in one's life. Discovering the excitement of seeing newness in one's life and space is invigorating. It is also true that you don't have to travel very far to share ideas with people. Looking into someone's eyes, then smiling, usually works to let them know you are not a danger. (Of course, being a fat, old lady who looks like someone's grandmother doesn't hurt in developing trust, either).

It is never my intent to insult strangers nor cause them distress when I unhesitatingly toss my personal views for all to hear and form opinions about me. Some people are too hesitant to be frank about their fear or disapproval of me but I can see it in their demeanor; others tell me I would be better off with Faith (from Wikipedia: "Faith is a belief, characteristically without proof.[1] It is the confident belief in the truth of or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. Formal usage of the word "faith" is usually reserved for concepts of religion, as in theology, where it refers to a trusting belief in a transcendent reality or Supreme Being. Informal usage of the word "faith" can be quite broad, and may be used standardly in place of "trust", "belief", or "hope". It can also refer to a religion itself or to religion in general. (For informal uses of the word "faith", see Faith (word)). As with "trust", faith involves a concept of future events or outcomes".), though the projection is lost on me because I feel quite well-off spiritually. Few look at me with acceptance as a kindred spirit, though when that happens, it is like finding a diamond in a manure pile.

Life is so much more exciting when you share yourself with others, especially strangers.

IMMUNITY FROM TESTIFYING

Karl Rove has been subpoenaed again. His lawyer suggests he will show up this time unless they can pull something out of the hat from Bush. The stench of the Bush administration will emit its malodorous residue for a very long time, it would seem. While no one wants to see the legislative branch of government caught up in a similar waste of time and opportunity as the Republicans did chasing after Clinton, not for the good of the country but rage that they had lost total control. The fear is that Bush and company will get away scot free.

Bush signed something before he left office, trying to give everyone, who had served in the White House with him, a life immunity from testifying, due to Bush's Executive privilege. This for the man who was known as Bush's Brain, by many who knew that Bush had been coolly marketed to a susceptible public, ready to believe what they wanted to hear about this man who had never achieved real success in anything he did before in his life and was completely unfit or prepared the be President of the United States.

Immunity from prosecution should no longer be handed to families of ambassadors from other countries and their family members and staff. Right now it has become a bad joke to our legal system that they can illegally park and even commit murder with utter immunity. Would that we all had a place where we could claim immunity for any of our actions, but that route is not open to many of us....nor should be.

Stay tuned...who will win this one...the good guys or the bad guys?

REPUBLICANS CONTINUE TO WAVE THE DIVISIVENESS FLAG

Now that the election is over, things are not cooling down but the whole world is heating up. Republicans seem to have their lack of bipartisanship issues more strongly expressed than their interest for what is best for the majority of the voters (who apparently aren't Republican). Today the House members demonstrated their free thinking by voting lock step with one another. Not one Republican broke rank. No Republican voted for the Bill, though it didn't need their votes to pass.

Most amusing was the genuflecting one Representative gave to Rush Limbaugh. It is very difficult to understand how Limbaugh carries more weight than common sense or wishes for success for his fellow Americans. That he deludes himself to think he knows more than the best economic minds in the country, and demands that politicians pander to him because his listener base is so broad. Rush apparently values his tenuous hold on the voters full of hate for Democracy, for having lost the election to the Democrats and still carrying the divisiveness torch. Well, shame on him and them. How unpatriotic and what a display of poor sportsmanship, none of which should come as a surprise. His megalomania has gone too far and, perhaps, soon, the country will see him for the selfish, self-centered blow-hard that he is. In the meanwhile, he claims to have 20 million fools with him. The sad part is not that they are with him, but that there are 20 million fools in the country!

With Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, and Rush Limbaugh we can continue to be ashamed of the country as we were because of their hero George W. Bush. "The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has launched an online petition to express outrage at conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh for saying he wanted President Obama to "fail." "

It makes me wonder whether pushing action that is against our Constitution shouldn't be considered treason. I would worry about what is in the hearts and minds of all his followers who get revved up by his toxic remarks.

MY BRAIN: THE CPU

When the CPU in your computer is too slow, it is time to get a new computer. However, the CPU in your brain is not so easy to speed up. It has always intrigued me as to whether the storage drive in our brain ever gets filled up, does it then compress info, or do we die of old age with brain cells never used or filled. If they do get filled, like a drive, what decides what info should be dumped for new info.

Researchers at Columbia University are combining the processing power of the human brain with computer vision to develop a novel device that will allow people to search through images ten times faster than they can on their own. It's a start, but meanwhile back at the ranch, it does not answer my questions about my current, unassisted brain.

Japanese scientists have unveiled a device that can pluck images out of your brain and recreate them on a computer screen.

Using an fMRI brain scanner, researchers read electrical signals coming from people's brains while they thought about letters in the word "neuron." The research team led by Yukiyaso Kamitani at ATR Computational Neuroscience Labs has designed software that can process the output of the fMRI and search for signals associated with vision. (Many of the same parts of the brain that process images in the real world are also used to create images in your mind's eye.)

The brain works somewhat like both a computer and a chemical factory. Brain cells produce electrical signals and send them from cell to cell along pathways called circuits. As in a computer, these circuits receive, process, store, and retrieve information. Unlike a computer, however, the brain creates its electrical signals by chemical means. The proper functioning of the brain depends on many complicated chemical substances produced by brain cells.

While it might not happen in my lifetime, I'd certainly love to find a way to answer my questions about brain functioning, the care and feeding of, and how and when to tune it up.

WILL LUXURY SERVICES AND PRODUCTS SURVIVE THE DEPRESSION?

Reading an article on luxury hotels dropping 24% this past year in business reminds me that the beneficiaries are the lower and whose reputations won't suffer for that lesser price.
Would this be considered trickle down economics?


Restaurants will head in the same direction. There are plenty of excellent meals to be had at a small percentage of the price in which the elite pay for their snobbery as well as the food. The Essex House in NY, opened four years ago, starts the dinner price at $145 (and that is without the wine).

There may be some who can afford $366 for a meal, though I, personally, would choke on one, knowing how many people that amount would feed applied to a broader table. It makes me wonder how the elite in Dubai will handle the current economic crisis.






What will happen to that sterling sliver Mercedes? If Dubai investments are world wide, then their massive fortunes might be suffering a bit as well. As enormous luxury houses have been foreclosed in areas where money was dependent on current earnings (rather than inherited money investments) there is not a great deal of economic limbo to be passed through before the well runs dry and can no longer afford the mortgage, servants required, maintenance costs, etc.

SHORTCUT TO WORLD NEWS: READ HEADLINES ONLY

Headlines are wonderful. A friend once told me that he only read the first line of every paragraph and got through many more books than most people, retaining what he read and understanding the essence of each book. It occurred to me that a similar gift of knowledge might come out of reading headlines. The first one I caught was:
So Long Worst President Ever; 10 Reasons History Will Hang You
By Bernie Horn, Campaign for America's Future. Posted January 16, 2009.

In Oklahoma, a change of pace:


















I've been under the illusion that more people were concerned about the new Administration. Apparently, if you look at local news, you realize that wherever you are in the country, people worry about themselves before they go global. Check it out for yourself on this site.