ANOTHER 'TOO-BIG-TO-FAIL'?

Dubai is one of the Arab Emirates.  It has been made rich through oil but its leaders, wise enough to acknowledge that is a limited resource, have developed many other ways to maintain a healthy economy for their country and treat all citizens wisely and considerately.  However, over extending when times were good like the rest of the world, the ruler of Dubai, owner of most of the wealth, is, in essence, asking a sort of bail-out.  In fact, he is only asking for an extension of calling in some loans, but even this relatively tiny) but obscenely wealthy, country effects the world finances.

A three year old article on the Internet says there are no taxes in Dubai.  You keep what you own. Rents are high and traffic is congested. Dubai tops MidEast in quality of life ranking.  The UAE does not treat women as Saudi Arabia does.  To learn more, read this ex-pat's accounting of her experience living in Dubai.  Click here.



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ARE THE INNOCENT, HELPLESS AMERICANS TO BE FORCED BY THE GREEDY YET AGAIN?

The ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is infuriating. As things currently stand, BP's legal liability is "capped" at a maximum of $75 million. That's less than BP makes in profits in one day! The rest of the astronomical clean up costs will be paid by us -- American taxpayers. Sign the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund's petition and tell your members of Congress to pass legislation that lifts the oil liability cap and the cap on punitive damages. 

Don Hazen
Executive Editor, AlterNet.org

How in the world of Congressional Chutzpah can someone really insist on capping payment responsibility on the greedy failing to use good judgment and  money to prevent or minimize the cost to the environment and to innocent taxpayers, already impoverished due to greedy corporations?  The weak cry that it would stop small businesses from investing in similar oil drilling falls somewhat flat on my astonished ears.

Already the talking heads are trying to estimate what it will cost American taxpayers, while we have legislators  (who allegedly have benefited greatly from the largess to them from the oil companies who should have been putting the money towards safeguards rather than politicians' greed) who are thinking of their 'gold, egg laying, goose' rather than the people who voted them into office to represent them; not themselves only.  Don't allow these few in the Congress to add this burden onto the shoulders of the people who have already picked up the bill at the dinner party too often.

CHICKEN LITTLE OF IMPLANTED CHIPS

Reading University in the UK is looking into chips implanted into humans.  As wonderful as they are, they (like every other useful thing we have)can be targeted for viruses by the bad guys.  To understand this problem, watch this short video (after the usual ads we must endure to keep things free).  Click here.

This is not brand new technology but now that it is here, great minds keep thinking of new uses...and the inevitable, abuses.  These little computers enhance life or add more worry and sorrow.  Click here to get an idea of the way some people are thinking ao use chips.  Of course, we know that they have been tested on animals with no ill results.

To the best of our knowledge no nasty hacker has planted a virus in an implant yet but it was done on purpose by a young man at Reading University.  Like Hillary, I suppose he did it just because it was there to be done, thereby giving all hackers a goal for which to strive

So knock the chips off your shoulders and embed them  under your skin with gadgets that are not easily lost such as instructions for guarding your phone (which it can do all by itself and allow no one else to call on it)..

AMBIENCE

am·bi·ence variant(s): or am·bi·ance  \ˈam-bē-ən(t)s, ˈäm-bē-än(t)s\

Function: noun  Etymology: French ambiance, from ambiant ambientDate: 1889

: a feeling or mood associated with a particular place, person, or thing : atmosphere

Tonight I heard a live jazz quintet.  I've always known the sound quality is better live than recorded...at least by the best equipment to which I am exposed.   When the musicians are extremely talented, play essentially the same numbers, I began to wonder what are the elements that make one performance more enjoyable than another.  My conclusions were that there are many factors to be considered.,  A dead, talkative and disinterested crowd can spoil it for everyone listening.  The enjoyment of the audience is infectious as is the projection of enjoyment reflected by the musicians themselves.  Lots of musicians are personable but some reflect such charisma and personal pleasure, it also infects the audience.

Variety is important.  Tonight there was variety of tempos, instrument combinations, style of song, occasional added vocals where the lyrics were captivating,   Enthusiastic applause keeps people awake and involved.   Some of these elements cannot be duplicated on a CD as easily.  I will not discuss modern music where pyrotechnics, dancing, gyrations make up much of the performance.  I'm talking about classic jazz...from Louis Armstrong to Gershwin and beyond,

If the venue affords food and smaller rooms where mingling guests and dancing is part of the evening, there is an added fellowship that can't be duplicated unless a group of friends gather around to listen to a CD...which doesn't seem to happen much in our busy society.  Sadly, these performances take place in more expensive restaurants so younger faces are usually not plentiful.  Contrasted to the clubs of the current, young generation, the rarity of beauty in the instrumentals, the audience usually responds to the beat more than lyricism or complexity of melody.  In fact, it fits the stages of life making it clear why music of the young shall always differ from that which seniors enjoy.  Unfortunately, performers on CDs today cannot replicate their performances on stage without technology to gimmick it up.  When you play live, there is no automatic cover up for bloopers.  The visual is lost unless it is a video DVD.

If you really look more closely at both groups, you can readily see, why grandparents, parents, and their offspring will almost never like the same musical entertainment.  We will never like the same things when we are searching for something different than others looking for their groove.  Perhaps I should have said 'rut'.

Now I know why live performances will always have to find a place in my life on occasion.

MY CLEANING WOMAN

Everyone should have a cleaning person with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).  She may clean things a bit longer than most and sees dirt where dust mites  passed by. She certainly leaves things clean before she leaves.  Even when I tell her not to wash the glass on framed pictures more than once a year (she smokes, I don't; she  fries food, I don't)  I'm told, "Oh I haven't done these for over two weeks."   There is a 'clean this' magnet on each piece of glass, mirror and TV screen. 

There is an order to the way she does things (that OCD thing again, I guess, which only an act of God could alter. I suppose having cleaned my house weekly for the past 26 years makes her feel things are familiar.  I like change so I am constantly moving things.  It is clear that she considers her taste better than mine.  Things must be balanced, I can't live with everything surrounding something else..  So after years of putting things back after she left,  I played back the echo in my mind to let her know that I really want things where I put them.  She tells me she forgets where they were and apologizes,. though  I still have to put things back when she leaves.

Some minor irritations to some become monumental to me.  I have a dispenser of orange foam soap.  I need it to deodorize my hands after handling aarghhies.  I wet them and then push the plunger for foam.  When she cleans the counter, she grabs the bottle by the plunger and locks it.  Hands no longer dry, I try to get soap but nothing happens until I dry my handsand release the lock, which means several seconds spent finding  the exact position.  By now, not only is a towel smelly but so is the top of the dispenser.  Though we have gone over this many times, it happens weekly so that she has now trained me to add checking its position when she
leaves,  as well, the shower being turned off so that when I try to adjust the temperature I am not still out of the tub when I get soaked.

One thing she moves really upsets me.  It is like plant homicide to me and putting up with it makes me an accessory.  Miss House Beautiful, our cleaning tornado, places plants where she thinks they look look better. I tell her they are living things and require the right conditions of light, no drafts, etc.  Left wondering what part of that she doesn't understand, my Polish Polisher looks surprised and says, "Oh, didn't I put them back where they were?"  or, "They look better balanced."   I tell her that I like them better alive.  I have developed a weekly mantra as I rearrange the house after she leaves with cash in hand.  Since the words I use are not generally accepted for publication, I just move everything back and celebrate that things will get dirtier.during the week but will be, at least, where I want them and I can still open drawers and closet doors.  A week later, I will have the pleasure of telling her what I would like to have her do or not do and she will do what she wishes to do.  When she leaves, the house will be spotless again for a few minutes...hours, if I'm lucky.


Since she manages to have a room look neat and clean when she leaves, I find she has pushed everything out of the way so that I no longer can open drawers, cabinets, the toaster oven, or reach my blender or coffee maker.  So far she does heavier, dirtier work than that which I do after she leaves.,   She returns, for which I am more than grateful when I hear the horror stories others tell me about their non-English speaking, light-fingered cleaning.service. 

The moral to my story is:  Not even blessings are perfect.

PERSONAL PRIVACY: A WISH FROM THE PAST

Eric Hayden, Miller-McCune.com has written an article titled  Why Privacy on Facebook is 'Virtually Impossible'.  Actually, privacy anywhere in our world today is impossible.  Our politicians have been so busy getting themselves re-elected, they have not kept up with what is going on in the world.  Leaving everything to their staff is little consolation as their staff is not in a good position to make priority choices for them unless it can be good publicity for re-election.  Let's face it, only a small majority of our elected officials have integrity, morality, and dedication to serving the public's needs.  Oh, yes, there are some there but how is the average voter going to squeak out the truth when all they have access to is rhetoric and lies with an occasional truth thrown in

The Privacy Act of 1974 is rather a pretty amusing read today.  It does not happen in the places it can.  It does not happen to the organizations that have, for years now, amassed personal data on almost everyone in the country who has every used a computer, been on the Internet, responded to a seemingly benign questionnaire, and who know how many other sources.

Marketers are users of this information as anyone who grieves the trees being wasted just to throw out circulars and catalogs for their mistakes in what they think will interest us.  I do not own a pet but I once bought a parakeet for a relative and some dog treats for my friends who insist on bringing their joined-to-their-hip dogs with them to my house.  They finally stopped when I made sure I filled out one of those forms that attaches itself to so many purchases requesting information on my preferences...a pretty ubiquitous marketing bottom feeder.  I should have followed the advice of a friend who says she gets little spam because she always fills those out with no interests and a very low income. 

We have all seen how little privacy there is from ads letting us know, for a fee, they can find anyone and whatever you want to know about them.  The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) under the DEA (Drug  Enforcement Administration), another amusing thought on privacy.  Click here to check out their site. 

With all the laws on the books, one would think they might be followed or those who fail will be brought to the courts.  There is another joke.  Even the police have to make priority choices on who is committing the greater crime.  Prisons have to make choices, when overcrowded, who are the safest criminals to release.  There is an App for the iPhone with a map advising where the nearest sex offenders are to you.  You might say that those who break laws have given up their right to privacy but those of us within the law had no choice about giving up the right to privacy.  It was taken away from us by virtue of our interaction with the outside world.  The alternative is to live like a paranoid recluse, in my mind.

NEW STUDY FINDS OCEAN SIGNIFICANTLY WARMER IN LAST 16 YEARS

An article appearing in Science Daily on 5/22/2010 reports:  "The energy stored (in upper ocen levels) is enough to power nearly 500 100-watt light bulbs per each of the roughly 6.7 billion people on the planet."  (Apparently the ocean is storing more heat than it gives off.) 

"The ocean is the biggest reservoir for heat in the climate system," said Josh Willis, an oceanographer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and one of the scientists who contributed to the study. "So as the planet warms, we're finding that 80 to 90 percent of the increased heat ends up in the ocean."

Seawater expands and takes up more space as it heats up thus, scientists say, that this expansion accounts for about one-third to one-half of global sea level rise.