Is Buffet Prescient ?

China's BYD motor company has just shown Detroit a thing or two about auto making.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/04/byd-electric-car-e6-crossover-mpv.php
The battery company's arrival in the auto business has produced a car that will sell for thousands less (about $22,000), arrive sooner (around 2011) and out-perform it's American rivals.
The company (Warren Buffet owns 10%) seeks to make a splash during the current Detroit Auto Show.
Just combine these vehicles with the solar powered parking garages and we'd have a good answer to some of our problems.

(Maybe Detroit could produce the same vehicles for less if they did away with the unions and treated their employees like slaves)

Blame Tony Robbins

Okay,
Not Tony Robbins, but many like him.

From the late 1800's and The Church of Christ, Scientist
To L. Ron Hubbard and Dianetics and later Scientology
To Werner Ernhard and est (or EST).
To books like The Secret.
Many New Age thinkers have sought to a way to combine God and science.
As recent events with John Travolta's son have shown, the two don't mix.

I believe in medicine.
If I have a headache, give me an aspirin.
But even medicine has it's limits.

My youngest brother was (is) a Blood. Years ago, he was in a fight with a group of Crips.
He was in a coma and the doctors said that he wouldn't make it through the night.
I went home and prayed for him to either die that night or let him recover fully.
The next morning, my mom called me to tell me that he was still in a coma and that I shouldn't expect him to live another day.
I went to the hospital to check on him - he was still alive.

So in my faith - he would be fine.
Two weeks later, he awoke.
The doctors and my family warned me that he would be a vegetable for the rest of his life.
"Says who?", I asked.
The nurses said that it was "nice" that I could still have hope.
Only I didn't have hope, I knew.
As my brother progressed through each stage of his surprising (to them) recovery, the doctors and my family warned me of my brother's inabilities.
"No, he's fine", I would reply.
I hated them all.
I hated those weak and doubting people.
They were making him weak and doubtful.
He recovered fully and went back to the life that got him in that mess to begin with.

So when I read about Jet Travolta, I understand.
Sometimes faith matters more than knowledge.

A "Good, Strong Record" ?

O.K.
-So the hurricane Katrina wasn't his fault.
-There hasn't been another attack on the U.S. since 9/11.
-The "War On Terror" is justified?
-He didn't cause the economy to collapse.
-He did a lot of work with A.I.D.S. in Africa.

But many who wax poetic about "W" in his last days in office are much the same as those who reminisce at a funeral about a bad person - only remembering the good stuff.

On the other hand;
-The poor federal response ("Good job, Brownie") was in the hands of the Dub.
-There wasn't an attack on the contiguous U.S. for what... a couple hundred years before 9/11.
-Afghanistan yes. Iraq, why?
-A 350 Billion dollar blank check? And NO receipts?
-According to the CDC, there were 56,300 new A.I.D.S. cases reported in the US in 2006 (the most recent data) with African-Americans having a rate that is seven times that of whites in America.

So...would you agree with the Dub about his "good, strong record"?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5502990.ece
Maybe we just "Misunderestimated" him.
(I guess the Dub forgot to use Spell-Check.)

Prima Donnas

What is up with all these bitch-ass little boys?
I spent the holidays with the families of my cousins who aren't doing as well as they could (or should).
I've never seen so many young males so concerned with things that used to be thought of as the traits belonging to little girls.
I'm not saying that boys need to grow up to be thugs - but they should not grow up acting like prima donna bitches either.
I thought the women on Sex In The City were silly for obsessing over shoes, the right hair-cuts, talking on the phone, and being more concerned with looking good than being good. Many of today's young men put those women to shame in their desire for the superfluous.

I asked one of my cousins (13 yr. old male) about the appropriate ages for different household chores.
His responses;
Clean own bedroom - 3 years old.
Take out the trash - 4 years old.
Cook own meals - 5 years old.
Mow the lawn. - 6 years old.
Do own laundry - 7 years old.
Wash dishes - 7 years old.
Okay... the ages seemed a bit young to me too, but the fact that he understood that chores are a part of one's childhood responsibilities is what's important.

Over the holidays, I saw many young adults treating their parent's homes as though they were guests at a resort.
I saw single moms who still treated their almost grown sons as "babies".
(He'll always be their "baby" - but he stopped being "a baby" a long time ago.)
These mother's inability to say "No" has caused many in this generation to have unrealistic expectations based on limited abilities or the appropriate social skills.
Without the needed adjustments - we're in for a generation that is expecting a certain lifestyle but lacking the preparation needed to ensure their goals.

I'm asking mothers;
At what age do you stop treating your sons like little girls - instead of men in training?

Wanna' Buy A Gun ?

What smart men these weapons dealers are.
When there is a shrinking market or where a market doesn't exist - they create a market.
Want a gun that can shoot around corners?
Check out;
http://cornershot.com/default.asp?catid={3E31AB82-2BB0-1107-92D3-0080AD76B634}
According to the New America Foundation - US-made weapons have been used in 20 of the worlds last 27 major wars.
Since 9/11, the dollar amount spent by foreign governments for these weapons has grown by almost 250%.

It seems that many in Corporate-America were smart enough to invest in an industry that is not only recession-proof - but that may well be recession-induced.
With Pakistan being the largest buyer of our weapons - the smart money would seem to be on some sort of Pakistan/Iran war over the next few years.
http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/u_s_weapons_war_2008_0

Video Game Morals?

Video Game Vixens aside - some of these games deal with some pretty weighty issues.

During a recent stop at the home of one of my cousins - I watched the little movie parts that come between the fight sequences.
Okay...
Hitman - Drive (ride, walk or run) around and kill people.
GTA - About the same.
Madden - Run, throw and catch.

On an older game called Death By Degrees - the premise was to stop some mad scientist before he could heat the Earth's icy floors to the point of releasing the CO2 or NO2 that is trapped in the world's ice at the bottom of our oceans.
The thing is; these gasses actually exist.

Resident Evil deals with genetic engineering gone wrong.

One of the Final Fantasy games deals with people forgoing their racial differences in defeating an entity called Sin and the hypocritical religious dogma.

One of my friends bought a game system for me, back in the day (in an effort to get me to stop gambling so much - it didn't stop me). But these new games are incredible.
One of my adult neighbors calls himself a "gamer" much in the same way that other people may call themselves athletes, artists or any other title.
Damn... who knew that playing on a PS3 or xbox360 could take the place of actually doing something.

Bing Bang Part 2.5

Maybe some things are better left to God.
It seems that CERN is set to restart it's Big Bang project in June.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1105385/Broken-Big-Bang-collider-restarted-June.html

The project is set to roughly replicate the Beginning, in the world's largest atom smasher.
If all it took was for God to say; "I Am" - isn't this cheating?
Did time start like this;
<-------0------->
(In both directions - simultaniously creating a past and a future - with no beginning or end?)
Or like this;
0------->
(In one direction where time has a beginning?)

But doesn't proving a Big Bang prove the existence of God more than disprove it?
Doesn't this add credibility to the theory of the "Speed of Thought" being faster than the speed of light.
(Maybe - But there is no way to accurately plot an equation that diagrams the speed of thought. I know... it's "Fuzzy Math".)

Is Isreal Talking Too Much Ish?

I'm a Christian...

Maybe even a Zionist.

But I have to ask;

Is Israel talking too much Ish?

When I was in high school, I had a younger brother who would always talk ish to people and then run.

It seemed that every other day, someone would approach me to address this issue.

I told my brother that I would always have his back,

but that he needed to stop starting problems which he couldn't solve.

One day, I happened upon my brother as he was about to be beaten by a group of guys. As my clique and I approached, the guys took a step back and explained what happened.

"Beat his ass", I replied.

And turned and walked away.

"Brutal", my friend Sazaki said.

"But fair", stated my friend Daggy.

He told his father (my step-father) that I had failed to get his back against a group of guys. I explained that my brother had to learn to survive without me. My step-dad begrudgingly agreed and left it at that.

The next day, I saw the same group about to jump my brother.

This time I said "Nope".

I stated that if he continued to eff-up, they could do what needed to be done.

But that they couldn't just jump him at will.

Problem solved.

So if I question the Israeli government's motives behind the recent attacks on the Gaza strip -

Am I anti-Semitic?

What is a Semite?

One source states that both Palestinians and Jews are Semites.

http://www.holylandalternatives.net/palestinians.html

while another says that the Palestinians are from the sons of Japheth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazars .

Is this fight really just a family squabble where anyone who gets involved trying to find peace will be turned on by both parties involved in the fight?

If I Did It Three Times, Does That Make Me A Ho?

Okay... I don't know everything.
Some would say that I don't know anything.

But the whole point of the Internet is the free exchange of ideas and information.
While I still couldn't vote for gay marriage - I have a better understanding of other's views.
While I still think that "White-Guilt" is useless - I can understand the efforts some make in gaining a better understanding of us.
While I still don't think that Michelle Obama is pretty - I can see how some might say that she is attractive.
While I still think that our country is best served in being a Christian nation - I can see the danger of the oppressors using this religion as a means to subjugate many.
While I still think that illegal immigration is ILLEGAL - I can see how agreements (such as the Gadsden treaty) ensure the right of inhabitants to maintain their culture, language and religion.
While I still think that we CAN have a positive influence on our environment - I'm not sure of
the best way to go about it.
While I still think that we are given all of the answers and tools to solve all of our problems - I'm still not sure what those answers are.
While I still think that the problem of poverty is unsolvable - I still believe that it is something we need to try to solve.
While I am still in a constant state of learning - I realize that so are ALL of us.

But this Internet thing is different.
If we live in an area that is stuck in the past or conversely, that is moving too fast - we miss the opportunity in our day-to-day lives to interact with people who can view our same problems with a fresh perspective.
So in getting my third web-award for doing the deed while being unprotected and open - I gotta' spread it to others.
Nah.. not like those times when I had to go to the clinic for a shot - but in a good way.
More like paying it forward.

These bloggers help me understand issues with which I may have trouble understanding.

Sagacious Rambling
http://roschellenelson.blogspot.com/
It was a toss-up between this spot and her Admissible Banter. Sagacious stays more current than The National Enquirer.

Invisible Black Woman
http://invisible-cinema.blogspot.com/
Nah... not just Black movies - but from a Black perspective.

Pages From My Notebook
http://dalynart.blogspot.com/
Dalyn seems like a man searching for a greater understanding of cultures other than his own. Check out his links to his ethnic art. (Go Utes!)

The Assault On Black Folks Sanity
http://assaultonblacksanity.blogspot.com/
My first web argument was with TAOBFS over the evolution of Blacks.

Slant Eye For The Round Eye
http://www.slanteyefortheroundeye.com/
Think we have it bad? Even when some other cultures excel - they're still marginalized.

Derrick's Window
http://derrickswindow.blogspot.com/
I hate when EVERYTHING Black people have to say is about being Black. Just Like I hate when everything someone gay has to say has to be about being gay. Derrick speaks on many issues.

BlackShoes WhiteSocks
http://blackshoeswhitesocksat.blogspot.com/
From (almost) soft porn posts to politics and social issues.

Raw Dawg Buffalo
http://rawdawgb.blogspot.com/
RDB has more awards than he can fit on a blog.
("Baroque Period" still cracks me up)

The Intersection Of Madness And Reality
http://rippdemup.blogspot.com/
Rippa is comedy...
Sometimes I can't even comment on his posts - I just shake my head and say; "Damn...".

Cobb
http://cobb.typepad.com/cobb/
I still say that most Blacks are conservative - they're just not Republican. It's funny to read the back-and-forth between the FOC and FON. The smart counterpoint to subrealism.

So thank you to all who help me to learn.
Thank you to SjP ( http://sojournersplace.blogspot.com/ )for this award.

Everyone should check out the rules to the award and do accordingly.
http://thehelpinghand-sjp.blogspot.com/

(FOC - Friends Of Cobb)
(FON - Friends Of Nulan)