"Two Sides to Every Breakup"

He said, he said. Of course, you know whom I'm talking about. There's nothing as riveting and at the same time painful as witnessing the public meltdown of a personal relationship. When the drama is being driven by chattering friends and other gossips, ones who really can't wait for the blood to be spilt or for someone to be thrown in the grinder, the public breakup takes on another dimension as Must-See-Entertainment. Meanwhile, two people are nursing hurt feelings and the rupture of a long-term friendship. Wondering how the other could betray the other. Wondering how their friend could violate what they affirmed as their bedrock moral codes. Wondering how the other could have forgotten the love they had for one another. They almost pulled it out, you know. The one we think of as the class orator had been getting flack for days about what his friend, the guy who preached, said months and years ago in his church. The orator was told that since the preacher said all these nasty, nasty things, he needed to get rid of him. Tell him that he was a racist and a lousy human being and throw him out of his life because he'd only Weigh Him Down in the future. The gossips wanted to see fealty to themselves and blood before they would promote the orator. The orator instead went to the crowd. Pulled off a brilliant speech - he said that he didn't believe in the objectionable things the preacher had said, but that the preacher was a great man and a great friend. And I'm not going to betray a friend. And then it went wrong. The preacher was feeling at first like the gossips had torn him into thousand little pieces, and then restored whole in 10 minutes of words. Felt both invulnerable and defensive. Torn down by man and restored by Man with the grace of God. Said that You're Not Gettin' Rid of Me That Easy to the gossips. I am a man of God, and I am here to Prophesize to your ignorant asses! And so the preacher made a complete fool out of himself. It is no surprise that the Devil uses pride to undermine preachers so often. Handed their tools by the guy they wanted to tar, the gossips made short work of the preacher. The orator, shocked by his friend's behaviour and words, accordingly threw away the friendship. As they wanted all along. And I imagine tonight that the orator and the preacher this evening are grieving over the loss of each other in their lives, while at the same time venting their anger at one another's defections and betrayals. And the gossips pass the sordid details into the wee hours of the morn, counting the esteem of the crowd. - idiosynchronic

Bits and Pieces for the Week of April 20 - 26

Although this surveillance tool is really cool, it will need to be strongly regulated by laws and the courts in order to prevent misuse and abuse by Big Brother. (Mike)

More food crisis. "The global rice panic has come to south Sacramento. As word of food riots and export shutdowns in Asia reached California in recent weeks, worried shoppers have been buying up hundreds of pounds of rice at a time from the Asian supermarkets that line Stockton Boulevard, looking for security against rising prices." Not good folks! (7 of 6)

Helen Thomas stands alone among White House reporters. (7 of 6)

Wow. This is terrible news in light of the worldwide ballooning food crisis: "Rye flour stocks have been depleted in the United States, and by June or July there will be no more U.S. rye flour to purchase, said Lee Sanders, senior vice president for government relations and public affairs at the American Bakers Association." The article also points out that wheat flour stocks have also declined by 2/3. (Mike)

Finally, an electric car is coming! (Mike)

A sad day for long-time NBA fans. (Mike)

What we spend in THREE DAYS in Iraq would solve this worldwide crisis. (Mike)

Beware of the penis shrinkers (Mike)

Striking images depicting the waste and excess consumption of certain products. (Mike)

Forget the prime-sub mortgage crisis. The Alt-A crisis is starting and is going to be much worse as these types of loans start adjusting interest rates up this year. And Fannie and Freddie will soon be running into bigger problems. (Mike)

You know, there's one way (not yet mentioned) that Hillary Clinton can win the Democratic nomination: if Barack Obama dies or is seriously injured before the convention. I know it's one of those unthinkable possibilities, and yet in 2004 it was an unthinkable possibility that Bush could win steal a second election. So, the first conspiracy question of the day is, does Hillary know something we don't? (Mike)

By far the coolest campaign video to date. (Mike)

Besides Obama, Rev. Wright has helped the Clintons, too. (Mike)

Try and hide in Paraguay bu$h!! "Six decades of single-party rule in Paraguay came to an end..." Left leaning, Fernando Lugo, won on a platform of change and "promise to help the poor". "He has also called for the renegotiation of Paraguay's hydroelectricity agreements with Brazil and Argentina, saying Paraguay, a landlocked country plagued by poverty, is losing money." Bad news for the bu$h/cheney carpet baggers! (7 of 6)

FRIDAY F U N

• 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches
• 50 things you can do every day to conserve our resources
• Get Out And Play - interesting video followed by "pong" game using humans
• Looking at your local weather in a different way. Has a good traffic map too.
• Name that TV theme song
• To say that there would be a better way to fly than this would be a lie.
• Bored at your desk job? Try making things at your desk
• A very creative marriage proposal
• The Museum of Interactive Failure (web site graveyard)
• Spot the fake smiles (I scored 14 out of 20)
• Very useful databases available on the web

A summary of the worldwide food crisis, from The Independent:

The food crisis begins to bite Rioting in Haiti. Rationing in America. Queues in Egypt. Protests in Afghanistan. As the price of food continues to soar, the impact is being felt by people around the globe By Jerome Taylor and Andrew BuncombeFriday, 25 April 2008 CHINA The roaring economy and an ever expanding middle class have had a particularly profound effect on food prices, particularly rice and wheat. Because of industrialisation, rice planting fell from 33 million hectares in 1983 to 29 million by 2006 and China now imports more than ever, placing a major strain on international supplies. Despite freezing prices, rampant inflation means the cost of food has risen by 21 per cent this year. USA In a land where supposedly the rich are thin and the poor are overweight, one of the largest cash and carry stores, Sam's Club, announced this week it would limit customers to take home a maximum of four bags of rice. The move came a day after Costco Wholesale Corp, the biggest US warehouse-club operator, limited bulk rice purchases in some stores and warned that customers had begun stockpiling certain goods. NORTH KOREA Even during times of relative stability, North Korea has shown itself to be inept at feeding its population. During the 1990s a famine caused by poor harvests killed an estimated two to three million people. On Wednesday the World Food Programme warned that the country could again be plunged into famine because of the spiralling cost of rice and there was an estimated shortfall of 1.6 million tons of rice and wheat. EGYPT Up to 50 million Egyptians rely on subsidised bread and this year Cairo has estimated it will cost $2.5bn. But with the price of wheat rocketing in the past year there are fears the country has plunged into a "bread crisis". Queues are now double the length they were a year ago. Inflation hit 12.1 per cent in February with prices for dairy goods up 20 per cent and cooking oils 40 per cent. VENEZUELA Latin American countries were some of the first nations to voice their concern at rising wheat prices, particularly after thousands of people in Mexico took to the streets at the beginning of 2007 to take part in the so-called "Tortilla Protests". This week the presidents of Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba's vice-president flew to Caracas to announce a joint $100m scheme to combat the impact of rising food prices on the region's poor. BRAZIL On Wednesday Brazil became the latest major rice producer to temporarily suspend exports because of soaring costs and domestic shortages. In recent weeks Latin American countries and African nations have asked for up to 500,000 tons of rice from Brazil which will now not be delivered. Brazil's agricultural ministry has said it has to ensure that the country has at least enough rice reserves to last the next six to eight months. IVORY COAST Some of the worst instability resulting from high food prices has been felt in West Africa. One person was killed and dozens were injured last month as riots tore through Ivory Coast after the prices of meat and wheat increased by 50 per cent within a week. Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo was forced to cut taxes to halt the disorder. Violent protests have also broken out in Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Senegal. AFGHANISTAN There have been street protests about the soaring cost of food in a country almost entirely reliant on imports of wheat. Already utterly impoverished, the plight of Afghans has worsened because Pakistan has cut its regular flour supply. The government has sought to assure citizens that there is sufficient food and has set aside $50m for additional imports. The price of wheat has risen by around 60 per cent in the last year. THAILAND The price of rice in the world's largest exporter rose to $1,000 a ton yesterday and experts warned that it will continue to rise. This is because of the massive demand from the Philippines which is struggling to secure supplies after India and several other producers halted exports. The government has said it can meet the export requests. Indonesia has said it is withholding purchases for a year because prices are so high. EAST AFRICA Hundreds of thousands of poor Africans in Uganda and Sudan are to lose out on a vital source of food after one of the world's largest humanitarian organisations said it was cutting aid to 1.5m people. Dave Toycen, president of World Vision Canada, blamed soaring costs and countries failing to live up to aid commitments for the fact that the number of people the charity can help will fall by almost a quarter. INDIA The country as added to the problems facing many countries in the region by halting its export of rice, except for its premium basmati product. This has left countries normally reliant on Indian exports, such as the Philippines, searching for alternative supplies. India has more than half of the world's hungriest people and its priority is to safeguard domestic supply. But it too has watched as the cost of food has soared, not just rice but cooking oil, pulses and even vegetables. India has this year forecast a record grain harvest but experts warned farm productivity will have to rise much faster if the nation is to feed its 1.1bn people and avoid a food security crisis. Around two-thirds of India's population are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods but agriculture is growing much more slowly than the overall economy. HAITI The poorest country in the Western hemisphere has seen a three to four-fold increase in the number of so-called boat people trying to leave because of food shortages. Already gripped by wretched poverty, the food crisis triggered riots that led to the death of six people. Haiti's wretched food security situation is a result of "liberalisation measures" forced on the country after former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was returned to power. THE PHILIPPINES The government has been desperately trying to secure alternative sources of rice to counteract the decision of a number of nations to halt rice exports. The country's National Food Authority, which handles rice imports for the government, has now said it plans to increase imports 42 per cent to 2.7m tons this year. This could cost $1.3bn if it does not increase the price of the subsidised rice it is selling to people. But the Philippines is responsible for producing 85 per cent of its own food and international experts believe the country will handle this crisis. The government has also been encouraging consumers and even fast food restaurants to be more frugal and be careful not to waste food. The government is confident it will be able to source sufficient supplies from Vietnam and Thailand. EUROPE Less vulnerable to food price fluctuations than emerging nations, but food prices across Europe have nonetheless increased. In Britain wholesale prices of food have increased by 7.4 per cent over the past 12 months, roughly three times the headline rate of inflation. According to the government's own statistics grocery bills have gone up by an average of £750 over the same period, the equivalent of a 12 per cent rise.

Generally what amplifies any substantial shortage is the concurrent hoarding that is driven by fear, and that is the case here. The United States could be and should be leading the way in resolving this, but instead continues to pour mega dollars and lives into the Iraq sink hole. The insanity of this defies all rational thought.

Question of the day:

If McCain wins the election, what are the rest of us going to do? Will the revolution then finally begin?

From DataQuick: "The number of mortgage default notices (NODs) filed against California homeowners in Q1 2008 increased by 39% over Q4 2007, to the highest level on record."


[click for larger image]
Default notices are precursors to foreclosures (of course, not all default notices graduate to foreclosures). As the rate of NODs increases, it will be followed, a few months down the line, by an increased rate of foreclosures. Increased foreclosures result in reduced property values, which leads to tightened lending, which leads to increased NODs, which leads to.....

Eventually property values will decrease to the point where a critical mass of home buyers will be able to afford to purchase, and the real estate market will bottom out and start rising. This time around, however, there are several factors that will likely blunt the turnaround. These include increasing oil and gas prices; increased cost-of-living; accelerating inflation due to the Fed printing more paper money to pay off the ballooning federal deficit (due to Iraq War spending); a tightening labor market; and astronomical transportation costs (due to increased fuel/oil costs which are due to the Iraq War, peak oil and increased oil consumption by China).

Will this be the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s? Many economists are still touting that we're bottoming out now and that things will start to improve later this year. As long as enough naive people keep buying this b.s. and insist on keeping residence in their world of denial, they will continue to fall off the financial cliff one after another, like lemmings. Eventually America will smarten up and insist on a new, better-regulated direction for the economy, but the only important question is, at what cost?

Bits and Pieces for the Week of April 13 - 19

This kind of stuff makes me sick. Yesterday all over the news was the story about the one-year anniversary of the death of 30-or-so people at Virginia Tech. A whole lot of sob stories and hand-wringing and memorial services, etc. I don't have a big problem with that being in the news, but I have a huge problem when this stuff is happening every day and there's hardly a blip about it on the MSM news. Obviously Americans are more important to Americans than are the people whom Americans are mercilessly slaughtering on a daily basis as a result of their occupation of a country in which they have absolutely no right to be. As pastor Wright famously said, god DAMN America! (Mike)

Don't worry Corporate America... the I.R.S. is not coming for you. (7 of 6)

From KnowledgeNews.net (subscription required), here's some info about how coffee affects your brain:

Coffee drinkers will tell you that their brains don't really work until they've had their morning cups. Well, this week, neuroscientists announced that those caffeinated cups may actually protect drinkers' brains--by shoring up a remarkable bit of anatomy known as the blood-brain barrier. Marvelous Membrane First noticed by doctors more than 100 years ago, the blood-brain barrier is a sort of physiological filtering system inside the tiny capillaries (blood vessels) inside your head. It helps to protect your brain from chemicals and other "foreign bodies" that may be floating in your blood, including things that do you no harm as long as they don't invade your brain. By allowing only certain tiny molecules to squeeze between protective cells, the blood-brain barrier protects your mental machinery from infection--even as it enables essential communication between your brain and your blood. "Great," you say, "but what does that have to do with my coffee?" Maybe a lot, especially if your diet isn't perfect. A new study by U.S. researchers suggests that a daily caffeine supplement, equivalent to a single cup of joe, could help keep your blood-brain barrier hale and hearty. Caffeine vs. Cholesterol Previous research has shown that high cholesterol can lead to "leaks" in the blood-brain barrier (and may play a role in the development of Alzheimer's disease). Meanwhile, other previous research has pointed to a possible connection between brain health and coffee drinking. So, for 12 weeks, the researchers fed lab rabbits high-cholesterol diets. They also gave some of their rabbits daily caffeine supplements. Then they tested the rabbits' blood-brain barriers for damage. Result: the caffeinated rabbits had significantly less blood-brain barrier leakage. Of course, that doesn't mean your doctor is about to start prescribing coffee. But it certainly is food for thought. As the study's lead researcher notes, "caffeine is a safe and readily available drug, and its ability to stabilize the blood-brain barrier means it could have an important part to play in therapies against neurological disorders." Plus, it's one medicine many would find easy to swallow. --Steve Sampson

Thinking of voting for John McCain? If so, then you'll need to examine his congressional voting scores, 1983–2006, from the American Conservative Union (pink line; 100 is most conservative) and from Americans for Democratic Action (dark blue line; 100 is most liberal)

Eerie Similarities

Sometimes, reading an article about someone with PTSD gives me pleasure. Is that sick to admit? To realize that I'm not alone relieves my conscience. I think back... how lonely it must have been for my father to suffer through his demons by himself. Not realizing he could have taken another route... instead of suffering in silence, without treatment, he buried his nightmares in alcohol... In some ways, it's the eerie similarities that I see in stories that make me feel better.

I quoted parts of Jesse Wendel's post at "The Group News Blog", he refers to his own and a friends PTSD so eloquently while I struggle for words:

PTSD is medically interesting. It triggers in so many ways. In my experience, those who don't live in it or around it, don't get it... I have a friend, a serious combat vet... He has his routine, how things work for him, and a good life. But don't fuck with that. New stuff gets rejected (unless he's in charge or comes up with it himself.) He always comes up with a good reason for rejecting x. But really all his rejection of everything new, is because it's a change in his routine, and changes in his routine trigger his threat reflexes. Ask him to do something, it can take months, or enormous pressure, because he doesn't take to new stuff easily. That's his triggering. The hard part is, he either doesn't know it, or doesn't grant permission to others to point this out to him when it's happening, so everyone dances around the issue, and it makes him hard to work with. I can't tolerate people coming up behind me. Touching me without my permission is a serious mistake. There are certain sights and sounds which will throw me right back... ...People who haven't had PTSD, who haven't been mentally ill in some way, who haven't had chronic pain, mostly don't grasp how real these are. How much "Command Value" they have over our biology and actions. How totally they take over, and when we are triggered to them, how little in control we are. Oh, people may mouth the words of believing. But their entire way of being is, "I could so muscle through that if it were me. You must be either lazy or faking." I even believed that myself, about mental illness... waking up night after night with nightmares, flashbacks, and worse. In spite of all that, I too, thought it was all a bunch of bullshit, till I had a series of incidents in which I ended up a chronic pain patient, suicidal, and forced to deal with all the crap from having been a medic, more or less all at the same time. I was a fool. I was wrong. And so is the Army, in a major way. The Army still treats PTSD as something to be ashamed of. Again, the Army still treats PTSD as something to be ashamed of. If you self-report, you damage your career prospects. No "real-man" or woman, no Soldier, would ever come down with combat fatigue. Only wusses, people who don't have "It", who aren't man enough or woman enough for the mission, want out. It means you're lacking something, some essential fire in your belly that people who don't get PTSD have.

Everything Jesse wrote is spot on for me. Except of course the part of someone who saw serious combat. I was involved in a bunch of small incidents in Panama. I really feel like a wuss compared to what the soldiers from Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan went and are going through. I can't imagine what my Dad went through in WWII.

It's important to note that part of my problem is generational. My father suffers from PTSD as well. He stormed the beaches of Normandy and went through the whole gamut of the European theatre. He got sent to England, had poor eyesight, the Army (later Army Air Corp) made him an electrician on the B-17 Flying Fortress. But when his number was called, like a lot of Army Air Corp men he stepped up and filled the roll of Infantryman. It's only now I comprehend why he has night terrors and thrashed around at night. I understand why he coped for so many years after the war by self medicating himself with alcohol.

To go even further back, his PTSD problems very well could have started from an earlier age. From the stories my Aunts tell, my Grandfather (whom I never met) used to inflict beatings on him. Why? I'm not really sure, our family history is a bit muddled. Perhaps it was because my father was the only male in the household. I have heard my Grandfather was a heavy drinker, even a bootlegger, (during the Depression a man had to make a buck anyway he could).

Unfortunately, the cycle of violence did not stop with him. My father brought it with him and it continued in our family. Being the youngest, I was spared the worst of the physical abuse. My oldest sister and brother were not, they got regular whippings. The sister closest to me was spared somewhat, she shut out the world, kept quiet and read books to cope. I was a witness to the drunken family violence. We all suffered verbal berating, including my mother. And when she didn't toe the line, she got whacked as well.

We ended up being the typical dysfunctional family. We had the alcoholic and the enabler. My sisters and brother assumed our roles within the family to make up for the deficiencies of parenting. Our roles were inter-changeable, the hero, the scapegoat, the lost child, and the mascot. We did what we had to... to survive, keep our sanity. I wish I had more empathy for my father then. I really didn't understand what he was going through. Why he took his anger, irritability, all his wrath of emotions out on his family... we were the closest thing to him, his comfort zone, he felt secure in showing his feelings to us. He had to be a hard guy, couldn't admit something was wrong... wouldn't seek help.

The rest of my family is ready to move on... forget, dismiss or deny that it ever happened. I guess it's convenient. I refuse for the memory be placed in oblivion. I want everyone to remember, so that it never happens again to anyone in my family. Let's be clear, I don't want to place blame... I want to deal with the problem of PTSD. I can't ignore the struggles this sickness placed on us. I want to make sure everyone gets treatment or at least learns the same coping skills as I have.

I'm not perfect, I still lose my temper... I still slip into depression... but I have the sweetest wife and son. I'm grateful they have talked to my Doctors... I'm in constant recovery. When my son comes up and hugs me, tells me, "It will be OK Dad, I love you... I know what your going through...", I melt. I think, why didn't I convey this message to my Dad... he would have appreciated it during his worst times. Unfortunately, my Dad has advanced Alzheimer's now. My greetings are met with a blank stare and wobbly handshake. He suffers in silence.

I have a message for him, "Dad, I love you, you're a 'real man'... you have nothing to be ashamed of... you're not alone... you've made mistakes, you're human, it was a mental illness... still, you're my hero, an American hero!"

Bits and Pieces for the Week of April 6 - 12

"CLEVELAND -- There are 40 cases of cancer among people who work in the same building at NASA Glenn Research Center." (7 of 6)

"Looking to help roughly 9,000 ATA Airlines passengers stranded in Hawai'i by the carrier's sudden shutdown, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority yesterday approved $5 million in emergency funding to help hire charter flights to get people home." I guess it would be nicer than making them swim home. (7 of 6)

FRIDAY F U N

• Back in 1968 they thought 2008 would look like this.
• Smile, you're on candid elephant camera
• Food sculpture as you've never seen it
• A recording of the human voice that predates Edison’s invention of the phonograph by nearly two decades
• Light bulb of the future (after 15 sec. ad)
• The amazing human camera

If you're a regular reader of Friday Fun then I apologize for the more infrequent posting of these humorous tidbits that I come across during my internet meanderings. Home, work, and my political life have all become more hectic lately. On the last one, last weekend I was a delegate at the California Democratic Party Convention in San Jose. I've just become both the Secretary and Newsletter Editor of our local Democratic Club, and I'm currently serving as Campaign Treasurer of a good friend who's running for City Council. All in all, life is more exciting and stimulating, and I wish that I had more time to spend on this ol' blog. But, thankfully 7 of 6 continues to keep it interesting and active with his fine posting of timely information and insight into the trials and tribulations that so, so many of our honored military veterans are suffering at the hands of our desperately inept commander-in-chief and Congress.

Bits and Pieces for the Week of March 30 - April 5

House Republi-con minority leader, John Boehner is on drugs. He thinks Republi-cons will "regain the majority" in the November elections. We better start donating the crying towels now... he's going to need them. (7 of 6)

How embarrassing for Maliki and bu$h. "More than 1,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen either refused to fight or simply abandoned their posts during the inconclusive assault against Shiite militias in Basra last week, a senior Iraqi government official said Thursday. Iraqi military officials said the group included dozens of officers, including at least two senior field commanders in the battle." (7 of 6)

Apparently our nation's Attorney General is just a General Asshole. (Mike)

If they would start building those darned desalination plants, then maybe this wouldn't be such a big problem. (Mike)

"Clinton campaign manager was director for failed subprime lender". (7 of 6)

There's Just a Slight Difference...

Pentagon: Colleges must hand over names The Defense Department has announced a new get-tough policy with colleges and universities that interfere with the work of military recruiters and Reserve Officer Training Corps programs. Under rules that will take effect April 28, defense officials said they want the exact same access to student directories that is provided to all other prospective employers. Students can opt out of having their information turned over to the military only if they opt out of having their information provided to all other recruiters, but schools cannot have policies that exclude only the military, defense officials said in a March 28 notice of the new policy in the Federal Register. The Defense Department “will honor only those student ‘opt-outs’ from the disclosure of directory information that are even-handedly applied to all prospective employers seeking information for recruiting purposes,” the notice says. Directories are an important recruiting tool because they include the names, birthdates, phone numbers and academic pursuits of college students that can be used to identify people with knowledge and interests that are particularly useful to the military. The new policy also no longer lets schools ban military recruiters from working on campuses solely because a school determines that no students have expressed interest in joining the military. If other employers are invited, the military has to have the same access. Federal funding can be cut off if colleges and universities do not give recruiters and ROTC programs campus access. While student financial assistance is not at risk, other federal aid, especially research funding, can disappear if a school does not cooperate. The Pentagon can declare colleges or universities anti-ROTC if they prohibit or prevent a Senior ROTC program from being established, maintained or efficiently operated. The new policy is, in part, the result of a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the federal government’s ability to use funding as a means of forcing equal access for military recruiters and ROTC units on campuses.

There's just a slight difference between going to work for a civilian job and joining the military: One doesn't pressure you into possibly making the ultimate sacrifice!