German brothel ad angers Muslims
"A Cologne brothel touting for clients with a World Cup-themed banner has blacked out the flags of Iran and Saudi Arabia after threats from Muslims." [...]What if people threatened to use violence because someone "insulted" the color blue?
I hear woodworking can be a very relaxing hobby.
Seeing What You Believe, Believing What You See
Deepak Chopra is at it again...
"There is a prejudice in modern society that we need to get over. It’s the prejudice in favor of things that are concrete, tangible and three-dimensional. We feel that a rock is real because it is solid and heavy, and our senses can easily locate it in time and space. So what are we to make of a reality where seeing isn’t believing?"
...
"My prediction is that we will see ourselves more and more connected to the quantum field, not physically but through the mind. This “mind field” is invisible and universal; it encompasses all living things; it weaves the fabric of nature. As our prejudice in favor of solid, concrete things fades away, certain fringe phenomena will become everyday. Healing without touch will be legitimized, since the human body can be altered by altering the field. Telepathy and clairvoyance will seem ordinary, since time and distance are compressed to a single point in the field; Intuition and epiphanies will be explained as subtle field interactions." Full Article
Too much muscle?
I am fairly confident that I could kick this guy's ass.
VideoIs this beast the end product of "juice" abuse?
I love the sounds he makes while lifting. Hell of an actor, too!
The Privatization Of U.S. Roadways
Foreign group taking over Indiana Toll RoadThe Spanish-Australian group Cintra-Macquarie is also the current leaseholder of the Chicago Skyway. Sections of the Skyway are still in poor condition. For the amount charged I would expect the quality of the road to be maintained consistently.
Cintra-Macquarie to take over Chicago Skyway for 1.8b"Under the terms of the Lease Agreement, the operator must comply with detailed operating standards to assure safety in operations and capital maintenance that meet high engineering standards during the term of the lease. The Chicago Police Department will continue to patrol the Skyway and protect its customers."It seems to me that the state of our country is in pretty bad shape if we have to resort to selling U.S. assets to corporations – foreign or domestic.
Toll RoadsToll roads are an issue that boils my blood (just ask
theWife). If corporations are paying to lease them, there must be a profit to be made. I myself think toll roads are a form of racketeering. What is the government doing with all the money generated by the
gas tax?
To me toll plazas create artificial bottlenecks that unnecessarily slow down the flow of traffic. Yeah, you could bend over and use a system like
I-PASS, which is an electronic toll collection system that places a transponder on the windshield and automatically debits an account. Systems like I-PASS doesn't seem to be a solution to me, more like a band-aid® furthering convenience. Those who refuse to use I-PASS and would much rather pay with cash are now charged TWICE as much per toll.
The Illinois State Highway Authority is currently implementing Open Road Tolling (ORT) to combat the congestion created by manual toll collection, i.e., CA$H.
Here is an epic video of the benefits of ORT. The next step taken will probably be a form of “
taxing by the mile”.
Taxing by the mileThe idea behind taxing by the mile is a global-positioning-system (GPS) device would be installed in every vehicle. New cars would be sold with the GPS device pre-installed. The device would not only record the drivers’ in-state mileage, but also record the amount of time spent on the roads (heavy traffic). This information would be transmitted to a satellite, which then would transmit the information to the filling station where the driver is refueling so the proper tax can be charged at the pump.
I’m not going to go into the possible negative aspects of having a tracking device placed in vehicles that
could be used for nefarious reasons by the government.
“People are driving more miles, putting more wear and tear on the roads, but more fuel efficient cars are starting to erode the gas tax,” said Mike Lawson, executive director of Transportation California, a coalition of business and labor groups who back transportation infrastructure improvements.” Full articleI think this person has a good point to argue against the above quote.
“So,let me get this right Here.First the state dictates that automobile manufacturers must produce a more fuel efficient car.They comply and we buy the new improved version and the state ends up losing money and to make up the loss the state is looking into a budget ?...........nope,you guessed it ! Another tax.And to top it off,they want some sort of an electronic device implanted in the car to do the reporting on the miles.I wonder how much this will cost the average consumer ? And what will a replacement cost ?Couldn't this be done at the time of Your registration every year ?What we need is a much more efficient government that lives within it's budget and stops affecting my budget at every whim.”
LinkI couldn’t agree more. It seems to me that the government wastes a lot of time and money. The red tape appears to be getting too thick. We are suffocating ourselves with the weight of ideas that temporarily fix excessive forward thinking, which seems to be based on how much money can be quickly placed in the bank. Many ideas and inventions are regarded as solutions, but in fact may be just better fuel that powers a problem forward faster and more efficiently, camouflaging itself along the way.
Side note: This is my 23 post and it's the 23 day of April. ;)
Birthday, Fajitas & Rob Zombie
Last Saturday marked the beginning of my "Birthday Week."
theWife and I like to stretch out the celebration a whole week instead of one short day. We had a bunch of friends come over for some tasty fajitas, cooked-up by the sis-in-law, played a couple of rounds of Trivial Pursuit, and watched about 35 minutes of
'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.' I love that movie! It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since the first time I watched it on HBO.
"Dog will hunt!"
Jen K. and Jose scored me an original
signed drawing by
Rob Zombie, that wished me a happy birthday. You guys rock! They interviewed Mr. Zombie earlier that day for a documentary.
theWife and I are going to end the "Birthday Week" by traveling into the wilderness and staying in a hot tub equipped cabin for a couple of days.
Yella Belt
Last October my lovely wife of eight years bought me a month's worth of classes at a mixed martial arts academy for an anniversary gift. I finally decided to take advantage of the gift in December. I was a little nervous about going, but after the first class, I was hooked.
After three months, I received my yellow belt today. I'm no longer considered a newbie, and I get to wear a black gi top instead of all white. Next stop... Gold!
Up until a year and 4 months ago I would have never considered attending a martial arts school. I would have been too self-conscious (weighing 240 pounds at my heaviest) to have enrolled. I was still a little unsure of the idea even though I was in the best physical shape of my life. It's been difficult accepting the fact that I'm not a fat guy any more.
I want to thank my wife so very much for getting me that gift. It has been a great and growing experience that I probably would not have done without her. Thank you!!
I'll share more details on the subject of my transformation in the future. Now I must go to sleep.
BREAKFAST TIME!!
