The Left--$500 Oil

From Richard Fernandez

 

Events are unfolding, but they have not yet run their course; things are still continuing to cascade.  If the unrest spreads to the point where the Suez and regional oil fall into anti-Western hands, the consequences would be incalculable.  The scale of the left’s folly: their insistence on drilling moratoriums, opposition to nuclear power, support of  negotiations with dictators at all costs, calls for unilateral disarmament, addiction to debt and their barely disguised virulent anti-Semitism should be too manifest to deny.

 

Because it will hit them where it hurts, in the lifestyle they somehow thought came from some permanent Western prosperity that was beyond the power of their fecklessness to destroy. It will be interesting to see if anyone can fill up their cars with carbon credits when oil the tankers stop coming or when black gold is marked at $500 a barrel. It is even possible that within a relatively short time the only government left friendly to Washington in the Middle East may be Iraq. There is some irony in that, but it is unlikely to be appreciated.

The Left is always correct and when it is not, they will simply rewrite history. “Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” As the former Eastern Europeans  said when they read Orwell, “how did he know? How did he know?”

 

 

What is that Internet Thingy?

 

Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric 1994

Uprising in Egypt

From Gloria Center

There is no good policy for the United States regarding the uprising in Egypt but the Obama Administration may be adopting something close to the worst option. This is its first real international crisis. And it seems to be adopting a policy that, while somewhat balanced, is pushing the Egyptian regime out of power. The situation could not be more dangerous and might be the biggest disaster for the region and Western interests since the Iranian revolution three decades ago.

Experts and news media seem to be overwhelmingly optimistic, just as they generally were in Iran's case. Wishful thinking is to some extent replacing serious analysis. Indeed, the alternative outcome is barely presented: This could lead to an Islamist Egypt, if not now in several years.

My wife is Cuban and I compared Egypt to Cuba. Cubans did not like Batista and got Castro. Egypt does not like Mubarak and will get the Muslim Brotherhood. Obama failed to support the recent demonstrations  in Iran,  the democratic take over in Honduras and this may prove to be his biggest failure in his current presidency, the fall of Mubarak.

Life Gets Better

I remember talking to my mentor in AA long ago. I told him I don't know how life can get better.

Financially, technology wise, and my new girlfriend, who later became my wife, I just thought my life could never be this good.

Through listening to Dennis Prager about happiness, I have worked at being a happier person. Dennis says that it's the happy that make the world a better place. And I believe in my Dennis. I have become a happier person, and I hope to become happier the more I exercise those happy muscles. I like smiling.

Yesterday, in my wanderings through LA, of course when you see people, 99.99% are not smiling. Many are just in their everyday mode, and we don't walk around with a smile on our face. I guess we'd all look like a bunch of idiots. But on a fair number of people, when I looked at their faces, I could see a lot of sadness.

The easiest way to be happy is through gratitude. So what is there to be thankful for? Most everything. The mundane like the concrete sidewalk I walk on, the beautiful flowers that adorn my path, to that great ball in the sky that makes all life possible. Everything around me is something to be thankful for.

The line between wealth and poverty is a fine line. From being in debt to being debt free. I am completely debt free, and I learn skills that teaches me that it is not spending money that will make me happy. It's almost as if those in debt have an attitude of screw it, I already owe so much money, it won't matter if I spend money on an expensive meal. Whereas being debt free, I realize my money is my own, and I have the power to choose how I spend my dollars, or if I even want to spend dollars.

 

When I think about the rich, greed is the farthest thing from their minds. Most rich people's greatest desire is to make the world a better place for their fellow man. Would I want to go into a restaurant and eat and be the only one, while everyone else is on the street begging for scraps? Or would I like everyone else to be in the restaurant enjoying good food and drink along with me?

Los Angeles

Ayn Rand--"The skyline of New York is a monument of a splendour that no pyramids or palaces will ever equal or approach".

I thought of Ayn Rand's quote today as I strolled through Los Angeles. What a wonderful town. Hands down, my favorite street is Broadway. What must it have been like in its heyday. Pictures you will see of different auditoriums are all on Broadway. Broadway is like Disneyland, except you don't have to pay $75 to get in. You have people that keep the sidewalks clean, and the sidewalks are wide (I think 18'). There's so much to see and do, and overall, if it's daytime, it's safe.

I enjoy riding my bike and saying hi to people. Some are indifferent, others light up. It might be a small connection, but even so, it brings me joy, and I hope I bring joy. In the video, you'll get to meet Steve, my new friend. A heroin addict for 38 years, who now teaches kids about living a life without drugs.

A woman speaking only Spanish asked me for directions. I actually helped her out. Not only did I know where she wanted to go, I was able to explain to her in her native language.

Along with LA's theatre district, garment district, and jewelry district, LA also has a homeless district. Some of these homeless are so out there, they're feral. I saw one old man with nothing but tattered clothes. I don't know how his sox even held together. I thought about buying him some socks. And then I wondered, if he gets these new socks, how long would it be before he's robbed. I can't imagine how difficult life must be for this old man.

And then I thought, wouldn't is be nice if I could take just one homeless person out to lunch, maybe give him a few bucks? Just to talk to him/her and spend a short time with him.

How about this for a great reality show: An average joe talks to a homeless person, brings him home, let's him take a nice warm bath, buys him clothes, a hot meal, and let's him spend the night. No judgment, just give this person one night of bliss. Get to know him. And have different people around the country do this, let it get edited and make a reality show. And then follow-up on the person in a year. And some of the proceeds from the show given to help the homeless.

I don't know what it is, but I love Los Angeles. I love the food, the people, the whole vibe. It makes me come alive.

Power and Control: Biofuel Breakthrough?

Power and Control: Biofuel Breakthrough?

Outreach To Muslims Doomed

This is a post from News Real Blog about how the West, and specifically Obama, outreach to the Muslim world is doomed to failure.

How To Quit Golf--Will Robins

Brene Brown--Vulnerability

Brene Brown speaking at TED about the power of vulnerability

Mish Shedlock--Vallejo Bankruptcy

Unsecured creditors will receive 5 cents to 20 cents on the dollar for their claims under a reorganization plan Vallejo, Calif., filed Tuesday in federal court.

The plan to exit bankruptcy outlines the reorganization of debt the city owes its largest creditors, Union Bank and National Public Finance Guarantee. It also sets aside a pool of $6 million to pay unsecured creditors about 5% to 20% of their claims over two years, according to court documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District in Sacramento.

“The city regrets that it cannot pay a higher percentage,” Vallejo officials said in the court filings. “The city lacks the revenues to do so while maintaining an adequate level of municipal services, such as the provision of fire and police protection and the repairing of the city’s streets.”

 

For more--And there's a whole lot more

Ricky Gervais--Golden Globes

 

 

Ugly Living Forever

From BBC

 

Dr Sandberg believes we could be living on hard drives along with our digital possessions in the not too distant future, which would allow us to shed the trouble of owning a body.

The concept is called "mind uploading", and it suggests that when our bodies age and begin to fail like a worn or snapped record, we may be able to continue living consciously inside a computer as our own virtual substitutes.

"It's the idea that we can copy or transfer the information inside the brain into a form that can be run on the computer," said Dr Sandberg.

He added: "That would mean that your consciousness or a combination of that would continue in the computer."

Dr Sandberg says although it's just a theory now, researchers and engineers are working on super computers that could one day handle a map of all the networks of neurons and synapses in our brains - and that map could produce human consciousness outside of the body.

He says if a complete map of our brains was uploaded to a computer and a conscious, digital replica of ourselves was created, we could, in theory, continue to live forever on a hard drive along with our MP3s and e-books.

When asked, Mr Yurista says mind uploading sounds like a very hard concept to grasp but admits getting rid of one's body and living inside a computer "truly sounds like the ultimate form of minimalism"

 

How Not To Streak

Michael and Perry

On Watching Commercials

I was at my father in laws house watching the LA Dodgers. After watching so many commercials, I felt kind of dirty and depressed. I hadn't seen so many commercials in one sitting in a long time.

 

At our house we have Tivo. With Tivo as most know, you record the programs you want to watch and then as you're watching the program, you can bypass the commercials. We've been doing this for so long, it has become second nature. Also, we don't get a newspaper, we get our news from the internet. Again, bypassing most commercials or advertisements.

 

In a time where media is clamoring for attention, technology is allowing us to be free of looking. I like that. Except the Super Bowl, that's usually more fun looking at the commercials than watching the game.