Fast diet

Want to lose weight quickly?

Your weight is the result of two forces, one pulling you down and one flinging you up. At the exact North Pole there is no rotation, so the flinging force is zero. The rotation at the equator is at its maximum. Therefore you will weigh less at the equator than at the North Pole! Fast diet.

A 200 pound person will weigh 2.5 ounces less at the equator.

My peace is there

my way is in the sand flowing
between the shingle and the dune
the summer rain rains on my life
on me my life harrying fleeing
to its beginning to its end

my peace is there in the receding mist
when I may cease from treading these long shifting thresholds
and live the space of a door
that opens and shuts

Samuel Beckett

Life

On the first day, 'God' created the dog and said: 'Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.' The dog said: 'That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?' So God agreed. On the second day, God created the monkey and said: 'Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span.'The monkey said: 'Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?' And God agreed. On the third day, God created the cow and said: 'You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years.'The cow said: 'That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?' And God agreed again. On the fourth day, God created man and said: 'Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years.'But man said: 'Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?' 'Okay,' said God, 'You asked for it.' So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family.. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren.. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.. Life has now been explained to you.

Every Moment

"Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such." Henry Miller

"Above all, we cannot afford not to live in the present." Henry David Thoreau

"The world will freely offer itself to you unmasked, it has no choice." Franz Kafka

"Truth has no special time of its own. It's hour is now-always." Albert Schweitzer

Recently heard being sung by B. Obama to Ahmadinejad

The color of your skin don't matter to me
As long as we can live in harmony

Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends

I'd kinda like to be president
So I can show you how your money's spent, ooh

Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends

Sometimes I don't speak bright, alright
But yet I know what I'm talkin' about

Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends

(Sung by WAR on their 1974 album of the same name)

Another "Just Asking"

A few years ago Martha Stewart was sentenced to jail time and was locked up, the Enron guys did time, Bernie Madoff has begun doing his time, and countless others either have or will do the same, including just about every ex-governor of Illinois. So why is AIG getting off scott free? Aren't they stealing tax payer money? Just asking. Of course when the people who are running the show claim they "forgot" to enter part of their income in TurboTax, hey who's looking. I guess they didn't read the "Checking for errors" screen in TT after they completed their forms.

In a completely different direction, have you ever noticed that it can take a week to get a letter from just down the street? I'm sure this has happened to just about everyone. Well, I placed an order for some electronics. They were shipped from Korea on March 18. The package was in my hands yesterday, March 20. So, I can get a box from Korea in 2 days but a letter sent from the next zip code can take a week. And the price of a stamp is set to increase once again.

Just asking.

The End of American Hegemony?

Newly elected President George Bush proclaimed that America would not indulge itself in "Nation Building" when he took office. What he meant, and later ignored, was America would no longer be Imperialist. Today, not even ten years later, Americans are spread out all over the globe in the name of Democracy. Now spreading Democracy and freedom is a good thing, don't get me wrong. But only to places where we are wanted, and where it will not cost American lives. And we can no longer afford to give away billions of dollars in the hope that the recipients will welcome our way of life. This just does not work. Perhaps the economic decline we are going through will pull us away from American hegemony and back to the realization that Imperialism is a dead end. This was a lesson learned by the Greeks, the Romans, the Mongols, Spanish, English, and in more recent times by Japan and Germany. And it doesn't take much to bring Imperialism to it's knees. A Jew from Bethlehem began the downfall of the Roman Empire; a tall Virginia plantation owner began the dismantling of the British Empire; and a cigar chewing Brit refused to give in to the Third Reich. Remove Jesus, Washington, and Churchill from the history books and we live in a much different world. Who knows, maybe the history books of the future will look back on our time and someone from our era will have changed the world. Often times financial crises brings people back to reality, that worldly possessions are fleeting, and that the ties that bind us to each other are everlasting.