Here’s something to ask ourselves: Are we being held hostage by foreign oil as we’re been told? Or is Congress the real culprit?

I remember when the Republican led Congress passed a bill to drill, only to have it vetoed by Bill Clinton. Well, here we still are. So in this video clip, Newt Gingrich suggests three things we should do now to dramatically lower the cost of oil.

Is anybody listening?

I’ve always been fascinated by the Old West and its legendary heroes and outlaws. So my interest was peaked when I read this at Ancestry.com.

It appears this census taker caught Billy the Kid (alias William Bonney) and his comrade Charles Bowdre in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in 1880. Bowdre was killed at nearby Stinking Springs later that year; Billy was killed at Fort Sumner the year after.

Imagine that. Wanted by the law, yet giving his name to the census taker. Perhaps not the wisest decision of his short-lived career…

Many of you enjoyed the last collection of animal images (Animal Kingdom 1), so here’s another, this one including African and marine wildlife. Enjoy!

“Oceans” from the “Fresh Wine for the Horses” album by former Catherine Wheel lead singer Rob Dickinson. I can’t explain what’s happening in the video or how it relates to the song except it apparently involves a mermaid who doesn’t know she’s a mermaid, and a guy in a wetsuit stalking her in Palm Springs…

I like the song. And I found it interesting that the entire video was shot on a Nokia N93 camera phone! Curious how it was done?

James sent this Cam Cardow political cartoon from The Ottawa Citizen. Given the apparent success thus far of Obama’s “All Sizzle” campaign strategy, it’s a natural!

Mt. Vernon, TX - In this small Texas town, Drummond’s Bar began construction on a new building to increase their business. Almost immediately, the local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers. Work progressed right up until the week before opening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.

The parishioners were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that it was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means. The church vehemently denied all responsibility or involvement in the building’s demise in its reply to the court.

As the case made its way to trial, the judge reviewed the briefs submitted by both sides. At the preliminary hearing, he commented, “I don’t know how I’m going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and an entire church congregation that does not…”

Thanks Mike!

As Arthur C. Clarke told us, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” So think of Irish magician Keith Barry as a technologist, an elite software engineer of the human brain. Witty and direct, he celebrates human cleverness even while he’s hacking it.

In this 2004 TED presentation in Monterey, California, Barry shows us how our brains can fool our bodies. Then he involves the audience in some jaw-dropping (and even a bit dangerous) feats of brain magic.

At just under 20 minutes, you may think it a bit long. But I believe, once you get into it, you’ll be hooked. Enjoy!

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It began in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes). The TED website makes the best of these available to the public. Free.

I’m trying to stay in tune with the presidential campaigns but, like many, I find myself dozing off. The things I’ve been waiting to see — some “sizzle” from McCain and some “steak” from Obama — should have become more evident by now, yet remain obscured behind the media’s love affair with Obama.

As John Dickerson wrote in an article more than a year ago, the perception that Obama was “all sizzle and no steak” remained despite efforts by his handlers to change it.

“The huge crowds and stirring but vague reform rhetoric don’t give voters anything they can take home in their pocket. This has lead to some high-profile failures—at a health-care forum in Nevada and with firefighters in Washington—in venues where audiences wanted to hear specifics about ideas that will change their lives. Obama’s rhetoric makes this task more difficult. He presents himself as a paradigm-shifting candidate, which means people are expecting to be floored not just by his charisma but by his ideas.”

Dickerson pointed out that, in the polls, Clinton did far better than Obama on questions of experience, leadership, and capacity to handle a crisis, trouncing him by more than 30 points among Democrats looking more for strength and experience. Worse for Obama, when voters were asked the question in the abstract whether he had enough experience for the job, only 30 percent of respondents said yes in a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll. On the same question, Clinton scored in the 70s. Yet Obama received his highest marks in polls from people who thought he was new, fresh, and inspiring. In the end, Democrats chose the latter.

And not much has changed. Obama’s skill at eloquently “reframing the question” to convince Democrats that charisma trumps experience seems to be keeping his ball in the air. But an empty suit—albeit a charismatic one—is still just sizzle and no steak.

Which leads me to my latest bumper sticker, sent to me by James. It pairs well with my McCain sticker, don’t you think? Maybe I’ll stick them both in my side bar. Hmmmm…Reminds me of the 80s Wendy’s television commercial. “Where’s the beef?”

I was depressed last night so I called Lifeline.

Got a freakin’ call center in Iraq.

I told them I was suicidal.

They got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck…

Thanks Pat!

The brand spanking new Airbus 340-600, the largest passenger airplane ever built, sat in its hangar in Toulouse, France without a single hour of airtime. Enter the Arab flight crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) to conduct pre-delivery tests on the ground, such as engine runups, prior to delivery to Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. The date was November 15, 2007.

The ADAT crew taxied the A340-600 to the run-up area. Then they took all four engines to takeoff power with a virtually empty aircraft. Not having read the run-up manuals, they had no clue just how light an empty A340-600 really is.

The takeoff warning horn was blaring away in the cockpit because they had all 4 engines at full power. The aircraft computers thought they were trying to takeoff but it had not been configured properly (flaps/slats, etc.) Then one of the ADAT crew decided to pull the circuit breaker on the Ground Proximity Sensor to silence the alarm.

This fools the aircraft into thinking it is in the air.

The computers automatically released all the brakes and set the aircraft rocketing forward. The ADAT crew had no idea that this is a safety feature so that pilots can’t land with the brakes on.

Not one member of the seven-man Arab crew was smart enough to throttle back the engines from their max power setting, so the $80 million brand-new aircraft crashed into a blast barrier, totaling it.

The extent of injuries to the crew is unknown, for there has been a news blackout in the major media in France and elsewhere. Coverage of the story was deemed insulting to Moslem Arabs. Finally, the photos are starting to leak out (click thumbnails to enlarge). Link

Thanks Mike and Michael!

I was never a big fan of puns. But Michael, my “brudda from anudda mudda,” is, so I’ve developed a sort of taste for them in recent years. And Dan Piraro is one of my favorite comic artists, I think because his perspective in some ways matches mine. Dawn reads him, too, and occasionally clips one of his ‘toons for me. So with that thorough and enlightening back story, I give you…

Have you been following the saga of the tubby tabby found prowling a patio in South Jersey? Weighing in at 44 pounds—just 2 pounds shy of the 1987 Guinness World Record for overweight cats—it was taken to the Camden County Animal Shelter where employees dubbed the furry feline “Captain Chunk” until a closer examination brought about a name change to “Princess Chunky”. But wait. There’s more.

Princess Chunky began making the media rounds, including interviews yesterday by Fox New York and MSNBC, and TV spots on “Good Morning America” and “Live with Regis and Kelly” where a veterinarian examined “Princess Chunky” and pronounced her… a him!

But here’s the sad part of the story. It turns out that the portly pussycat had belonged to an elderly woman who lost her home to foreclosure and had been unable to find a new home for her kitty. Oh, and his name is actually “Powder”.

All the media attention has resulted in several serious offers to adopt “Powder”, so it’s likely he’ll go to a loving family. But I have to wonder about someone who would abandon a pet. Sure, the owner lost her home. And maybe she doesn’t have transportation or know anyone willing to help. But what prevented her from calling the shelter? Fortunately, things worked out. This time.

This is a repost. Not much I can add to last year’s entry, so…

Today is Lughnasadh, or Lammas, half-way between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox. For many it represents “sweet corn harvest time… when Summer leans back and watches her abundance roll out.”

Michael says it’s “from the Old English hlaf (loaf)  and maesse (mass or feast) and is very old indeed.” It derives, he tells me, “from the ancient English festival the Gule of August, which marked the beginning of the harvest, traditionally August 1. The early English church kept this pagan dedication of the first fruits but converted it to Christian usage. Through the centuries, loaf-mass became corrupted in spelling and pronunciation to Lammas. On Lammas Day, loaves of bread were baked from the first-ripened grain and brought to the churches to be consecrated.”

In Scotland, “Lammastide fairs became famous as the time when trial marriages could be made. These marriages could end after a year with no strings attached.” Wilson’s Almanac offers a lot more information and history if you’re so inclined.

Whatever its origin, it’s celebrated by relatively few in this country. I’m thinking we should follow the Scots’ lead and celebrate with good food, good drink and good fellowship. And maybe some dancers. And that “trial marriage” thing might be a nice touch…

On September 18, 2007, computer science professor and alumnus Randy Pausch spoke before a packed McConomy Auditorium at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver his last lecture, a moving talk called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” Within that context, he talked about the cancer that was devouring his pancreas and that would claim his life in a matter of months.

On the stage that day, he was youthful, energetic, cheerful and darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But that was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged. With equal parts humor and heart, he delivered a one-of-a-kind last lecture that moved the overflow crowd at the university and went on to move audiences around the globe.

Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, as has his best selling book, The Last Lecture based on the same principles; celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. Sadly, he lost his battle to pancreatic cancer a week ago today, but his legacy will continue to inspire us all for generations to come.

I urge you to take the time - make the time (1 hour 16 minutes) - to watch Randy’s last lecture this weekend. If you’ve already seen it, watch it again. I guarantee you’ll be inspired. More

“Almost all of us have childhood dreams; for example, being an astronaut, or making movies or video games for a living. Sadly, most people don’t achieve theirs, and I think that’s a shame. I had several specific childhood dreams, and I’ve actually achieved most of them.” - Randy Pausch, Oct. 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008