Star Trek

We missed the new "Star Trek" movie when it came out, so I ordered the DVD along with the latest Harry Potter. We watched it recently.

I remember the first S.T. movie many years ago. It was just boring, a lot of time spent going around the Enterprise showing detail which was just strange; it was like we don't have much of a script so let's show a (model) ship.

One thing that made the old S.T. series was that it always had a moral & likable characters. Of course it was made while my wife & I were in college so many of the special effects were not very good compared to ones available now.

Back to the movie, I found it great fun. It is sort of a prequel to the TV series. It explains how Spock & Kirk & Scotty & Uhuru & Sulu & Checkov & Bones all got together. It is a good guy v. bad guy (tho we see the motivation of the bad guys); it has action & some humor; so it was a good reflection of the the original TV show that we first saw & liked!

"Random chance seems to have operated in our favor" -- Spock
"In plain, non-Vulcan English, we've been lucky" -- McCoy
"I believe I said that, Doctor" -- Spock (The Doomsday Machine)

"Is there anyone on this ship, who even remotely, looks like Satan?" -- Kirk
"I am not aware of anyone who fits that description, Captain" -- Spock
"No, Mr. Spock, I didn't think you would be" -- Kirk (The Apple)

"Does everyone know about this grain but me?" -- Kirk
"Not everyone, Kepten, it's a Russian inwention." -- Checkov (The Trouble With Tribbles)

"Emotional, isn't she?" -- Spock
"She has always been so." -- Sarek
"Indeed. Why did you marry her?" -- Spock
"It seemed the logical thing to do at the time." -- Sarek (Journey To Babel)

"I signed aboard this ship to practice medicine, not to have my atoms scattered back and forth across space by this gadget." -- McCoy

"Just before they went into warp, I beamed the whole kit and kaboodle into their engine room, where they'll be no tribble at all." -- Scotty, explaining how he got rid of the tribbles (The Trouble With Tribbles)

"Mr. Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That's the only planet in the galaxy that can make that claim." -- Kirk (Elaan of Troyius)

(Final) frontier (n) a line or border separating two countries. • the district near such a line. • the extreme limit of settled land beyond which lies wilderness • the extreme limit of understanding or achievement in a particular area
ORIGIN late Middle English : from Old French frontiere, based on Latin frons, front- ‘front.’

Spend more Save more

I was watching the TV & numerous Black Friday, Brown Saturday, Gray Sunday, Cyber Monday sales where on. The one which to me is the most ridiculous is the "Buy More Save More" ads. The best way to save more is to buy nothing!

P.O. & his allies believe since the first stimulus bill failed; we need another one! This is the Buy more save more in government. If spending money did not work then they believe spending more is the solution. Most people who are in their right minds don't truly believe continuing doing something that doesn't work more will work!

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein

“The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.” Bruce Feirstein

“Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one.” George Orwell

“Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtaxed.” Oliver Wendell Holmes

insanity (n) the state of being seriously mentally ill; madness • extreme foolishness or irrationality
ORIGIN late 16th cent. : from Latin insanitas, from insanus (see insane )

Kill Bill Kill Jobs

There was a movie a while back called "Kill Bill vol I" that I made the mistake of renting from the Library. It was about some woman who I think was trying to quit some sort of assassination group and they didn't want her to. There was a lot of senseless violence with a lot of blood & fighting of one vs. many many ninja types. The movie was a waste of time (my lovely wife was sensible enough to not watch it) and really was completely mindless.

Now we have politicians who do not understand how business works; business hires the people who pay taxes. There is a finite amount of money to buy bonds or invest in businesses. The government (which used have an AAA+ rating on its bonds) is borrowing all the money that could have gone to individuals or businesses that would be used to grow businesses which would lead to more jobs.

The Congress & P.O.'s highest priorities are Cap & Trade and Health Care "Reform." Both of these will Kill Jobs; especially the Cap & Trade Bill which raises taxes on all energy (coal, gas, oil,etc.). More money to government means less money for the small business people to create a products & jobs. HC "Reform" is basically for the first 4-5 years just a tax increase plus more regulation on insurance companies; which (you guessed it) leaves less money for the producers in society. Some actual reforms like containing lawsuit abuse or allowing insurance to sell across state lines (proposed by R) are not in the bill.

Kill Bill was mindless as are our politicians are in Kill Jobs mode.

Arizona faces unique healthcare challenges including uncompensated care for illegal immigrants, and the large number of Native Americans who live in remote and isolated areas of the state. Rick Renzi

Financial literacy is an issue that should command our attention because many Americans are not adequately organizing finances for their education, healthcare and retirement. Ron Lewis

Lawsuit abuse is a major contributor to the increased costs of healthcare, goods and services to consumers. Charles W. Pickering

MIND, n. A mysterious form of matter secreted by the brain. Its chief activity consists in the endeavor to ascertain its own nature, the futility of the attempt being due to the fact that it has nothing but itself to know itself with. From the Latin mens, a fact unknown to that honest shoe-seller, who, observing that his learned competitor over the way had displayed the motto "Mens conscia recti," emblazoned his own front with the words "Men's, women's and children's conscia recti." (DD)

Three

I seem to use the number three a lot.

When I am climbing the hill near to our house on the way home; I count 3 rotation with my right foot leading and then 3 starting with the left. This helps me forget that I am climbing a hill (nothing like the mountains my son climbs in his bike) & that I am tired (since this is the last big hill before home) and want that hill to be over.

When I am nervous or bored, I brush my finger tips with my thumb 3 times starting oneway & then 3 the other; when I get to the thumb I use my index finger on the thumb and then back down again reversing the process.

We had 3 children (a daughter & 2 boys); my son has 3 people in his immediate family (his wife & 2 boys); my daughter has 3 boys (not counting the older husband).

In my religion, three is also very important also (Father, Son and Holy Ghost {or Spirit if you are more modern but I learned HG when I was young and have always liked that designation}).

I always have liked numbers since my uncle used to give me math problems to solve when I was very young.


Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. Buddha

It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them. Mark Twain

Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.
All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.
There are three faithful friends - an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.
There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self. Benjamin Franklin

three (cardinal number) equivalent to the sum of one and two; one more than two; (Roman numeral: iii, III)
ORIGIN Old English thrīe (masculine), thrīo, thrēo (feminine), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch drie and German drei, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin tres and Greek treis.

"I'm only thinking of him"

In the "Man Of La Mancha" Musical there is a song: "I'm only thinking of him" that goes : I'm only thinking of him, I'm only thinking of him, Whatever I may do or say; I'm only thinking of him! In my body; it's well known, There is not one selfish bone... I'm only thinking end worrying about him! .

It is a song sung by Don Quixote's niece; who is ashamed of him and his actions; who obviously is only really thinking of herself.

The reason I am against so many of P.O.'s policies is that he is bankrupting my kids & grandkids. The bill becomes due after my time. My wife & I can probably survive the P.O. policies but what of my grandkids; all parents want better for their kids & future generations but if he keeps spending there will be worthless money for them. So I guess I can say "I'm only thinking if them."

Don Quixote quotes (Cervantes):

All that glisters is not gold.

Never look for birds of this year in the nests of the last.

Tell me thy company and I will tell thee what thou art.

I drink when I have occasion, and sometimes when I have no occasion.

Inasmuch as ill-deeds spring up as a spontaneous crop, they are easy to learn.

Don Quixote the hero of a romance (1605–15) by Cervantes, a satirical account of chivalric beliefs and conduct. The character of Don Quixote is typified by a romantic vision and naive, unworldly idealism.

Gov Health

It is amazing to me that people really believe that the government can run health care.

A government that was responsible to get swine (H1N1) flu vaccine to the people. They promised 120,000,000 doses by October as which they delivered 20M. The same government that has basically run out of business the domestic vaccine business due to regulation & law suits. That has run the Post Office, Medicare, Social Security, Amtrak, etc. into bankruptcy.

The cost of Pelosicare is $1.2 trillion where the taxes raised include: on medical devices, on "Gold plated" medical insurance plans, $500 billion reductions in medicare, etc. More regulations on insurance companies, NO torte reform, as the Wall Street Journal has called "the worst bill ever" with 1900 pages of bill.

If you have a reasonable Senator or Rep (maybe my son's "good friend") call them & tell them that this is ridiculous bill should be voted against. I don't have any that would be affected by me.

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. Mark Twain

According to a new study, women in satisfying marriages are less likely to develop cardiovascular diseases than unmarried women. So don't worry lonely women, you'll be dead soon. Tina Fey

I don't jog. If I die I want to be sick. Abe Lemons

healthcare (n) the maintenance and improvement of physical and mental health, esp. through the provision of medical services

Scientific Method

Science has been a great deal of my education & work(degrees in Chemistry, nuclear training in Navy, performing Nuke training, & operator licensing).

I've always thought that Scientists are the most open minded people. But there are 2 subjects that they seem to have extremely closed minds.

The first is Global Warming. Since Al Gore (the inventor of the internet) declared that there is no more doubt, Global Warming is a fact; many in the scientific community refuse to accept that there are different views on the subject. There are 1000's of Scientists that believe that weather is a cycle that the earth heats up & then cools down. The GW people want to ignore the actual cooling down, that the ice pack has grown, that polar bears are not drowning; since the science is complete.

The other subject is Intelligent Design; many scientists believe that evolution & the big bang explain how life began. Any scientist that believes that there is a before (the big bang theory does not explain what happened before the bang) has been ostracized.

Science is simply common sense at its best that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic. Thomas Henry Huxley

Science is facts; just as houses are made of stone, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house, and a collection of facts is not necessarily science. Jules Henri Poincaré

In essence, science is a perpetual search for an intelligent and integrated comprehension of the world we live in. Cornelius Bernardus Van Neil

Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.