Absence of Posts

With the rare exceptions, where my personal kettle boiled over, and small posts were made, I have been mostly absent from posting on this blog. Right in the middle of an election, a topic I usually spout off about, there has been silence. So I owe it to the one or two people that do read what I write.

Over the last two months I have been dealing with some health issues, via twitter, some of you know, but between one surgery and another, time flies, and while I was not intending it, I have joined the ranks of the Cancer survivors worldwide. Trust me this is not a membership you should ever seek to join, and an entirely UN-FUN thing to do.

My discovery has been a series of coincidences that began with some basic investigations of mine to determine if the untreatable cancers that have taken members of my family in recent years was to be my fate also. As it turns out, I am not, but during the testing a preemptive removal of an enlarged appendix, lead to the discovery of a cancer there, and further surgery to perform due diligence to ensure all of the cancer was removed cleanly. As of now, all further testing has been completely clear, and free of further indications of cancer. And now I mend, almost the worst part, and I have a enhanced sympathy of those who have been fighting more dangerous cancers.

My gratitude to my surgeon, the staff and nurses at the Bon Secours Hospital. (with the exception of that bed that was trying to kill my back 🙂

More Pseudoscience in the Press

This video at the BBC U.S. Site that claims Technology ‘rewires’ our brains Is yet another Pseudoscience attempt to baffle with Bullshit, the viewer. It comes off all Super Tech and is really no better than claiming that “Technology destroys our Brains”. Just more Yellow journalism. The disappointing thing is, that it’s coming from the BBC. This is for the U.S. (read American) audience, so I suppose it has to be Dumbed down to that level of that group.

But it is a sorry thing to watch happen.

A Neighborhood solution to water supply

If you live close enough to your neighbor (most semi-detached homes would fit this description) you can attach your external faucet, from your non functioning household water, to that of your neighbors FUNCTIONING water supply with a common garden hose and By opening the valves on the waterless house, and then the working house. The house with the functioning water supply will supply the non functioning house.

You might call this an Irish solution to an Irish problem. And since we are not currently paying for the water, we aren’t stealing water, just loaning it.

The real Question, from the big Picture.

A fellow Blogger at A Networked World made the connection with another blogger. And Got me thinking about The Real, Next Big Question! He states;


…the talking heads all talk about this recovery, but its always a recovery “from” the crash and never, ever, about what our lives and communities and economies will look like once we have “recovered”.

What are we recovering TO?

It can’t really be the same as it was before. We have to seek new things, new jobs, and a different way of life than that which was before. That world is gone! IT will NEVER return, or better yet, SHOULD NEVER be allowed to return. It’s unsustainable and WILL collapse again (for the worst) should we ever ‘Recover’ it.

What’s needed is Vision and leadership, something sorely missing in the Irish mindset, let alone the mindless Government mindset.

What can you say

I’ve been neglecting the blogging, Twittering, facebook world lately as personal issues have, I was going to say crept into, but it’s more like slammed into, me again. It’s not depressing enough to hear about an incompetent Irish government politicians robbing from their citizens to bail out their friends. Or to hear about the number of mindless multi-nationals stumbling along destroying communities all over Ireland. I must now travel back to the U.S. during a Swine Flu pandemic to prepare for the death of my younger brother from Pancreatic Cancer.

Great, the next time someone tells me ‘things could get worse!’ is going to get a sock in the mouth.

Voting with your feet

It may be a bit premature to talk about the recovery from the recession but it’s not too early to take steps to initiate a decision about the culture and nature of the recovery from the recession. In my time in Ireland I marveled at the concept of the local shop in an estate, and the small shops in general and the culture of such an environment. Now the the incursion of the giant Dunn’s, and the discount Aldi’s and Lidl’s a decision can be made about the nature of the recovery.

Do you save yourself a bit of change and buy cheap, or spend it at the local shop? Do you want to keep that cultural icon of local shops and merchants alive, or support the mass market monster. The application of your food budget to supporting your local may tax us all, but could well to the means of survival for the little shop keeper. The same could be applied to your favorite small cafe or restaurant, voting with your feet may be your only option if you want to continue to visit them.

I’m not saying that it’s the ‘Patriotic’ duty to shop in the Republic, there has been entirely too much disparity allowed to creep in there. But if you have the change, maybe it’s best spent in the local shop, rather than the big chain store,

The Other Shoe has fallen

As things go a pair of old shoes are not long separated and the 62 year married couple which are my parents are reunited in death 15 days apart. So now the decision has to be made if I should make the journey back again, I’ve only just gotten back into the time zone here, and the prospect of another 24 hours trip, and another 6 hour shift in time is daunting. Being diabetic, the last trip, screwed up my blood sugar levels badly, I am neither rested, nor up for the passage. Being prepared means nothing here.

Louis C. “Lou” Jordan, 84, Juanita Ione (Morrow) Jordan (84)

Death and taxes

If you have been reading this blog you will know I had a loss, as in life, the only thing you can’t avoid is Death and Taxes. Life is a terminal sentence, But let me add some other certainties in this cycle, family strife. Any simple (or complex) issue becomes Enormous . Trauma ensues and squabbles erupt. Loss takes many tolls, family unity often is the first.

A Poem by Clarence J. Ballou

At the memorial for my Father, a Poem from his Grandfather.

I am now at the end of the road to the west
Where quiet reigns and all is at rest;
Away from the dust and the noise of the town,
To the end of the road where the sun goes down.

So, along life’s road as we journey on
Let us meet all our trials with a laugh and a song;
Greet all with a smile and not a frown
As we come to the end when the Sun goes down.

Blogging life

It’s amazing that when family matters start to stress you, everyday activities like blogging loose their appeal. Facing aging and dying parents and the unpredictability of their loss makes everything else pale to insignificance. But I’m more or less prepared, in part, ready to hop any flight, when my brothers tell me the end is near. I have managed to put in place as many mobile communication and messaging technologies as I could manage so as not to be burdened with packing a laptop and various other bits and bobs that might make flying more of a burden that it will be otherwise. I could probably makes the States with only carry on luggage, dispensing with check in issues and customs. These new toys consist of a new Tri-band Phone in the form of the Nokia 6300 and a Palm T/X for more of the heavy lifting email, and web communications issues. With the U.S. now searching all laptops and sucking off suspicious data from disk drives these devices should prove useful for quick passage.

Hillary Quits!

Hillary has quit the race, Obama is now the clear winner of the Democratic Nomination for President. Rumors were circulating this morning that Hillary has decided to be a stay-at-home wife, and take care of Bill in their home in upstate New York. Her change of heart is credited with renewed sense of maternal instincts that she nurtured deep in her psyche.

And everything else

As we were talking about our cat, my wife mentioned; “What would we do without him”, and I replied “Everything else!” And this brought to mind an old saying that was common when I was in the Navy. “A bitchy sailor, is a happy sailor”. This is more or less what blogging is about, a place and a platform to bitch about things, and as I blog more about politicians and government, I could apply this meaningful cat dialog to my blogging. What would I do without bad politicians and rotten government, why, everything else. Governments could reform health care, cure cancer and fly to the Moon, Mars and the Stars. We could live in peace and have happier lives with our families. And I would have to find another subject to blog about. 😉

Monopoly’s new game, or how to profit from Global warming.

Having seen the Christmas Ad’s starting up, and this years crop of children being introduced into corporate finance in the form of the old board game of Monopoly, I was inspired to create a new variant Global Warming Monopoly What a great new way to teach our children how to profit from the future disasters of our new world.