Iowans are, as it turns out, idiots

I'm an Iowan. But, I gotta tell ya', this doesn't bode well for us. 

Missouri is the "show me" state.  Iowas is the "show me.  show me again.  show me something different.  I don't believe you because it's not what I want to hear" state.


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53417.html#comments

New perspective on flying

Some perspective:
On 9/11, 4 flights were hijacked. 246 people died in aircraft that day.

According to my calculations, in any given hour in the US, 225,250 are in the air.
I arrived at this by taking flights/day in the US, and then multiplying that by an average occupancy of 106.

So, even if you were IN THE AIR at the time of the 9/11 attacks, your chances of dying were
246 in 225,250
or .001
or 1 tenth of 1 percent.

I know this is precious little comfort for those who loved the ones who died, but it does put our airport and flight safety neurosis into perspective, IMO.

Call me crazy, but I'd rather go through a normal metal detector, sit in a big, comfy seat, and take those chances. 

Next Republican Presidential Candidate

Stephen Colbert's gun with flag pin:

*chuckle*   It's funny because it's truthy.

The link between worry and the fruits of the spirit

Galatians 5:22-23 (New International Version, ©2010)

 ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

New Internatio

I find that the main thing that gets in the way of my having these fruits of the spirit are NOT the acts of the flesh which the writer condemns a few verses prior (19-21), but rather the WORRIES of the flesh. 

To wit:

Mark 4:19

but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

I don’t know about others, but for me, it is the worries of life that make me tense and cranky, unkind, stingy, short, self-focused, & ultimately unhappy.  It is despair or self-pity that short-circuit my ability to be generous to others in the form of money, possessions, empathy, & mirth.   Additionally, the more I feel I’m suffering and allow myself to give in to despair,  the more likely I am to abandon self control and the other fruits of the spirit in a feeble attempt to “feel better” - to throw up my hands and do whatever gets me through the day.

Jesus’ teachings on this point are crucial.  Boy oh boy, do I wish I could really learn to live this consistently over time:

Matthew 6:24-34 (New International Version, ©2010)

   ²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Do Not Worry

    ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]?

   ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

GOP science skeptics

meet-the-gop-science-skeptics-likely-to-hold-top-house-science-energy-posts

This cracks me up.  Even the bible-thumper that said God promised he would never again destroy the earth by water should know that He said, next time, it would be fire.

Derivatives Discussion Disguised as Buffet bashing.

Discussion on Derivatives
Found this interesting in that it makes the distinction between liquid and illiquid derivatives.

BBC - Oposing Obama Series

BBC - Opposing Obama Series from Feb, 2010

Very interesting stuff.  It's neat to see the BBC's perspective on the western colonies :-)