Lucky Hoo-ee

Napoleon Hill - Newest Book

2012-01-16T14:18:00.001-05:00

A little inspiration.....

2012-01-04T15:37:00.001-05:00

The Democrats are starting to turn against Obama?

2011-12-22T14:29:00.001-05:00

2012 - Time to Set New Goals!

2011-12-19T10:04:00.001-05:00

Great Marketing idea.... a must watch video!

2011-10-17T12:41:00.001-04:00

Humor of Will Rogers

2011-09-16T09:25:00.002-04:00

Will Rogers, who died in a 1935 plane crash, was one of the greatest political sages this country has ever known.
Enjoy the following:

1. Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco.
2. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.
3. There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.
4. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
5. Always drink upstream from the herd.
6. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
7. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back into your pocket.
8. There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.
9. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
10. If you're riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.
11. Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back in.
12. After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.

ABOUT GROWING OLDER...

First ~Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
Second ~ The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
Third ~ Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me; I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way, and some of the roads weren't paved.
Fourth ~ When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.
Fifth ~ You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
Sixth ~ I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.
Seventh ~ One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it's such a nice change from being young.
Eighth ~ One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.
Ninth ~ Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.
Tenth ~ Long ago, when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf.

And, finally ~ If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you're old.

The secret to wealth and success

2011-09-12T11:04:00.001-04:00

The superstar secret to success is to realize how very fabulously wealthy you already are.

You have access to millions of people via global technology that makes Dr. Evil look like a sad little amateur.

Countless people work 14-hour days in sweatshops just to make the barest of ends meet. You, by contrast, have the incredible freedom of access to a computer and the time to read this blog.

You may even have the free time to write your own blog. You may be doing that on your owncomputer.

You have instant access to clean running water. You don’t worry about dying of measles or a bug bite.

Your weekly coffee budget is what a lot of people make in a month. And a lot of those people are considered very prosperous in their communities.

You are already stinking rich.

I finally started Podcasting

2011-09-01T20:10:00.004-04:00

Take a few minutes to listen to my latest Podcast with Gale Smith, Founder and CEO of Boat Leash.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/securitybob

Investment Advice

2011-08-26T12:26:00.001-04:00

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49.00 today! If you purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG, you would have $33.00. $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers, you would have $0.00 today. But, if you purchased $1,000 worth of beer, drank all the beer, turned in the aluminum cans for recycling, you would have $214.00. Therefore the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. It is called the 401-Keg Plan

The "secrets" to success

2011-08-23T16:37:00.002-04:00

President Bush rides with the Wounded Warriors

2011-08-20T15:41:00.001-04:00

Ambiguous Statements but true!

2011-08-12T17:28:00.002-04:00

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE PHILOSOPHY OF AMBIGUITY, AS WELL AS THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF ENGLISH:

1. ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.

2. I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, "WHERE'S THE SELF- HELP SECTION?" SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.

3. IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

4. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU SEE AN ENDANGERED ANIMAL EATING AN ENDANGERED PLANT?

5. IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?

6. WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?

7. IF A TURTLE DOESN'T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR NAKED?

8. WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?

9. ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

10. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

11. IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?

12. IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?

Obama - It's all about jobs

2011-08-05T17:17:00.002-04:00

Sometimes you just have to jump......

2011-08-03T17:37:00.001-04:00

Badge Express Company Cruise - July 2011

2011-07-26T14:24:00.002-04:00

Sweden Trip for Mid-Summer Holiday

2011-07-11T16:07:00.002-04:00

All in good pun!

2011-07-11T15:45:00.002-04:00

1. Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.

2. A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but don't start anything."

3. Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted.

4. A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

5. A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm and says: "A beer please, and one for the road."

6. Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?"

7. An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either.

8. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any.

9. A man woke up in a hospital after a serious accident. He shouted, "Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!" The doctor replied, "I know you can't - I've cut off your arms!"

10. I went to a seafood disco last week... And pulled a mussel.

11.What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.

12. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

13. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why," they asked, as they moved off.
"Because", he said, "I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer."

14. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in Spain; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."

15. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him ..(Oh, man, this is so bad, it's good)..... A super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

Michael Moore is a Liar!

2011-06-30T16:19:00.001-04:00

Bob 2.0 - Time to Re-Boot

2011-06-05T16:41:00.000-04:00

May 2, 2011 - The Broward General Hospital Nutritionist

Dr. Warman suggested that I needed to get on a new diet program.... I agreed!

What could a Nutritionist possibly teach me? What insight could help me change 54 years of bad habits and emotional eating baggage?

Not much!

Don't get me wrong....she was nice and really tried to help me. But I am an emotional eater. I understand the logic of a diet program...it's the compulsive destructive obsessive eating side that needs help...not the logically nutritional side! I intellectually understand about fat and calories....but when McDonalds contacts me through secret brain-wave communications...get outta the way! Must have Big Mac....Must have Big Mac..... Donuts....Donuts.....Milk Shakes......Pizza....Pizza....Pizza

But wait.... I really don't eat that much more than most mortals..... but a pound is 3500 calories...that's about 100 calories a day for a month..... So just eating (2) Oreo cookies a day more than I normally burn....I will gain 10-12 pounds every year.....in 10 years.....I will weight 100-120 pounds more than I should.....So all I need to do is make healthier choices....just tweak my life a little.

The nutritionist did show me one thing that was cool..... My food portions are way too big! When I eat Rice or Pasta meals..... I eat a lot more food than they serve in Italy and China.....

Bob 2.0 - Time to re-boot

2011-06-05T12:44:00.001-04:00

October 2010 - Steroids and HGC - 310 lbs

Life is about Balance.... To be Successful in life you must Focus.....There are NO SHORTCUTS

My life was out of balance...traveling overseas on big long trips is a lot of fun....but it is hard to BALANCE and FOCUS... Before and after every trip I stopped working out.... I started eating poorly...and I gained weight. ....I went from 300 lbs to over 310 lbs..... I wanted to get healthy again but dreaded starting all over again.... When my Personal Trainer suggested taking HGC and Steroids .....I was ready for anything!

I have yo-yo'd my whole life..... South Beach, Atkins, Low Fat, Low Carb diets....counting calories...food logs.... I have hired (3) personal trainers over the past (10) years....my personal physician, Dr Segal, even prescribed Aderall as a way to lose weight.....

Friends and family want the best for me....some have even suggested bariatric band stomach surgery.... As a last ditch effort...before I agree to surgery...I thought I would try the new trendy (and expensive) way to lose weight and get "fit"..... DRUGS..... Steroids and Human Growth Hormone.

I took them for a month....needles and shots....something I thought I would never do!

I am injecting them into my belly and my ass..... How the hell did I get here?

One month later.... muscles are twitching all over my body.....and I gained 10 lbs!

320 lbs.....another silly attempt at a "quick fix"......hadn't I learned that there are NO SHORT-CUTS?

I stopped the "juice"....and headed to Bangkok for a few months.

April 5, 2011 - Las Vegas - The Binge - 330 lbs

If you can make the "right" choices.....it can be easy to lose weight in Bangkok..... Lots of walking...lots of healthy food choices....However, it can also be very easy to gain weight in Thailand....Bangkok has some of the greatest food in the world....when you add alcoholic beverages with each and EVERY MEAL...forget-about-it

Returning from Bangkok and Singapore.......It's been months since I worked out or even tried to eat a little less...... Eating and drinking has added another 10 lbs......

Now it's time for another trip.....The Annual ISC Security Trade Show in Las Vegas with Pete, Jim, Hui....George didn't come because of head lice....we only hit one buffet and didn't drink much...but was not feeling healthy. not sleeping...acid reflux.... I am a whale....Clothes don't fit right....and I don't feel like meeting people or working the show.

April 11, 2011 - A Bad Cold

I can't breath! I am alone in Ft Lauderdale.... I can't sleep because my lungs are filled and the wheezing drives me insane.... feel like I will die in my sleep if I lie down.

I thought I was going to die....really!

It was a real wake up call..... the weight has waekened my immune system.... a little cold and a lot of fat is killing me... I decide that I must make some changes in my life....but while I am home nursing the cold....I don't exercise and eat.... I am out of control!

I decide to change physicians and start fresh.... I met Dr. Warman at a Broward Bank of Commerce Advisory Meeting.... and decided to meet with him..... I decided it was time to make a change in my life.

Dr Warman was AWESOME.....He is on "Team Bob".... he is an optimistic, positive influence in my life..... He wasn't the typical, "here's a copy of a 2,000 calorie suggested diet" type of doctor.... He really cared about me and committed to help me!

Dr. Warman was the spark I needed.

April 18, 2011 - Diabetes - 340 lbs

The blood test results are back....Dr. Warman informs me that I am diabetic.....

Blowing up to over 340 lbs......I knew the weight was hurting me.... my knees hurt when I walk... I have sleep apnea.... bad cough and colds.... back pain.... but now DIABETES.

I weigh 342 pounds.....he suggests that I see a nutritionist at Broward General Hospital to start a new diet program.

BEn Harper - I believe there's a better way!

2011-05-18T21:50:00.002-04:00

Fork over the Knives - The Movie

2011-05-18T11:02:00.000-04:00

MONEY BAGS

2011-05-06T10:31:00.002-04:00

This year, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This happens once every 823 years. This is called 'money bags'.

Change is Happening

2011-04-27T16:33:00.001-04:00

9 Things That Will Disappear In Our Lifetime... Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come.

1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term.   Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.

2. The Cheque.   Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with cheque by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process cheques. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the cheque. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.

3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.

4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music fromiTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.

5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes

6. Music.. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalogue items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."

7. Television..   Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.

8. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly   subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.

9. Privacy.   If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. "They" will try to get you to buy something else.   Again and again.

Places I've visited

2011-03-30T17:27:00.002-04:00

View my profile
Create your own travel map or travel blog
Find vacation rentals at TripAdvisor

Wisdom

2011-03-30T16:37:00.001-04:00

The OLD Man & the Frog…..

A guy is 75 years old and loves to fish.

He was sitting in his boat the other day when
he heard a voice say,

'Pick me up.'

He looked around and couldn't see anyone.

He thought he was dreaming when he heard
the voice say again,

'Pick me up.'

He looked in the water and there, floating
on the top, was a frog.

The man said, 'Are you talking to me?'

The frog said, 'Yes, I'm talking to you.'

Pick me up then, kiss me and I'll turn into
the most beautiful woman you have ever seen.

I'll make sure that all your friends are envious
and jealous because I will be your bride!'

The man looked at the frog for a short time,
reached over, picked it up carefully, and placed
it in his front pocket.

The frog said, 'What, are you nuts? Didn't you
hear what I said? I said kiss me and I will be
your beautiful bride.'

He opened his pocket, looked at the frog and said,
'Nah, at my age I'd rather have a talking frog.'

With age comes wisdom.

Inflation on the Rise

2011-03-29T13:24:00.002-04:00

Food Inflation Kept Hidden in Tinier Bags

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD and CATHERINE RAMPELL

Published: March 28, 2011

REPRINTS

Chips are disappearing from bags, candy from boxes and vegetables from cans.

Enlarge This Image

Nabisco's Fresh Stack package of saltines, top, contains about 15 percent fewer crackers than the old package.

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Michael Stravato for The New York Times

Lisa Stauber of Houston keeps careful records of grocery prices. Her 1-year-old daughter Alianna is one of nine children.

As an expected increase in the cost of raw materials looms for late summer, consumers are beginning to encounter shrinking food packages.

With unemployment still high, companies in recent months have tried to camouflage price increases by selling their products in tiny and tinier packages. So far, the changes are most visible at the grocery store, where shoppers are paying the same amount, but getting less.

For Lisa Stauber, stretching her budget to feed her nine children in Houston often requires careful monitoring at the store. Recently, when she cooked her usual three boxes of pasta for a big family dinner, she was surprised by a smaller yield, and she began to suspect something was up.

“Whole wheat pasta had gone from 16 ounces to 13.25 ounces,” she said. “I bought three boxes and it wasn’t enough — that was a little embarrassing. I bought the same amount I always buy, I just didn’t realize it, because who reads the sizes all the time?”

Ms. Stauber, 33, said she began inspecting her other purchases, aisle by aisle. Many canned vegetables dropped to 13 or 14 ounces from 16; boxes of baby wipes went to 72 from 80; and sugar was stacked in 4-pound, not 5-pound, bags, she said.

Five or so years ago, Ms. Stauber bought 16-ounce cans of corn. Then they were 15.5 ounces, then 14.5 ounces, and the size is still dropping. “The first time I’ve ever seen an 11-ounce can of corn at the store was about three weeks ago, and I was just floored,” she said. “It’s sneaky, because they figure people won’t know.”

In every economic downturn in the last few decades, companies have reduced the size of some products, disguising price increases and avoiding comparisons on same-size packages, before and after an increase. Each time, the marketing campaigns are coy; this time, the smaller versions are “greener” (packages good for the environment) or more “portable” (little carry bags for the takeout lifestyle) or “healthier” (fewer calories).

Where companies cannot change sizes — as in clothing or appliances — they have warned that prices will be going up, as the costs of cotton, energy, grain and other raw materials are rising.

“Consumers are generally more sensitive to changes in prices than to changes in quantity,” John T. Gourville, a marketing professor at Harvard Business School, said. “And companies try to do it in such a way that you don’t notice, maybe keeping the height and width the same, but changing the depth so the silhouette of the package on the shelf looks the same. Or sometimes they add more air to the chips bag or a scoop in the bottom of the peanut butter jar so it looks the same size.”

Thomas J. Alexander, a finance professor at Northwood University, said that businesses had little choice these days when faced with increases in the costs of their raw goods. “Companies only have pricing power when wages are also increasing, and we’re not seeing that right now because of the high unemployment,” he said.

Most companies reduce products quietly, hoping consumers are not reading labels too closely.

But the downsizing keeps occurring. A can of Chicken of the Sea albacore tuna is now packed at 5 ounces, instead of the 6-ounce version still on some shelves, and in some cases, the 5-ounce can costs more than the larger one. Bags of Doritos, Tostitos and Fritos now hold 20 percent fewer chips than in 2009, though a spokesman said those extra chips were just a “limited time” offer.

Trying to keep customers from feeling cheated, some companies are introducing new containers that, they say, have terrific advantages — and just happen to contain less product.

Kraft is introducing “Fresh Stacks” packages for its Nabisco Premium saltines and Honey Maid graham crackers. Each has about 15 percent fewer crackers than the standard boxes, but the price has not changed. Kraft says that because the Fresh Stacks include more sleeves of crackers, they are more portable and “the packaging format offers the benefit of added freshness,” said Basil T. Maglaris, a Kraft spokesman, in an e-mail.

And Procter & Gamble is expanding its “Future Friendly” products, which it promotes as using at least 15 percent less energy, water or packaging than the standard ones.

“They are more environmentally friendly, that’s true — but they’re also smaller,” said Paula Rosenblum, managing partner for retail systems research at Focus.com, an online specialist network. “They announce it as great new packaging, and in fact what it is is smaller packaging, smaller amounts of the product,” she said.

Or marketers design a new shape and size altogether, complicating any effort to comparison shop. The unwrapped Reese’s Minis, which were introduced in February, are smaller than the foil-wrapped Miniatures. They are also more expensive — $0.57 an ounce at FreshDirect, versus $0.37 an ounce for the individually wrapped.

At H. J. Heinz, prices on ketchup, condiments, sauces and Ore-Ida products have already gone up, and the company is selling smaller-than-usual versions of condiments, like 5-ounce bottles of items like Heinz 57 Sauce sold at places like Dollar General.

“I have never regretted raising prices in the face of significant cost pressures, since we can always course-correct if the outcome is not as we expected,” Heinz’s chairman and chief executive, William R. Johnson, said last month.

While companies have long adjusted package sizes to appeal to changing tastes, from supersizes to 100-calorie packs, the recession drove a lot of corporations to think small. The standard size for Edy’s ice cream went from 2 liters to 1.5 in 2008. And Tropicana shifted to a 59-ounce carton rather than a 64-ounce one last year, after the cost of oranges rose.

With prices for energy and for raw materials like corn, cotton and sugar creeping up and expected to surge later this year, companies are barely bothering to cover up the shrinking packs.

“Typically, the product manufacturers are doing this slightly ahead of the perceived inflationary issues,” Ms. Rosenblum said. “Lately, it hasn’t been subtle — I mean, they’ve been shrinking by noticeable amounts.”

That can work to a company’s benefit. In the culture of thinness, smaller may be a selling point. It lets retailers honestly claim, for example, that a snack package contains fewer calories — without having to change the ingredients a smidge.

“For indulgences like ice cream, chocolate and potato chips, consumers may say ‘I don’t mind getting a little bit less because I shouldn’t be consuming so much anyway,’ ” said Professor Gourville. “That’s a harder argument to make with something like diapers or orange juice.”

But even while companies blame the recession for smaller packages, they rarely increase sizes in good times, he said.

He traced the shrinking package trends to the late 1980s, when companies like Chock full o’ Nuts downsized the one-pound tin of ground coffee to 13 ounces. That shocked consumers, for whom a pound of coffee had been as standard a purchase unit as a dozen eggs or a six-pack of beer, he said.

Once the economy rebounds, he said, a new “jumbo” size product typically emerges, at an even higher cost per ounce. Then the gradual shrinking process of all package sizes begins anew, he said.

“It’s a continuous cycle, where at some point the smallest package offered becomes so small that perhaps they’re phased out and replaced by the medium-size package, which has been shrunk down,” he said.

Thailand 2011

2011-02-11T17:49:00.002-05:00

Mom's Cheesecake Recipe

2011-02-11T17:31:00.003-05:00

Graham cracker crust (buy at publix or home made)

2 cream cheese
2 eggs 
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsb vanilla

Mix till creamy no lumps

Bake 40 min at 350 degree

Take out of oven

Turn oven to 450

Mix 2 cups sour creme with 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla

Spread on top of cake and place in 450 oven for 10-15 minutes

Cool in refrigerator for 24 hours

When cool add topings

Strawberry glaze, blueberry, or mango glaze

Spring pan for larger cake

Crust is made from Graham crackers with sugar and butter.

Just booked my holiday trip.... Thailand - December 20-Jan 30

2010-12-07T15:33:00.002-05:00

Think Fast

2010-12-01T17:20:00.003-05:00

An elderly man in Louisiana had owned a large farm for
Several years.

He had a large pond in the back. It was properly shaped for swimming,so he fixed it up nice with picnic tables, horseshoe courts, and some apple and peach trees.

One evening the old farmer decided to go down to the pond, As he hadn't been there for a while, and look it over. He grabbed a five-gallon bucket to bring back some fruit.

As he neared the pond, he heard voices shouting and laughing with glee. As he came closer, he saw it was a bunch of young women swimming in his pond.

He made the women aware of his presence and they all
Went to the deep end. One of the women shouted to him, 'we're not coming out Until you leave!'

The old man frowned, 'I didn't come down here to watch you ladies swim naked or make you get out of the pond naked. Holding the bucket up he said,
'I'm here to feed the alligator...'

Some old men can still think fast.

Truths only Adults know......

2010-11-11T18:17:00.002-05:00

Truths Only True Adults Know

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with dinner and a bottle of wine than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Men realize shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974.
That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

What's next?

2010-10-31T13:54:00.001-04:00

I turned 54 last week.

It's been a great year!

I traveled to Thailand, Israel, and Spain.

I moved to a new condo on Las Olas and moved back into my old office on Cypress Creek.

Professionally, I turned around my two businesses (Badge Express & Nexus Business Center).

I've distributed over 20,000 copies of my free book on Goal Setting.

I'm typing this update on my new Apple I-Pad during another boring Dolphin game.

I'm trying to get more involved with the Advisory Board with Broward Bank of Commerce.

I still would like to get more active with JA and the Ft Lauderdale Art Museum.

I'm dabbling with consulting and speaking...... Who knows?

Cousin Noreen is headed to Bkk... Hui is going in December.... I'll probably go in january?

The big news...... I'm hosting Thanksgiving in my new place in Ft Lauderdale...

I;m also putting together plans for my next trip to Thailsnd....the first week of January!

Lipton Ice Tea Ad: Hugh Jackman - Tokyo Dancing Hotel (Extended version)

2010-09-25T08:09:00.000-04:00

Always Ask

2010-09-24T10:58:00.000-04:00

Always Ask!

His request approved, the CNN News photographer quickly used a cell phone to call the local airport to charter a flight.

He was told a twin-engine plane would be waiting for him at the airport.

Arriving at the airfield, he spotted a plane warming up outside a hanger.

He jumped in with his bag, slammed the door shut, and shouted, 'Let's go'.

The pilot taxied out, swung the plane into the wind and took off.

Once in the air, the photographer instructed the pilot, 'Fly over the valley and make low passes so I can take pictures of the fires on the hillsides.'

'Why?' asked the pilot.

'Because I'm a photographer for CNN' , he responded, 'and I need to get some close up shots.'

The pilot was strangely silent for a moment, finally he stammered, 'So, what you're telling me, is . . . You're NOT my flight instructor?'

545 vs. 300,000,000

2010-09-16T17:47:00.001-04:00

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS scriptED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.

545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does..

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ..

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems..

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it.......... Is up to you.

This might be funny if it weren't so darned true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think..

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.

Put these words
Upon his tomb,
Taxes drove me
to my doom...'

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
It's time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY ? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the hell happened ? Can you spell 'politicians ?'
And I still have to 'press 1' for English !?

I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times !!! YOU can help it get there !!!

GO AHEAD - - - BE AN AMERICAN !!!

Christopher Hitchens Rocks!

2010-09-14T11:14:00.000-04:00

A Call for Earthly Justice
Holding the Catholic Church accountable for its crimes.
By Christopher Hitchens
Posted Monday, Sept. 13, 2010, at 11:16 AM ET

Pope Benedict XVI
Reading Diarmaid MacCulloch's extraordinary and limpid new work Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (a history informed by a general, if Anglican, sympathy for its subject), I came across the following passage from Cardinal John Henry Newman's classic statement of belief, his Apologia Pro Vita Sua:

The Catholic Church holds it better for the Sun and Moon to drop from Heaven, for the earth to fail, and for all the many millions on it to die from starvation in extremest agony … than that one soul, I will not say, should be lost, but should commit one single venial sin, should tell one wilful untruth, or should steal one poor farthing without excuse.
In a few days, Joseph Ratzinger will make one of the most portentous voyages of his papacy, landing in Britain to announce the beatification of the author of those remarkable words. I am not writing about Catholic dogma today, and in any case do not have the space to discuss the hysterical, totalitarian fanaticism of Newman's statement, coming as it does from a learned man celebrated for his relative "moderation." I thought I would simply ask how the church would emerge if anything remotely like Newman's criterion were to be applied to it.
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As we have recently been forcibly reminded, the Roman Catholic Church holds it better for the cries of raped and violated children to be ignored, and for the excuses and alibis of their rapists and torturers indulged, and for a host of dirty and wilful untruths to be manufactured wholesale, and for the funds raised ostensibly for the poor to be paid out in hush money and shameful bribery, rather than that one tiny indignity or inconvenience be visited on the robed majesty of a man-made church or any limit set to its self-proclaimed right to be judge in its own cause.

Earlier this year, as Roman Catholic authorities from Ireland to Germany to Australia to Belgium to the United States were being confronted with the fallout of decades of sexual assault and subsequent denial, I asked a simple question in print. Why was this not considered a matter for the police and the courts? Why were we asking the church to "put its own house in order," an expression that was the exact definition of the problem to begin with? Why had almost no offending priest or bishop faced justice, and even then usually after a long period of protection from the church's own "courts"? I followed this up with a telephone call to Geoffrey Robertson, a British barrister with a second-to-none record in international human rights cases. (If it matters, the last time we had both cooperated was in a campaign against the British Act of Succession, an archaic piece of legislation that explicitly discriminates against Catholics.) This was one of the best dimes I have ever dropped. After a group of generous humanists and atheists agreed to pay his extremely modest fee, Robertson produced a detailed legal brief against the papacy and has made it widely available for the use of all interested or aggrieved parties. Titled The Case of the Pope: Vatican Accountability for Human Rights Abuse, it has just been published in the United Kingdom by Penguin Books. (It will be available in the United States in October.)

As if almost timed to coincide with its publication, and with the impending arrival of Ratzinger on British soil, the recent disclosures of the putrid state of the church in Belgium have thrown the whole scandal into an even sharper relief. Consider: The now-resigned bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, stands revealed by his own eventual confession as being guilty of incest as well as rape, having regularly "abused" his male nephew between the ages of 5 and 18. The man's superior as head of the Belgian church, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, has been caught on tape urging the victim to keep quiet. A subsequent official report, commissioned by the country's secular authorities, has established that this level of morality was the rule throughout the hierarchy, with the church taking it upon itself to "forgive" the rapists and to lean upon their victims. Very belatedly, a few months ago, the Belgian police finally rose from their notorious torpor and raided some ecclesiastical offices in search of evidence that was being concealed. Joseph Ratzinger, who had not thus far found a voice in which to mention the doings of his Belgian underlings, promptly emitted a squeal of protest—at the intervention of the law.

Robertson's brief begins with a meticulous summary of the systematic fashion in which child-rape was covered up by collusion between local Catholic authorities and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, an office that under the last pope was run by Ratzinger himself. (So flagrant was this obstruction of justice that many senior Catholic apologists have now started to blame the deceased pontiff in an effort to excuse his deputy and successor, all the while continuing to put forward Pope John Paul II as a candidate for sainthood!) The brief continues with a close examination of the Vatican's claim to be a state, and its related claim that statehood confers legal immunity on the pope, even in gross cases of abuse of human rights. Without undue difficulty, Robertson shows both claims to be laughably void and based, furthermore, on a history of disgraceful collaboration with dictatorship and sheltering of wanted criminals.

Cardinal Newman himself was rather dubious about the late-19th-century proclamation of papal infallibility. He also asked to be buried in the same grave as his lifelong companion, Ambrose St. John. The Catholic authorities have now rudely disinterred the bodies, finding nothing that had survived decay or could serve as a relic. This is grotesque enough, but not as grotesque as the air of persecuted innocence that they wear when confronted with their obscene offenses. Now at last there is a careful guide to legal redress, which can be taken up either by a victim or by a prosecutor and used to bring a man-made outfit, and its chief executive, within the rule of law. The sun and moon don't need to fall and the species doesn't have to die in agony in order to expiate this sin—a little application of simple earthly justice is all that is required. Will it really continue to be withheld?

Baby Naming?

2010-09-09T17:47:00.001-04:00

Paddy's pregnant sister was in a terrible car accident and went into a
deep coma. After being in the coma for nearly six months, she wakes up
and sees that she is no longer pregnant. Frantically, she asks the
doctor about her baby.

The doctor replies, 'Ma'am, you had twins.... a boy and a girl. The
babies are fine; However, they were poorly at birth and had to be
christened immediately so your brother Paddy came in and named them.

The woman thinks to herself, ' Oh suffering Jesus, no, not me brother
he's a clueless idiot... Expecting the worst, she asks the
doctor,' Well, what's my daughter's name?'

' Denise' says the doctor. The new mother is somewhat relieved, 'Wow,
that's a really beautiful name, 'I guess I was wrong about my brother',
she thought....'I really like Denise

Then she asks, ' What's the boy's name?'

The doctor replies ' Denephew '

Audit finds Rev. Al Sharpton's Nation Action Network on the brink of financial ruin - NYPOST.com

2010-09-08T10:25:00.001-04:00

Audit finds Rev. Al Sharpton's Nation Action Network on the brink of financial ruin - NYPOST.com

The difference between "Guts" and "Balls"

2010-08-27T20:48:00.001-04:00

GUTS - is arriving home late after a night out with the boys, being met by your wife with a broom, and having the guts to ask: "Are you still cleaning, or are you flying somewhere?"

BALLS - is coming home late after a night out with the boys, smelling of perfume and beer, lipstick on your collar, slapping your wife on the bum and having the balls to say: "You're next."

Vegetable Humor

2010-08-14T11:20:00.001-04:00

A beautiful woman loved growing tomatoes, but couldn't seem to get her tomatoes to turn red.
One day, while taking a stroll, She came upon a gentleman neighbour who had the most Beautiful garden full of huge red tomatoes.

The woman asked the gentlemen, "What do you do to get your tomatoes so red?" The gentlemen responded, "Well, twice a day I stand in front of my tomato garden, naked in my trench coat, and flash them. My tomatoes turn red from blushing so much."

Well, the woman was so impressed; she decided to try. Doing the same thing to her tomato garden to see if
It would work. So twice a day for two weeks she flashed her garden hoping for the best.

One day the gentleman was passing by, and asked the woman, "By the way, how did you make out? Did your tomatoes turn red?"
No", she replied, "but my cucumbers are enormous."

Obama 2012

2010-08-10T15:26:00.004-04:00

With all the shit going in the world...Obama's popularity has been falling.

Fox beats hi up every night...and even the "main stream" media occasionally points out a few problems with his presidency.

If the Republicans can rally around a great candidate, I thought that might have a chance to win in 2012..... Until I read the attached article..

What if Biden resigns or decides (for health reasons) not to continue as VP?

What if Hilary runs as VP with Obama?

-----------------------------------------

As President Obama sinks in the polls, Democrats and liberal pundits inevitably are searching for a scapegoat. The most likely victim appears to be gaffe-prone Vice President Joe Biden, who has become the focus of speculation that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just might replace him on the 2012 Democratic ticket.

Former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder, his state's first African-American governor, touched off the controversy. Writing at Politico.com last week, Mr. Wilder argued that Mr. Biden's tenure has been undistinguished and chock full of "too many YouTube moments." He charged that Mr. Biden "has continued to undermine what little confidence the public may have had in him."

By way of contrast, Mr. Wilder says that Hillary Clinton has excelled in her role. "Clinton has been nothing but a team player who has earned good marks since being asked to serve as secretary of state." Having Mrs. Clinton join the 2012 ticket, he said, would revive the Democratic Party and reestablish the party's working-class voters who found her appealing during the 2012 primaries against Mr. Obama.

Pundits jumped on Mr. Wilder's comments and expressed near-universal approval. On his syndicated national show, Chris Matthews of MSNBC assembled a panel to discuss the Wilder intervention. Howard Fineman of Newsweek, a longtime Hillary watcher, said Mrs. Clinton would accept a place on the 2012 ticket "in a second." John Heilemann, a reporter New York magazine, said the major obstacle would be to "figure out a way for Biden to slide aside happily" and suggested that Mr. Biden replace Mrs. Clinton as Secretary of State.

Along the way, Mr. Heilemann outlined why President Obama just might want to have a steadier hand at his side for his re-election campaign: "The Republican attack on Obama is going to revolve around 'too liberal,' but also 'too incompetent.' . . . They're going to say, 'Look, you hired this guy. He was too young for this job. He didn't know what he was doing. He didn't have the experience, and look what's happened.'"

Hmmm. Sounds a lot like the campaign Mrs. Clinton ran against Barack Obama in 2008, complete with that infamous commercial asking voters who they wanted in the White House when a 3 a.m. crisis call came in.

Big Brother...and Advertisers are watching us...

2010-07-31T13:10:00.001-04:00

Associated Press (07/28/10) Robertson, Jordan

Lookout, a mobile phone security company, scanned nearly 300,000 free
applications for Apple iPhones and devices built around Google's Android
software and found that a number of them covertly take sensitive information
from users' phones and transmit it to third parties without notification.
That is a significant concern that has been popping up among privacy and
security professionals. The data can include complete details about users'
friends, their pictures, text messages, and Internet and search histories.
Among these third parties are advertisers and companies that analyze user
information. The data is used by companies to target advertisements and
accrue more user information. The risk, however, is that the data becomes
susceptible to hacking and use in identity theft if the third party does not
carefully secure the data. Lookout shared its findings in late July during
the Black Hat computer security conference in Las Vegas. Lookout found that
nearly one in four iPhone apps and almost 50 percent of the Android apps
contained software code that enabled these capabilities. "We found that not
only users, but developers as well, don't know what's happening in their
apps, even in their own apps, which is fascinating," says Lookout CEO John
Hering

15% CHANGE

2010-07-29T09:42:00.001-04:00

15% changes everything

When a newspaper loses 15% of its readers or 15% of its advertisers, it goes out of business. There are still people who want to read it, still people who want to advertise, but it's gone.

When a technology company increases its sales by 15%, profits will double. The sales line doesn't have to increase that much for profits to soar.

It's so tempting to head for green fields with a new thing, a new market, a new business. But in fact, 15% right here and right now might be exactly what you need.

The cup is half full!

2010-07-27T00:22:00.000-04:00

I am an optimist.

The glass is more than half full.

Our financial and social structure has tremendous critical mass that will get us out of almost any problem that we get ourselves into.

Wars, famines, plagues, natural disasters, religious ideology, corrupt and evil political leaders have had very little impact on the forward motion of our society...over the long run.

They have all had an impact on the short run....especially if you are in their path of destruction, but in the long run, we have made incredible advances..... and we will continue to make great advances.

20 years from now we will be talking about companies that started and took advantage of the current financial and political situation...... we might also be talking about the positive impact that the earthquake in Haiti, the iran and Korean Nuclear technology, or even drilling deep water oil wells did for the future.

Because of the Nukes and oil drilling.....maybe we push Fusion Technology along quicker and eliminate the need for giant power stations? Becasue of Haiti maybe someone discovers a new cure for some disease that reduces worldwide healthcare costs?

In the short run...banks will close.....the market will go up and down......and I will continue to grow hair out of my ears.....but I am an optimist!

Medical advances will have a DNA gene therapy for diseases (and hair).... and people will get rich off the stock.

Energy discoveries will change how and what we consume for power......and people will get rich off the stock.

Technology advances in communications will change and Jim's cell phone will work in Melbourne Beach...... and people will get rich off the stock.

We are not at the end of the road to prosperity....We are not at the end of the road of oil, clean air, clean water, cheap gas, ethical people, silly blogs....

We are at the beginning of an incredible new chapter of opportunity with scientific advances that will make our heads spin.....

I am excited to be a witness to an incredible future!!!

Pictures from Spain

2010-07-17T17:52:00.003-04:00

2010-07-17T17:46:00.000-04:00

Packing for the next great adventure.....

2010-06-02T18:56:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I am headed to Israel and Spain for the month of June..... I need to get away from watching the grainy B/W picture of oil shooting up from the ocean floor and all the talking heads pointing fingers at each other.

Lost

2010-06-01T19:08:00.000-04:00

From one of the writers:
First …The Island:
It was real. Everything that happened on the island that we saw throughout the 6 seasons was real. Forget the final image of the plane crash, it was put in purposely to f*&k with people’s heads and show how far the show had come. They really crashed. They really survived. They really discovered Dharma and the Others. The Island keeps the balance of good and evil in the world. It always has and always will perform that role. And the Island will always need a “Protector”. Jacob wasn’t the first, Hurley won’t be the last. However, Jacob had to deal with a malevolent force (MIB) that his mother, nor Hurley had to deal with. He created the devil and had to find a way to kill him — even though the rules prevented him from actually doing so.
Thus began Jacob’s plan to bring candidates to the Island to do the one thing he couldn’t do. Kill the MIB. He had a huge list of candidates that spanned generations. Yet everytime he brought people there, the MIB corrupted them and caused them to kill one another. That was until Richard came along and helped Jacob understand that if he didn’t take a more active role, then his plan would never work.

Enter Dharma — which I’m not sure why John is having such a hard time grasping. Dharma, like the countless scores of people that were brought to the island before, were brought there by Jacob as part of his plan to kill the MIB. However, the MIB was aware of this plan and interferred by “corrupting” Ben. Making Ben believe he was doing the work of Jacob when in reality he was doing the work of the MIB. This carried over into all of Ben’s “off-island” activities. He was the leader. He spoke for Jacob as far as they were concerned. So the “Others” killed Dharma and later were actively trying to kill Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and all the candidates because that’s what the MIB wanted. And what he couldn’t do for himself.

Dharma was originally brought in to be good. But was turned bad by MIB’s corruption and eventually destroyed by his pawn Ben. Now, was Dharma only brought there to help Jack and the other Canditates on their overall quest to kill Smokey? Or did Jacob have another list of Canidates from the Dharma group that we were never aware of? That’s a question that is purposley not answered because whatever answer the writers came up with would be worse than the one you come up with for yourself. Still … Dharma’s purpose is not “pointless” or even vague. Hell, it’s pretty blantent.
Still, despite his grand plan, Jacob wanted to give his “candidates” (our Lostaways) the one thing he, nor his brother, were ever afforded: free will. Hence him bringing a host of “candidates” through the decades and letting them “choose” which one would actually do the job in the end. Maybe he knew Jack would be the one to kill Flocke and that Hurley would be the protector in the end. Maybe he didn’t. But that was always the key question of the show: Fate vs Free-will. Science vs Faith. Personally I think Jacob knew from the beginning what was going to happen and that everyone played a part over 6 seasons in helping Jack get to the point where he needed to be to kill Smokey and make Hurley the protector — I know that’s how a lot of the writers viewed it. But again, they won’t answer that (nor should they) because that ruins the fun.

In the end, Jack got to do what he always wanted to do from the very first episode of the show: Save his fellow Lostaways. He got Kate and Sawyer off the island and he gave Hurley the purpose in life he’d always been missing. And, in Sideways world (which we’ll get to next) he in fact saved everyone by helping them all move on …

Now…Sideways World:
Sideways world is where it gets really cool in terms of theology and metaphysical discussion (for me at least — because I love history/religion theories and loved all the talks in the writer’s room about it). Basically what the show is proposing is that we’re all linked to certain people during our lives. Call them soulmates (though it’s not exactly the best word). But these people we’re linked to are with us duing “the most important moments of our lives” as Christian said. These are the people we move through the universe with from lifetime to lifetime. It’s loosely based in Hinduisim with large doses of western religion thrown into the mix.

The conceit that the writers created, basing it off these religious philosophies, was that as a group, the Lostaways subconsciously created this “sideways” world where they exist in purgatory until they are “awakened” and find one another. Once they all find one another, they can then move on and move forward. In essence, this is the show’s concept of the afterlife. According to the show, everyone creates their own “Sideways” purgatory with their “soulmates” throughout their lives and exist there until they all move on together. That’s a beautiful notion. Even if you aren’t religious or even spirtual, the idea that we live AND die together is deeply profound and moving.

It’s a really cool and spirtual concept that fits the whole tone and subtext the show has had from the beginning. These people were SUPPOSED to be together on that plane. They were supposed to live through these events — not JUST because of Jacob. But because that’s what the universe or God (depending on how religious you wish to get) wanted to happen. The show was always about science vs faith — and it ultimately came down on the side of faith. It answered THE core question of the series. The one question that has been at the root of every island mystery, every character backstory, every plot twist. That, by itself, is quite an accomplishment.

How much you want to extrapolate from that is up to you as the viewer. Think about season 1 when we first found the Hatch. Everyone thought that’s THE answer! Whatever is down there is the answer! Then, as we discovered it was just one station of many. One link in a very long chain that kept revealing more, and more of a larger mosiac.
But the writer’s took it even further this season by contrasting this Sideways “purgatory” with the Island itself. Remember when Michael appeared to Hurley, he said he was not allowed to leave the Island. Just like the MIB. He wasn’t allowed into this sideways world and thus, was not afforded the opportunity to move on. Why? Because he had proven himself to be unworthy with his actions on the Island. He failed the test. The others, passed. They made it into Sideways world when they died — some before Jack, some years later. In Hurley’s case, maybe centuries later. They exist in this sideways world until they are “awakened” and they can only move on TOGETHER because they are linked. They are destined to be together for eternity. That was their destiny.

They were NOT linked to Anna Lucia, Daniel, Roussou, Alex, Miles, Lupidis, (and all the rest who weren’t in the chuch — basically everyone who wasn’t in season 1). Yet those people exist in Sideways world. Why? Well again, here’s where they leave it up to you to decide. The way I like to think about it, is that those people who were left behind in Sideways world have to find their own soulmates before they can wake up. It’s possible that those links aren’t people from the island but from their other life (Anna’s parnter, the guy she shot — Roussou’s husband, etc etc).
A lot of people have been talking about Ben and why he didn’t go into the Church. And if you think of Sideways world in this way, then it gives you the answer to that very question. Ben can’t move on yet because he hasn’t connected with the people he needs to. It’s going to be his job to awaken Roussou, Alex, Anna Lucia (maybe), Ethan, Goodspeed, his father and the rest. He has to attone for his sins more than he did by being Hurley’s number two. He has to do what Hurley and Desmond did for our Lostaways with his own people. He has to help them connect. And he can only move on when all the links in his chain are ready to. Same can be said for Faraday, Charlotte, Whidmore, Hawkins etc. It’s really a neat, and cool concept. At least to me.
But, from a more “behind the scenes” note: the reason Ben’s not in the church, and the reason no one is in the church but for Season 1 people is because they wrote the ending to the show after writing the pilot. And never changed it. The writers always said (and many didn’t believe them) that they knew their ending from the very first episode. I applaud them for that. It’s pretty fantastic. Originally Ben was supposed to have a 3 episode arc and be done. But he became a big part of the show. They could have easily changed their ending and put him in the church — but instead they problem solved it. Gave him a BRILLIANT moment with Locke outside the church … and then that was it. I loved that. For those that wonder — the original ending started the moment Jack walked into the church and touches the casket to Jack closing his eyes as the other plane flies away.
That was always JJ’s ending. And they kept it.

For me the ending of this show means a lot. Not only because I worked on it, but because as a writer it inspired me in a way the medium had never done before. I’ve been inspired to write by great films. Maybe too many to count. And there have been amazing TV shows that I’ve loved (X-Files, 24, Sopranos, countless 1/2 hour shows). But none did what LOST did for me. None showed me that you could take huge risks (writing a show about faith for network TV) and stick to your creative guns and STILL please the audience. I learned a lot from the show as a writer. I learned even more from being around the incredible writers, producers, PAs, interns and everyone else who slaved on the show for 6 years.

In the end, for me, LOST was a touchstone show that dealt with faith, the afterlife, and all these big, spirtual questions that most shows don’t touch. And to me, they never once waivered from their core story — even with all the sci-fi elements they mixed in. To walk that long and daunting of a creative tightrope and survive is simply astounding. –

Anti-Gay Activist George Rekers Accused Of Gay Tryst

2010-05-08T19:02:00.000-04:00

Mall Food Court , Bangkok

2010-05-02T07:48:00.000-04:00

Quick IQ Test

2010-04-30T11:14:00.001-04:00

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Wrong answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator. Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. This tests your memory. OK, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Andersen Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all questions wrong. But many preschoolers got several correct answers. Andersen Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four-year-old.

Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat?

2010-03-21T21:58:00.001-04:00

'Red Shirt' protesters swarm Bangkok

2010-03-15T06:25:00.001-04:00

Sunday in Lumpini Park, Bangkok - 3

2010-03-13T01:35:00.001-05:00

To see all my Bangkok videos......go to my You Tube page....

Bob19724

The Streets of Bangkok 2

2010-03-13T01:31:00.001-05:00

The streets of Bangkok

2010-03-13T01:30:00.007-05:00

Taking a ride on the BTS - Bangkok

2010-03-13T01:30:00.003-05:00

The Detox Experience - Bangkok

2010-03-13T01:30:00.001-05:00

Walking around the Platinum Mall, Bangkok

2010-03-13T01:29:00.001-05:00

Ani Phyo on Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods, Andrew Zimmern

2010-03-13T01:16:00.001-05:00

Sunday in Lumpini Park - Bangkok

2010-03-13T00:37:00.001-05:00

Don Corleone on John Edwards

2010-03-05T23:55:00.001-05:00

Obama: 100 lies ... and counting

2010-03-05T21:21:00.001-05:00

BODY DETOX

2010-02-27T23:56:00.001-05:00

Joel Osteen - softer response doesn't seem sincere?

2010-02-27T08:10:00.001-05:00

Bill Maher - "This is what I believe." Yeah, you believe it, and I'm going to say why it's dumb.

2010-02-27T08:05:00.001-05:00

Real Time Religion Montage

2010-02-27T07:47:00.001-05:00

Bill Maher lays waste to Religion

2010-02-27T07:39:00.001-05:00

The Reason For Everything And The Purpose Of Life - Bill Maher On Rick Warren

2010-02-27T07:34:00.001-05:00

RAW FOOD DIET RECIPES ~ SUPER GREEN JUICE PROTEIN SHAKE!!

2010-02-17T13:28:00.001-05:00

CHICAGO - "I CAN'T LET GO" (2009 NEW SINGLE!!)

2010-02-15T21:14:00.001-05:00

Dusty Rhodes vs Kevin Sullivan-Texas Bullrope Match

2010-02-15T20:48:00.001-05:00

The Top Ten Moves of Jack Brisco - RIP

2010-02-01T21:16:00.001-05:00

BOBBY LASHLEY vs. WES SIMS - Fight Video Strikeforce Miami

2010-01-31T08:36:00.001-05:00

WOW

TransAtlantic Cruise - Princess was UNORGANIZAED

2010-01-10T09:52:00.003-05:00

The Theory of Bubbles

2010-01-08T07:31:00.001-05:00

Tech Bubble
Real Estate Bubble
Gold Bubble
Terrorist Bubble
Fear Bubble
Bubble Bubble
Mr. Bubble
Tiny Bubbles

Q.E.D.

The Expendables - Trailer (HQ)

2010-01-06T21:55:00.001-05:00

Jimbo's

2009-12-28T18:14:00.001-05:00

Facebook or Linked-in???

2009-12-16T10:11:00.002-05:00

http://www.linkedin.com/in/badgeexpress

Facebook

2009-12-16T08:40:00.002-05:00

Bob Newman | Create Your Badge

My Travel Map

2009-12-16T08:31:00.003-05:00

Create your own travel map or travel blog

Deals on airline tickets at TripAdvisor

Kevin Sullivan and the Purple Haze P1

2009-11-30T00:37:00.001-05:00

Ric Flair attacks and Bloodied Hulk Hogan at Australian Press Conference

2009-11-18T20:05:00.001-05:00

The Truth

2009-10-24T09:10:00.001-04:00

6 Truths of Life

1. You cannot touch all your top teeth with your tongue.

2. All idiots, after reading the first truth, will try it.

3. And discover that the first truth is a lie and feel superior because they can do it.

4. You're smiling now because you're an idiot.

5. You soon will forward this to another idiot.

6. There's still a stupid smile on your face.

NEVER TRUST THE GOVERNMENT TO DO THINGS RIGHT!

2009-08-30T14:23:00.001-04:00

The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775 - they've had 234 years to get it right; it is broke, and even though heavily subsidized, it can't compete with private sector FedExp and UPS services.

Social Security was established in 1935 - they've had 74 years to get it right; it is broke.

Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - they've had 71 years to get it right; it is broke. Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; it is broke. Together Fannie and Freddie have now led the entire world into the worst economic collapse in 80 years.

The War on Poverty was started in 1964 - they've had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our hard earned money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"; it hasn't worked.

Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - they've had 44 years to get it right; they are both broke; and now our government dares to mention them as models for all US health care.

AMTRAK was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; last year they bailed it out as it continues to run at a loss!

This year, a trillion dollars was committed in the massive political payoff called the Stimulus Bill of 2009; it shows NO sign of working; it's been used to increase the size of governments across America, and raise government salaries while the rest of us suffer from economic hardships. It has yet to create a single new private sector job. Our national debt projections (approaching $10 trillion) have increased 400% in the last six months.

"Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009 - - after 60% of the cars purchased turned out to be produced by foreign companies, and dealers nationwide are buried under bureaucratic paperwork demanded by a government that is not yet paying them what was promised.

So with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that each and every "service" shoved down our throats by an over-reaching government turns into disaster, how could any informed American trust our government to run or even set policies for America's health care system - - 17% of our economy?

Maybe each of us has a personal responsibility to let others in on this brilliant record before 2010, and then help remove from office those who are voting to destroy capitalism and destroy our grandchildren's future.

Glenn Beck - Fox News is kicking Ass

2009-08-27T22:33:00.000-04:00

Big Beck: Goes over 3 million viewers, beats O’Reilly in demo: Cable News Ratings for Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Posted on 27 August 2009 by Robert Seidman

Though a little scandal might alienate advertisers, it’s pure ratings gold. Last night Glenn Beck had over 3 million viewers at 5pm, second only to O’Reilly for the night. But, Beck had more 25-54 viewers than O’Reilly (888K to 876K). I don’t watch or really even care about the cable news wars, but still…wow. Even though Beck airs before primetime, when there are fewer people watching TV, he had the most 25-54 viewers in the cable news world for the night.

Live + Same Day Cable News Daily Ratings for August 26, 2009

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 1,374,000 viewers
CNN – 711,000 viewers
MSNBC –506,000 viewers
CNBC – 217,000 viewers
HLN – 300,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 2,667,000viewers
CNN— 1,187,000 viewers
MSNBC –984,000 viewers
CNBC – 241,000 viewers
HLN – 606,000viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC –395,000 viewers
CNN –204,000 viewers
MSNBC –161,000 viewers
CNBC – 72,000 viewers
HLN- 139,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 736,000 viewers
CNN – 321,000 viewers
MSNBC –318,000 viewers
CNBC – 113,000 viewers
HLN – 204,000 viewers

35-64 Total Day
FNC – 650,000 viewers
CNN – 329,000 viewers
MSNBC – 257,000 viewers
CNBC – 105,000 viewers
HLN – 176,000 viewers

35-64 Prime Time
FNC –1,205,000 viewers
CNN – 516,000 viewers
MSNBC –488,000 viewers
CNBC –124,000 viewers
HLN –298,000 viewers

Morning programs (6:00AM-9:00AM) P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
FOX & Friends- 989,000 viewers (390,000) (652,000)
American Morning- 460,000 viewers (210,000) (309,000)
Morning Joe-465,000 viewers (201,000) (285,000)
Squawk Box- 157,000 viewers (55,000) (86,000)
Morning Express w/ Meade- 228,000 viewers (181,000) (212,000)

5PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Glenn Beck– 3,040,000 viewers (888,000) (1,385,000)
Situation Room—688,000 viewers (141,000) (271,000)
Hardball w/ Chris Matthews—536,000 viewers (139,000) (217,000)
Fast Money—215,000 viewers (55,000) (80,000)
Prime News–267,000 viewers (97,000) (109,000)

6PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Special Report with Bret Baier– 2,067,000 viewers (463,000) (881,000)
Situation Room—739,000 viewers (155,000) (317,000)
Ed Show—541,000 viewers (211,000) (262,000)
Mad Money—186,000 viewers (73,000) (114,000)
Prime News — 259,000 viewers (94,000) (139,000)

7PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Fox Report w/Shep Smith–1,590,000 viewers (454,000) (729,000)
Teddy: In His Own Words—1,104,000 viewers (293,000) (547,000)
Hardball w Chris Matthews—778,000 viewers (265,000) (380,000)
Kudlow Report —a scratch w/112,000 viewers (a scratch w/42,000) (54,000)
Issues– 403,000 viewers (124,000) (217,000)

8PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
The O’Reilly Factor– 3,303,000 viewers (876,000) (1,468,000)
Teddy: In His Own Words- 1,104,000 viewers (293,000) (547,000)
Countdown w/ K. Olbermann– 1,091,000 viewers (320,000) (504,000)
Secrets of the Knight – 181,000 viewers (68,000) (95,000)
Nancy Grace – 757,000 viewers (239,000) (315,000)

9 PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Hannity –2,592,000 viewers (752,000) (1,158,000)
Larry King Live—1,182,000 viewers (299,000) (473,000)
Hardball w Chris Matthews—1123,000 viewers (381,000) (583,000)
American Greed – 242,000 viewers (108,000) (124,000)
Issues- 567,000 viewers (191,000) (311,000)

10 PM P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
On The Record w/ Greta Van Susteren—2,104,000 viewers (577,000) (985,000)
Anderson Cooper 360—1,137,000 viewers (332,000) (470,000)
Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann— 737,000 viewers (253,000) (378,000)
American Greed — 301,000 viewers (163,000) (153,000)
Nancy Grace –518,000 viewers (194,000) (278,000)

11 PM P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
The O’Reilly Factor —1,651,000 viewers (514,000) (822,000)
Anderson Cooper 360 —615,000 viewers (228,000) (299,000)
Headliners and Legends—658,000 viewers (235,000) (359,000)
Mad Money – a scratch w/101,000 viewers (66,000) (53,000)
Showbiz Tonight– 377,000 viewers (212,000) (249,000)

Health Care reform in Washington D.C.

2009-08-23T21:53:00.001-04:00

The end of the USA?

2009-08-16T12:24:00.003-04:00

I shouted out, who killed the Kennedy's

.....and after all, it was you & me!

It wasn't the Nazi's, or the Communists, or the Muslim extremists, or the Cold War, or the Korean mad dictator....or the Cuban trouble maker......it was us!

We let our government get fat and bloated......we our out of control......

We gave everyone a credit card and said CHARGE!!!!

http://www.usdebtclock.org

Gleason Obituary

2009-08-09T15:56:00.001-04:00

Johnny Carson makes rare (last) TV appearance.....goosebumps !

2009-08-09T15:50:00.001-04:00

WTVJ Katie Couric 163rd Street Mall 1984

2009-08-09T15:33:00.001-04:00

The Skipper Chuck Show

2009-08-09T15:29:00.001-04:00

One of the saddest days of my life......

2009-08-09T13:26:00.003-04:00

Jimmy Bedford passed away this week. Jimmy was very important to me and helped provide me comfort, joy, wisdom, and some of the best memories that I will always cherish! A man that was dedicated to perfection and truth!

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/obituaries/story/1178034.html?storylink=pd

Obama Budget Cuts Visualization

2009-08-05T00:51:00.001-04:00

Tech evolution will eclipse the financial crisis

2009-08-01T16:35:00.001-04:00

The Assholes always win!

2009-07-24T19:59:00.000-04:00

The American Medical Association has weighed in on the new health care plan being developed by the Obama Team. The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.

Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.

Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, 'Oh, grow up!'

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.

Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing. The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter."

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea. The Anesthesiologists thought the idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington.

Rain

2009-07-24T19:58:00.001-04:00

2009-07-03T11:46:00.001-04:00

Commencement Address by Paul Hawken to the Class of 2009

University of Portland, May 3, 2009

When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful.” Boy, no pressure there.

But let’s begin with the startling part. Hey, Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation… but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.

This planet came with a set of operating instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or air, and don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with no need for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really good food, but all that is changing.

There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive, and in case you didn’t bring lemon juice to decode it, I can tell you what it says: YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH IS HIRING. The earth couldn’t afford to send any recruiters or limos to your school. It sent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine, and that unbelievably cute person you are dating. Take the hint. And here’s the deal: Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in the time required. Don’t be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.

When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world. The poet Adrienne Rich wrote, “So much has been destroyed I have cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.” There could be no better description. Humanity is coalescing. It is reconstituting the world, and the action is taking place in schoolrooms, farms, jungles, villages, campuses, companies, refugee camps, deserts, fisheries, and slums.

You join a multitude of caring people. No one knows how many groups and organizations are working on the most salient issues of our day: climate change, poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger, conservation, human rights, and more. This is the largest movement the world has ever seen. Rather than control, it seeks connection. Rather than dominance, it strives to disperse concentrations of power. Like Mercy Corps, it works behind the scenes and gets the job done. Large as it is, no one knows the true size of this movement. It provides hope, support, and meaning to billions of people in the world. Its clout resides in idea, not in force. It is made up of teachers, children, peasants, businesspeople, rappers, organic farmers, nuns, artists, government workers, fisherfolk, engineers, students, incorrigible writers, weeping Muslims, concerned mothers, poets, doctors without borders, grieving Christians, street musicians, the President of the United States of America, and as the writer David James Duncan would say, the Creator, the One who loves us all in such a huge way.

There is a rabbinical teaching that says if the world is ending and the Messiah arrives, first plant a tree, and then see if the story is true. Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befall us; it resides in humanity’s willingness to restore, redress, reform, rebuild, recover, reimagine, and reconsider. “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice,” is Mary Oliver’s description of moving away from the profane toward a deep sense of connectedness to the living world.

Millions of people are working on behalf of strangers, even if the evening news is usually about the death of strangers. This kindness of strangers has religious, even mythic origins, and very specific eighteenth-century roots. Abolitionists were the first people to create a national and global movement to defend the rights of those they did not know. Until that time, no group had filed a grievance except on behalf of itself. The founders of this movement were largely unknown – Granville Clark, Thomas Clarkson, Josiah Wedgwood – and their goal was ridiculous on the face of it: at that time three out of four people in the world were enslaved. Enslaving each other was what human beings had done for ages. And the abolitionist movement was greeted with incredulity. Conservative spokesmen ridiculed the abolitionists as liberals, progressives, do-gooders, meddlers, and activists. They were told they would ruin the economy and drive England into poverty. But for the first time in history a group of people organized themselves to help people they would never know, from whom they would never receive direct or indirect benefit. And today tens of millions of people do this every day. It is called the world of non-profits, civil society, schools, social entrepreneurship, and non-governmental organizations, of companies who place social and environmental justice at the top of their strategic goals. The scope and scale of this effort is unparalleled in history.

The living world is not “out there” somewhere, but in your heart. What do we know about life? In the words of biologist Janine Benyus, life creates the conditions that are conducive to life. I can think of no better motto for a future economy. We have tens of thousands of abandoned homes without people and tens of thousands of abandoned people without homes. We have failed bankers advising failed regulators on how to save failed assets. Think about this: we are the only species on this planet without full employment. Brilliant. We have an economy that tells us that it is cheaper to destroy earth in real time than to renew, restore, and sustain it. You can print money to bail out a bank but you can’t print life to bail out a planet. At present we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domestic product. We can just as easily have an economy that is based on healing the future instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for the future or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration and the other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the earth we exploit people and cause untold suffering. Working for the earth is not a way to get rich, it is a way to be rich.

The first living cell came into being nearly 40 million centuries ago, and its direct descendants are in all of our bloodstreams. Literally you are breathing molecules this very second that were inhaled by Moses, Mother Teresa, and Bono. We are vastly interconnected. Our fates are inseparable. We are here because the dream of every cell is to become two cells. In each of you are one quadrillion cells, 90 percent of which are not human cells. Your body is a community, and without those other microorganisms you would perish in hours. Each human cell has 400 billion molecules conducting millions of processes between trillions of atoms. The total cellular activity in one human body is staggering: one septillion actions at any one moment, a one with twenty-four zeros after it. In a millisecond, our body has undergone ten times more processes than there are stars in the universe, exactly what Charles Darwin foretold when he said science would discover that each living creature was a “little universe, formed of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and as numerous as the stars of heaven.”

So I have two questions for you all: First, can you feel your body? Stop for a moment. Feel your body. One septillion activities going on simultaneously, and your body does this so well you are free to ignore it, and wonder instead when this speech will end. Second question: who is in charge of your body? Who is managing those molecules? Hopefully not a political party. Life is creating the conditions that are conducive to life inside you, just as in all of nature. What I want you to imagine is that collectively humanity is evincing a deep innate wisdom in coming together to heal the wounds and insults of the past. Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would become religious overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead the stars come out every night, and we watch television.

This extraordinary time when we are globally aware of each other and the multiple dangers that threaten civilization has never happened, not in a thousand years, not in ten thousand years. Each of us is as complex and beautiful as all the stars in the universe. We have done great things and we have gone way off course in terms of honoring creation. You are graduating to the most amazing, challenging, stupefying challenge ever bequested to any generation. The generations before you failed. They didn’t stay up all night. They got distracted and lost sight of the fact that life is a miracle every moment of your existence. Nature beckons you to be on her side. You couldn’t ask for a better boss. The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer. Hopefulness only makes sense when it doesn’t make sense to be hopeful. This is your century. Take it and run as if your life depends on it.

Paul Hawken, environmentalist and entrepreneur, is the author of, among much else, Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming.

The largest dead snake ever found, over 50 feet.

2009-07-01T23:25:00.001-04:00