Archive for The Gathering Place "The Gathering Place" is a web community where people can gather and make new friends, share ideas, enjoy a few laughs and learn about many interesting things together. It is a safe place where friends can correspond with each other about what they love.
It is estimated that China will overtake the U.S. in carbon dioxide emissions by 2010. If you have ever visited China, you will wonder why they are not No. 1 now.
Walter S. Mossberg writes a Personal Technology column for the Wall Street Journal and on April 19, 2007, concluded that the best way to get past some of the hassles of buying a new PC was to buy an Apple iMac.
May 23, 2007, was Shakespeare’s 443rd birthday, and just 15 of the 70 institutions, studied by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, were found to require English majors to take a course on Shakespeare.
BBC news recently reported that Carnegie Melon Univ. had developed a
caterpillar-shaped robot that can crawl across the surface of the heart to deliver treatment.
The robot can fit pacemaker leads and inject dye into the animal’s heart, the study on pigs
Found. The device is controlled by “push and pull” wires from outside the body. The robot can move up to 18 centimeters per minute, and uses two sucker like feet which can crawl across the heart.
Toyota passed GM in auto and truck sales for the first Quarter of 2007. This is a first that should make someone at GM ask why.
Osama bin Laden has called for attacks on the oil facilities of Saudi Arabia’s giant Abqaiq refinery expressly to cripple our economy. Surely, they have good protection, right? Nope, it is protected by a cyclone fence. Many experts believe they will keep trying, not unlike the World Trade Center, until they succeed. Oil prices are now about three times higher than a mere 10 years ago, and access to more than half of the petroleum reserves on the planet is beneath nations vulnerable to the whims of Islamic fundamentalists.
In 2009, The Indian Government hopes to offer 2-mbps broadband Internet for the whole subcontinent.
Tuesday April 24th was Africa Malaria day and Michigan’s John Conyers marked the event by inviting something called the Pesticide Action Network to Capital Hill to denounce DDT as an unsafe Malaria intervention. Malaria, which is spread through mosquito bites, kills about a million people annually, mostly children and pregnant women in Africa.
Mexico City lawmakers voted to legalize abortion during the first three months of pregnancy. This is considered a landmark decision in a largely Catholic nation.
Problems with sub-prime loans are well documented. What may not be fully known is that in 2005 half of minorities purchased their homes with sub-prime loans, this according to a USA Today story on April 26, 2007.
God's Warrior
I re-located this post by Al to this thread. Elena
Soapy Facts
This may sound trivial, however, it could be quite expensive over a long period. The soap companies have found a sneaky way to raise prices by a significant amount. What they have done is reduce the box size by quite a lot and claim that the concentration has been increased. Example: Sam’s previously sold 40 # containers and said you would get 160 loads. The container now weighs 32.5 # and they claim you get 200 loads. I cannot remember what the old cost was so I can’t compare the unit cost.
I have not opened one of the new containers yet so I don’t know if there is a measuring cup which would hold a smaller amount.
If a person dispensed the same old amount by visual guess, you would use more $ worth of soap. Usually snake oil comes full of unpleasant surprises.(Now they call it marketing, but it is still snake oil) Most people don’t hang around the clothes washer to see if the strength is greater so you would not know if you were getting stronger soap or not. In the past you could measure the strength of soap powder by the amount of suds, however, a long time ago the pulled a sneak attack on you money by saying reduced suds was actually better. If this whole subject infuriates you, just don’t get your clothes dirty.
Now aren’t you glad you read this?
Mary
A large can of coffee was 3# not too many years ago. Then somebody made the can a bit smaller, it now weighs 2# 7oz but it looks the same, the price went up a little and we get less coffee. I'm sure it is not just the coffee cans that have quietly changed sizes, other things have also changed.
Have you ever noticed that the number of hot dogs in a package doesn't match the number of buns in a package. You'd have to buy a lot of extras of each before it would ever come out even.
"Contents may have settled during shipping". Yeah, right, they could easily shake them on the conveyor belt or put them in a package that doesn't have 1/4 air space at the top. What ever happened to "truth in packaging"?
CajuninKy
I have always questioned the ethics of companies that sell a new and improved version while still offering the old stuff.
Al
To Mary and CajuninKy,
Since we don’t buy coffee by the can, I use instant, I am not current on prices. To carry prices to the extreme, I guess Starbucks has set the upper limit on coffee prices. Bottled water is more expensive than Gasoline.
Speaking of ethics of companies, I have become convinced that there is less ethics in most companies than they would have us believe. This is where marketing comes in and Companies fool a lot of folks daily.
CajuninKy
Al
Where are you, my friend? i miss your witt and wisdom.
Al
Hi Cajun,
Here I am! Sorry I have been away so long. Life has a habit of getting in the way of other things sometimes. I am glad someone misses me and my "wit and wisdom". (Thanks for that compliment.) I think i need to have you talk to my wife. I don't know if she has seen that side of me yet.
Al
Idle thoughts and silly stuff
Some of our U.S. Presidents are known by their initials. Some notable examples are LBJ, JFK. Senator Barack Hussein Obama does not want to be known by his middle name. I suspect he will not be among the initial only Presidents if he is elected and holds to this view. Senator Obama said today that he will not forsake his black community. If whites take this same attitude, Senator Obama will never be our President.
Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientists have found that brain activity for navigation dropped 40% when using a cell phone.
59% of all fatal SUV crash deaths happened in rollovers. Stronger tops could help since cars experience only 25% fatal deaths in crashes which are not prone to rollovers.
Only 28% of Americans know how many soldiers have been killed in Iraq.
If you are invested in today’s volatile stock market, you might see if your financial advisor cautions you to stay invested “for the long run”. Studies show that leading stocks tend to correct 72% from their peak prices. (and you don’t know when it will happen). If you allow this to occur, it will take a 263% gain just to break even. If you allow your portfolio to drop 50%, it will have to then increase 100% just to break even. Jumping in and out of the market is not a good idea, however, staying with stocks or funds until your balance corrects more than 20%-30% should concern you. If you have a balance of $100,000 and the market drops 20%, you will be left with $80,000, and if it then goes back up 20%, you will have lost $4,000.
If you consider all the traffic on our highways, all the planes in the air, does this mean there are many, many people in the wrong places?
CajuninKy
I will speak to your wife on your behalf and plead your worthy case. LOL
I am not suprised that Sen. Obama does not want to be called by his middle name. It has ugly connotations. I fear there is much more about him he does not want us to know.
It is good to hear from you. Guess what i am baking this afternoon. A gateu de sirop. A syrup cake made with Stein's cane syrup. I can hardly wait.
Al
Cajun, Let me know before you make another one of those cakes so I can start planning a trip to KY. As a Louisiana boy, I was raised on cane syrup and folks in my area don't have a clue how deprived they are not getting to eat such delicacies.
Al
Things You May Not Have Considered
*In a local Toyota ad, the MPG was listed on all models EXCEPT the new Tundra pick up truck.
*Letting the Bush tax cuts expire will increase the personal tax burden to the highest level in history. Source: John F. Cogan, Sr. fellow at the Hoover Institution and R. Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia Business School.
*The Federal Reserve released a survey the said that just 48% of high school seniors correctly answered questions about personal finance and economics. Only 17% correctly answered that stocks likely would be the best savings for a child’s education. About 37% thought a savings bond, one of the most conservative investments, would offer the highest growth.
Stolen identities of U.S. residents, including Social Security number and functioning credit card number, are selling for as little as $100 for 50 identities. This is according to the security firm Symantec.
*More state parks are offering wireless Internet connections access in campgrounds. Tennessee and Kansas have announced plans to equip every state park with wireless access. Six Percent of state parks have either free or pay-per-use according to a USA Today survey.
*Bakeries are turning to Potato flour due to high wheat costs.
Al
Health - Things You May Not Have Considered
*A study at Temple University in Philadelphia found the women age 65 and older stood taller and improved their balance in just 9 weeks. The women took part in 1½ hour long Yoga sessions 2 times a week. Researchers said the sessions could reduce the risk of falling.
*Drinking green tea may cut the risk of advanced prostate cancer.. Japan’s National Cancer Center did a study of 50,000 men over a period of 14 years and found that men who drank 5 or more cups of green tea had half the risk of developing advanced prostate cancer.
Al
Politicians have warped the minds of the average person. All Politicians know that truth is not important. Presentation of an idea cloaked in enough repetitions will do the job.
We are going on our way toward continuing this trend. The news media is of no value in determining the truth.
Consider this:
President Franklin Roosevelt personally guaranteed the American public that Social Security would never cost more than when it was started.
The cost has increased 6 fold while the buying power of payments has remained almost equal to the first checks.
Consider the multitude of promises being thrown around today and then try and name just one Government program that has worked.
Here are just a few to consider.
War on Poverty.
Better Schools
Medicare
Social Security
Welfare
Food Stamps
Al
Interesting facts
Last year $100,000,000 was bet on the Kentucky Derby by online gambling. They have their own betting web site. No numbers are available for the amount bet this year yet.
In 2008, 15 billion dollars were bet on horse racing by online gambling. This is more than all the revenue from all the movies in the USA last year. Many of the major race tracks have their own betting web sites.
The down side of online betting is falling attendance at the races. It seems that people prefer to stay home and watch the races on their computers and bet from the convenience of their homes.
Silly thought: Do the horses care?
Al
Are you keeping up with the trends?
Consumer Electronics Association studies show that about half of prospective TV buyers say that they will buy an Internet connected TV. Also, 30% of respondents said they always or usually surf the Web while watching TV. 32% said they sometimes do.
Al
Strange things
The Jewish people in Venezuela numbered 16,000 in 1998 when Hugo Chavez was elected President and now the number has declined to 12,000. Most of the people that left went to South Florida, Spain and Israel. This created a problem for the remaining Jewish community since they were the wealthiest ones and their contributions were very important. If the exodus continues, it will be very bad for the poor Jews in the community since they make up a quarter of all Jews. Growing inflation and the limited contributions of exiled Jews make the problem grim.
CajuninKy
I am thinking that if we are able to make it to the KyRU this Sept. I will make a syrup cake for you. With real, down da bahyah cane syrup. I love them but don't make them often because DH is a diabetic and I don't want to tempt him too much.
Al
That sounds too good to be true. With both you and Lisa bringing Cajun food I may not be able to stand it!!!! I usually just bypass most of the other food and eat what Lisa brings. I haven't tasted sugar cane syrup in so long I would probably faint from the joy of it. Maybe I can bring something that your husband can eat to make up the difference.
I am using a modified version of your tomatoes planted in grass straw and I will give you an update as to what I have done specifically a little later. Wish me luck.
