Shadow of Diogenes

Question of the Day (Nuclear Power)

(Q)  Does anyone know the "life span" of a nuclear power plant ? I do not. I do know that ours are ageing which may be a cause for concern. Please elaborate.

Sam Cooke

Here's a classic song for you to listen to if you like good music. The song is A Change Is Gonna Come by the legendery Sam Cooke (1931-1964). Sam Cooke had a fantastic voice and it is epitomized in this song. He was the King of Soul Music. Do yourself a favor and listen to it - hopefully more than once. It grows on you. 

Romney To Win In Florida (Opinion)

I am so glad that today the people of Florida will pick their choice as the Republican candidate to oppose President Barack Obama in November. Frankly, the only thing worse than the schoolyard fight that has been going on between Romney and Gingrich is the media circus that follows them around. 

All the pundits are down there making the scene. Political electioneering is like a shark feeding frenzy in my book. It's really nice when the candidates discuss issues like the economy, the housing market, creating new jobs. This is what the American people deem as relevant to their lives not negative ads that serve the purpose of getting someone elected. That being said I predict a Romney win in the Sunshine state. 

eBooks and Jonathan Franzen

At the recent Hay Festival in Cartagena, Columbia noted American Novelist Jonathan Franzen said, " I think for serious readers, a sense of permanence has always been part of the (reading) experience. He believes that the ephemeral nature of eBooks is a cause for concern. Franzen is the author of Freedom  a critically acclaimed, blockbuster novel. " I tend to agree with him.

Reading an eBook does not come close to reading a book that I can hold in my hands and put on a shelf to retrieve later. Call me a dinosaur, but I think lots of readers feel the same way. High tech companies who cater to eBooks and similar things think otherwise. I still love going to the library and browsing those shelves. I just hope that technology will not put libraries out of business in the future.

Honor Killings (Opinion)

First of all, I am not a Muslim nor do I hate Muslims. I do detest Muslim fanatics who indiscriminately murder and maim under the pretext of doing Allah's will. I would feel the same about Christians, Jews or Hinduswho would do such things in the name of God.

That being said, the recent murder of three sisters and their aunt in Kingston, Ontario is horrendous. They were killed to save the family honor. That's what the parents said at any rate. Such behavior is not tolerated intrue Islam. It is a distinctly cultural phenomenon especially in countries like Pakistan. The murderers were found to be guilty of their crime. Now the murderers are going to appeal their sentences and the basis of their defense will be that Westerners don't understand their culture. Well the last tiime that I looked the foul deed was done in Canada ! And murder is still murder no matter what excuse one uses to justify it. The brutalization of human beings should never be acceptable. 

The Age of Entitlements (Opinion)

There are Americans today who have only lived in the age of entitlement. They expect the government to be there for them at all times. Self reliance has receded into the background. Let me say here that the aged, the infirmed et cetera do deserve help, but the Constitution does not say that they are entitled to it. While there have been some successes, there has also developed ways to play the system. And some of our own politicians are complicit in it. Pockets have been lined and with so much public money available for so long the lure to get at it is unabated. Graft and corruption are alive and well in Washington, D. C. and the lawmakers are the ones who control the purse strings - not you or I. We should blame Wall Street for its failings, but the worse grifters are on the banks of the Potomac and citizens (who took the time to vote) put them there.. And they, the legislators, really feel entitled. 

Zen Haiku # 012912 (Poem)

Listen to the voice

That speaks in silence,

Nirvana awaits.

Knuckle Draggers and Rednecks

It won't surprize you to knoq that the Elites in Washington, D.C., Hollywood, California e.g. consider the hoi polloi - that's you and me - to be incapable of making our own decisions and running our own lives. After all, we know that Harvard and the Ivy League produce superior people who are much smarter than we can ever hope to be. And they are always proving it to us. For example ten government economists in Washington know how to run businesses better than the (for example) redneck who has a two pump gas station in Pelham, Alabama and their role in the federal government gives them the power to do it. Remember the Elites know best. 

Barack Obama is part and parcel of the Elites. His actions prove it. He wants the federal government to do more which means we knuckle draggers and rednecks and ordinary people will be able to do less to live our own lives as WE choose. Elitists suffer from oikophobia and lots of it. You shouldn't own a gun, because the Elites say guns are bad. They can hardly stand the Second Amendment. Take guns away from ordinary Americans and everything will be fine. Well, the criminals will get them one way or another and where does that leave an old lady or a single mother with two kids who lives in a rough neighborhood ? Right where the thugs and hoodlums want them - at their mercy - but remember a bureaucrat in D.C. knows what is best for you and me. Do you see a pattern here ? Obama and his elite syncophants and like-minded Leftie thinkers want government to dictate to us. Isn't it supposed to serve us ?

Word of the Day

Literati n.pl. The intelligentsia, the intellectuals, men of letters, the learned, the scholars. Litterati is the Latin plural of Litteratus (learned, lettered, Educated.

Dalai Lama Said It (Tolerance)

" In the practice of tolerance one's enemy is the bast teacher. " - Dalai Lama (b.1935)