TV Turnoff Week is all about the mental environment – the idea that, like our oceans and air, our shared mindscape is littered with distractions, irritants, and pollutants. The goal is simply to get people thinking about the clutter in their mental space. No one is "in charge" of TV Turnoff Week. No one, that is, except you. Be creative, and tap into your own style.[Photo credit to Kevan Smith, Boise ID] (ref. Adbusters.com)

John Paul Stevens ... Honor and Integrity
"The Supreme Court's oldest and most polite justice turns 82 on Saturday, but there are few signs he is slowing down or tiring of the job. Indeed, Stevens has the buoyant energy of a person decades younger, and he remains one of the court's quickest wits, sharpest thinkers and best writers. Appointed in 1975 by President Ford, Stevens was lauded from the start as exceedingly smart, strictly nonpartisan and highly independent... When the court ended the Florida recount in the Bush vs. Gore case, Stevens' dissent was memorable. 'Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as the impartial guardian of the rule of law,' he concluded." (by David Savage, LA Times)

The Intifada and Israel for Dummies
"So much convoluted politics in the Middle East, so much history, so much violence and hatred. It's all so confusing. So once again I turn to the noted reference series for answers that can help me make the turmoil and tragedy easier to figure out."

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Harvard law School Divided Over Race Issues
"Just days after Prof. Cornel West announced that he was leaving Harvard's Afro-American studies department for Princeton, Harvard Law School is mired in a conflict of its own, leading one prominent professor to withdraw from teaching for the rest of the academic year and the administration to promise new steps to increase racial sensitivity."

Is this propaganda or is it real?

Just got home from work, kissed wife, made small talk about the day's events while eating fruits .... it's an hour later, I turned on the PC, my monitor is FUBAR, looks like it's giving up the ghost. In 20 minutes, I'll be at either Circuit City or Best Buy looking for a good deal on a new monitor.
Update: New monitor in place, what a difference.

Rays of Inspiration coming soon
They were offered only via word of mouth to a select few, behind closed doors, in meeting rooms, lunch rooms and by the water cooler, now you too can see and find out what the noise was all about. Look for my up coming daily Rays of Inspiration an ongoing series of short motivational ideas, thoughts and gems to ponder in your quest to develop and fulfill your potential. My co-worker and confidant Greg H. raves about this feature ... "Rays of Inspiration is all about possibility thinking". Greg knows.

Rays Of Inspiration [No. 1 in a series]

We all make our own choices about how we spend our money, but I think it’s important to make those choices without allowing ourselves to be tricked by advertisers, telephone offers, sales reps or the idea that we simply have to keep up with our friends and neighbors.

Spending your money wisely, saving and investing properly can help you avoid tough and humiliating financial situations and you will have greater control over you life. Think before you spend. Do not waste your money on foolish cravings and impulse items. Subscribe to the Ray Garraud motto “Earn it, save it, don’t flaunt it.”

You’ll never catch me buying impulse or unecessary items, wearing expensive jewelry and clothing with logos that advertise the manufacturer (if I’m going to advertise the manufacturer’s logo, they have to give me the clothing for free).


Use your head when handling your financial affairs, contribute, spend and invest only in necessities and worthwhile causes. Although the choice is yours, be aware that in the end, the right choices will help you in your quest to fulfill your potential as a human being.

Credit to David Horsey

What if you could take a pill that kept you awake all the time and you never felt any side effects (not even sleepiness)? Some doctors think Provigil is that pill ... Whoa! Perfect pill for the internet generation.

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Yahooooooooooo
The guy who yodels Yahoooo at the end of the company's TV commercials is sueing Yahoo, says he's not getting paid. ... I wonder why he waited so long

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Food for Thought
"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar." – Julius Caesar

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Pretexts, Provocations and deceit
"Throughout history, wars have been triggered by pretexts, most of them fabricated. Wars cannot be waged without an emotionalized public so traumatized by loss and fear that the violence committed—no matter how baldly illegal and immoral—is acceptable and even glorified" --By Larry Chin (VIA The Online Journal)

This is one of the most thought provoking articles that I've read in a while.

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Jimmy Carter will go to Cuba
Jimmy Carter will travel to Cuba next month becoming the first current or former president to do so during Castro's 42-year reign. "I look forward to this opportunity to meet with Cuban people from all walks of life and to talk with President Castro."

"New Board Game Raises eyebrows

The game is called "Life as a Black Man," and its title alone has raised a considerable number of eyebrows from coast to coast. ABC News Reports

Each player is an 18-year-old black male, struggling to make it. The goal is to make it from any one of four starting points: the ghetto, the military, the entertainment industry or the halls of a black university, to end the of the game board, to a place called "freedom."

Along the way, however, are what the game's creator says are typical pitfalls for young black men — trouble with the law and money issues. Land on a racism space, and you're forced to pull a card that reads: "You're pulled over by police for driving a new car, back two spaces."

Game creator Chuck Sawyer, 33, says he's 'just being real,' using his own experience growing up in California, to educate the masses."

Bitter lemons: after the Powell Mission, what next? two Palestinian writers and two Israelis give their opinions.

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Astronomy Picture of the day

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The Heat is on!


Heat, as in temperature that is ... Many locales set new record highs today as the mercury soared well into the 90s in both New York City and surrounding burbs. Of my many choices for beating the heat, I enjoy going to the beach to just chill a bit, literally.

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Andrew Sullivan writes an interesting piece in Wired magazine : The Blogging Revolution

Meddling with Human Nature

Interesting essay on the possible consequences and political outcomes of biotechnology

"the brain is not a Lockean blank slate but "a modular organ full of highly adapted cognitive structures, most of them unique to the human species." Thus, cross-cultural universals have been "programmed" into us by evolution, notably our propensity to "parse language for evidence of deceit, avoid certain dangers, engage in reciprocity, pursue revenge, feel embarrassment, care for our children and parents, feel repulsion for incest and cannibalism, attribute causality to events."

Reawaking the creative mind Australian scientists say they have created a "thinking cap" that will stimulate creative powers. The invention raises the possibility of being able to unlock one's inner genius by reawakening dormant parts of the brain.

Judge upholds Oregon Assisted Suicide Handing the assisted-suicide movement a major victory, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Justice Department cannot interfere with Oregon's law allowing doctors to help terminally ill people kill themselves.

The Anointed and Appointed
During the past several months, various scandals have marred and rocked the Catholic church beyond belief. Arguably, these stories need to be told if only to ensure that these abuses are addressed, prosecuted and prevented. Being a Catholic, my family and I continue to focus on the messages of the faith rather than the messengers who have brought shame upon the church.

The redundant news of the growing crisis around priests and sexual abuse has overshadowed another, more positive story of modern Catholicism - the historic appointment of Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, an African American, to the head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bishop Gregory's position carries considerable influence and It should be noted that before his rise to national prominence — and the current sex abuse crisis — Bishop Gregory helped turn around the diocese of Belleville, Illinois, which had seen its own sexual abuse scandals.

"The United States is a multicultural and multiracial country," Bishop Gregory said in a 1990 interview. "On one hand, integration must be supported; on the other, it is necessary to allow these people to preserve their roots. The Catholic Church in the US does the same: it tries to guarantee the existence of a common ground of faith for all Catholics but, at the same time, it makes efforts so that people can preserve their roots, their devotion to favorite saints, their language, and their tradition."

Although whites make up a majority within the Church's US membership of approximately 54 million, worldwide, there are over 200 million catholics of African decent. That tally includes 130 million Catholics in Africa, more than 17 million in Nigeria alone. Another 60 million black Catholics in Latin and South America and about 11 million in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Furthermore, In the U.S., Catholic Latinos form a growing power bloc, as do Asians (particularly Vietnamese), Haitians and African Americans.

As with many other religious institutions, the church has faced various problems and issues throughout history, but lest we forget perfection is an elusive term. The annals of history have taught us that the world that we live in is an ongoing experiment in which everyone is doing their part in trying to understand the complexities of human nature.

Personally, the greatest thing that I try to do, not as a black Catholic, or Catholic, but as a human being is try to lead an exemplary life and to the best of my ability reach out, inspire and bring the best out of others.

Getting down to business
As he officially enters the NY gubernatorial race, Andrew Cuomo (D) says that he will do a better job. He "offered a lacerating attack on" Gov. George Pataki's (R) record, "denouncing Mr. Pataki's handling of the upstate economy, the condition of the public school system, and what Mr. Cuomo described as the faltering effort to rebuild the devastated site of the World Trade Center," the New York Times reports. Cuomo is making a lot of sense, I'll be watching very carefully.

The Best-Kept Dot-Com Secret
"Left for dead, the remaining dot-com stocks are creeping back into favor. A lot of factors are at play here. With fewer companies out there, and the upstart pipeline running bone dry, there is plenty of elbow room. When all it takes is baby steps to crawl out of the gutter, forgotten Internet stocks are coming back, relatively speaking."

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IRAs offer you four unique advantages not only over a regular investment account, but also even over 401(k) plans. If you are new to IRAs, take a brief 60 seconds to become familiar with these great savings plans.

A tough Mission
Most people are pulling for success in the Powell mission, no matter how slight the chances are. But did the administration give him the tools necessary to have any kind of an impact?

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Byron White's life legacy
"As one of only two dissenters in the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe vs. Wade case, which ushered in abortion on demand (William Rehnquist was the other), Associate Justice Byron White, who died April 15, wrote words that were as prophetic as they were profound."

NASA's educator-astronaut says she'll carry on Christa McAuliffe's dream. Teacher Barbara Morgan is scheduled to fly in space in 2004. Morgan was Christa McAuliffe's backup in 1986.

Venezuela: coup and counter-coup
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Sharon teaches Powell a lesson over breakfast

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Minute Marriages
New census figures reveal that young American women are walking out on their husbands in record numbers.

"Of the more than 1 million women in their 20s who marry this year, fewer than half will be with the same spouse five years hence, having exhausted the prospects of eternal love in what are now called "starter marriages" - halfway houses between living together and a second marriage that produces children"

I'm not an expert on relationships, but I've been in my marriage long enough to know that relationships are not to be taken lightly. Marriage can be difficult (I know) and require work, understanding, tolerance and patience. Wifey and I have managed to come close to those ideals but we know better than to take each other for granted.

Race VS Education


In America today, education has become a far better indicator of socioeconomic status than race. Sure there are still issues to be addressed in the arena of race relations but I think that those that play the divisive victim politics game take the focus away from the real gains that have been made.

"In 1980, barely one in two blacks over 25 in the U.S. held a high school diploma. Today that figure is just under 80%. For blacks in the 25-29 age group, the figure is 86%, the same as for whites. And in less than 20 years, the number of black college graduates has doubled."

Surely these educational strides underpin black monetary gains, but they also speak pointedly to the current state of African American affairs and should serve as a reminder that our economic future depends on our ability to recognize our potential, and use the resources and opportunities available in order to create a destiny of our own choosing.

Hacker attacks on the rise
Imagine waking up one morning to discover all your personal information has been stolen.
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This story is for my friend Bill V. who moved to Florida a few years ago. Be careful buddy.

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Via ( GigPosters.com) Sometimes you feel like a nut.

Credit to Bennet. Via(CSM)

Rays of Inspiration
Life in General demands a certain amount of equanimity.[?] Don't waste time and energy getting angry and shaking your fist at things you can't control. Forget about luck, forget about what you think life ought to be and accept it for the exciting, unpredictable affair that it is.

Truth - Probabilities - Possibilities - Lies
"Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle... Perhaps an editor might begin a reformation in some such way as this. Divide his paper into four chapters, heading the 1st-Truths. 2nd-Probabilities. 3rd-Possibilities. 4th-Lies.

The first chapter would be very short." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1807

Interesting quote, the book that I'm currently reading: Into the Buzzsaw touches on that subject.

"Award-winning journalists reveal the disturbing fact that the press in the U.S. isn't as free as the public would like to believe. Nearly two dozen reporters, at some risk to their careers, disclose run-ins with corporate or government powers-that-be which have prompted them to reevaluate the significance of journalism in a free and open society."

Those annoying Telemarketers
I got tired of those interrupting telephone sales calls, so I did like many across the country and signed up for one of those "no-call" lists that bar telemarketers from calling your line. I was suprised to find out that some charities and credit-card companies are exempted from most no-call lists (TG for my caller ID). I also propose that a "no-call/spam" list be established, many marketers that can no longer call are taking their tactics to cyberspace.

Tiger Woods successfully defends his title.
Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo have some company in their ultra-exclusive fraternity. Tiger Woods cruised to his third green jacket -- and seventh major -- on Sunday, shooting a steely 71 at Augusta National to join Nicklaus (1965-66) and Faldo (1989-90) as the only repeat winners of the Masters. Tiger has certainly positioned himself as one of the Greatest to ever play the game.

I added an Official Disclaimer page with the usual legal stuff as it relates to this site. I prefer to have certain things in writing in case there's ever a misunderstanding.

Unleashing Tiger



When Woods, now 26, first came to the Masters as a teen-age amateur seven years ago, six-time champion Jack Nicklaus and four-time champion Arnold Palmer both predicted a bright future for him. Nicklaus went so far as to say that Woods someday would win more Masters than he and Palmer did combined.

Ironically, as Woods is poised to go after his third Masters championship, both Nicklaus and Palmer are on the sidelines. Nicklaus could not play this year because a bad back and Palmer, 72, played his final round at the tournament Saturday.

Dissapointing Season
With the highest payroll in the NBA and essentially the same team as last year, the Knicks missed the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. I've always been a Knicks fan, through good times, bad times, I will hang in ... better years are coming, I hope.

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Soldier of the Future ... high tech or not, war is hell.

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Hottie ... It wasn't me.

A palestinian Weblog

An Israeli Weblog

Via ( Rebecca's Pocket)