Al Franken Thinks Less Medical Bankruptcies Are Better, Conservatives Disagree

Senator Al Franken schools Diana Furchtgott-Roth of the Hudson Institute–which until recently employed disgraced health care “analyst” and serial liar Betsy McCaughey–on how people in other “socialized” countries don’t go bankrupt trying to stay alive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgqqSHr0wVA

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SOLAR MINIMUM VS. GLOBAL WARMING

leanrind_stripAn article on Spaceweather.com discusses the latest analysis of climate researchers Judith Lean (NRL) and David Rind (NASA/GISS).  Their model can account for 76% of the variation in the surface temperature of the Earth over the last 30 years just by considering solar activity, volcanic eruptions, ENSO (El Nino), and the accumulation of greenhouse gases.  Click here to see their full article with predictions for the next two decades.

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How DNA Copies Itself

Here is a clip from the PBS program “DNA The Secret of Life”.  Computer animation is used to illustrate the process that makes near-perfect copies of DNA.

How DNA Copies Itself

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Unexpected Wedding Entrance

I will be attending a couple of weddings in the next two months.  I wonder if they will be as unusual as the Unexpected Wedding Entrance?

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Mathemagic

Arthur Benjamin can figure out 3-digit squares in his head faster than people with calculators. Personally, I have to use a calculator to keep my checkbook balanced, so I am in total awe of his abilities.  Check out the link below.

Lightning Calculation and other “Mathemagic”

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My brother’s bar on TV

HGTV’s Man Land visits the ultimate guy hangout, my brother’s 50-Yard-Line Bar. A clip from that show is on YouTube.

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We are officially in a depression!

You know the old joke about the difference between a recession and a depression:  A recession is when your neighbor loses his job;  a depression is when you lose your job. 

I found out today that it is officially a depression.  They told us this morning that they are closing the chemical plant where I have worked for the last 34 years.

I hold our former idiot President, George W. Bush, personally responsible for running our country into economic ruin.  Those people who voted for him twice also share much of the blame.

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Jeannie’s Birthday

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Today is Jeannie’s Birthday. She would have been 56 years old. A couple of days ago at work I got a pop-up reminder about it from my Outlook calendar. I had forgotten to disable it after Jeannie had passed away. I had a momentary panic attack thinking I had neglected to get her a card, cake, and gift. Reality quickly came crashing back in and I found myself feeling very alone.

I had a good day today, however. I went out to dinner with Jon and Erin. We had a great meal and a nice time. Jon got me to join his Fantasy Football League and we chatted about that and how I got screwed in the draft. The fact of it being Jeannie’s birthday was not brought up. Erin was the one who suggested we go out tonight, and I suspect that she selected it so that I wouldn’t be lonely today. I am truly blessed with a wonderful daughter.

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Jeannie’s Final Resting Place

00004Erin, Jon, and I made a road trip to Block Island, RI to scatter Jeannie’s ashes at the Southeast Lighthouse.  It was six months to the day since she passed away.  It was not planned for an anniversary, but just happened to work out that way.  Jeannie had never been to this lighthouse before, but it was one of the ones in her collection of stained glass lighthouses.

We arrived by ferry around noon and had lunch at the National Hotel.  Our seats were on the front porch of the hotel where we had a great view of the harbor and the main street of the town.  Jon was very impressed with their clam chowder and said it was the best he’s ever had.

After lunch, we rented bikes and rode out to the Southeast Lighthouse.  We took the tour of the lighthouse and walked around the grounds.  The lighthouse sits on top of Mohegan Bluff.  A short distance from the lighthouse are steps that we took down to the shore.

00005We made our way back along the shore to a secluded spot below the lighthouse.  There we scattered Jeannie’s ashes and stood in silence for a few minutes.  I thought of the good times we had and how unfair it was that she was now gone.  A couple of times I thought of saying what I was thinking.  Each time, however, I could feel the tears start to well up so I just kept quiet.

Goodbye Jeannie.  We are going to miss you.

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Montage Photos

Montage-16Many people commented on what a good job the funeral home did on the montage at Jeannie’s funeral. I finally got the individual photos used to create it uploaded to my photo gallery. Click the photo at the left to see them.

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