As It Stands: Actively seeking inspiration is one key to happiness

 

By Dave Stancliff/For The Times Standard
 Straight out; I’m not a famous inspirational coach and I don’t have a degree in philosophy. What I can offer however, is experience in actively seeking inspiration in life and why I think that’s a good idea.
Most people want to be happy. Environmental, physical, and mental challenges often prevent that from happening. I’ve seen many examples in the last 63 years. People I know and love who aren’t happy for one or more reasons. They hit a brick wall at some point and can’t seem to climb over it.
From experience, I can tell you if you look for inspiration around you, it’s there waiting for you to discover it. I’ve found it’s easier, for some perverse reason, to be negative than it is to be positive.
Being positive takes work. Being positive every day is a goal few can achieve, but the good news is the more you work at it, the easier it gets to be. One key to happiness that has worked for me is to seek inspiration from those who have it worse than I do.

Following stories about people who defy the odds is a feel-good pursuit I enjoy sharing with others. I’ve got a few good stories for you today to illustrate what I’m talking about:
The first is about Fred Butler, a 106-year old man who just got his high school diploma. His story has probably been experienced many times by many others. He had to drop out of the ninth grade to support his mother and siblings.
Along the way Fred was married for 65 years, raised five children, and served in the Army during WW II. You might say he did it all. Except for getting that high school diploma.
According to his daughter-in-law Cathy Butler, Fred always felt bad about not graduating from high school. Despite leading a full and productive life, he had that one regret. That is until he was awarded an honorary diploma during a ceremony attended by school officials and the town mayor last week.

 You see, Fred always told his children and grandchildren how important an education really is.
 The second story is about a man named Bill Southerland. He was born with type 1 diabetes and the doctor told his mother he wouldn’t make it to the age of 25. The doctor also said Bill was the youngest case of diabetes in the world at the time.  
 Bill, however had other plans and defied the odds. Not only has he survived his diagnosis through sheer willpower, but he’s thrived. He took his passion for cycling to heights seldom achieved by anyone and now manages a world class cycling program.
He led a Race Across America, and used his journey off and on the bike as a way of change how the world views diabetes. I highly recommend reading his book, “Not Dead Yet,” if you want to know more about him and the amazing things he’s done with his life.

The third story is about Stephanie Deckler, one of the bravest people I’ve ever read about. She proved the power of a mother’s love is unconditional and death-defying. Last year a deadly tornado ripped through her family’s Ohio home.
Without hesitating, the 37-year old mom protected her two young children with her body as the tornado sucked them into its vortex. Her quick action saved the children’s lives, but both of her legs were mangled so badly that they had to be amputated. Thirty-nine people died that terrible day in March 2012.
Later, during an interview with an ABC News reporter, she told him, “I stayed conscious the whole time. I couldn’t afford to pass out. They needed me. They had to have me, so I had to figure out what to do.”
Stories like this give me goose bumps. Ordinary people doing fantastic things every day of the year. We seldom read about them because bad news seems to dominate the mainstream media - it’s sexier than someone who survived a tornado or overcame a potentially fatal disease.
I’ve noticed that some networks wait until the last portion of their broadcast to throw in one “feel good” story. I think that’s nice, but more balance throughout the broadcast would be nice too.

I really get sick of hearing about the violence in this country. I believe more inspirational stories about ordinary people would give us all a much needed positive daily boost.
As It Stands, I read somewhere that inspiration can be found in many things, but the most inspiring thing to me is people who overcome life’s adversities.

Nutty Celebrity Caricatures: Artist finds his muse & it’s a peanut

 Steve Casino is not nuts.

But he knows all about peanuts. The 26-year old toy inventor, turned a hobby into a body of work and thus far he’s got a corner on the market.

 His unique little sculptures sell for between $300 to $1,000, depending upon the complexity of the sculpture. To assure his art stands the test of time, he removes the legume inside, re-seals the shell, and dips it in polyurethane. Good for the ages.

If you’d like a special gift for someone, you can go to his website and order one of these clever little artworks. But don’t be surprised if it takes while to get one. I read that he has a backlog of commissions for his shell art. (information for this piece came from here)

Who cares if people are killed by guns every day in the USA?

                 Good Day World!

Today’s topic is about gun control. My question to you is: “Who cares if people are killed by guns every day in the USA?”

America is struggling with the amount of gun-related deaths every year. The deaths continue to increase. Sometimes the stories are sad. Accidents that happen resulting in disability, or death. Other stories are too horrible to imagine – like Sandy Hook for example.

We lead the world in gun ownership. Is this a good thing? Does the 2nd Amendment guarantee that we can own any type of weapon – regardless of it’s killing capacity? Should we each have a bazooka, or even our own missile launch system if we have the money?

How far will this fight to neutralize gun deaths in America go? The NRA resists even the slightest hint of gun control. But Americans are increasingly speaking up and saying they want changes in our gun laws.

10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down

“By cutting off federal funding for research and stymieing data collection and sharing, the National Rifle Association has tried to do to the study of gun violence what climate deniers have done to the science of global warming. No wonder: When it comes to hard numbers, some of the gun lobby's favorite arguments are full of holes.”

Related Stories:

Shot by sibling, police officer's daughter dies

Reports: Father accidentally shoots, kills 10-month-old son in front of family

Police: 7-year-old fatally shot by father outside gun store in Pennsylvania

U.S. Gun Deaths Since Sandy Hook Top 1,280

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Today’s Topic: Contamination at NC Marine base lasted up to 60 years

       Good Day World!

The extent of the criminal negligence in not addressing such a vital issue as clean drinking water boggles my brain. When I read that federal officials have known this for years I was livid!

Once again, the men and women of our military have been dishonored by exposure to potential hazards that have gone untreated for far too long. If we’re not poisoning our troops with toxins in wars like Vietnam, or unspent radium in Iraq, we’re letting them drink contaminated water.

How could a situation this important to the troop’s health go for so long? Wasn’t anyone paying attention? Who was asleep at the watch when report after report came in warning of high levels of contamination in the drinking water? I leave that for to you decide. The following article – and links below -  give more details:  

“Some of the wells that supplied drinking water to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina were contaminated by cancer-causing solvents for as long as 60 years, a new federal report shows.

_______________________

Over the span of 35 years, between 500,000 and 1 million people were exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, one of the most storied Marine bases in the country. A group of men have banded together saying that their surprising breast cancer diagnoses are linked to Camp Lejeune's contaminated water. Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.

________________________

Month-by-month calculations show that Marines and their families at the base drank and bathed in water that may have been tainted with trichloroethylene (TCE) from 1948 through 2008. Other water sources were contaminated with benzene from 1951 to 2008, the report shows.

Federal officials have known for years that the base’s water supply was badly contaminated, from fuel leaks and probably from a dry-cleaning plant as well.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that between 500,000 and 1 million people were exposed to the contaminated water from 1953 to 1987, when the last of several contaminated wells were closed. The new report takes the potential estimates back five years earlier.

"It is possible," Dr. Christopher Portier, director of the CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, told NBC News. But he says he believes it more likely the contamination began in 1953, as previously estimated.” Read the whole story here

Related:

Marine Corps response to NBC Rock Center story

Contractor underreported levels of chemicals

Congress probes toxic water at Marine base

Time for me to walk on down the road…

No post today due to external reasons that I’m looking into

The cable company that I use for my computer – Suddenlink – was vandalized (fiber optic line was cut) and thousands of Humboldt County residents were without a variety of services ranging from internet, television, and telephone.

This is the fourth time in a week the vandals have struck, and the first time the malicious vandalism has affected the area I’m in. No one knows why this is happening. Theories abound. The one I’m entertaining is a past employee of Suddenlink with a grudge.

I guess one of the most troubling aspects is why. Why would someone do this? The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is asking asking the public to call with any information about these attacks. It’s also troubling to me how exposed our communication systems are to people with bad intentions.

As far as I know, there’s no salvage market on fiber optic wire (23 feet was stolen in the first vandalism incident). From what I gathered thus far today, the fiber optic line in Bayside (by Arcata) was just cut. Suddenlink employees had to search to find where the damage was done, unlike the last few incidents when the damage was open and apparent.

The editor and Publisher of The McKinleyville Press, Jack Durham, has asked me to do an investigative piece on the vandalism – as it has affected McKinleyville twice. I may be retired, but sometimes I come out long enough to do a special assignment.

Let the hunt begin…

Here’s the official press release from the Sheriff’s Office:

“On 3-13-13 at about 1100 p.m. the Sheriff’s Office was contacted by Suddenlink and advised of vandalism to their Fiber Optic Cable.  This is the fourth vandalism to Suddenlink’s Fiber Optic Service since March 8, 2013.  The most recent vandalism is believed to have occurred in the 3400 block of Old Arcata Road however Suddenlink is still attempting to identify the exact location.  The Sheriff’s Office responded to the area last night and did not locate any suspects or find obvious signs of where the cable was damaged.

Sheriff’s Investigators are currently on scene investigating this crime and Suddenlink personnel are working to repair the Fiber Optic Cable.  Suddenlink previously estimated the repair costs to be approximately $10,000, per site.  The vandalisms have occurred in the areas of Ferndale, Trinidad and now Bayside.

Suddenlink is offering a $5,000 cash reward for the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s) that are responsible for these crimes.

This is an on-going investigation and the Sheriff’s Office is working diligently to identify a suspect or suspects in these crimes and to stop further vandalisms and interruptions to Suddenlink’s services.  

Anyone with information for the Sheriff’s Office regarding this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call Detective Kirkpatrick of the Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division at    707-268-3640 or the Sheriff’s Tip Line at 707-268-2539.” 

 

Todays Topic: Newspaper industry to lobby to retain Saturday mail delivery

    Good Day World!

By now, everyone knows the United States Postal Service is in financial straits. Not everyone knows the impact this will have on other businesses.

The following article details another side-effect – other industries that will be affected if the USPS has to cut out Saturday deliveries.

These are hard times and hard decisions are being made. 

“Members of Congress are going to be hearing a lot from newspapers this week — not via their editorial pages but in person.

There’s only one topic on the agenda: the U.S. Postal Service and its stated plans to eliminate many kinds of Saturday mail delivery later this year.

The National Newspaper Association is coordinating the lobbying effort that will involve newspaper representatives from across the nation, including those in Nebraska like the Daily News. "It's a business decision for us just like it's a business decision for them (the postal service)," said Max Health, a postal consultant for the Publishing Group of America. "It's not over until it's over."

Early last month, the postal service announced it plans to drop Saturday delivery of first-class mail beginning in August, a move intended to save it $2 billion annually. The postal service plans to continue to deliver packages and pharmaceutical drugs on Saturday, but not direct mail, newspapers, periodicals or first-class mail.

The Greeting Card Association, National Newspaper Association, American Forest & Paper Association, National Rural Letter Carriers Association and Envelope Manufacturers Association trade groups, along with the National Association of Letter Carriers labor union, are among many pushing to preserve Saturday delivery.

"We all lose if the postal service doesn't continue with Saturday delivery," said Rafe Morrissey, vice president for postal affairs at the Greeting Card Association.

Part of the argument to be relayed to members of Congress this week is that the postal service it acting illegally in its plans to unilaterally end Saturday mail delivery. That’s because Congress, through a series of continuing resolutions, has kept in place a requirement for six-day delivery.

The current resolution, however, expires March 27, which prompted the postal service to announce plans for the end of Saturday delivery, Heath said.

“Whether Congress passes a complete appropriations bill or another continuing resolution, it could still keep the (six-day-a-week delivery provision). The expiration date is not a valid legal reason to make a decision, unless you are trying to make a force play to get a lot of attention,” Heath said.

Another argument to be made by the supporters of retaining Saturday mail delivery is that the projected annual savings of about $2 billion is exaggerated.

In fact, the U.S Postal Regulatory Commission has said it believes the estimate of savings is considerably too high. U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat who is a co-sponsor of the House bill to preserve Saturday delivery, also said the postal service has not substantiated its projected $2 billion in annual savings from ending Saturday delivery.

Regardless of the accurate figure, the savings won’t come close to solving the postal service’s financial problems. In fact, it may simply drive more business away from the postal service, Heath said.

“The real problem is the unfair requirement from the 2006 postal reform act for the U.S. Postal Service to prefund future benefits over a 10-year period at more than $5 billion  per year. This is over and above the $2 billion paid from the postal service operating budget each year already,” he said. “No other government agency has this requirement. It was just a budget trick that year to help the deficit.”

Rep. Dave Loebsack of Iowa added, “By requiring the postal service to pre-fund retirement health benefits to the tune of over $50 billion over 10 years, which no other agency or business has to do, Congress is tying their hands. The USPS would not be in the dire situation it is today if it had not been required to pre-pay these funds.”

Another key factor is the impact ending Saturday delivery would have on rural areas, the elderly and some businesses, such as smaller daily newspapers.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader, said, “Cutting down mail delivery to five days per week will not save the postal service from insolvency. This short sighted measure will deal a crippling blow to the millions of Americans and small businesses who rely on the timely and reliable delivery to every community in our nation.”

While newspaper industry representatives and many others will continue to press for a continuation of Saturday delivery — while also pushing for comprehensive financial reform measures that would improve the postal services’ bottom line — discussions are taking place and plans are being made if the effort is unsuccessful.

Heath said, “Newspapers with Saturday issues should get their department heads together and analyze options.”That’s what has been taking place at the Daily News, led by Cristina Anderson, the newspaper’s circulation manager, in recognizing the importance of the several thousand Northeast and North Central Nebraskans who receive the newspaper via the mail.

Expansion of motor routes, more use of electronic delivery of the newspaper and other possibilities are all being discussed. - The Associated Press contributed to this article - By KENT WARNEKE editor@norfolkdailynews.com

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Today’s Topic: New Monthly Candidate for Dumbest Criminal Ever

       Good Day World!

From Wisconsin - Jarad S. Carr (left – courtesy of Chippewa County Jail ) just wanted to get a refund for his printer. The problem was he didn’t have a receipt for it. And, he didn’t have the paper tray and installer CD that goes with it.

Employees at Walmart (where else would something like this happen?) tried to work with Jarad, but he apparently came unglued and displayed a total lack of brains.

I think this is safe to assume, seeing how Jarad really had bigger and more important matters to worry about; like two felony arrest warrants for armed robbery and burglary in the next county. This did not deter him from telling the clerk he wouldn’t leave the building until he got a refund for the printer.

Understandably, an employee called the police. Meanwhile, one of the employees found two phony $100 bills still in the printer. Jarad reportedly crumbled them up and asked the employee to throw them away! No, really. Jarad could have walked away, but he wanted a refund so badly he offered to take half of the price for the printer!

The police arrived and promptly arrested Jarad and found more fake bills in his car. (read more about this story here) I guess there’s not much more to say. Other, than this guy was extremely stupid, clueless, drugged-out, or on a mission to become the dumbest criminal for the month of March.

Time for me to walk on down the road…   

Snakes Still Rule: Great Python Challenge Is Over & They’re Still Plenty Slithering Around

   Good Day World!

Today’s topic is snakes. Big Snakes. Burmese pythons. They’re invading Florida and the folks there have been trying to raise awareness about it.

They're an invasive species that transcend being the top predator in an ecosystem and take it to another level – more like an aliens in a world with no defense against them. They can grow to enormous lengths and there’s nothing in the Everglades that can kill them. I’ve got a hunch there’s going to be a lot of organized snake hunts in the future:    

“After all the hoopla and news of people buying tools to catch Burmese pythons invading Florida, the state's month long hunt for them is over. Hunters caught 68 pythons. That's right, 68, according to The Associated Press, even though 1,600 people signed up with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to search for them.

Well, the whole point isn't really to kill thousands of snakes, although it's estimated there could be as many as 150,000 of them slithering about in the Florida underbrush. The point is to raise public awareness, according to Professor Frank Mazziotti of the University of Florida, who told NPR's Talk of the Nation that many pythons were former pets whose owners released them.” Read the rest here

Time for me to walk on down the road…

AS IT STANDS: Military suicides exceed combat deaths, now what?

 

By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
  What mystifies and irks me is our government’s inability to learn from historical mistakes. Why did we go into Afghanistan when we had Vietnam as an example? Couldn’t anyone see the similarities?
  Historians agree Vietnam was a war that should never have been fought. It was a contrived war, just like Iraq and Afghanistan.

No amount of military history books detailing the mistakes America made in Vietnam were enough to stop the hawks in Washington from repeating them. Perhaps our current crop of politicians skipped that aisle in the library devoted to U.S. military books while attending high school or college. As for those people in the Pentagon, I doubt if recent military history plays any part in their plans of conquest.
    If it did, they would have chosen to avoid past mistakes. Right? Maybe not. Fact: political agendas - influenced by the military industrial complex - have little use for history if it gets in the way of current goals.
   Rather than take on the whole issue of listing all the military mistakes made in Vietnam, I’m going to focus on the one that bothers me the most; Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are killing themselves in record numbers.
  As a Vietnam combat veteran with PTSD, this issue is admittedly personal to me. Veterans struggling to mentally cope after coming home from repeated war zone tours are falling through the bureaucratic cracks and the results are unacceptable. 
  In a case of dark irony, more deaths are now attributed to military suicides than to actual combat with the enemy, every year. For truly disturbing statistics go to the official Department of Defense website.

  Some sobering examples: there were 349 service members (all branches) who committed suicide in 2012. There were 212 combated related deaths the same year.
  The Army, the largest body within the US military (562,000 personnel) has the highest rate of suicides at 32 per one thousand troops and had a total of 182 suicides in 2012. The Marine Corps was second with 24 suicides per one thousand troops. 
  One of the fallouts from all of these stressed-out troops is more of them are given prescription medications just so they can function. Bart Billings, a former military psychologist who hosts an annual conference on combat stress, recently told the LA Times  “We have never medicated our troops to the extent that we do now…and I don’t believe the current increase in suicides and homicides is a coincidence.”
  Military experts report the biggest problem comes from repeated tours of duty. Eighty percent of military personnel do three or more deployments. What results is no surprise. The mental fatigue these worn-out warriors experience is treated with sedatives, amphetamines, and anti-depressants.

  There are big concerns about the widespread and frequent use of mefloquine, an anti-malaria drug also called Larium. Suicides and other grim side effects include problems with psychotic behavior, paranoia, and delusions.
  The new Army guidelines of August 2012 confirm that PTSD tends to be under diagnosed and under treated because the stigma in the military discourages troops from seeking help for mental health issues.   
  Currently the Army is offering a pre-employment “resilience training” for “ongoing comprehensive soldier fitness.” As you might expect, the results thus far are questionable.
The Pentagon has tried numerous anti-suicide strategies in the last three years, but with no success. The number of suicides continues to grow annually.
  Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, once said “We learn from failure, not from success!” It’s too bad our politicians and warmongers haven’t learned this fact. Just think what a difference it would have made to our currently suffering service members, some of  whose lives teeter on the edge of sanity. 

  With talk about the war in Afghanistan winding down in 2014, I would like to see more time and resources spent to help our warriors deal with PTSD, an invisible wound that keeps on hurting if not treated.
  What I would really like to see is a simple requirement for all politicians: specifically, they must be well-versed in our past wars and the glaring mistakes that were made. That way when they try to lead us into another war we’ll know they’re not only stupid, but dangerous.
  As It Stands, let’s hope our ground troops don’t get involved in Syria or somewhere else in the middle east. It’s a scary possibility with the current crop of clueless politicians and military leaders.

Monster mosquitoes poised to strike Florida!

Yikes! As if the regular size mosquitos aren’t bad enough…

One of the most ferocious insects you've ever heard of — it's the size of a quarter and its painful bite has been compared to being knifed — is set to invade Florida this summer.

The Sunshine State, already home to man-eating sinkholes, invading Burmese pythons, swarming sharks, tropical storms and other disasters, can expect to see an explosion of shaggy-haired gallinippers (Psorophora ciliata), a type of giant mosquito, according to entomologist Phil Kaufman of the University of Florida. (Story here)

Don’t forget to turn your clocks forward one hour tonight…or else!

      Good Day World!

Remember to spring forward tonight and set all your clocks an hour forward. Forget about whining about losing an hour of sleep. It won’t do any good.

We have this myth about saving electricity that gets passed on annually - with no real statistics to back the damn claim up - and we’re stuck with Daylight Savings Time!

Every 2nd Sunday in March becomes THE DAY when we add an hour of sunlight and mess up our biorhythms until we “Fall Back,” and turn the clock back later in the year. Makes no sense, but whatever. Here’s some links to Daylight Savings Time 2013:

• Tips to combat daylight saving time fatigue
• PhotoBlog: US gets set to 'spring forward'
• How daylight saving time got started
• Daylight saving time's the time to check smoke alarms

Time for me to walk on down the road…

The Hero Project: A Documentary on Single Father Households

         Good Day World!

Today’s topic is about single fathers who raise children. You seldom read about these men who take on the responsibility of raising a family alone. They are a small minority in the overall picture, but we’re still talking about over two million men across the country.

One of those single dad’s – Khaaliq Thomas - contacted me the other day. His story was compelling, and his project is an enlightening look at what men face when they raise children alone. Kaaliq’s hope is to inform the public about these dad’s – these salt-of-earths who take on the roll of Mom and Dad in todays society.

I support this great project and I hope you will to:

“After fighting for custody of my kids, experiencing my own difficulties with the courts and facing the challenges of a single parent, I was led to seek out others with similar stories.

I'm driven by the fact that single fathers need to be recognized for their unselfish commitment to their families.

The documentary is not focused on fathers of a specific ethnic background or economic status. The purpose is to examine the single father household in all of its many colors, variations and origins. From the tireless dad who fought for years to win custody of his kids to the widowed family that lost a mom. These stories will share with the world the dedicated ability, struggles and unconditional love of these fathers and the families they raise and nurture. GO HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE HERO PROJECT

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Go for the gusto! It’s never too late…

    Good Day World!

I’ve always felt it’s never too late to do something you really want to do; regardless of your age, physical shape, or mental challenges. It’s all about desire.

I enjoy reading about singular people who do things outside the norm. People who are not afraid of challenges. No matter how big, or how small.

HERE’S THREE STORIES ILLUSTRATING WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT:

106 year-old school drop-out gets high school diploma

“A 106-year-old Massachusetts man who had to drop out of school before the ninth grade to support his mother and five siblings has finally earned his high school diploma. Fred Butler (photo right) was awarded his honorary diploma Monday during an emotional ceremony attended by school officials and Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon.

Butler thanked "everybody who is responsible for this." The lack of diploma did not hold him back. He was married for 65 years, raised five children, served in the U.S. Army during World War II and worked for the city's water department.

But daughter-in-law Cathy Butler says he always regretted dropping out and always emphasized the importance of education to his children and grandchildren.Fred Butler was concerned he didn't earn the diploma, but Scanlon said it was well deserved.”(Source)

It can be frustrating when someone says you can’t do something because you’re physically challenging. Often times this “can’t” spurs people to defy the odds and find a way to make it happen regardless. That was the case with Phil Southerland. At just seven months old, Phil was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The doctor told his mom that he probably wouldn’t live to the age of 25. But Phil had other plans for his life. Read the whole story here.

And the last story: DEFY THE ODDS and PURSUE YOUR DREAMS

“Do not fear age, but fear a life half-lived because of fear. Do not look backwards to what might have been, but forward to what may be.”

Great examples of people pursuing theirs dreams here.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Dow record high is a feel good moment, but don’t get too excited

    Good Day World!

Today’s topic is yesterdays record high for the Dow Jones industrial average. What does it mean to you and me?

I’m no stock market guru, so I’ve turned to informed sources to help answer that question. The following links will help you see the significance of this record.

But beware, it doesn’t mean we’re on easy street yet. There’s a long way to go yet.

The Dow Jones industrial average just set a record high. Feel rich yet?

The economy is struggling despite Dows all time high 

The Dow, created in 1896 with the shares of 12 companies, comprises 30 stocks. Most are household names: General Electric, Coca-Cola, Boeing, Procter & Gamble and IBM .

Isn’t all this just about the fortunes of Wall Street itself — the 1 percent?

Not if you have a 401(k) plan, an IRA or any other retirement account tied to the stock market.

Index funds, which track the major market indexes stock-for-stock, have soared in popularity over the past two decades because they carry extremely low fees and leave less to the success or failure of money managers.

The most popular of these funds track the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which hasn’t quite beaten its record but has logged an even more impressive rally since 2009 than the Dow. It’s up 127 percent.

Something else to consider is what’s known as the wealth effect, the idea that people are more comfortable spending money when they feel wealthier. Headlines about the stock market’s record run only help.

“Consumer spending is not what it should be — a 2 percent growth rate, and it should be closer to 3 — but it’s getting better,” Johnson says. “It tends to feed on itself. It makes people feel better.” (Source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Did you know the U.S. is in the middle of an oil and gas boom?

Good Day World!

The topic of discussion today is the amazing fact that U.S. oil and gas production is at a 20 year high! Here’s a real shocker; the International Energy Agency projects the U.S. could even leap frog Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world's biggest oil producer by 2020!

Imagine that, America the biggest producer of oil in the world! Wow!

Really? Who knew? The last time I looked we were still dependent on middle eastern oil. Another surprising fact; our oil production is up 40 percent since 2008! Why haven’t I noticed the beneficial effects of buying domestic oil – like a drop in prices?

We’re importing less oil so what’s the deal? Imports totaled about 7.7 million barrels per day in the month of February, down 1.2 million barrels per day from he same time last year. The problem, according to energy analysts is we’re using less oil and gas.

U.S. oil demand for 2012 was 18.56 million barrels per day, down 2 percent from the year earlier and its lowest annual level since 1996, according to the EIA. Oil demand fell every month last year, except for May.

Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," has helped lead to this revolution in gas and oil production. The U.S. EIA projects there is 2,200 trillion cubic feet of gas resources in the U.S., enough for 100 years. In drilling for that gas, the industry uncovered a trove of natural gas liquids.

Which brings me back around to the fact that the American consumer is never going to get a break on gas prices. Current trends prove my point. Gas is at another all-time high nationally, and more than likely will go up again before the summer hits.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Monday Magic: Shadow Illusions by Shigeo Fukuda

(images by Shigeo Fukuda)

Good Day World!

Todays topic is about creating art from chaos. All the junk around us in life has a purpose and sometimes a re-purpose. The wonderful shadow sculptures above were created by the late artist Shigeo Fukuda.  Shigeo Fukuda (福田 繁雄 Fukuda Shigeo^?, February 4, 1932 - January 11, 2009) was a sculptor, graphic artist and poster designer who created optical illusions. His art pieces usually portray deception, such as Lunch With a Helmet On, a sculpture created entirely from forks, knives, and spoons, that casts a detailed shadow of a motorcycle. Wikipedia

Time for me to walk on down the road…

AS IT STANDS: Cyber Wars: America’s infrastructure faces increased threats

By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
 In the not so distant future…
Residents in LA County face a world with no electricity. Major communication problems between police agencies have crippled their ability to fight crime for a week. With no vehicles available because pumps don’t work, so there’s no gas, crime is rampant.
Looting of stores and businesses is commonplace as residents flee the area and head north where it’s reputed that electricity and other services are still available.
Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are try to escape the blacked-out city that no longer can offer the most basic of services, such as sanitation and police protection. Roving gangs and thugs routinely attack anyone unable to fight back.

 Bodies are scattered like pieces of lumber in the frozen streets of Denver, Colorado, as record snowfall buries the city without electricity and the most basic services of a civilization.
People looking back at 9 11 will compare it to their new reality and lose hope. This dystopian future could be around the corner, caused by a cyber attack on America’s infrastructure - specifically against our electrical grids.
 Security experts have for years expressed concerns, if not outrage, that the nation’s critical infrastructure remains so vulnerable so long after Sept. 11, 2001. The U.S. has increasing concerns about escalating cyber attacks coming from China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea.
Make no mistake, we’ve been waging a silent war in cyber space for decades and the stakes keep going up. The targets of this generation’s cyber warriors are generally a country’s infrastructure, as opposed to an all-out assault by their military.
Oil, gas, and electrical companies once led the way in protecting their perimeters with water companies and mining companies lagging behind, according to State Department spokeswomen Victoria Nulund in a recent NBC interview.
But now security experts say those security perimeters can be breeched due to loopholes and hackers are free to do whatever they want. 
Dale Peterson, founder and CEO of Digital Bond, a security company that specializes in infrastructure, told NBC news that infrastructure attacks - also know as vendor attacks - are “particularly worrisome.”
A National Research Council report was declassified last fall that warned a coordinated strike on the grid could devastate the country. An enemy wouldn’t have to drop bombs to send us into chaos.

A scary thought is that vital systems - like electricity - don’t have to be down long before public fear and turmoil could hurt the economy for years to come. Look at what happened last year during Hurricane Sandy, when it barely took two days of reported gas shortages to cause hours-long lines at the pumps and violent fights between drivers.
Recent revelations about a special Chinese Army Group (Unit 61398) devoted to waging cyber war against the United States has Congress concerned. Congressman Michael Rogers recently warned that China is an ongoing threat to our national and economic security.
  Congressman Rogers said China’s cyber espionage campaign against America is growing exponentially as they brazenly steal our innovative ideas and sensitive information. Worse, there’s nothing in place to stop these attacks.

While chairing a Congressional hearing on “Advanced Cyber Threats Facing Our Nation” by the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Congressman Rogers reported that the Chinese have nothing to fear because we don’t have anything in place to stop them.
I put together an overview of the topic at http://learni.st/users/dave.stancliff.9/boards/14727-unit-61398-china-s-cyberwarriors-vs-usa, that will give you a complete picture of what we face in the future and what‘s being considered right now.  My biggest takeaway on the subject of cyber warfare is it’s much more deadly than conventional bombing or nukes. An enemy can disable our country from some computers in an apartment complex and walk in and pick up the pieces.
  As It Stands, I can see the need to turn out more computer experts willing to wage war against America’s enemies in cyber space. It is the 21st century after all, and this is our new reality.

1950s Flashback Motto: ‘We Add Nuclear Power To Everything!’

                          Good Day World!

Today’s topic is about vintage 1950s attitude regarding nuclear power. The country loved the atom back then and designers tried to incorporate nuclear energy into everything.

Fans of the old, but still wonderful, Road Runner cartoons might remember Wile E. Coyote's favorite one-stop-shop for mayhem: The Acme Company.

 A clever person once said that Acme's slogan should be "We Add Rockets To Everything." This, in a kind of round-about way, gets us to the 1950s and the near-obsession that certain engineers had back then with a certain power source. To put it another way, their slogan should have been: "We Add Nuclear Power To Everything."

In all fairness, at first we thought that reactors have proven – for the most part – to be pretty reliable (we are now re-evaluating this again, in view of recent Japanese disaster).

Submarines, commercial power plants, and even monstrous icebreakers have proven that nuclear power can be handy if not essential. But back just a few decades ago there were plans, and even a few terrifying prototypes, that would have made the Coyote green with envy – and the rest of us shudder in terror.

Both the US and the Soviet Union had engineers with lofty plans to keep bombers in the air indefinitely by using nuclear power.

Most folks, with even a very basic knowledge of how reactors work, would think that was a bit (ahem) risky, but what's even scarier is how far along some of those plans got. (GO HERE to see more)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Dance away the day: the ‘Harlem Shake’ is here to sway!

  Good Day World!

Our topic today is dancing.

Are you still twitching when you watch and listen to Gangnam style videos? Do you long for the next dance craze? Don’t worry my friend, it’s already here. It’s called the “Harlem Shake.”

What I love about the crazy world of dancing is anything goes! Nothing is too far out. Why should it be?

Dancing is an ancient form of expression that still ignites our our modern passions. It’s fun to dance. It’s also fun to watch people dance.   

These days, you can never really tell what will become the next viral dance craze, but you can always count on it being totally weird.True to form, the latest wacky dance videos to go viral are "Harlem Shake" videos.It all started when a YouTube user uploaded a 30 second clip of some dudes dressed in Spandex costumes while doing a wild, hip-thrusting version of the Electronica song,The Harlem Shake.Here's a taste of what that looked like (photo above).

Now that this image is burned into your retinas and can never be unseen, know this: this 36 second video has spawned a huge viral video meme that seems to be gaining popularity by the second.Television personalities from Jon Stewart to the cast and crew of The Today Show have been uploading their own crazy version of the Harlem Shake. 10 funniest Harlem Shake videos right here.  (article source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Today’s Topic: NRA: No Research Allowed: Two reasons the NRA is like Big Tobacco

 Good Day World!

Today’s topic is the NRA’s blatant disregard for facts.

 Guns cause eight times more deaths in the U.S. than in our economic counterparts in Europe and Asia. These are preventable deaths. And we need solid scientific research to show what measures work. But this is exactly what the forces on the Right want to suppress or denounce as “junk,” similar to research about global warming, the relationship between fast foods and obesity or the health hazards of prescription drugs.

Wonder why the NRA can say there is no evidence that gun control works? Because they’ve censored research on the subject.

In the aftermath of Newtown, we’ve learned that the NRA successfully lobbied Congress to suppress research on how to limit gun violence. Since 1996, according to one estimate, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has slashed firearms safety research by 96 percent. There was actual language in the CDC’s budget that said none of its funds could be used to “advocate or promote gun control,” and similar restrictions were imposed on research supported by other federal health agencies. The NRA deemed research on the relationship between teens, alcohol consumption and gun use, as well as the impact of gun storage practices, as “junk science studies.”

What got the NRA so agitated? A 1993 study by Arthur Kellermann et al. published in The New England Journal of Medicine that debunked the myth that having a gun in your home made you safer. The study showed that having a gun in your home increased the risk of one family member shooting another by almost threefold, compared to homes without a gun. The risk of suicide was nearly five times greater.

Having a gun in your home, in other words, “doesn’t convey protection.” It actually puts you and your family at greater risk. Indeed, from 1985 until 1996, the CDC funded a variety of studies all leading to the conclusion that stricter gun control was a public health priority. This was not good news for the NRA, so they succeeded in making sure such studies rarely saw the light of day. According to The Huffington Post, the NRA has spent over $28 million on lobbying since 1998, becoming one of the most feared and influential lobbies. (Read the rest here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…