Do you watch poker on TV?

After my morbid post earlier I decided to lighten things up a bit.

I watch poker on TV and I like to play, both live and on the internet. Tonight on GSN, formerly the Game Show Network I watched a different kind of poker. They launched their second season of High Stakes Poker. High Stakes is a different kind of poker TV show because all the players are professionals and they have to buy in with at least $100,000 of their own money. Also, it is a live game, not a tournament, which totally changes the mentality at the table. It also lends itself to kind of crazy stuff. When players are all in they will sometimes cut wacky side deals, like running the river card twice to give a player with virtually no chance of winning the hand double the chance to draw out and earn a split pot. Also, a lot of the niceties you find on the tournament poker shows is gone from this game. All the players know each other and some of their personal issues bleed right over onto the table. It is compelling and at times there is serious money on the table. Pots routinely contain $50,000 and many times there is as much cash in the pot as there are chips. As someone who plays for .10 cents at a time it is amazing to watch these guys bluff $10 or $20 grand into a pot and shrug if they lose.

9:00 PM Mondays on GSN. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. Try it once, you might like it. Besides, it is the summer, what else are you going to watch on Mondays at 9:00?

No 1 of Consequence

BioMacabre - Would you like a lymph node with that?

This story is so deeply disturbing that I almost don't know where to begin. In brief, a company in Fort Lee, NJ has been harvesting human tissue from people who did not choose to donate without the knowledge of their families or doctors. They harvested tissue from people who were not suitable donors and that tissue may have been implanted in patients in need.

Some of the deceased may have had acute infections at the time of death, meaning whatever killed them would still be present in the harvested tissue and could infect the recipient.

Every medical research or biomedical company like this should be federally required to have an ethical compliance officer. Someone who is bonded and certified by the FDA and who has the authority to shut down any program or activity he/she were to deem ethically questionable. This sort of heinous violation of the dead and the aggrieved is so morally repugnant that it enrages me beyond reason. You have the right not to be carved up after your death if that is your choice.

Whether you believe in an afterlife or not, believe in Gd or not, you should be able to go to your final resting ground without some ethically bankrupt death profiteer hacking off bits of you that may or may not result in the untimely demise of other people. Not only were these poor folks butchered like cattle but then may have been used in any number of negligent homicides. If these charges prove to be correct I hope everyone involved in this from the top down get locked away forever.

My deepest most heartfelt condolences go out to the families of these people who will once more have to relive the deaths of their loved ones and now be saddled with the knowledge that their loved ones were violated after their deaths.

No 1 of Consequence

Cruise: Wacky? Yes. Legitimate action hero? Also, yes.

Mission Impossible III :

I just got back from the movies. Guess what I saw? I know Tom Cruise is a bit of a lunatic and has a tendency to make a spectacle of himself when not on the movie screen, but I have to tell you, this movie is incredibly enjoyable. For the third movie in the series I was sufficiently impressed. The action sequences were excellently choreographed and there was just enough story to keep the whole premise plausible. Since J.J. Abrams wrote it (also the writer of Lost and Alias) there were sufficient turns and some mystery. Definitely a fine way to spend a 95 degree afternoon.

No 1 of Consequence

JFK teaches us, every day.

If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all-except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty.

- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

I just watched a compelling documentary called Unconstitutional: The War on our Civil Liberties.

I highly recommend it, whatever your political viewpoint.

No 1 of Consequence

Ann Coulter was spawned from hell

I believe in free speech for everyone. What I mean by that is I don't think only people that believe what I believe should be allowed to say whatever they want. My belief in freedom for everyone means that sometimes I have to stomach some pretty heinous rantings. Normally, I don't say anything about it. I spent ages 3-12 in a town (Bloomfield, NJ) that was so hate filled and vicious pretty much anything I see or hear rolls off my back with little more than a shrug. However, after reading what this shrill opportunist said a couple of days ago I had a physical reaction. I was enraged. I don't get angry all that easily anymore. I seem to be more temperate with my advancing age. Also, when I do get angry, it passes almost immediately. This skeleton with a wig's maniacal rantings have just stayed with me. She makes me want to vomit.

If you don't have time or the inclination to click the link and read the story. Ann Coulter a.k.a. The Incubus viciously and with calculated malice attacked a group of 9/11 widows who have become known in the media as the Jersey Girls.

While it is true I am a Jersey boy and have an affinity for my former home, this has absolutely nothing to do with my defense of these women or my vitriol towards this soulless psuedo-pundit.

The Jersey Girls have been outspoken opponenets to the war in Iraq, anti-President Bush and tireless crusaders to find out any bit of information they can about what actually transpired on 9/11. I don't know if there is anything to find out really, but if these women need to do that to help them through the tragedy they have suffered who am I to judge.

How devoid of human compassion are you when the only way you can get press for yourself is to suggest these women were happy about their husbands violent deaths and are basically dancing in the streets about what happened? How devoid of talent are you?

Ann Coulter has intentionally attacked these women to create controversy for herself and sell books. The worst part about it is that, of course, it worked. Her book is atop the Amazon list right now. All that means is that next time she spews something onto paper we will be treated to her ranting like a facist, attacking someone who doesn't deserve it, drumming up controversy for herself.

Here are some Ann Coulter quotes from the past in case you need more proof that she is basically evil. These are copied directly from NNDB.com without permission:

"If you don't hate Bill Clinton and the people who labored to keep him in office, you don't love your country."

"Liberals love America like O.J. loved Nicole."

"In this recurring nightmare of a presidency [the Clinton administration], we have a national debate about whether he 'did it,' even though all sentient people know he did. Otherwise there would be debates only about whether to impeach or assassinate."

"I think we ought to nuke North Korea right now just to give the rest of the world a warning. ... They’re a major threat. I just think it would be fun to nuke them and have it be a warning to the rest of the world."

"I think [calling Clinton a scumbag] is factually correct. ... I don't think you could win a slander suit on that. Truth is a defense."

"When contemplating college liberals, you really regret once again that John Walker is not getting the death penalty. We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors."

"There are no good Democrats."

"I take the Biblical idea. God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees God says, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.'"

"I think, on the basis of the recent Supreme Court ruling that we can't execute the retarded, American journalists commit mass murder without facing the ultimate penalty. I think they are retarded."

"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building."

"Whether they are defending the Soviet Union or bleating for Saddam Hussein, liberals are always against America. They are either traitors or idiots, and on the matter of America's self-preservation, the difference is irrelevant."

"Even if corners were cut, [Iran-Contra] was a brilliant scheme. There is no possibility that anyone in any Democratic administration would have gone to such lengths to fund anti-Communist forces. When Democrats scheme from the White House, it's to cover up the President's affair with an intern. When Republicans scheme, it's to support embattled anti-Communist freedom fighters sold out by the Democrats."

"[Canadians] better hope the United States doesn't roll over one night and crush them. They are lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent."

"A central component of liberal hate speech is to make paranoid accusations based on their own neurotic impulses, such as calling Republicans angry, hate-filled, and mean."

"[Liberals] are always accusing us of repressing their speech. I say let's do it. Let's repress them. ... Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the First Amendment."

"I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East, and sending liberals to Guantanamo."

Isn't she a doll folks? Let's give her a big round of applause.

No 1 of Consequence

****AUTHOR'S NOTE**** Further proof of Ann Coulter's evil powers. It took me a day and a half and three attempts to get this posted.

Shattering the unintentional comedy meter

Tilapia our tasty fish friend!!

Those of you who know me, know that NoWifeofConsequence can throw it together in the kitchen. Even when up against the wall with no real prep time we end up eating well because of her vast culinary skills. She puts together delicious recipes off the cuff, trying out different mixes of spices and trimmings and is really creative. We have a Kosher style hime so this really restricts her when it comes to what I will and will not eat and despite my complicated needs she still cooks things that make you say, "YUM!"

To that end I convinced her to share a couple of recipes with you.






Tales from No Kitchen of Consequence

by No Wife of Consequence

Tilapia Two Ways

For those of you who have not yet discovered Tilapia, it is a great fish. Very mild, nice and flakey, and reasonably priced. You can get it in most grocery stores, so you don't need to make a special trip to the fish monger. I have two recipes that I created for this fish. The first, Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, is a real family friendly dish. Kids love it and even my father, who does NOT eat fish, eats this recipe. The second, 'Crab' Stuffed Tilapia, is a bit fancier and makes a great dinner party recipe. One nice thing about this recipe is you can make it up ahead of time and just pop it in the oven whenever, which is nice if you have guests so you spend time with them instead of prepping dinner. I make this recipe with imitation crab meat because No1ofConsequence keeps Kosher and crab is not Kosher. If you don't have any shellfish issues you can use real crab.

____________________________________________

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

You will need 6 Tilapia fillets for this recipe
Lay the tilapia in one layer in a baking pan sprayed with Pam
Drizzle the fish with Lea & Perrins Marinade for Chicken (This used to be called White Wine Worcestershire)
In a small bowl combine, 1/2 cup of fresh grated Parmesan Cheese, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon of dill, 1 teaspoon of Tarragon, and 1 teaspoon of Thyme (you can use whatever herbs you like)
Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the top of the fish
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes
Before you remove it from the oven, put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp up the cheese topping.

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'Crab' Stuffed Tilapia

You need 4 Tilapia Fillets for this recipe
In a small bowl combine 2 cups of chopped imitation crab meat and 1 cup of spreadable garlic and herb cheese (you can use the light version of the cheese to cut calories)
Spray a baking pan with Pam
Take each fish fillet and top it with baby spinach. Then spread 1/4 of the crab mixture onto each piece of fish. Roll the fish up as best as you can and secure with a toothpick.
Place fish rolls in the baking pan and drizzle with lemon juice
Sprinkle each roll with Paprika
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes

No Wife of Consequence

Georgia gay marriage ban, struck down.

Well, let's hear it for Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance C. Russell who struck down the 2004 ballot measure that banned gay marriage in the State of Georgia. I would say give her a standing ovation if it had been struck down because it is inherently racist and discriminatory. Unforutnately she struck it down because there was some sort of Constitutional technicality involved that forced her hand.

Freedom and equality for all Americans, including gay Americans. Read my thoughts on homosexuality here.

No 1 of Consequence

Telecommunications, The Fourth Amendment, The Death of Freedom

U.S. Constitution: Fourth Amendment

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.





The National Security Agency is and has been building a database of records of phone calls made and by whom. In order to achieve this they have demanded and received millions upon millions of phone records from the major telecommunications providers in the US. Most of the providers turned over the records. Qwest Communications refused & Bellsouth now denies they provided records.

Before we get in to the horrifying invasiveness of this let us first acknowledge that the NSA is currently operation outside the law. The Justice Department was trying to investigate domestic wiretapping being conducted by the NSA and were forced to shut down the inquiry because the NSA would not grant the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility security clearances to view the files of the wiretapping program. When you have government agencies operating extra-legally, without oversight, you are living in a tyrannical state. Checks and balances were built in to The Constitution to prevent exactly these kinds of abuses. When we break our own laws we are nowhere. They have a word for that kind of government, Facist.

The problem as I see it is not that the NSA wants to have this data. The problem is that they feel they have no need to go through Due Process of Law to obtain the information they believe they need. They threatened Qwest's government contracts when Qwest failed to capitulate. This sort of brazen coercive tactic reeks of an agency that has gotten too powerful for its own good, as did the F.B.I. under J. Edgar Hoover. The Fourteenth Amendment says, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." What this means in the context of law enforcement requesting information from companies is, THEY HAVE TO GET A WARRANT TO LEGALLY OBTAIN THIS INFORMATION. The NSA wouldn't go before a judge and request a warrant, they just demanded the info. They wouldn't even go before the secret FISA courts. There is a word for that, facism.

Any evidence gleaned from this data that produces a domestic arrest would be thrown out of court because if the beginning of your investigation happens because of illegally obtained data that illegal act taints your entire investigation. The legal concept is called "fruit of the poisonous tree." Theoretically the information obtained through this program is legally valueless because it is unusable in a court of law. This leads one to believe that the information is not to be used in a court. Domestically obtained evidence to possibly be used against people living within the borders of the US, possibly its own citizenry. The word for that, my fine friends, is facism.

If you read this story, or this one, or this one, you will get a general understanding of what is happening with the telecommunications companies and our government right now.

They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.

-Benjamin Franklin

The sacrifice of freedom, even in an age of terrorism, is not a viable option for the self determination of the American people. Our government must work within our own laws to fight the evils that threaten us.

To those of you who say, "Freedom isn't free," I say it shouldn't be lazy either. Work differently, work smarter, work legally. Do not oppress the very people you are charged with protecting by violating their Constitutionally protected rights.


No 1 of Consequence

Guest Blog: No Best Man of Consequence

While I was head down today, pounding out work product I engaged in a back and forth with my best man about a variety of things. I have been working on a post about wire tapping and the major telecommunications companies, but it isn't ready yet. With all the news today about putting troops on the southern border something he wrote was especially poignant. He essentially laid out the GOP strategy for the mid term elections, step by step.

Here it is:

Here's my take on Bush's stupid idea to put NationalGuardsmen on the border with Mexico:

1) Bush proposes stupid idea knowing full well it hasnumerous obvious flaws. Are the Guardsmen gettingn approval to shoot illegal immigrants? No, of course not. So what are they going to do? "Stop, or I'll say stop again!" Are there going to be enough Guardsmen to cover the entire border? No, they're all in Iraq. So, aren't the immigrants going to just find another way to get across? Of course. Wouldn't it make more sense to spend money beefing up the Border Patrol? Yes. But will we? No.

2) Media correctly reports this as a stupid idea with obvious flaws. Democrats get on board.

3) Bush defends plan, says he will not kill it despite this fierce opposition.

4) Bush kills plan.

5) Republicans campaign in November on illegal immigration, blame media/Democrats for Bush's plan failing.

____________________

Watch the coming days, weeks and months. If it doesn't play out exactly this way. I will be shocked. If you have any question at all about it, look at what happened with the gay marriage issue and the last presidential election. It is the Karl Rove playbook being run all over again.

Look for a post on the death of freedom later this week.

No 1 of Consequence

Follow up on the Jets draft day follies.

I know most people don't care about the Jets, but I just wanted to follow up with this little tid bit of information. Sportsbook.com has released their odds for the Rookie of the Year award in the NFL. Look who is one of the favorites. If you read my draft day recap. You will see that I believe passing on Mr. White was a HUGE error in judgement.

WHO WILL WIN 2006-07 AP NFL OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
--------------------------------------------------------
Reggie Bush 2-1
Joseph Addai 5-1
LenDale White 5-1
Santonio Holmes 5-1
Laurence Maroney 7-1
Greg Jennings 12-1
Jason Avant 12-1
Vernon Davis 20-1
Maurice Drew 22-1
DeAngelo Williams 25-1
Mercedes Lewis 25-1
Joe Klopfenstein 25-1
Vince Young 25-1
Matt Leinart 30-1
Derek Hagan 30-1
Brian Calhoun 35-1
Jerious Norwood 35-1
PJ Daniels 35-1
Leon Washington 35-1
Jerome Harrison 35-1
Wali Lundy 35-1
Quinton Ganther 35-1
Cedric Humes 35-1
Jeremy Bloom 40-1
Sinorice Moss 40-1
D Brickashaw Ferguson 50-1
Jay Cutler 50-1
Devin Hester 50-1
Chad Jackson 50-1
Willie Reid 50-1
Maurice Stovall 50-1
Brandon Williams 50-1
Travis Wilson 50-1

For complete NFL odds please visit sportsbook.com

No 1 of Consequence

Muddled Meanderings

I haven't had even a second to write lately. I hate that. I love that I have this outlet open to me and at the same time I hate looking at it as time slides by and I neglect it. I love that some of my loyal few come and check it every day, waiting and hoping that I write something. That means a lot to me. I want to make a commitment to write every day, at least a small amount, but the 60-80 hour work weeks I have been enduring don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

I am heading home to the Garden State at the end of the month. I am excited about it in some ways and not in others. No Best Man of Consequence and his wife had a baby girl, so I am really looking forward to meeting her. Seeing friends and family will be pleasant, but at the same time sad. I have been a fish out of water my whole life, in almost every situation I have ever been in. Now, the trend continues, except I will be a fish out of water in NJ, the only place I ever felt any sort of comfort at all. It is a strange feeling, like you don't truly belong anywhere outside of your house. Now, that house is in Georgia, a small blue island in a sea of red.

I am incredibly excited about the possibility of playing poker live in a casino. I haven't felt the heavy casino quality chips in a long time, coming up on two years. We have been hosting a live game in our sub-division pretty regularly as of late, but there is nothing like the feeling of staring down a stranger over the felt and turning over a better hand when he calls you. You feel bad beating your neighbors out of twenty, thirty bucks every time they come over to your house. Well, I don't feel bad, because I have pretty much broken even, but No Wife of Consequence feels bad. She has been kicking their collective teeth in.

I was going to write about George Bush endorsing his brother for President of the United States and saying Jeb would make a great candidate, but the task is too daunting to even consider.

Then I figured I would take a shot at David Blaine for passing almost drowning off as magic. Is he a curiosity for abusing himself like that? I guess. There are people who cut themselves with razor blades too, but I am not interested in watching them on TV. Either way, Annoyed summed it up pretty well, so I won't go into it further.

The US showed up near the bottom of the infant mortality charts for industrialized nations, again. I will say this, a black life continues to be worth less than a white one in the US. We really need to evaluate why that is. The infant mortality rate in this country is absolutely staggering. Too many Americans without health insurance. Too many of them children.

On that significantly depressing note, I will return to the grind.

No 1 of Consequence

I only live 4 hours away from Nashville, TN

Maybe I can be a Titans fan. Being a Jets fan is an exercise in futility. They have opportunity after opportunity to do the right thing for their fans but in the end, they screw us. In my opinion drafting D'Brickashaw Ferguson instead of Matt Leinart is a mistake. It is a mistake from a football perspective and a mistake from a PR perspective as well as a mistake from a fan perspective. The Jets are really second class citizens in NY. They actually play their games in Giants Stadium. Matt Leinart would have propelled them to the back page. He raises their stature by the sheer force of his stardom. He is a better player than Eli Manning right now as well as a bigger star. On top of which they have two quarterbacks that if fused together might be something interesting, but on their own, suck.

Patrick Ramsey can throw the ball a mile, but you really have no idea where it is going to land. Chad Pennington is very accurate but his shoulder is held together by angel hair pasta and wishful thinking. Chad is smart, Ramsey, well, not so much. Neither one could be considered mobile.

When the Jets passed on Leinart I flipped. I know The Brick is going to be a stud and he was the safe pick, but I knew that about Blair Thomas too and look at how that turned out. The "BT Express" was derailed before it ever got out of the station. By the time the Jets second first round pick came around I had calmed down and rationalized that if the Jets drafted LenDale White (the other running back from USC , meaning not Reggie Bush, and the only power back in the draft) I would forgive them for passing on Leinart. In my opinion White has Eddie George, Larry Johnson type ability and could be that significant an addition to the team. What do they do? The draft a center, Nick Mangold, to replace Kevin Mawae who was a salary cap casualty and was aging anyway. Now, for a moment, I am livid, but in the back of my mind I know the Jets draft again in just a few picks and there is a better than average chance they can get LenDale White with their next pick, high in the second round. So now I actually start to feel encouraged. I think to myself, yes, this makes sense, rebuild the offensive line to protect the mediocre quarterbacks we have and then draft a stud running back to follow them into the end zone. I feel that warm sensation that Jets fans feel occasionally, hope. Yes, I say to myself, this CAN work... Chad won't make mistakes and if they give him a a lot of protection it won't matter so much his arm sucks. White will bash defenses and make crucial first downs and we have two young offensive lineman to protect them,

YES, THIS CAN WORK!!!

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS

What happens now?

The inevitable.

Crushing despair.

The Jets trade the pick. THEY TRADE IT AWAY!! For what? An extra pick in this draft and a 2nd rounder next year. They don't draft LenDale White. (rookie of the year in my mind at this point) They draft a quarterback from Oregon. A school whose mascot is a duck.

Quack! Quack! Quack!

What does this do?

This, aside from adding insult to injury, unleashes a raging bile soaked rant from me at the television. Roars of pain and anguish spew forth from me.

"IF YOU ARE GOING TO DRAFT A (expletive deleted)ING QB, WHY NOT DRAFT THE (expletive deleted)ING QB THAT IS A (expletive deleted)ING ROCK STAR!?!?! YES, YOU STUPID MOTHER (expletive deleted)ERS PASS ON THE ONLY POWER BACK IN THE (expletive deleted)ING DRAFT AFTER NOT HAVING THE BALLS TO DRAFT LEINART AND DRAFT A MOTHER (expletive deleted)ING QB FROM WHERE?? (expletive deleted)ING OREGON!!! OREGON??!!??? QUACK (expletive deleted)ING QUACK YOU STUPID MOTHER (expletive deleted)ERS"

I turn off the TV at this point and refuse to even look at the rest of the player they drafted until this morning. (They drafted a running back from Florida State that has 12 total touchdowns in college. LenDale White had 59 FIFTY NINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I left a series of enraged messages on my brother's answering machine ensuring that his new girlfriend thinks I am a raving lunatic. Some people think I am a reasonably well informed and intelligent individual. Listening to me after watching the Jets draft would lead someone to believe I was a completely insane person. Honestly, reliving it now has caused my blood pressure to spike and for me to start seeing spots.

Why not be a Falcons fan, you say? I mean, after all, I am in Atlanta now. I have a good reason. Falcons fans are about the rudest fans I have ever come across in sports history. They absolutely have no fan etiqutte whatsoever. I attended the Jets-Falcons game last year at the Georgia Dome. The fans stand up the whole game. I mean the ENTIRE game, from opening kick until we left. It was ludicrous.

Say what you want about New York fans, we understand the concept of fan eitquette. Long pass down the sideline, everyone stands up and screams. Play over? We sit our asses back in the seats until the next exciting thing happens. 2 and 8 and a two yard run up the middle we remain seated. We get excited when there is something to get excited about. We act as if we have been to a game before. The people here have no concept of how to behave at an NFL game. So I can't be a Falcon fan because there is almost no chance I will ever attend another game or have a desire to.

After this entire debacle I now have to consider whether I will get the NFL Sunday ticket again. Currently. the thought of paying a couple of hundred dollars to watch the Jets this season makes me physically ill.

No 1 of Consequence

How will the New York Jets fail their fans today?

Oil! We don't need no stinking oil!!

I LOVE the idea of alternative energy sources, but after reading this article you have to wonder about the effectiveness of ethanol as an alternative fuel. Does Germany have the right idea?

Jumping into the energy debate is always a tedious enterprise because the volume of information is enormous and truthfully there is no easy solution. A lot of the choices have serious downsides, but if we don't make a national and global commitment to one of them then we will never inspire the discoveries we need to make in those areas. JFK walks into a room in 1962 and says, "I want to see a man on the moon in the next ten years!" 1969, it happened. Thought leadership driving an important national initiative to fruition. We needed it then. We need it now.

Solar power is interesting, but bad because photovoltaics are inefficient. Wind power is interesting, but wind farms actually change the weather over time wherever they are. Ethanol is ineffective for reason described in the link above.

I have seen a system that allows cars to run on water, but fresh water. I can't think of a more colossal waste of creativity. Fresh water? You think the oil crisis is bad. You have not seen anything until the impending fresh water crisis on this planet comes to the forefront of everyone's mind. Fresh water supply is finite and the world's population is increasing, you do the math. Desalinization is an answer, but desalinization technology is currently very inefficient and it take a lot of energy to desalinize water. This leads us back to an energy crisis.

Harnessing the ocean's force is fascinating and I have begun designing a power generation grid that would be anchored to the ocean floor and something that could have significant possibilities harnessing the power of undersea rivers. However there are serious and significant ecological concerns. How will the grid interact with wildlife? To get enough energy to make it really effective would we actually be killing the ocean? What are the generation capabilities of ocean based turbines and would the fail rate or material used actually make it cost prohibitive? All things are to be determined. It is good to have a team of engineers working for you. They can answer questions like that.

If you are interested in renewable or alternative energy here is a link to the National Renewable Energy Lab.

_____________________________________

Onward to less important things:

Check out this site building a community of car owners. Have a bad lease, or a car you don't really like, post it on Swap A Lease and find someone to take it off your hands. Pretty cool.

Two very cool new atmospheric research satellites were launched into space early this morning.

Building a skyscraper? What should you put on the roof? Tar, nah, how about trying a garden?

Want to build a billion dollar business? Here are 7 ways how.

Blue Angels, over my shoulder, draining my productivity

It is the end of the month. Like most companies, my company puts the pedal to the metal come the last week of the calendar. Sales and deliverables both spike off the charts and there is an excited buzz in the air. As a senior member of the staff I have an office, with windows, just a stone's throw from Dobbins AFB in Marietta, GA. This weekend at the Atlana Naval Air Station the Blue Angels will be headlining an airshow. As I speak they are practicing out my damn window. Loops, precision flying, criss crossing formations... just about anything you can think of that appeals to the 7 year old boy in me. I can't keep my damn eyes on my computer because every time I hear the engines roar outside I want to roll my chair over and see what these incredibly talented folks are up to.

It has been kind of a fun exciting day. The first one I have had at the office for awhile. Between the office buzz and the Blue Angels outside the window it has made the day incredibly pleasant.

I thought it was 2006 and not 1956. I don't care if you are black and dating a white girl. I don't care if Latinos and Asians mix. I don't care. You know why I don't care? It is none of my damn business who goes to bed with who and what race they are. These two wannabe skin heads in Texas beat a poor Latino boy essentially to death (he hasn't passed yet, but he probably will) because the Latino tried to kiss a white girl. I hope their time in prison is well spent as the bitch to some Latin gang members. Perhaps that will teach them to keep their sniveling bigoted hands to themselves.

Record profits for Exxon. Record profits for Conoco Phillips. Qatar saying, "if you shut up, the price will go down." Isn't the world oil market grand. 3 bucks a gallon. There's innovation. I propose we pass legislation that ceases all oil imports within 5 years and see what kind of invention that necessity mothers.

And with the 4th pick, the New York Jets select...this guy. You know they are going to blow this pick. You just know it. Or, they will somehow manage to get Reggie Bush and he will suffer some sort of catastrophic injury and never live up to his promise. Just like the Jets.

No 1 of Consequence

Now that's a sick Beluga!

This is a picture of Gaspar, one of the Beluga whales at the new Georgia Aquarium. I just read this article about him and was saddened to hear he had taken ill. He is one of the great exhibits and stories of the aquarium after being rescued from an amusement park in Mexico where he was not able to receive top flight medical care. I am a devotee and season pass holder of the aquarium and believe it is one of the most spectacular attractions of my adopted home town.

Read my review of the aquarium.

See my pictures from the aquarium.

Get well soon little buddy!

No 1 of Consequence

Rounders, Poker and the Sports Guy

I am a poker fan. I am a decent player, but I don't play enough to be really good. I have a good understanding of other people so when sitting around the table I feel like I have an advantage. To be honest though I only play for stakes that don't mean anything to me. If I was ever playing for real money I would probably be in way over my head.

I am also a Bill Simmons fan. He is a very good writer and despite being a Boston fan is pretty insightful. He is also one of the last remaining Caucasian NBA fans on planet Earth. I read every column he writes and I enjoy 90% of them. The last couple of days he did a public e-mail exchange with the guys who wrote Rounders, a movie that was ahead of its time, but is an all time great film in terms of rewatchability and quote-ability. Who can sit down at a poker table these days without hearing the immortal words, "Jacks, does he look like a man that can be beaten by jacks?" I think not. Anyway, I enjoyed the articles so much I wanted to post links to them here. Enjoy. Here is Part 1 and here is Part 2.

No 1 of Consequence

Public Service Announcement

I have a beef, a complaint, a full out whine. The internet is mature at this point. It is constantly changing and reinventing itself, but as a medium I think we can all agree that it's no longer NEW. E-mail has been around just as long, if not longer. Can we all agree at this point to stop forwarding stupid stuff around to each other. I mean, if you are a friend of mine and you want to send me pictures of your kids, I am more than happy to see them. However if you send me something about Microsoft tracking my e-mail and sending me a check it is going to piss me off and make me think you are stupid. You find a news story that you think I will relate to? Send it over, I love to read interesting stuff, but if you send me something about a cancer kid trying to raise money by circling an e-mail around the globe I am going to get annoyed. It is the difference between personal contact and wasting my time. I have a friend who edits a newspaper, so when I see stuff that relates to his general geography I shoot it over to him. For one reason, to let him know I am thinking about him and give a crap about what's going on in his life. Secondly, because I know he will usually have some juicy tid bit that didn't make the paper. My brother and I are Jets fans. When we see something that we are excited about (rare) or something that makes our stomachs turn (often) we tell each other about it, because that has personal value. A silly forward about a missing girl that isn't really missing is just disrespectful of everyone's time.

I know this has been written about before, but I just find spam irritating and spam from my friends is even more irritating. Do me a favor, before you forward something, unless it is going to have real personal value to that person, check it out on snopes. They are really good at keeping track of internet garbage and helping you screen it out of your life and the lives of the people you care about.

No 1 of Consequence

Return from a break

OK, I am back. March's month end was incredibly fantastic and insane. At the same time I was saddled with writing performance reviews and job descriptions for my staff. Neither are fun and unfortunately for me, neither are complete. My job continues to be a challenge and exciting but as my company grows more of the mundane management details show their ugly heads and I am forced to deal with them. I know, boo hoo for me.

During my brief respite from blogging we had a number of visitors to Casa De No 1. Both No Mother of Consequence and No Mother in Law of Consequence and No Brother and No Sister in Law of Consequence graced us with visits which was absolutely great. It is always nice to see family, especially since it can be kind of lonely down here in GA. However, we had continuous visitors for almost two straight weeks and I don't care who you are, that can be draining.

Immigration has soared to the forefront of the news in my absence. It is serious and contentious and I don't have the energy to deal with it today. Also, I am not sure how coherent my position on it is. So, I will reserve judgement until I have time to do some research.

Now the fun begins. You know you have been talking on the phone a lot when you get a phone bill for $218 trillion dollars. I mean, even at $1000 a minute you would have to talk for 218 billion minutes. At 525,600 minutes in a year you would have to stay on the phone for 414,000+ consecutive years to rack up a bill like that. Now No Mother of Consequence likes to prattle, but even she isn't shooting her mouth off for millennia at a time. I know it is obviously a silly mistake or fraud but figuring out the math was a nice break from working.

On a much less fun note, a newspaper in the UK is reporting the Bush administration is planning nuclear strikes on Iranian nuclear targets. Is it only me, or is it becoming more and more likely that President Bush is trying to end the world since he can't be elected again. Come on, can't they rig the election for Jeb or something to keep the monarchy going.

I don't think encouraging students to take a position and make their voices heard in this country is a bad thing. A school is taking heat for offering community service credit to students who attend an immigration rally. This is not something I believe they should be taking heat for. Decisions in this country are made by those who show up. They are made by those who get involved and they are made by those who take risks. Encouraging students to take a stand, take a side and make a choice is a valuable lesson for them to learn and something that should be applauded, not criticized.


No 1 of Consequence