- I wonder how many times a person the Star Wars trilogy has been re-bought. I was talking to a friend who mentioned he bought them on VHS, the the remastered version on VHS, then on DVD, and now he has them on Blu-ray.
- I’ve noticed that more and more Mexican food restaurants do not provide cheese with their fajitas and once you ask for cheese, you are charged for this. Yesterday I ate a new place and was charged a whopping $2.25, and the waiter wasn’t even nice enough to give me a warning of such charge.
- Maybe it’s just a regional thing but when movies portray summer camp it seems like something the kids participate in all summer. It’s like parents are just dropping off kids to have a kid free summer or something. Here in Texas, I don’t think I recall anyone ever leaving for a camp that is longer than five days. I mention this because of a CBS Sunday Morning segment about a book in which kids write home from summer camp complaining and just how innocent yet funny those letters are. More about the book here.
- I always thought it was a bit weird how the U.S. sells military weapons such as fighter jets to other countries. I understand how it benefits us economically, but not knowing who could potentially become a threat years or decades later or what they may do with those weapons against one of our allies, it just seems a bit strange to sell a weapon of mass destruction. Heck, it seems weird to let someone else get or a more level playing field then us. You’d never see Microsoft allowing its products on Apple computers. What, they do? Oh, OK, that’s a bad example and now I’m just rambling.
- I’ve loved the first two seasons of Mad Men but so far I’m pretty disappointed in the first two episodes of the fourth season. Perhaps it’s building up to something.
- The Texas heat has never really bothered me and I would take it any day over a winter in the north east.
- Red Velvet Fried Chicken
- I was working with a D&M Leasing guy recently but decided not to go the route of leasing a car, but someone I got on the guy’s email distribution list of awkward Christian email forwards. Funny think, but I never shared my faith with him, so I’m guessing this is form of witnessing to him; but for a salesman, I don’t think that’s a good strategy.
- It all started in Marshall, TX – Man Scrawls World’s Biggest Message With GPS ‘Pen’
- For my fellow Jon Stewart and Star Wars fans, this is greatness.
- Vader vs Cat
- Full size TIE Interceptor
- 20 Facts About Pet Ownership in America
- My friend Andy recently encourage his readers to take the BeliefNet Spirituality Quiz, which is also known as the Belief-O-Matic. I took this quiz years ago, but since that time I’ve done a lot more research and studying, and I would like to think that I’ve matured in my faith. The quiz took about 10-15 minutes, so I encourage you to take it yourself if nothing more than just to question what and why you may believe the way that you do. Feel free to share your results, below are my top three:
1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%) 2. Liberal Quakers (91%) 3. Unitarian Universalism (88%) - For those of you that took time to read yesterday, THANK YOU.
Interesting results on the belief quiz. How well do you think they represent your actual beliefs? For me, my top two (Mainline to Liberal Protestant and Orthodox Quaker) were pretty different, which reflects my internal spiritual debate.
No wonder I enjoy your blog so much, our top 3 were all the same and our percentages were only 4 off.
100% Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants, but only 81% Liberal Quakers as my second and Baha'i as third… hmmm….
From reading your blog faithfully everyday, I assume you work indoors, in an office………With AC. If you were outside in this heat everyday I think the statement "never really bothered me" would be amended slightly. I get your point though, I spent 3 months late fall and early winter in PA last year. It snowed October 12th in Dubois. It's very hot out here the last 2 weeks my cyber friend!
My results (sorry to be so lengthy – I just cutted and pasted!):
1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
3. Theravada Buddhism (85%)
4. Liberal Quakers (84%)
5. Nontheist (71%)
6. Neo-Pagan (71%)
7. Taoism (66%)
8. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (64%)
9. Mahayana Buddhism (61%)
10. New Age (52%)
11. Sikhism (49%)
12. Jainism (48%)
13. Orthodox Quaker (45%)
14. Reform Judaism (43%)
15. Hinduism (36%)
16. Baha'i Faith (32%)
17. Scientology (30%)
18. New Thought (28%)
19. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (26%)
20. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (22%)
21. Seventh Day Adventist (21%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (19%)
23. Eastern Orthodox (17%)
24. Islam (17%)
25. Orthodox Judaism (17%)
26. Roman Catholic (17%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (13%)
Regarding the seeming conundrum of technology transfers to foreign countries, it's actually a positive thing that U.S. companies supply aviation or computer technology to countries, so long as they're not involved, or deemed likely to be, hostile to us.
Think of it this way: There's already an established demand for the technology. If not supplied by the U.S., it can be supplied by the Germans, Japanese, Russians, or Chinese, countries that may or may not share our interests at a given time or point on the globe. By allowing American companies to sell sensitive technology globally, subject to certain oversight, we have the opportunity to monitor and control its use, either by built in failsafes, use of American advisors/technicians, and control of supplies/replacement parts. Like the earlier commenter noted , what we are selling may not be the 'state of the art' in the U.S., but nonetheless sufficient for the customer's needs.
The economic benefit to American companies, which I believe is secondary to the rationale above, does allow our factories to supply U.S. technology needs more cost effectively by spreading R&D costs over a wider base, a benefit to U.S. taxpayers.
Buddhists for BoN!
1. Theravada Buddhism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (94%)
3. Mahayana Buddhism (88%)
Funny summer camp recollection (heard on This American Life) – A woman recounted that her immigrant mother, unclear on the complete concept of summer camp, dropped her three kids (ranging from about 7 to 11, if I recall correctly) at a public campground with a bag of groceries, then left them for – oh, a week or so to manage on their own. Didn't sound like she was intentionally negligent – just unfamiliar with this American-ism. I never went to summer camp as a kid, btw…