Framing the Dialogue

Archive for April, 2010

Hungry Shopping

Last Saturday morning I slept in a little and headed off to go grocery shopping at my favorite warehouse club.  I didn’t have time to eat breakfast before I left so I planned to have lunch at the club after shopping.  Plus it was Saturday and I knew the sample booths would be out in force attracting crowds of shoppers.    The free sample thing really works as I picked up a few extra items, but the traffic jams near the little carts can be irritating.  I am not sure why folks feel they have to eat the sample in front of the server.  That’s one of my pet peeves.

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News Briefs Volume VI

News briefs are a collection of interesting news stories…

Brief 1:  Obamagovernment dictates an increase in fuel economy of 10 mpg by 2016 (to 35.5 mpg).  Estimate are that this will only cost you another $1000 for your next car, but it will save you over $3000 over the life of the car.  If you use government accounting (i.e. Congressional Budget Office rules) they probably assume that the car will last you 25 years.  In order to achieve that mileage they will probably have to be plastic so they probably won’t rust.  The only real issue will be when some 90-something-year-old T-bones you at an intersection killing you and all of your passengers.  Plastic cars kill.  The way it works is that an auto manufacturer’s has to produce cars that average the new standards.  So all companies have to produce is a super high mileage car to balance the lower mileage cars that American consumers want to buy.

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America’s Tell

For those of you who don’t play or watch poker, a tell is something a player does that tips off his opponents to the quality of his hand.  A twitch of the eye, becoming too chatty, different breathing, or even becoming quiet all of a sudden can give your hand away.  In head to head competition allowing your opponent to  know your hand will ensure an eminent loss of chips.

I think that Americans can only hope that President Obama is one heck of a bluffer as he doesn’t seem  to be holding his hand close to his vest:

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Uncertainty (un – sûr – tn – tee)

Uncertainty is defined as:

  1. Situation where the current state of knowledge is such that the order or nature of things is unknown, the consequences, extent, or magnitude of circumstances, conditions, or events is unpredictable, and credible probabilities to possible outcomes cannot be assigned.
  2. Doubt

Synonyms:  doubt, mistrust, suspicion

What does W think?

“If America shows weakness and uncertainty, the world will drift toward tragedy. That will not happen on my watch.”

George W. Bush

Can you give an example?

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Far Left Pitch

Sometimes the news writes itself.  President Barack Hussein Obama threw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals’ home opener today.  He seemed to have learned and left his “Mom jeans” at home this time.  I searched for an hour for a shot showing the catcher scrambling to grab the errant pitch.  No luck.

Not surprisingly Obama threw the pitch to the far left of the Nationals’ player.  I was also wondering why Obama is wearing a glove?  And why the jacket?  It was like 85 degrees today.  Maybe he is a little thin-skinned.  You should be able to watch the video on YouTube.  Love the wingtips.  Not really a shoe for the “hip” president. 

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The Digital Photography Book Volume 2

This is the second edition to Scott Kelby’s book on digital photography.  In his own words, The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2 is all about “you and I out shooting where I answer questions, give you advise, and share the secrets I’ve learned just like I would with a friend – without all the technical explanations and techie photo speak.”

Volume 2 is not an update of his first book, but contains additional tips not covered before.  I first read it last year and reread most of it preparing for this review and was amazed again about what I forgot.  I made adjustments to my camera after reading it again.  Kelby again provides coverage of one tip per page and started off this book with one of the most challenging issues…flash photography.

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Easter Surprise

The image has been altered to protect my stupidity!

This was an unusual Easter for us as our son celebrates his 21st birthday on Easter.  Our family got together the day before to celebrate our family Easter so it was just going to be us today.  We decided to get him as one of his gifts a case of beer.  I am sure that it was his first one!  We needed some for home also so I thought to get two different kinds and divide them up giving us both some variety.

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Obamacare…The Beginning!

In a show of inordinate CLASS President Barack Hussein Obama mocked those of us who opposed his health care bill:

“You have to love some of the pundits in Washington.  Every day since I signed reform into law, there’s another poll or headline that says ‘Nation still divided on health reform. No great surge in public support.’ Well, yeah. It’s only been a week!”

So what happened the first week when United States corporations were required by Securities and Exchange Commission Rules to restate earnings based on the new “pro-business” Democrat Care program.

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The Drunkard’s Walk

You can’t judge a book by its cover…nor its catchy name.  I should have been wary when one of the comments on the book cover was from Stephen Hawking who said that it was “A wonderfully readable guide.”  I admit to being intrigued by learning “how randomness rules our lives” as the subtitle of The Drunkard’s Walk promises.  The book started off fairly interesting and I was struck by author Leonard Mlodinow’s explanation of regression toward the mean.

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