Blowin' Out

Not Sure Whether to Laugh or to Cry

2009-07-25T19:52:00.001-04:00

I ran across this article on my MSN homepage today about the zoo in Gaza:

Donkey Business: The only zebra in Gaza.

The Bucket BIG List

2009-07-24T20:06:00.005-04:00

Why wait until you're about to kick the bucket before you decide on the things you really want to do in life? Here is my list so far. It's called the BIG list 'cause if I get the chance to do some of these things, then I'll feel like I'm doing it Big!

Drive a ridiculously expensive sports car at a high enough speed to make me wonder if this is really a good idea after all.

Attend the following sporting events:

Superbowl

NBA Finals

World Series

Summer Olympic Games

See at least 3 of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World

Eat real Chinese food (while in China) and visit the Great Wall

Attend a movie premiere

To be continued as I think of more things...
I'm open to suggestions (make 'em good!).

Oh Henry!

2009-06-01T14:38:00.005-04:00

I just posted my first video on You Tube. It's a 2001 clip of my brother, Henry, going one-on-one against MJ while he was a counselor at his summer basketball camp. Enjoy!

Chain of Thought: PU!

2009-06-01T13:11:00.002-04:00

So I just returned from the Student Center. I went there to begin 'attacking the stack' (see previous blog post). Keep in mind this is the first time I've been there to try and relax and read. I usually only go there for lunch, otherwise I'm just passing through. After about 15 minutes of reading about Compensation and Weights for Trade-offs in Engineering design, here are some of the thoughts that went running through my head:

- Ok, I'm not so sure I agree with that statement. What's the reference?
- (Sniff) What is that?
- Maybe it will go away.
- Yeah, weighted sums suck
- (Group of three guys sit down one table over)
- God, that smells like hot garbage. Maybe it'll go away...
- Ok, I see what he's doing here
- Man! That stinks!
- It's not me is it? Naw...
- Is there a garbage can around here?
- Ok, definition of Pareto Optimal. Check
- (Looking around) Am I the only one that notices it?
- Guy at the next table: This smell is killing me!
- Nope. Ok, time to go! It smells like someone had the Hershey squirts in their pants. (Pack up and leave)

Very traumatic...not sure I'll be going back there to read again.

My Summer in a Nutshell...

2009-05-14T10:31:00.003-04:00

...or more accurately, a 17" high stack of journal articles, theses, and reports ranging topics from defense acquisition to multi-disciplinary design. Hopefully, somewhere in here is a PhD thesis topic!

Swine Flu: The Saga Continues

2009-05-06T21:05:00.004-04:00

I just came across this article. Now I am truly convinced that the whole swine flu, ahem, H1N1 panic has just gone too far when the Afghanistan Zoo has put what is most likely the only pig in the entire country under quarantine!

Afghanistan Quarantines It's Only Pig

I Pity the Fool!

2009-05-03T11:21:00.003-04:00

Apparently, Chicago is getting serious about tackling crime. They are getting tough with a capital 'T':

Mr. T Called for Jury Duty

I doubt the judge would have to worry about a hung jury if Mr. T was on it.

Bikelanta

2009-05-03T11:01:00.006-04:00

I went to 'Bikelanta', an annual motorcycle event held at Mountain Motorsports in Conyers, GA. It was a good time. Though it started getting more crowded as the day wore on, there wasn't as much of a turnout as I thought there was going to be. They had plenty of bikes on display and discounts on bikes and other merchandise. I also have some pics of the stunt show that they put on a couple of times during the day. The stunt guy did a good job. It was hard to get good pics because of where I was standing, though. Next time, I hope I won't have to leave early so I don't miss the bikini contest!

Something New

2009-05-03T10:48:00.004-04:00

You know the old saying 'you learn something new every day'? Well, here is a list of things I learned at the first baby shower (it was co-ed) that I ever attended:
1. Fortunately, a 'diaper cake' is not something meant to be eaten
2. Unfortunately, gourmet baby food should be regarded in the same manner. Now I know why they are always spitting up their food!
3. A 'onesie' is an article of clothing for newborns. (Being the only single/no kids person there I got laughed at pretty hard for not knowing this). We were given the chance to come up with our own design and here was my entry:

I decided to keep it simple and just go with the baby's initials. The white things are supposed to be clouds. I included an image of the sun in the corner with the #1 since this will be my friend's first-born son.

One month Post-Op

2008-08-03T20:11:00.002-04:00

I had my one month LASIK post-operative checkup recently. My vision is stabilizing nicely. The slight nearsightedness in my left eye is all gone, so wow I am 20/20 in each eye and see 20/15 with both eyes. Also, almost all of the glare I experienced at night from bright lights initially after the surgery is gone too. Needless to say (but I'll guess I'll say it anyway) that I'm very happy with the results.

What I miss about Hawaii

2008-07-23T14:20:00.004-04:00

Having lived in Hawaii for three years, there are just some things you come to miss, like the beaches, fresh pineapples, luaus, and of course the weather...

If you were invited to a 90's party, how would you dress?

2008-07-21T14:19:00.005-04:00

70's Fashion:

80's Fashion:

90's fashion:

???? Did people just come to their senses! ????

... Maybe not

Life in Grad School

2008-07-21T13:20:00.002-04:00

If I Ruled the World ...

2008-07-15T12:59:00.007-04:00

If, on the off chance that I ever became supreme lord and dictator of the United States (or maybe just a powerful VP like Cheney) I would immediately enact the following law:

- Effective immediately all citizens who wish to become parents must pass a 'Parenthood Test'. I think too often people are quick to say "I have the right to do this" or "I'm entitled to this" without ever thinking that with each right comes a responsibility. Yes, you have the God-given right to bear children, but then you also have the responsibility of raising productive, law-abiding members of society. After all, why should I have to worry about your future offspring becoming a menace to society and causing me undue stress or harm because you did a poor job of raising your child!

I think that with enough arguing and compromise the nation as a whole could agree what skills constitute being a good parent. For example, courses in simple home economics, feeding and caring of infants and children, proper nutrition, basic first aid, etc. In some cases maybe even anger management!

I know this would be difficult to enforce and would also have plenty of unintended consequences if not managed right. However, our society has changed to the point where we can really no longer rely on the tight-knit communities of the past to enforce social standards of parenting. This is not true everywhere in America, but it is true in enough places.

I would propose that people/couples that did have children without first passing the Parenthood Test would be subject to screening and monitoring by government social workers and health officials until they pass the exam. If they refuse, they would lose any tax incentives or have their Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid benefits suspended until they comply. Why wait until we think a child/children are being abused or neglected until we step in? Why not be proactive and identify at-risk parents early and give them some type of support from the beginning?

Sounds tough, I know. But the test would be designed so that any normal, reasonable person could pass it without much difficulty. It would cover most of the 'common sense' items that apparently aren't too common. It would also force people to question whether if they are at the point in their lives where they are ready to make some of the sacrifices necessary to be a good parent. Being a parent is the single most important job any person will ever have in their life and if as a community, a nation we are all responsible to each other for respecting and protecting the rights we have all agreed upon, why not enforce standards for parenthood?

Many will argue that this is an invasion of privacy and that a U.S. citizen should be able to raise their children as they see fit. I agree, but I would also say that along with that right comes the responsibility to raise children correctly. I would add that this measure would not be enacted to tell you how exactly to raise your child, only to ensure that everyone wishing to become a parent has the basic life-skills in place to do so.

So you still think this is too harsh? Two words: Britney Spears.

Dilbert on Meetings

2008-07-09T20:55:00.000-04:00

Area 51 & The NASA Budget

2008-07-09T03:33:00.001-04:00

Conspiracy Theories, Really?

Conspiracy
1 a: to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or an act which becomes unlawful as a result of the secret agreement b: scheme2: to act in harmony toward a common end
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

These topics came up in conversation the other day, so I guess this is my first official rant...

Why are some of us so skeptical about things like global warming, where publicly available and scrutinized data exists from credible scientific sources, but can more readily accept on heresy the possibility that much farther out ideas like Area 51 and the Illuminati are true?

I am willing to concede that it is more than likely that there is a small, dedicated, and fanatical group of people exploiting our government for their own personal gains and exerting undue influence over our government and other national institutions, but I think more often than not they operate in the open and are called either corporate lobbyists or bad congressmen/women.

I think conspiracies do happen, but they are often limited to very specific events or operations (like cover-ups), where there are a limited amount of people involved and the information can be easily suppressed or spun to their liking. As the scope of the operation grows in size and requires more people to be involved, employed, and trusted I think the likelihood of a credible conspiracy theory dwindles in direct proportion. Just think about how hard it is to even get a large room full of people to quiet down sometimes for any length of time, let alone willingly conspire against the world.

Therefore, I am much more skeptical about what I call 'grand conspiracies' like the existence of a shadow government or Area 51. Whether we like to admit it or not we all like to gossip, and conspiracy theories satisfy the need for gossip on a larger scale. If you think about it, the mechanism by which these conspiracies spread, i.e. the human urge to 'spill the beans' and boost one's ego by proving they are in the know about something, is the same mechanism that works against keeping these secret conspiracies a secret in the first place. Add to this the fact that we live in the age of YouTube, camera phones, thumb drives, mass media, sensationalist headlines, and the sheer number of people out to make a buck, I have to believe that it is much more difficult to conceive, organize, and execute any conspiracy. More often than not these would-be conspiracies end up as today's latest scandals (think Abu Ghraib, CIA 'secret' prisons, etc.)

Here's my problem with two of the biggest 'grand conspiracies' out there:

Shadow/Puppet Government
If a secret dictatorship does exist and we openly admit this fact then what does that say about us? Either:
1. We are sheep who are too lazy and apathetic to care that every facet of our lives is being controlled or influenced by some grand puppet master(s). Instead of taking to the streets or getting together and organizing to demand that we have an open, transparent government that is accountable to the people which they serve, we sit idly by and are happy to go on about our day, in which case we probably deserve to be the subjects of invisible emperors who will do whatever they feel is appropriate. OR
2. Some facet of our government (even if it does operate in secret) has possessed for some time now a high level of ability, organizational skills, and resources to carry out extremely complicated and efficient operations. If this is the case, we should be outraged not so much that this type of organization exists, but that at the very least some of this ability and efficiency hasn't filtered down in some form or fashion to other government agencies like the current Presidential administration (think current Iraq War) or FEMA (Hurricane Katrina). More often bad government and policies are due to bad luck, bad timing, selfishness, neglect, poor organization, and/or mismanagement rather than planned and coordinated misdeeds.

Yes, there are government organizations that are efficient and well run. One example that easily comes to mind is the American military. But any soldier, sailor, airmen, or marine that has ever served will tell you there are plenty of inefficiencies that could still be ironed out. It's just that the military has succeeded in cultivating a culture of accountability and efficiency among a group of (mostly) highly motivated and dedicated individuals. When it comes to warfare, people tend to be more motivated to get their job right on a daily basis since it can mean the difference between coming home or not. Even then, the military utilizes the concept of drilling. Drill, drill, drill, drill not just until you get it right, but until you can't get it wrong. The military recognizes the fact that in a crisis, few people tend to rise to the occasion but are more likely to sink to their level of training.

And yes, there are 'black ops' and secret missions that occur all the time. However, these operations generally occur on our behalf and we as a people are accepting of their secretive nature. They are not conspiracies, they are classified. If one of these were to turn into a true conspiracy or go rogue, I think it would only be a matter of time before a scandal broke out and public outrage would cause heads to roll. We don't tolerate military coups here in the good old U.S. of A!

Area 51:
My biggest problem is that if telepathic aliens did crash land, why did they crash in the first place? If they are so superior both mentally and technologically and able to travel distances measured in light years, their sophisticated spacecraft should have a much higher safety and reliability rating so as to be able to avoid crashes due to malfunctions and pilot error in the first place. We ain't talking about Joe Schmoe piloting his Cessna here.

If aliens did in fact crash land all those years ago, why is the NASA budget so small relative to GDP and continuously on the chopping block?

It would be reasonable to assume that our government and military (paranoid as they are at times) would assume the worst and that there are bad aliens out there on their way to get us, especially since their ship crash landed and they probably know where we are or can figure it out eventually. I have to believe it would be a much more urgent situation for our government (shadow or puppet), even if they were keeping it under wraps to avoid mass panic. But then again, if bad aliens were on the way then why even care about Iraq, the Middle East, or anybody else for that matter? Why not go where we need to, kick some butt, take all the oil or whatever other resources we need, and then focus our efforts on fighting the aliens who are the real threat? Why waste all of your potential war fighters on building up a nation that couldn't overthrow a dictator, much less help you out in an alien invasion?

Also, we can't disregard NASA's inability to leave low earth orbit for over two-plus decades. Why hasn't more money been thrown NASA's way to develop more advanced spaceships? If not to fight off the aliens and save the planet, then at least to save the wealthy and influential in case of alien invasion. Why not push NASA to go to Mars or back to the moon sooner to establish secret hideaways in case the aliens come to attack earth? Why slow the pace of technological innovation when it comes to space-based capabilities? Where are the orbiting death stations and military satellites armed to the teeth to repel alien invasion?

Also, why sit by and allow the decades long decline in math and science among young Americans? Is No Child Left Behind the best we can do to potentially train the army of engineers and scientists we would most likely need to combat a technologically advanced civilization? Why fool the people into thinking we are much less capable than we are? Are there alien spies among us?

If telepathic aliens did exist and we spent the last few decades dissecting one in some fancy New Mexico basement to see how it ticks, where are our armies of trained telepaths and telekinetics? It's sad to say, but we're even lacking in trained Arabic translators for a terrestrial war in Iraq we voted for months in advance.

Even if there is a 'shadow NASA' that operates and hordes all this alien technology, where was the KGB during the Cold War? Speaking of the Cold War, Russia and probably the rest of the many nations that view us as imperialistic dictators would have declared open warfare on us long ago to get at this technology so they could save their own behinds.

And if the only advanced technology that has slowly trickled out are cell phones and iPods, that means: a) we're doomed as a society because our brains are too small to reverse engineer the aliens' superior technology or b) there are some very selfish people out there that need to be found and given a stern talking to about sharing with the rest of mankind.

But then again, I could be a foot-soldier in the New World Order or an alien super spy and this well-timed rant is designed to lull you, poor reader, back into your trance-like existence of over-priced oil, over-priced lattes, and mindless consumerism (insert evil laugh here).

Light, Sweet & Crude

2008-07-08T21:16:00.000-04:00

The price of a barrel of oil has dropped more than $9 over the last two days. Apparently, this is due to Iran's president downplaying whether America and Iran will go to war with each other. This seems kind of odd to me since Ahmadinejad is portrayed by our media as a ranting lunatic half the time...maybe he's finally realized that V.P. Cheney will actually push Bush (The Decider) to war with Iran if given the slightest opening to do so!

Anyways, the way I'm dealing with high gas prices is to ride my motorcycle to work about 3-4 times a week (Isn't she beautiful!). I ride a Suzuki 'Katana' GSX600F.

The tank holds 4.4 gallons of gas (plus reserve capacity). Usually I can go two weeks without filling up if I just ride back and forth from work, which averages out to about $9 a week now that it is over $4 a gallon. Not bad...especially since it costs more than $50 a pop to fill up my car with premium fuel. I figure if I only drive the car on the weekends that will help save me a lot of money over the summer.

Vote for me!

2008-07-07T11:38:00.001-04:00

I can see clearly now!

2008-07-02T21:55:00.000-04:00

So the LASIK was a success. Actually, everything went really smooth. The actual procedure only took about 10 minutes. Immediately afterwards I went from not even being able to see the big 'E' on the top of the eye chart clearly to having legal driving vision! Yes, my eyes were that bad, but apparently I am only a "moderate" prescription. The LASIK doctors can correct people with prescriptions up to 4 times worse than mine!

In terms of discomfort, the day of the surgery is hardest on your eyes so they strongly urge you to take a nap after the procedure, which I did. When I woke up, though, all the remaining blurriness and discomfort went away. For the first time I was able to look across the room and actually read the small clock on my desk.

The day after the surgery I went in to the eye doctor for a followup visit. My eyes are healing well and at this point I have 20/20 vision in both eyes. Since my eyes are still healing I might even end up with better vision than that. It will be another couple of days until I can get back to working out, etc.

So far so good! Up to this point, I would say the worst part has been having to go without television, computers, and reading for the past 48 hours.

Death & Taxes

2008-06-29T22:03:00.000-04:00

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
-- Benjamin Franklin

"When you get rid of the estate tax, you're basically handing over command of the country's resources to people who didn't earn it. It's like choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the children of all the winners at the 2000 Games. "
-- Warren Buffett in The Audacity of Hope

Getting a read on Obama

2008-06-29T21:10:00.000-04:00

I (finally) finished reading Barack Obama's second book "The Audacity of Hope". It was a great read. He's a good public speaker so it wasn't much of a surprise that his book was well written.

Though I didn't agree with all of his views that he presented, overall I think he has a good understanding of where we are as a country and the changes we need to make. More importantly, it gave me a better insight into his particular way of thinking. I have a much better understanding of his thought process and how he synthesizes his life experiences when making decisions and critiquing policies.

From now on, whenever there is a presidential election I'm going to try to read a book written by (and not just about) a presidential candidate. I think taking the time to sift through their book is a much better way to judge how well a candidate will perform as the next leader of the free world than simply relying on Fox News or CNN.

While it's important to see the candidate on television so you can judge how well they present themselves to the world, in general I think all you're really left with from those soundbites and televised debates is how good a politician the candidate is i.e. how well they react to the latest political mud-slinging or how well they keep from blurting out the wrong things and losing potential voters when a reporter shoves a microphone in their face. Which, I admit, is probably a lot harder than it looks since I've lost count the number of times I've put my foot in my mouth over much less trivial matters than say National Defense or how to fix the American health care system.

With all this in mind, I think the best way to keep our elections at every level from being more than a popularity contest, especially when we're trying to decide the next Commander-in-Chief, is to have each candidate submit a proposal to the American people in the format of a formalized paper. I don't think it's enough to have the candidates climb up on soap boxes and announce their position on this or their position on that, which can change with the latest exit poll or depend on what state they happen to be visiting at the time. I think the paper they would have to submit should outline what they think are the major challenges America will face, as well as their priorities and plans to meet those challenges. I would limit the paper to a certain number of pages or issues that they could discuss. I think if we had something in writing it would be much easier to hold them accountable and compare the different candidates. More importantly, it would force each candidate to sit down and come up with a detailed plan on where they plan to take the nation. I recognize that things change, so I think it wouldn't be practical to force someone to rigidly follow whatever ideas they happened to come up with. The real value of this exercise would be to see what a candidate picked as their top priorities and why, and most importantly their thought process in generating and critiquing different ideas and potential solutions to different problems. My belief is that this would be a much better system than having each candidate simply react to whatever happens to be the hottest issue the press can cook up at the time.

Of course, politicians being held accountable is probably the reason why my idea will never work.

Well, I guess I have to find a book written by John McCain now!

Comics & Politics

2008-06-29T21:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my friend Joe for sending me this one:

The Light! The Light!

2008-06-26T20:53:00.000-04:00

So after about 16 years of wearing glasses and contacts I finally decided enough is enough. I have been thinking about getting LASIK done to my eyes for awhile now and now I think I'm going to go through with it. I had my first consultation with the eye doctor this past Monday, who assured me I am a good candidate. During the exam I had more eye drops put into my eyes in 2 hours than I've used in 20 years.

They began by checking my prescription, then putting drops in my eyes so they can do an ultrasound to determine the thickness of my cornea. After that more drops to fully dilate my pupils, but after a half hour I needed more drops since my eyes weren't dilating. The drops they used were so strong that it takes 24-48 hours for your pupils to get back to normal. So I had to walk around looking like this guy for awhile (minus the funky fresh outfit of course)...

Obviously, this makes it real hard to read or look at a computer screen, so after giving up trying to work I decided to sit in a dark room for the rest of the day listening to iTunes and my Freakonomics audio book.

It's been almost 4 days now and I am still light sensitive, but at least I don't have to wear the sunglasses indoors now, just to drive in the bright Georgia sunshine. My actual LASIK appointment is scheduled for Monday, so I guess stay tuned.

The hardest thing about blogging is...

2008-06-19T12:46:00.000-04:00

I would say that the hardest thing about blogging is actually coming up with a name for your blog. After about a week of thinking on it I finally decided to just go through different song lyrics of my favorite artists. The title of this blog comes from the hook off of a Digable Planets song (remember them?). It's called 'Blowin Down' from their second studio album 'Blowout Comb'. The group was most popular for their first hit in 1992 titled 'Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat).

Across the Pond: UK May 2008

2008-06-16T15:24:00.001-04:00

In early May I got the chance to visit some friends who are working and living in England. It was my first trip there and it turns out that May is a good time of year to go (it only rained once). I spent most of the time visiting my friends in Harrogate, which is in the center of England and a couple of hours north of London.

While I was there I got a chance to go to a soccer match. I watched the Middlesbrough Football Club beat Portsmouth by a couple of goals and shout "C'mon Boro!" whenever we wanted to rally the team.

I also got a chance to visit York and spend the day sightseeing in London. I took the train down to London and then used 'the Tube' (i.e. the subway) to get to Trafalgar Square. London has those double-decker red tourist buses that you can ride around the city all day and hop on/hop off. It's not too expensive (around 20 pounds I think) and a lot better than trying to catch a cab everywhere. I made some stops at the usual tourist spots like the London Eye and Buckingham Palace. Check out the pics (clicking on the slide show will take you to the actual web album):

The big thing to watch out for when taking a European vacation is the exchange rate. Ouch!