Entries Tagged as 'Uncategorized'

Un·Sty·Me – A Resource for Artistic Minds

Fellow readers, as this blog grows and engages more people, new diverse segments are considered and brainstormed. In an effort to appeal to a ever-widening audience, beginning September 4th, a new blogroll begins.

This one is for the artists, for the writers, and for the imaginers.

The concept is simple.  This blogroll will become a resource for creative minds.  Call it stir or a digital muse, of sorts.

The only goal is to provide a way to unblock inspiration.

Thusly, Un·Sty·Me is born.

Quote of the Day

“Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it.” ~Eileen Caddy

Word of the Day: Aplomb

Aplomb

\uh-PLOM \  , noun;

  • Assurance of manner or of action; self-possession; confidence; coolness.

Origin:

Aplomb is from the French word meaning "perpendicularity, equilibrium, steadiness, assurance," from the Old French phrase a plomb , from a , "according to" (from Latin ad ) + plomb , "lead weight" (from Latin plumbum , "lead").

Open Thread

Even sick, I have to get my car into the shop and get it repaired. So feel free to talk amongst yourselves.

Happy New Year!

And hopefully, you didn’t have your car broken into like I did earlier today.

Image of the Day – Global Temperatures

GHCN_GISS_1200km_Anom1212_2008_2008_1951_1980

Just a year long assessment of Temperatures and their departure from the ~1950 through 1980 averages.

Finally A New Leader for the Republican Party!


Zombie Reagan Raised From Grave To Lead GOP

Quote for the day

From a “Recovering Republican

The 2008 financial crash further proved to me the necessity of an economic safety net within the market system; tying health insurance to employment suddenly made no sense, for example, when millions of people lost their jobs due to conditions beyond their control. Capitalism with a few safety pads — or a condom, I suppose, since the recession has fucked us all — is a far cry from a Marxian worker’s paradise.

I am not an extreme leftist by any means — I still dream of swimming in a vault of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck, I would die to protect the First Amendment from censorial progressive overreach (the same goes for theocratic conservative overreach), and I would consider voting for moderate Republicans if any still existed — but I’ve learned to see the big picture. It doesn’t matter whether you are liberal or conservative, but it’s dangerous to always think with exclamation points instead of question marks. Your stance on any particular issue is far less important than whether your worldview is a product of inquiry or incuriosity, whether you feel more comfortable questioning the crowd or blindly marching with it. No ideology has a monopoly on reality — including my rediscovered left-wing politics.

No longer drunk on jingoism and bloodlust, I feel like a German in 1946, wondering what the hell happened to me, what the hell I supported when I harbored no doubt that we should “nuke ‘em all” and measured people by standards other than their character. The years pass, but I cannot reconcile my former and present selves; in my early 20s I made the worst mistake of my life –injecting poison into a world that desperately needed the antidote — and while it’s impossible to undo that error, perhaps my penance is remembering and therefore not repeating it.

Neda… Lest we forget

This is the thug regime and their handywork to snuff outa beautiful life

LOLCat of the Week

funny pictures of cats with captions
Source: icanhascheezburgers

Tropical Storm Erika Forms

The storm is marginal, but with winds of 50 MPH (to the northeast of the center). it has some potential to develop. The storm is also a slow mover and doesn’t appear to be in any rush to go anywhere in particular. If you’re in Florida or the East coast, keep an eye on this one.

From the nhc site:

AT 5 PM…2100 UTC…THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES HAS
ISSUED A TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR THE ISLAND OF ST. MAARTEN.

AT 5 PM…THE GOVERNMENT OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA HAS ISSUED A
TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR THE ISLANDS OF ANTIGUA…BARBUDA…ST.
KITTS…NEVIS…AND ANGUILLA.

AT 5 PM…THE GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE HAS ISSUED A TROPICAL STORM WATCH
FOR THE ISLANDS OF ST. MARTIN AND ST. BARTHELEMY.

ERIKA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 9 MPH…15 KM/HR…
AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE
OF DAYS. ON THIS TRACK THE CENTER OF ERIKA IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN
TO THE NORTHEAST OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 50 MPH…85 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. SOME SLOW STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT COUPLE
OF DAYS.

After that… here’s the wave train as they call it:

The 4 Healthy looking waves over Africa could each potentially become a tropical system as they come into the Atlantic.

Housing Prices still down from a Year Ago

I find it fascinating that the price of homes was reported as rising from the start of the year by some news agencies (IE the radio as I was driving to work), but the year over year price is still going down:

U.S. home prices fell 6.1 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier as a record number of foreclosures eroded the value of real estate.

The rate of decline slowed from the first quarter’s 7.1 percent drop, according to a report today from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Measured monthly, prices rose 0.5 percent in June after a 0.6 percent monthly gain in May, the Washington-based agency said.

Prices fell in June in four of nine U.S. regions covered by the report as banks seized real estate from delinquent borrowers. About 4.3 percent of U.S. homes, or one in 25 properties, were in foreclosure in the second quarter, according to an Aug. 20 report from the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington. That’s the most in three decades of data.

Of course, what people aren’t mentioning about home prices going up this quarter is how much effect speculators are having along with people using the homebuyer tax rebate. The stimulated demand is helping but as more people slip underwater, the glut is going to continue, and get worse.

Anyone Want to Buy me this Car?

Really, I promise to drive carefully!

Just reading the work behind the car is incredible.

A few Savory Stats
0 – 60: Under 2.5 seconds
Top Speed: with the top on 253MPH, with the top off: 217MPH or so

The acceleration is so immediate you can feel your eyeballs deform under the G-forces. It’s a sensation of isolationist joy, an out-of-body awareness that you’re moving faster than the world can react. Bystanders vaguely remember seeing a flash of expensive paint a few seconds after you disappear over the horizon; entire generations of insects die on your prow. Passing other motorists becomes a dangerous entitlement that has you resenting oncoming traffic for hogging your “VIP lane” — especially when you realize that you can outrun not only the 5-0’s cruisers, but their helicopters, too. If they wanna catch you, they’re gonna have to dust off Airwolf and drag Jan Michael Vincent out of rehab.

XKCD

When your comics confuse you and make you think, its has to be a sign of something, not sure what but something. A cookie to anyone who gets the joke in less than 5 minutes without anyone’s help.

http://xkcd.com/

And in News that Suprised No One

The Atlanta Falcons Released Michael Vick.