Tuesday, July 31, 2012

India blackout worsens; 620M in dark

India blackout worsens; 620M in dark


India's energy crisis spread over half the country Tuesday when three of its electricity grids collapsed, leaving some 620 million people without power in one of the world's biggest-ever blackouts.
The power failure has raised serious concerns about India's outdated infrastructure and the government's inability to meet an insatiable appetite for energy as the country aspires to become a regional economic superpower."

Monday, July 30, 2012

Afghanistan Veterans With Genital Wounds Receive Little Help From Pentagon

Afghanistan Veterans With Genital Wounds Receive Little Help From Pentagon

For the growing number of soldiers and Marines whose genitals are damaged or destroyed by blasts from improvised explosive devices while in combat, the Pentagon has decided it will not provide some critical reproductive health benefits.
To put it bluntly, if you are sent to war and an IED blast blows off your testicles, the U.S. government will not pay for your wife to have in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination using donated sperm.
The new policy, quietly adopted without announcement by the Defense Department, responds to the growing demands of the more than 1,800 veterans with genital wounds that the government that sent them to war now help them return to normal life, including raising a family.
The policy authorizes payment for some reproductive procedures for the first time, including limited in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination. But it also specifically excludes covering males who cannot produce sperm. "Third-party donations and surrogacy are not covered benefits," the policy states firmly.
The Pentagon decision dashes the hopes of a growing number of young Americans wounded in combat and unable to produce sperm who had wanted to start a family. In one recent U.S. military study, the average age of those with genital wounds was 24 years. The majority of those in military service -- 56 percent -- are married.
Pentagon officials were not immediately available to explain their decision to deny benefits to couples like Heather and Mark Litynski, a Marine who lost both legs and his left arm, along with his testicles, to an IED blast in Afghanistan almost two years ago.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough.

Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough.
Don Marquis

Chopping Wood

Chopping Wood

Did Mitt Romney get a ‘bailout’ for Bain & Company?

Did Mitt Romney get a ‘bailout’ for Bain & Company?

In 1990, Romney was brought in to fix things. He certainly had a stake in the outcome, in part because the Bain brand name would be damaged by a bankruptcy and because Bain & Company partners were investors in Bain Capital.
According to the book by Boston Globe reporters, “The Real Romney,” Romney drove a hard bargain with the firm’s creditors but especially with his former colleagues: “He was toughest when it came to negotiation with the partners at Bain & Company. He told the founding partners they had to give up about $100 million, or half the money they’d been planning to take out of the firm.”
Other lenders accepted 80 cents on the dollar, realizing that a default would leave them with even less.
Meanwhile, Bain & Company also owed $38 million to the Bank of New England. But the Bank of New England had made many bad loans, faltered and by early 1991 had been seized by the federal government. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sold the bank to Fleet Financial, a Rhode Island bank, and a Fleet subsidiary was tasked with trying to collect on the outstanding loans.
After months of negotiations, the outstanding loan was reduced by $10 million, including forgone interest.
The FDIC deals with this problem constantly when it seizes banks, figuring out how it can get the most money out of distressed loans. Changing the terms or reducing the loan is fairly typical, as the FDIC indicates in its Guide to Bank Failure.
The FDIC’s Resolution Handbook also says (page 80):
Restructuring a loan for a financially distressed borrower is normally more productive for the receiver than foreclosing on the collateral or initiating lawsuits to collect the debt. Maximizing recovery on failed institution assets is the receiver’s responsibility, and litigation expenses can very rapidly consume any funds recovered
The FDIC tries to collect as much as possible, but ultimately has to make good on deposits at least up to $250,000. (In the Bank of New England case, the limit was $100,000 at the time, but the agency decided to guarantee all deposits.) But any shortfall is made up through assessments made on FDIC-member banks.
That’s right — no taxpayer money is involved. The FDIC prides itself on not taking taxpayer funds.
So does this qualify as a “bailout”? The dictionary definition of bailout refers to “ rescue from financial distress.” By that standard, some of the Bain Capital deals so heavily criticized by the Obama campaign, such as Ampad and GS Industries, might qualify as “bailouts.” A more proper term — the one used by the FDIC — is “loan restructuring.”
Cutter’s statement is cleverly and carefully worded, since it never mentions taxpayer funds. But her introductory sentence — “Mitt Romney knows better than anyone that business can’t always do it alone” — certainly suggests taxpayer funds were involved. The clear implication is that he benefited from a bailout like the Wall Street banks during the financial crisis.
That’s not the case, though one can get into a theoretical argument as to whether the FDIC’s money, once collected from banks, is actually then “government money.”

Friday, July 27, 2012

Man Held in Maryland Threats HAD 25 (TWENTY FIVE) GUNS Police Say

 Man Held in Maryland Threats HAD 25 (TWENTY FIVE) GUNS Police Say

Nope ZERO RESTRICTIONS needed, RIGHT?

19 pictures which scream NO EXCUSES

19 pictures which scream NO EXCUSES

TheOatMeal: Primary Difference Between NORTH & SOUTH KOREA?

TheOatMeal: Primary Difference Between NORTH & SOUTH KOREA?

Maryland man arrested with dozens of weapons, says he's the Joker

Maryland man arrested with dozens of weapons, says he's the Joker

Prescott was upset about losing his job and said: "I am the real Joker, and I'm going to blow everyone up," McGaw said.

NYC: Smallest Apartment in America

NYC: Smallest Apartment in America

Disconnect: Chrome addon - Stop third parties and search engines from tracking the webpages you go

Disconnect: Chrome addon - Stop third parties and search engines from tracking the webpages you go

Monday, July 23, 2012

‘Seinfeld’ Star Jason Alexander Calls for Assault Weapon Ban

‘Seinfeld’ Star Jason Alexander Calls for Assault Weapon Ban

Aurora Massacre Victim Who Was Shot in the Head Saved from Brain Damage by Birth Defect

Aurora Massacre Victim Who Was Shot in the Head Saved from Brain Damage by Birth Defect

"After hours of anxious anticipation, the family received their first bit of good news: "It went well, and she's recovering now. We found very little damage to the brain, and got the bullet out cleanly. It went better than we hoped for."
Later, after Petra was officially out of the woods, one of the surgeons who operated on her filled the family in on the stunning turn of events. Strait recalls the exchange:
It seems as if the bullet traveled through Petra's brain without hitting any significant brain areas. The doctor explains that Petra's brain has had from birth a small "defect" in it. It is a tiny channel of fluid running through her skull, like a tiny vein through marble, or a small hole in an oak board, winding from front to rear. Only a CAT scan would catch it, and Petra would have never noticed it.
But in Petra's case, the shotgun buck shot, maybe even the size used for deer hunting, enters her brain from the exact point of this defect. Like a marble through a small tube, the defect channels the bullet from Petra's nose through her brain. It turns slightly several times, and comes to rest at the rear of her brain. And in the process, the bullet misses all the vital areas of the brain. In many ways, it almost misses the brain itself. Like a giant BB though a straw created in Petra's brain before she was born, it follows the route of the defect. It is channeled in the least harmful way. A millimeter in any direction and the channel is missed. The brain is destroyed. Evil wins a round."

Holmes - Terror Link? More signs point to James E. Holmes having been Occupy 'Black Bloc' member

Holmes - Terror Link?

Sounds like 'black bloc' act:

More signs point to James E. Holmes having been Occupy 'Black Bloc' member

‎"Your actions are your only true belongings." ~Allan Lokos

‎"Your actions are your only true belongings." ~Allan Lokos

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Rupert Murdoch Tweets Support For Gun Control

Rupert Murdoch Tweets Support For Gun Control


Media baron Rupert Murdoch took to Twitter Saturday evening to express his support for gun-control measures in the wake of the Aurora, CO shooting that killed 12 people on Friday

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Craig Ferguson #ColoradoShooting #Aurora Opening Video

Melissani Undercover Cave (GREECE) and Lake

Melissani Undercover Cave and Lake



Viacom and DirecTV in deal to restore programming

Viacom and DirecTV in deal to restore programming

 Viacom and DirecTV announced Friday that they have reached a deal, putting aside their dispute and allowing Viacom's programming to immediately return to the airwaves.
The agreement ends a fee dispute that had interrupted programmingsince July 10.
Viacom blacked out channels for 20 million customers of DirecTV (DTV, Fortune 500). Among the channels affected were Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, Spike and VH1. The blackout came as the companies hit the end of a seven-year deal without agreeing on terms for a new contract.

Video: Huge Air Force C-17 Cargo Jet Mistakenly Lands at Tiny Florida Airport

Video: Huge Air Force C-17 Cargo Jet Mistakenly Lands at Tiny Florida Airport

San Jose: 21 people treated for burns after firewalk at Tony Robbins appearance

San Jose: 21 people treated for burns after firewalk at Tony Robbins appearance

 Amid inspirational talk, chanted mantras and shouts of victory at a late-night firewalking event attended by thousands Thursday came agonized shrieks from followers whose soles were scorched by the superheated coals, witnesses said.
At least 21 people were treated for burn injuries after taking part in the crowning event of the first day of a Tony Robbins function downtown, including at least three who went to the hospital, a San Jose fire captain said.
The people who suffered various second- and third-degree burn injuries were among more than 6,000 who attended the motivational speaker's event at the San Jose Convention Center called "Unleash the Power Within."
After the event, which ended about 11 p.m., the crowd walked across the street to the park, where 12 lanes of hot coals measuring 10 feet long and 2½-feet wide rested on the grass.
Jonathan Correll, 25, decided to check out what was going on when "I heard wails of pain, screams of agony." He said one young woman appeared to be in so much pain "it was horrific."
"It was people seriously hurting, like they were being tortured," he said. "First one person, then a couple minutes later another one, and there was just a line of people walking on that fire. It was just bizarre, man."
Correll, a San Jose City College student, said he saw between 10 and 15 people being treated. He said he videotaped the scene for about 5 minutes before an event staffer
told him to put the camera away.
But on a break from day two of the four-day event Friday night, others who walked on the coals said it was nothing short of life-changing.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Court boots West Vancouver pair from luxury home

Court boots West Vancouver pair from luxury home

 

 

Occupants of $4.5M waterfront house deemed to be there illegally


A West Vancouver couple have been kicked out of a multi-million dollar home they were living in after a court ruled they have no legal right to occupy the land.
A B.C. Supreme Court justice ordered Alex and Niomie Barta off the secluded waterfront property after ruling they had never completed a property deal to buy the land. The Bartas lived in the home at 8555 Lawrence Way, north of Horseshoe Bay, for two and a half years before being told to leave.
The deal to purchase the house and nearly three acres of property was supposed to be finalized in the fall of 2008 - just as the global economic crisis hit.
But instead of completing it for $4.8 million, the Bartas took advantage of a friendship with the elderly property owner, John Palkovics, to try to buy the land for far less than it was worth, Justice Grant Burnyeat ruled. When that didn't work, the Bartas moved into the house, but reneged on the terms of the sale.
In court, Alex Barta argued that Palkovics had made a verbal deal to sell the property to the couple for $4.2 million, and that Palkovics would give the Bartas ten years to pay him. But the judge rejected that, saying while discussions took place, no binding deal was ever agreed to.
Recently, the couple asked a B.C. Court of Appeal judge to allow them to keep living on the acreage north of Horseshoe Bay until their appeal of the case was heard. But Justice Daphne Smith rejected their request.
The saga of a real estate deal gone wrong began after Palkovics inherited the property in 2007. In 2008, Palkovics talked to realtors and one potential purchaser about selling the property for $4.5 million. But in July that year, the Bartas - who had come to know Palkovics - offered to buy it for $4.8 million, and a contract was drawn up. They also paid a $300,000 deposit.
Three months later - after the financial crisis hit - Barta phoned Palkovics to say he had lost a lot of money in the stock market and was having trouble getting financing. He asked for extra time to complete the sale.
In November 2008, a second contract was signed with a closing date of Aug. 30, 2009. Afterwards, according to court documents, the Bartas presented Palkovics with an "addendum" allowing them to pay in installments over five years. The couple asked him to sign right away without talking to a lawyer or "they would be unable to acquire the lands and would be emotionally devastated." Palkovics said he signed the additional form under stress.
They agreed that the Bartas would take possession of the house in November 2009.
But in July 2009, before the deal completed, Barta phoned Palkovics and in a surreptitiously recorded conversation, tried to get him to change the terms of the deal, allowing the couple to buy the property for $4.2 million over ten years, with a reduced payment up front. Palkovics discussed it with his lawyer, and eventually did not go ahead with it.
The Bartas insisted the deal was binding, however, and only paid Palkovics $100,000 in September 2009 - a fraction of the $500,000 due under the signed contract. The couple moved into the house on Nov. 1, 2009, but paid no further money.
Palkovics told the judge that throughout their dealings, when the Bartas didn't get what they wanted, they became extremely upset and appealed to his "friendship" "kindness" and "generosity."
"They would accuse me of being mean-spirited and unreasonable, and they would become emotional and very upset with me," he testified.
Palkovics said he handed over the keys to the property even though the couple hadn't paid what was written in the contract because "Mrs. Barta was crying hysterically and Mr. Barta accused me of harming her" and "being a bad person."
The judge, however, didn't see it that way, writing, "I am satisfied that the defendants have attempted to take advantage of the friendship they developed with a 79-year-old man in order to negotiate the purchase of the property at a price considerably less than its appraised value."
The judge also took a dim view of the Bartas' trying to trap Palkovics into a better deal for themselves and by the couple claiming Palkovics had given them the furniture in the house - which the judge ruled wasn't true.
Burnyeat ruled Palkovics could keep the $400,000 paid by the Bartas. If the couple hadn't occupied the house, Palkovics could have rented the property out for $145,000, the judge ruled.
The judge added that Palkovics is retired and needs the money from the sale of the property - currently estimated at about $5 million - to pay for his living expenses.
The Bartas are appealing the decision, seeking damages and a return of their deposit.
jseyd@nsnews.com

FBI Wants a Database of Your Tattoos

FBI Wants a Database of Your Tattoos

The FBI is consulting local police and vendors about technology currently in use that can spot crooks and terrorists by interpreting the symbolism of their tattoos, according to government documents.
The inquiry follows work already underway at the bureau and Homeland Security Department to add iris and facial recognition services to their respective fingerprint databases.

Texas Rep. Gohmert on Aurora shooting: We’ve told God ‘we don’t want him around’

Texas Rep. Gohmert on Aurora shooting: We’ve told God ‘we don’t want him around’

In response to the mass shooting in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 dead and dozens wounded, Texas Rep.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) talks with protesters at the Capitol in 2009. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)
Louie Gohmert told the Istook Liveshow Friday that he believed that the country’s move away from its “Judeo-Christian beliefs” was responsible for God withdrawing his “protective hand” from the country.

TheOnion: Sadly, Nation Knows Exactly How Colorado Shooting's Aftermath Will Play Out

TheOnion: Sadly, Nation Knows Exactly How Colorado Shooting's Aftermath Will Play Out

"I hate to say it, but we as Americans are basically experts at this kind of thing by now,” said 45-year-old market analyst Jared Gerson, adding that the number of media images of Aurora, CO citizens crying and looking shocked is “pretty much right in line with where it usually is at this point." "The calls not to politicize the tragedy should be starting in an hour, but by 1:30 p.m. tomorrow the issue will have been politicized. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if the shooter’s high school classmate is interviewed within 45 minutes."
"It's like clockwork," said Gerson, who sighed, shook his head, and walked away.
According to the nation's citizenry, calls for a mature, thoughtful debate about the role of guns in American society started right on time, and should persist throughout the next week or so. However, the populace noted, the debate will soon spiral out of control and ultimately lead to nothing of any substance, a fact Americans everywhere acknowledged they felt "absolutely horrible" to be aware of.

Reported Victim In The Colorado Shooting Wrote A Chilling Blog Post A Month Ago On Witnessing A Shooting

Reported Victim In The Colorado Shooting Wrote A Chilling Blog Post A Month Ago On Witnessing A Shooting

Exclusive: New York police link nine 2012 plots to Iran, proxies

Exclusive: New York police link nine 2012 plots to Iran, proxies

New York police believe Iranian Revolutionary Guards or their proxies have been involved so far this year in nine plots against Israeli or Jewish targets around the world, according to restricted police documents obtained by Reuters.
Reports prepared this week by intelligence analysts for the New York Police Department (NYPD) say three plots were foiled in January, three in February and another three since late June. Iran has repeatedly denied supporting militant attacks abroad.
The documents, labeled "Law Enforcement Sensitive," said that this week's suicide bomb attack in Bulgaria was the second plot to be unmasked there this year.
The reports detail two plots in Bangkok and one each in New Delhi, Tbilisi, Baku, Mombasa and Cyprus. Each plot was attributed to Iran or its Lebanese Hezbollah militant allies, said the reports, which were produced following the bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria of a bus carrying Israeli tourists.
Iran on Thursday dismissed "unfounded statements" by Israel linking Tehran to the Burgas blast, saying they were politically motivated accusations which underscored the weakness of the accusers.
Wednesday's bombing in the Black Sea city is listed in a document headed "Suspected Iranian and/or Hezbollah-linked Plots Against Israeli or Jewish Targets: 2012 Chronology", the latest of the nine 2012 plots linked to the Islamic Republic or its proxies.
U.S. officials say they increasingly concur with Israeli assessments that Iran and its proxies organized the killing of seven Israeli tourists in Burgas by a suicide bomber after they boarded an airport bus.
One U.S. official said Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militia, had in the past carried out suicide bombings.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

#Life Isn't About Waiting for the STORM TO PASS. It's about #learning to #dance in the #RAIN !

Was Eric Holder One of the Defense Lawyers Who Got Suicide Bomber Mehdi Ghezali Released From Gitmo?

Was Eric Holder One of the Defense Lawyers Who Got Suicide Bomber Mehdi Ghezali Released From Gitmo?

According to a report by The Times of Israel, Bulgarian media named Mehdi Ghezali, a Swedish citizenand former detainee at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to 2004, as the suicide bomber responsible for an attack in Burgas, Bulgaria, on Wednesday... On Wednesday, eight people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. According to The Long War Journal, Mehdi Ghezali was arrested in Pakistan in December 2001. His lawyers claim he was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, The Weekly Standard reports

Most members of Congress keep their tax returns secret

Most members of Congress keep their tax returns secret

Rep. Nancy Pelosi was emphatic. Mitt Romney’s refusal to release more than two years of his personal tax returns, she said, makes him unfit to win confirmation as a member of the president’s Cabinet, let alone to hold the high office himself.
Sen. Harry Reid went further: Romney’s refusal to make public more of his tax records makes him unfit to be a dogcatcher.
They do not, however, think that standard of transparency should apply to them. The Democratic leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives are among hundreds of senators and representatives from both parties who refused to release their tax records. Just 17 out of the 535 members of Congress released their most recent tax forms or provided some similar documentation of their tax liabilities in response to requests from McClatchy Newspapers over the last three months. Another 19 replied that they wouldn’t release the information, and the remainder never responded to the query.
Only one Florida lawmaker — Rep. Corrine Brown of Jacksonville — responded, but she declined to share any tax records.
The widespread secrecy in one branch of the government suggests a self-imposed double standard. Yet while American politics has come to expect candidates for the presidency to release their tax returns, the president isn’t alone in having a say over the nation’s tax laws. Congress also stands to gain or lose by the very tax policies it enacts, and tax records — more than any broad financial disclosure rules now in place — offer the chance to see whether the leaders of the government stand to benefit from their own actions.
“Senior public officials, especially members of Congress and presidential candidates, should be required to disclose their tax returns so that the public can monitor potential conflicts of interest,” said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen, a nonpartisan watchdog group.
The question of taxes is particularly pressing this year, as Congress debates whether to extend all or some of the Bush-era tax cuts that are set to expire Dec. 31. At the same time, tax returns reveal assets and investments.
Absent tax information, members of Congress aren’t fully transparent, said Daniel Auble, who heads the personal finance project for the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks financial disclosures by members of Congress and appointees confirmed by Congress.
“Having a clearer picture of lawmakers’ interests … is definitely important in making available to the public what possible influence there could be,” he said. “In terms of transparency, it would be helpful to have more information.”
Among those who did disclose their tax returns: Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee and a co-author of the Dodd-Frank law tightening regulations on Wall Street.
To Pelosi and some other top Democrats, the focus is on Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, who’s released his 2010 return and 2011 estimates and plans to release his 2011 return when it’s completed, but refuses to release any more. They say the very refusal to release more suggests that he’s hiding something.
“He could not even become a Cabinet member for that lack of disclosure, and now with that lack of disclosure he wants to be president of the United States,” said Pelosi, the House minority leader, who’s from California.

How To Set Up a Network Router

How To Set Up a Network Router

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Husband banned from Target

Husband banned from Target

"After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse. 

Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from our local Target."

Monday, July 16, 2012

Creator Of Digital Eye Glass Gets Physical assault by McDonald's for wearing Digital Eye Glass

Creator Of Digital Eye Glass Gets Physical assault by McDonald's for wearing Digital Eye Glass

What Celebrities Would Look Like If They Were Average Americans

What Celebrities Would Look Like If They Were Average Americans

What if the celebrities in today's tabloids never got famous and were just ordinary?
What if they didn't have fancy stylists, trainers, make-up artists, hairdressers at their beck and call?
What if they just ate the way most of America eats rather than being on raw and organic-only, fat-free diets?
Planet Hiltron has brilliantly photoshopped what celebrities would like if they were just ordinary.

"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it." - Einstein

"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people — first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving," - Einstein.

"In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity' - Albert Einstein

Mitt Romney Needs An Etch A Sketch??

6 Movies That Predicted Disasters With Eerie Accuracy

6 Movies That Predicted Disasters With Eerie Accuracy

Do you remember how, after 9/11, people started digging up all sorts of movies, shows and photos that "predicted" the attacks (like the TV show that featured an almost identical terror plot a year ahead of time)? If you're one of the creators, you have to hate that -- your lighthearted bit of entertainment now just winds up reminding people of something awful that happened years later.
Especially when websites like this one keep bringing them up. We can't help it; this stuff is freaking creepy ...

Friday, July 13, 2012

Sesame Street Cookie Monster: Call Me Maybe Spoof

Sesame Street Cookie Monster: Call Me Maybe Spoof

#Friday13th #FridayThe13th #Friday13 Jason Updates His Facebook

Romney’s Bain drain: Is he repeating the mistakes of his 1994 campaign against Ted Kennedy?

Romney’s Bain drain: Is he repeating the mistakes of his 1994 campaign against Ted Kennedy?

Romney aides note, accurately, that most national polls still find the race a statistical tie between Obama and Romney, which they argue is evidence that their boss has not been hurt by Obama's attacks on Bain and Romney's personal finances.
But polls also find that most voters are still learning about Romney—and still deciding what they think about his Bain resume and Obama's claims that Romney outsourced jobs overseas. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released this week found that 40 percent of those polled believe Romney "cut jobs" while at Bain—a slight uptick from earlier this year—while 36 percent believe he did more to "create jobs."
A senior Romney adviser told Yahoo News that the attacks don't matter to voters—and won't impact the vote in November. "Voters don't care," the adviser, who declined to be named while discussing strategy, said. "People care about whether they can pay their bills and whether they have a job. And Obama has failed to make that better. That's what's really going to affect this race."

#Universe Takes on Twitter #FunnyFriday

#Universe Takes on Twitter :)) #FunnyFriday

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

10 Dumb Things I've Learned From Brilliant People



10 Dumb Things I've Learned From Brilliant People





1. Speak with the “official style” to sound like an expert.


The “official style” was a term coined by Richard Lanham in his excellent book
Revising Prose. Lanham said that we’ve been experiencing a verbal epidemic characterized by heavy bureaucratic prose that’s full of nouns and scarce on verbs. The solution, Lanham proposed, was an easy one: for every sentence you write, ask yourself “Who is kicking whom?” The book is a short but invaluable read that I recommend to everyone. When you read it, you’ll realize just how pervasive the official, expert style is, and how much it muddies communication.





The Five Hallmarks of Highly Respected AchieversDavid DiSalvoContributor

The Secret Power Of IntrovertsJenna GoudreauForbes Staff

How Your Brain Could Be Keeping You FatDavid DiSalvoContributor




2. Find the irony in everything and point it out to everyone.


The world is full of irony, no doubt, but pointing out every instance doesn’t make you sound especially brilliant. If anything, it makes you sound preoccupied, less serious than you’re attempting to be seen, and pompous. Subtle observations of the ironic, and in limited doses, is more effective.


3. Presume that ideas are more important than people.


This one seems to affect the intelligentsia most of all. Ideas are generally easier to manipulate than people, since they’re abstract and malleable. Maybe that’s why so many would-be brilliants prefer them. But history makes a convincing argument that when ideas are valued more than people’s lives, it’s a short few steps to determining which people are least important of all, since they don’t measure up to the manifest greatness of the idea.


4. Presume that those with degrees from non-exemplary institutions are going nowhere and treat them accordingly.


Very little needs to be said of this one other than how wrong-headed it is, despite how frequently this thinking is invoked (always very quietly, of course). Some of the best minds in a multitude of fields graduated from schools nowhere near the top of annual rankings. What their achievement comes down to isn’t a degree, but how much they wanted success, and how fully invested they were in attaining it.


5. When recruiting people to support your vision, pretend like their ideas count, even though you have no intention of using them.


I’ve personally been on the receiving end of this one, and in my experience, once is enough. When a would-be brilliant has already firmly staked out his/her vision, but by necessity must recruit supporters to make the vision work, you have to make some quick determinations about whether this smells of true collaboration, or if you’re being brought in as a Doozer to build the
Fraggle’s buildings. If you don’t mind being a Doozer, go right ahead, but you will be treated accordingly.


6. Consistently point out flaws in the ideas of others, and make sure it’s clear how you would address those flaws (even though you’ll never really have to).






7. Point out to people in lesser rungs of your organization that everyone chooses their careers, and if they aren’t satisfied, it’s because they made bad decisions.


Not to pick on lawyers, but this one has been mentioned to me by so many paralegals and other non-lawyers that I lost count a long time ago. Getting a law degree is a great achievement, but I’ve never understood why it should confer a sense of “otherness” from everyone else in a firm working toward the same goals. Same goes for an organization with credentialed professionals working along with those who don’t have initials after their names (engineers, accountants, doctors, etc.).


8. When the rules of the game change, you have absolutely no obligation to inform those affected by the changes about what’s going to happen next (if you do so, it’s merely a courtesy).





The Five Hallmarks of Highly Respected AchieversDavid DiSalvoContributor

The Secret Power Of IntrovertsJenna GoudreauForbes Staff

How Your Brain Could Be Keeping You FatDavid DiSalvoContributor




This is typical procedure in most large organizations I’ve worked for and with: you know what we think you need to know, and when we think you need to know it, if at all. It’s really a boldface distiction between the deciders and the decided-upon, and it serves to make everyone below the top floor extremely nervous about what’s coming next. That’s a crappy way to live, and few people do their best work under such overwhelming ambiguity.


From the detached vantage point of a would-be brilliant, it’s great sport to point out the fatal flaws in another’s ideas. The best part is, the detachment is absolute because the ideas in question can’t rise up to defend themselves, and the people responsible for them have enough on their plates to mount a defense of their own. In short, pointing out flaws from afar is an act of cowardice.