CAT LAWS, TAMMINEN, CANADA AND EMERSON

Don't forget to click the header. Could this be a successful dot com? Cats in Physics Law of Cat Inertia: A cat at rest will tend to remain at rest, unless acted upon by some outside force - such as the opening of cat food, or a nearby scurrying mouse. Law of Cat Motion: A cat will move in a straight line, unless there is a really good reason to change direction. Law of Cat Magnetism: All blue blazers and black sweaters attract cat hair in direct proportion to the darkness of the fabric. Law of Cat Thermodynamics: Heat flows from a warmer to a cooler body, except in the case of a cat, in which case all heat flows to the cat. Law of Cat Stretching: A cat will stretch to a distance proportional to the length of the nap just taken. Law of Cat Sleeping: All cats must sleep with people whenever possible, in a position as uncomfortable for the people involved as is possible for the cat. Law of Cat Elongation: A cat can make her body long enough to reach just about any counter top that has anything remotely interesting on it. Law of Cat Acceleration: A cat will accelerate at a constant rate, until he gets good and ready to stop. Law of Dinner Table Attendance: Cats must attend all meals when anything good is served. Law of Rug Configuration: No rug may remain in its naturally flat state for very long. Law of Obedience Resistance: A cat's resistance varies in proportion to a human's desire for her to do something. First Law of Energy Conservation: Cats know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed and will, therefore, use as little energy as possible. Second Law of Energy Conservation: Cats also know that energy can only be stored by a lot of napping. Law of Refrigerator Observation: If a cat watches a refrigerator long enough, someone will come along and take out something good to eat. Law of Electric Blanket Attraction: Turn on an electric blanket and a cat will jump into bed at the speed of light. Law of Random Comfort Seeking: A cat will always seek, and usually take over, the most comfortable spot in any given room. Law of Bag / Box Occupancy: All bags and boxes in a given room must contain a cat within the earliest possible nanosecond. Law of Cat Embarrassment: A cat's irritation rises in direct proportion to her embarrassment times the amount of human laughter. Law of Furniture Replacement A cat's desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the cost of the furniture. Law of Cat Landing: A cat will always land in the softest place possible. Law of Cat Disinterest: A cat's interest level will vary in inverse proportion to the amount of effort a human expends in trying to interest him. Law of Pill Rejection: Any pill given to a cat has the potential energy to reach escape velocity. Law of Cat Composition: A cat is composed of Matter + Anti-Matter + It Doesn't Matter. Look what Tamminen's up to now: http://starbulletin.com/2007/09/21/news/story10.html An anonymous reader writes "Canada has been the home to a growing debate on counterfeiting, with politicians, law enforcement, and copyright lobby groups all pushing for stronger copyright and anti-counterfeiting laws. Writing in the Toronto Star, Michael Geist reports that the claims are based on fatally flawed data. The RCMP, Canada's national police force, has been claiming that counterfeiting costs Canadians $30 billion per year. When pressed on the issue, last week they admitted that the estimate was not based on any original research but rather on 'open source documents found on the Internet.'" For heaven's sake, please don't use facts when opening mouth. "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."-- Ralph Waldo Emerson You've got to admire him.

AND YOU THOUGHT BRIDGES WERE UNSAFE?

1,333 UNSAFE DAMS THREATEN NATION'S COMMUNITIES

September 6, 2007 By: American Rivers

Unsafe High Hazard Dams Litter the US

More than ten thousand dams across America could become killers if they fail and 1,333 of those dams are considered unsafe. This Sunday, the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) holds their annual conference in Austin, TX. Statistics developed by ASDSO show that an alarming number of dams in the United States pose a threat to human life and many of them are structurally unsafe. Congress will soon consider the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007 (H.R 3224) which would direct $200 million to states for improving the safety of publicly-owned dams, through either repairing or removing problem dams. To date, only 11 members have signed on to

co-sponsor the bill introduced by Congressman John Salazar (D-CO). “Dams across the country are living on borrowed time, and many of our communities are at risk,” said American Rivers’ President Rebecca Wodder. “Closing our eyes to the problem doesn’t make it disappear; Congress needs to take action now.” The raw numbers facing every American are alarming.

According to the ASDSO: There are more than 87,000 dams currently under state regulation 10,127 have been classified as high hazard, meaning they pose a serious threat to human life if they should fail. Of those high hazard dams, 1,333 have been identified as structurally deficient or unsafe. The average dam inspector in the US is responsible for more than 400 dams. The ASDSO recommends that each inspector be responsible for fewer than 50 dams. Even more disturbing, there is no accurate count for just how many dams there actually are in the United States. The National Inventory of Dams, maintained by Army Corps of Engineers, tracks about 80 thousand dams. And when state dam inventories are totaled, there are more than 100 thousand. But neither number is particularly reliable, since states have varying definitions of dams. In some states, such as Missouri, a 34-foot high structure isn’t even considered a dam. Alabama doesn’t even have a dam safety program and doesn’t track the number of dams in the state. “The first step in solving a problem is identifying just what the problem is,” added Wodder. “By not even knowing how many dams there are, lawmakers are gambling with people’s safety.” Many Americans live in the shadow of high hazard dams -- some of which are structurally unsafe -- and don’t even know it. Most states don’t require that people are notified if they live within a dam failure inundation zone, and have no evacuation plans, in the event of a dam failure are rarely well-publicized. The American Society of Civil Engineers grades the nation’s infrastructure on a regular basis. Dams have repeatedly received a D. The same group has given the nation’s bridges a C. Armed with such statistics, communities all across the country are finding that removing many of these dangerous structures is often the safest, most cost effective way of fixing the problem. Many dams in the America have outlived their usefulness, and about 10 percent have no known owner. Getting rid of these relics not only removes a hazard to the community, but can also provide natural flood protection by allowing the river to flow freely. “This past summer in Minnesota, we all got a horrific wake up call on the state of our nation’s infrastructure. We simply cannot afford to press the snooze button. We must get out of bed, and get to work,” added Wodder. See all the ASDSO Statistics at www.AmericanRivers.org/NationalDamStats

I think Alabama should have a dam safety program.

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Water VS. Wine:As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.

In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we will have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. coli) - bacteria found in feces.

In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.

However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum,whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purificationprocess of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

Remember: Water = Poop, Wine = Health.

Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink waterand be full of shit.

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I'm doing it as a public service.

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Sun Sep 16, 3:13 AM ET SYDNEY (AFP) - The Australian military Sunday defended its decision to pay for some female sailors to have breast implants, saying the operations were not carried out for cosmetic reasons. Australian Defence Force spokesman Brigadier Andrew Nikolic did not say how many women had had the taxpayer-funded operation. But he said the military would consider paying for plastic surgery for personnel where there were medical, dental or compelling psychological or psychiatric reasons. Any suggestion that breast operations were carried out to make the women "look sexy" were not only wrong, but insulting, Nikolic said. "Under defence policy we do consider the holistic needs of our people, both physical and psychological," he said. "That is a long way from saying, however, that if someone doesn't like their appearance, defence will fund things like breast augmentations as a matter of routine -- that is just not correct." Defence Association spokesman Neil James also defended the practice. "For psychiatric or psychological reasons, this has been recommended after a medical evaluation," he told state radio. "It's not being done because someone just wanted it.

Of course not. They've gotta keep the sailors spirits up, too.

CAN YOU ANSWER MY QUESTION?

I've been told that if one has a question one should ask people he/she respects for an answer. So herewith some questions:

Not that I regularly browse these kinds of Web sites but the U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory Web site actually has some handy information. For example the countries for which Americans have visa requirements. Among other things, they publish a list of countries with "travel warnings" for Americans. Those countries currently are: Afghanistan Algeria Chad Colombia Congo East Timor Eritrea Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Kenya Lebanon Nepal Nigeria Pakistan Philippines Saudi Arabia Somalia Sudan Syria Uzbekistan Yemen France (just kidding)

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2006: Pakistan 12/05/2006

Syria 11/13/2006

Sudan 10/05/2006

Somalia 06/05/2006

My question? How come so many more than in 2006?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CAT RULES

* Always give generously. A small bird or rodent left on the bed tells them, I care.

* Climb your way to the top. That's why the drapes are there.

* Curiosity never killed anything except maybe a few hours.

* Find your place in the sun. Especially if it happens to be on that nice pile of warm, clean laundry.

* If you're not receiving enough attention, try knocking over several expensive antique lamps.

* Life is hard, then you nap.

* Make your mark in the world. Or at least spray in each corner.

* Never sleep alone when you can sleep on someone's face.

* Variety is the spice of life. One day ignore people, the next day annoy them.

* When in doubt, cop an attitude.

* Never give a human an even break

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My question? Has your cat obeyed all the rules?

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Ever wonder what happens when you leave your computer on overnight? Does it just sit idle until the screen saver kicks in?That's what you want to believe. But now MASO Digital Studio has captured proof of the secret life of your desktop icons in a hilarious Flash clip. View the animation

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My question? Why haven't you taken better care of your computer?

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Last question: Moose, have you clicked on the header?

TIME TO REPLACE THE MRGCD?

Pictures always enlarge if clicked. Isn't it strange how some people seem to shoot themselves when they're aiming at someone else?

That header doesn't read Mr GCD. Honest. It stands for Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. The running banner on their web site proclaims "Keeping the valley Green".

They are responsible for seeing to it that our share of the water in the Rio Grande river is disbursed as equitably as possible to all the farmers and orchards in the valley and along the river. (Yes, Albuquerque is situated in a valley that runs for miles.)

Over the years there have been rumors and criminal charges filed against a few members of the board. They are all elected positions so that the taxpayer really can't ask the Governor to get rid of anyone. Works pretty good for job tenure.

One of the board members, Jim Roberts, accused a citizen of costing the board way too much in legal fees because they had to defend their actions against lawsuits filed by one Mr. Bill Turner, another Board member and water broker.

Seems the District had paid a law firm some $853,000 from April 2005 through June 2007. Of that amount, a measley $14,000 (about 2%) was used to defend the District in the actions Bill Turner started aginst them.

However, it turns out the District had spent $140,000 (about 16%) suing Mr. Turner.

These people really need to be appointed by an elected body to whom they'd have to answer. But this is the Wild West and we don't like change much, y'all hear? Besides, then the Board members might have to get regular paying jobs.

I think this petty, internicine warfare between politicians is funny. All the Board members seem to have water related jobs, interests or businesses outside the District. (My source for this has moved out of the country. At least that's what he said he was going to do.) Politics as usual in the beautiful Rio Grande Valley.

Clicking on the header will take you to Jim Baca's blog site. He's got water information, also.