Of Trains and Other Things, Kindle Edition

Of Trains and Other Things, Kindle Edition,
is now available.

You can find it here: Amazon.com

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24 is 22 too much?

So, I've been watching the television show 24 this year for the first time from beginning to end.

Having watched the '18th hour' of the show last night, I have a few thoughts.

First, I have to say that the concept of the show is brilliant, and the writing ensures that each episode of the serial is filled with tension, action, and all sorts of twists and turns. It makes it difficult to quit watching the show because you have to see how the latest unforeseen twist plays out the following week. Kudos to the writers and actors for this effect.

On the other hand, I told my son last night that I just wanted to flip ahead to the end now and see how it all turns out. You see, as a 24-episode serial, it is really a movie marathon. And as movies are wrapped up in 2 to 3 hours, 24 feels overly long to me.

Earlier in ths season, it seemed that the episodes all had some sort of resolution that answered questions raised by the previous episode. That was good.

But lately, it seems like the resolutions have grown rather thin, and actually nonexistent, and I find I really don't want to continue to invest the time in the show.

I'm not sure if I'm tired of the show or what. It feels like it has been on too long now, and the amount of action that takes place in a 24 hour period is starting to seem silly.

I will, of course, watch it to its conclusion. After all, what would be the point of quitting now?

2 Wins, 4 Losses

OK, so it's only 6 games into a 162-game season. That's fewer than 5% of the games played. It is a marathon as opposed to a sprint....

However!

The Boston Red Sox have not looked good at the start of the 2009 season.

Beckett pitched really well in the opener, but didn't seem as sharp in his game against the Angels. Lester and Dice-K were nothing to brag about, both having a lapse of acumen during an inning which cost them the game.
Brad Penny was OK. Tim Wakefield was standard Wakefield - he kept his outing to three runs.

From the bullpen, Okajima is off to a rough start. Masterson, who was terrific last year, is showing some cracks. Papelbon had a 37-pitch outing the other day, loading up the bases, but managing to get out of it.

On the offensive side, Ellsbury is still doing his darndest to prove he shouldn't lead off. Pedroia has been cold at the plate. Big Papi has turned into Big Floppy, and I wonder if we'll ever see the Manny-era Ortiz. I tend to think not. I think he got a lot of protection from Manny and now pitchers aren't as concerned about him any more.

Youkilis has been THE bright spot. He's hot hitting right now. J Bay has included a couple home runs to the mix. Lowell and JD Drew have had some contact, and Varitek has surprised with a couple long balls of his own.

Lowrie is continuing his non-hitting streak from last year.

While it's too early to make pronouncements on this team, I have to say that when Plan A failed in the off-season (acquiring Texiera), one could conceivably say that there's reason to be concerned. It remains to be seen if Plan B (loading up on pitching) will carry the team in ways that offense was supposed to. But if the first six games are any indicator, it looks to be a long season.

Early prognostications - Red Sox end up third in their division.

Subject to change, if they change.

Lies Lies and Damn Lies

The White House recently denied that the President of the United States bowed to the King of Saudi Arabai.

Here is the denial from an article:

The White House is denying that the president bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at a G-20 meeting in London, a scene that drew criticism on the right and praise from some Arab outlets.

"It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah," said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The White House is lying through its collective teeth. If you watch the video and pause it, you will see that Obama DID NOT grasp Abdullah's hand with both hands. And there was no reason to bend over due to height. You will also note that Obama added a second hand to the shake AFTER he stood back upright. It was obviously a bow.

Watch the video for yourself here:

White House: No bow to Saudi

AI Observation

I told myself I would not comment on American Idol at all this year. And I haven't.

But after watching two of the top 36 elimination rounds, I have to say something.

I can't, for the time I've watched American Idol, remember a time when there were as many people who flat out stunk, especially at this level. Some of it appears to be nerves. I understand what nerves do to your voice, to your presentation. I've sung in front of people before - it's not easy.

Several of the singers have been off key. Not just pitchy, not just hitting a note sharp or flat here and there. I mean totally out of key. And some have been out of rhythm as well.

It's almost as if they can't hear the background music really well.

HERE'S A TOTALLY RANDOM THOUGHT

Why do car dealers say that some of the vehicles they advertise are "Priced to Sell?"

Does that mean that the other cars in the ad are overpriced? That they couldn't be bothered to price them to sell as well?

Oh well, that's all.

Oh This is Just Too Funny

The email scammers have changed their stripes again. First it was the Nigerian-gotta-get-millions-out-of-country scam. Then it was massaged to make it look affiliated with Ocean Bank. Then the UK Lottery winning email, not to mention other forms of lottery announcements. Now it's the Hyundai Automobile International Promotion Program. Here is the one I received:


Edgware Road,
105 West Hendon Broadway,
London NW9 7BN.

24th February 2009,

REF No.: DF-100511

Dear Distinguished Winner,

It is with utmost regard to inform you of our official proclamations made today. You are among the winners of the HYUNDAI AUTOMOBILE INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION PROGRAM. You may have incidentally visited one of our affiliated websites,for you to have received this official notification.

This International Promo Program is to mark the 40 years Anniversary of HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY. You have therefore by this notice, been approved for the payment of the sum of GBP 450,000 (Four Hundred And Fifty Thousand Great Britain Pounds)

Please be informed that your WINNING CHEQUE of the sum of GBP 450,000 is now with the Payee Center. Do proceed by sending the below detailed informations and your Winning Identification #:HYU3114/504660 to our claims representatives

Hyundai Anniversary Promotion Team

Edward Phil

Tel: +447031972981
E-mail: hyundaiagent09@googlemail.com

HYUNDAI PROMO WINNERS BIODATAS

1. Full Names: …………………………
2. Gender:……………………………..
3. Age:………………………………..
4. Contact Address: …………………….
5. Country of Residence:…………………
6. Nationality:…………………………
7. Occupation:………………………….
8.Telephone Mobile #:…………………..

Choose your mode of payment

1. Courier Delivery

2. Bank transfer

Congratulations!!! for this rare and wealthy opportunity.


Sincerely,
Mr. Wilford C. Grant
Officer of Operations
Division of Informations


Remember - there's no such thing as a free lunch and you don't get rich by doing nothing. Stay e-safe out there.

Headlines that Make you Go Hmmmm

Kansas suspending Income Tax Refunds

Will Russian Kremlin bailout Oregon steel plant?

CALIFORNIA ON THE BRINK

Chávez to speed up his Bolivarian Revolution

State Department Congratulates Vote (Chavez winning "vote" in Venezuela)

Indonesian women protest Clinton visit

Households to be charged tax for each flush of toilet in Australia...

NY GOV OFFICE STAFFERS GET SECRET RAISES AMID 'FREEZE'

1900% Beer Tax Hike Proposed in Oregon

A letter to my Senators

This letter was sent to both Senators Snowe and Collins separately.

Dear Senator Snowe,

There was no "March to Socialism" in your topic list, so I chose "Budget" instead.

Our Federal government HAS to stop this unfettered spending now. The 'stimulus' package currently before the Senate continues to pile burden upon burden on the citizens of Maine, the USA and our children. I disagreed with President Bush's push to spend hundreds of billions of dollars, ostensibly to thaw the credit freeze all while nationalizing segments of our financial system, and I disagree with President Obama's continuation of same. We must let economic Darwinism, ie the markets, to resume their normal workings to weed out those who took unnecessary, greedwagon jumping risk to the detriment of their bottom lines.

Failure has always been a part of the strength of the United States, for it is failure where the greatest lessons are learned. Unfortunately, the mindset of those who administer power in this country is that failure is intolerable and unacceptable. This disturbing paternalism is leading us down roads we have no business traversing.

I fear for the direction we are going, and I must rely on my elected representatives to bring some Maine common sense back to the process. Please stand strong against the astronomical amounts of money being proposed in the name of "economic stimulus." It's all a trillion dollar lie.

Thank you,

Jeff Howe

Today's Comedian

They say things that aren't funny
Yet everyone laughs
They do things that aren't funny
Yet everyone laughs
They take pains to be offensive
And everyone laughs

I don't know if the problem is with them
Or everyone who is laughing

Nancy Pelosi said it...

... in a press conference:

"Every month we don't have an economic recovery package, 500 million Americans lose their jobs."

500 million Americans. lol

More of the Same Old, Same Old

Congress is working on an $825 billion "stimulus" package to be voted on sometime this year, probably February. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi has said it could get larger.

Apparently, it's chock full of .... what we used to call pork, now they call earmarks.

As House Minority Leader, John Boehner, said of the bill, "“How can you spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives? How does that stimulate the economy?”

For a guy espousing "change", it certainly sounds like business as usual to me.

C'mon America, wake up! Flush Washington clean and start over again.

Everyone Should Read This

It's time to pray for global warming, by John Tomlinson, Flint Journal Columnist

by John Foren | Flint Journal Editor

Monday January 19, 2009, 4:20 AM

Flint Journal's
John Tomlinson

If you're wondering why North America is starting to resemble nuclear winter, then you missed the news.

At December's U.N. Global Warming conference in Poznan, Poland, 650 of the world's top climatologists stood up and said man-made global warming is a media generated myth without basis. Said climatologist Dr. David Gee, Chairman of the International Geological Congress, "For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming?"

I asked myself, why would such obviously smart guy say such a ridiculous thing? But it turns out he's right.

The earth's temperature peaked in 1998. It's been falling ever since; it dropped dramatically in 2007 and got worse in 2008, when temperatures touched 1980 levels.

Meanwhile, the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center released conclusive satellite photos showing that Arctic ice is back to 1979 levels. What's more, measurements of Antarctic ice now show that its accumulation is up 5 percent since 1980.

In other words, during what was supposed to be massive global warming, the biggest chunks of ice on earth grew larger. Just as an aside, do you remember when the hole in the ozone layer was going to melt Antarctica? But don't worry, we're safe now, that was the nineties.

Dr. Kunihiko, Chancellor of Japan's Institute of Science and Technology said this: "CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or the other ... every scientist knows this, but it doesn't pay to say so." Now why would a learned man say such a crazy thing?

This is where the looney left gets lost. Their mantra is atmospheric CO2 levels are escalating and this is unquestionably causing earth's temperature rise. But ask yourself -- if global temperatures are experiencing the biggest sustained drop in decades, while CO2 levels continue to rise -- how can it be true?

Ironically, in spite of being shown false, we must now pray for it. Because a massive study, just released by the Russian Government, contains overwhelming evidence that earth is on the verge of another Ice Age.

Based on core samples from Russia's Vostok Station in Antarctica, we now know earth's atmosphere and temperature for the last 420,000 years. This evidence suggests that the 12,000 years of warmth we call the Holocene period is over.

Apparently, we're headed into an ice age of about 100,000 years -- give or take. As for CO2 levels, core samples show conclusively they follow the earth's temperature rise, not lead it.

It turns out CO2 fluctuations follow the change in sea temperature. As water temperatures rise, oceans release additional dissolved CO2 -- like opening a warm brewsky.

To think, early last year, liberals suggested we spend 45 trillion dollars and give up five million jobs to fix global warming. But there is good news: now that we don't have to spend any of that money, we can give it all to the banks.

John Tomlinson is a local conservative columnist for The Flint Journal. He lives in the Genesee County area. You can e-mail him. Read more columns by John Tomlinson.