reddit Gallery XXVIII

Another excursion into the world of reddit pictures.  See reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Angel Oak Tree

Banyan Tree Roots

Bower

Twisteria

Hallerbos, Belgium

Backfire?

Harry Reid's refusal to convene the Senate until Monday afternoon clearly indicates that the Democrats crave a government shutdown ... after reading polling that shows that the American people are opposed to same. However, the House Republicans' newest proposal to keep the government running includes a one year delay for the individual mandate as well as the removal of the tax on medical devices ... see: AP Story.

One would think that these new Republican conditions would be popular with the American public ,,, if the majority of the media conveys this message to them.

So it is the media that hold the high cards in this political standoff.  If somehow in the next twenty-four hours this information leaks out to enough Americans to turn their collective opinions, then Harry Reid's and the Democrat's strategy might backfire.  I'm not predicting that it will, but there is a small chance that it just might. It all depends on the American media.

Afterward: The Republicans would have had a much stronger position in this battle if they had also included in their continuing resolution a provision that eliminated the subsidies and special treatment that Congress members and their staffs currently enjoy under Obamacare.

More afterward: It might also be interesting if the Republicans were to propose next delaying the individual mandate and the corporate mandate (the latter having been already decreed by Obama without legislative consent).  If Harry Reid then kills this new Republican proposal, would he then not also be negating what our President has already commanded?  How embarrassing ...

reddit Gallery XXVII -- Albinos

Another excursion into the world of reddit pictures.  See reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Alligator

Deer

Family

Peacock

Fly

Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing means the promotion or advertising of goods or an idea without spending much money.  Examples would be unwelcome signs attached to utility poles or chain-link fences, promotional tee-shirts, or fliers tossed on your front porch.  A newer approach appears to be the stamping of slogans on money.  Yesterday I received, as change, a five-dollar bill that had stamped on it in red (appropriately), “Corporations are not people, money is not free speech.”  This is disparaging of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that found just the opposite.

Isn’t it just a little bit ironic that, in this case, this piece of money was, in fact, exhibiting free speech?

Afterward: web logs (blogs, such as this) are another form of guerrilla marketing of ideas.

reddit Gallery XXVI

Another excursion into the world of reddit pictures.  See reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Dragon's Blood Trees

Glass Wing Butterfly

Meteor Shower

Move Over

Santorini, Greece

reddit Gallery XXV -- Autumn

Another excursion into the world of reddit pictures.  See reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Bambi's Uncles

Buddhist Temple

Fall Morning

Kitten on the Leaves

Painted Garden

reddit Gallery XXIV

Another excursion into the world of reddit pictures.  See reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Pigeon Drying

Lightning over Grand Canyon

All of the People Some of the Time

Tuscan Night

The Big Easy at Night

The Laws of Physics

Einstein's Notes

The way to make money is to get an information edge.  Apparently some enterprising traders have found a way of making communications travel faster than the speed of light.  Last week the Federal Reserve Bank's Open Market Committee decided not to start the tapering-off of its $85 billion a month of government securities and mortgages purchasing (aka "quantatative easing").  This was an unexpected decision and thus a bond-market moving piece of news. There are supposedly strict rules to keep this information from leaking out and giving traders an edge.  It is quite apparent that these rules had somehow been circumvented ... and not for the first time.  For the details see: USA Today Story.

The reason it is clear that this breach occurred was that, if it weren't, the communications between New York and Chicago must have traveled faster than the speed of light.  Such "front trading" totaled hundreds of millions of dollars ... reaping millions of dollars of profits for these unknown miscreants. It doesn't seem to me that it would be too difficult to get to the bottom of who these cheaters were ... if the powers-to-be in Washington really wanted to do so.  That is, of course, pretty much depends upon the size of the political donations that have been received from said cheaters ... or the degree of interlocking directorships that exists between the Fed and those trading parties who know how to defy the laws of physics.

Prost!

I just witnessed something very interesting ... at a luncheon in New York today, President Obama just offered a gracious toast to the U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon ... then didn't drink his toast.  He very conspicuously set his wine glass down at the table without even bringing it to his lips for even a sip.  This seemed to me a very curious departure from protocol and even good manners.  I do understand why the President may not want to indulge in any significant alcohol consumption given the importance of his scheduled meetings at the U.N. today ... but not even the tiniest sip?

What does this mean?  He doesn't like Ban Ki-moon?  He doesn't tolerate white wine well?  He hates such protocol obligations?  He is a teetotaler?  And, choosing the most sensible option ... that he, like George W, Bush, is a teetotaler, why is this so?  We know, by his own admission, that he was an illicit drug user in his youth, so alcohol avoidance must not be a religious stricture.  Perhaps Michelle has even a shorter leash on him than just for his cigarette smoking?  (See: Huffington Post Storyl.)

reddit Gallery XXIII

Another excursion into the world of reddit pictures.  See reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Antarctic Perspective

Deep Woods

Florence Library

French Lavender Field

Snail Drinking Water from an Acorn

Just in Case ...

Mohammed's mother's name was Aminah bint Wahb ...

reddit Gallery XXII -- More Oddities

Another excursion into the world of reddit pictures.  See reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Black Bat Flower

Multi-colored Corn

Oh My!

Squaring the Circle

Tiny Spider

The Bomb

Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel is warning us and the world that Iran's dovish nuclear overtures are a possible trap ... see: NY Times Story.  This olive branch from the new President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, for opening direct negotiations on its nuclear program  is such a u-turn from its previous hard-line position that I too am quite chary.  The fact that this attempt at detente is occurring just when Obama is back on his heels due to his Syrian policy failures is another reason to be suspicious.  Iran must figure that President Obama might grab at any life preserver during his diplomatic drowning.  I think Iran may well be right ... and using this ruse to get its sanctions lifted would be an added plus.

In fact, I will go even further than Netanyahu, I think this Iranian ploy means that it either has started building a nuclear bomb stockpile ... or, more likely, it already has one or more such weapons.  I think that Israelis are not sleeping too well these days ... nor am I ... nor should you.

Flotilla

Aircraft Carrier Group

The above picture comes from the reddit social networking site.  It shows an aircraft carrier task force in full battle formation ... with a litany of 31 support and picket vessels (not including probable invisible submarines.)  However impressive this U.S. armada is ... one thing worries me.  I know that I have little or no expertise in naval warfare ... but does not this battle grouping and, in particular, the lead aircraft carrier seem clearly vulnerable to a full frontal assault?

reddit Gallery XXI -- Stones

Another excursion into the world of reddit pictures.  See reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Stone Gorge in Oregon

Irish Old Stone House

Raw Opal in Stone

Stone Fireplace

Stone Town in Yemen

reddit Gallery XX

Another excursion into the world of reddit pictures.  See reddit Pics for sources.  Click on pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

Field of Lupines

Water Bridge

Wenatchee, Washington

Toolchest

Orange Chicken & Chick