16 February 2007
15 February 2007
If you yelled for 8 years ...
If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced
enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.
(Hardly seems worth it.)
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If you farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is
produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.
(Now that's more like it!)
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The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to
squirt blood 30 feet.
(O.M.G.!)
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A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes.
(In my next life, I want to be a pig.)
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A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to
death. (Creepy)
(I'm still not over the pig.)
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Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories a hour
(Don't try this at home, maybe at work)
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The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to
its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.
("Honey, I'm home. What the...?!")
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The flea can jump 350 times its body length. It's like a human jumping
the length of a football field.
(30 minutes..lucky pig! Can you imagine?)
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The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.
(What could be so tasty on the bottom of a pond?)
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Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
(I still want to be a pig in my next life...quality over quantity)
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Butterflies taste with their feet.
(Something I always wanted to know.)
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The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
(Hmmmmmm......)
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Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed
people.
(If you're ambidextrous, do you split the difference?)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump.
(okay, so that would be a good thing)
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A cat's urine glows under a black light.
(I wonder who was paid to figure that out?)
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An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
(I know some people like that.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starfish have no brains
(I know some people like that too.)
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Polar bears are left-handed.
(If they switch, they'll live a lot longer)
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Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.
(What about that pig??)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that you've smiled at least once, it's your turn to spread these
crazy facts and send this to someone you want to bring a smile to, maybe
even a chuckle.
In other words, send it toeveryone !
enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.
(Hardly seems worth it.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is
produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.
(Now that's more like it!)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to
squirt blood 30 feet.
(O.M.G.!)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes.
(In my next life, I want to be a pig.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to
death. (Creepy)
(I'm still not over the pig.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories a hour
(Don't try this at home, maybe at work)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to
its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.
("Honey, I'm home. What the...?!")
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The flea can jump 350 times its body length. It's like a human jumping
the length of a football field.
(30 minutes..lucky pig! Can you imagine?)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.
(What could be so tasty on the bottom of a pond?)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
(I still want to be a pig in my next life...quality over quantity)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Butterflies taste with their feet.
(Something I always wanted to know.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
(Hmmmmmm......)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed
people.
(If you're ambidextrous, do you split the difference?)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump.
(okay, so that would be a good thing)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A cat's urine glows under a black light.
(I wonder who was paid to figure that out?)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
(I know some people like that.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starfish have no brains
(I know some people like that too.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Polar bears are left-handed.
(If they switch, they'll live a lot longer)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.
(What about that pig??)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that you've smiled at least once, it's your turn to spread these
crazy facts and send this to someone you want to bring a smile to, maybe
even a chuckle.
In other words, send it toeveryone !
14 February 2007
Syriana - Corruption
Film: Syriana.
From the book "See No Evil", by my relative, Robert Baer.
Four great speech snippets.
Tim Blake Nelson as Danny Dalton
Some ... prosecutor got off-message... thinks he's gunna run this up a flagpole? Get himself elected ...with the result that China or Russia can start having, at our expense, all the advantages we have here? No. I tell you, no sir!
Corruption charges! Corruption?
Corruption is Government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulation. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize.
We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe & warm. Corruption is why you & I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over for scraps of meat out in the street. Corruption is why we win.
Matt Damon as Bryan Woodman
What are they thinking? What are they thinking?
That it's running out. And 90% of what's left is in the middle east. Look at the progression: Versailles, Suez, 1973, Gulf War 1, Gulf War 2. This is a fight to the death.
So, what are they thinking? "Great". They're thinking, "Keep playing, keep buying yourself new toys, keep spending $50k a night on your hotel room. But don't invest in infrastructure, don't build a real economy. So when you finally wake up, they will have sucked you dry, & you will have squandered the greatest natural resource in history.
Alexander Siddig as Prince Nasir
When a country has 5% of the world population & 50% of it's military spending, then it's persuasive powers are on the decline.
Jeffrey Wright as Bennett Holiday
Government: "(We want the business, we're on your side) ... We're (just) looking for the illusion of due diligence".
Yogi on Corruption
Definition:
rotten, depraved, wicked.
influenced by bribery.
Literally, "altogether broken" [cor (altogether) rupt (break)]
"Dalton" is specifically referring to USA vs. ROW (rest of the world), but it's equally applicable intra nationally as BigBusiness vs. TheRest. With the adversarial legal system, "You get the justice that you can afford". The BigBoys can out gun anyone else in defending their actions & attacking their rivals. I've worked for the BigBoys, & there's almost nothing they won't do to win - & there' is nothing a corrupt official or copper etc. won't do to avoid being found out (his very life is being threatened & he will act accordingly).
Words that come to mind: scapegoats, solo-acts , sacrificial pawns, discredit / disown / discard, cast to the wolves, bribery always of those who make or influence the decisions (to buy or sell).
The Game looks complex, but is extremely simple, always the same in essence, & is played at all levels, from little companies, to Government & multinationals.
'Twas always thus:
Greed - Paul Keating said: "When you don't know what's going on, back self-interest - at least you always know it's in their trying".
Discovery/Denial/Attack the messenger - "it didn't happen."
Belittling - "if it did happen it's not important / out of context etc."
Shift the Blame to Scapegoats - "if it is important - I didn't do it & I didn't know about it - it was him & him alone."
Discredit/Disown/Discard the Scapegoats (Sacrificial Pawns) - he was acting alone, without authority etc. - if necessary they even have a wholesale change of the board (or ministers) to placate the media & public - but the system remains - & will merely rise again from the ashes.
So when Little Johnny says "I have no knowledge of the matter" or "it was never brought to my attention" - I believe him. I think he's quite smart enough to leave a room or wave his hand if he doesn't want to know. That's hardly the point. His critics say he's either a liar, which they can't prove, so they only say it under parliamentary privilege or mealy mouthed, or that he's incompetent because he should have known. Nonsense! - it's not that he doesn't know through incompetence, but that he doesn't know precisely because he is competent.
Our PM threatens Pacific Island countries (our satellites) with cutting off "donations" if they don't eliminate corruption (do what they're told - stay on-message to use yank-speak). Their Islands' painful solution is not to take the bribes in the first place.
Dear Johnny, organised crime can only exist with the a corrupt legal & enforcement system. We've got organised crime - we've got corporate crime - we've got corruption. Look at the Queensland Gov't at the moment - the relevant (decision making) minister with a $300k loan from a beneficiary - loans get waived, then they're called gifts - what crap!
Greed - people just don't get it - it' a no brainer - I've sat at a board table where decisions are made to transfer nutrition away from bread to stockfeed - why? - stockfeed buyers want results in terms of healthy animals & will pay for quality & pay for chemists to analyse the stockfeed because they know they'll be sold a pup if they don't. Morals - companies have none - eat stockfeed - white bread is mainly air & water - this I do know.
Little Stuff - MD comes back from Europe & tells me he's bought a new yacht & it's being sailed out from France - "put it down as Staff Amenities". Another MD gets his East Melbourne house renovated on the company. Another MD gets his houses & farm stocked with food & booze on expenses - etc.
The cruelest stuff I've seen is when an up & coming company starts to reduce prices to gain a foothold - wrong move - if you do the maths, the potential reversals for the BigBoys is huge - even a few cents on a large volume can be $m's - they can not & will not allow it - whatever it takes! - "if he won't sell, his widow will".
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