Early Spring On The Way

According to General Beauregard Lee (the MOST accurate ground hog which resides in the Atlanta area) didn’t see his shadow this morning …

Sheesh – I could have told ya that … what a warm winter we had … AND WET !!!

That yankee ground hog, “potsdawhodaheckizthuhname phil” said just the opposite … of course … everything up there is backwards y’know ;-)

Speaking of a warm winter – it had some good effects around here …

Our romaine lettuce is still growing. In fact, I had some last night. We had great lettuce all winter. Imagine that?

I have been entertaining ideas for several year on how to be able to grow fresh greens all year long. We surrounded the rows with hay bales and covered over with a mesh material my wife found from a garden supply place. So with a ‘lil help from nature, we enjoyed great greens since planting way back late summer.

So, if we have a mild summer, they will keep on going. Heat seems to be the worst enemy of greens.

Someday Alice, To The Moon !



Personally, I am all for returning to the moon to create a mining operation. The minerals available would be beneficial to industry.

It would not be long before a moon base would pay for itself with an industrial mining operation.

Then, we could have an orbiting facility that makes ball bearings in zero gravity … perfectly round ball bearings that we could never make on the earth …

Bottom line is the bottom line. This can be done in conjunction with American business.

However – just going somewhere just to go somewhere is not a good reason to go somewhere.

Exploration is cool – but discovery must have a purpose.

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Dinosaurs are dying. Newsweek Magazine is despirate …

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… for my subscription. Anyone’s subscription!

Several years ago, we had a subscription to Newsweek.

Yes – I admit it. But that was then.

Personally, I find it a good thing to view several sources of information to get a clear picture of who is spinning what. I flip around the news channels. I do gravitate towards a couple of Fox news programs (Cavuto and Special Report – although I avoid that O’Rielly guy like the plague) I watch C/SPAN like some people watch Monday Night Football hehehehe …

It’s good to get a wide range of news sources.

But when Newsweek Magazine took a “hard left turn” a few years ago, I let it run out.

I had actually though of proactively canceling my subscription several times … especially when I got the one where the cover declared “We Are All Socialists Now”.

Also – someone stole the one when Michael Jackson died. I never got it. Big deal …

Then I read where Newsweek began to loose money – so they took a harder lefty slant. The next year they lost even a lot more money and then went up for sale.

I had toyed with the idea of sending them an offer of $10.00 USD to buy the whole outfit from them ;-)

But some investor bought them and I remember seeing the first issue with the new owner had Mark Twain on the cover. Wow ! Talk about being lost in a fog …

Basically, Newsweek became “magazina-non-grata” to me …

So Newsweek just sent me a letter.

They want me back … how sweet of them! (heavy on the sarcasm)

It is a “welcome back discount form”. I kid you not !

Get this – The annual cover price is $243.60 – the “welcome back discount” is 91% …

So the cost for a year is $20.00 !!! Hahahahahaha !!!

If they offered to pay ME to have a subscription i wouldn’t take it.

So in the letter is a sample issue cover which is about Steve Jobs – “How He Changed Our World” … they’re a little late jumping on that bandwagon.

And get this – on the envelope they make this pitch:

“If you haven’t seen us lately, take a new look. We’ve got more significant news… more varied points of view… more relevant stories… more of the big picture… and more on what matters most.”

THAT’s VERBATIM !!! Even the underlined “mores … hahaha …

If you need an example of how Newsweek has become just another tabloid rag – CLICK for a story at HUFF POST on how Newsweek has deteriorated into something that is not about reporting news, but creating news.

This is like an abusive “ex-flame” who shows up a couple years after I ended a bad relationship and promises to not abuse me like before.

Sorry dear – I don’t buy it … you lost my trust a long time ago. Go away.

The relationship was fine at first but then you abused me. I now get plenty of good info from the WWW … i don’t need you. I don’t want you. You are bad for me.

Besides – Newsweek Magazine is so 20th century …

Face it – Newsweek Magazine can never be what it was. No matter how hard it tries. It can never be what it was.

Besides – what Newsweek was does not even fit in with today’s world. It’s so “last century” …

Newsweek can’t recapture something that has already passed by. Face it folks …

Grasping at straws … creating news rather than reporting news … “photoshopped” cover images … provocative headlines which have little to do with the actual article …

Newsweek Magazine is no different now than a grocery store gossip tabloid … they should be ashamed !

I found THIS ARTICLE about how Newsweek is basically in the gutter now – NewsweAk !!!

Dinosaurs are dying. Such a shame.

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We are in another industrial revolution just as we went through 100 years ago. This one is a shift to digital content.

As the truck replaced the horse as a beast of burden, the digital tablet is replacing the paper periodical.

This year, all those makers of those $500 tablets will be introducing models for under $200.

It will not be long until a good, average tablet will be under $100 …

Because Andriod is the operating system (open source) and there is no “microsoft” type dominating the industry like PCs of last century, the prices for tablets will be dropping fast.

That will be the final blow to the paper printed periodical. It’s inevitable. It’s just history repeating itself. The principles are all the same.

Content is king in the 21st century.

Intellectual Property Rights are important to protect – if we are to have quality content.

What we need is a 48 hour day …

I had a good holiday. Hope yall did also – Here’s to a good coming year.

Hmmmmm …

i was thinking how nice it would be if everything about time relating to human life would be better if it was simply doubled. Days twice as long … the human life span twice as long …

In other words … one year is two years … when we are 50 years old we are 25 in body and mind …

Then again – I’m sure it’s the way it’s supposed to be. Who am I to argue? :-)

American Liberty Magazine is all up and running well. American Liberty Magazine

And of course “Submariners” is having a good life now …

SubmarineMovie.com

SubmarineDocumentary.com

For the new year, I have several cool projects coming. Mainly in the audio book realm but I think we will finally get “All About Hermit Crabs” out of the moth balls.

When we were finishing up the final edit for “AAHC” the Taiwan scientists who provided a lot of great video of their attempts to repopulate the endangered aquatic species on that island threw in a monkey wrench.

When the Taiwan scientists learned that the footage would be on an educational DVD that would be for sale, they did not want to be involved with anything “commercial”. I explained that many, many Americans would then hear about their efforts and no doubt donate to their cause. They could not (or would not) understand. They said “everything is free.”

Now - I know I could technically use the footage as they basically made it “public domain” with their attitude. But I don’t roll that way – I like to have every contribution in 100% agreement no matter what I could “get away with”. This is why you will never see me do any “drive-by interviews” … although I know I’d be better at it that the idiots who rely on blind siding their subjects … Good thing I “wear a white hat” ;-)

Even though you cannot even see it on the web anywhere because they also don’t understand why anyone has to pay for an internet connection … apparently they need to look into the history of their nation in relationship to what the communist mentality did to them …

but I digress … Green is the new Red …

So there I was with a fully edited project entwined with their footage. I did not have the time or “gumption” for a re-edit at that point … I was scheduled for other things … but now i think I will get in there and hack them all out.

The host of the film will be happy I’m sure …

Sometimes projects just don’t want to be made at the time … some want to be made and it will haunt the maker until it gets done.

If you are not of the creative mentality, you would not understand that – nor understand any explanation.

Enough of this – i will no doubt be making many entries here in the coming year – mostly because of American Liberty Magazine and the time scheduled for that …

This place is always the very last I ever have time for.

Have a great 2012 !

Submariner: The Men of the Silent Service Movie Segment

We thought it would be better to put out some short segments from the movie.

This would be better than the traditional “trailer” …

A kind of sample taste. Like trying on shoes before buying them. Is this a better way ?

A short segment from Chapter 4 – “From Diesel to Nuclear”

This is from the section illustrating the difference between life on diesel-electric submarines to the new nuclear submarines.

Before this segment was a short, interesting introduction to Hyman Rickover’s push to use nuclear power in submarines. It then goes into the construction and first missions of the USS Nautilus SSN 571 including crew members who made the first voyages and the 3 attempts to pass across the North Pole.

Including the original navigator - Shep Jenks. With actual footage of Jenks in the plane searching the polar ice to make the third attempt without being crushed by the ice.

This should be filed under “W” for “wierd” …

Architects can come up with some interesting ideas for buildings.

Take Frank Gehry … who would cho up pieces of paper and tape them around in all sorts of loops and curves and then leave it to engineers to figure out how to build it.

But there is a skyscraper project planned for Seoul, Korea (ROK) that has been accepting design proposals for the project –

A Dutch design company submitted a design for two identical towers. They are connected in the center by a series of cubes that is supposed to be a “cloud” …

“The Cloud” would be a series of lounges, restaurants and offices complete with roof top gardens half way up connecting the two towers.

Gee – what does this remind me of … hmmmm …
looks like something from about 10 years ago or so …

Could it be …. ?

No way … can’t be …

Could it ?!?

How can they not say it looks a lot like something that many would not like to think about – or forget.

Are they kidding ?

Are they serious ?

If anything … the design proposed is goofy at best.

This would be one building that I would not want to take an elevator ride in …. sorry folks …

I think the Dutch designers have been spending too much time in one of those Amsterdam “coffee houses” ;-)

Submariner Movie – New(er) Trailer

www.SubmarineMovie.com

The Flyover States

American Liberty Magazine Online is Rockin’ !!!

American Liberty Magazine has gone live !

www.AmericanLibertyMagazine.com

The quarterly disc version is still being made of course – but the online version is live and the best part:

Online SUBSCRIPTIONS are FREE to sign up – supported by our sponsors.

So just as commercial radio and television is free to watch because of the advertisements, so goes the online version of American Liberty Magazine.

Another cool deal – is subscribers can add comments to the articles !

See you there …

Something they are not – but concerning if they were !