What Is It That They Don't Get?

Is it New York? Yankee Greed? A sense of superiority? Just plain dumb?
Even now why don't "THEY" get it?

Example one: From the Wall Street Journal:

Bankers Unhappy with Best Year Ever

Goldman Sachs is set to report its highest yearly profit ever, but its employees, apparently, are unhappy: According to The Wall Street Journal, employees are saying that too much of their annual bonuses will be in stock that they cannot immediately sell, complicating their annual household budgets. While the raw numbers at Goldman and other banks are likely to add up to near-record paydays, the banks are stressing that their “comp ratios”—the ratio of total compensation costs to net revenues—are at an all-time low. Goldman, for one, is expected to announce its lowest comp ratio since it went public in 1999, with compensation accounting for 42.8 percent of revenue.

Example Two:

The Wall Street Journal, want to read the article then you must subscribe to the newspaper. No free rides from Rupert Murdoch et. al..

What the heck are they doing? Do they expect to live in Golden Ghettos, secure from the masses? They just don't give a damn, so why should we. When you have a leech sucking on you, don't you burn it off?Read it at Th

Where did SF Bay's sea lions go?

By JEFF BARNARD, AP
Environmental Writer Jeff Barnard, Ap Environmental Writer
– Fri Jan 8, 11:04 pm ET

GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Hundreds of sea lions that abruptly blew out of San Francisco Bay's Pier 39 last Thanksgiving have apparently found a new home at another tourist attraction — 500 miles north on the Oregon coast.
Thousands of California sea lions started showing up in December at Sea Lion Caves, a popular tourist draw because of the Stellar sea lions living in the caves.
The California sea lions appear to have made the trip because of an abundance of anchovies at the Oregon site, 11 miles north of the town of Florence.
Scientists say there is no way to say how many of the newcomers came from Pier 39, where the numbers fell from a peak of 1,701 in October to just 20 by the end of November. But it is likely some did, since they easily swim 100 miles a day searching for food between Mexico and Alaska.
Some of the California newcomers came into the cave, but most seem to prefer a nearby rocky beach.
More

Not just a tale of marine mammals this. It is an example of the Geographic concept of catastrophic shift. When I first started studying Geography gradualism was the thing. It was the basic model of geology and biological evolution and even social science. By the 1970's however things were being shaken up. It was discovered that the last ice sheet that covered all of Europe did so in less than a single century. It was revealed that the canyon that was the Columbia River Gorge had been carved out in days not eons, and that it had happened at least 12 times. Evidence of flash frozen animals in the tundras of Siberia and Alaska with grass still in their mouths and stomachs suggest a sudden event.

Some day, I mean one single day, in Europe the dry cold air will come and bring a "Snow Blitz" that will not go away for thousands of years. All it takes is the Gulf Stream to shift, say from too much fresh water disrupting the flow of currents in the North Atlantic. Fresh water from the glacial melt on Greenland brought on by global warming.

Catastrophic shift, a tipping point is past and it all changes and cascades into the future.

Will the Sea Lions return, or should we move with them?

In Search of Grace: The Buddhist "Lost Son"

"A young man left his father and ran away.

For long he dwelt in other countries, for ten, or twenty, or fifty years. The older he grew, the more needy he became. Wandering in all directions to seek clothing and food, he unexpectedly approached his native country.

The father had searched for his son all those years in vain and meanwhile had settled in a certain city. His home became very rich; his goods and treasures were fabulous.At this time, the poor son, wandering through village after village and passing through countries and cities, at last reached the city where his father had settled.

The father had always been thinking of his son, yet, although he had been parted from him over fifty years, he had never spoken of the matter to anyone. He only pondered over it within himself and cherished regret in his heart, saying, "Old and worn out I am. Although I own much wealth - gold, silver, and jewels, granaries and treasuries overflowing - I have no son. Some day my end will come and my wealth will be scattered and lost, for I have no heir. If I could only get back my son and commit my wealth to him, how contented and happy would I be, with no further anxiety!"

Meanwhile the poor son, hired for wages here and there, unexpectedly arrived at his father's house. Standing by the gate, he saw from a distance his father seated on a lion-couch, his feet on a jeweled footstool, and with expensive strings of pearls adorning his body, revered and surrounded by priests, warriors, and citizens, attendants and young slaves waiting upon him right and left. The poor son, seeing his father having such great power, was seized with fear, regretting that he had come to this place. He reflected, "This must be a king, or someone of royal rank, it is impossible for me to be hired here. I had better go to some poor village in search of a job, where food and clothing are easier to get. If I stay here long, I may suffer oppression." Reflecting thus, he rushed away.

Meanwhile the rich elder on his lion-seat had recognized his son at first glance, and with great joy in his heart reflected, "Now I have someone to whom I may pass on my wealth. I have always been thinking of my son, with no means of seeing him, but suddenly he himself has come and my longing is satisfied. Though worn with years, I yearn for him."Instantly he sent off his attendants to pursue the son quickly and fetch him back. Immediately the messengers hasten forth to seize him. The poor son, surprised and scared, loudly cried his complaint, "I have committed no offense against you, why should I be arrested?" The messengers all the more hastened to lay hold of him and brought him back. Following that, the poor son, thought that although he was innocent he would be imprisoned, and that now he would surely die. He became all the more terrified, fainted away and fell on the ground. The father, seeing this from a distance, sent word to the messengers, "I have no need for this man. Do not bring him by force. Sprinkle cold water on his face to restore him to consciousness and do not speak to him any further." Why? The father, knowing that his son's disposition was inferior, knowing that his own lordly position had caused distress to his son, yet convinced that he was his son, tactfully did not say to others, "This is my son."A messenger said to the son, "I set you free, go wherever you will." The poor son was delighted, thus obtaining the unexpected release. He arose from the ground and went to a poor village in search of food and clothing.

Then the elder, desiring to attract his son, set up a device. Secretly he sent two men, sorrowful and poor in appearance, saying, "Go and visit that place and gently say to the poor man, 'There is a place for you to work here. We will hire you for scavenging, and we both also will work along with you.'" Then the two messengers went in search of the poor son and, having found him, presented him the above proposal. The poor son, having received his wages in advance, joined them in removing a refuse heap.

His father, beholding the son, was struck with compassion for him. One day he saw at a distance, through the window, his son's figure, haggard and drawn, lean and sorrowful, filthy with dirt and dust. He took off his strings of jewels, his soft attire, and put on a coarse, torn and dirty garment, smeared his body with dust, took a basket in his right hand, and with an appearance fear-inspiring said to the laborers, "Get on with your work, don't be lazy." By such means he got near to his son, to whom he afterwards said, "Ay, my man, you stay and work here, do not leave again. I will increase your wages, give whatever you need, bowls, rice, wheat-flour, salt, vinegar, and so on. Have no hesitation; besides there is an old servant whom you can get if you need him. Be at ease in your mind; I am, as it were, your father; do not be worried again. Why? I am old and advanced in years, but you are young and vigorous; all the time you have been working, you have never been deceitful, lazy, angry or grumbling. I have never seen you, like the other laborers, with such vices as these.

From this time forth you will be as my own begotten son.

"The elder gave him a new name and called him a son. But the poor son, although he rejoiced at this happening, still thought of himself as a humble hireling. For this reason, for twenty years he continued to be employed in scavenging. After this period, there grew mutual confidence between the father and the son. He went in and out and at his ease, though his abode was still in a small hut.Then the father became ill and, knowing that he would die soon, said to the poor son, "Now I possess an abundance of gold, silver, and precious things, and my granaries and treasuries are full to overflowing. I want you to understand in detail the quantities of these things, and the amounts that should be received and given. This is my wish, and you must agree to it. Why? Because now we are of the same mind. Be increasingly careful so that there be no waste."

The poor son accepted his instruction and commands, and became acquainted with all the goods. However, he still had no idea of expecting to inherit anything, his abode was still the original place and he was still unable to abandon his sense of inferiority.After a short time had again passed, the father noticed that his son's ideas had gradually been enlarged, his aspirations developed, and that he despised his previous state of mind.

Seeing that his own end was approaching, he commanded his son to come, and gathered all his relatives, the kings, priests, warriors, and citizens. When they were all assembled, he addressed them saying, "Now, gentlemen, this is my son, begotten by me. It is over fifty years since, from a certain city, he left me and ran away to endure loneliness and misery. His former name was so-and-so and my name was so-and-so. At that time in that city I sought him sorrowfully. Suddenly I met him in this place and regained him. This is really my son and I am really his father. Now all the wealth which I possess belongs entirely to my son, and all my previous disbursements and receipts are known by this son." When the poor son heard these words of his father, great was his joy at such unexpected news, and thus he thought,

"Without any mind for, or effort on my part, these treasures now come to me."

World-honored One! The very rich elder is the Tathagata, and we are all as the Buddha's sons. The Buddha has always declared that we are his sons. But because of the three sufferings, in the midst of births-and-deaths we have borne all kinds of torments, being deluded and ignorant and enjoying our attachment to things of no value. Today the World-honored One has caused us to ponder over and remove the dirt of all diverting discussions of inferior things. In these we have hitherto been diligent to make progress and have got, as it were, a day's pay for our effort to reach nirvana. Obtaining this, we greatly rejoiced and were contented, saying to ourselves, "For our diligence and progress in the Buddha-law what we have received is ample".

The Buddha, knowing that our minds delighted in inferior things, by his tactfulness taught according to our capacity, but still we did not perceive that we are really Buddha's sons.

Therefore we say that though we had no mind to hope or expect it, yet now the Great Treasure of the King of the Law has of itself come to us, and such things that Buddha-sons should obtain, we have all obtained. "

Source: (Saddharmapundarika Sutra 4)

In the source document you will find the correct dogmatic Buddhist interpretation of the story. It requires that you subscribe to very many doctrinal definitions and conditions to read the story the right way. Read it your own way.

I read it as a story of Grace.

OK, It Is Really Cold: Mississippi River Frozen Near St. Louis

(updated with new spellings)

Cold?

When the Mississippi River freezes over as far down as St. Louis, then your Dang Right it is cold.


So here is what the Mississippi Rvier looked like in 1910.


Here is what the Mississippi River looks like in 2010.
(Photo by NewsChannel 5 Photojournalist Any Broadway)

Pictures provided by KSDX TV show the Mississippi River frozen over at Alton Illinois. Alton is just up River from St. Louis and just above the confluence of the Missouri River with the Mississippi.

Something's Out There

There is an old saying: "To Live Well, You Should Live Unseen."

Prey or predator, it is sound advice.



Ever have one of those days? You know one of those days when you get up with all good intentions of doing what needs to be done and you get up and go about it but there is something in the back of your mind, something in the weather, something just outside your peripheral vision that says to you, "Something Is Out There".

So you keep alert just in case, but you weren't alert enough or fast enough even though you could feel that it was there?



Then zoom, whip, zap, bang, dang dang dang, oh shit.......

And you are caught?

It is much better to seize the day than to be seized by the day.

Television Cost Then and Now 1953 to 2010

Now this ain't a scientific analysis but it is probably correct if not "true".




In the summer of 1953 my grandfather showed up one afternoon in our Western Oklahoma farm yard with a brand new Admiral 21" Black and White Console TV in the trunk of his Plymouth. He and my mother, one of his seven kids, didn't get along all that much so it was somewhat of a mystery why he brought her such a gift.



Now he paid over $200 for the TV. The exact cost we never knew.
I became a really popular kid for a while in my part of the country. All of the other
kids my age who had TVs, which weren't many, had those with small screens and some were even round in shape. This however was 21" wide, corner to corner, and rectangular. Now there are a lot of stories to tell about TV back then , but right now let us just look at the cost.
Grandad was not rich, but he weren't poor neither. So like most people back then he paid cash our of his pocket for the TV.

Based on the inflation rates a dollar in 1953 would be equivalent to $8 today.
I recently bought me a 26" 1080p HD TV with all sorts of plugs and stuff for about $300.
That got me to wondering what you could get today for the same dollar value as that 1953 TV set?

Well at eight times $200 that would be a $1600 TV set or so.

So what would you get?

Well you could get this one: Panasonic TH-50PX600U Diagonal 50" Plasma HDTV with Built-In ATSC/QAM/NTSC Tuners, SD Memory Card Slot, and PC Input, Deep Blacks, Bright Whites, and 29 Billion Colors, View Digital Programming Without A Cable Box, Receive Over-The-Air HDTV Broadcasts, Share Digital Photos On the Big Screen with Photo Viewer, A Single Cable Carries High-Quality Digital Audio and Video, A Cinema-Style Viewing Experience At Home, EZ Snc HDAVI Control, TV Guide On-Screen Program Guide, Video Picture Memory, On-Screen Display Languages, V-Chip Program Lockout, Built-In Closed Caption Decoder, Timers - Sleep/On/Off, Video Input Labeling.

Dang.

I guess dollar value wise, I don't have, and most likely never will have a TV as fine as that one back in 1953 relative to the prevailing technology. Technologically we have come so far, but in actual wealth, not so much. Maybe, that is why we have convince ourselves that we are doing so well, when everybody in a family is working to make ends meet but are still drowning in debt.

Looks like we have bought more than we can afford alright and I don't mean TVs.

It used to be that the populace was distracted by "Bread and Circus". Today I think that should be "Chips & Dips and ESPN-HD".

Now, Again, What's The Story?

Man skirts NJ airport security, delaying flights

ARTICLE: By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press

Writer Kim Gamel, Associated Press Writer – 26 mins ago

NEWARK, N.J. – A man walked through a screening checkpoint exit into the secure side of a terminal at one of the nation's busiest airports on Sunday night, and flights were grounded for hours and passengers had to be re-screened while air safety officials searched for him.
Airline passengers were allowed to begin boarding their planes at Newark Liberty International Airport about six hours after the man was seen bypassing security.
The man walked down an exit lane at Terminal C about 5:30 p.m., Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Ann Davis said, and screening was halted while authorities looked at surveillance tapes to try to identify him.
Passengers were then moved from the secure side of the terminal, which is used primarily by Continental Airlines Inc., to the open side to go through screening again, Davis said in a statement. Passengers waited in check-in areas.

ETC.

So Read the whole thing .

Now, tell me, what is the story?

The story is having (immediately ?) sealed off the boarding area, and having a video of what he looked like, they still never found him. Nope, the guy walks into a secure area, and every human being in that area is removed and examined, looked over and searched, and none, not one, nobody was identified as the guy. He vanished into thin air.

Now isn't that the real story?

Sleep well tonight, unless you live in any flight line within the entire U.S..