blushwood, Danica, Haiti

I kinda like the way that the internet gets things to one's personal computer faster than the speed of rumors. The research on the fruit of the blushwood shrub being a possible cure for cancer has a bunch of sites reporting the finding - this is an Australian bush and research.

The snows of Washington only elicited a footnote from the fact that the supreme court let employees go home early on Friday.

Iran and the rest of the world (excluding maybe China and Russia) are still at odds about their nuclear ambition. Gates is calling for 'stronger' sanctions.

Danica Patrick's new ad that was banned on the networks as being too racy will be shown on the GoDaddy site Sunday. I predict that probably the hits will be higher than the game itself.

The news usually has a lot of questioning stuff in it, no matter how strange it seems. Haiti is one example: as I mentoned yesterday - Clinton is the special ambassador to Haiti. Why is the country one of the poorest in the world? Drug use is rampant, gangs control the streets, with his influence? Hmmm With the child trafficing (politely called indentured servitude work) so high both internally and worldwide from Haiti, why has there been a blind eye turned toward toward this practice. And, why has an estimated only 24% of the people in need actually receiving the food?

Obama, Haiti, Toyota, Ankle Fusion

My commentary today is threefold, First Obama: has he given up on his wide spread shotgun approach and is now deciding to concentrate on one thing at a time - jobs? Hope so. He has spun his wheels so far and needs to settle down to something he can work on and prove that he is a focused leader. Haiti is winding down as a front page item. Seems that plenty of stuff is getting there. But, the food and water is not getting distributed to all the people. Heard one woman complain that only the young strong men are getting the food, etc. as they bully themselves in the lines. Lotsabucks have been channeled to the relief effort. Hopefully it will do something to raise the standard of living in that country - not just line the coffers of the government and crooked big business interests. Toyota is really in deep do-do. All the recalls, etc. However, th cut back of sales on some models may be a boon for Toyota. The company can reduce the production lines, pay less wages, use less materials and ultimately save a bunch of bucks in advertising. The supposed tragedy may actually make money for the company. I love it.

On a personal note, the podiatrist folks want to fuse my ankle - 8 to 12 weeks off my feet. If anyone has had this done let me know the pros and cons.

MLK, Haiti

Haiti is still on top of the news. Remember to donate through your phone TEXT Haiti at 90999 for an easy ten buck donation. On the other side of the coin, looks like some looters are getting shot in Port Au Prince. U.S. and UN sending more troops to bring order to the chaos. Aid still slow getting there because of the airport issues - one runway no real infrastructure, etc, etc, etc. Now on a better note. We have a holiday to remember Martin Luther King. It is amazing how the great peace preachers get themselves assasinated in order to be heard by all. Damn shame. When I was a kid, I read the biography of Ghandi. Wow. (I also read On the Road, the Fountainhead and Peyton Place). Talk about an impressionable mind period . . . Anyway, I digress. Now we have an articulate President whose legacy was formed by MLK and probably Malcom X and many others. Makes for a great resume for a world leader, in my opinion. One a final note, it is a pity that we as a world always have to resort to violence to further our civilization. Rodney King was right -"Why can't we all get along?"

Haiti and corruption

I'm still stuck on Haiti. Guess they are saying over 70,000 dead and more to come as the rubble is removed from over some bodies and disease sets in. Lot of chatter about rebuilding the country and making it better. Here we have a real dilemma. Th country is not even marginally law-abiding. The corruption is so wide-spread that it probably would take another quake of higher magnitude . . . I know, I know, I shouldn't go there.

Haiti, Devil

Seems that the Aid agencies are squabbling over their 'turf' rather than cooperating. And, the greatest news so far defers to Pat Robertson for declaring that the Haitians made a deal with the devil (no kidding) and were punished by the 7.0 earthquake. Now we know . . .

News

The Haitian thing is getting to the point where there is anarchy in the streets. Looting and other crap. U.S. is going to send 10,000 troops to aid the aid, supposedly. My spin is that since Clinton is the special envoy to this little nation, he asked for troops to be deployed to help quell the riots soon to break out. Only the strongest - those with guns and drug money will prevail if no troops have boots on the ground. Damn shame that the country is so lacking infrastructure, government, and increasingly very unsafe streets. We had the thrilla in manila now the sqeaker in massachusetts. Can it be that the Democrats may lose Ted Kennedy's seat in the senate? Wow. How about the Tylenol recall??? Who said that hacking is all bad - Moscow billboards hacked with a porn video. Stopped traffic. lasted 15 minutes. Naughty naughty. or, nice nice - your call....

haiti, google and today's news

The tragedy in Haiti seems to stem from very shoddy buildings. California had a 6.5 last week and very little to no damage. (Yes I know the scale is exponential). But, the point is that countries like Haiti and others should put some thought and money into improving their infrastructure, from building codes to disaster relief. Obama has pledged 100Mil ex Clinton is asking for donations by texting 90999. Google is maybe taking a stand against Chinese hacking emails, searches, and other services. The South China Post reported the issue fairly. The Hong Kong Standard was less than candid. Lets see, what else - people getting depressed about Pandora (AVATAR) being so perfect and unattainable. Hmmm. Serena is going for her 12th in Australia. Cabbie in NY returned $21,000 to a 72 year old Italian lady visiting and left her purse in the cab.

captains supplimental log for today

Haiti - ganga man. had one helluva earthquake. Some are saying a 7 on the shake rattle and roll scale. (Californians are shrugging their shoulders . . .) I am sorry that this happened. But, it will ease some of the pressure on Obama for the moment. The health care bill, terrorStans, deficit and more job losses. Guy does need a break and this Haitian thing will help divert attention of the news media.