Jays Jots

A friend sent me this link on the philosophy of old age. Some very cool looking pictures and something to ponder: Philosophy of Old Age

Here’s Rand Paul’s logic… I don’t support any form of discrimination, I do support the right of private enterprises to discriminate because it falls under free speech, I do support laws that prevent discrimination by public institutions but since I’m a libertarian I don’t support those public institutions (like public education).

Does anyone else see the hypocrisy here?

Interesting op-ed in today’s NY Times…the Black of course is Barak Obama. The woman, Nancy Pelosi. The Jew, Anthony Weiner. The Gay, Barney Frank. Each had a strong role getting health care fixed passed in congress.

This must be driving the right wing tea party and republican’s nuts.

Decrying that churches that promote the social gospel are just fronts for communism and facism is not far from the paper tiger of McCarthism of the 1950’s. Both the old and new testament have numerous references in regard to our obligations of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and healing the sick. View examples

It’s time to put a stop to Glenn Beck. It’s time for religious leaders from the left and right, from churches, to synagogues, to mosques and other religion’s to rise up against the intolerance and racial hatred that is being spread by the likes of Glenn Beck.

On the plane ride back from CES, I was reading the latest advances in genetic engineering. Our ability to create synthetic life appears to have advanced quite rapidly. It talked about anyone being able to buy a DNA synthesizer off ebay and being able to create their own viruses.

Why worry about nuclear proliferation? Why worry about bombs at airports? The real threat will be biological - it can be virtually undetectable and has the potential to kill millions.

If one really thinks about it, the potential for bio-terrorism is quite scary.

The Consumer Electronics Show, better know as CES, and among the largest trade shows in the world, was in Las Vegas this past week at the Las Vegas Convention Center. If you ventured over to the Venetion where CES had most of the high-fidelity audio companies, you might have run into the largest Adult Porn industry convention. Interesting juxtaposition of two industries. A place where Geeks meet Freaks.

Life is about making today a little bit better than yesterday!

Debbie and my vision of success back when we met in 1974 is so much different than what it is today. Back then it was about getting married, having a secure job, a nice house, having a couple of children, and giving them a good education to ensure their success, whatever that meant. For me, the change actually began a few weeks before Debbie and I met when my brother was killed in a bicycle accident. I was 18 and he was 23. Watching my parents cope with the loss of my brother Robbie is something you would never wish on any parents. Dealing with the death of a child and someone close to you who was so young starts to give you a new frame of reference of how to live. At 18, you don’t yet realize it. But eventually you start to realize that life is meant to be lived and not agonized over. You hope for the best but be prepared for whatever outcome comes your way.

As much as you strive for the typical hopes and dreams when you are newly married, that vision is always too idealistic. Over the years, we’ve dealt with infertility issues, adoption, drug abuse & addiction, depression & anxiety, aspergers syndrome, personality/mental disorders, ADHD and sexual orientation. Finding mechanisms to cope with these issues is hard and they start to force you to define different ways to view the world and measure success.

Often what makes it hard is that you compare your life with others around you, or to so called “perfect” families. You learn however, that the perfect family doesn’t exist. Once you break through and get a peak through all the facades families create, you realize that everyone is dealing with their own challenges. Some more difficult than yours and some less so.

You learn life is not about getting into the best school or landing the ideal job. Life is about living in the moment, enjoying it for what it is, and getting the most out of the opportunities that do come your way. For our kids, its about helping them develop the coping skills to deal with what whatever comes at them. It’s about helping them make today just a little better than yesterday.

According to a Harvard Medical School Researcher’s report published in the American Journal of Public Health, 45,000 American’s die each year from the lack of medical insurance. Lack of access to proper medical care is what causes these deaths, according the the study. More die each month than all the people that died in the 9/11 attack.

At night, my bedroom has become a rainbow of colors. Why is that? It’s all those consumer electronics that are spread throughout the bedroom. I just added Comcast’s DVR, now my bedroom is brighter than ever. When off, the power light glows a bright red, when on, it glows a bright blue, illuminating the entire bedroom either way. My new DECT telephone glows a bright amber. It’s a great phone but this light has no value - its on 100% of the time. Debbie’s alarm clock uses an LED display but it has no dimmer switch and also glows a bright blue. Mine at least uses an LCD display and lights up only when I touch it. The iMac in sleep mode has it’s pulsating white light. And our alarm control panel strobes red, yellow or green depending on its setting.

How is a guy supposed to sleep with all these lights. Will consumer electronics companies ever truly understand the consumer and learn to turn off all their idiot lights?