Welcome to day 5 of the 31 days of music! Today is a really, really rare recording - The Orb Live at Glastonbury back in 1993. Finding this one really triggered some memories for me.
I hope you enjoy.
The tracklisting:
A few weeks back I bookmarked this story on a potential Russian treason law but never got around to putting my thoughts down. The big thing that sticks out for me is this:
The bill would add non-governmental organizations based anywhere in the world that have an office in Russia to the list of banned recipients of state secrets. The government has repeatedly accused foreign spy agencies of using NGOs as a cover to foment dissent.
For your records, an NGO = nongovernmental organization
We are talking about organizations such as Amnesty International, Red Cross, or Human Rights Watch… The Russian Government fears that NGOs are tools of foreign governments that are attempting to influence events within Russia.
That may or may not be true, but I would be hard presses to test the Russian government because…
In a separate development Wednesday, Russia’s upper house of parliament passed legislation that would end jury trials for those facing charges of terrorism and treason. Instead, they would face a panel of judges.
That means due process is out the window. If you are accused of terrorism or treason in Russia, you will face a panel of judges – not a jury trial. So, if a Russian based member of Amnesty International accuses Russia of Human Rights volitions in Chechnya you now have a treasonous act.
Scary, no?
That said, the United States hasn’t been the best when it comes to due process the last few years…
I had previously said that Oil could not have fallen at a worse time because the U.S. Consumer has a short memory. They are back to their old ways, starting to purchase SUVs with no regard to the fact that oil will once rise again.
Another reason the fall in oil prices could not have come at a worse time is due to the fact that technical advancements will come to a stand still. Companies no longer need to spend money in order to find cheaper source of energy since oil is cheap enough.
If the U.S. Wished to stay as an oil consuming nation, but desired to break its dependence on foreign oil it could do so by turning to lands within the Western United States. The answer is oil sands.
Oil sands, or tar sands, are a combination of clay, sand and bitumen that can be mined and refined into usable oil. The problem, however, is the process is rather pricey. It can cost up to $70 to produce a barrel of oil from Oil Sands, and when the price of oil is currently at around $45, there is no motivation for companies to continue development.
Since Oil Sands mining and refinement is rather new on a significant scale the price to produce will – naturally – be high. The only way cost will decline is if the technology is utilized on a large scale, so the technology is no longer “unique”.
So, here is my question: If the government is truly concerned about becoming energy dependent, what will it do to keep such projects moving forward? What will it do to keep innovation from victim to a slowing economy?
One thing bloggers and developers want to know is how traffic flows through their site and there could be for a number of reasons for wanting such information. Is a new design is working as intended? Are headlines written in such a way that they illicit interest for your readers? Why do people “bounce” away from the site? These are all potential things a blogger would want to know about their site.
Some web stats programs have the ability to provide this information on a limited basis, but very view options are available to bloggers that show the exact path – especially for Wordpress users – so here is one for the Wordpress Community to investigate: clickstats
clikStats is a plugin that automatically detects the current links within each post and compiles the who,what and when data (of each click) and provides an overview to the publish through his or her dashboard.
A sweet tool for anyone who wants to understand what is/isn’t working on their blog.
I’ve been trying to get some rather heavy emotional content down but I just can’t seem to translate my thoughts into worlds, so I turn to the net for a laugh.
I hope you enjoy your day.
It’s day 4 of “31 Days of Music”, today we have live DJ sets from….
Talla 2XLC - Best of AMP Radio
Timo Maas - Frisky Radio Blue Magic
Sven Vath - Skynet Groove City
Paul Oakenfold-Perfecto On Tour 1-2-09
Enjoy your day
Online gaming site Superbook.com is already setting odds for the Republican nominee in 2012. The nation is only two months past the last election and people are already looking to the next election. You cannot be serious, can you?
So, what do the bookmakers think of the next election? First the Republicans nomination… Sarah Palin’s odds are at 3.5-1, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are set at 4-1, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, comes in at 5-1.
On the Democratic side, Obama is favored to win the nomination and a second term (didn’t see that one coming, did you?)
Our nation is facing enough at this point – the economy, energy just to name two – do we really need to focus on what will be taking place in politics 4 years from now. Let’s worry about what we have to fix first then pay attention to the next election.
Just my .02
The last post about the S&P volatility got me thinking about what 2009 has to offer for the stock market (and the economy). I don’t have a crystal ball, so don’t take what I am saying as gospel truth… just putting two and two together based on information that is publicly available.
Again, I have no clue what is going to happen, no one does. Just experience and a bit of knowledge talking.
The big unknowns are the global and geopolitical factors. A war breaking out, a major terrorist attack or huge natural disaster in a major economic zone can change the playing field in the blink of an eye.
If you pay attention to the stock market, you know this past year was a roller coaster ride. What you may not know, however, is just how drastic the trading year was. Take a look at this graphic from Bloomberg/New York Times:
This last year was the worst in terms of volatility since the 1930s. There is no way that the volatility will end simply because the new year has started. While it may not be as bad as last year, expect some wild rides in the next trading year….
Chicago, the Chicago-land area, is my home town. I have yet to find another area that I can truly call my home… maybe one day, but not yet.
So, with that in mind, I would like to know how it is that the murder rate in Chicago is so high - higher than the U.S. death rate in all of Iraq for 2008 - yet no one in the press really seems to notice or care?
Chicago had 509 homicides in 2008
Chicago closed out the year with 509 homicides, an increase of about 15 percent over 2007, but still among the lowest numbers in decades, according to preliminary data released by the department Thursday.
US deaths down in Iraq in 2008
According to a tally by The Associated Press, at least 314 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq in 2008, down from 904 in the previous year.
So, the United States can decrease the number of deaths in a country that is hostile towards the U.S. but it cannot even manage to keep murders down in it’s 3rd largest city?
To me that is just… sad… what is even more disturbing is the fact that the press continues to call Iraq a failure when the City of Chicago has failed at protecting those that live within the City Limits.
Misplaced priorities if you ask me.
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