Baby Gear, Diapers etc.

Okay all you Mommies and Daddies, I need your advice.

What diapers are best, and why? Also if you happen to know of where to get the best price that would be good also. As some of you know our little one is due on Feb 4th, so we are trying to stock up now. Not just diapers, but a little of everything really. What did you find most "essential"? Was it a swing or a bouncy seat or using your parents as a baby sitter?

Refrigeration

Getting ice from the machine at work today and it got me thinking on how those things work and I thought I would share that with y'all in case you had wondered the same thing.

First of all the cooling system relies upon a gas. A modern fridge uses ammonia, older fridges used Freon (a Chloro-Flouro-Carbon, or CFC) So we moved from something that is dangerous to the atmosphere (CFC) to something that is dangerous to you. But it is more efficient so I guess that works. The system works like this, the gas flows thru the cooling tubes in the freezer (and fridge) then goes into a compressor which compresses it into a liquid before it goes out the tubes that are on the back of the fridge.

So how does that work? The gas runs thru the tubes and draws away heat from the compartment causing that compartment to be cooled. That gas then goes into the compressor. The compressor raises the pressure to put out liquid ammonia. But compressing the gas raises the temperature of the ammonia. So now it needs to be cooled off and this is done by sending it thru the coils on the back of the fridge.

The final stage is to get the ammonia cold again. This is accomplished by depressurizing the liquid so it can go back to gas again. The depressurization causes a temperature drop.

So: cold gas, pressurize (and heat) to liquid, bleed off heat then depressuize (and cool) to gas.

Modesty

I feel I need to apologize for my lack of modesty lately. First Heidi noticed my tin-foil hat and now Ted noticed my slip*. I'll try to do better y'all.


*on the Speed of Light vs. Molasses post.

Econ & You

Then, with this wicked little grin on his face, Mr. Blumen goes on to say that another scam is "to make money pay a negative nominal interest rate, by imposing some type of 'carry tax' on currency and deposits. A tax or fee on Reserve deposits of 1 percent per month, for example, would mean that those deposits, in effect, pay a nominal interest rate of roughly minus 12 percent."

Think Economics doesnt apply to you? This is just one of the tricks up Bernanke's sleeve. You see, our economy is kept alive by an outrageous amount of debt spending. If we dont keep spending at these rates our economy is going to collapse. And how do you squeeze more from a group of people that only save 1% of their income? You make savings too costly. Would you care to lose 12% on your savings or would you decide it was time to put it into stocks? Stocks obviously. At least then you might have a chance at making money. "Savings" would be a sure fire loss.

Need more convincing?

"The third principle of Bernankeism is the necessity of 'unconventional measures.' The reader of the Fed’s papers and speeches will find a series of increasingly exotic plans for the dollar. From beginning to end, these methods range from the merely unsound to the bizarre and terrifying."
Well, how about, for example, "money rains", whereby the Fed would "give money away either through directly disbursing currency to the public or by disbursing it through the banking system." By this time I am sure your heart is beating like a trip-hammer, boom boom boom at the very thought of such monetary sinfulness!

Now what have we learned about creating money? It causes inflation! Inflation is always always ALWAYS bad. But then giving it away to those who havent worked for it?

I am finding it easier to understand why the Mogambo (whom I cited here today) gets so worked up. I got so worked up that I gave that first example first even tho it should have been second as it naturally follows the second as it is also one of those "bizarre and terrifying" methods.

Once more we should look to the words of Thomas Jefferson

The central bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the Principles and form of our Constitution. I am an Enemy to all banks discounting bills or notes for anything but Coin. If the American People allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the People of all their Property until their Children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered.

Astronomy

Ever wonder how an astronomer can declare what the make up is of another planets atmosphere without ever getting a probe to take a sample? This always mystified my because it really doesnt make a whole lot of sense to point a telescope at Neptune and state that the gases of that planet are X, Y, & Z. Well let me unravel that mystery for you.

As you know, light is the only thing that astronomer has to go off of. Radiation actually, but that is what light is. That light comes from the sun, bounces off the distant planet and makes it back here to a telescope. As you know everything absorbs some sunlight and bounces others. Well it turns out that everything has its own "fingerprint" and will absorb some portions of the spectrum and those portions will therefore be missing when that light comes back to the telescope. By analyzing the spectrum from substances here in closed labs we are able to definitively say what gases make up the atmosphere of a distant planet.

Speed of Light vs. Molasses

While on the topic of the speed of light over at Triton's I came across this article from the Harvard University Gazette about a group of physicists slowing a beam of light to 38 MPH (down from 186,000 Miles Per Second***)

It's a pretty cool expirement. They inject sodium into a vacuum (well, it was a vaccuum up to that point) and then use a laser to get all the atoms moving in one direction. Then they use lasers to get all the atoms to clump together in the middle with next to no movement. No movement equals energy equals temperature (basically) so no movement equals no temperature. In this case it was a fraction above absolue zero (minus 459.7 degrees F, colder than most of space) This formed what is known as an Einstein-Bose "condensate". This condensate acts as one big cell and presents huge resistance to the light wave which enabled the University to observe light at a mere 38 MPH (I've gone faster than that on my bike!) Their next project is to perfect the technology and get the speed down to a whopping 1 centimeter per second

*** Edited Changed from 186,000 MPH to MPS. Thanks Ted

Stolen: Nun Bun

That is right people, the Nun Bun is gone. It was stolen straight from its protective glass case. At thie time no one knows what has become of the Nun Bun but we can all hope that it will show it's "face" again soon.

For those unfamiliar with the Nun Bun it is a cinnamon roll (which my wife can tell you just how important those are to me) that bears the visage of the Mother Theresa. Truly, this is a sad day for bakers everywhere.

Free West Alliance

I am sure many of my readers have heard of the Free State Project. FSP is an attempt to take one state, remove many of the onerous laws and return freedom to one state and thereby be a bright shining star of freedom pointing the way for America and indeed the whole world. One small problem. They chose the wrong state. FSP held a vote and came up with New Hampshire. A gorgeous state with many things going for it including a more western attitude and a coast. The problem is that to affect New Hampshire politics they would need a minumum of 20,000 libertarian-leaning voters to move there.

A better state exists, Wyoming (which just so happened to be a close second in the FSP vote). Also a gorgeous state (Yellowstone anyone?) and one great benefit: only 5000 people needed to swing the state politically. This spawned a FSP-West for those who thought they could make a change faster. Having looked into this a bit more I have found that there is another movement afoot. The Free West Alliance. Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. For those of you already in the west or considering a move to the west, consider a move to one of these States (unless you are a commie, then go back to California or New York)

(The site has had a rough year with being hacked several times and as a result it isnt as complete as it should be.)

Christmas to me

Suppose for a moment that there was this really great Hindu holiday where everyone gets together and decorates their houses and throw parties and such, and then they stand on their heads to pray to Krishna. Among their various decorations are their prayer mats and little statues of people standing on their heads. All in all, a good time is had by all. Now imagine that Christians wanted to take part in this holiday. The Christians might come up with a story about how Jesus turned the whole world on its head, and that is why we stand on our heads.

Is this now a Christian holiday? How does one get past the pagan roots and symbolism of that holiday? If one similarly decorates ones home, nay, exactly the same decorations are put out, is it really a different celebration than the original? Does saying "but we dont pray to Krishna" really sanctify this event enough to please G-d? Or rather has G-d called us to be separate and holy (as He is Holy)?

Wouldn't G-d rather that we followed His commdands? He has after all commanded us to observe several feasts, yet Christians would rather attempt to take from other religions than celebrate the Feasts that He has given us. Hhat a sad sad state that is.

From glass alabaster she poured out the depths of her
soul. O foot of Christ would you wait if her harlotries
known? falls a tear to darken the dirt. Of humblest
offerings to forgive the hurt. She is strong enough to stand
in your love. I can hear her say..I am weak. I am poor, I'm
broken Lord but I'm yours. Hold me Now. Hold me Now.
Let he without sin cast the first stone if you will. To say
that my bride isn't worth half the blood that I've spilled.
Point your finger and laugh if you choose to say my
beloved is borrowed and used (chorus)

Listening to Jennifer Knapp today. I am being reminded that I too need to be pouring out the depths of my soul. It has been too long since I have humbled myself at His feet, too long since...

Properties of gold

A little piece from Lambert Dolphin's website at www.ldolphin.org

Gold has been known since the dawn of mankind. Not long after the creation of the earth, the book of Genesis records that the gold found in the land of Havilah "is good." There are 358 references to gold in the Bible, the last of which makes reference to the heavenly city. Only in recent years has a process been discovered for casting gold in transparent form and in gold-plating glass. Scripture records the amount of gold used in adorning the great temple Solomon built in Jerusalem 3000 years ago. It's 3750 tons of gold would be worth over 45 billion dollars today!

Gold has an atomic number 79 and an atomic weight of 196.9665. Gold is 19.3 times heavier than water, melts at 1063 degrees Centigrade, and is the most malleable and ductile of all the elements. One ounce of this metal (slighter more than a cubic centimeter) may be beaten into 300 square feet of gold leaf. Gold can be fired by a potter into clays to produce exquisitely beautiful porcelain or glass.

Gold is chemically quite inert. No single acid dissolves it. It is unaffected by oxygen or hydrogen sulfide. Gold does not rust, tarnish, corrode, crumble, decompose or decay, even after centuries on the sea floor or in a damp dripping cavern. Gold is found in nature principally as a free metal in veins of quartz, or in alluvial (placer) deposits resulting from the breakup of such rock. Gold in nature typically contains 10 to 15 percent silver in solid solution; it may also contain copper, iron, or more rarely bismuth, tin, lead, platinum, palladium, or iridium. Electrum is the usual name applied to gold containing a high silver content. Gold sometimes occurs in nature in combination with tellurium in the mineral sylvanite. Gold chlorides and cyanides also occur more rarely.

Gold is number 81 down on a list of the atomic elements in terms of relative abundance in the universe and has been highly prized for jewelry and coins since the dawn of mankind. Gold is economically mined today by open pit methods (for example in Nevada and California) even though the gold content is somewhat less than 0.1 ounce per ton of waste rock. The famous gold mines of South Africa are more than a mile deep. Gold is often recovered as a by-product of other metal mining, for example copper or lead. The total amount of gold mined in the world in the history of mankind amounts to less than 90,000 tons. If this gold were all collected together it would fit into a cube only 58 feet on a side! Total gold production per year in the world is less than 2000 tons of which about two-thirds comes from South Africa, 30% from the Soviet Union, 4% from Canada and 3% from the United States. Perhaps only 40,000 tons of gold remains in the earth yet to be mined.

Five stories below the ground at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City is an enormous, compartmentalized vault holding some 10,000 metric tons of gold worth $117 billion - the gold reserves of some 50 nations.

The "London Good Delivery Bar," which is the standard bar used in international trade, weighs 400 ounces troy. One troy ounce is equal to 1.09714 regular (avoirdupois) ounces. These bars have a refiner name, a bar number, and other information stamped on them, and the minimum fineness must be .995, or 99.5% pure gold.

Gold leaf is widely used for lettering names on glass, for building ornamentation and gilding. In 1986 the Statue of Liberty was refurbished with 6000 squares of gold leaf. 250,000 leaves of gold can be stacked into a pile only one inch high.

Gold is a good electrical conductor - almost identical with that of aluminum and not far from silver and copper. Because of its high atomic stability gold emits no particles or rays from its nucleus. It enters into almost no chemical reactions at room temperature and therefore is impossible to detect at a distance by a remote sensing or a chemical-sniffing method.

In the United States about one-fifth of the annual production, that is about 47 metric tons, is used for electronics where superior electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance are required. Gold can be vacuum deposited on glass or plastic to make heat reflecting windows or sunglasses of superior optical screening properties.

Gold can be detected close up (for instance on the sea floor) using neutron activation. However this technique involving the use of a radioactive isotope and sensitive detectors is not much used today. The claims of some amateur prospectors that gold can be detected at a distance by a "molecular frequency detector" are unfounded according to all known legitimate science. Success, if any, obtained with one of these devices (which are in a class similar to dowsing or water-witching methods) can not be explained by any principle known to science today.

While relatively scarce on earth, gold is apparently more common than brick or asphalt in God's Eternal City, the New Jerusalem, "The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass...And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass." (Revelation 21:18, 21)

You Decide: Verdict

We had a split group. Eaglewood and Ian stating not guilty. Roci and Arielle finding guilty. Wes and Ted saying he is in for trouble with the cops either way, and Triton wanting more info possibly coming down on either side accordingly.

Well here is the way the jury saw it. Not Guilty.

“The fact that the group was not leaving and continued to engage Mr. Hill,” the foreman wrote in an e-mail to The Gazette, “led us to determine that it was reasonable for Mr. Hill to believe that the group of assailants might use physical force against him.”

“Although Mr. Knott was in his vehicle, there was no credible evidence that Mr. Knott was leaving,” the foreman wrote, adding that testimony showed some of the people were still outside a car yelling at Hill.

In an interview after the verdict, the foreman said the law offers no clear “line” where an intruder must be before deadly force can be used.

The foreman, who asked not to be identified because he feared for his family’s safety, said the way the [Colorado’s Homeowners Protection Act] is written made a guilty verdict impossible.

“All four criteria for the use of deadly force against an intruder were met,” he wrote.

The law CRS 18-1-704.5 states

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 18-1-704, any occupant of a dwelling is justified in using any degree of physical force, including deadly physical force, against another person when that other person has made an unlawful entry into the dwelling, and when the occupant has a reasonable belief that such other person has committed a crime in the dwelling in addition to the uninvited entry, or is committing or intends to commit a crime against a person or property in addition to the uninvited entry, and when the occupant reasonably believes that such other person might use any physical force, no matter how slight, against any occupant.

(3) Any occupant of a dwelling using physical force, including deadly physical force, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall be immune from criminal prosecution for the use of such force.

(4) Any occupant of a dwelling using physical force, including deadly physical force, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall be immune from any civil liability for injuries or death resulting from the use of such force.

According to the foreman all 4 criteria were met.
1.) Unlawful entry.
2.) Reasonable belief a crime has been commited.
3.) Reasonable belief of intent to commit a crime against his person.
4.) Reasonable belief physical force (however slight) might be used against him.

It is interesting that there are so many quotes by the family of the deceased about jurors "rot[ing] in hell" and letting Hill get "away with murder" In fact a pastor of the deceased (Knott) spoke of how he was such a wonderful boy. Left out of all their comments is how Knott was demonstrably committing a crime, and a violent one at that. If indeed Knott was such a wonderful person, why had he just assualted a sleeping person? Were I to lose a loved one after they had done something as inherently dangerous as that, I would grieve but I would also realize that he had brought such a fate upon himself. If ya hadnt figured out, I am for not guilty.

Thanks all for participating. It is interesting to see where y'all stand given a brief scenario. I might have to do this again.

You Decide

Here is the scenario. Bob has a party at his house, gets into an arguement with Jill over a stolen purse, Jill punches Bob. Bob grabs a rifle and makes Jill and her friend Jenny leave. Jill and Jenny threaten to come back with their boyfriends.

Later that night, Jill and Jenny come back with their boyfriends, Joe and Rick. The four find Bob in his room sleeping and assault him. Jill punches Bob in the face (this time using brass knuckles) The four head out to the car after promising to come back (again), Bob grabs his rifle and goes to the front door. Bob shoots and kills Joe who was sitting in the car. Some of the group was at this time standing outside of the car yelling at Bob. There is no indication of if Bob was shooting at Joe in particular or missed someone else and hit Joe. Night, distance approx 90 feet.

Your verdict?

Wind-Power

Our power company sends out a little newsletter/magazine and I found an interesting item on wind-power. For starters, it provides a whopping 0.1% of the energy used in America. It lists wood and water as providing the remainder of the 6.1% that is from renewable sources.

To give an idea of how much land would need to be dedicated to wind farms it gave this factoid. The city of Denver would require 1500 square miles of land to meet it's power requirement. And that is just Denver, not the metro area.

Housecleaning

Just did some tidying up here at my cyber-home. You may notice some changes and other maybe not.

Blogroll Additions: Eaglewood, his wife Birdie, and Astrosmith. Also added the Colorado Springs' Gazette's "Out There" blog.

Pics

uh oh, I have figured out the whole image thing...

Anyways, I thought I would test it with some good ol' Calvin.

Pierced

Got pierced yesterday. The verdict is not yet in on whether or not I like it, but the Wife thinks it looks good.

Sorry, but I wont be posting pics of it!

Ted & Abortion

Concerning abortion Ted writes

*long, disgusted sigh*
I repeat the favorite prayer of Ruby Jeanette Burns: "God, save us from the freaking do-gooders! Amen."
Ted | Homepage | 12.02.05 - 10:12 pm | #

and

Speaking of black-robed (child-molesting, idol-worshipping) priests being judicial activists, the Hawaii law is Biblically spot-on (Genesis 2:7) which is much more than can be said for the Papist lies of the anti-choice crowd!

I never actually refered to a single religious text, Christian or otherwise, but since Ted provided us a Scripture I decided to compare this to Hawaiian law. Genesis 2:7 tells us that G-d formed man from dust and breathed life into him (For the sake of argument we'll assume Ted is stating this is a "person".) Hawaiian law defines "person" as "a human being who has been born and is alive." HRS § 707-700 This would tend to contradict the assumption that Hawaiian law is more biblically accurate as Adam was not indeed "born" and therefore was not a person.

The more I see our Senators, Reps and Presidents cavorting with "his hellyness" and the Vatican's backward-collared sith-lords, the more I'm led to believe separation of Cult and state is a good idea that's long overdue.

When cavorting, does one suppose our politicians are cavorting with the Pope? There are some that I think we can take off the list, such as Kennedy who would rather spend time with a bottle and a woman (willing or not) and those whose only thought is how to get re-elected (far far too many of them) What of the rest? Planned Parenthood gives a score of 47.8 for the Senate, and the Republicans put in for (and passed) a $60 million increase for Planned Parenthood. That alone shows little love for the Catholics. What else is there... Evolution in schools, condoms handed out and even demonstrated in schools, books such as "heather has two mommies", and sex questionaires for elementry children. Lets add to that the victories of groups such as the ACLU and PAW in removing religion from public life. Oh yeah, lets not forget good ol' Bush not saying anything about Christmas in his holiday cards. Honestly, the Pope must be the weakest world dictator ever.

And I think I will leave it up to Triton to explain the separation of church and state which is nowhere to be found in the Constitution or Declaration of Independence.

And PLEASE don't come at me with out-of-context quotes from Isaiah or Jeremiah and freaking "what-if!!!"s.
Ted | Homepage | 12.12.05 - 8:43 am | #

Wasn't necessary and I still havent brought up religion.

Difster's "Best Of"

Most of you already stop by Difster's blog but for those of you who don't or those who havent stopped by, you should check out this post. Ya just might find a new favorite blogger.

Difster's Best Of

Blood for Oil

Remember the "No blood for oil" slogans?
Wes

There is a little store downtown that has a campaign running right now...

"Blood For Oil"

Seems they are giving oil to those who donate blood.

Of miseducation and Ipods

I came across an interesting story in the local paper from this past sunday. It states that the students of this alternative school get free Ipods for good attendence. Not good grades, attendence. First off, where was this school when I was in jai... school? You might also be wondering where they get the money for such things. After all, schools are notorious for never having enough funding right? After all, there arent enough books to go around, bands, arts and sports are forever on the verge of being axed, and of course teachers make poverty wages. Well wonder no more. Our good friends at the NEA have helped us to answer such questions.


The good folk at the NEA have compiled a list of the pertinent data. The average per student funding across the nation is a measly eight thousand six hundred eighteen dollars ($8618.) How can anyone expect to get an education for such a small sum of money? And how can one expect to get good teachers when the average wage is on $47,808? After all the national average is $35,648.55 (per the SSA)

So lets see, the average wage for a teacher is 34% higher than that of, well, everyone else (and that does include teachers so that SSA # should be lower) and the publik schools get 229%+ what private schools get ($3757: $3267 in 2000, adding a 15% increase we come up with an estimated $3757 for 2005)

Exactly where is the problem? And why are we continually told there is no money for supplies and extracurricular activities? And why do these children perform so poorly?

And perhaps more importantly than all this is where is my taxpayer purchased Ipod?

Abortion

Well, I thought I was going to post about abortion. but now that I am sitting here trying to do it, I can't come up with anything new to say. I was going to bring up this price list for "harvested" parts. Or perhaps how Hawaii now says it is okay for a woman to harm the baby while it is still in the womb. Perhaps a study of how women who have had abortions have a much higher rate of breast cancer. Perhaps I could write on how abortions are done(caution!), or how the fetus is its own unique being from conception.

I could write upon the negative mental effects, or the various harmful physical aspects. Or how an abortion damages a woman's ability to have children in the future. I could write upon the various pro-abortion political parties, or on Planned Parenthood. Or maybe how it has been proven that PP will conceal a crime to get an abortion? But if I mention PP then perhaps I should go into how it was started by Margaret Sanger who was a leading Eugenics proponent and how PP still "caters" to the minority community.

All in all, it seems that I cant find anything new to write, so I guess I just wont. Have a good weekend y'all!

**Update**
It is now found that women who had an abortion have a 248% greater risk of commiting suicide in the following year versus women who did not. Seems there is one good thing from socialized medicine... centralized records which can be utilized by huge studies.

End Of The Econ Series

Since this blog has been completely overwhelmed by the response to the econ series, I am temporarily suspending any such further posts until we can increase the available bandwidth.