A nice way to stay in touch with loved ones, and a convenient way to share my opinions without having everyone just walk away...wait a minute, where are you going? I wasn't finished..

Monday, July 23, 2007

Who's smarter

Apple or AT&T?

From the Street.Com

It's well established that the world's most talked-about phone has lured thousands of free-spending, lust seeking customers since its introduction last month. But the financial terms of the revenue-sharing deal have been kept under wraps.

Until now, that is.

People close to the companies tell TheStreet.com that AT&T is paying Apple a bounty of between $150 and $200 per phone -- plus $9 a month per phone over the life of the typical two-year customer contract.

AT&T didn't comment, and Apple said it would have no comment.

Just to post something - dieux

Quick update - Went to church and breakfast with brother John on Sunday. Lately I've been seeing John about once a year, maybe that'll improve now that he's moving back to Illinois. Wait a second, that's about as often as I see any of my brothers.

I've been neglecting my blog responsibilities to read a lot on the markets. "He does not sleep - he waits."

Also I'm reading about Notre Dames's football future. The folks at Rock's House have the pitchforks, sickles. shillelaghs and torches in their hands and they're marching on the castle demanding the athletic director, Kevin White, be thrown to the mob. They think his negotiation of our Bowl Championship Series and our Adidas deals were badly done. They think his plan to go to a seven home, four away and one neutral game schedule will reduce the level of competetiveness of our opponents. Good teams won't come to ND to play one year if we won't play them at their home in the next year. So we'll play some patsies, have an easier schedule and get to keep the home game ticket receipts. A lot of teams do that kind of thing, but we haven't been one of them. But the item that really has them fulminating is that he keeps dropping hints that he wants to install a Jumbotron in the stadium.

Since his contract goes to 2012, the only hope is that Chicago gets the Olympics and Mayor Dailey hires him away from us.

On a lighter note, one poster felt sorry enough for White to post this.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Just to post something:

True Phone Call - A Customer
To Bank Of America
7-21-7

Bank: This is the Bank of America, can I help you?

Customer: Yes, I want to cancel my account. I don't want to do business with you any longer.

Bank: Why?

Customer: You're giving credit to illegal immigrants and I don't think it's right. I'm taking my business elsewhere.

Bank: Well, Mr. Customer, we don't want to see you do that, but we can't stop you. I'll help you close the account. What is your account number?

Customer: (gives account number)

Bank: For security purposes and for your protection,can you please give me the last four digits of your social security number?

Customer: No.

Bank: Mr. Customer, I need to verify your information, but in order to help you, I'll need verification of who you are.

Customer: Why should I give you my social security number? The reason I'm closing my account is that your bank is issuing credit cards to illegal immigrants who don't have social security numbers. You are targeting that audience and want their business. Let's say I'm an illegal immigrant and you've given me a credit card. I have a question about it and call for assistance. You wouldn't be asking me for a Social Security number, would you?

Bank: No sir, I wouldn't.

Customer: Why not?

Bank: Because you would have pressed '2' to speak in Spanish. We don't ask for that information when calling in on the Spanish line.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/bankofamerica.asp

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Ommmmmm

Tonight we're watching Music and Lyrics. Last night we watched Miss Potter. Two chick flix in two nights, but I'm not complaining. I'm enjoying them. It's not my feminine side, It's equanimity. Normally, I like gangsters, cowboys and war where the bad guys get theirs, and the good guy (better?) has to pay the price to deliver what they deserve. But for now I can do without the violence.

It may have to do with my advancing years. It may have to do with a peaceful feeling that came over me Tuesday night very late while we were babysitting Malachy and I stepped out for a smoke. It was very nice out and I was pretty tired, but I felt like I pretty much understood the important stuff and that things were playing out harmoniously.

This morning I ran an errand in the Nissan, which Kim had driven last, and the Christian music station was on the radio and I didn't switch to the NPR station. Of course it helped that the first song they played was Shout to the Lord; the next was Open the Eyes of My Heart, one of Steffy's favorites.

Other nice things happened this week. So anyway I'm feeling pretty good.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Funny, I cant type into the title field of this post. So I'll just keep it short.

I'm watching a movie on Spike channel. It's named Shaolin Soccer and its really good and kind of special. I recommend it to all. I'm not sure how often it shows up on TV, but maybe you can rent it.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

For you Roswell fans

Roswell theory revived by deathbed confessionFrom correspondents in Washington
July 01, 2007 12:30am
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Roswell PR officer says he saw alien bodies
UFO pieces handed around at high-level meeting
Splat!: are aliens just humans from the future?

EXACTLY 60 years ago, a light aircraft was flying over the Cascade Mountains in Washington State, at a height of around 3000m.

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light illuminated the aircraft.

Visibility was good and as pilot Kenneth Arnold scanned the sky to find the source of the light, he saw a group of nine shiny metallic objects flying information.

He estimated their speed as being around 2600km/h - nearly three times faster than the top speed of any jet aircraft at the time.

Soon, similar reports began to come in from all over America.

This wasn't just the world's first UFO sighting, this was the birth of a phenomenon, one that still exercises an extraordinary fascination.

Military authorities issued a press release, which began: "The many rumours regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence officer of the 509th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc."

The headlines screamed: "Flying Disc captured by Air Force".

Yet, just 24 hours later, the military changed their story and claimed the object they'd first thought was a "flying disc" was a weather balloon that had crashed on a nearby ranch.

The key witness was Major Jesse Marcel, the intelligence officer who had gone to the ranch to recover the wreckage.

He described the metal as being wafer thin but incredibly tough.

It was as light as balsa wood, but couldn't be cut or burned.

These and similar accounts of the incident have largely been dismissed by all except the most dedicated believers.

Astonishing new twist

But last week came an astonishing new twist to the Roswell mystery.

Lieutenant Walter Haut was the public relations officer at the base in 1947 and was the man who issued the original and subsequent press releases after the crash on the orders of the base commander, Colonel William Blanchard.

Haut died last year but left a sworn affidavit to be opened only after his death.

Last week, the text was released and asserts that the weather balloon claim was a cover story and that the real object had been recovered by the military and stored in a hangar.

He described seeing not just the craft, but alien bodies.

He wasn't the first Roswell witness to talk about alien bodies.

Local undertaker Glenn Dennis had long claimed that he was contacted by authorities at Roswell shortly after the crash and asked to provide a number of child-sized coffins.

When he arrived at the base, he was apparently told by a nurse (who later disappeared) that a UFO had crashed and that small humanoid extraterrestrials had been recovered.

But Haut is the only one of the original participants to claim to have seen alien bodies.

UFO pieces handed around

Haut's affidavit talks about a high-level meeting he attended with base commander Col William Blanchard and the Commander of the Eighth Army Air Force, General Roger Ramey.

Haut states that at this meeting, pieces of wreckage were handed around for participants to touch, with nobody able to identify the material.

He says the press release was issued because locals were already aware of the crash site, but in fact there had been a second crash site, where more debris from the craft had fallen.

The plan was that an announcement acknowledging the first site, which had been discovered by a farmer, would divert attention from the second and more important location.

The clean-up operation

Haut also spoke about a clean-up operation, where for months afterwards military personnel scoured both crash sites searching for all remaining pieces of debris, removing them and erasing all signs that anything unusual had occurred.

This ties in with claims made by locals that debris collected as souvenirs was seized by the military.

Haut then tells how Colonel Blanchard took him to "Building 84" - one of the hangars at Roswell - and showed him the craft itself.

He describes a metallic egg-shaped object around 3.6m-4.5m in length and around 1.8m wide.

He said he saw no windows, wings, tail, landing gear or any other feature.

Haug 'saw the alien bodies'

He saw two bodies on the floor, partially covered by a tarpaulin.

They are described in his statement as about 1.2m tall, with disproportionately large heads.

Towards the end of the affidavit, Haut concludes: "I am convinced that what I personally observed was some kind of craft and its crew from outer space".

What's particularly interesting about Walter Haut is that in the many interviews he gave before his death, he played down his role and made no such claims.

Had he been seeking publicity, he would surely have spoken about the craft and the bodies.

Did he fear ridicule, or was the affidavit a sort of deathbed confession from someone who had been part of a cover-up, but who had stayed loyal to the end?

The US government came under huge pressure on Roswell in the '90s.

In July 1994, in response to an inquiry from the General Accounting Office, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force published a report, The Roswell Report: Fact Versus Fiction In The New Mexico Desert.

Weather balloon 'cover story'

The report concluded that the Roswell incident had been attributable to something called Project Mogul, a top secret project using high-altitude balloons to carry sensor equipment into the upper atmosphere, listening forevidence of Soviet nuclear tests.

The statements concerning a crashed weather balloon had been a cover story, they admitted, but not to hide the truth about extraterrestrials.

A second US Air Force report concluded claims bodies were recovered were generated by people having seen crash test dummies that were dropped from the balloons.

Sceptics, of course, will dismiss the testimony left by Haut.

After all, fascinating though it is, it's just a story. There's no proof.

But if nothing else, this latest revelation shows that, 60 years on, this mystery endures.