It´s been a pleasure to visit the 19 themed Sims for th 5th Anniversary of Second Life. Covered in most fantastic buildings, you will discover lot of great talented builders and artists that developed a part of this biggest party occuring on the metaverse.

 Anything that you imagined, from tinies to giant, from people to furries, is all round there. All the lands are making their exposition about their work, art, education, nonprofits and what do they most like around SL. And also everyhour a live musician perfoming in one of the 19 sims on the stage, with people to meet and dance. The most cool thing about the Sims names is related to Second life builders tools : Prim, Rezzed, Ruthed, Edit, Flexi, Hippos, Linked, Sculpty, Physical, Phantom, Rotate, Render, Copy, Move, Strech, Delegoose, Avatar, Dwell, Rebake, a great homage for the builders and creators. And also for you, if you are a designer, builder, you can help SL grow donating any of your work to be party of the LL inventory library for the new generation of residents. You will find a place where there is a capsule to you drag your full perm items there. Nice to check it out and help SL grow!

The Time Capsule

There are few famous creators around the sims. You will reach a little land of the Greenies, Torley´s birtyday dolls, Linden Labs place wich you will see a picture of each Linden that works on the team, an exibition of Toxian City Roleplay, history of tinies, uthango.org exposition of animals, celebrities rejoinders, and these are the few things that you will find over all those sims.

The Second Life 5th birthday event will occur about 2 weeks :  The first week, June 23 to June 29, will be kicked off by speeches from Philip Linden and M Linden. Themes for that week will feature exhibits from cultures past and present, arts, fashion, machinima, and music. The second week, from June 30 to July 7, will feature exhibits from business, education, health care and nonprofits. We’ll close with a ceremony including a special guest speaker with a very important announcement. The deadline for the business, education, health care and nonprofit exhibits was Tuesday, June 10 at 6pm PDT. 

So if you didn´t visit yet, come hurry up!

Watch the places of Interest here, to see what´s going on now!

You can check few pics of the anniversary at my flickr  = http://www.flickr.com/photos/trilochankaur/

I want to geek about the latest CPU developments, or how MS Vista is a resource hog.  I don't care if a PC distributor is now using recycled cardboard boxes to offset their C02 footprint.  Because the underlying message from these sites (and one in particular) is that those who disagree with global warming and drive SUVs are idiots.

Well, I mostly ride a bicycle to work.  If I cared about "environmentalism" I'd frequent sites that were dedicated to environmentalism.  And I wouldn't expect them to spend a majority of time spitting out articles related to upload speeds and piracy issues.

Yes, I understand those that write the tech. articles tend to be young and "hip".  It is indeed "hip" to go green right now.  Stupid fads fade, but this one seems to be hanging on a little too long.  And the amount of ignorant statements postulating global warming as man-made are out of control.  Simply put, these "authors" (puppets) are the modern day equivelant to the ancient flat earth society members.  Throwing science out the door, they simply rely on a gore and a wink of theories to prove their point.

Tiring.  Very tiring.  I have been arguing against the man-made global warming theory for years.  We have credible meteorologists and climatologists decrying it, yet the naysayers simply cover their ears singing "lalala...lalala...lalala".

Please, give it a rest.  Let us discuss the issue of Apple's ongoing assault on open source technology, or how Novell is no longer a playmaker in the industry.

I posted it actually in Flickr long time ago.....today i spend a small and lovely vacation with him...ahhhh i cant resist it, if he send me invitation to dance, to hang out and of course to cuddle with him.

It begans (copying my old text on Flickr, LOL)....

July 17, 2007 (2.45PM SLT / 23.45 German Time)
Actually i wanna go to bed cuz its late already, but then i tp to a landmark that my friend Black drop me. So i visit and look around the place. It's called Greenies Home.

Exploring and looking...then suddenly i saw Greenies lying on floor and hear on a song from his iPod, i say hello he dont answer....cant resist so i lay down beside him and cuddle him tight.  I think its Luv at 1st Sight ROFL

He is sooooooo cute, soooooo lovely and sooooo green. Hold U tight Greenies muahhhh....LUV U!!! ROFL

This is the beginning of my wonderful lovelife in SL 

We meet us once in a while, if our schedule let us, he is also a busy one like me, maybe that is one of the reason why we fit together ;-)

Taken today June 21, 2008 a small camping trip to relax before appointment goes on again. Ohhh this spot isnt available for public, i think on June 23 u can explore it too on SLB5 sims. I can put the SLURL later as soon its open for all.

Isnt he sweet? He said good morning hun...im gonna cook us breakfast, hope you sleep well.

Now you know im not single anymore and im taken..........love story continues!

The Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, two groups fighting to prevent the expansion of oil drilling and coal burning, succeeded in blocking ConocoPhillips from expanding a oil processing plant.  The plant, located in Roxana, IL, has been used by the oil conglomerate to process Canadian oil for use by Americans.  By stopping the deal, greenies have avoided ConocoPhilllips from sending even more of the money we pay for our energy to the Canadian government.

If you are interested, you can check out the opinions of pro-oil extremists on the issue at FoxNews HERE.

Whenever I have a simple chat with someone about the effect of steroids in baseball, the same point is made consistently: Steroids were more prevalent amongst pitchers than batters. Well that may be true, but the stats clearly don't support that supposition. Over the past couple seasons, pitching has dramatically increased while hitting is in decline. For instance, the average team ERA in 2006 was 4.56 in the AL, while in 2008, the average team ERA is down to 4.16. Each team is giving up nearly 1/2 a run less per game, a total of 64.2 less runs per team for the entire season. If there were more pitchers using steroids than hitters, wouldn't batting increase as players stopped using steroids? The fact that the opposite has happened, that pitching has increased, indicates that more batters used steroids than pitchers. Having said that, it could also indicate that steroids help batters more than pitchers and not that more batters used steroids more than pitchers.

There are clear patterns in the stats above, such as the decrease in home runs per team. The 149 home runs per team (projected for the rest of the year) will be the lowest since before 2003. However, the fact that there are only 37 players in the American League with batting averages above .270 is dramatically lower than any other year. The other statistics show a gradual decrease in hitting and increase in pitching as each year goes by. However, up until 2008, batting average had stayed consistent. The 37 players with averages above .270 are significantly lower then any other seasons. All of the talk about steroids has focused on home runs, but how much does it effect batting average and individual at bats?

If the answer is that steroids don't effect batting average, then what is causing the decrease in hitting this year? The best answer I can find lies within ESPN Analyst Jayson Starks' article on Home Team Success this Year. His first theory is the one that I think is most plausible: Greenies.  Greenies allow players to recover quickly from minor injuries and to keep alert even under stressful conditions. As Stark mentions in the article, greenies have been in the game for 50 years and unlike steroids, which gave its' users an unfair advantage, greenies were used by nearly ever player so everyone was on an even playing field. Yet, MLB cracked down on its drug policy this year, scaring players from touching even the most common drugs. In no way, am I complaining about that. MLB's drug testing policy has clearly cleaned up the sport and has allowed me to trust that my favorite players aren't juicing. However, the testing for greenies may be the reason that batting averages are down this year.

As teams travel across the country multiple times per year and have to play day games after night games more than once a week, players get worn down. Without greenies to re-energize them, players, specifically hitters, aren't as alert in their at bat which is causing batting averages across the league to decrease. Of course, this theory could be completely wrong or the decrease in average could be a fluke that will adjust itself in the second half of the season, but I think it is something more. I think that MLB is seeing the effect of not just the lack of steroids, but also the lack of amphetamines and I expect the lower batting averages to continue.

Some treats that i give them to keep them smiling and shiny:

I have been using this treat as my preferred choice of dog treat for some time. The good thing about it is its wheat free formula. Apparently many dog are allergic to wheat... plus It is not too expensive and my doggies love it! - It also keeps them busy for good few minutes.

*Bamm Bamm at the side while i was taking the shot*

This is the other brand of vege breath control treat i use while training my doggies. It is really popular with my pom, goldie and labbie, but the new huskies are not too excited about it. The other good thing about this treat is the "Urine Odor Control" formula... my garden don't smell so much of their pee after using this treat.

*Cocoa love this brand, most of their treat smells sweet and yummy... like her!*

Greenies are also a popular dog treat at home. ALL of them love it. I give them Greenies to chew like once a week and alternate with rawhide bones. I heard from my dog food supplier rawhide also helps to clean their teeth.

*I keep them in a little airtight bucket for my easy access*

*But the pups are no fools*

*Keep the dog treats in a proper place where only u (not the dogs) have access to it! Another tip is to keep all treats in a air tight container cos it keep their food fresh and tasty.*

*All the doggies know it is doggie treat time when i open the drawer*

*... and they wont do practically anything to get the treat!*

]]> http://mo0f.wordpress.com/?p=212 Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:28:41 +0000 jennio http://mo0f.wordpress.com/?p=212 Before all the hype about gas rising to four bucks, I was looking at folding bikes. It wasn't because I wanted to save money on gas, since I don't drive, and it wasn't because I had any difficulty getting to places I needed to go, because there is a shuttle that stops right around the corner from my apartment that takes me to campus, which is really the farthest place I need to go during the week. I wanted a bike just because. I wanted the option to bike somewhere if I felt like doing so, thinking mostly about bringing it to campus for when the shuttles stop running.

Thinking about biking is a lot easier than actually doing it. Duh. I rode around a lot as a kid, but I kind of stopped when I sold my soul to the computer and started spending most of my time online. We've got a couple bikes back home, but I wanted something more BA, something not that common but easy to transport. That's when I got to lookin' at folding bikes. I wanted one of those cool, shiny ones that fold in 15 seconds, but they were pretty expensive. I thought I needed something fancy that changed gears and whatnot and I was on the verge of calling this person on Craigslist when I thought I found the perfect deal until I saw another Craigslist post with pictures of this guy. I can't resist something fun looking AND vintage. Are you crazy? So I went and bought it and it is a BA piece of pre-loved awesomeness.

The first week I had it, I thought it would somehow enable me to beat traffic, but I seemed to have forgotten that it is powered by my ability to ride it. Because I leave for my sister's work during typical LA rush hours, I thought I would gain the upper hand in traffic by riding my bicycle part of the way and then boarding my normal bus when I got too tired to go on. I did not account for my out-of-shapeness, the hilliness of Wilshire Blvd, and the fact that Wilshire doesn't really get so packed that a bike would outrun a bus. As I trudged along, watching bus after bus pass me by, Wilshire began to bend. I figured it would be a shortcut if I took some local streets and then met Wilshire again later. Unfortunately, the moment I turned onto a street, it was all hill. I figured after I went over one, that would be it, but no, there was more. I eventually made my way back to Wilshire, probably only moving up one block, and gave up. It was beyond hot and my legs were butt tired. I had barely put a dent in my nine-mile trip but wasted probably at least half an hour.

To make matters worse, the driver of the bus I boarded was SUCH a jerk. It was my first time using a bike rack and I had no idea what to do, so I asked the bus driver and he, with a scowl on his face, impatiently told me there were directions on the rack. I fought with the bike rack for a minute or so (mind you, I had a large duffelbag and heavy backpack to carry, as well) and I looked up to the bus driver for a little sympathy but there was none to be had and his scowl just turned more sour. Finally, this nice man on the bus got off and asked if I needed help and he put my bike in the rack for me. I was already running late to my sister's and all the previous events of that day had just put me in such a bad mood. At least I found out the rack thing on my bike can hold my duffelbag without needing bungee cords. That was pretty impressive.

But anyway, when I'm not pressed for time and carrying a buttload of stuff, biking is a pretty cool, relaxing, and sustainable way to get around. Speaking of sustainable, sorta, I actually read somewhere that some old Royce Union bikes (don't know about mine) were made from scrap metal from cars, which I thought was interesting enough to share with you. Anyway, for longer commutes with heavy items, I suggest just taking the bus if it is more convenient (which, for me, it is, since the bus stop is very close to my apartment and drops me off a couple blocks from my sister's work).

I don't really know anything about bikes, but according to my friend, I am in desperate need of a new bike chain, because mine could potentially kill me. I have made few mods to it since its purchase (by few, I mean adding a bell that says "I <3 My Bike"), but I am going to clean it up some more during the summer and decide if I want to give it new parts or keep it original. I'm considering a new seat because my bum really hurts after riding a while. All this talk of biking makes me want to ride around the block, so I am going to do that now. If anyone wants to join my bicycle gang, feel free to ask me.

Det stigende antal mennesker, som migrerer fra udviklingslandene til det overbefolkede Vest i en søgen efter et bedre liv, er med til at ødelægge planeten og bør undgås, siger tænketanken OPT (Optimum Population Trust).

Dele af verden, som er beskadiget af klimaændring, jorderosion og vandmangel ødelægges yderligere, når indbyggerne flygter.

I tilslutning til dette øger migranterne typisk deres 'økologiske fodspor' - den skade hvert menneske udgør på miljøet - ved at rejse fra lavtforbugende til højtforbrugende lande.

Det økologiske fodspor af en person fra Bangladesh øges 16 gange, hvis han eller hun rejser til USA, mens en somalier, der rejser til Storbritanien, øger sit fodspor mere end 13 gange.

De migrationsøgende faktorer kan kun løses ved at reducere effekten af forbrug og befolkning i de rige lande og støtte miljøholdbare løsninger i de fattige, siger OPT.

OPT Professor Aubrey Manning siger, at UK er moralsk forpligtiget til at acceptere nogle immigranter, men

"vores behov for immigration er lige så stort som vores behov for hul i hovedet".

Fra News.com.au - artiklen er desværre fjernet. Her er et der virker.

Med andre ord: du kan IKKE BÅDE være grøn og indvandringstihænger! Du må i så fald vælge :-)

Brug dette næste gang du diskuterer med en med 'de rigtige meninger'.

So Discovery is launching a new "green" TV network and all the shows described on that page include some extremely random casts. Ludacris and Tommy Lee? Battling against the toxic forces destroying Mother Earth? They make it seem like they're the new Captain Planets or something, which, might I add, was a really awesome show and totally ahead of its time and may have had something to do with my childhood greenness. Anyway, the network's line-up sounds (weird but) interesting and I'm glad Bill Nye will have his own show again, instead of being a street correspondent for The Weather Channel.

This shirt has just completely ruined "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana for me.

For the uninitiated, here is "Smells Like Teen Spirit":

This shirt makes me glad that men like to make it clear I should avoid them before I even start talking to them.

I've been flyering this week for this referendum we were trying to get passed to fund student-led sustainability projects called The Green Initiative Fund, which has already been passed at three other UCs and last night we found out IT PASSED! Yayyy! 74% of the voters voted yes on it! All that bad press from all those Negative Nancys seemed to have had little effect on the voters, or it could possibly have been the lightbulbs that we handed out that won people over. Haha, just kidding. I hope. Flyering kind of sucked and I probably didn't help a whole lot, but it's over now. Yays. Thanks to all who voted yes! :)

Really? This is one of the stupidest articles on GW that I have ever read! The globe is cooling, but it is a temporary halt to global warming? I guess that is how "they" are going to deal with being wrong.

"If we don't experience warming over the next 10 years, it doesn't mean that greenhouse-gas warming is not with us," Keenlyside said in an interview. "There can be natural fluctuations that may mask climate change in the short term."

"Natural variations over the next 10 years might be heading in the cold direction,'' Wood said. "If you run the model long enough, eventually global warming will win."

COME ON! SERIOUSLY? This is such a stupid theory. Did you see Gore's movie? The graph? He said we would have warming straight through the roof! What gives?

And what about GW Activist Ted Turner's prediction that we would be eating each other in 30 years? Does this 10 year period push the 30 years to 40? Because I don't know if I can wait that long. LOL

You remember in the 70's how everyone thought we were cooling at such a rapid rate because of "Man" and we were headed to a  new ice age! What happened? The climate began to naturally change and got warmer.

NOW, something is coming true that I have said for a LONG time. The warming is reversing and the natural processes of Earth are much stronger than Man's influence on this globe. Last April it snowed and was one of the coldest on record. This April was again one of the coolest on record

The world is not static. It is a dynamic, ever changing environment.

WHY DO "GREENIES" NEED GLOBAL WARMING SCIENCE?

Because many of them don't believe in God. The movement that Global warming came out of was a "new agey, mother earth" movement that denied the existence of God. God SAYS to take care of the Earth and be a good steward of our environment. So, with no God... there is no real reason to care for the earth. Then they found a science that they push to "make" others take care of the World and vilify humanity. See, they can't be "environmentalist" with no God and no Global Warming. It just doesn't make sense, so they have to have one! What is really funny is that they chose to go with a scientific theory that has never been proven and takes more faith than faith in God! It is their Religion.

WHY DO "COMMIES" NEED GLOBAL WARMING SCIENCE?

Back then, a group joined up with the "green peacers": the communist. I'm not kidding. That is why the original founder of Green Peace left! He said it was confusing and they weren't sure what to do because the commies were agreeing with them. Now the movements are one. The commies need GW because they can use it to put INSANE demands on society to begin controlling that formerly "free" society with the ever increasing "regulation" that increases the governments power OVER the people vs empowerment OF the people. Like... requiring a certain light bulb, car, gas type, & requiring certain "emissions standards" that hamper capitalism and require businesses to rely on government control and regulation... or disallow the drilling of a "natural reserve" & disallow nuclear power (the cleanest most efficient form of power) that would FREE the US from foreign dependence on oil and lower our gas prices and keep us from burning our fuel supply (corn) encouraging other farmers to switch to corn causing a food shortage of wheats & other veggies... and there are many many more.

SO, are you confused about the causes of Global Warming? Here is a list of ALL that Global Warming has been shown to "cause" with a link to the original article or science.

If you are looking for more climate change resources, there are two movies you MUST WATCH! They are very informative:

The other is best watched in DVD format. It is called the Great Global Warming Swindle!

Do the research and you will find how wacked-out Global Warming Science is.

Anyway, Energy Star was brand-new, and my company's wily salesmen used it as a huge selling point. Many times, the entire decision to buy hinged on the fact that this machine was "energy efficient."  The client would ooo and aaah over the copier shutting down after a minute's inactivity. And inevitably, within two weeks, a technician would be called to disable the Energy Star features.

Here's the thing. Those who howled loudest about the horrible inconvenience of waiting ten seconds to send a fax or half a minute to make a copy were the same ones who, by their votes and activism, were responsible for these 'features' being added. Public defender firms. Artsy design firms. Edgy left-wing newspapers. Yes, bankers and accountants and dark-paneled law firms made noise, too, but not near so loud and angry as the ones who wanted everyone else to use them and be happy about it.

That's why I'm a little cynical about The Greenies.

What is scary about the picture is that there is only one tiny sunspot.

Disconcerting as it may be to true believers in global warming, the average temperature on Earth has remained steady or slowly declined during the past decade, despite the continued increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, and now the global temperature is falling precipitously.

All four agencies that track Earth's temperature (the Hadley Climate Research Unit in Britain, the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, the Christy group at the University of Alabama, and Remote Sensing Systems Inc in California) report that it cooled by about 0.7C in 2007. This is the fastest temperature change in the instrumental record and it puts us back where we were in 1930. If the temperature does not soon recover, we will have to conclude that global warming is over.

There is also plenty of anecdotal evidence that 2007 was exceptionally cold. It snowed in Baghdad for the first time in centuries, the winter in China was simply terrible and the extent of Antarctic sea ice in the austral winter was the greatest on record since James Cook discovered the place in 1770.

Læs mere på The Australian

Ingen solpletter idag - det er fanme uhyggeligt du!

I also discovered today that I have way too many reusable shopping bags or things of that nature, counting six total. I will probably bring some home to encourage my mum to start using them because we have way too many plastic bags. The green bag I got today was from Microsoft and it's pretty cool because it folds into a little envelope-like thing. It's sort of similar to the Target one I bought but it velcros shut instead of zippers, which is sort of a hassle sometimes. The outside of both bags also double as pockets, which you can use to keep receipts, I suppose. By the way, I got another bag for free yesterday from Ralphs, but I thought it was kind of stupid that they handed them out outside only after you made your purchase, because encasing your plastic bags with a cloth Ralphs bag kind of defeats the purpose of having a reusable shopping bag. It would've been better to hand them out at the cashier counters or something. One of my classmates showed me the bag they gave her in the morning, which was distributed by LA County, and it was totally cuter than the one I got, but whatevs as long as people are using them! By the way, have you noticed that more women use reusable bags than men? My friend that I went to the Earth Day Fair with told me he would never use the bag he got (having called it ugly but it's so not) and that paper and plastic is the way to go. Eep!

Læst her

Vi forudsætter at Hodja faktisk ødelægger sin whisky med is, glasset har vertikale sider (hvilket er lige meget), isterningerne i smeltet tilstand har samme massefylde som Hodjas gyldne dråber og fordampning = 0 (samt at Hodja ikke drikker af glasset). 

So on Saturday, I went to Friendest's house and we watched all the Smallvilles we haven't seen, which were crazies. Then we went to President Thai with friendlies. The service is very good and the dinnerware was rather fancy. Thai food does not quite strike my fancy, but for those of you who like Thai food, that is a pretty good place to go. But I do not recommend the Larb. haha. Just because it has a funny name doesn't mean it tastes as lovely. One of the dishes we ate was so spicy it made me cry a little. I couldn't taste anything for a good ten minutes so I just drank water and nibbled on rice for a while. I had work at 9 so Daryl took the extremely long way to the mall and we got frozen yogurt at Se Fiore, which was pretty good but no Pinkberry. Next time I will order something that is non-Pinkberry-like, because they've got other fancy things.

Sunday I hung out with my sister and her friends. They went to check out the Body Worlds Exhibit at the California Science Center, but I had seen one of them a few years ago on a field trip in high school, so I decided not to pay to see it again. I feel like once you've seen slices of people and every system inside of them, you don't really need another look. Some people would say otherwise, but that's just my opinion. I instead hung out at Exposition Park and drifted in and out of sleep on a bench like a bum. After a while of sleeping, reading, and finishing off my box of dimsum, I decided to venture into the California African American Museum. It's not very big, but they have some interesting things in there. There's a little section dedicated to ex-mayor Tom Bradley, whose name has been branded all over Los Angeles with all his achievements and such. The international terminal of LAX bears his name, for instance. His section in the museum was right next to Ella Fitzgerald's and there's one picture in that area with the two of them, when they first met, I presume.

The reason I was there was because we were supposed to go airdiving afterwards at Universal City Walk. It was not until we got there that we realized how lame it was. I'm not saying it wouldn't be cool to float in that tubey thing, but the way it's set up versus what I had imagined totally did not see eye to eye. As put by my sister's friend Wing, I did not want to be watched like I was a zoo animal. It's basically this large conical tube with air blowing you upwards from the bottom and it's all outside for everyone to see. There's an instructor who is in there with you and you just float around for two minutes. As cool as it sounds, I didn't think it was worth it. So we pretty much drove to Universal and paid for parking so we could get Jamba Juice and leave. At night, I put my telescope to use and looked at the moon. That was actually really, really cool, but I feel like that's all I can use my telescope for astronomy-wise. Looking at planets and stars is pretty useelss, because they're just slightly brighter and bigger dots in the telescope than they are viewed by the naked eye. Dar and I decided to drive around and see if there was anything cooler to look at (not as creepy as it seems ok) but found nothing so we went to his house and watched last week's episode of America's Best Dance Crew, which I found to be preposterous. America voted, and frankly, I think they made the wrong choice, so America, I am very angry with you. One of the last routines done was just ridiculous and I don't know what the heck they were thinking. A clown theme should never be thought of as cool when it comes to dancing.

After that, I went home and called to see if I had jury duty for the first time. I still haven't gotten it yet but with my luck, something inconvenient will happen. I don't want to say any more because I may jinx myself.

Monday was rather uneventful. I woke up late, watched TV, ate, and went to work. Tuesday, I woke up a little earlier, ate dimsum with my mom, aunt, and grandma. My brother's girlfriend called me when I got home and we hung out in Old Town until dinner time. We hit the usual spots but did not really buy anything. I just bought a fun penguin shirt from Urban and Steph ate some stuff and spoiled her appetite. haha. We also spent some time at Barnes, where she tried out her Cantonese skills. Then we went to Target to pick up some stuffs. We then joined some Freundinnen but not at Green Street Cafe, where we were waiting for them. We ended up eating at Cheesecake Factory at the mall, which isn't really that great, I noticed. Their food is subpar and it takes forever to come out, even when it's not extremely busy. The only thing I would go there to eat is, well, cheesecake, and I'd rather not wait years and years for a slice of deliciousness so I wouldn't even go for that. We all happened to order pasta dishes and nobody finished. I had to work so I bade them farewell and embarked on another fantastic voyage of updating a store I don't even like, but I happened to get my black card that night. hahaha.

My strawberries finally started growing the other day. I'm very excited about that. My radishes have been doing quite well, also. I will have to switch them over to a different container soon!

Here is a short list of things I had compiled prior to my break's beginning. I have taken the liberty of crossing out things I have accomplished so far, which is not much:
.use telescope
.Smallville
.craft/knit
.watch Enchanted again!
.guitar
.read
.chipotle
.rearrange room

There are, of course, other things I want(ed) to do, but this was the list I made in anticipation of all the relaxation and freedom I was going to experience. It's hard to get a lot done when you're sleeping in all the time and then have work at night, though. haha. I don't want break to pass me by!

By the way, Helen's Etsy, Sheer Whimsy, is finally up and running! Everyone order a cute case for your gadget from her! :) And check out her crafting blog!

Via Tim Blair in this instance.

Washington , D.C. , March 11, 2008—Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute launches a national advertising campaign, focusing on the threat to affordable energy posed by Al Gore’s global warming agenda. The ads contrast Gore’s energy-consuming lifestyle with the life-and-death need for energy in developing countries.

CEI’s new campaign comes in the face of Gore’s March 1st announcement of a major new set of ads from his Alliance for Climate Protection to promote the global warming issue. CEI’s response includes both a broadcast television ad and related online video.

“Global warming activists warn us about the alleged threats from global warming, but are usually silent about the much more immediate threats from global warming policies,” said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman, also the ad co-creator. “Restricting access to affordable energy is a sure recipe for increasing poverty, disease and human misery around the world.”

View the broadcast ad "Lightbulbs" from Tuesday's press conference

Previous ads, "Where's The Warming?" and "Hot Air"

A MOB of kangaroos is back on death row after proposals to move them across state borders were described as inhumane.

Hundreds of eastern grey kangaroos once more face being culled after attempts to relocate them from Department of Defence land in the ACT to New South Wales reportedly failed.

The ACT government has refused to grant export licences for the roos, The Canberra Times reported today.

As a result, the Department of Defence has abandoned plans to move the kangaroos from the former naval transmission station in suburban Belconnen, leaving a population cull as the only alternative.

ACT Environment Commissioner Maxine Cooper said that while the kangaroos at the site were considered overabundant, she had recommended against relocation because experts considered it inhumane.

"The advice I'm getting . . . is the amount of trauma that occurs to the animal in the first instance, too, is something they feel is unacceptable," Dr Cooper told ABC Radio.

"What we're dealing with is the difference between animal welfare and animal liberation."

Animal welfare groups oppose culling kangaroos in the ACT.

There was an international outcry in 2004 when about 900 kangaroos were destroyed at the site of a dam supplying water to Canberra.

Former Wildcare president Steve Garlick said [...] "We like to think that the ACT stands for Australian Capital Territory. It might not be too far away that it becomes Australian Culling Territory."

...

Animal welfarists vs. animal liberationists: Stay tuned for howls of outrage...

from News.com:

"CONSUMERS are more passionate than ever about saving water but instead of being rewarded for their efforts, prices are set to double in the next five to 10 years."

[Spot sez: Passionate? You sure it's nothing to do with those draconian water restrictions? Or the fear of being murdered by over-zealous eco-fascists whilst watering?]

"Last year, Melbourne had the lowest per capita water consumption since 1934, while Sydney consumed the same amount of water it did in 1974, despite 1.2 million additional residents."

[Spot sez: Whoo-hoo! 1934! You win, Melbourne -- Sydney's progressives only managed to throw it back to 1974. ]

"But despite efforts to save water, bills will balloon during the next decade."

[Spot wonders: What if we manage to get water use down to pre-Federation levels?]

Wake up, people! This is what self-proclaimed progressives have done to you. Who wants a 1934 standard of living in a first-world capital city? You want 1934? Here's a newsreel of Melbourne in 1934. Now go build some dams and let us garden like it's 1999.

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And, via Andrew Bolt, in other progressive news:

“The car is doomed,” Monash University associate professor Damon Honnery said, discussing the findings of a soon-to-be-published research paper, Mitigating Greenhouse: Limited Time, Limited Options, written with Dr Patrick Moriarty.

Federal and state governments should stop building new arterial roads… Instead, governments must focus on phasing out cars…

“People are going to have to fundamentally change the way they think about travel and make much more use of non-motorised travel such as cycling and walking."…

The big emission cuts needed in the transport sector require a near-total shift from the private car to public transport, the paper argues.

Dr Moriarty also believes there must be big reductions in air travel. “An overseas trip might become a once-in-a-lifetime experience rather than an annual event,” he said.

Bloody hell. Water usage legislated back to 1934 levels, no new roads, cars phased out, overseas holidays reduced to "once-in-a-lifetime" ... If we're not careful, our progressive policies are going to "progress" us right back to the 1800's.