The Coast Guard issued a safety advisory titled "Controllable Pitch Propeller Systems and Situational Awareness".  The alert was issued after the analysis of the Alaska Ranger sinking in the Bering Sea this past winter.  Investigators found that when the decision was made to abandon ship, the propellers were still turning with astern pitch.  The resulting astern movement of the ship cause the life rafts to drift past the bow of the vessel, and were unable to be retrieved using the painters.  As a result, there were not enough life rafts present for the entire crew, and a majority of crew members were forced to jump into frigid water, ultimately leading to the death of 4 people.  Although I agree that controllable pitch propellers were a contributing cause to this scenario, the same incident could have occurred with or without controllable pitch propellers.  If the ships crew had left the the ship in ahead or astern propulsion mode on a non-controllable pitch ship, the same thing would have happened.  Regardless, I think this casualty is worthy of a look, and reminds us that the master and the navigational watch must maintain awareness and positive control of the vessel for as long as safely possible, even when ordering abandon ship.

In the "is this even possible?" department, Amy Winehouse manages to stay in the news by taking a swing at a "fan," (human, I suppose) yesterday during her performance at Glasto. If anybody knows what prompted the punch, they aren't telling, so, let's just say that of the 80,000 people in attendance, the dude seated front row center was in the right place at the wrong time.

Were it me (the human) I'd be shaking in my rumpled rehab robe. I mean, I have this mental trauma just thinking about being attacked by a 70 pound emphysematic crankster. I personally think Amy should get a gravity award for her ability to remain vertical under the weight of her coif and tattoo ink. Seriously, given her fragile state, and notwithstanding that Amy is a girl (I think), I'd certainly never return a jab, and, nor would I be so bold as to let my friends find about this.

Anyhow, kudos to quick action from the security boys, ensuring safety and freedom for the patrons to pursue other interests, like the concession stand, or voting in Zimbabwe.

~ Anemi

PS - We found it necessary to add this postscript, as a great many gentle readers are somewhat confused. The above photograph is indeed that of Amy Winehouse, not to be confused with the photograph that follows, which is of the fabulous Miss Elsa Lanchester; the original "Bride of Frankenstein" of film fame ~ 1935. Just goes to prove, whatever is old is new again, right, Igor?

~ Anemi

What goes around, comes around, or better, as they say in Finland; what you leave behind you, will you find in front of you.

Such is the best of euphemisms I can muster in print when discussing the credit reporting business, or "the credit bureau." More particularly, I am speaking about the recent court ruling against TransUnion, LLC, who this past May decided to settle the ten year case of wrongly selling erstwhile private consumer data to retailers, marketers, lenders, or whoever wanted to "pay to play" with our personal lives. Bad dog! Originally, TransUnion attempted to use the Freedom of Information Act as a shield in defense of selling our financial souls, and thankfully, the Supreme Court would hear none of that argument.

TransUnion's agreed class-action settlement, pending further appeals, includes $75 million in fines, some free credit "services," and/or a little cash available to consumers, provided you sign-up for the suit, and I strongly encourage you to do just this. Some 190 million Americans are eligible, that is, anybody who had a loan or credit card from 1987 through the end of this past May.

You have only until September 24, 2008 to take advantage of this settlement, and the easiest route is to visit the site; Listclassaction.com. You will be asked for some very basic information including your name, address, email address, and last four digits of your Social Security Number. You have the option to select either the "basic" or "enhanced" service. Basic will provide free credit monitoring for six months and normally retails for $59.75, according to the settlement. Those who select this service can also opt for a cash payment. The enhanced service will provide nine months of free monitoring, plus use of a "mortgage simulator" that lets you see whether improving your credit score would affect your mortgage rate and how much you could potentially save.

While the basic option plus cash sounds good, how much money you would actually get depends on how many of you take advantage of this notice and exercise your right to privacy, dignity, and a little financial freedom. I'm hoping the number will be in the mega-millions, and personally chose the enhanced option for this very reason.

We feel so strongly about this issue that we are leaving a bookmark to the TransUnion Settlement Site; Listclassaction.com here on our site until the end date of September 24, 2008. Do this, and pass it forward. It's painless, takes seconds, and is a home run for all consumers.

~ EDITOR, SAN DIEGO HOME RESCUE

It's a shame the really rare formation of the Lancaster bomber, two Spitfires, a Hurricane, and a Messerschmidt 109 didn't come out quite as nicely as the Harvards, but I did upload a number of good snapshots of them and the other planes at the air show last weekend to Photobucket.

I have also posted several videos taken at the air show to YouTube. Along with a couple of the cats. Because they should be seen, too. Enjoy.

~ anemi

Mit einem riesigen Propeller, mit dem er der Frau kühle Luft zu wedeln kann? Man(n) weiß es nicht, Frau schon.. ;)

Hier geht es weiter zum Video "Der Traummann einer jeden Frau im Sommer".

And you have no doubt worked tirelessly to achieve top results on all of the major search engines.

But have you spent any time tagging yourself?

We all know that you’ve spent plenty of time Googling yourself.

(Go on, admit it.)

So, why haven’t you played a part in how you rank?

If you’re a professional, touting your expertise on any topic, you need to build your personal brand, and the most important medium for doing so in this age of technology is the Internet.

But even if you have the most riveting blog where you espouse your brilliance with your astounding acumen and quick-wittedness (ahem, like the one, you’re reading right now), it won’t matter if no one knows about it.

Or if no one can find it.

And where’s the first place people look?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, your answer should be Google or [insert less popular search engine here].

Everything from the chick you met at the bar to the iPhone makes its way into that trusty search field, and the results can mean the difference between starting a new relationship or signing a hefty 2-year rate plan. So you want to make sure that a) you come up in the top results and b) the results present you effectively.

A savvy PR pro described this to me as ‘owning your name online,’ and ever since that seed was planted, it’s become a concept on which I’ve become decisively focused (read: obsessed).

But what surprised me most as I began my personal quest to own my name online is that most people think that they are powerless to what the search engine spiders retrieve.

Just this morning on Twitter, in fact, there was a tweet from someone who had Googled herself to see what came up, stating that she was curious about what people think of her based on the results. What she likely didn’t realize is that she can drive that assessment based on how diligently she harnesses the myriad of tools at her disposal.

From social media profiles to blogs, you can take control of what appears when someone types in your handle, and truly ‘own your name’ -- and build your brand ID -- online.

And, as it turns out, it’s not all that daunting a task.

Or even difficult to do -- albeit a tad time-consuming.

So, feel free to reap the benefits of my careful study (read: fixation) to start creating the personal brand you want to portray to the world.

I blog therefore I am. – If you want to catapult your name to the top of the heap, start a blog. If you get set up on any one of the blog services out there – Wordpress, TypePad, Blogger, etc. – you can quickly climb the search ladder. Because they allow you to host your site as a sub domain off of their sites, you benefit from the high volume of traffic from their network of users and turnkey linking, trackback and RSS feed options – all the SEO friendly elements that would take months and months to develop – and implement – on your own. Just be sure to focus on hot topics in the market that are being searched regularly and tag, tag, tag! Over time, if you want to further play the SEO card, getting backlinks from other sites with a higher page rank (PR 4+) will enable you to garner more organic traffic. But initially, it's most important for you to produce relevant and high quality content on your blog to feed the various search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Ask, Technorati, and Ice Rocket). After that, you'll want to get your RSS feed propagated across the major social networking sites that accept link sharing such De.licio.us.

Got something to say? Say it in 140 characters or less and say it often as often as possible. – Microblogging is HUGE right now, and that’s an understatement. It seems a new site pops up almost daily in an attempt to capitalize on this monstrous movement, and you can tap into it by setting up profiles on every single one of them – Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, Tumblr, FriendFeed, etc. – and rambling on to your heart’s content. Text, IM and service integration providers like ping.fm make this task easier than ever before. The more posts you have, the greater your personal brand exposure – as long as you’re ‘following’ microblogging powerhouses such as Robert Scoble, Leo Laporte, Jason Calacanis and Kevin Rose, who all have in excess of 30,000 followers and are being searched on – and accessed – regularly. And try to reply to their posts as much as you can so that you can align your username with their pages that have literally tens of thousands of daily hits. But don’t spam them or you will see the adverse affects of their omnipotent online presence! (Incidentally, tagging those guys in this blog will help my own rankings. Aren’t I so clever?)

It’s a Social Thang – If you’re reading this post, chances are you’re already deep into social networking with profiles on sites like Facebook, Hi5, Orkut and MySpace, so you’re one step ahead of the game, but your profile will only appear in search results if it’s public, or if your name is linked to a public profile [by being friends with that person or submitting a comment or wall post, etc.] on their page. So there are two options that you can employ based on your privacy settings. 1) If your profile is public, you can maximize it by posting relevant content using vehicles like Facebook notes and MySpace bulletins. You can also beef up your ‘About Me’ section to associate yourself with key content and heavily searched topics, provided of course, that they are relevant to you. Don’t just repeat a term like ‘social media’ a dozen times because it’s a popular term right now. And, no, organizing your sorority formal does NOT make you a social media expert! 2) If your profile is private, you will still automatically appear in search results if you’re friends with someone’s whose profile is public – or even if their site is private, if they publicize their friend list with something like the ‘View Friends’ feature on Facebook, you will show up then too. Other than that, posting comments on public profiles about your thoughts on Barack Obama or excitement over the latest winner of Top Chef should do the trick.

Get LinkedIn – The LinkedIn network is powerful, and continues to grow by leaps and bounds as enterprise social networking becomes more mainstream, connecting business professionals from all over the globe. If you’re not taking advantage of this service yet, you need to be. Period. Although, truthfully, I am only just getting set up on it myself, another golden nugget from PR dynamo, Jeremy Pepper. And it works. The more connections you have, the higher your search results – especially if they are heavy hitters with topical core competencies. Hint: try to befriend an SEO expert! Plus, you’ll start reaping the benefits almost immediately (provided no one else with a more robust profile has the same name as you, that is) because their site is like one endless supply of search tags, which you control by populating your profile with key areas of expertise, interests and a finely crafted, keyword-laden summary. And if you create a unique URL with your name, it will show up in the title tag (the blue bar at the very top of your browser window), which is the most important bit of text on a web page as far as the search engines are concerned. Search engines not only assign the words in the title tag more weight, they also typically display the title tag in the search results, making it an important driver in attaining the highest rankings. Last, there are all kinds of tools and apps to promote your LinkedIn profile on blogs and websites with personalized buttons and embedding options.

Don’t Worry, Be [Comment] Happy – Submitting comments to articles and posts on high traffic sites like TechCrunch and Mashable, (or any other frequently visited blog or website) will also bolster your search status, and aid in developing your personal brand based on the thoughts you share, the qualities you exemplify, and the expertise you demonstrate. Their impressive daily visits and page views alone will catapult you into search stardom. Plus, Michael Arrington and Pete Cashmore promote the hell out of them on microblogging sites – and ALL of their online properties -- so your exposure is increased exponentially (read: muchos mas eyeballos on your commentos*).

*may not actually be Spanish

You can also buy the domain of your name, and you will literally own your name online. In addition, according to SEO aficionado, Joe Apfelbaum of Ajax Union, registering your public profiles on sites like Mahalo, Digg and Propeller will produce rapid fire results.

While all of these vehicles will definitely help strengthen your search visibility, from a branding perspective, they will also show snippets of your personality to begin to build your personal brand, and give searchers a sense of who you are and what you represent. So, before you dive headfirst into the search spotlight, spend a little time thinking about your value proposition, and the image you want to portray to peers, colleagues, and/or potential clients who may be searching on your name. Then you can direct all of your online messaging accordingly and Google with confidence.

Bonus tip: You can use this service to monitor when you begin to appear in results. It has a lot of other fun uses too. You're welcome.

Name: nA

Author: Gamedev.net

Comment: Somebody insert Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" here.

Extraction Site

I am certified by the National Marine Propeller Association( NMPA.net) in aluminum repairs.  I also do like new repairs on  stainless, nibral (ski boat) propellers, rehubbing & lower unit welding at a fair price.

Located at 1549 Blue Ridge Yacht Club Rd. in Bassett, VA  24055.  Contact me at 276-340-1597 or by email.  I will be more than happy to assist you in your prop repairs or answer any of your questions.

Blue Ridge Propeller Repair/ Jason Spence-Owner/276-340-1597 email: prop_repair@yahoo.com

Cine are nevoie de un calculator online pentru lamele elicei unei eoliene gaseste aici unul.

The Propeller chip is so fast it will make your head Spin™

Tidak hanya prosesor PC yang berkembang menjadi multicore. Kini microcontroller pun menggunakan teknologi multicore dalam prosesornya. Salah satu microcontroller yang demikian adalah Parallax Propeller P8X32A. Chip Propeller ini memiliki 8 buah core dengan lebar data 32-bit. Dalam Propeller, masing-masing core tersebut disebut sebagai Cog. Chip Propeller ini telah diluncurkan sejak tahun 2006.

Chip P8X32A memiliki 64KB memori utama yang terdiri dari 32KB RAM dan 32KB ROM serta 512x32 bit memori untuk masing-masing Cog. Chip ini dapat di-drive oleh clock dengan frekuensi hingga 80 MHz.

Prosesor P8X32A ini dapat digunakan dalam banyak aplikasi. Satu keping chip ini mampu untuk mengendalikan keyboard, mouse, TV-out, monitor, audio input/output, komunikasi serial, dan lain sebagainya. Fitur multiprosesor dalam P8X32A ini dapat dimanfaatkan untuk melakukan hingga 8 buah pekerjaan secara bergantian simultan!

Untuk memprogram Propeller, dapat digunakan bahasa tingkat tinggi "Spin" atau dapat juga digunakan bahasa assembler dari Propeller.

Situs resmi Parallax Propeller di sini

Tugboat Captain Bill's Propeller, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

]]> http://anemicroyalty.wordpress.com/?p=1158 Fri, 09 May 2008 22:49:27 +0000 anemi http://anemicroyalty.wordpress.com/?p=1158

Soooooo, here's a little story and quizlet to give you cause to know what is important in your life. Ready? Here we go...

A husband and wife live in a house.

The husband works long hours and

his wife often feels neglected.

Every morning when he goes to work,

she crosses the only bridge in the town that spans

the river and goes to see her lover.

Now, this doesn’t happen every day,

but often enough, and she feels guilty about it.

But, she’s lonely.

One day, the husband tells his wife that he’s going on a

business trip and he’ll be gone for the whole weekend.

She begs him not to go because if he does, she knows

she’ll go over the bridge to be with her lover.

She says, “take me with you.” Alas, he says, "no."

He suspects something is not straight up,

but leaves for the business trip anyhow.

Welp, sure enough, once he’s gone,

she goes over the bridge to her lover’s place.

The husband calls her late at night,

and says he’s coming home early.

She freaks and scrambles to put on her clothes,

and runs to the bridge to return home.

On the bridge, she sees an assassin.

She knows if she crosses the bridge, the assassin will kill her.

The only other way to cross the river is by the ferry.

She goes down to the ferry captain

and says, “I need to cross the river PDQ.”

He says, "the ferry has stopped for the night,

but for fifty pounds, I will take you across the river."

She has no money, and the captain says,

"That's your problem!"

So, she runs back to her lover’s place and asks him for the money.

He says, “this is your problem, you deal with it."

Panicked, she runs back to the bridge.

Despairing, she starts across and sure enough,

the assassin shoots and kills her. (Sad now, sigh).

Soooooooooooooo, Here's the quiz. Please rank, from 1-5,

with 1 being the most responsible,

and 5 being the least responsible

who is the most responsible for the wife’s death.

The WIFE, the HUSBAND, the LOVER, the CAPTAIN, or THE ASSASSIN? Rank them in order.

Your choices are symbolic, and explain your priorities in life:

LOVER = SEX
WIFE = FUN
ASSASSIN = DANGER
BOATMAN = MONEY
HUSBAND = LOVE

Yikes! Have a great weekend, heY!

~ a n e m i

Sales of the above computer game "yawner" aren't exactly a "Grand Theft 4" either.

It's been six months since our last visit south of the San Diego border into Baja Mexico to check on Donald Trump's "Gold Coast investment opportunity of a lifetime," and well, perhaps not my lifetime, or yours either. You remember this place, don't you? We first reported on this "Tijuana treasure" situated adjacent to a toxic sewage plant last October in our post; Rooms With a Pew! This project is turning out to be a task too tall for tycoon Trump, who boasts of resort condo construction from Bahrain to this Baja behemoth.

"The Donald," is up against a more formidable foe than Rosie O'Donnell in this real estate slump slide, and admits; "the real estate market is a basic disaster."

Donald Trump’s decision to lend his name to a lavish coastal condo-hotel project in Baja California brought worldwide visibility to the region’s unprecedented building boom. But two years after a San Diego sales event that drew hundreds of would-be purchasers, the planned three-tower Trump Ocean Resort has yet to break ground and development has skidded to "put it in park" along the Tijuana-Ensenada strip poorly dubbed the "Gold Coast." Nothing is or has happened on this "resort" site just ten miles down the street from the US/Mexico border.

Tijuana officials say the developer received a land use permit in 2005, allowing 526 units to be built on the property that juts out into the Pacific Ocean at Punta Bandera. But the developer has yet to receive a construction permit from Tijuana’s Urban Development Department, the key city agency that gives the go-ahead for new projects.

“Going through the files, we can’t find an application,” said director Miguel Angel Zavala.

Trump’s Los Angeles-based partner, Irongate, said the much-publicized project is moving forward, despite delays, and that they are in the final stages of presenting documents to City Hall. Tijuana’s Municipal Planning Institute, which conducts initial reviews and submits recommendations to the Urban Development Department, received plans earlier this month, the developer said.

So far, U.S. buyers make up more than 90 percent of the project’s clientele, said Carlos Palafox, director of development for Irongate. To date, 167 units have been pre-sold in the first tower, which will have 232 units on 26 stories and is scheduled to open at the end of 2009, about six months behind initial projections, Palafox said.

About 40 percent of the space has been spoken for in the second 26-story tower.

Buyers who sign a contract agree to put down 30 percent of their unit’s cost over a specified time period, Palafox said.

Trump said in an October 2006 interview that the Trump Organization will be a “significant” equity investor in the $200 million project. But Palafox said Trump has yet to invest in Trump Ocean Resort in Baja. Palafox described Trump as a “branding partner,” meaning that he has lent his name.

“The only thing I am at liberty to say now is that we are working with Irongate on a project there,” Rhona Graff, Trump’s executive assistant, wrote in response to a written query.

Palafox said Trump’s participation is significant for the project, as “Trump has become a highly recognized brand,” Palafox said. “With branding comes a very serious partnership. Trump has to protect their quality standards.”

Trump, a celebrity real estate developer known for his TV show “The Apprentice,” has found success in becoming the public face for many developments that carry his name but not his investments.

Like other developments along the Tijuana-Ensenada coastline, Trump Ocean Resort has suffered from the real estate downturn, as fewer buyers have the equity to purchase second homes anywhere, let alone in Mexico.

“I think that all U.S. projects that target U.S. buyers have been significantly impacted by the U.S. housing markets,” Palafox said. Another factor accounting for the delay has been finding banks willing to lend the capital for the project, Palafox said, as “almost all U.S. and European banks are going through a much stricter authorization and underwriting process.”

Palafox said the financing agreements are confidential.

Construction on the first tower missed its planned March start date, meaning the second tower July commencement will likely not be met with the cutting of any ribbons either.

Palafox said that work has been going on: Workers have been grading the land and installing utilities. “The reason it’s not visible is that it’s all underground.” (We give this a "things that make you go 'hmm'," factor of 10+).

Just two years ago, a booming U.S. housing market was a key factor fueling a frenzy of purchases along northern Baja California’s coastline. The chance to own oceanfront property at a fraction of U.S. prices lured many baby boomers to take equity from their U.S. homes to invest in Mexico.

But with the downturn in the U.S. market, Baja California’s coastal real estate sales have tanked. Rafael Liceaga, a well-known Baja California real estate broker, said sales have fallen about 40 percent to 50 percent since the height of the boom but remain above pre-boom levels.

“There continues to be much movement, many transactions,” said Eduardo Rosales, president of the Rosarito Beach branch of AMPI, a national realty agents group.

Despite recent setbacks, “the location is strategic,” said Rosales. “People are investing and are going to continue to invest.”

But now a new market is developing, as buyers are bottom fishing for foreclosure properties and “properties that people are trying to sell ASAP,” said Gustavo Torres, a broker in the Rosarito Beach area and vice president of the local AMPI branch.

At Trump Ocean Resort, “we have not reduced prices at all. Our sales have had a slowdown, but we are still selling,” Palafox said. Prices now range from the mid-$300,000s for a studio on the lower floor to $2.5 million for a penthouse.

A saleswoman said amenities will include four infinity-edge pools, tennis courts, a full-service day spa, five-star restaurants, bars and convention space.

Tom Pfleider, an Inland Empire entrepreneur, purchased a one-bedroom unit in the first tower during Trump’s 2006 San Diego sales event.

“We relied a lot on Trump’s name and the fact that he was doing due diligence,” Pfleider said. “We remain excited and expect it to be a first-class property.”

We, alas, have less lofty expectations, like, the time overdue return of our deposit.

ANEMIC ROYALTY

Michael Daimler

PS: We did neglect to mention Mexico's outlaw environment. Beyond tragedy for the victims and their families, headlines like the following are, needless to say, disastrous for tourism and real estate sales.

MEXICO CITY, May 9, 2008 — Gunmen assassinated the acting chief of Mexico's federal police early on Thursday morning in the most brazen attack so far in the year-and-a-half-old struggle between the government and organized crime gangs. Read the entire story (click here). Our heartfelt condolences to those affected.

"WELCOME TO THE OCCUPATION" R.E.M.

LYRICS:

(Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe)

Hang your collar up inside
Hang your dollar on me
Listen to the water still
Listen to the causeway
You are mad and educated
Primitive and wild
Welcome to the occupation

Here we stand and here we fight
All your fallen heroes
Held and dyed and skinned alive
Listen to the Congress fire
Offering the educated
Primitive and loyal
Welcome to the occupation

Hang your collar up inside
Hang your freedom higher
Listen to the buyer still
Listen to the Congress
Where we propagate confusion
Primitive and wild
Fire on the hemisphere below

Sugar cane and coffee cup
Copper, steel and cattle
An annotated history
The forest for the fire
Where we open up the floodgates
Freedom reigns supreme
Fire on the hemisphere below
Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me

OK. SayDO...Something.

~ anemi

It seems like every time somebody comes along with "the next big thing," I think..."junk," and say so, and then they wind up making zillions of bucks. So, do yourself a favor, short my sentiments here, and go glam on to as much stock in this as you can squeeze into your IRA, mattress, whichever you have left.

In yet another attempt to stick it's fingers in the money goo, Google not long ago teamed-up with fueling system supplier Gilbarto Veeder-Root to equip Internet-enabled gas pumps with the Applause Media System, featuring Google Maps. The setup is supposed to, among other things, allow lost motorists to find themselves, hungry road warriors to feed themselves (and save money doing it with printable coupons), and sleep depraved drivers to scroll around a local map in search for a cot, and free HBO.

What's wrong with this picture? Well, the top one is just fine, with my edits. But the unedited version, just above, and this whole idea - here's my take.

Firstly, with gas over $4.00/gallon, you've got more money than sense than to be driving, let alone plan a trip without knowing where the best gas prices can be found. OK, excuse - you were in a hurry when you left, and now the battery in your Blackberry is dead. What's to stop you from pulling up to this web-pump and surfing over to GasBuddy just to make sure Omar inside there is not gouging you, when gas can be had at three-cents cheaper across the street? No foul here, I mean everybody will tell you there is no money to be made at gas pumps, they are merely loss-leaders to get you inside to buy a pack of "square-nabs," that's where the real money is.

I guess on a practical level, if your Blackberry truly is dead and you are wayward, this "innovation" could be a godsend. Getting lost out there is brutal. Nobody knows where they are. It's like, they know they will not get, nor keep, a job at a gas/convenience store unless they act directionally challenged. It's a rule, printed in the 7-11 employee handbook. It might even be an Arabian sub-terror plot to keep you lost to buy more of their gas.

Talk about frustration and possible road rage, ever get this - "Hmm, I've lived here all my life and I've never heard of I-40, sorry. Bubba might know, but he's on dinner break." You get so upset, you wind up buying gas or "square-nabs" just to calm the nerves. Stupid? It works. They get the sale.

Another reason this thing is just plain dumb relates to patience, or our lack thereof. Waiting in line for anything just plain sucks. We are talking silent wishes for a drive-by shooting of the idiot in front of you with nothing better to do than Google for directions to the best route to discover the "World's Largest Pecan."

Maybe though, after a tough day on the thirsty trail, you decide to print out and use that gratuitous 5%-off coupon at the Motel 6, and kick back with the free in-room color TV. Maybe then you'll have a greater grasp of the local 7:00 "action" news blurting, "Elderly couple flattened at local gas station, right after a word from our sponsor; Google."

"Breaker-Breaker, good buddy. Howzit lookin' over your donkey?"

Yeah, gas prices hurt. Check out these peeps fuming in line for the "crisis" at 81 cents/gallon. If you were rich, before you could even get to the "square-nabs," you might have passed the time untangling the tape in your eight-track installed by your bro'inlaw, or rappin' on the CB radio. "What's a Blackberry, Internet...huh?" Some things are a bit better, I suppose.

ANEMIC ROYALTY

You know the economy is bad when nothing, and I mean NOTHING is going on in Hollywood worthy of reporting. What to do when you need a story, and can't even find a Yorkie to kick down Rodeo Drive? Hmm. GOT IT! What say we check in with Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, Frederic, and catch a glow of what he's been  up to, what fun, heY!

But first, up for a bit of sport? How about a multiple choice quiz, I'll call it Truth or Dare Paparazzi, where you, are the Photog, and your mission is to get a pic of Zsa Zsa Gabor. (Told you things were slow). As with anything worth doing, this is not going to be easy, and there is a "price" to be paid. So, to get the winning shot, which are you more willing to endure?

a)     Getting a rep for hanging around Beverly Hills street corners and snapping pics of old people.

b)     Getting a fat lip from an old person who thinks he's a younger man and an old monarch for hanging around Beverly Hills street corners and snapping pics of old people.

c)     Wasting three years by suing an old person who thinks he's a younger man and an old monarch for giving you a fat lip for hanging around Beverly Hills street corners and snapping pics of old people.

d)     Gah, I dunno, all of the above.

I know, tough choices, but, this is Hollywood, land of "Greed is Good," so take answer "d", be safe and go for it all.

This is exactly what photographer Dirk Smeten, age unknown, did, saying he worried he would be killed when Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband slugged him in the face three years ago on a Beverly Hills street corner.

In his legal complaint, Dirk claimed Frederic von "Ask Him" (Gabor's husband) aged apx. 75, was  in the vicinity and began punching him about the lips while Smeten photographed him and/or Zsa Zsa Gabor, aged apx. 92, in May 2005. According to the complaint, the blow(s) caused Smeten to fall down in suffering with lip lacerations, cuts to his face, swelling, pain, high blood pressure, headaches and stress symptoms, to which Smeten continues to this day to get psychiatric care.

Herr von "All Sprechen" said he initially wanted to give Smeten about twenty large for busting on his chops, but Smeten opted for the long court road home in search of $137,000. On Friday, the court awarded Dirk $4,510, about right I'd say, after three years of negative economic adjustments.

A search for Smeten for comment turned out to be fruitless, however, von "Au Lait" was sited in West Hollywood savoring a Starbucks and sucking a stogie, and graciously consented to the following interview:

(Click pic for interview after the jump in new browser window or copy to http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1509417576)

ANEMIC ROYALTY

Bunk. End of blog. Thank you for reading.

~ X anemi

PS: There is an awful lot of this stuff rearing its ___(s) (pick whichever body part you delight to complete descriptive) on the WWW as of late - again. I dunno, it seems whenever the world's economy gets stuck, or there are mindless, ceaseless wars, its deja vu with all this conspiracy talk. For me, it's human nature to want to blame somebody else for problems, but re-hashing the same tired arguments is - tired. Now I love a good conspiracy story, and often they make compelling page-turners, but debates are always won on facts. Making the rounds once again thanks to the "illumaniti," as it has since World War II, is this preponderance of evidence that the world's wealthiest families, e.g.; Rockefellers, Rothchilds, Warburgs, DuPonts, Easys, etc., form this secret-private coalition/cartel with designs to control banks, soverign nations, oceans, whatever. These stories have made many an author rich, famous, and infamous. To the latter, I refer to that great poet and visionary pioneer of the "modernist" movement, from Hailey, Idaho; the late Ezra Pound. Fascinating guy, became an on-air radio Nazi propagandist and Mussolini sympathiser whilst living in Europe, turned himself in in 1945 for treason against the United States, had what appeared to some as a nervous breakdown, plead insanity at his trial (treason is supposed to be a capital offense) and spent 13 years in a mental facility; St. Elizabeths in Washington, DC. Following his release, he declared "America is a lunatic asylum," and motored back to his favored Italy, where he died in 1972. Sad, but it is noted, some of his best work ensued during this, his "blue period" hospital days, leading many to question his "insanity." Pound, among other things, knew how to tell and sell a story, and favoured grand conspiracies. Among the better tales, was that of the history of the United States Federal Reserve and how the wealthy of the world conspired to control the banking system and start World War's I and II for personal profit. Whilst a mental patient, Pound was permitted a few privileges, including a personal researcher; Mr. Eustace Mullins of Roanoke, Virginia, who had been fired by the Library of Congress, to assist with Pound's literary career. Pound commissioned Mullins to write the story, cautioning care to "tell it like a detective story." The book; "Secrets of the Federal Reserve," was the product, and has been re-written in subsequent books by others many times since. All decent and compelling page turners, all frought with inaccuracies and historical mis-statements of facts, all bunk. Read them if you have time and desire, I've read them all, and will even loan you my copies, if needed (borrowed from somebody else, heY!). Alas, all the doods from the "modernist" movement are now dead and gone; Yeats, Sandburg, Hemmingway, etc., save one lone survivor; Eustace Mullins. Enjoy Mr. Mullins views of the world in the short interviews below. Today, Mullins serves on the editorial staff of the far-right Willis Carto's "American Free Press" and is a contributing editor to the "Barnes Review." A word of caution to those who care about men suffering obviously from "Oldtimers," - Mullins, as you will see, is, like many of his peers, a devout anti-semite. Sigh. Lastly, believe whatever you want to believe, I say. Can't live your life in the baby seat. Just, be careful.

"WHO RULES YOUR RULERS?"

"ZIONIST PLAN FOR WORLD WAR III"

At the papal Mass at Washington, D.C.'s Nationals Park this morning, 46,000 were in attendance, and to partake of Holy Communion, including Senators John Kerry, Chris Dodd, and Ted Kennedy.

Kennedy, a Catholic, conspicuously remained seated as his row was called for Communion, whilst Senate brethren Kerry and Todd showed no reservation.

"Blasphemy, Sacrilege!" Or...better, "Scandal - Kennedy loses taste for alcohol!"

Before anybody blows a Catechism, sorry, none of the above. Turns out, only Kennedy did the right (hmm) thing. Surprised? Read on...

Ranking authorities in the Vatican, and indeed the Pope himself, have insisted that pro-abortion politicians be denied Holy Communion. Kennedy, Kerry, and Dodd each hold public stances favoring abortion.

Francis Cardinal Arinze, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, speaking at a Catholic family conference in Ohio last November confirmed that pro-abortion politicians must be denied communion.  He referenced a 2004 letter on the subject sent by then-Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, who said that such politicians "must" be refused Communion.

Several prominent US bishops with the leading of now-retired Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick have refused to follow such direction from Rome.

Paris Hilton was not observed among the faithful, and Britney Spears was not contacted for comment.

ANEMIC ROYALTY