It has been a long time since I’ve done a totally random thoughts post, and i’m kinda in the mood for one, so here we go…

Chances are you are familiar with Chipotle Mexican Grill, well here is another is another name that you should be aware of – Freebirds. The burritos and tacos put anything that Chipotle has to offer to shame…and their “pot brownies” are amazingly good.

Too bad they are (or appear to be) only in Texas and Oklahoma…

Speaking of Texas, did you know if you are in Texarkana, Texas you are closers to Chicago, Illinois than you are to El Paso, Texas. That just goes to show you how large the state of Texas is.

One of the things in life that people tend not really pay attention to in life is patterns. I’m not sure why, but it seems that people don’t seem to see the patterns in the big picture of life.

Over the last year and a half, I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the economic difficulty the nation faces… and, no, it has not gotten any better since I started talking about it… but here is yet another pattern in the big picture that someone should be paying attention to: some in the financial industry are paying huge prices for a rare printing of a book – Dying of Money: Lessons of the Great German and American Inflations

The book talks about Weimar inflation before the start of World War II… doesn’t it seem odd that some in the financial industry are suddenly interested in the mechanics of the devastating inflation… especially since the US simply is printing money like there is no tomorrow?

I haven’t been cooking that much.  The last post over at Yes, We Cook! was on July 7th. I’ve cooked two new dishes since then, dishes I haven’t posted at the site, but I simply can’t really get “into” posting it for some reason… I really should…

Likewise, I can’t seem to get into the mood for cooking. It is like my inspiration for it is gone…  I mean, part of me wants to but I simply don’t/can’t/won’t get into it.

Wandering Coyote hit 36 the other day, drop by and say Happy B-Day.

That’s all for now…

Here is an interesting little widget:

As a rule, I tend to take the “worst” case estimates and double them… So, in this case, I would take the BP estimates and double them to right around the experts’ worst case estimate…meaning… 4,200,000 gallons a day are potentially rushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

As I had suggested before, what happens when a Hurricane comes rushing into the Gulf? Well, others are starting to ask the same question as well. Just imagine what happens when oil starts to rain down over the lower United States.

Now that is an environmental disaster.

The Gulf of Mexico Oil spill (more like perpetually spewing oil well) is a major event taking place in our world, one that needs to have the appropriate attention given to it; however, even as this event has the ability to impact the world on several major levels – economic, environmental, agricultural – the masses and the media seem to be uninterested in what is taking place.

Last weekend (5/2/2010) the Administration was saying they’ve been working on this “from day one“; however, the Deep Sea News has a timeline that really shows that, yea, you know… the Administration didn’t have significant role until about a week into the problem. Then we found out that Interior Department Chief of Staff was off on vacation while everything unfolded. Worse yet, the government DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE CLEAN-UP BOOM! That seems to be different from what was said by the Coast Guard…

In the days after the rig sank, U.S Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry said the government had all the assets it needed. She did not discuss why officials waited more than a week to conduct a test burn.

Clearly, on a number of levels, the administration/federal government wasn’t there on day one and they were not ready to respond to such a situation. With additional steps to address the spill running into problems, one has to wonder when this will be under control.

The bottom line, from where I sit, is this: The situation has been mismanaged by the government from day one and there seems to be a lack of urgency from the government to address the spill and protect the coast lines.

As I noted previously, I pray that a hurricane doesn’t come whipping through the gulf anytime soon…

All that said, let’s take a look at pictures of the Deep Water Horizon ablaze, where the oil is and where is expected to head (from here, here and here):

In November of 2008 I had issues with some predictions of Gerald Celente.  In short, I thought his predictions were rather general and could claimed be as a “success”. While 2012 is far off his original predictions haven’t come to pass (yet).

Well, he is back with some very specific predictions for 2010:

For this year he is calling for:
- 9/11 size attacks
- Israel may attack Iran
- An economic crash in 2010 (when the stimulus money runs out)
- An elegance trend (pride in yourself)
- A not welcome here trend (when jobs dry up people start to target illegals)

With such specific predictions it will be easy to measure his success. In this crop I do think he is on target with the Economic crash. The terror attacks and Israel/Iran issue are constant topics, and could happen at any time. The elegance trend is an interesting concept but seems counter to an economic collapse, and the ‘not welcome here’ could fit into economic hardship.

With the article on my original issues with Celente’s predictions I also make a few predictions of my own:

- If humanity continues manned spaced exploration they will suffer shocking and unexpected losses due to technical error
- Every day items, such as phone / laptops / media devices, will continue to become smaller in order to provide convenience to users of the devices
- The earth will be subjected to numerous shifts in climate temperature
- European economies may suffer due to a lack of qualified younger individuals (specifically in Italy and German) to fill roles within the workforce
- I predict that if Celente is right I will admit it but if my predictions are more accurate, no one will come knocking on my door to predict the future

Thus far I’m batting 80% (no shocking and unexpected losses due to technical errors in space travel), however, what I find very interesting with his 2010 predictions is that things seem much more… well… realistic to his past prediction.

Thanksgiving is a very interesting holiday.

While originally a harvest festival, the event has turned into a day where people look at their lives and take stock of what they have.  Over the last several months I have really refrained from posting too many personal thoughts on the blog; however, I feel this is an appropriate time to share some thoughts.

I am thankful for (in no order) my:

• Wife
• Past failures and future successes
• Parents
• Job
• Friends who look out for me and provide direction in life
• My two cats, regardless of the fact that they drive me nuts
• Car – I mean, come on!
• Health
• Flexibility and options in life
• Access to information

This is the second day where the classic Deadwood quote come to mind: “No one gets out alive, Doc”

Sure, that sounds morbid for Thanksgiving wishes but the truth is that we, everyone, should be thankful for all that we have and we should be thankful every single day of our lives, not just one one day. All that we have, from life and friendship to material goods are precious gifts that can vanish in the blink of an eye.

I wish you all a happy thanksgiving. Even if you do not celebrate the holiday, I wish you the best on this day.

You know how, sometimes, there is a conclusion you’ve reached but are trying to avoid at all costs.  I’m not sure you try to avoid your newly realized opinion, maybe it has something to do with letting go of the past or simply trying to deny reality from setting in, but in the end there is just no getting away from it.  I’ve hit that point with the Venture Bros.

When Adult Swim launched the series very few watched, but as the story developed so did the fan base.  By the end of the first season the cult following pushed [AS] to order a second season which was, by far, the best in terms of story writing. Season three attempted to explore some of the secondary characters and move them into larger roles within the story. In my mind, S3 was a disaster of season that just didn’t flow with Season two…. and now Season 4 is continuing the same disastrous path.

Ok, here are my big issue:

• Sergeant Hatred replacing Brock was just, well, stupid. Don’t know where the Brock story line is going but the lack of him significantly takes away from the show.
• Now they “boys” no longer have clones they are mortal… I don’t want to watch them grow up, I want to see the stupid stuff they did in season 1 and 2. When shows seem to “age” their characters the story always seems to suffer to me.
• I really don’t care about the secondary characters though there is a bit of humor with henchman #21 talking to his dead friends head as if he was still alive
• There stories don’t seem to mesh and the series does not feel like it is moving forward.  Now it almost feels like 30 mins of “how much secondary crap can we fit in and call it an episode”
• The humor seems to be lacking. While there are a few one liners that have popped up the make you think humor that I loved so much about the show seems to be gone as well

I think the Venture Brothers, the show I loved so dearly, has gone in a different direction – one that I’m not willing to follow with. I wish that wasn’t the case but it is.  Thank you for the good times but you’ve lost me as a dedicated fan.

This is very scary - a missing laptop from the BlueCross BlueShield Association contains data on 800,000 doctors:

The Chicago Tribune reports that some 800,000 doctors are being warned about a laptop holding their personal data that has turned up missing from the Chicago-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Nearly every practicing physician in the country is being cautioned as a result of the theft of the laptop from an employee’s car. At risk are the doctors’ business and personal information including Social Security numbers, addresses and certain identification numbers.

Stealing laptops is asimple way data thieves can tap into porous corporate networks. The granddaddy of all data breaches attributed to a lost laptop involved the Department of Veterans Affairs. The agency lost records for 26.5 million active duty troops and veterans stored on a laptop and external drive, which disappeared during a burglary of the home of a VA data analyst in 2006.

Laptop theft appears to be on the rise, says Jim Alves, executive vice president at Kaseya, which supplies programs that help corporations keep track of their tech gear. Kaseya has helped several customers in recent months recover stolen laptops, he says.

“Laptops and other portable devices are frequently lost or stolen, resulting in rampant data loss,” says Alves. “Users of personal devices do not often think about losing the item or having it stolen.

Suspicious.

Even more bad news for CIT Group:

CIT Group Inc., one of the biggest U.S. lenders to small and midsize businesses, said Tuesday its chairman and CEO Jeffrey M. Peek plans to resign at the end of the year.

Devastated by the downturn in the credit markets, CIT has been trying to avoid bankruptcy for months as it restructures its operations.

CIT has posted billions in losses as borrowing costs have outpaced the money it generates from lending to customers. As CIT’s customers have struggled amid the recession, they have fallen behind on repaying loans. That has forced CIT to set aside more cash to cover those losses, a problem nearly all lenders have had during the recession.

Some experts have warned that a total collapse of CIT would deal a crippling blow to an economy still bleeding well over 100,000 jobs a month.

Really, it’s just a matter of time…

The BBC would like to know what a lot of individuals close to me have been asking…

What happened to Global Warming?

This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.

But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.

And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.

So what on Earth is going on?

Good question, no? If that isn’t An Inconvenient Truth I don’t know what is.

Americans always had the “bigger is better” attitude. At the end of the 20th century the mentality that was pervasive through all aspects of society seemed to grow by leaps and bounds. Super size meals, 4500 sq ft houses for a family of three, and massive vehicles served as constant reminders of how American citizens were following the excess lifestyle.

The perfect example of this unsustainable lifestyle was the Hummer brand.

As General Motors limped into government bankruptcy, the company looked to reduce their product line in the hopes of finding a way of surviving after bankruptcy came to an end. Pontiac got the axe. Saturn was almost sold off; however, the deal fell apart, leading GM to pull the plug on the brand. Saab was sold off to a small Swedish company, and General Motors pushed off Hummer to a Chinese based heavy equipment manufacturing firm.

On Friday, October 9th, 2009, the deal finally closed.

What has taken place with the Hummer brand is a perfect example what is happening to the United States in general. American excess lead to an unsustainable lifestyle and, as a result, others are picking up our former assets for pennies on the dollar because our economy can no longer support itself.