Is there a creature in Vostok’s hole??

No, for starters, Volstok is a place – not a person. Volstok is located deep in the Antarctic Continent and in point of truth; it’s really a vast lake that lies below two miles of ice. Scientist had spent years trying to drill down to the lake to see what might lay there in the icy depths. Whatever was there would have been undisturbed for over 20 million years! But time was running short as the ‘winter’ was about to begin when the temperatures which had been a balmy forty below zero would soon drop down to close to a hundred below. A temperature so cold that a man’s eyeballs (no to mention other parts) can freeze solid in just moments if caught outside.

Things began to go wrong when the Russian team in charge of drilling the hole failed to report back via satellite phone early in February. A competing American team nearby wrote it off as nothing serious until over a week had stretched by and then concern began to mount. Now, unless the Russians are heard from or show up on their own, nothing can be done until the next ‘summer’ period half a year away. Conditions will make it impossible for any rescue to be effected and the fate of the Russian will dim.

It is at this point that speculations as to what happened will begin to mount. Maybe what killed the team wasn’t a large creature at all, but some primeval microbe that was so novel that mankind would have no defenses to fight it. Maybe that creature took out those Russians, froze again and is now content to wait for the rescue effort to arrive in the future. (This is beginning to sound like that creepy music played at the beginning of the movie ‘The Thing’ directed by John Carpenter)! Just remember that truth can be much stranger than fiction!

Sorry, but that dog just won’t hunt! Cuz it’s dead!

[this dog is not dead, he's just resting]

I love listening to dyed-in-the-wool hyper left-wing Democrats who look with hungry eyes to the corporate owners who seem to be so damn rich! Their universal complaint is, “how cum they make so much money? Why, that’s downright greedy. They should be spreading that wealth around!”  This, by the way, is the mantra of the WSO movement (Wall Street Occupiers) and I can see their point. I could use a handout (or two) myself!

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But let us not be so...so anally focused here folks! What about the rest of the world? You know, it’s a fact that an American citizen making just $20K per year looks awful darn rich to someone living in Africa who makes maybe thirty cents a week!  If we’re going to take from the wealthy here (to give to those who’ve never worked a day in their life), I say we need to look long and hard at all those fat pocketbooks of the Middle Class working stiffs. I mean surely, someone living on 20K could do just as well on say 13K?? Well, couldn't they?

Hey! Maybe we could even figure out some way to ‘redistribute’ that wealth in a fair manner also! Maybe Obama’s ideas on ‘Cap and Trade’ will work after all. (It too is designed to move all that greedy Middle Class wealth to poor folks around the globe). What a grand idea by a President who puts his country first! (Say what)?

So, here’s the plan, Jan – first we take anyone who makes more than $250,000 and tax them at a new rate of 80% to 90%! That will leave them on about the same level as the rest of us Middle Class jerks. (Never mind that most companies would be in danger of folding – Obama can easily bail them out with money from his stash)!

Next, we implement a Super Duper Cap & Trade (with malice aforethought) and milk those Middle Class cows until they turn pale. Why, it’d be just like those doctor’s worked in the Middle Ages – you remember – when a patient got sick, they’d attach leaches to help drain out all that nasty old blood. Patients who did survive the procedure were announced ‘cured’ and allowed to stagger home. (This worked out great until some busybody went and found the cure was actually killing all the patients).

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Now, I know I can hear many of you out there complaining that perhaps some of the money (a teensy bit) will go to fill the pockets of special interests or union bosses. I’m aware of your fear and concern. That is why I plan to set up a National American STW (spread the wealth) drop site at a mailing address I will soon put out on the net. Yes, I know it will be a lot of work managing billions of dollars in contributions a week, but I promise to soldier on until the very last penny that is squeezed donated from ‘You the Peeps’ is resting safely in a Swiss account somewhere far from these shores. From that account, I will then disseminate the funds as I (DanoManno Dingo) see fit. Thank you all in advance for your generosity.

The five tests of evil: Why America will fight Iran!

In a word: Evil! Iran's government is evil, pure and simple. Good is always in conflict with evil. That's an axiom of the universe that will never be changed! But, how does one really know which is which? Is there some sort of test? A litmus test of evilness as it were?

Yes, as a matter of fact there is. It's in the form of five simple tests that most anyone can apply to any country on the face of the earth. Here they are in no particular order:

The test of what is real versus what is not real!

In this world there are two actual sets of commandments that were handed down from above to the children of earth. One set of ten is well known to most of humanity. It was a set of instructions on how to avoid really bad things happening to us through the surrendering to temptation. That is doing actions that might benefit us in some way but which deprives someone else in the process. Achieving a life that avoids the killing others or of stealing (both in the physical or business sense) takes a lifetime of hard work. However a sane person would never find fault in any of these.

The other set of rules are the 'built-in' ones that should work for each of us on a gut level. Things like not jumping to your death from a cliff, or covering yourself with gasoline or blowing yourself up (and others) should be readily apparent (and abhorrent) to even the most naive among us. They are there to help make sure we survive and can only be 'disabled' if, from birth, the person is brainwashed to believe strongly in something else...even if that something else goes against natural instincts!

In Iran, the lifelong teachings found in Islamic Sharia Law bypass the teachings of God by instilling in the young that violence against others is not only OK, but often a necessity of spiritual life.

No, actually, it is not! (Stop here and take the time to read up on Sharia Law. Be informed - not merely opinionated).

The test of a painful existence!

In any 'civilized country', there are many who complain about this or that mpst every day. About how hard their lives are and about how they wish they had more of this or that. But, if you were to take random snapshots of people going about their day to day lives in said country, you would discover mostly animated, lively and smiling images staring back at you. While far from perfect, they are walking the walk and talking the Lord's talk.

In 'other countries' such is not the case. Your camera would more often yield images that would be visually painful to look at. Something in the picture would impart a feeling of wrongness. Well, maybe it's the abject crushing poverty staring at you that causes this. Perhaps in any country, which forces the majority of its citizens to live in squalor, while a few 'gifted and enlightened' live life in relative splendor; you might experience a visceral red flag when exposed to it. Now, stop reading and go to the internet and gaze on the pictures of the people of Iran. This test will then become clear to you.

The sneak-in or flee-out test!

Watching a countries borders can be most informative. Do you remember the Berlin Wall and the almost nightly escapades of desperate men and women who tried, even in the face of death, to escape? Perhaps you are too young. How about America's southern border then? There are some walls there too! Which way are the 'escapees' running?

In Iran, the exodus out of that country has been on-going for a long time. (It that a true statement? Do your own research and then get back to me)!

The test of past deeds!

This one is simple. It's really about recent history. Make a simple ledge and make down the number of countries America and Iran have helped with charitable supplies over the past decade or so. Whoa! Iran seems to be lacking a little in that department. Turns out the only time they've made an effort to 'help' it been aid to another country to help suppress or subjugate its people. Look at Iran's recent aid to Syria's Assad for example... And, yes, I know America has 'aided the enemy of your enemy' in the past. We are not a shining example in that regard. But, it can be rightfully said, that in all those cases it was done to help maintain the stability of a region or it was done in a purely humanitarian way to help feed starving people. That said, yes there have been unintended consequences even if our collective 'heart' was in the right place.

The test of sanctions!

This is one of my favorite tests! Mainly because it so mimics the human body when an infection occurs. In the case of an infection, a person's body (world) does two things. It attempts to wall off (or sanction) the offending crud and, it expends cells (soldiers) that die off in fighting the infected tissue (pus). Both these have been going on with Iran for a very long time. Unfortunately, efforts by the organizations like the UN have proven ineffective. So, what does a good old country doctor do at that juncture? He performs a procedure known as 'lancing'. It's ugly, but it gets the job done.

I contend that the Iranian leadership has been a boil on the butt of humanity for far too long. Let's us move, as a just and caring world, and cleanse this problem ASAP! Maybe, then perhaps we can all move forward and work together to help the rest of humankind reach its fullest potential.

Disclaimer: The article here was of the design of the author and expresses his opinion which may or may not reflect those of his fellow man.

On the topic of waste, insanity and the US!

“Sometimes, I make the mistake of thinking and then my head hurts. Other times, I look around me and see stuff that just doesn’t make sense and that gets me nauseous. So, in a purely defensive posture, I’ve taken to not seeing or thinking!” DanO

However, for just the time that it takes to write this post, I’ll do both the above and talk a little bit about the word ‘insanity’. Now, the dictionary defines the word insanity as a ‘derangement of the mind.’ I also like the person who wrote that true insanity is ‘doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result!’ For me personally, this word aptly describes a society that is hell bent on ignoring reality while living in a fool’s paradise for as long as they possibly can - I give you the United States of America. Let me expand on that by taking a look at just one empty plastic container.

Here it is! It’s an empty plastic jar (now cleaned up) that once held peanuts. I paid something like three and half dollars for it, and for the record, I really did enjoy the contents. But now, here’s this annoyingly empty plastic container that is about as welcome in my home as the allergies I suffer with every spring! And you know what? Just the thought of tossing it out drives me INSANE! And that feeling of insanity lies at more than one level too! For one thing, I consider myself to be a frugal person. Not cheap mind you, but frugal. Frugal in the same way our forefathers had to be in order to survive living here in early America. In the same manner, we now see third world families forced to scrounge for their existence. (How long do you think a discarded container like this would last in a place like Bangladesh before it was snatched up and used for something else)? Yet, here in America countless billions of such containers are thoughtlessly discarded to the trash every year. And for most plastics, this is the start of a long journey that will see them end up in landfills where it may take half a millennium for them to breakdown. Arggh! Is that sane? I don’t think so.

[Is there no one left in this world that cannot maybe think outside the box and come up with a better way? Perhaps. Perhaps not.]

So, in the pursuit of both maintaining my ‘sanity’ and in living a ‘frugal lifestyle’, I’ve taken it upon myself to reuse containers as much as possible before discarding them. Take this used Pepsi bottle, for instance. I plan to refill it numerous times with a drink mix before tossing it into a recycle bin. And yes, that old peanut jar will see extended service as a spice container to hold herbs like basil that I hope to harvest later in the season. Or, since it’s also bug proof, I may use it to store something like sugar in the pantry. The point being that I have made a solemn pledge to myself to use everything at least twice before then making an honest attempt to see that it is recycled. Call me crazy. Call me insane. Even call me a Democrat or tree lover, if you want to. But, don’t you ever call me wasteful.

Make money without doing anything! Hey sign me up!

or maybe not! The headline screams!

“Single Mom Makes $7487/Mo Without Selling Anything”

Wow, I think. I’m into that! I’d even be even more into making money without doing anything at all. (Oh wait a second! That’s what the government is for)! But what about this deal? Is it real or just another in a host of impuissant internet come-ons?

After clicking on the link, I was directed to another link directing you to ‘Online Profit Masters’ – a site that immediately asks for your name, telephone and email address. All before they offer up even an iota of information. (That's two red flags in a row)! Hmm. Think I’ll perform due diligence and check these people out first.

After a brief search on the internet, I came up with this article by Reviewopedia; a webpage that (supposedly) reviews at-home money making opportunities. (Can you tell my level of trust is close to zero these days)?

This review seems to lean towards marking this particular offer as a ‘linking posting scam’ setup. Interestingly, however, some of the comments at the end also indicate you can actually make some money working at this venture. My thought is –who cares. You’ll work your butt off for a few bucks when you would be better off writing resumes and seeking work with a bonifide real world company. And yes, it is my understanding that many corporations are now making room for disabled individuals to work at home.You might also check out the GoodWill Organization.

The bottom line is ‘proceed at your own risk’! Just remember the old saying that ‘if it seems to good to be true….’ Oh, and one other point. Apparently this ad is also inserted as a Trogan Horse in emails that is then sent to your friends. Not cool!

Disclaimer: All information posted in this blog are of the sole opinion of the author as as such may not be completely accurate. The reader is encouraged to do their own research on any topic presented here before coming to a judgement.

Missouri could experience a bumper crop of mosquitoes this year!

If 2012 is anything like last year was, be prepared for an invasion of hordes of real life blood suckers. Yes, in a state that supports over fifty species of mosquito, you can rest assured they will be around in huge numbers. And, global warming could help create an even larger crop just in time for those cookout you've been planning for all winter long.

Factoid: What’s the most dangerous creature on earth? Without question the answer is: the mosquito. Mosquitoes and the diseases they spread have been responsible for killing more people than all the wars in history. Even today, mosquitoes transmitting malaria kill 2 million to 3 million people and infect another 200 million or more every year. Tens of millions more are killed and debilitated by a host of other mosquito-borne diseases, including filariasis, yellow fever, dengue and encephalitis.

Now, add to this mix of dangerous bugs, a new species, the Asian Tiger mosquito! An aggressive and mean-spirited insect that feeds during both the day as well as the night. Also, being as it is a 'container breeder' it doesn't need large bodies of water to raise up young, preferring anything that can hold small amounts of water like bird feeders and even discarded potato chip bags!

Tiger mosquitoes were introduced by accident to America sometime in the mid eighties. But, since that accident, they have proven to be extremely prolific and have spread throughout the southern states and as far north as Pennsylvania.

So, this spring and summer, it may pay to stock up on repellants or even just plan to stay inside!

Beware the coming explosion of tics!

With all the warm weather over the course of the 2011-12 winter be prepared for some consequences! While the winter temperatures have averaged over six degrees above normal with more warm weather in the forecast, all the little critter that we count on getting whacked are already coming out on some of the warmer days. Record deer populations, who have also been added by the heat, will also help to exacerbate the tic problems we can expect as we head in the early spring months.

I plan to get out on during the next warm day and see if I can discover some tics in my area. If I do find any, I post that information here.