18 December 2007
18 December 2007
ANOTHER READER CHIMES IN…
0800 by Jeff Hess
As most of you have figured out by now, my dad isn’t the only one who sends me fun stuff via email. Another regular reader has decided make some of us laugh this morning. Don’t worry, there still plenty of stuff to come From My Dad, but occasionally I’ll toss a few from the reast of you into the hopper as well.
From the They Wish They’d Kept Their Mouths Closed Department.
Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever.
Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can’t help but cry. I mean I’d love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff.
Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.
I’ve never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body.
Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.
That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I’m just the one to do it.
Half this game is ninety percent mental.
I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix.
We’ve got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?
The word “genius” isn’t applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.
We don’t necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people.
Traditionally, most of Australia’s imports come from overseas.
Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.
If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there’ll be a record.
18 December 2007
GOOD AFTERNOON MYANMAR…
0430 by Jeff Hess
Yesterday I wrote about the possible benefits of traveling to Myanmar as a tourist. This morning I read a blog post from Myanmar reminding readers that tourism directly supports the Myanmar people as well as fights poverty, supports education and raises social status. But it might not be all that easy.
I contacted Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo at 0915 (YGN 0645) and received following answer. Very Importantï¼
New documents were added for Japanese people. Working certificate at the company. Itinerary in Myanmar.
It takes about 3 weeks in order to be issued the Myanmar visa. Because the embassy will check up each documents in detail.
I suppose that taking visa for Japanese must be very severe, This action were decided by Myanmar Government, especially for Japanese people.
Therefore it takes too much time to prepare to visit Myanmar. It seems to be much easer to take visa in Bangkok. In Japan, too difficult. Some case will be refused to issue visa.
In Asia, now Myanmar is the most difficult country to visit from Japan. Normally it takes 2-3 days to get visa. It can not be helped after the accident in Yangon.
I wonder if the Visa change applies to Japanese gem and jade traders?
18 December 2007
FROM MY CHAPBOOK…
0400 by Jeff Hess
My name is Jeff Hess and I’m a biblioholic. I own hundreds of books. Not valuable books, mostly Science Fiction paperbacks and text books, tomes rescued by the bag from library book sales. A few years ago, in the interest of not burying myself, I began reading more books from the library and taking notes. My electronic chapbook was born.
This is a passage I copied from Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations From Sufi Wisdom by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut.
“… but the majority of the greatest Sufis have been men and women who lived in the world and who used its frictions, terrors and tensions as ways of deepening their practice of presence…” p. XVI
18 December 2007
18 December 2007
TIME POWER: TODAY…
0001 by Jeff HessToday, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: You cannot plan an effective list of goals for today without a clear picture of intermediate goals. You should not start on meaningful intermediate goals until you have your long-range goals written, refined and prioritized, and your long-range goals should not be prepared until your unifying principles are similarly written, refined and prioritized. We call this continuity in goal planning and it is basic to the Time Power System.
17 December 2007
GOOD MORNING MYANMAR…
2030 by Jeff HessI first made the connection between Gandhi and the marching monks of Myanmar at the end of September. Since then there have been indications that my idea was far from novel. This morning a blogger at the Shan Herald Agency For News lays out the case and asks: Is Gandhi relevant to today”s Burma?
It is in his conclusion that the blogger makes his strongest case.
After all, Gandhi was not fighting against lawless powers. Both South Africa”s apartheid regimes and the British have been known as apostles to Rule of Law. Even one British official had fretted, “We too damned liberal.”
Even Life”s Margaret Bourke-White asked him, “Do you really believe you could use non violence against someone like Hitler?”
Gandhi”s answer to such question was: When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and, for a time, they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it. Always.
I think I should think of it too. So should all of us who want freedom, peace and harmony in Burma. Seriously.
How many blows would you take?
17 December 2007
MUCKING OUT THE BLOGPILE…
1400 by Jeff Hess
I’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is Falling for StandUpGirl.com.
17 December 2007
17 December 2007
FROM THE SANDBOX…
1200 by Jeff Hess
Alex Horton: On August 4, 2004, I turned my back on my family. They dropped me off at a hotel in Dallas so I could begin my Army career. As I walked toward the door, my dad said to me, “You’re a man now, Alex.” They didn’t see that as I checked in, I had tears in my eyes. I’d had a few jobs before then, but it would be the first time leaving home. Needless to…
17 December 2007
17 December 2007
MY COMMENTS…
0837 by Jeff Hess
Part of being a good citizen of the blogosphere is visiting, reading and, most importantly, taking the time to leave a comment on other’s blogs. It’s all about the conversation. In the interest of setting an example I’ve decided to link to those blog posts that have compelled me to leave a comment.
17 December 2007
MONA’S MONDAY…
0800 by Jeff HessMy dad isn’t the only one who sends me fun stuff via email. A good friend and educational mentor also routinely passes along her share of chuckles — intermixed with not a few requests for veracity on things viral and outrageous. Don’t worry, there still plenty of stuff to come From My Dad but occasionally I’ll toss a few of Mona’s finds in as well.
Recently, while going through an airport during one of his many trips, President Bush encountered a man with long gray hair and beard, wearing a white robe and sandals, holding a staff. President Bush went up to the man and said, “Has anyone told you that you look like Moses?”
The man didn’t answer. He just kept staring straight ahead. The president said, “Moses!” in a loud voice. The man just stared ahead, never acknowledging the president.
The president pulled a Secret Service agent aside and, pointing to the robed man, asked him, “Am I crazy or does that man not look like Moses to you? The Secret Service agent looked at the man and agreed. “Well,” said the president, “Every time I say his name, he ignores me and stares straight ahead, refusing to speak. Watch!”
Again the president yelled, “Moses!” and again the man ignored him.
The Secret Service agent went up to the man in the white robe and whispered, “You look just like Moses. Are you Moses?”
The man leaned over and whispered back, “Shhhh! Yes, I am Moses. But, the last time I talked to a bush, I spent 40 years wandering in the desert and ended up leading my people to the only spot in the entire Middle East with no oil.”
17 December 2007
GOOD AFTERNOON MYANMAR…
0430 by Jeff HessA gem auction scheduled for 15-19 January in Yangon, Myanmar may be a first, very public, test of political will and the strength of sanctions imposed by the North American and European countries banning the importation of rubies and jade from the oppressed nation. A similar auction put $150 million in the military dictators’ pockets.
From the Associated Press:
America’s first lady Laura Bush, an advocate for human rights and democracy in Myanmar, said the junta made half the revenue it had expected from that sale because of the pressure put on buyers not to do business there.
Will greed trump freedom and human rights again in January?
A notice published in the Kyemon daily Friday invited traders to a sale of gemstones, jade and jewelry organized by the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd., a holding company 100% owned by active and retired military personnel.
[Snip…]
Myanmar is one of the biggest jade- and gem-producing countries in the world, as well as the source of up to 90% of its rubies.
Gem auctions are a major revenue earner for the ruling junta, which faces economic and political sanctions from the West because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation Tuesday (11 Dec) to tighten already tough sanctions by stopping virtually all imports of rubies and high-quality jade from Myanmar, closing a loophole that previously allowed the import of Myanmar gems refined in third countries.
If you must buy jewelry, do you think it would be better to only buy antique or heirloom pieces?
17 December 2007
FROM MY CHAPBOOK…
0400 by Jeff HessMy name is Jeff Hess and I’m a biblioholic. I own hundreds of books. Not valuable books, mostly Science Fiction paperbacks and text books, tomes rescued by the bag from library book sales. A few years ago, in the interest of not burying myself, I began reading more books from the library and taking notes. My electronic chapbook was born.
This is a passage I copied from Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations From Sufi Wisdom by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut.
“… the word for mystic path in Sufism – tariqah – means the path in the desert that the Bedouin takes to travel from oasis to oasis.” p. XIV
17 December 2007
17 December 2007
TIME POWER: TODAY…
0001 by Jeff HessToday, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: When you identify your highest priorities of life, what you value most, you anticipate those events. When you bring them under control, you experience a profound self-esteem you cannot get in any other way. It is the greatest surge of of self esteem that anyone can ever have.
16 December 2007
GOOD MORNING MYANMAR…
2030 by Jeff HessVacationing in Myanmar right now seems counter-intuitive, but Adam Karlin makes a good economic case for making the trip — supporting the people of Myanmar who make a part or all of their living off of foreign travelers, but I can add a political one as well: it’s really hard to pull off a brutal repression if the streets are packed with tourists.
From The Salt Lake City Tribune:
It’s time to go to Myanmar, also known as Burma. This might sound funny given the October crackdown on pro-democracy supporters, but based on talks with family and journalists in Southeast Asia, I believe most Burmese are eager to see tourists in their country again. Tourists bring money to the struggling economy and, more important, remind the Burmese their government isn’t the sole determinant of reality in the world.
The Burmese have always wanted to share their country, because they don’t like playing second fiddle to the rest of Southeast Asia. I know, because I’m half Burmese. I know the country where my roots run deep is forgotten by many travelers, but locally it is considered a cultural fountainhead, and was once the baddest boy on the block.
Karlin could have done without the bad boy image, but he’s honest about his country’s history.
See, the old Burmese kingdoms once had their neighbors jumping whenever they sighed. It once was a Burmese pastime to invade Thailand and turn its ancient cities – Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Ayutthaya, etc. – into the ruins tourists love to visit today.
And the cheap-as-dirt U.S. dollar still goes far in Myanmar.
Burmese cuisine is not as hot as Indian or Thai; it groans with garlic, onion, turmeric and enough oil to support an Arab economy. In Bagan, the Mann Sabai café (west of the main market; 011-95-1-06-160-248) serves a fantastic spread of Burmese dishes for the just silly price of roughly $3-$4 per head.
In Yangon, get your grub on with some of the best (and cheapest) curry in town at the rickety Aung Thuka, off Dhammazedi Road, across from the Savoy Hotel (011-95-1-526-289; www.savoy-myanmar.com; rooms from $100).
Also in Yangon, the Winner Inn (011-95-1-535-205; www.winnerinnmyanmar.com; rooms from $25) is cool, comfortable and helpful at booking tours to see the rest of the country. Skip their Western breakfast and try the Burmese day-start: mohinga, a mild-hot fish noodle soup that is practically the national dish.
Do you think America tourists would help or hinder Myanmar’s Democracy movement?
16 December 2007
16 December 2007
MUCKING OUT THE BLOGPILE…
1400 by Jeff HessI’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is THE GENERATOR KID.
