Category: Personal Reflections

Lessons learned about life; pearls of wisdom I’ve gleaned through pain, failure and honest reflection

From Grist Magazine

Carl Setzer

The brilliantly irreverent folks at Grist say it better than I could. Enjoy!

 

http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2007/06/06/5/#comments

 

That’s It, We’re Not Washing Our Undies Anymore
Groups ask U.S. EPA to ban chemical in detergent that feminizes fish

Your detergent gets your clothes clean, sure — but does it feminize your trout? Five green groups and a labor union are petitioning the U.S. EPA to ban a family of chemicals used in cleaning products that have been linked to gender changes in fish. Each year, the U.S. produces about 400 million pounds of nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates, much of which ends up in waterways by way of sewers. In lab tests, the endocrine disruptors have been shown to cause male fish to develop female characteristics; finned fatales have also been found in the wild. While the effects on humans aren’t known, the groups — led by the Sierra Club — say the environmental risks are "unreasonable." Some major companies, including Unilever and Procter & Gamble, have stopped using the chemicals, and Wal-Mart has asked its suppliers to phase them out as well. The EPA, which is instituting its own voluntary "Safer Detergents" program, has 90 days to respond to the petition. We’ll give you one good guess on the outcome.

[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Marla Cone, 06 Jun 2007

straight to the source: The Kansas City Star, Associated Press, David Dishneau, 05 Jun 2007

 

Palm Announces New Device Today

Carl Setzer

It’ll be interesting to see where this leads. Can’t help but think that this is related to the impending iPhone release.

 

 

http://investor.palm.com/releaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=246144

 

News Media, Industry and Financial Analysts Invited to Live Video Webcast

SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 29, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Jeff Hawkins, founder of Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM), will host a live video webcast on Wed., May 30, to describe a new category of mobile device. The webcast will follow the announcement of this new product at the D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, Calif.

Credentialed media plus industry and financial analysts are invited to join the streamed webcast at 11:30 a.m. Pacific. Hawkins will discuss Palm’s vision for this new category and demonstrate the new product’s capabilities, followed by a Q&A session.

 

UFO buffs to offer ‘proof’ of aliens

Carl Setzer

I guess we’ll need to wait until September to see for sure.

 

 

UFO buffs to offer ‘proof’ of aliens

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Proof that a 12-foot creature with fiery red eyes spooked Braxton County schoolchildren in 1952. Proof that aliens crashed a spaceship near Roswell, N.M., in 1947. Proof that the U.S. military engaged alien spaceships in battle over the Atlantic Ocean more than 50 years ago.

"You’re going to see some hard evidence" at the Flatwoods Monster 55th Anniversary and Flying Saucer Extravaganza on Sept. 7-8 in Charleston, said promoter Larry Bailey. "That’s a promise. That’s not just promotional talk."

The UFO conference coincides with the 60th anniversary of an unexplained sighting of a crashed aircraft in New Mexico that is still a source of controversy and speculation of a government coverup. It’s also the 55th anniversary of sightings of a noxious-odor-emitting monster in Flatwoods in Braxton County.

Freddie May, one of the boys who saw the monster after a fireball fell from the sky in September 1952, is scheduled to attend. He will refute those who dismiss the monster as a hoax and others who say it was a gaseous ball that formed during a meteor shower.

Also on the lineup is author-illustrator Frank Feschino, who penned "The Braxton County Monster: The Cover-Up of The Flatwoods Monster." His follow-up book, "Shoot Them Down," details aerial combat he says was waged in 1952 between U.S. aircraft and alien ships over the ocean.

Feschino spent 14 years researching the sighting and plans to present a 53-minute documentary on his findings at the conference.

Staton Friedman, a former nuclear physicist who helped investigate the Roswell crash and has published more than 70 papers on UFOs, is also scheduled to attend.

 

Sorrow

Carl Setzer

My life has been one long intersection with sorrow. Sadly, this is not so much because sorrow has sought me out as that I have desperately clung to it. My journey with misery is mostly my own doing; my own foolish reliance on tearing apart my past. I do not understand my need for this, my need to jump into, to review and trash each choice. This need to review everything and "explore" how things would be "better" if I had chosen "better" really serves me poorly. This has no value, it adds nothing of quality to my life, yet I do this again and again. More amazing, I've done this for years. A function of my anxiety, of my propensity towards depression perhaps? I don't know. I do know that I don't like it. I don't like the way it raises my blood-pressure, the way that it tortures my mind, nor the way that it chokes the goodness from my life.

Statistical Thoughts

Carl Setzer
I was in a webinar recently which sited some statistics, and gave details into the sampling methods. What struck me most was their reliance on telephone polls. Not unusual at all, but my brain being what it is, I had to wonder if telephone polls are truly valid anymore. How many people, in today’s age, answer a call from “Out of Area” (a significant geometric problem) or “Name Withheld”? Are we getting a valid sample if the only people they talk to are those without caller-id? Or am I just silly to not want to bother with these types of phone calls? Maybe answering polls ought to be a civic duty, like jury duty.

102 ways to make your blog not suck

Carl Setzer
102 Ways to make your blog not suck by Solomon Rothman at Social Media Systems
 
I don’t know if I agree with all of these, but they’re good tips. Here are my favorites
 
10) Use spell check
22) Don’t overload the site with ads
94) Check facts; they’re online and easy to find.
95) Don’t blog pissed off; remember your words are permanent, so least attempt to calm down or be rational
 
Lastly (though not included on Solomon’s list) remember why you’re interested in blogging. And don’t get too caught up in the advice the pundits throw out.

Life in the church

Carl Setzer

One of my blogging colleagues wrote recently about issues she’s having with her (Episcopal) parish priest. Now, I spent many years working for a church and have a somewhat unique, perhaps skewed, perspective. Anyway, issues within a congregation are always particularly painful. Consider one key point, if you will. People feel an intense attachment to their congregations, to the buildings. This is, at its core, not only good but essential. However, at times it can cause anguish. Messing with components of worship really becomes messing with the core of people’s identity, with their relationship with the divine. If not dealt with well, you are telling those you disagree with that their relationship with God is somehow wrong. Not very priestly, or pastoral in any sense. It’s quite critical for clergy (in particular, but not excluded to them) to keep this in mind lest they harm their flock. The “my way or the highway” mentality may work for leading a Republican congress, but not a parish. It’s ugly, un-pastoral, and damn un-Christian.

On Wookies and Polite Conversation

Carl Setzer

Don’t try to stiff the wookie!                    

 

 

 

Chewbacca loses patience in Hollywood

 

 

Bosses

Carl Setzer

I once worked for a sausage factory and divided my time between shipping and the brat line. The chap I worked with was named Ever. That time is one of the toughest, for I worked for the Wurst boss, Ever.