Your Success Isn't What You Think It Is Daily Success Motivation and Self-Improvement Your Success isn't what you think it is. Your success is what you think you are and your motivation for pursuing success is intimately tied to your thoughts about yourself and your place in the world. Defining Success For Yourself Your were created for achievement and success. While our motivations for pursuing success can stem from greed to fear of lack to a sense of right and entitlement, our success is intimately tied to what we think about ourselves. You should first understand that success isn't defined...

I think about September 11, 2001, daily. I was on the east side of 5th Avenue near the Empire State Building when I heard screams. I looked up. It was 10:28:22 AM, and the North Tower collapsed right before me. After a long journey by foot, ferry, bus, and hitchhiking, I made it home late […]

The post Medical Cannabis Has Helped So Much With My 9/11 PTSD appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

In February Microsoft published an article to parents on how to interpret "leetspeak" so that parents could understand what their kids were saying. The article is off the wall funny. Microsoft seems so serious in its presentation of the facts. Below are some excerpts from the article. The full article can be found here.

1. While it has many nicknames, information-age slang is commonly referred to as leetspeek, or leet for short. Leet (a vernacular form of "elite") is a specific type of computer slang where a user replaces regular letters with other keyboard characters to form words phonetically—creating the digital equivalent of Pig Latin with a twist of hieroglyphics.

2. Rules of grammar are rarely obeyed. Some leetspeekers will capitalize every letter except for vowels (LiKe THiS) and otherwise reject conventional English style and grammar, or drop vowels from words (such as converting very to "vry").

3. Non-alphanumeric characters may be combined to form letters. For example, using slashes to create "//" can substitute for the letter M, and two pipes combined with a hyphen to form "|-|" is often used in place of the letter H. Thus, the word ham could be written as "|-|4//."

4. The suffix "0rz" is often appended to words for emphasis or to make them plural. For example, "h4xx0rz," "sk1llz0rz," and "pwnz0rz," are plural or emphasized versions (or both) of hacks, skills, and owns.

•	"kewl": A common derivation of "cool."
•	"m4d sk1llz" or "mad skills": Refers to one's own talent. "m4d" itself is often used for emphasis.
•	"n00b," "noob," "newbie," or "newb": Combinations synonymous with new user. Some leetspeekers view "n00b" as an insult and "newbie" as an affectionate term for new users.
•	"w00t" or the smiley character o/: An acronym that usually means "We Own the Other Team," used to celebrate victory in a video game.
•	"roxx0rs" Used in place of "rocks," typically to describe something impressive.
•	"d00d": Replaces the greeting or addressing someone as a "dude."
•	"joo" and "u": Used instead of "you." This is also commonly written as "j00" or "_|00."
•	"ph": often replaces "f," as in "phear" for "fear" (as in "ph34r my l33t skillz") and vice versa, such as spelling "phonetic" as "f0||371(." Well, thank you Microsoft on that fine lesson in leetspeak. *cough* +MacMan

Justice DY Chandrachud retired as India’s chief justice on Sunday. Many are debating his legacy.

Stefanik has been critical of the UN for what she argues is a lack of sufficient support for Israel's war against Hamas.

Azerbaijan's president said countries should not be blamed for having fossil fuel reserves.

Warren Gatland did not think rebuilding Wales during his second stint in charge would be so painful with the national side having lost 10 consecutive Tests.

There are calls for a review of ban exemptions as data shows hundreds can drive with penalty points.

Authorities in Argentina have released some details about the events surrounding the singer's death.

Milena Sanchez quit The Receipts last year, one of the UK's biggest podcasts, after a co-host rift.

See the list of nominees for the 67th Grammy Awards, which will take place in February 2025.

I have felt the shadow of Timmy since childhood - but never imagined the name would be hurled at me by strangers in my 30s.

As the Oscars race starts to take shape, here's the ABC (Anora, Blitz, Conclave) of films to watch.

Some critics agree that while the film is an enjoyable watch, it doesn't quite live up to the original.

The 2024's series of I'm a Celebrity include McFly's Danny Jones and social media influencer GK Barry.

After several years of painstaking research, the masterpiece's most extensive restoration begins.

Auerbach died peacefully at his home in London on Monday morning, his representatives confirmed.

My blog is worth $5,080.86.How much is your blog worth?...

PHOENIX (AP) -- It was Donald Trump's mispronunciation that first caught attention. "Also, we have many Asur-Asians in our room," Trump said at a weekend rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

Archbishop Bashar Warda, Archbishop of Erbil in Iraq. ( Mazur/catholicchurch.org.uk)Ten years ago he was on the frontline over helping over 13,000 families who fled the terrorists of ISIS and found refuge in Erbil -- since then he has overseen the reconstruction of towns and villages, but has also watched tens of thousands of his faithful leave the

Paul Mascia's first book, "Nazar's Journey," tells the story of people in 2014 fleeing ISIS on the highway between Mosul and Erbil. Proceeds benefit Brooklyn-based Aid to the Church in Need-USA.

Pope Francis meets Mar Awa III, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, on Nov. 9, 2024. ( Vatican Media)Elections, such as the recent contest between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in the United States, often promote a strongly absolutist psychology about the consequences of selecting one leader over another: In one direction, to h

Cross-posted from Gus Van Horn

No Bulwark against Tyranny, Part I

No sooner do I complain about Al Gore seeing fertile ground for global warming hysteria among evangelical Christians than I learn (via Glenn Reynolds) that the World Council of Churches is in favor of having the United Nations regulate new technology! Blogger Christine cites a report on nanotechnology by the WCC:

Firstly, society must engage in a wide debate about nanotechnology and its multiple economic, health and environmental implications. Secondly, some civil society organizations have called for a moratorium on nanotech research and new commercial products until such time as laboratory protocols and regulatory regimes are in place to protect workers and consumers, and until these materials are shown to be safe. Given the regulatory vacuum and inertia by leading nano nations to act, the call for a moratorium is justified and deserves public debate... [bold added]

Christine correctly notes that this call for "democratic control" at the world level by Christians is very naive, but she is herself very unclear over whether any government control of new technology would be proper and, if so, why it would be or what it would properly entail.

When the defenders of freedom offer only murky objections to the most outrageous proposals, they fail to address the underlying incorrect argument and end up coming down for what amounts to the very same thing, only incrementally. To wit, this blogger ends with the following:

This is not to say that we might not need some kind of international organization someday to deal with, say, nanoweapons. I expect we will. But the ETC proposal is not the way to go. The WCC might want to start looking at this whole topic in a broader way, rather than relying on one external organization so heavily.

No. It isn't that the WCC is looking at only one organization. It is that they seek to trample the freedom of scientists to innovate rather than simply address legal questions -- within the framework of protecting individual rights -- brought up by the new technology. You don't want or need a world authority to do that at all. And as for a world body dealing with nanoweapons, if one of those is desirable at all, a better model than the UN is obviously needed.

No Bulwark against Tyranny, Part II

And if defenders of science from government control are rendered ineffective without proper principles, so are those who would keep the government from robbing the public in the name of promoting science.

Although Martin Fridson makes a number of good points in his TCS Daily article against our government funding a "Manhattan Project" in the name of breaking our "addiction to oil", he never really questions the propriety of the government interfering with the allocation of resources (and time) towards research that our private sector would be better off doing itself. Here is his conclusion:

If something beyond the ordinary profit motive is required to bring forth the means for greater energy independence, the government should follow two principles:

• Encourage scientific exploration on multiple fronts, rather than put a thumb on the scale for any single technology.
• Spend the taxpayers' money on outputs, rather than inputs.

On what basis is one to determine that "something beyond the ordinary profit motive" (i.e., government force) is needed for "greater energy independence"? And more importantly, why should this "something" be used at all to take money away from American citizens to do what Fridson suddenly seems not-so-confident that private enterprise can do -- rather than being used to part hostile regimes from oil wealth and secure our supplies of cheap energy?

UN "Oversight" of Art

Cox and Forkum once again hit the nail on the head with this cartoon on some attempted UN oversight of art done at the behest of religious authorities.


And be sure to read Allen Forkum's partial fisking of the Kofi Annan's remarks at the UN's asinine "Unlearning Intolerance" seminar.

Oh yeah. Their upcoming book is nearly out the door!

A Threat against Reliant Stadium?

This article in the Houston Chronicle is the first I've heard of the home stadium of the abysmal Houston Texans specifically appearing in the crosshairs of terrorists. With the Texans Foundering at 1-4, perhaps their management could claim to be doing its best to keep fans safely at home! They need to put a positive spin on something this season.

Wrong Actress, (and now,) Wrong Writer

On October 18, Michelle Malkin said, "I really can't believe this soft-headed starlet is going to play Dagny Taggart. Blecch."

And on that very day, Mike informed us that the people behind the (latest overhyped) effort to make Atlas Shrugged into a movie have switched writers. "[T]hey've changed the writer after ... pimping [James V.] Hart for the last year."

The new writer has Pearl Harbor among his "credits".

My eyepatch joke looks more and more like a prediction every day.

300 Million!

"Or 957 trillion, if you work for Lancet ...", as Tim Blair put it in this very nice photo-blog in commemoration of America's latest milestone.

Since so few US media outlets were inclined to celebrate this non-grim milestone, the job was outsourced to a little Australian blog. Following is a small sample of Americans, from which you may reasonably extrapolate a figure of 300 million.

Thank you, Mr. Blair! (HT: Isaac Schrodinger)

William "Effin'" Buckley Rides (in Plumber Pants) Again!

Diana Hsieh catches a longstanding enemy of Ayn Rand being openly dishonest again. Here's the quote:

It is widely noted that for all that [North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Il] thinks of himself as a leader with a divine afflatus to bring to his people and the world the fruits of Juche (the North Korean variant of Leninism, with a little Ayn Rand mixed in), he is himself a man of total self-indulgence, devoted to porn, Scotch, and Daffy Duck cartoons.

Often, at times like this, I get a kick out of an old fisking I wrote, of a hack job by one of Buckley's -- erm -- underlings, Andrew Stuttaford, to "commemorate" the 100th anniversay of Ayn Rand's birth. His whole brilliant conclusion was basically that Ayn Rand was "strange".

"Of course he does," is all Stuttaford can think to say about the fact that Rand got a lift from Cecil B. DeMille. This isn't a damned cliche! It really happened, and I think it's pretty neat that it did. Stuttaford is then confronted by the fact, obviously unpleasant to him, that a small group of people regularly met with Ayn Rand after she became famous, to discuss philosophy.

Frat boy makes the following scintillating observations: (1) Rand was (twitter) "the sage of selfishness." (2) Those people sure were creepy. Call me crazy, but here's what I find creepy: people who meet regularly "at the feet" of some cleric to take whatever he says on faith, and then practice ritual cannibalism. Oh! But I'm wrong because more people do the latter. [with minor editing]

Enjoy!

A Bleg

Daniel Rigby is curious about Typepad. Drop by and give him the straight dope if you are so inclined.

NOFORN

CONFIDENTIAL-ly, Bubblehead may think he has cornered the market on increased gummint blog traffic through his prostitution of such terms as "top secret" and "for official use only", but he forgot a few key words. I leave further such similar abuse to my more, um, enterprising compadres, but in the meantime, that smacking sound is me at the public trough!

-- CAV

Cross-posted from Gus Van Horn

It is two days after an election which saw the Republicans lose their "permanent majority" rather decisively. Why did this happen? I have argued that the party earned its defeat by attempting to implement a religious agenda domestically while the public was "preoccupied" with the threat of Islamofascist terrorism.

At the same time, I never became comfortable enough with the idea, advocated by most prominent Objectivists, of voting for the Democrats to actually do so. Either they were wrong on this point or I have more thinking to do on the subject. Be that as it may, two days is short enough that it is still worth looking at some of the pre-election debate and long enough that some of the fallout from Election Day is becoming apparent.

I missed this Allen Forkum blog on the election until this morning.

Will Bush adopt even a few of these measure? Perhaps, but the prospects are worse than dim. Certainly the leftist-influenced Democrats will not. I'm hoping that it's still possible to influence Republicans and other Americans to begin fighting to win. However, voting for Democrats in order to hasten a change for better political alternatives could be the better strategy. I'm not yet convinced we've reached that point.

This is pretty close to where I was in my explicit thinking Tuesday. My gut feel was indifference to the results. My first stab at making sense of this conflict is that we were fast approaching the point at which the Republicans needed to be dislodged if we weren't there already. This is something I will be sorting out perhaps for some time.


A huge misgiving I have about the left is the increasing willingness it has shown in the past decade to forcibly restrict freedom of speech. For example, Michelle Malkin reports that David Horowitz was attacked just yesterday at Ball State, on his way to a speaking engagement.


Another misgiving I had about voting for Democrats was that their victory would cause the Republicans to "get the wrong message" and end up becoming more like the Democrats rather than understanding that it was their failure to live up to their own promises that got them into trouble. You doubtless already have heard that Bush has already gotten rid of Donald Rumsfeld in favor of Robert Gates, who believes we can negotiate with Iran. On top of that, Bush seems to have already conceded that there should be a minimum wage hike.

At first glance, it might seem that my fears are being realized. In fact, though, we are just seeing a man who has no fundamental objections to these things moving faster to his actual positions -- or at least being pushed to where he would go anyway. After all, we were already negotiating with Iran before the elections. Bush's accelerated buckling at the knees will hasten substantive debate or consequences. In that respect, this is a good thing. (I abstained in Bush vs Gore because I saw environmentalism as the major issue in that election. I couldn't vote for Gore, but I didn't see Bush stopping the environmentalists, either.)

And that's (mostly) all I'm going to discuss fallout-wise. I know. The Dhimmocrats are gleefully drawing up lists of Bush Administration officials to impeach or try for war crimes, and coming up with all sorts of idiotic legislation. but we knew they'd do that all along. (Well, okay, I didn't think they'd be screaming Gore/Kucinich in '08 so soon, but then I don't spend "enough" time at DailyKos!)

What will be interesting to see is how far gone the Republican Party really is. How many more of them need spine transplants, are essentially Dhimmocrats already, or are hell-bent on theocracy? The only substantive political debate going on in America is on the right. Do the better parts of the right really have a home? If so, will they evict their deadbeat roommates? This is what we'll learn.


Myrhaf delivers the quote of the day after he observes Arlen Specter winning reelection only to all but switch parties: "With politicians like Specter, the question is not, 'Is America on a highway to hell?' The question is, 'How have we survived this long?'"


Myrhaf also comments on Rush "Water Boy" Limbaugh's new-found sense of "liberation":

Rush Limbaugh tells us:

I feel liberated, and I'm going to tell you as plainly as I can why. I no longer am going to have to carry the water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried.

You know what, Rush? It would have been better for America (and for your self-esteem) if you had not carried the Republicans' water when they did not deserve it. But instead of doing what was best for America, you did what was best for Republican Party power. There is a difference.

My initial reaction to hearing about this was about the same.

As a scientist, I have a saying that bubbles up to mind when I hear someone defending a view I think is rubbish: "Real scientists don't have pet theories." In the realm of politics, it would go something like this: "Real patriots don't 'carry water'."


Trey Givens reacts to the predictably mealy-mouthed assessments of our election results we're getting from abroad.

First of all, when anyone tells me what a virtue humility is, I have a nearly irrestistable urge to punch them in the face. My immediate thought is, "How dare you talk to me about humility?" Not because I'm so humble, I'm not, but because I don't see any reason to be more humble than I am.

Second of all, Americans have no business voting for the benefit of everyone else in the world. Whatever decisions are made in elections need to be on the grounds that it is what is best for America, so the world's opinion of our leaders be damned.

Finally, I think the fact that they're following our elections closely proves the point that America is awesome and we didn't get to where we are by being concerned about other people's feelings. [bold added]

If Allen Forkum is where I was before the election, Trey Givens is, at least in this respect, where I am now.


Apropos of nothing....

I just got a phone call -- despite being on the national "do not call" list -- with a recorded message informing me that "This call is impor--".

Click!

Important to whom?

God, I hate telephones sometimes.


Paul Hsieh writes a very good piece on why it is so crucial to root out attempts to transform America into a theocracy.

Although this may seem improbable now, those ideas may seem much more plausible to a country that has been softened up by a barrage of conservative Christian academics and intellectuals who have been teaching that America is a Christian country, that American virtue depends on its religiosity, that the very survival of America depends on the inclusion of religious values in the government, that the "wall of separation" between church and state imposed by the secular Left has been a major source of our problems, and that the attacks we have suffered are the price we are paying for ignoring these "truths". This misintegrated worldview could gain significant traction amongst a large segment of Americans who aren't otherwise armed with a opposing strong rational explicit philosophy.

Read it all. There are some especially alarming examples of bleeding edge -- This phrase seems particularly appropriate here! -- conservative thought on the matter of separating church and state at the beginning of the piece.


A Bush vs Jesus gag campaign ad has been making the rounds lately. Andrew Dalton says correctly, "Right attack, right target, wrong message."

Amen.


File this away for future investigation: Martin Lindeskog has found a "guest blogging network" that purports to give feedback on which posts attract the most readers.

I am unsure of the utility of this for my particular niche, but it is still an interesting idea.


Grant Jones lays down the law on comments. I'm with him there, although I have another category of comments I will not post: The confusing. It doesn't happen that often, but once in a while, I will get a comment that just doesn't make any sense to me. I moderate comments, so those just don't get posted.

Hey! At least he didn't say, "I could just get drunk one night and start deleting comments at random."


Bo has found more submariner types who blog and wonders the same thing I do: Whatever happened to Periscope Jack?

That guy was, I am prety sure, the only one I found before Bo or Bubblehead! And it was a very well-done blog, too.


Myron asks, "How many of 'you' are there?" There are 49 of "him" in America. I have a rare first name and a common last name. There are 623 of "me" computed in that way. If I use my middle name (as I do on a daily basis, being named for my father), there are 1,564 of me.

But there is only one Gus Van Horn!

-- CAV

Hamburg. German developer 4Players has launched ODIN Rooms, a secure, browser-based, decentralized video conferencing platform designed to challenge industry leaders like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Aimed at corporations, educational institutions, and non-profits, ODIN Rooms offers easy access through a simple URL, with no need for accounts or app installations, and enhances social messaging with enhanced privacy and crystal-clear audio quality.

Card79 has been awarded three San Francisco Design Week Awards for Lotza.io (User Experience - Winner), Rapid Robotics, Inc's Rapid Machine Operator (Industrial Design - Winner), and Relish Life Packaging (Communication Design - Honorable Mention). Design Awards Theme: "PLOT TWIST"

In today's fast-paced tech landscape, AI is now redefining electrical engineering design. WSCAD introduces ELECTRIX AI, the world's first AI-powered Electrical CAD solution, eliminating tedious manual steps and completing tasks in mere seconds – slashing design time by up to 99%.

As churches continue to adapt to the digital age, the need for accessible, efficient worship tools has grown immensely. Tithely, a leader in church technology, has introduced a suite of innovative worship tools designed to enhance both the church's operations and the worship experience for congregations

Aachen, Germany, 22 May 2023 – Grünenthal today announced that its investigational non-opioid medicine resiniferatoxin (RTX), currently undergoing clinical Phase III development, received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for pain associated with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. The decision is based on clinical phase I and II data indicating significant pain relief and a favourable safety profile.

On February 29, 2024, Rare Disease Day will take place worldwide to raise awareness for rare diseases. Only 5% of the approximately 6,000 to 10,000 known rare diseases are currently treatable. The research and development of targeted therapeutic approaches is time-consuming, so that many companies shy away from the financial outlay in view of the low number of patients.

DriverDX Helps Ontario's Bus Companies and Drivers Get Back to Work

The new risk assessment from iDenfy screens multiple watchlists providing more accurate results.

The verification company will help securely onboard new customers from ForexChief.

The Chronicle of Higher Education Featured Case Study on Baylor University's Innovative Identity and Access Management Solution Developed in Collaboration with Fischer Identity and AWS.

Double Fun Watersports in Destin, FL, offering double-decker pontoon boat rentals, was the Silver Winner in the "2017 Finest on the Emerald Coast" Reader's Choice Award in the Recreational Rentals category. The contest was sponsored by Northwest Florida Daily News.

Rayana Spa at Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi has received an award at the 2017 World Luxury Spa Awards ceremony which took place in Hanoi on July 22, 2017.

Six games that can be played straight from the box. Each game is self-contained and stored in easy to use plastic cases so that they are ideal for quick and convenient game play and for travel.

Pittsburgh startup Spruce launches its first product, the Spruce Dog Bed. Taking your dog on adventures just got a little easier thanks to this brilliantly designed travel bed from Spruce Pup! The Spruce Dog Bed is specifically designed to fold up and hold all of your dog's essentials while you're on the go. Available now at www.igg.me/at/sprucebed

At the time of a renewed push for equal pay, as well as the "Me Too" and "Time's Up" movements, WITHOrg, Women in Travel and Hospitality, is hosting their second summit aimed at driving workplace parity and leadership opportunities for working women.

FOX Corporate Housing is certified as a Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) through the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nation's largest third party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the US.

Otherworld Cottage Industries owner Travis Edward Pike, and music and pop culture author Harvey Kubernik are kranking out the latest news as fast as tomorrow's headlines.

2020 is the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven's birth. Beethoven was raised in Bonn and a master at writing unique compositions. In the spirit of that, Deutsche Telekom plans to create a huge mosaic of Beethoven comprising many small photographs.

Harvey Kubernik's "Docs That Rock, Music That Matters" is now available through Amazon.

Journalist and Author Harvey Kubernik is not only reporting music industry news, he's making news

Bob Dylan's 80th birthday is next Monday. On Friday, "Music Connection" magazine will feature Harvey Kubernik's interviews with musicians, producers, filmmakers, photographers and fans.

An update on author and music journalist Harvey Kubernik's recent activities. And there's even more on Kubernik's Korner!

A free virtual performance from The Philadelphia Orchestra will follow an in-person performance from world-renowned violinist Ray Chen and pianist Julio Elizalde.

Nicole Henry has successfully released a new album, is currently debuting in a musical to standing ovations and is starring in her own Whitney Houston Theatrical Tribute Show around the U.S.

New York City Personal Injury Lawyer Richard M. Kenny received a glowing review on Birdseye from a happy client regarding the firm's services. Reviews like this make us proud to do our job, day in and day out. We believe that those who've been unfairly injured as a result of another party's negligence deserve to be fully and fairly compensated for the damages they've incurred.