Martian Soil + Martian Water = Martians?

Last I remember, whenever Bugs Bunny added water to his Instant Martian pills, life sprang forth.



We now have the two ingredients. Reuters reports that it is very possible that life supporting soil and water have been found on Mars.



Now all we need are some instant martian pills. Or some fruit and vegetable plant seeds I guess...

Let the experiments begin!


This is a major discovery. One of the greatest obstacles delaying the colonization of Mars has been the lack of resources and the costliness of transporting it all. If a Human Martian colony (sad that I have to specify that) can at least partially support itself, will save thousands if not millions of taxpayer dollars.

Hurry up and colonize it before I get to old to travel!

Would you pay $500,000 for a one week vacation on Mars? Keep in mind that it will take much longer to get there and the one week is just your time on the planet.

Tough Love for the Unhappy Heifers

The answer seems so easy. Whenever girls ask my wife how she stays so fit I want to answer in the meanest way possible. Not just to be mean, but because I am sick of them asking and not heeding the advice or making pitiful excuses. It seems so easy on paper but it’s so much easier to list reasons why they are incapable of doing it.

It is hard. There is NO easy way. There is NO easy magic pill that won't also kill you. It takes hard, CONSTANT work. It takes NO "off the wagon" binging. It takes wanting it enough to stop making excuses.

Diet.

Moderation.

Exercise.

"I don't have time." Make time. It’s easy. How much do you sleep? How much do you watch T.V.? I'm sure there is one hour a day you can spare if you squeeze it right. Shoot you could watch Oprah and exercise.

The hardest part is starting. Once you get going. Once you are up in the morning breathing the fresh air completing the run you begin is easy.

The foods that you eat make you lazy. Do you find it too hard to get up in the morning? Don't eat so late at night. Go to bed a little earlier. Still have trouble waking up early? Drink a glass of water before you go to bed and your bladder will make sure you get up in the morning. Find your own way just do it and stop making excuses. “I just don’t have the time for that.” Yes, yes you do. You just don’t care enough to make it.

Stop expecting some stupid secret that will solve all your problems and allow you to continue to live your life the way you're living it. Don't be ignorant, that doesn't exist. It never will. Twinkies and french fries are NOT part of the diet of a person that cares about the bulbous behemoth they may become.

Your body is a reflection of the way you are living your life.

You eat cheeseburgers? It shows.
You drink alcohol? Believe me, it shows.
You smoke? It shows.
You do drugs? It shows, and smells and your attitude is terrible.
You stay up late and don’t get enough good sleep? It shows.

You are what you eat.
You are a reflection of all you don't do.

If you don't care and are happy fat, then more power to you. Stop complaining and enjoy life. Just don't cry to anyone else that you can't stop while you are stuffing your face.

Take a look around every where you go and realize just how many fat people there are in the U.S. now. The difference IS noticeable, and scary.

How many people don't you see parking in handicap spots because they are too lazy to walk?
How many people don't you see ordering their kids around to pick up stuff they dropped or bring items to them because they are too lazy to walk?
How many people don't you see not returning the shopping carts because they are too lazy to walk?

I SEE THIS EVERY DAY. My generation is going to die very young and the next generation even faster. I foresee a huge problem with heart complications and Diabetes in a few years.

Brain Boy in Ed Norton's The Incredible Hulk

This year we have seen Iron Man. At the end of the credits you see Samuel L. Jackson propose the forming of a team to Robert Downey Jr so you know they are marketing another movie already. A quick search will confirm this and many other details which you may not want to find if you don't like spoilers. They did the same thing in The Incredible Hulk. A bit less subtle with some character sneak peeks.

There was a character who went by "Mr. Blue" for a majority of the movie. This character was played by Tim Blake Nelson. His characters name was Samuel Sterns.

I found the following information on IMDB and Wikipedia.

---

"The Leader" is a supervillain named Samuel Sterns.

He was the janitor at Bruce Banner's lab when he was hit by the same gamma radiation that turned Bruce into the Hulk. His skin turned green and his brain grew five times its size, to the point that it protrudes from his skull.

The Leader is obsessed with gaining the Hulk's strength for his own use.

---

We left the theater with that as an unanswered question in our minds. I found out as much information as I could without spoiling the next few movies and I thought I would share.

For those of you wondering, this new generation of Marvel films aren't that bad. Much better than any of the Spiderman movies that I did not like.

First Mars Bars, Now Mars Water?

But this genuine Mars Water will probably need a lot more filtering than your standard tap. Yes even you with the orange spew you call bathwater.



Why is this important? Water is one of the most important ingredients for life as we know it. If that white stuff in the picture IS ice, then it is possible that at one point in time life, in the form of simple bacteria, could have evolved.

...and IF that proves true than chances are EXTREMELY high that life may have evolved elsewhere in the universe.

What? Me Skinny?

We have a trip coming up soon and it involves heat, water and bare skin. I have never really been known as a healthy eater or any exercise freak so I needed to change my eating and lack of exercise habits unless I wanted to embarass my healthy and very fit wife.

I'm 5'9" and weigh from 165-167 lbs. (Thats 175 cm and 74-76 kg. for the rest of the world.) depending on what I had for lunch and what time of day it is. So I have a thin build. I'm not fat nor have I ever been overweight. (I'm not counting those months as an infant that my mother kept me as plump as the Michelin man. I have the crease marks on my arms to prove it.)

Although I haven't ever really been a fatso, I did have a round little Bart Simpson belly thing going for me. All those cheeseburgers and pizza's were finally catching up to me. Yes, Americans really DO eat like pigs. I would eat relatively small portions but it they would be unhealthy foods. Delicious, unhealthy foods.

I stopped.


I quit soda, caffeinated or not. Point blank. I greatly reduced the amount of junk food I was eating. Zero cheesebugers and Zero pizza. This of course could not be done without my wife's guidance and instruction.

I also started running. I would run in short bursts keeping my heart rate up. After all it had been years since I did any serious exercise, I didn't want to give myself a heart attack.

It's been about two months and I have lost about 20 pounds. I didn't think it was noticeable until a coworker pointed it out to me. I let my beard grow out which made my face look fuller and even then he noticed.

The point of this blog? It CAN be done. No magic pill or stomach stapling surgery required. A large portion of my family is overweight. (Like my double pun there?). So it runs in my family to be a mid-sized porker.

What is the answer?

Stop eating.

Stop eating badly.

Stop eating when you are not hungry anymore. During you meal, take a break and make yourself aware of how your stomach feels. You don't have to feel full after every meal. Try aiming for "satisfied" instead of "stuffed."

Start exercising.

If you are still eating and you're not hungry anymore, you're overeating.

Who Are You, Really?

I was just curious.  You know how people are frequently amazed and enjoy dicussing people's alternate personalities online?  "OMG I had no idea Lin from accounting was into S&M *tee *hee."

I thought it would be interesting to go the other way.  (No not that you sicko!)

I know and speak to so many people online but don't really know who they are or what they do in real life.  Which is where this blog comes in to play.

If you would like, please answer the following questions you never really see in any online survey.

1.  Who are you and where is your primary blog or website?  (You can use your online callsign if you wish.)

2.  What was your primary field of study in school?

3.  What do you do for a living?

4.  What would you like to do for a living?  (Realistically.)

5.  What do you do for fun?  Off the internet?

T.J. Nights

Anyone living in California has heard about the crazy things occurring just south of the border in Tijuana, Mexico. If you haven't you should read the story below. It is very moving and slightly depressing. It's long, but well worth the read.

L.A. Times Article

Tijuana's violence was once more myth than reality, but in the last year, the city has moved to the front line of Mexico's war with itself. Fear hovers where it never did. Doctors have been kidnapped, a battle between drug cartels broke out next to a kindergarten in January, and last month, a shootout left 13dead...On May 8, the Tijuana newspaper Frontera published a longer version of this letter from Aiko Enriquez Nishikawa, the sister of a 35-year-old engineer who was taken away...

'A desperate cry for an answer'
How a kidnapping and murder ripped a family from its roots.
By Aiko Enriquez Nishikawa
May 31, 2008
I want to write about what happened to my family.

On July 24, 2007, my brother, Celso Katzuo Enriquez Nishikawa, was kidnapped. He was 35 years old, father to a 4-year-old girl, and had a family who loved him. He was an honest, hardworking and caring man. He studied electronic engineering in Mexicali and had his own subassembly business. He was a black belt in aikido. He enjoyed motorcycling. He never hurt anyone.

When they told me he had been kidnapped, I felt like the ground was taken out from under my feet. Over the next nine months and seven days, my life, and that of my family, were changed completely.

This is how I remember it:

At first the terror paralyzes you, then it wears you out little by little; you lose your sense of safety, of calm, of normalcy. You keep thinking: Is he hot? Is he cold? Is he hungry? Is he eating? Is he able to bathe? Are insects biting him? Is he tied up? Do they hit him? Do they torture him? Does he have clothes? Is he wearing the same clothes all the time? When are they going to let him go?

And then the phone calls, ordering us to get impossible amounts of money, and pressuring us to keep the kidnapping a secret by threatening to kill my brother.

I still hear how my mom screamed every time the phone rang, see the paleness in my father's face. The kidnapper, with an obvious norteño accent, insulting, pressuring and ordering us. Sometimes he sounded drunk or high, sometimes he just seemed bored while he would tell us, without any guilt, the atrocities that he was thinking of doing to my brother. We wanted to hear my brother's voice, to know if he was OK, but when they would put him on, it was only for us to hear how much they hurt him.

Then Nov. 9 came. The payment day. It looked like the kidnappers had accepted the amount of money we were able to obtain, all of our savings, the money from the things we were able to sell, the loans from our family and friends. We followed their instructions meticulously. My father's godson, whom we love and trust completely, made the payment.

We spent that night awake, thinking that Celso would be back at any moment, but he didn't come back. The next day the kidnappers told us that the money wasn't enough; they wanted more, and they put Celso on the phone so we would know he was alive. A few days before Christmas, we made the second payment. They didn't put Celso on the phone, but they answered a question that only he could answer -- the precious "proof of life."

We spent the night awake. The next day we waited. My cousins kept guard day and night waiting for Celso to arrive. If the phone rang, if the doorbell rang, we were all on alert. Christmas passed, New Year's Eve, and no word.

Every one of us cried of fear on our own. I would cry where no one would see me. My parents, holding each other. The house was never left empty in those six weeks. We never missed the news, all versions, every day, all the newspapers. We asked in morgues, hospitals, Red Cross. Every night, at 8 p.m., family and friends would pray for my brother, wherever we were.

After six weeks of silence, the phone calls began again, less frequent than before but less aggressive. They would say things like: "We call your son 'el Chino.' He's really cool"; "He's very depressed, hurry so you can take him home!" But every time, my dad would ask for proof of life, and they refused.

When they called May 1, they asked for a third payment. They said that it would basically be an exchange. That the guy making the payment should get out of the car and stand in the darkest and most desolate part of the Chapultepec California neighborhood, and when he was there, they would get Celso on the phone.

My dad said he would do whatever they asked, but first he wanted to talk to his son. The phone calls continued, insisting that they wanted the car with the money where they had asked. Every time my dad said, "The car is here, the money is ready. I just want to know that my son is alive, and then my godson will be wherever you want in a minute."

But every single time they said no. And then the threats began. "Hold your daughter because it's the last time you will see her"; "If you don't take the money where I told you, I will kill off your family and I'll let you live so you'll suffer."

We knew what had happened. People who know about these things had explained it to us: "If they don't give you proof that he's alive, it means that they have killed the victim."

That day we had seen two big cars (later we found out it was three) driving around our house. After that night's last phone call, we turned the lights off and waited.

After a few moments, we heard someone trying to get inside the house. They weren't able to, and that's when the shooting began. These people were determined to kill us all; they didn't even bother to cover their faces. Then they left.

I called the military police. They asked a million questions and even heard the shots. But no one ever came. I called the local police, but it was only after I told them that there was a body outside the house that they came.

A few hours later, we fled Tijuana, escorted by the state police, one suitcase each, leaving our lives, our work, our friends, our things, absolutely everything behind. Now -- what's left of my family -- we will live like refugees from house to house, with fear of them seeing us or finding us.

And I ask you, kidnappers: Why?

How do you put a price on someone's life? On my parents' love for their son?

Everything my family had, we got through hard and honest work. We didn't inherit it, didn't steal it, didn't win the lottery. My father went to Tijuana with nothing; everything he got was earned over 45 years. My mom, a doctor, member of Colegio Medico de Tijuana, has been working for over 25 years out of love for what she does.

How do I explain to you that I wanted to have my brother with me all of my life, that I remember his smile when he was a child and had huge teeth? How will you understand that I will miss the sound of his laugh, his clean stare, how he would complain like my mother does, or get suddenly serious like my dad does? How can I explain that I would've done anything in my power to shield my parents from this pain? That you don't have the right to destroy our lives?

This letter represents the pain, the anguish and the anger that we feel. It's a desperate cry for an answer, an explanation, a hope, a demanding of our rights. We couldn't get help from the people who are paid to protect and serve, to guard the safety of citizens. Unfortunately, they protect and help the criminals.

When will there be action? When will the municipal, state and federal institutions be cleaned up in a real and forceful way? When will there be real laws with sentences that punish kidnappers and the bad behavior of corrupt agencies? What will happen to our country with its good people? When will we stop living as cowards and start fighting for a better future for the sons and daughters of Mexico?

I love Mexico and Tijuana. It is the place were I was born, my country. But it's impossible to live here.

Goodbye, Tijuana.

A terrible experience that we will only see more of as the economy continues to tumble. Good luck in the next few years everyone and stay close to your loved ones.

Unconscious Mutterings - Response to Monique.

She said...I thought...

Sort of like word association but she didn't specify the use of only one word. This is more fun. Highlight to see my answers. If you want to play though I would suggest you write down your own answers first to avoid any subconscious suggestions.

1. Rambling :: Lunatic.
2. Magnetic :: ...items wipe hard drive data.
3. Again! :: Rock Band!
4. Acoustic :: The guitar Belen gave me that broke after time.
5. Mahogany :: Executive wasteland.
6. Promises :: Under kept.
7. Ill fitting :: Low-rise jeans and belly shirts.
8. Sublime :: Has-beens.
9. Poop :: Apple Something.
10. Disoriented :: Teenagers.

Meme - Wednesday Weirdness

1.) Do you have anything planned for your father for Father's Day? If so, what?

Nothing planned as of yet. I'm not a dad so this day is only for me to be available to celebrate for others. My family usually plans ahead of time but lately its been last minute events for everything. Only four days left and there aren't any plans. Last year we showed up really late to a park that was full and closed due to it reaching maximum capacity. We had to "sneak" in. It was terribly humiliating but it turned out OK. Who breaks in to a park, really?


2.) If you could visit anywhere in the world with all your expenses paid for each trip, where would you go?

You know I think about this. I hate LONG trips so anything far away like Japan or Australia would be out of the question. A world tour with small hopping flights might be more to my liking. I am afraid of heights though so it would be a mostly terrible experience. The first place I would visit is New York. I know, its a city and its ugly just like Los Angeles where I currently reside. I don't like urban areas but I imagine it would be like an alternate universe. The same but different enough for you to realize it is another part of the world. I am a little afraid to visit other countries because so many people hate American's right now. I can't even play on XBox Live or the PlayStation Network without foreigners teaming up on the "Capeetalist American peeg!"

3.) What are a few things you have done that you previously said you would never do?

Well I got married. That's not a bad thing. I said I would never do that because I thought I never would. Not that I wouldn't want to. I was just this dorky teenager into video games, books and rap music and I never thought any female in her right mind would voluntarily spend the rest of her life with me. I found one. :)

4.) How do you react to the bodily functions (passing gas, burping, etc) of your significant other?

Well, we believe in working hard to keep the romance alive in our relationship. In the 8 years we have known each other we have yet to pass gas in each others presence. To some people it may seem petty, but we think it shows that you still care. We make sure we look clean and smell good around each other. I think its a very healthy way to make your relationship last a long time and we are both in it for the long haul. Unfortunately most people in our society can't say the same.

5.) What are you allergic to?

I wish I knew. I've never been allergic to anything but recently I think I have been developing them. I walk down a hallway or something and I start sneezing and my eyes water. Nothing around to place the blame on. On our first trip to Maui I had an allergic reaction to some soap in the hotel washroom.

6.) If you could go back in time and meet any passed historical figure, who would you choose and why?

Oooh a chance for controversy. I would go back and try to find Jesus. Just to see if he existed at all and/or if he was the Messianic figure they make him out to be. If he did exist I would ask him why He and his Dad are so darn vague.

7.) Honestly, how often do you check up on any of your exes?

"Check up" is a key term here. This assumes some sort of a sneaky way about it. There is only one out of the 3 exes that I have ever had that I "check up" on and it wasn't really "checking up" on. I found her on MySpace and I was curious to see how she was doing. I wasn't interested in her in the least but I just looked around her page and befriended her. She was my only real connection to High School since I pretty much abandoned everyone from the time of my life. Good riddance.

Pastard!

Some pastard from a church in Virginia believes the answer to salvation lies in the burning of music and video games HE decides are not suitable for today's youth. That is HE the pastor, not He God.

What he refuses to acknowledge though is that the music and video games he is referring to are not for children. They are not legally sold to them nor are they designed for them. So by his logic he technically could, or should, burn EVERYTHING that adults use that children could get their hands on.

Alcohol isn't for children right? Burn it!
Porn isn't for children right? Burn it!
There are some books with violence alcohol and porn right? Burn it!
Where have we seen this before?

Here's the funny part. This is a buyback program. So if you have a game you don't like anymore or music you have already ripped into MP3, I have a potential buyer for you. I hope they aren't looking for government funding for this program. He should take it up with the RIAA and they should go at it.

His name is Pastor Richard Patrick of the Abyssinia Baptist Church.

3001 Wickham Ave.
Newport News, Virginia 23607
USA

Oh and don't forget to burn it.


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Meme?

Daily Meme. Everyday they post a few topics to write about and you select your topic of choice.

I thought it would be interesting to participate so I have, here.

1. So, we finally have a Democratic candidate in the U.S.: Barack Obama. What do you think of that? Do you think he can win against John McCain? Why/why not?
I couldn't care less. I have a suspicion that whoever is in office is merely a puppet of a much larger political animal. Call me paranoid or conspiracy nut, I really don't think my theory is that extreme. I mean take a look at all the drastic levels of secrecy shown by the U.S. government in the past. Secret plots, secret societies, even entirely secret organizations. Why would they allow the entire countries future to rest in the hands of one public figure?

What do I think of it? As much as they all propose "change" and improvement, all candidates are essentially the same. What has changed in this country for the past hundred years? Not a whole lot. Racism is STILL a problem. Pointing at the border and other countries as the source of our troubles is STILL a problem. If the current president leaves office immediately, will we really notice a difference?

Clinton Version 1.0 and whatever cabinet he designed was a bit more introverted which is exactly what I believe our country needs right now in order to heal its wounds. We shouldn't seal our borders to people, we should seal it to businesses. Do like Japan after Nagasaki and apply a heavy tax to companies who outsource and penalize those who refuse to buy and employ homegrown.

Can Obama win? Sure he can. Bush's popularity is so low that people might ignore their racist tendencies long enough to vote for a younger, possibly capable leader. I'm sure once he wins the opposite party will start its smear/impeach campaign almost immediately.

McCain seems like just another Bush. Down to the accent.

2. What is your position on illegal drugs?
Although I despise their existence, taxation is the way to go. Anything that messes with your brain chemistry is a deadly toy in my book. I won't be as extreme and say we should legalize cocaine or anything stupid like that. Marijuana though is already everywhere. As soon as the sun goes down you can smell it in every neighborhood. Every party has people excited to "smoke out." Ignoring the fact that it may be doing more damage than unfiltered cigarette's.

If these people are going to do this, we might as well get money from them. Think about the jobs and the money that would be generated.

3. What do you think of the health care system in the country in which you reside?
The U.S.? WHAT health care system? There is NO health care system. There is a group of health care corporations that we pay ridiculous amounts of our hard earned cash to simply because we feel we might need it at some point.

Without insurance you can't get any health care unless you are filthy rich. Insurance is the biggest legalized scam in the world. "You pay us a monthly fee just in case you might at some point need some help. If you do need help, we won't pay for it all, just a small portion after which we will increase your fee's. If you never need our help you will not get your money back. We charge you more the older you get because it is more likely that you will have to use us." We are paying them to stay in business. We are paying them to be there but they can't even guarantee to be there.

There are some horror stories of insurance being a bad thing. The itemized aspect of it tempts doctors to perform unnecessary procedures. My family has personal experience with this during childbirth and forced epidurals that were already paid for. (The child was already OUT in one instance!)

Fag Taggers

This is NOT any attack or insult to the happily gay community.

This is an assault on the idiots who refer to themselves as artists that deficate their "talents" all over our cities in their form of prepubescent rebellion against "the system."

ART
Ok, so they call it art.  Lets put it in terms any artist would understand.  Media is expensive.  The materials you work with don't come cheap.  The money you pay for those products goes where?

Ok, canvas and paper is expensive right?  Consider city walls and street signs as the most expensive canvas you can ever buy.  Since you are most likely poor (I have never met a real well-to-do tagger) then you probably don't care since you consider it any expense you don't have to worry about.

Your mistakenly disassociative emotions toward this issue are to blame.  Whether you realize it or not, you and the parents you burden your useless existence with are paying for the damage you cause.

The city pays for the paint and/or cleaning materials used to wipe off your meaningless filth.  Believe me, government projects will always pay a premium for materials and labor.  (For you taggers with a failed urban public school mastery of the English language, that means expensive.)

So you pay money for the paint.  You pay taxes for the right to buy the paint.  The city pays for paint and cleaning materials and taxes for those same products.  The city also pays for the labor they hire to clean that crap up.  Probably your very same parents.

Where do you think the city gets the money to pay for that previously mentioned labor and equipment?

Thats right you ghetto bastards, the taxes you pay with everything you buy.  The taxes you pay at the end of the years.  The taxes you pay in you water and electric bill.  Everywhere you look you are being charged for the crap you do.

So you want to keep tagging your chicken scratched nickname that only you and other unemployed lowlifes like yourself can understand in a pointless effort to achieve ghetto stardom even though it is costing you and everyone you care about buttloads of money, then please do.

I work hard for what I have and the money I make so I am damn sure you will run out of money long before I do.

Keep at it boneheads!