Eight years ago I married the most wonderful woman in the world.
I know she reads my blog, so this goes out to my beautiful wife.
"Thanks for eight great years sweetheart. I love you."
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Quantum of Solace
Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond film is out. It's pretty darn good. Between Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace I think the bond franchise is back on track. The writing is much improved, it's gritty and Daniel Craig is an outstanding James Bond. I hope the next film continues in the same style and tone. I was dubious about Daniel Craig, but all I can say now is WOW. He owns the part of Bond and he's right up there with Sean Connery. 
The new Bond movies defiantly seem to take a page from the Jason Bourne movies in terms of style, but I've got no complaints, and would happily seem more.
My wife is not a huge James Bond movies and she's had nothing but good things to say about the new bond and the two most recent movies. That's high praise indeed.
The new Bond movies defiantly seem to take a page from the Jason Bourne movies in terms of style, but I've got no complaints, and would happily seem more.
My wife is not a huge James Bond movies and she's had nothing but good things to say about the new bond and the two most recent movies. That's high praise indeed.
Friday, November 21, 2008
The Future?
Following is a summary of a report predicting U.S. Dominance and Influence will fade in the next 15-20 years. I found the summary on foxnews.com but the full report is available here.
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The next two decades will see a world living with the daily threat of nuclear war, environmental catastrophe and the decline of America as the dominant global power, according to a frighteningly bleak assessment by the U.S. intelligence community.
"The world of the near future will be subject to an increased likelihood of conflict over resources, including food and water, and will be haunted by the persistence of rogue states and terrorist groups with greater access to nuclear weapons," said the report by the National Intelligence Council.
The analysts said that the report had been prepared in time for Barack Obama's entry into the Oval office on January 20, where he will be faced with some of the greatest challenges of any newly-elected president.
"The likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used will increase with expanded access to technology and a widening range of options for limited strikes," the 121-page assessment said.
Click here to read the report in full
The analysts draw attention to an already escalating nuclear arms race in the Middle East and anticipate that a growing number of rogue states will be prepared to share their destructive technology with terror groups.
"Over the next 15-20 years reactions to the decisions Iran makes about its nuclear program could cause a number of regional states to intensify these efforts and consider actively pursuing nuclear weapons," the report Global Trends 2025 said. "This will add a new and more dangerous dimension to what is likely to be increasing competition for influence within the region," it said.
The spread of nuclear capabilities will raise questions about the ability of weak states to safeguard them, it added. "If the number of nuclear-capable states increases, so will the number of countries potentially willing to provide nuclear assistance to other countries or to terrorists."
The report, a year in the making, said that global warming will aggravate the scarcity of water, food and energy resources. Citing a British study, it said that climate change could force up to 200 million people to migrate to more temperate zones. "Widening gaps in birth rates and wealth-to-poverty ratios, and the impact of climate change, could further exacerbate tensions," it said.
The report says the warming earth will extend Russia and Canada's growing season and ease their access to northern oil fields, strengthening their economies. But Russia's potential emergence as a world power may be clouded by lagging investment in its energy sector, persistent crime and government corruption, the report says.
"The international system will be almost unrecognizable by 2025, owing to the rise of emerging powers, a globalizing economy, a transfer of wealth from West to East, and the growing influence of non-state actors. Although the United States is likely to remain the single most powerful actor, the United States' relative strength -- even in the military realm -- will decline and US leverage will become more strained."
Global power will be multipolar with the rise of India and China, and the Korean peninsula will be unified in some form. Turning to the current financial situation, the analysts say that the financial crisis on Wall Street is the beginning of a global economic rebalancing.
The U.S. dollar's role as the major world currency will weaken to the point where it becomes a "first among equals."
"Strategic rivalries are most likely to revolve around trade, investments and technological innovation, but we cannot rule out a 19th-century-like scenario of arms races, territorial expansion and military rivalries." The report, based on a global survey of experts and trends, was more pessimistic about America's global status than previous outlooks prepared every four years. It said that outcomes will depend in part on the actions of political leaders. "The next 20 years of transition to a new system are fraught with risks," it said.
The analysts also give warning that the kind of organized crime plaguing Russia could eventually take over the government of an Eastern or Central European country, and that countries in Africa and South Asia may find themselves ungoverned, as states wither away under pressure from security threats and diminishing resources..
The intelligence community expects that terrorism would survive until 2025, but in slightly different form, suggesting that Al Qaeda's "terrorist wave" might be breaking up. "Al Qaeda's inability to attract broad-based support might cause it to decay sooner than people think," it said.
On a positive note it added that an alternative to oil might be in place by 2025.
---------------------
The next two decades will see a world living with the daily threat of nuclear war, environmental catastrophe and the decline of America as the dominant global power, according to a frighteningly bleak assessment by the U.S. intelligence community.
"The world of the near future will be subject to an increased likelihood of conflict over resources, including food and water, and will be haunted by the persistence of rogue states and terrorist groups with greater access to nuclear weapons," said the report by the National Intelligence Council.
The analysts said that the report had been prepared in time for Barack Obama's entry into the Oval office on January 20, where he will be faced with some of the greatest challenges of any newly-elected president.
"The likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used will increase with expanded access to technology and a widening range of options for limited strikes," the 121-page assessment said.
Click here to read the report in full
The analysts draw attention to an already escalating nuclear arms race in the Middle East and anticipate that a growing number of rogue states will be prepared to share their destructive technology with terror groups.
"Over the next 15-20 years reactions to the decisions Iran makes about its nuclear program could cause a number of regional states to intensify these efforts and consider actively pursuing nuclear weapons," the report Global Trends 2025 said. "This will add a new and more dangerous dimension to what is likely to be increasing competition for influence within the region," it said.
The spread of nuclear capabilities will raise questions about the ability of weak states to safeguard them, it added. "If the number of nuclear-capable states increases, so will the number of countries potentially willing to provide nuclear assistance to other countries or to terrorists."
The report, a year in the making, said that global warming will aggravate the scarcity of water, food and energy resources. Citing a British study, it said that climate change could force up to 200 million people to migrate to more temperate zones. "Widening gaps in birth rates and wealth-to-poverty ratios, and the impact of climate change, could further exacerbate tensions," it said.
The report says the warming earth will extend Russia and Canada's growing season and ease their access to northern oil fields, strengthening their economies. But Russia's potential emergence as a world power may be clouded by lagging investment in its energy sector, persistent crime and government corruption, the report says.
"The international system will be almost unrecognizable by 2025, owing to the rise of emerging powers, a globalizing economy, a transfer of wealth from West to East, and the growing influence of non-state actors. Although the United States is likely to remain the single most powerful actor, the United States' relative strength -- even in the military realm -- will decline and US leverage will become more strained."
Global power will be multipolar with the rise of India and China, and the Korean peninsula will be unified in some form. Turning to the current financial situation, the analysts say that the financial crisis on Wall Street is the beginning of a global economic rebalancing.
The U.S. dollar's role as the major world currency will weaken to the point where it becomes a "first among equals."
"Strategic rivalries are most likely to revolve around trade, investments and technological innovation, but we cannot rule out a 19th-century-like scenario of arms races, territorial expansion and military rivalries." The report, based on a global survey of experts and trends, was more pessimistic about America's global status than previous outlooks prepared every four years. It said that outcomes will depend in part on the actions of political leaders. "The next 20 years of transition to a new system are fraught with risks," it said.
The analysts also give warning that the kind of organized crime plaguing Russia could eventually take over the government of an Eastern or Central European country, and that countries in Africa and South Asia may find themselves ungoverned, as states wither away under pressure from security threats and diminishing resources..
The intelligence community expects that terrorism would survive until 2025, but in slightly different form, suggesting that Al Qaeda's "terrorist wave" might be breaking up. "Al Qaeda's inability to attract broad-based support might cause it to decay sooner than people think," it said.
On a positive note it added that an alternative to oil might be in place by 2025.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Friday, November 07, 2008
Fire in Downtown Champaign, IL
There was a fire in a historic building in downtown Champaign, IL today. The law office my wife used to work in, Dobbins, Fraker, Tennant, Joy & Perlstein, was a few doors down from the fire. The law office suffered water and smoke damage. Photos from the local newspaper are online here.
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The following story is from the local newspaper, The News Gazette
DOWNTOWN BLAZE CONSUMES HISTORIC BUILDING
By Meg Thilmony and Mike Monson
Friday, November 7, 2008 9:43 AM CDT
CHAMPAIGN — The 1870s-era Metropolitan Building caught on fire early Friday morning, collapsing under the flames.
No injuries have been reported.
Advertisement
The intersection of Neil and Church streets will be closed all day, officials said. Neil Street southbound is blocked at Washington Street.
Flames were shooting 100 feet in the air when firefighters arrived at about 5:20, said Deputy Fire Chief Tim Wild. About 10 minutes after they arrived, the building collapsed.
The building, on the National Register of Historic Places, is at the southwest corner of Church and Neil streets. It most recently housed The Estate Sale and was under renovation.
The law office building just south of the Metropolitan also has suffered heavy damage, according to Wild.
Flames shoot from the Metropolitan Building at the corner of Main and Neil streets in downtown Champaign early Friday morning.
Renee Monfort, a partner in the law firm of Dobbins Fraker Tennant Joy & Perlstein, said the building at 215 N. Neil St. had smoke, fire and water damage.
"We had fire on the third floor and the roof; there's water damage throughout. There's water on the first floor and ceiling tiles have collapsed," and firefighters are concerned the north wall will collapse, Monfort said.
Larry Happ of the city's building safety division said, "You can see through" the north wall of the law office. He said the city has brought in a structural engineer to evaluate the building and wall.
"We don't want the roof collapsing," he said.
Several streets leading to the heart of Champaign were blocked, and fire hoses snaked down Main Street in front of One Main. Bricks from the collapsed building lay across the street all the way to M2 on Neil development.
Windows at M2 were cracked from the heat.
Power is out to the 200 block of North Neil Street, according to fire department spokeswoman Dena Schumacher. The department will bring in another ladder truck to spray down the building, which she said is full of embers.
Investigators won't be able to seek the cause until all the embers have been extinguished and they can get in the building, Schumacher said.
"It could be days," she said, adding that firefighters may be dealing with hot spots all day.
She planned to work with business owners to get them into their buildings.
Wild said there was no one in the building, and there were no injuries. He said the Metropolitan Building was under construction, so it didn’t have the same fire protection features as a normal building.
Firefighters knew they couldn’t save the building, so they focused their efforts on containing the fire, Wild said. Ladder trucks sprayed a steady stream of water on the building directly south of the Metropolitan Building, as the rising sun illuminated the scene. That building’s roof had been on fire, Wild said, and firefighters were checking the building out for more fire.
Embers flew around the Champaign area and started a small fire on the roof of the Orpheum Children’s Science Museum, a block away. That fire was quickly put out, Wild said, but firefighters were looking inside the building to make sure the fire didn’t spread.
In addition to the Champaign department, firefighters from Urbana, Savoy, Edge Scott, Eastern Prairie and St. Joseph assisted.
Ben Wagner lives in an apartment above Guido’s, 2 E. Main St., across the street from the Metropolitan Building. He said he was still awake from working at SOMA, a downtown bar, when he realized about 5:15 a.m. something was wrong.
“There were flames coming out of the second story. There were windows popping out. I called 911 and they said they had already heard about it." he said. "About two or three minutes later, police got here and about a minute later the first fire engine pulled up and started to pour water on it."
“Pretty quickly, the majority of the facade came down. It was pretty scary.”
Carlos Nieto, owner of Guido’s and several other downtown bars, was watching the fire from Main Street before 6 a.m. He said the heat from the fire had cracked windows at Guido’s, but that he expected to be open today.
“Most of the damage to our building is superficial,” Nieto said. We should be OK.”
--------------------
MORE PICTURES
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--------------------
The following story is from the local newspaper, The News Gazette
DOWNTOWN BLAZE CONSUMES HISTORIC BUILDING
By Meg Thilmony and Mike Monson
Friday, November 7, 2008 9:43 AM CDT
CHAMPAIGN — The 1870s-era Metropolitan Building caught on fire early Friday morning, collapsing under the flames.
No injuries have been reported.
Advertisement
The intersection of Neil and Church streets will be closed all day, officials said. Neil Street southbound is blocked at Washington Street.
Flames were shooting 100 feet in the air when firefighters arrived at about 5:20, said Deputy Fire Chief Tim Wild. About 10 minutes after they arrived, the building collapsed.
The building, on the National Register of Historic Places, is at the southwest corner of Church and Neil streets. It most recently housed The Estate Sale and was under renovation.
The law office building just south of the Metropolitan also has suffered heavy damage, according to Wild.
Flames shoot from the Metropolitan Building at the corner of Main and Neil streets in downtown Champaign early Friday morning.
Renee Monfort, a partner in the law firm of Dobbins Fraker Tennant Joy & Perlstein, said the building at 215 N. Neil St. had smoke, fire and water damage.
"We had fire on the third floor and the roof; there's water damage throughout. There's water on the first floor and ceiling tiles have collapsed," and firefighters are concerned the north wall will collapse, Monfort said.
Larry Happ of the city's building safety division said, "You can see through" the north wall of the law office. He said the city has brought in a structural engineer to evaluate the building and wall.
"We don't want the roof collapsing," he said.
Several streets leading to the heart of Champaign were blocked, and fire hoses snaked down Main Street in front of One Main. Bricks from the collapsed building lay across the street all the way to M2 on Neil development.
Windows at M2 were cracked from the heat.
Power is out to the 200 block of North Neil Street, according to fire department spokeswoman Dena Schumacher. The department will bring in another ladder truck to spray down the building, which she said is full of embers.
Investigators won't be able to seek the cause until all the embers have been extinguished and they can get in the building, Schumacher said.
"It could be days," she said, adding that firefighters may be dealing with hot spots all day.
She planned to work with business owners to get them into their buildings.
Wild said there was no one in the building, and there were no injuries. He said the Metropolitan Building was under construction, so it didn’t have the same fire protection features as a normal building.
Firefighters knew they couldn’t save the building, so they focused their efforts on containing the fire, Wild said. Ladder trucks sprayed a steady stream of water on the building directly south of the Metropolitan Building, as the rising sun illuminated the scene. That building’s roof had been on fire, Wild said, and firefighters were checking the building out for more fire.
Embers flew around the Champaign area and started a small fire on the roof of the Orpheum Children’s Science Museum, a block away. That fire was quickly put out, Wild said, but firefighters were looking inside the building to make sure the fire didn’t spread.
In addition to the Champaign department, firefighters from Urbana, Savoy, Edge Scott, Eastern Prairie and St. Joseph assisted.
Ben Wagner lives in an apartment above Guido’s, 2 E. Main St., across the street from the Metropolitan Building. He said he was still awake from working at SOMA, a downtown bar, when he realized about 5:15 a.m. something was wrong.
“There were flames coming out of the second story. There were windows popping out. I called 911 and they said they had already heard about it." he said. "About two or three minutes later, police got here and about a minute later the first fire engine pulled up and started to pour water on it."
“Pretty quickly, the majority of the facade came down. It was pretty scary.”
Carlos Nieto, owner of Guido’s and several other downtown bars, was watching the fire from Main Street before 6 a.m. He said the heat from the fire had cracked windows at Guido’s, but that he expected to be open today.
“Most of the damage to our building is superficial,” Nieto said. We should be OK.”
--------------------
MORE PICTURES
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Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Author Michael Crichton dead at 66
I have read almost all of Chichton's books and have greatly enjoyed his writing.
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NEW YORK (AP) - The family of Michael Crichton, the million-selling author of such historic and prehistoric science fantasies as "Jurassic Park," "Timeline" and "The Andromeda Strain," says the author has died in Los Angeles.
Crichton died Tuesday at age 66. He had been privately battling cancer, his family said.
"Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand," his family said in a statement.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (AP) - The family of Michael Crichton, the million-selling author of such historic and prehistoric science fantasies as "Jurassic Park," "Timeline" and "The Andromeda Strain," says the author has died in Los Angeles.
Crichton died Tuesday at age 66. He had been privately battling cancer, his family said.
"Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand," his family said in a statement.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Giant Spider eats bird
Odd news story out of Australia. A very large spider eats a bird. Supposedly there is video out there too but the spider could not finish his meal.
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