Video 2. Nora the Piano-Playing Cat. This is not a trick taught to Nora. She began sitting at the piano at about one-year-old. She's almost four now. Her owner teaches piano in her home, and Nora used to watch her teach her pupils. One morning, the piano teacher heard her piano being played, and when she went into the music room, Nora was playing it. Now she plays several times a day when the mood strikes her.
Video 2A. "Nora's Song" Music Video Incorporating Nora's Actual Piano Playing.
Video 3. The Cat Diaries 13: The Cat Tower
Video 4. Gizmo, the Cat with a Toilet Obsession.
Video 5. Sushi the Cat Using the Toilet and Flushing.
Your favorite cat(s):
1. Talking Cat 2. Nora, the Piano-Playing Cat 3. The Cat Tower Cats 4. Gizmo the Toilet Flusher 5. Sushi the Cat Who Both Sits and Flushes
Video 2. Differences between Religion, Theism and Deism
According to historians, most of the founders of the American nation were Deists and Unitarians. What are the beliefs of Deists?
Deism is the belief in a supreme being, who remains unknowable and untouchable. God is viewed as merely the “first cause” and underlying principle of rationality in the universe. Deists believe in a god of nature -- a non-interventionist creator -- who permits the universe to run itself according to natural laws. Like a “clockmaker god” initiating the cosmic process, the universe moves forward, without needing God’s supervision. Deism believes that precise and unvarying laws define the universe as self-operating and self-explanatory. These laws reveal themselves through “the light of reason and nature.” Reliance on the power of reasoning exchanges faith for human logic. Here are some examples of deist reasoning:
* God is identified through nature and reason, not revelation. Deists who believe in God, or at least a divine principle, follow few if any of the other tenets and practices of Christianity, Judaism, or any religion believing in a personal God. Any deist god is an eternal entity whose power is equal to his/her will. * Some deists believe in Jesus Christ, while others do not. Most deists give regard to the moral teachings of Jesus. * The Bible is not accepted as the infallible Word of God. Deists refute evidence of Jesus’ incarnation of God on earth. They deny the credibility of any writings from the Apostles or any “Spirit-inspired” writings. * Deism has no creed, articles of faith, or holy book. Neither Satan nor hell exists, only symbols of evil which can be overcome by man’s own reasoning. * Man is qualified to decide what reasonable path to follow regarding morals. Deists refer to themselves as “freethinkers.” * Deists reject revelations and visions. There is no place for the nonsense of miracles and prophecies in an enlightened deist’s life. * Deism has no need for ministers, priests, or rabbis. All an individual requires is their own common sense and the ability to contemplate their human condition. (Source: Philosophy All About Deism)
Tom Paine, who wrote "Common Sense" arguing for complete independence of the American colonies, and Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, were both Deists.
Video 3. Imagine. A video crash up of George Bush & friends performing John Lennon's "Imagine" vs. Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side."
The enormous volume of corn required by the ethanol industry is sending shock waves through the food system. (The United States accounts for some 40 percent of the world's total corn production and over half of all corn exports.) In March 2007, corn futures rose to over $4.38 a bushel, the highest level in ten years. Wheat and rice prices have also surged to decade highs, because even as those grains are increasingly being used as substitutes for corn, farmers are planting more acres with corn and fewer acres with other crops.
This might sound like nirvana to corn producers, but it is hardly that for consumers, especially in poor developing countries, who will be hit with a double shock if both food prices and oil prices stay high. The World Bank has estimated that in 2001, 2.7 billion people in the world were living on the equivalent of less than $2 a day; to them, even marginal increases in the cost of staple grains could be devastating. Filling the 25-gallon tank of an SUV with pure ethanol requires over 450 pounds of corn -- which contains enough calories to feed one person for a year. By putting pressure on global supplies of edible crops, the surge in ethanol production will translate into higher prices for both processed and staple foods around the world. Biofuels have tied oil and food prices together in ways that could profoundly upset the relationships between food producers, consumers, and nations in the years ahead, with potentially devastating implications for both global poverty and food security. (Source of Excerpt: Foreign Affairs May/June, 2007)
I have noticed a significant slowdown recently in navigating Blogstream. A few weeks ago, the difficult times for navigation were early in the morning and late in the afternoon when more bloggers were online. Now I am experiencing difficulty at all hours of the day. My new computer is lightning fast on all websites except Blogstream. Sometimes it takes me 10 minutes to do what I should be able to do in less than a minute. Blogstream is not user friendly, and as a result I am getting extremely frustrated. This morning when I went to Pencil Louie’s blog titled “The Niche”, I noted that he had this to say about Blogstream:
Is it just me, or is this the slowest site on the entire Internet? I run a 6 gig DSL connection, using IE7 with Maxthon2 browser and a pretty beefy computer and I have no troubles anywhere except here. It is like using a 14.5 K baud dial-up modem on a shared telephone party line. Good Lord, this is 2008, not 1985.
I went to Yahoo! Answers with this question : Why is my internet connection so slow on some sites? These were the answers:
1. Sometimes it's down due to their hardware and network connection. I worked for a company which had a site supporting around 250,000 users and it only had a 4meg internet connection!
2. There are three main reasons. -You have dial-up -The server is filled up with a lot of people -The server is cheap which makes it slow.
Well, I am on high-speed cable, so the problem apparently is related to too many people being accommodated by an overwhelmed server. I enjoy the community of Blogstream, but my frustration occasionally reaches the breaking point.
QUESTION:
Are Pencil Louie and I the only bloggers having this problem, or is it widespread among other bloggers on Blogstream?
You have a good job in middle management of a large corporation. One day you accidentally come across a memo in which those higher up in the management of the company are discussing outsourcing some of the jobs. You see that one of the names on the list of those employees to be terminated is Jill, one of your best friends who works for the same corporation. You confirm the memo’s contents with your boss, who tells you to keep the termination information secret because it could cause an uproar among the employees. You know that Jill and her husband Jack are planning to make a large down payment on the purchase of a new home. You know that the house payments will require the incomes of both. At the same time, you also know that Jill has some difficulty in keeping a secret.
What would you do? Would you reveal the information to your best friend Jill or would you protect your job and the corporation?
"The perfect human being is all human beings put together, it is a collective, it is all of us together that make perfection." --Socrates--
Let him that would move the world first move himself. - Socrates
BE! the Change You want to See in The World. ~ Gandhi
The Best way to Find Yourself, is to Lose yourself
..in the Service of Others. - Gandhi
The Only way to Have a Friend, is to Be One. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Video. You've Got A Friend (MEDLEY).
There are several performers in this video. Be sure to see the last song sung by Emme Lou from Austin, Texas in a 2004 performance when she was a 4-year-old. She is precious.
Many Blogstream members are there
already! Quotes from members: "It's like blog lite!" -- "I like the instant
gratification!" -- "Stop spectating, get in the game!"
If you have not joined in, you are really missing out!
