Playing Upslope

I just came across the story of what looks to be a great new toy, Slotto.  It is a set of interlocking pieces, like Legos or Lincoln logs.  What makes Slotto different is that while Legos are more like bricks, Slotto is more like plywood -- in fact it is made from medium-density fiberboard -- so it takes fewer pieces to build larger structures.

Right now Bed, Bath, & Beyond sells it under the name "TreeHaus Wooden Slotted Blocks".

A Different Path

They may be going up a different slope, but they have the spirit: "For Martha Stewart's New Fans, Tattoos Meet Applique" in the New York Times.

A Different Spin

The IEA published an annual report recently that projects that the United States will overtake Saudi Arabia by 2020 in production of oil and become a net exporter by 2030.  There has been a lot of commentary on this, one side saying that this disproves peak oil and we can continue merrily along, the other saying these projections are wishful thinking.  I can foresee a quite probable scenario where the US surpasses Saudi Arabia as the latter's oil wells start pumping out water on the steep edge of the decline, and the US becomes a net exporter of oil because the dollar is no longer the reserve currency for the world and we need to sell oil for hard currency and can't afford to use the oil ourselves.

Beautiful Simplicity in A Bird's Nest

Nature Shows How Weaverbirds Create Beautiful Tiny Homes on The Flying Tortoise blog has a lot of beautiful pictures.

Why I Voted For Ron Paul

"Every nation gets the government it deserves."  -- Joseph-Marie, comte de Maistre

If you voted for Barrack Obama because you love the guy, congratulations.
If you voted for Mitt Romney because you love the guy, I'm so sorry.
If you voted for either because you thought they were so much better than the other choice, I understand.

If you voted for either because they were the lesser evil, you suck.
If you didn't vote at all, you really suck.

I didn't waste my vote.  I voted for someone I actually thought could do the job.

As long as we keep meekly approving the crappy choices they give us, they will keep giving us crappier choices.

Americans deserve four more years of this government.  Maybe then they'll finally wake up and take some real action.

From A Dream

A bird dove through the air.
She hit the water and broke her neck.
As she floated there
The men thought she was food for the fishes.
The fishes thought she was food for the men.