SunFyre...words from a seated position

Was Jed Clampett a Canuck? Surprise, the biggest importer of oil to the United States is our neighbor to the north, Canada. When people think of oil they think of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq. The reality is that we get more oil from Canada than from any of those nations. We also get huge amounts from Central and South America and Africa. In fact, for every Kuwaiti barrel of oil we import, we import 10 from Canada. Here's the top 10 list of oil importers to the United States in 2007 in barrels per day. Canada 1,864,000 Saudi Arabia 1,453,000 Mexico 1,410,000 Venezuela 1,150,000 Nigeria 1,082,000 Angola 496,000 Iraq 485,000 Algeria 443,000 Ecuador 198,000 Kuwait 176,000 I understand people's frustration about the invasion of Iraq, but if you want to see a war that's really about oil, let's attack Canada. The best part is, the Pennsylvania National Guard could probably win that war. If we just colonize all of North and South America, that would immediately fix o

"What should be done about the fact that American children lag behind kids in other countries in math and science?" is one of the questions posed in the July 7 issue of Time magazine, In their "10 Questions" feature they spoke with Neil deGrasse Tyson , the director of New York City's Hayden Planetarium . He is an astrophysicist and the host of a PBS show, Nova Science Now. He said, "We need to do something about the stigma. Somehow it's okay for people to chuckle about not being good at math. Yet if I said I never learned to read, they'd say I was illiterate dolt." This is so true. Being uneducated is acceptable in the US. While I am a big advocate of music, physical education, and art programs and believe them to be core to a well-rounded education, the reality is that we aren't even doing a stellar job teaching the basics... reading, math, and science. Speak to people who are well spoken and seem intelligent. Invariably, they

The New York Times reported that a woman committed suicide after sending a note to her mortgage company by fax. She was about to be foreclosed upon. A Massachusetts woman fatally shot herself soon after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying that by the time they foreclosed on her house that day, she would be dead. The police said the woman, Carlene Balderrama, shot herself Tuesday [July 22,2008], after faxing the letter at 2:30 p.m. The mortgage company called the police, who found Ms. Balderrama’s body at 3:30 p.m. The auction was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and interested buyers arrived at the property in Taunton, about 35 miles south Boston, while Ms. Balderrama’s body was still inside, said Chief Raymond O’Berg of the Taunton Police Department. Neighbors said Ms. Balderrama, 53, her husband and her son had lived in the house for about four years. I have a family member who lost his home recently to foreclosure. I'm not blaming his mortgage company exclusively, howe

Business leaders today are "meeting-ed" to death. Meetings are essential, but they hamper productivity. Finding the balance between group participation and high productivity will help you create a high-performance team. Twelve tips for faster and more productive meetings. read more | digg story

The Eulogy: You were a good hermit crab. I knew you for a week, but wish I had known you longer. I kind of wish I would've given you a name other than "the one in the purple shell". Flush. Believe it or not, I stayed up late last night writing. I posted a little blog entry about how to care for your hermit crab and decided to go to bed. I checked on the crabs before bed, and one of them was dead. I was excited when I read the article because I realized I had been doing almost everything right. I kept them in an aquarium with the right kind of sand. I was very proud of my accomplishment, then... dead. It is appropriate to flush a crab. With fish it's kind of obvious, but I'm unsure about crabs that live on land. (No, I didn't flush the shell. I'm not a complete idiot.) I'm down to one crab. I think I'm going to get more, but I'll probably have to order them online because they can't afford another trip to Atlantic City for a

Last summer we got a couple of hermit crabs. They didn't live long. This summer, Ainsley wanted to get some more of them. We got two in Atlantic City last weekend, and I'm determined to take better care of them. Here's an article about caring for hermit crabs I found and I figured I'd pass it on to you. Hermit Crab Care -- 8 Tips on Keeping Healthy and Happy Hermit Crabs By Jennifer Manning Are you thinking of buying one or a few hermit crabs? Hermit crab care seems so simple. Just put them in a little plastic critter carrier with a cap of food and a sponge of water and they'll be fine and dandy. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as that. This setup is far from the ideal conditions required by the land hermit crabs available in the majority of pet shops. Here are some essential tips on how to keep your hermit crabs happy and healthy. Provide a glass aquarium for your hermit crabs -- at least a 5 gallon for one crab and 10 gallons or more for multiple crabs

A little after 8 a.m. this morning my sister, Jennifer, gave birth to Lucas DeGennaro. Mom and baby are healthy and happy, and he tipped the scales at 8 lbs. 15 oz. He was about a week overdue, and since Jennifer struggled with inducement during her first pregnancy, they did a planned C-section. She's recovering much more quickly this time around. Tomorrow morning we are hopping in the car and heading to Atlantic City. They live in Galloway, New Jersey just outside of Atlantic City. This is the third baby born in our family in the past seven weeks. Late in May a member of my web team, (and my second cousin) gave birth to her first, a little girl named Natalie. In June, my wife's sister had her first, and we welcomed Lauren Rebecca. Now in July, Lucas joined us. My wife and I started trying to get pregnant about eight years ago. Our twins turned six in May. Since we began working on our little project, there's been a baby boom among our closest friends and family.