"Big ideas start as weird ideas..."

PayPal founder and Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel was so inspired by the book, "Atlas Shrugged," (a novel about free-market capitalism) that he's trying to make it a reality. He has invested 1.25 million dollars to the Seasteading Institute, an organization that hopes to launch a floating "colony" in INTERNATIONAL waters, so they will not be under American law and will be free to live with similar libertarians. They would be built on oil-rig type platforms and anchored in areas free of regulation, laws, and moral conventions. Thiel and his colleagues say that their ocean state would have no welfare, looser building codes, no minimum wage and few restrictions on weapons. They are aiming to have tens of millions of residents by 2050 and the long-term plan would be to have the platforms linked together. They hope to launch a flotilla of offices off the San Francisco coast next year.

Interesting concept....

"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On..."

This past Sunday my pastor mentioned current events and (regarding the debt ceiling dilemma) said that the problem is that Americans no longer believe what it says on our currency, "In God We Trust." It has become, "In Money We Trust," and he said that he believes that God will keep on shaking things up until we return to the former. So you've probably heard by now that yesterday there were earthquakes in unusual places - Colorado and Virginia, and evidently felt as far as Washington, D.C. and New York City. California also had 2 earthquakes yesterday in Mammoth Lakes and Oakland and today there was an earthquake in Peru. And, of course, a hurricane is headed for the East Coast as I write. One of my Facebook friend's status today was, "Earthquake cracks Washington Monument. Hurricane heads for president at Martha's Vineyard."

My pastor also added that God is lifting His protection from the USA since we are turning our backs on Israel, and that is backed up by many Scriptures... I have to remind myself that God is still the King of Kings and He's still on the throne. Even nature is crying out.

But it's still a little unsettling...

WTHeck Friday on a Sunday?

Does anybody else find this completely creepy? This is actually a styrofoam creation designed to be an ad for a British beauty company Soap and Glory on display in Hamburg, Germany's Alster Lake. Weird...

WTHeck Fridays

Is this perfect for What the Heck Fridays or WHAT?!

Evidently the deceased, 80 year old Roy Miracle was such a Die Hard Fan (pun intended) that his family decided to pose for one last cheer. They spelled out O-H-I-O and Roy was in his usual "I" spot.

Forever....

"You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it."

Once in a blue moon a photo like this is taken - here is a fabulous picture taken of New York City's Central Park with a rainbow encompassing it.

Awesome, simply awesome....

"We'll have a gay old time..." - Flintstones TV theme song

America's first gay hotel chain has opened it's premiere branch in Miami. The Lords Hotel is the first of its kind to exclusively target the gay market. They plan to eventually open more branches in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco.

Heaven help us...

"Believe it or not..."

Just read and saw something totally bazaar. Sort of like a Ripley's Believe it or Not, but there are photos to prove it. These photos are of a ghostly apparition of a river in China. The buildings you see are actually water in a river - specifically the Xin'an River in Huanshan City in East China. There is usually nothing but sky across the horizon. Amazed residents recorded the footage with some even suggesting that it could have been a 'vortex' to a lost civilization. The pictures have baffled experts who visited the city to check that there were not actually any of the buildings already there. They believe the sight is a mirage, a form of illusion that is common in humid weather. Some of the witnesses said that a number of similar sights had been seen recently although this one was the most spectacular.

Weird...

"Fear makes us feel our humanity..."

You've probably heard by now of the 11 year old girl in New Jersey (pictured) that fell off of the 10 story ferris wheel yesterday and died. I took special interest since I have a terrible fear of ferris wheels. (Actually putting my life in ANY carny's hands is something I don't choose to do any more, and when DD rides at the annual local fair, I just have to pray... ) Evidently accident rides are a lot more prevalent than I originally thought. I googled "death on ferris wheel" to get the photo, and LOTS of accidents pop up. I used to work with a gal at the Express-News who's younger sister was paralyzed in early high school from the local fair rides in a small suburb of San Antonio, and I've never forgotten about that. I used to ride all the rides like most kids do, but as I got older, I started watching the carny's face as he would speed up the ride to get his kicks trying to make kids vomit, and it occurred to me that THIS is the person you're entrusting your body (and your life) with. A few years ago in our small town fair, one of the workers brought her baby and stuck him in a play pen on this dusty spot right under this blaring speaker that was deafening. I was so upset, I asked her to please move her child because he could go deaf. She couldn't care less. She said he already had lost a lot of hearing and said it wasn't worth it. It's all I could think about that night, but I digress. My questions are: did this young girl that somehow fell out of the ferris wheel have a seizure? Was she suicidal? Did she stand up and lose her balance? She was alone in the gondola, but certainly was old enough to understand the rules and the danger of a 10 story ride. I just don't get it. And it's a pointless death... It just reaffirms what I already knew.

I will never get on another ferris wheel...