03Jan
I was reading the U.K. Daily Mail and recognized the following pictures. When I lived in Israel, I would take the bus through this checkpoint every couple of days:
» » I'm going to start just sticking personal pics on Facebook. Here are banquet pictures. (0) » »
20Dec
WhitePages.com has an interesting feature that gives statistics on last names. The results for my four last names (the last names of my grandparents) were hardly surprising, but interesting nonetheless.
Mast:
There are 7,975 unique ‘Mast’ last names in the United States.
Mast is the # 3,079 ranked last name in the United States
# 3,078 Custer
# 3,079 Mast
# 3,080 Vail
Top States for last Name Mast
1. Ohio 1223 listings
2. Indiana 795 listings
3. Pennsylvania 588 listings
4. Michigan 525 listings
5. Illinois 407 listings
Most Popular first Names for Mast
1. John 171 listings
2. David 150 listings
3. Robert 104 listings
4. Mary 103 listings
5. James 100 listings
Definitely an Amish last name! Here are a few quick stats on the rest:
Miller - #6 in the U.S. (Jones ahead of it, Davis behind it) with OH, CA, PA, FL, and TX out front
Yoder - #902 in the U.S. (Spence ahead of it, and Braun behind it) with OH, IN, PA, FL, MI out front
Beachy - #9066 in the U.S. (Violette ahead of it, Canavan behind it) with OH, IN, PA, MD, and FL out front
17Dec
KFC is running a contest to decide the most original Christmas tradition. The online controllable Christmas lights by my buddy Alek who I’ve interacted with some in the past to help raise money for Celiac Disease Research is a finalist in the contest. Whoever wins the contest gets free KFC for a year and $1000, which Alek is going to donate to the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research if he wins. He’s already raised over $30,000 for the Center for Celiac with his online Christmas lights. My dear sister Heidi has Celiac disease and is thus gluten intolerant, which means she can’t have anything with wheat, barley, or rye. If you would be so kind as to head over and vote for Alek’s lights–which are indeed an awesome Christmas tradition, give them a try!–you can be a part of donating $1000 toward finding a cure for Alek’s two little boys, Heidi, and the 3 million+ people with the disease in the US alone. Don’t delay. Do it now.
» » There's a special deal (round trip including all taxes and fees) on from Kansas City ($450) or Chicago ($350) to San Jose, Costa Rica. It needs to be done today, however, because we think it's probably a mistake and will be taken off the market overnight. It doesn't include the normal $300 in fuel surcharges that normally accompany that flight. Kansas City is the city my customer for whom I got the deal was flying out of, but I can certainly try other cities as well. Call me at 888-950-3273 (before 5 PM CST) or my cell at 620-899-1022 or email me at hans at goldrule dot net before 12 midnight CST if you're interested. (2) » »
27Nov
I’m sure y’all have heard about the unrest in Thailand including the shutdown of Bangkok’s two airports. I have only one comment on a paragraph in a CNN article that stuck out to me as blatantly wrong, having lived in Thailand for eight months:
In Chiang Mai late Wednesday protesters wearing yellow shirts pulled a 60-year-old man from his car and shot and killed him, Reuters journalist John Sanlin told CNN. Anti-government protesters typically wear yellow shirts, he said.
Yellow is the King’s color. The King has always kept above the fray of politics and coups and is the one person that everyone in Thailand loves. Everyone (including us foreigners) would always wear yellow shirts on Monday (the King’s birthday). On a given day (let alone Monday), it seems 25% of the men in Chiang Mai, Thailand wear a yellow polo shirt with the King’s shield/crest on the left breast pocket. For the Reuters reporter John Sanlin to say that anti-government protesters wear yellow is akin to saying that anti-government protesters tend to have legs. On top of this, both political sides sides wear yellow to show that their actions are patriotic–according to this travel blog, the soldiers that participated in the latest coup tied yellow ribbons to their gun barrels. It’s the equivalent of American politicians wearing flag pins.
» » Wow!
I just took this pic yesterday. (2) » »
» » Go Mitt! Romney gives excellent, excellent advice on the proposed big three bailout:
IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.
Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.
Ok, so maybe I should have supported Romney over McCain. (But the three-way race between Huckabee, McCain, Romney made things difficult and Romney dropped out before Huckabee...)
(3) » »
» » I'm thinking of Californians (especially the Witmer family in LA) during these wildfires (and thanking God that there are no trees to burn in KS). The Big Picture has some spectacular photos of the fires. (1) » »
» » Dorcas' latest Letter from Harrisburg column is up and it's a good'un! (4) » »
» » I am surrounded by Morans. This morning I picked up the Hutch News and did a double-take as I saw the headline: "Moran sets up bid for Senate". I continued to read, "WASHINGTON - With the 2008 election season over, Rep. J. Moran wasted little time taking the next step in his likely bid for higher office." I double-checked the name of the newspaper at the top: yup, Hutchinson News, not Washington Post. Having just lived in Virginia and having two Morans (one US Representative and one VA House of Delegates) always on the political scene, I thought my days of political news about Morans was over. Apparently not. I used to have Rep. J. Moran in VA and now I have Rep. J. Moran in Kansas. The difference between Virginia and Kansas becomes stark, however, when one notices the one detail that is different: Rep. J. Moran (D-VA) and Rep. J. Moran (R-KS). (2) » »
» » Anyone want to fly to San Pedro Sula, Honduras for $215 OW + tax? Contact Golden Rule Travel or email dad (marvin at goldrule dot net). (1) » »
» » As usual, the awesome The Big Picture blog over at the Boston Herald has some stunning pictures, this time of the coronation of Bhutan's new 28-year-old king. (0) » »
