A Union Army Soldier's Letter to his Wife

Sullivan Ballou, a 32-year-old soldier in the Union Army, to his 24-year-old wife:

"July 14, 1861
Camp Clark, Washington

My very dear Sarah:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days -- perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more ...

Sarah my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battle field.

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them for so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our sons grow to honorable manhood, around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me -- perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar, that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battle field, it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have often times been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness. ...

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and fit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest days and in the darkest nights ... always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again ... "

Ballou was killed a week later in the first battle of Bull Run.

Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed | Video on TED.com

Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed | Video on TED.com

Ralph Langner: Cracking Stuxnet, a 21st-century cyber weapon | Video on TED.com

Ralph Langner: Cracking Stuxnet, a 21st-century cyber weapon | Video on TED.com

Theater of the Absurd: The Irish Bailout

Link if above video does not play: Ireland Hot Spots 1



Link if above video does not play: Ireland Hot Spots 2

A few things I appreciate about America ...

Electricity that's always on, A Shower with good water pressure, Instant on hot water, broadband, a car horn I rarely have to use, ...

The Uranium Reactor

From Casey's Energy Report:

"The typical nuclear fuel cycle starts with refined uranium ore, which is mostly uranium-238 but contains 3% to 5% uranium-235. U-238 is the most common uranium isotope but does not undergo fission, which is the process by which the nucleus of the atom splits and releases tremendous amounts of energy. By contrast, U-235 is not very prevalent but is fissile. As such, uranium ore must be enriched to boost the proportion of U-235.

Once in the reactor, U-235 starts splitting and releasing high-energy neutrons. The U-238 does not just sit idly by, however; it transmutes into other, fissile elements. For example, if an atom of U-238 absorbs a neutron, it transmutes into short-lived U-239, which rapidly decays into neptunium-239 and then into plutonium-239.

When the U-235 content burns down to 0.3% the fuel is spent, but it contains some very radioactive isotopes of americium, technetium, and iodine, as well as plutonium. This waste fuel is highly radioactive and the culprits, these high-mass isotopes, have half-lives of many thousands of years. As such, the waste has to be housed for up to 10,000 years, cloistered from the environment and from anyone who might want to get at the plutonium for nefarious reasons."

DIFFERENT WAYS OF LOOKING AT THINGS

From Casey's Daily Dispatch:

Two guys were discussing popular family trends on sex, marriage, and family values.

Bill said, “I didn't sleep with my wife before we got married, did you?”

Larry replied, “I'm not sure, what was her maiden name?”

***

“Mr. Clark, I have reviewed this case very carefully,” the divorce court judge said, “and I've decided to give your wife $775 a week.”

“That's very fair, Your Honor,” the husband said. “And every now and then, I'll try to send her a few bucks myself.”

***

An old woman goes to the wizard to ask him if he can remove a curse she has been living with for the last 40 years.

The wizard says, “Maybe, but you will have to tell me the exact words that were used to put the curse on you.”

The old woman says without hesitation, “I now pronounce you man and wife.”

***

Two reasons why it's so hard to solve a redneck murder:

1. The DNA all matches.

2. There are no dental records.

***

A blonde calls Delta Airlines and asks, “Can you tell me how long it'll take to fly from San Francisco to New York City?”

The agent replies, “Just a minute.”

“Thank you,” the blonde says and hangs up.

***

America Inc.

Funny Stuff

It takes 43 muscles to frown, and only 17 to smile ...

"... Similarly, it is more beneficial to pursue positives than feed on negatives. Our heads may nod yes, but our hearts know better – it's not so easy. But, a life rightly lived is a life that doesn't bear the pain of a grudge seeking negative revenge.

It is a special moment when a person stops living in defense of himself, stops getting even. He quits calculating and maneuvering; he just starts living. He doesn't stop listening, he just listens better. He doesn't throw away his education, he just finds what works for him and does it. He doesn't stop caring for others, he just finds his love is itself reward enough, acknowledged or not. He doesn't stop reaching, he just grows what he knows, and passionately seeks for more. He doesn't cut himself off from others, but he is delivered from a need to always seek their approval. He doesn't pretend he has no fear, he just learns to walk with inward peace. " -- Richard A. Nelson

Conan's parody of iPad Promotion Video

Subprime Borrower?

Hunger & Revolution

From Daily Reckoning:

"Hunger was largely responsible for the French Revolution. Mobs gathered in front the Tuileries Palace, protesting the high cost of food. Inflation and bad weather had driven up the price of a loaf of bread to almost an entire day’s wages by an ordinary laborer.

Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis 16th, is said to have asked:

“What are they complaining about?”

“They have no bread,” came the answer.

“Well, let them eat cake,” was her witty, but ultimately fatal, reply.

She lost her head in the Revolution. So did thousands of others.

Mobs need scapegoats. And hungry mobs are not particularly careful about whom they choose."

The Ben Bernanke prints money => Food Prices go up => Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, ...

Obama Budget Cuts Visualization

John Robert Lewis: A Life Lived Well

The economy is so bad that…

From SimoleonSense.com:

The economy is so bad that…

I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

I ordered a burger at McDonald’s, and the kid behind the counter asked, “Can you afford fries with that?”

CEOs are now playing miniature golf.

If the bank returns your check marked “Insufficient Funds,” you have to call them and ask if they mean you or them.

Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.

Parents in Beverly Hills and Malibu are firing their nannies and learning their children’s names.

A truckload of Americans were caught sneaking into Mexico.

Motel Six won’t leave the light on anymore.

The Mafia is laying off judges.

BP Oil laid off 25 congressmen.

Congress says they are looking into the Bernard Madoff scandal. Oh great! The guy who made $50 billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5 trillion disappear!

Zach Wahls Speaks About Family

Video Link

Uh-Oh II

From DailyWealth.com:

Our national debt has doubled since 2005.

We've borrowed more money in the last five years than we had in the entire history of our government until then.

This isn't sustainable. The government's annual deficits now routinely surpass $1 trillion.

The first $1 trillion deficit came in 2008 – and the government explained it away as the consequence of the financial crisis. But we racked up another $1 trillion deficit in 2009 and yet another in 2010. We'll have another in 2011 and so on.

The government cannot increase tax revenues enough to cover our spending or repay our debts – ever.

Our annual deficits have become completely unlinked to taxes. Total federal income taxes and corporate taxes generate $1.1 trillion a year in revenue, and we still ran a $1.3 trillion federal deficit last year. So even if we increased tax revenues by 100%, we would still have fallen $200 million short. This is totally unsustainable.

We can't repay our debts.

Total debt outstanding in the U.S. currently exceeds $55 trillion. That's $681,165 in debt per U.S. family. There is simply no way to repay (or even maintain) debt of this magnitude using the income of the average American family, which is slightly less than $50,000 per family per year. Interest alone on these debts (based on a 5% rate) would total $34,000 per family every year. Total debt in the U.S. economy is unsustainable and can't be financed without printing vast new sums of money.

Martin Jacques: Understanding the rise of China | Video on TED.com

Martin Jacques: Understanding the rise of China | Video on TED.com

Joke of the day Mubarak and Obama

Obama: "Hosni, I think you need to write your goodbye letter to your people."
Hosni Mubarak: "Why? Where are they going?"