On Thu, 13 Feb 2003 08:46:31 -0800, Ed <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >David Strike wrote: > >> He managed to find a pregnant pipefish, a couple of >> eagle rays and - pointing to what I thought were three black flatworms >> wriggling on the sand - knocked me to one side just before I touched the >> large numbray that was lying beneath the sand using it's lures to >> attract prey. (Those things don't half give you a belt of electricity >> if you're dumb enough to touch them!) :-) > Lee> I mean shock therapy is fine for those that need it, but Lee> deliberately seeking it out while underwater does not seem Lee> like a really wonderful idea. 8^) Lee can tag along with Mika when Mika comes to Shelly Beach, to get the shock therapy Lee BADLY needed. :-) My experience of this kind is the opposite. Sue and I were not only dumb enough to touch an Atlantic Torpedo (before we knew about it of course), but we played with it for quite a while, GENTLY, without threatening the critter. This was in Turks and Caicos, where we also way a "stack" of FOUR flying granards (sp?) at the sandy bottom, having a sex orgy -- not knowing who's doing what to whom. At any rate, my LAW OF NATURE is that critters capable of attacking will only attack when they feel they are threatened. So, you can touch lots of dangerous things and get away with it if you do it gently. But it's good to know what they can do to you POTENTIALLY. :-)) > >> An army guy in camouflage >> gear was standing on the beach waving his arms at us. Pete and I waved >> back! He kept pointing behind us. We looked around to see six black >> inflatables carrying black-clad pongoes quickly sneaking up behind us - >> with no discernible noise from their motors. It's probably one of the >> quickest exits from the water that any of us have ever made! :-) Lee> I guess the world knows that the U.S. is on Orange alert. Lee> To hear the news reports, there's some serious expectation of a Lee> terrorist attack very soon. Things like anti aircraft ordinance Lee> around Washington DC and other major cities, increased inspections Lee> of vehicles, and the like are being reported. I'm not real sure Lee> what information has been received, but it's pretty clear it;s Lee> being taken more seriously than has been the case in the past. >In my not so humble opinion, it's all just smoke and mirrors to >distract us from what 'wubya' hasn't done to help the US economy. My sentiments precisely. But that's only PART of it. It's also Dubya's MARKETING plan to bomb the hell out of Iraq, when the troops had already been sent, before UN or any other country had found any evidence that supported such a unilateral action on Dubya's part. It's a three-ring-circus art: (1) Play up the smoke and mirrors tricks about attacks (2) Have Colon (isn't that the part of the body that is an oriface? ;-) do his song-and-dance in the UN to the yawns everyone else (I saw everyone else's reaction (at the UN security council) during his speeches on TV); and (3) Have Greenspan giving some pep talks about how the economy is going to improve while Dubya is sending the country to the bankrupcy courts. :-) Greenspan FINALLY quite playing Dubya's deficit game, and DID NOT support his tax CUT plan, as the NEWPAPER and WALL STREET numskulls expected Greenspan to be just another clown in the circus. >As gas price jumped by over $0.30 a gallon in just 2 weeks. Sheeit! >Ed That's NOTHING, compared to how much the airline FUEL will jump! The largest Airline, AA, is already losing 5 MILLION USD per DAY, with no end in sight! They'll be headed to the bankrupcy court soon. In all previous admins, the proposed budget is always "balanced" (Reagan's pitch, even though he set records in DEFICIT spending, and people voted him in for an ENCORE. Sure enough, he set another new record in decifit spending). Not to be outdone, Dubya PROPOSED a budget that is 300 billion to a TRILLION in the red, even before it started. :-) I'll take bets NOW, that whatever the Congress approves, the DEFICIT will be GREATER (the only question is, by how many trillions!). I know Strike doesn't gamble (against me anway. :-)). Any takers? I KNOW all of this is "supposed" to be consider OT. But what the hell? It's definitely SCUBA related. It affects my TRAVEL. It affects the COST of my travel to dive. It affects the value of the USD that pays for my scuba. It affects EVERYTHING that is scuba relate. :-)) All Dubya has to do, which is what he could have done in the first place, is to mine OUR OWN Bitness (the good ole USA), and quit stirring the posts in Iraq, Afganistan, Korea, ... you name it ... except tending to the business at HOME. It's almost too late for Dubya to exit gracefully now. In golf, it's called "pressing". In gambling, it's called bluffing and betting good money for bad. In other areas, there may be more descriptive names for the same thing. When that stops, the enonomy will boom, there's no more and no less threats as the US and other countries are threated as they are now, by whomever Dubya is pushing. Travel will boom once more. Scuba resorts and packages will be back to its good ole days. There will be more NEDfests, ... I know, I know ... as Strike puts it, in a different situation and a different context, "Mind you, it's probably an impossible dream, ..." But there are values in dreaming impossible dreams, so that reality may come CLOSER to the impossible dream rather than drifting toward the deep end. THAT's my Sermon of the Day. :-) No, no. The new CatFeeesh live is NOT Evangilism or Preaching! :-))) -- Bob.