pixelwiki

Chase Madoff/Madoff Chase

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Thu, 05 May 2011 03:49:00 +0000

HuffPost: Madoff's Relationship With JPMorgan Chase Should Shock No One
February 6, 2011
"So now we learn that senior executives with decision-making authority inside JPMorgan Chase -- the Wall Street behemoth that is supposedly run by the most mature of adults -- apparently suspected that Bernie Madoff was running an enormous Ponzi scheme even as they kept doing business with his firm. They supposedly kept funneling money his way and let him run cash through Chase accounts even as they were sending emails to one another reporting the creepy sense that the whole enterprise didn't look real. This, according to internal documents that came out in a lawsuit on Thursday.

We are presumably supposed to be shocked and horrified by this disclosure. Here is alleged evidence of a blurring of the lines between the legitimate, button-down world of high finance and the nefarious realm of a sprawling con game -- a scam run by a guy whose very name, Madoff, now goes down as a synonym for ripping people off on a grand scale.

But far from shocking, this is really just an appropriate plotline in a story that is finally becoming clear beyond argument: Those lines between criminal fraud and legitimate banking have been blurry for a long time.

The longer the reckoning goes on, the more we learn about the complex derivative deals stitched together by geniuses inside enormous financial institutions, turning simple home loans into trillions of dollars worth of synthetic financial products backed by almost nothing, the clearer this reality becomes. The financial crisis was no natural disaster, as some apologists still claim. It was not the result of risk-management models getting swamped by complexity, or a dreamy belief that home prices could go up forever (though both of those factors certainly played a role). It was, in simplest terms, a hostile takeover of the vital organs of finance by people willing to destroy things of intrinsic value -- people's homes, real businesses, retirement savings -- so they could extract a cut."

See IMackGroupMath + Financial Literacy
Biography: IMackGroup provides edutainment products and services to promote math and financial literacy.

Mark Madoff R.I.P.

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Thu, 05 May 2011 03:24:00 +0000

Of several events not mentioned in the timeline post, perhaps one of the saddest is the death of Mark Madoff. Having a son myself, I have to believe that Bernie has lost something so precious that no amount of ill gotten monetary gain could ever be worth experiencing.

Then again, there are a lot of people in finance even now who really don't give a rat's ass about the pain they are continuing to cause so many as they take their millions and billions in bonuses I suppose.....just business as usual.

Historic timeline since September 2009

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:17:00 +0000

2009 - Pop icon Michael Jackson dies, creating the largest public mourning for an entertainer since the death of Elvis Presley.

2010 - The controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is passed by razor-thin margins in Congress

2010 - The Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico explodes, sending millions of gallons of oil into the sea. The spill becomes the worst oil spill in American history.

2010 - Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

2010 - Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and reduce the Democratic majority in the Senate.

2010 - A series of measures pass through an historic lame-duck session of Congress including an extension of Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans, the ratification of the New START II treaty with Russia, signing of an agreement to repeal the don't ask don't tell policy concerning gays and lesbians openly serving in the US military, and passage of a 9/11 first responders health-care bill.

2011 - U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords is targeted in an assassination attempt, when a gunman went on a shooting spree, critically injuring Giffords, killing federal judge John Roll and five other people, and wounding at least 13 others, at a "Congress on Your Corner" event Giffords was hosting in suburban Tucson, Arizona.

2011 - The US launches Operation Odyssey Dawn as part of UN military intervention in the Libyan civil war.

2011 - A series of tornadoes devastate the South, Alabama being the hardest hit. 339 people are killed in the deadliest natural disaster in the US since Hurricane Katrina.

2011 - Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda and mastermind of the September 11 attacks, is confirmed dead in Abbottabad, Pakistan by President Barack Obama.

Columbus Gas Prices again

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:01:00 +0000

This was my post in 2008:

As I was driving to the storage space, I filled up with gas; $3.52/ga. As I was driving back I looked at the sign and; $3.79/ga. Even before any damage is really done, they have raised the price. So, with that in mind...

....well??

Hello again people

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 04:53:00 +0000

Just a quick note to say I am back....or at least, I have finally managed to log on to this blog and read some of what I was writing a while ago. The latest craze is Facebook.
I was on Facebook, but the advertising slowed it down so badly that I quit. Even after changing the settings, I continued to experience the problem, too.
There has been a lot more news of a historic nature to comment on since the last time I posted anything and I am a little sorry I didn't continue to record my observations. I actually find several of my posts interesting to look back on now.

1881 President James A. Garfield

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:54:00 +0000

"Whoever controls the volume of money in our country is absolute master of all industry and commerce...when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate."
-this he said two weeks before he died

Ring of Power part 20

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:49:00 +0000

Here's something interesting to view, too. This part goes nicely with the next post.
If you are paying attention to all the news lately that the economy is turning around...perhaps you are being lulled into a false sense of security. By cutting employees' hours, instead of just hitting them with a bigger jolt of unemployment, we might just be getting let down a little more softly before we know just what is hitting us.
Plus, there is no change that I am aware of to the Patriot Act or the Codex Alimentarious or the Enron Loop hole etc.
My personal advice is that we do our best to sift through information and not just stand here uninformed and believing we are powerless.

AN ASTOUNDING EXPOSURE

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:23:00 +0000

On May 23, 1933, Congressman, Louis T. McFadden, brought formal charges against the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Bank system, The Comptroller of the Currency and the Secretary of United States Treasury for numerous criminal acts, including but not limited to, CONSPIRACY, FRAUD, UNLAWFUL CONVERSION, AND TREASON.
The petition for Articles of Impeachment was thereafter referred to the Judiciary Committee.
So, this ELECTRONIC BOOKLET should be reprinted, reposted,
set up on web pages and circulated far and wide.
Congressman McFadden
on the Federal Reserve Corporation Remarks in Congress, 1934

"Mr. Chairman, we have in this Country one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Banks, hereinafter called the Fed. The Fed has cheated the Government of these United States and the people of the United States out of enough money to pay the Nation's debt. The depredations and iniquities of the Fed has cost enough money to pay the National debt several times over.

"This evil institution has impoverished and ruined the people of these United States, has bankrupted itself, and has practically bankrupted our Government. It has done this through the defects of the law under which it operates, through the maladministration of that law by the Fed and through the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it.

Some people who think that the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government institutions. They are private monopolies which prey upon the people of these United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers; foreign and domestic speculators and swindlers; and rich and predatory money lenders. In that dark crew of financial pirates there are those who would cut a man's throat to get a dollar out of his pocket; there are those who send money into states to buy votes to control our legislatures; there are those who maintain International propaganda for the purpose of deceiving us into granting of new concessions which will permit them to cover up their past misdeeds and set again in motion their gigantic train of crime.

These twelve private credit monopolies were deceitfully and disloyally foisted upon this Country by the bankers who came here from Europe and repaid us our hospitality by undermining our American institutions. Those bankers took money out of this Country to finance Japan in a war against Russia. They created a reign of terror in Russia with our money in order to help that war along. They instigated the separate peace between Germany and Russia, and thus drove a wedge between the allies in World War. They financed Trotsky's passage from New York to Russia so that he might assist in the destruction of the Russian Empire. They fomented and instigated the Russian Revolution, and placed a large fund of American dollars at Trotsky's disposal in one of their branch banks in Sweden so that through him Russian homes might be thoroughly broken up and Russian children flung far and wide from their natural protectors. They have since begun breaking up of American homes and the dispersal of American children. ...."

Commenting on Former Congressman Louis T. McFaddens's "heart-failure sudden-death" on Oct. 3, 1936, after a "dose" of "intestinal flu," "Pelley's Weekly" of Oct. 14 said:
Now that this sterling American patriot has made the Passing, it can be revealed that not long after his public utterance against the encroaching powers of Judah, it became known among his intimates that he had suffered two attacks against his life. The first attack came in the form of two revolver shots fired at him from ambush as he was alighting from a cab in front of one of the Capital hotels. Fortunately both shots missed him, the bullets burying themselves in the structure of the cab.
"He became violently ill after partaking of food at a political banquet at Washington. His life was only saved from what was subsequently announced as a poisoning by the presence of a physician friend at the banquet, who at once procured a stomach pump and subjected the Congressman to emergency treatment."

/s/ Robert Edward Edmondson (Publicist-Economist)

President Andrew Jackson stated in reference to the bankers at the state of his administration:
"You are a den of vipers and thieves.
I intend to rout you out, and by the Eternal God, I will rout you out."
Click on the title to read all of this...it seems strangely familiar

Tsunami

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:25:00 +0000

A series of water waves that is caused when a large volume of a body of water, such as an ocean, is rapidly displaced.
Seems pretty simple. Today it's a wave of debt and greed. The folks with the money want to keep thier life style and the best way to do that is squeeze all the little guys. Whether it's the bottom line of a company or the preservation or enhancement of the larger incomes in an organization, the tsunami is hitting all the little guys really hard now.
Most people are really confused about who is to blame over the crisis. They take a stand that it's the people who got loans they couldn't afford if they are in the haves catagory. They take the stand that they were mislead if they are in the have nots catagory. Some people aren't in either catagory, but are feeling the consequenses because they lose their job or their bank and/or credit card company decides to charge them some fee or increase their payments threefold or cancel and change the terms of their agreement. Of course, all those financial things say, "we can change our terms any time we want for any reason we want". Employers have taken to the same mantra; we can terminate you for any reason or no reason at all any time we want.
This freedom is something to think about. For some strange reason, those who continue to pay for things believe they have to. Maybe they need to write a contract that says; we will pay if we feel like it after you decide to be fair in your terms or commit to something we agree to.

Ohio Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:31:00 +0000

Yesterday I was informed that the Governor decided it would be smart to cut out much of the funding of libraries in the State of Ohio. What comes to my mind is how elected officials are supposed to be public servants and I was thinking how this is going to serve the people of the state. Is this supposed to stimulate the economy by causing people to buy their books, dvds, and cds? Will he save enough money in the budget to keep paying some salaries of other public officials? Will they buy the employees from the library who are out of work food, clothes, and shelter? That's some real economic stimulus there.
I attended a college that always directed us to visit the Columbus Metropolitan Library for materials and to do research. This saved underprivileged college students a lot of money and allowed all students regardless of resources access to information to do their work. It seems that the only people our government is interested in serving now are those who somehow managed to escape the financial homicide we have been experiencing.
Ok, sorry Mr. Strickland, but I just don't understand completely. I never have made enough money to afford a home, so I didn't buy one. I attended college at the urging of many people and all I got was a pile of debt that will take me the rest of my life to pay off. Now, after our public servants have decided lining their pockets was more important than standing strong for the people in this country, you decide there isn't enough money left for one of the crown jewels of our state; the library. It is a place where people, ALL PEOPLE, can go to indulge themselves in knowledge, information, and entertainment. It stands as a haven for one of the things America stands for; freedom of speech and thought. We can all use it. There is nothing at the door that says you can't come here because you are too poor, too wealthy, or too anything. The message I am getting is that there are going to be a lot more people who are poor in this nation because our government allowed others to take our money and now you want to take away our library, too. We don't deserve this.

More Madoff

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:35:00 +0000

Just Say AWWWWWWW

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:40:00 +0000

There are a couple of books I am just crazy about floating around lately. What is funny about the "All Dogs Have ADHD" is that when a copy came to the Gahanna branch of the library, one of our dog lovers thought it was about dogs. I was after the book because I raised an ADHD child and the book is such a warm and fuzzy perspective on the affliction that I wanted to share it with him. It's an enjoyable read regardless of whether you think of it as a pet book or a person book.

The other one you have to see is "All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome". These are books that give you that "AWWWWW" feeling, but more importantly, they make you realize that everyone has thier quirks and some of those characteristics are really gifts that we can appreciate.

Where in the World is Pixelwiki

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:19:00 +0000

I wasn't too sure I really liked the Shaman character at first, but I have discovered that it has a lot of really nice features that I enjoy after all. For example, you aren't all about killing all the time. You can heal people and you get so many various types of skills, you can wonder around fairly independently doing your thing and join in when and where ever something is going on.

As is the case with a lot of games, you fight and kill things for loot and to gain power through leveling up your skills. Here I am fighting with a large lepidoptera.
Another feature of gaming is dieing. Here I am dead. In WOW you get to run after your corpse when you die, pick it up, and attempt to get some health and mana recharged before something attacks you and kills you again.
Shamans are the spiritual leaders of their tribes and clans. They communicate with spirits, have visions of the future, and guide their people through the darkest of times. Many mistake their wisdom and serenity for a pacifist nature. When challenged, though, shamans have a range of powers available for dealing with threats to the natural order.
Armed with the ability to harness lightning (Lightning Bolt, Lightning Shield) and other offensive magic (Earthquake), combined with the ability to buff and heal (Restoration), the Shaman is a powerful class indeed. As the only spellcaster besides the Hunter that has the opportunity to wear armor higher than leather (mail armor at level 40), the Shaman can also survive well in melee combat.

Madoff; pronounced Made Off

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:32:00 +0000

Since a few of us were discussing this today.....
Madoff's Clients list is a staggering example of the enormity of our troubles where money matters are concerned. Now, besides all of the victims of monetary losses, is the loss of one R. Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, a hedge fund manager who had lost $1.4 billion with Bernard L. Madoff.

On the other hand, though the news seems tragic, this man lived well and high while many people around the world live horrible impoverished lives. The amounts of money listed as investments of Madoff's clients could possibly have fed all of the hungry on the planet enough so they would not be starving or improved the lives of senior citizens. All that money collected into something where it was meant to be increased. Some of it seems to have been collected to support good causes or to insure retirements.

Who is this Madoff person and how does this all work? Strange how there are seemingly no boundaries and no oversight of these things. Apparently, there were allegations of Madoff's monkey business as far back as 2000, but no action was taken and no investigation was made. Why not? I keep wondering to what end all this is taking us and where or will it ever end?

So many regular working "Joes" out there who think being able just to buy a new car is something special and lately all we hear about are these huge amounts of money and investments and losses that were gains for many wealthy people who probably owned not only several cars, but several homes and boats and had the very best of everything served to them on silver platters and flew around the world on their private jets.

Many people I know are ignoring the news as much as they can. They are going to their little jobs day after day and doing their part. They have a few weeks a year to try to relax and then not enough money to enjoy the sort of service to them that people like Madoff and Magon de la Villehuchet likely expected every day.

What I am saying is that there is a reality to be addressed here. The story about Mr. Magon de la Villehuchet is sad, but he did it over feeling that he lost wealthy people's money, not because he felt or understood the hard working person's plight on the planet. Many of us show great respect for the wealthy in the world. We think they are that way because they are smart or come from prominent families. Lately, an acquaintance of mine who is in the same environment as I am didn't even know what HEAP was. I just couldn't forget that. This was a person who never had to get assistance to pay for heat in the winter and apparently didn't know anyone who had to apply for it either. Most people with money just ignore the other realities because they are troublesome or they don't want to acknowledge that poverty is the symptom of of the disease of greed.

Can I honestly say I have any respect at all for the wealthy now? There may be a few who tirelessly attempt to patch up some of the inequalities in this old world and that is admirable I guess. If we are not frothing over with gratitude for their help, we might lose what little we get to help us along, though.

Mr. Magon de la Villehuchet is dead and it is no different than any of our species. He stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. Suddenly, there is no difference between him and the nameless man in the morgue who can't be identified. Villehuchet's memory is not shared by a tribe on the other side of the world that can't read the newspaper where they spend their days hunting or farming to be sure they can eat another day.

We won't think about this tragedy beyond this week and maybe not beyond this day, but maybe we should think about it. Maybe we should think of what it may be like for many working class people with no jobs starving and cold in the streets and sleeping in their SUV's and tents. Maybe we should think about how powerless we are because somebody else has made decisions that serve them well about what we use as a means of exchange and how it is distributed and manipulated so that the majority of people live mundane lives working to make the few very comfortable. Maybe while we are out there in the streets, there will still be a few flippant persons who think somebody is in the street by their own bad choices and that it's just too bad so sad instead of realizing that we are the same and their fortune may not be there tomorrow for it could change and they might be the one in the street instead. Maybe at some point because they didn't know what HEAP was or care to know, somebody died in the cold and in the end, that dead person and our hedge fund manager are the same. We are the same. So why don't we care enough about each other to find a way to all live better?

Worker's Comp anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:16:00 +0000

Today, December 29, 2008, while trying to pull a very large and full bin of books out of a room, I strained my back. It was a twinge. The sort where it feels like something just came loose around your spinal cord. Since it didn't continue to hurt that minute I continued to work. Well, it got worse and worse until I was feeling like I could hardly walk. This isn't the most important part of the story, though.

There is something called an incident report that gets filled out at work and requires all sorts of information. Since I wasn't falling down bleeding, I decided to go ahead and fill it out. When you fill in that it's a work injury, it takes you to yet another report to fill out for worker's compensation. How convenient. Again, lots of information to fill out and you most likely will not know all of it because your doctor avoids worker's compensation cases. In that case, you are seeing somebody that you do not know.

(all this information should be on a card with a magnetic strip or something so you don't have to fill it out over and over and so you have access and responsibility to update it, but I guess that would put a lot of people out of work and might decrease room for error)

Anyway, I drove to my doctor's office near where I work to be told that she doesn't take the cases and be refered to another place. In this case it was OSU Occupational Medicine. The nearest location was on East Broad St. and she gave me a phone number to call. After I got somebody on the phone, he mentioned that it would be a two hour wait and that he thought they took walk ins, but "let me put you on hold just a minute".

When he returned he said there was another location that takes more patients and "here is the phone number". Ok, so here I am with my back hurting and I have been passed along twice. I call the number to the, as it turns out, West location and get a recording asking me to leave my name, birthday, and a number where I can be reached. It is now 12:29 and I brought attention to this problem at work at around 10:45. So far, nobody wants to see me...it's hot potato time, and I am sitting here writing a blog post waiting for a phone call that may never come for all I know. The recorded messages keep saying, "if you have a medical emergency, hang up and call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room." It sounds like a hint to me. A trip to the emergency room not only seems extreme, but it costs about $75 in co-pay if you are not a worker's compensation case.

This is a picture of the error message I got when I was looking up OSU Occupational Medicine on the internet because I thought I could at least get good directions for myself. As a matter of fact it was the very first link and there are others that give you the same results. What is really annoying when you get this is that you can't use your back button to get to the list of other links that might get you to their site.

I am on the east side, so I decide to call the east location again and got a recording. I think they are having lunch now. I wait a little while and call using a different choice from the menu for appointments. By the way, they are only open until 5PM, so if they can put you off long enough...well, too bad so sad. I get somebody on the phone and tell them of my prior conversation and tell them I only got a recording at the location out west. I say it would make more sense to go to their location. They say "and endure a two hour wait? Let me give you a back number to the west location, but let me transfer you anyway." I get the phone number and they transfer the call. It rings, and rings, and rings....No answer.

So, it's 12:59 and I haven't eaten and I think there has to be a better way. So, I get some lunch and decide to call a nearby urgent care that I visited last year when I had a very bad, on the verge of walking pneumonia, infection. Yes, they do take worker's comp cases if you haven't been seen somewhere else AND they are open until 7:30PM, but it will be a two hour wait. Seems that two hour waits are compulsory for this sort of thing. I am glad they tell me this time because I am going to prepare myself for a two hour wait. I get a few books, a beverage, and I am tempted to take my camera, but decide to give em a break because they sound very nice on the phone. As a matter of fact I should have taken it to take nice pictures of the kind people at the East Broad Adult Urgent care.

It's after 2PM when I am pulling into the driveway and my phone rings. You will never guess who it is. Well, hello there OSU. They ask me if I have an appointment. I am pleased to announce that, sorry, I am just pulling into the driveway at a nearby urgent care this very minute.

Though it did take a couple of hours to be seen and again, there were more papers asking for very similar information that I just filled out two other times, I was thinking how grateful I was to be this close to home and how helpful it was that they knew just where I should go to get the prescriptions filled. Apparently, if you go just anywhere, you may have to pay for them out of your pocket and then wait to be reimbursed which was a less than preferable option.

It is now 6:17 and I just arrived home from Krogers where I got two prescriptions for my aching back. This is about the time I would have been coming home from work anyway, but I think my back would have been happier if it had been resting peacefully while I was under the effects of the prescriptions a lot earlier.

Mayor Coleman declines raise in 2009

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:19:00 +0000

At a time when the government is bailing out big businesses who are taking bonus checks in the millions, a Mayor in Ohio declines a raise. For those whose incomes are in the six digits (or more), you would think declining a raise in hard times would be compulsory and that those who take a bailout as a wealth opportunity would be jailed for treason.

Here is the article from the Columbus Dispatch.

Spending cuts
Coleman rejects raise for self, 400 others
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 3:10 AM
By Robert Vitale

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

"Mayor Michael B. Coleman and hundreds of the city's top-paid employees won't be getting a raise in 2009.

The mayor's office said yesterday that Coleman will forgo any increase in his $152,000 salary next year and will freeze pay as well for about 400 other Columbus employees who help run departments under his control.

The move is a small savings compared with what's likely to come Friday when the mayor submits his 2009 spending plan to City Council members.

Coleman must cut spending or increase fees to fill an $80 million gap between next year's projected income and what it would cost to maintain current services. The pay freeze announced yesterday affects less than 5 percent of city workers and will save about $500,000.

For months, city officials have predicted layoffs and deep spending cuts to balance the budget.

"He's setting his example," spokesman Dan Williamson said.

Coleman hopes others will follow.

His 2009 budget won't include money to raise pay for more than 3,000 workers in two unions now negotiating contracts: the Fraternal Order of Police and the Columbus Municipal Association of Government Employees. Williamson said the mayor will abide by whatever pacts are reached, though.

And although Coleman has no power to freeze pay for other elected officials and their employees, Williamson said "he would not object" if they take the same action.

Budgets for City Council, City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr. and Auditor Hugh J. Dorrian automatically include increases for workers' salaries, according to Finance Director Joel S. Taylor. Their offices employ about 125 nonunion workers.

CMAGE President Teresa Langer and FOP President Jim Gilbert said little about Coleman's action beyond the obvious: Pay is definitely an issue at the negotiating table. CMAGE, which represents professionals and middle managers, has been without a contract since August. The contract for Columbus police officers expires next month.

City Council members will begin hearings next week on Coleman's budget. Because one annual ordinance sets pay for all nonunion workers, Council President Michael C. Mentel said he's unsure whether different policies are possible for those outside Coleman's departments.

Coleman and council members rejected pay raises for themselves in 2003."

What is a Yule Log?

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 02:15:00 +0000

I participated in a "gag" gift exchange recently and this is what I picked (minus the candles). I just thought it was a candle holder until I was informed that it is a Yule Log. Somebody else remarked that it was "kitchy" (not sure of the spelling) and that's another new one on me, so we'll leave that for another time.
The Yule Log came in the lovely Este Lauder bag you see in the photo. That's what really caught my attention. Anyway, I have been looking around on the internet to find out what a Yule Log is;

"The history of the Christmas Yule Log originates in the ritual known as Yuletide, a pagan festival of fire. This festival uses the burning of a log on the eve of the Winter Solstice to usher in the power of the sun. The day traditionally falls on December 20 and is the shortest day and longest night of the year. Thereafter nights will grow shorter and the sun will grow stronger in the longer days. However the name Yule derives from the Norse words "Yul" or "Jul".
The earliest known burning of a Yule-style log was in ancient Egypt in about 5000 BC to honor Horus, their sun god. The Sumerians had a similar ritual"....per The History Of The Yule Log

Prior to this gift exchange, I had mentioned how I picked an interesting gift that was a perfect fit when I was involved in one before and how I thought it was strange that it worked out that way, not just for me, but for many other people. You see in these exchanges, it is supposed to be a secret who donated the gift. It happened again this time because it just so happens that my birthday is December 20th. This date is on the Sagitarious side of the cusp and Sagitarious is a fire sign. Get it...festival of fire and fire sign? Interesting and true story.
Merry Christmas Eve folks!!

Oglebay Festival of Lights

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 23:37:00 +0000

...

We visited Oglebay's Wilson Lodge this weekend. Oglebay advertises it's festival of lights every Christmas season. So, we finally made the trip. Accomodations at the Wilson Lodge were adequate and our room was equipped with a small coffee pot, flat panel TV with cable, small refridgerator, and a balcony.
Arriving early in the afternoon, we still had some daylight to kill before the lights would be glowing all over the grounds. We decided to visit the Mansion Museum and the Glass Museum. The glass museum features Crystal, carnival, colored and opalescent glassware made by the Ohio Valley glass manufacturer H. Northwood Company which is the focus of the new display of valuable glass. A glass blower/worker was present to show us how glass was melted and shaped.

By the time we had walked through the museums, the Holiday lights were shining. Noting that the traffic was already running slow, we decided against creeping along to view the lights from our vehicle and decided to go back to the lodge where our room overlooked many of the light decorations. There are trollies available, but just like the museums, the ride comes at a price and we were hungry. We couldn't get into the main restaurant that required reservations, so decided to order through room service. We were suprised when the staff told us that it would be around 20 minutes since the lodge was packed with people. After about 50 minutes, we decided to call down and find out if our order was on it's way. It arrived "in a jiffy", luke warm and without silverwear which we discovered were missing after the staff were gone who had delivered our meals.
Which reminds me, we enquired about where we might purchase beverages besides through room service since the pop machine on our floor was sold out. The staff told us to go to other floors and that if we ordered from her, it would cost around $2 per small cup for beverages.
This is the point where I really didn't think too much of Oglebay's as a good destination to stay over the Christmas Holiday. Our room cost just over $300 and there wasn't much included with that price. There weren't enough staff to really take care of the crowd and even one of the things that was supposed to be available, wireless, didn't work well.

Still, there is a very nice indoor pool and jacuzzi. The lodge was decorated nicely. The bathroom included a towel warmer and we did have a breakfast buffet and a free newspaper with our room. Oglebay's seems to be a pretty good place for families because there were a lot of kids there and Santa visited, but for us, it wasn't a value and the few little things; a hot meal, a filled pop machine, a working coffee pot, and silverwear seemed to rank as less important than people collecting money for this museum, that museum, a trolly ride or to view the light decorations.

Texas Road House Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 02:51:00 +0000

This evening, we decided to go out for dinner and we were headed to Don Pablo's near Reynoldsburg, Ohio, but it was closed. On the same hill as Don Pablo's was a restaurant called Spaghetti's which we loved and has been closed for a while. So, we drove out and heading east on Main Street, we spotted the Texas Road House.
Although the parking lot was fairly full, we were seated quickly and our hostess brought some nice rolls along with us for our muching pleasure. In addition, there were peanuts in the hull on the table.
Yes, there are steaks and plenty of other selections on the menue. The point I want to make, though, is that the food was excellent. I chose prime rib and had a sweet potatoe and salad for sides. The salad was terrific and included hard boiled egg as well as tomoatoes. We really enjoyed the place. SEE Texas Road House

When I Grow Up

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:59:00 +0000

VOTE Open Web Awards Finalists

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:45:00 +0000

Mashable is proud to present the second annual Open Web Awards.

"Open Web Awards is the only multilingual international online voting competition that covers major innovations in web technology. Through an online nominating and voting process, the Open Web Awards recognizes and honors the top achievements in 26 categories."
SEE: The Second Annual Open Web Awards

VOTE NOW: One Vote Per Category Per Day
You have until midnight PST on December 14th to pick the winners. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, December 16th.

E for All 2008 cool games

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:27:00 +0000

On October 8, 2008 Mahalo Daily, Leah brings you the highlights from E for All 2008, including an interview with Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel, updates on Rohan Blood Feud, Entropia Universe, and Into the Pixel. Tell us what games you're looking forward to playing this holiday season! Be sure to RATE and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/mahalodotcom Mahalo! We're here to help! For more information, go to http://mahalo.com/e_for_all

http://www.mahalo.com/E_for_All
http://www.mahalo.com/E3

What a Ham

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:54:00 +0000

LOL...awwww, Pixelwiki gets to assimilate Library Joy and Gerald. Don't they look nice? Thanks to all at CML for the Learn and Play explerience. See you in the blogosphere!!

71/2 Habits..."Begin with the end..."

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:04:00 +0000

We are at the end of Learn and Play and, so, I am revisiting the habits of life long learners. #1 I didn't know where this was headed, but made a commitment to accomplish it. #2 and #3 That said, I decided to do this no matter what else was going on and not to give up, #4 ...which caused me to have more confidence as a competent learner. #5 My toolbox gets larger all the time as new tools are introduced. Now that I know something about social networking tools, I can set various goals for using them, but if there was an end in mind at all through this experience, it IS the experience itself of learning something new that has led to other things. #6 The tools of this program are being used more and more and familiarity with them makes it easier to progress along with trends. #7 I have been introducing some of the tools to other people. #71/2 Instead of the usual things I was doing over the internet, I have a whole new arsenal of things to play with and explore.
As a matter of fact, through the course of the program, I discovered several other tools (twitterfeed, twubble, videosurf to name a few) that weren't part of the 23 things and am finding more all the time.

7 ½ Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners
Habit 1: Begin with the end in mind
Habit 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning
Habit 3: View problems as challenges
Habit 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective
learner
Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox
Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage
Habit 7: Teach/mentor others
Habit 7½: Play!

Hardest for me = #5 because there are sometimes barriers that stop me from moving on and instead of finding some other way, I quit all together
Easiest for me = #71/2 because I truly like to have a good time. That may be why dancing was so easy for me. The more steps you learn the funner it gets.

ATTENTION TWITTER FRIENDS

noreply@blogger.com (pixelwiki) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:28:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving! I just wanted to take a minute to thank all of you for following me on twitter. I also want to thank the Learn and Play team and participants for being such great twitter friends. I trust we will share many Buckeyes Games, Saturday Night Live Shows, and other future events while we twitter away about what we think of them. It has been a blast.
I also want to introduce a new twitter friend of mine, Glosen, who has a terrific blog and some very happy pets as you can see in the photo. I have and am enjoying Gloson's poems and blog posts very much. As a matter of fact, he has some very informative tips on his blog besides the funny poems and great pictures.