Our parents' generation has balked at the tough decisions required to preserve our country's sacred entitlements, leaving us to clean up the mess. They let the infrastructure built with their fathers' hands crumble like a stale cookie. They downgraded our nation's credit rating. They seem content to hand us a debt exceeding the size of our entire economy, rather than brave a fight against the fortunate and entrenched interests on K Street and Wall Street.

via washingtonpost.com">http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/penn-state-my-final-loss-of-faith/2011/11/11/gIQAwmiIDN_blog.html">washingtonpost.com

I am the product of my parent's irresponsibility, though you wouldn't know it by how I live my life. Within my means and mindful of my responsibilities. Quite the opposite from those in the "free love" and "decade of excess" generation, it seems.

I learned long ago to look at my parents as fine examples of what not to do. I also learned long ago I don't need heroes to make a difference in the world, either.

Clearly, some people need heroes. To them, I say: be your own hero. Or if you really do need one, look amongst your peers for one.

A panorama from my hotel room courtesy of Auto-Stitch.

From a trip I did to Tel Aviv in September 2011.

From Toto:

From Dabush:

I love coffee in Israel. It even loves me back:

And finally, Zepra. Again.

The Transportation Security Administration fired 28 of its employees — in addition to three who resigned or retired — following a probe that revealed bags were allowed onto planes at Hawaii's Honolulu International Airport without being properly screened, the agency said Sunday.

via edition.cnn.com">http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/18/travel/tsa-screeners/index.html">edition.cnn.com

They clearly can't screen bags effectively. Whether you are subject to the irradiating nudeoscopes or not depends on the airport you fly into and is also a crapshoot as to which line you are unlucky enough to fly out of or stand in. They apply questionable methods inconsistently at best. Is it any wonder why I consider what TSA does little more than security theater?

Today is the 10 year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 tragedy. Regarding the events of that fateful day, we can be certain of one thing: we have not been told the truth. Many of the 9/11 Commission members, who authored the official 9/11 Commission Report[2], have admitted as much. In addition to the above statement by Max Cleland about a White House cover up, commission members have revealed that they "were setup to fail,"[3] [4]the "CIA obstructed our investigation," [5] the statements made by NORAD officials "was just so far from the truth," [6] that they were "extremely frustrated with the false statements we were getting," [7] and they "don't believe for a minute that we got everything right." [8]

This report provides compelling and incontrovertible evidence showing that the events on September 11, 2001 did not occur as documented in the 9/11 Commission Report[9] and in the World Trade Center Disaster Study[10]. Furthermore, we will show that both reports were falsified to cover up the real truth: the attacks on the World Trade Center complex and the Pentagon were orchestrated by factions within the government of the United States. In addition, we provide documented evidence of motive for the attacks, why you should care, and suggestions for what you can do to help prevent another 9/11 from happening.

via consciouslifenews.com">http://consciouslifenews.com/all-need-about-911-prove-inside-job-care/118365/">consciouslifenews.com

I'm seriously outing myself as a crackpot by reposting this or even commenting on this. That said, I don't necessarily believe the official explanation for 9/11. There's just too many things that don't stand up to even the most basic scrutiny, especially WTC7 (which like the song says, won't go away).

The only thing that is undeniable is the event was a tragedy. And it's not just because numerous people lost their lives that day, either.

Japan's pornographic industry, known locally as AV (adult video), is widely known to be somewhat different to the West, not least due to its mainstream acceptance in daily Japanese culture. AV stars can enjoy a high-level of celebrity not only in Japan, but across Asia, with women like Maria Ozawa, Ai Iijima and Sola Aoi variously promoting games, anime and starring in reputable films, TV dramas and theater. The industry is thought to churn out more than 3,000 features a year -- compared to around 400 regular Japanese films -- and have a value of ¥100 billion ($1.2billion).

via cnngo.com

While Japan in general has what many would consider some odd customs and social norms, this one seems quite enlightened, if you ask me. Porn is just like any other form of entertainment. Granted, it's not one I'd let my kids see, but there's other forms of entertainment that aren't considered porn that I wouldn't let my kids see, either.

Meanwhile, in the US, we've had relatively few successful "crossovers" from the porn industry into the more traditional entertainment industry. In fact, most traditional industries want nothing to do with porn. Proctor and Gamble fired Ivory Soap girl Marilyn Chambers after they found out she had stared in a porn movie. That movie? Behind the Green Door. A movie that, at least according to Wikipedia, "received positive reviews in mainstream media."

via Osfoora for iPhone

Attached: Testing Writing Kit AppSent from Writing Kit

Don't mind me. I am testing how Writing Kit works, which is an iPad app that supports Markdown as well as export to a variety of formats.

Formatting Foo

bold text italics

Inserting a photo:

Quotes. Cool.

Hack the code

Wonder how I'm supposed to use backtick on the iPad keyboard.Ok I figured it out

Remains to be seen if I'll use this tool but can't complain so far…