There are only two cities in the USA that have two buildings taller than the two tallest buildings in Houston.

There is no building as tall in downtown Manhattan, four in midtown Manhattan and six in Chicago.

LA has just one building taller than the Wells Fargo Tower and Atlanta has just one.

The skyline from my balcony is fairly impressive.

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_search.php?text=houston+skyline&action=f...

Many of the pictures here were taken from my balcony.

"The Town of Baltimore was founded on July 30, 1729"

Just wanted to shout out to all those whose behave and believe in the "northernmost southern city" or is it "southernmost northern city" otherwise known as Baltimore, MD!

Baltimore Harbor
as seen from World Trade Center:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_the_Niger_Delta

If we think the BP gulf spill is bad. We don't know the price Nigerians pay practically every day. Sabotage accounts for about a quarter of the leaks. Half seems caused by "corrosion of pipelines and tankers". If you think we pay too much for our oil related products, what do the people of Nigeria pay?

If we pay more for our oil related products, it would not go to better environment controls, it would go to the Nigerian government and not the people who could benefit. So, what can be done?

shows her at The Fort in Morrison, CO.

I think Danny will forgive me, I really think of him as family as he has woken me up most Saturday mornings for years.

Daniel Louis Schorr (August 31, 1916 – July 23, 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Schorr

http://www.vancouversun.com/stars+present+their+sexy+scandalous+quotes+P... is a list of the top 20 quotes from the AMC "Mad Men" series.

I personally think they missed some. Click on the link above to see the cast's top 20 quotes. The season starts again this Sunday.

This weeks column talks about jobs, politics and human relationships and this guy is an IT consultant.

Misdirected anger

By Bob Lewis | July 19, 2010
Topics: Business Ethics, Industry Commentary, Leadership | 3 Comments »

Why is everyone shouting at each other these days?

I think I know why: It’s nothing more than pent up resentment over how bad managers have treated people for decades. We can’t get back at the managers, so we’re redirecting the anger.

For example:

Assigning blame

Ever have a boss who, when something went wrong, mostly cared whose fault it was?

Say it was a server crash that caused an hour-long outage. It crashed because the power supply shorted out. The recovery took that long because the troubleshooters needed 10 minutes to figure out that the problem was, in fact, the power supply, 5 minutes to replace it, and 45 minutes to boot the server and verify it was operating properly.

The server wasn’t part of a fail-over cluster because the business couldn’t afford a fail-over cluster.

Your boss’s response? “Why don’t you and your team take responsibility when something goes wrong? Somebody screwed up. I want to know who it was.”

Just wanted to shout out to my bro Neil a happy birthday!!!

There really are two countries within the USA. Maybe the best thing is to break the country up into two countries.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599200394400

If Sarah Palin is for real, as in really going to run for President, is this country for real?

"I don't belong to any organized political party. I'm a Democrat."

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/07/anybody_got_a_plan.php...

Posted in full

Anybody Got A Plan?
David Kurtz | July 14, 2010, 5:08PM

Democrats in Congress wield the power of the majority and the advantages of incumbency but they're also facing a potential trouncing at the polls in November.

So how are congressional Democrats planning to use the tools still at their disposal to hold on to their majorities?
...

OK, well, I mean what popular proposals are Democrats planning to make Republicans vote against between now and the August recess, when the 2010 campaigning really heats up and they can beat them up over their no votes?
...
Um, OK, what about a coordinated legislative strategy on jobs and the economy that builds relentless pressure on Republicans as the elections approach making them vote for popular items that drive a wedge between them and their base?
...
Alright then, maybe a coordinated communications strategy with the White House?
...
Hmmm, how 'bout coordinated communications strategy amongst themselves?
...

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/2010/07/conservatives-dont-care-about-...

I really would be interested in hearing the conservative response.

I really think the answer is they want government as small as possible, not that they want the deficit to be smaller.

According to "The Writer's Almanac" he was born on this day in 1913. According to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Guthrie he was born on this day in 1912.
Either way, here are some missing lyrics:

As I went walking, I saw a sign there,

And on the sign there, It said "no trespassing." [In another version, the sign reads "Private Property"]

But on the other side, it didn't say nothing!

That side was made for you and me.

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;

By the relief office, I'd seen my people.

As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,

Is this land made for you and me?

Heard this on CNN this morning and had to try to verrify:

Pennsylvania banker who was laid off after three decades with the same firm. He had sent out 1,500 resumes and landed just three interviews and no offers. Perry suggested the client focus on a dozen companies, and find and contact former employees through LinkedIn or Facebook, letting them know he was interested in working for the firm and asking if they would be willing to discuss its issues and challenges.

The banker then crafted a cover letter outlining how he had solved similar issues in his career, and sent it with a one-page resume in a Starbucks coffee cup through Fedex, so the target would have to sign for it. Within 30 minutes of receiving delivery confirmation by email, the banker called and asked if the recipient would meet him for coffee to talk about how he could help the company.

"The whole point is to get them to agree to have coffee, not an interview," Perry says. "An interview request automatically makes the (recipient) uncomfortable because there's an expectation of a job offer." The banker sent the coffee cup to 10 companies, got eight interviews and six offers in five weeks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/sports/baseball/14steinbrenner.html?sr...

Ernö Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik's Cube, was born in a hospital air raid shelter in Budapest, Hungary, on this date in 1944. From the Rubik's Cube, Rubik went on to invent the Rubik's Snake, the Rubik's Triamid and the Rubik's Magic Folding Puzzle.

Quote: "Our whole life is solving puzzles." — Ernö Rubik

I had thought that the current view of the way things are had decided long ago that gravity doesn't exist. Then I heard about spending fortunes on graviton detectors.

Anyway, I think this article is fascinating.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13gravity.html?_r=1&ref=science

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/100-best-places-to-live-in-america-201...

Wendy & I are proud to announce the availability of our services to raise your community's standards and rankings. Our track record speaks for itself!

1998 Madison NUMBER ONE (Money Magazine)
2003 Eden Prairie NUMBER ONE (Money Magazine)
2010 Eden Prairie NUMBER ONE (CNNMoney)

Contact us to learn how together we can raise the ranking of your community.

We like to call it our "No Community Left Behind" program.

Are we serious?

Total global wealth stands at $125 trillion, more or less. The total world market for financial derivatives stands at $700 trillion. Does anyone else see something terribly wrong with this picture?

This is from an IT column not that i read to bond with the IT folk here at Hechtmail, but because it has so many insights into life and the way the world works.

You can read the whole column here, complete with hyperlinks:

http://www.issurvivor.com/ i am referring to the 20100712 column.

To a certain degree Obama's administration makes me sick. This web site:

http://bpmakesmesick.com/

is where we can sign up to ask Obama to get BP to allow workers to wear protective gear. It is really a shame how ineffective we are in dealing with this crisis.

Peace, remember peace is how we make it,
Here within your reach
If you're big enough to take it.

I don't ask for much, I only want your trust,
And you know it don't come easy.
And this love of mine keeps growing all the time,
And you know it don't come easy.

I heard about the "RightNetwork" on NPR's "All Things Considered" today. I went to their you tube site. The videos are not really that interesting. Yet, I heard Kelsey Grammer say that more taxes are wrong. It made me think why people think Obama has raised taxes. I found this site from PolitiFact. They seem to think that Obama actually cut taxes for working Americans.

Here are the related links:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jan/28/barack-ob...
http://www.youtube.com/user/RightNetwork#p/u/0/ehMl-CztpnA
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

http://www.dayjohnmetpaul.com/

A great book as well

Maybe some that have no clue and teach hate will not make it our National Anthem, or for that matter the more Famous This Land is Your Land, but we can live the lyrics:

PHIL OCHS:POWER and GLORY

Come and take a walk with me thru this green and growing land
Walk thru the meadows and the mountains and the sand
Walk thru the valleys and the rivers and the plains
Walk thru the sun and walk thru the rain

Here is a land full of power and glory
Beauty that words cannot recall
Oh her power shall rest on the strength of her freedom
Her glory shall rest on us all (on us all)

From Colorado, Kansas, and the Carolinas too
Virginia and Alaska, from the old to the new
Texas and Ohio and the California shore
Tell me, who could ask for more?

Yet she's only as rich as the poorest of her poor
Only as free as the padlocked prison door
Only as strong as our love for this land
Only as tall as we stand

But our land is still troubled by men who have to hate
They twist away our freedom & they twist away our fate
Fear is their weapon and treason is their cry
We can stop them if we try

Happy Anniversary to Brenda and Peter!!!!
Congratulations to you both!!!!