Tramp At Home

The Cramer Effect

2009-01-08T16:25:00.000-08:00

Well, it HAS been a while since the last post. I've been watching a lot of internet stock trading the last few days. And one of the things I noticed and have been wondering about is what I have named the "Cramer Effect". The effect isn't unique to Cramer, that's just where I noticed it.

I noticed this today while watching the market and listening to Cramer at the same time: the "Cramer Effect" seems to be a good short-term (minute or two, tops) play. Two days in a row now, he's mentioned a stock (today it was ENER), and there was an immediate, huge volume and price spike. I watched ENER climb about $1.20 a share in 2-3 minutes, from roughly 27.33 to just over $28.50. Same thing yesterday with mention of CRXL (that might have been one of the other commentators, I forget his name at the moment = Neil Cavuto, I think). Again, the stock went immediately into overdrive.

Anyway, how would this be as a funny-but-serious trading strategy? Jump on something as soon as it's mentioned, buy at market, wait 2 minutes, and sell. There's got to be other people thinking like this. Any comments?

Missing glbAppVersion in DotNetNuke

2008-11-20T08:33:00.000-08:00

I was upgrading a module the other day, and was doing so on one of the newer DNN versions (4.9). I got the following error:
error CS0117: 'DotNetNuke.Common.Globals' does not contain a definition for 'glbAppVersion'

It turns out that somewhere along the line (I didn't bother tracking down where), they moved this to the "DotNetNuke.Common.Assembly" namespace.

Hope this post saves somebody else some time.

Wish I knew why these geniuses moved a common global variable, especially one like this - now you can't even safely write code to check what version you're running to determine where you've got to check for something... grumble, grumble...

Partition Magic? Partition Nightmare is more like it!

2008-11-14T13:18:00.001-08:00

Well, at least the election is over so I can grouse about other things for a while.

The job search continues, there are a lot of people who want Linux/Java out there, so I thought I'd repartition my hard disk and install Ubuntu. I had an older version of Partition Magic (hereafter "PM"), v.6, so I installed it and ran. It warned me, right up front, that that particular version had known issues with the NTFS file system on my drive. Well, after digging around a while longer through my CD ROM collection, I found v.8 (which is "current", apparently, even though it is 5 years old). SO, uninstall v.6, install v.8, and run. No warning. Great, they fixed the issue... (can you see this coming?)

I set three tasks for PM: 1. Resize my primary partion smaller. 2. Create a "Boot Magic" partition (a program that comes with PM, apparently allowing for easier navigation between boot partitions). 3. Create a Linux partition.

To apply these changes, the system reboots, then PM goes through the gyrations it thinks it needs. After ten minutes or so of resizing the first partition, it detected Error 1518: File Attribute doesn't fit, and it wants to abort. Well, OK I guess, something I read said that if things were aborted, you'd be restored to the original state. Not!

Subsequent reboots were met with the BSOD. OK, next step is to boot off the PM CD ROM - if you do that, you get a couple of options, one of them is to run the PM program. Sounds like a plan, so I select that. Get a warning message (from PM) telling me that one of the cylinder ending numbers is incorrect, should PM fix it? Yeah, I guess, since PM was probably the one who changed it in the first place (I had somehow forgotten to run my "GoChangeTheEndingCylinderToARandomNumber.exe" utility before starting this whole operation).

PM loaded after that, but showed that the primary partition was the original size (ie, pre-"fix"), and there didn't appear to be a whole lot more options available. OK, if something got fixed, perhaps we're good to go, so reboot. BSOD. Dang.

Options, we have options. Something on the Symantec site said boot to DOS and run CHKDSK. OK, fine. Done - except I need a different word there, perhaps "doing" fits better, it started off pretty well, but once it hit around 27% complete, it started crawling. I got online on a different computer. Symantec has 24x7 chat support - cool, let's try that. The suggestion I got was to let chkdsk run, then re-install windows. Whatever. This was about 1:30 in the morning, so I went to bed. chkdsk had completed by the time I got up.

This is a Dell desltop computer I purchased several years back, it didn't come with a for-real Windows disk (though there is a "genuine Microsoft" sticker on the side of the machine with the OS serial number); instead, I've got something called "Reinstallation CD Windows XP Pro..." etc. So I stick that in, boot from the CD, and it works for a little while, then aborts because it can't find the EULA.txt file. Perfect.

I've got another Windows XP disk, so I decide to reboot and try that. It putters around for a while, then tells me it's looking for the ASMS file, and also tells me where it's looking. Not having memorized the directory structure of the CD, I popped the disk out, and put it into another computer. Sure enough, the directory is right where it's supposed to be.

I don't have a clue, I guess. I'm probably six hours invested in this exercise so far. I just got back from Fry's with a new hard drive, I guess we'll try installing the XP OS onto that. The computer's rebooting right now (real time blogging!!), let's see...

Found XP Pro. It knows it's supposed to be installing Windows XP Pro. It's doing promising looking little changes on the screen...

But I still wouldn't give you two cents for the so-named "Magic" utilities.

Nobama

2008-11-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

Two days until Election 2008 (if you ignore the as-much-as 35% who voted early).

Obama says he will bankrupt the coal industry by imposing [sic] cap-and-trade penalties on coal-fired plants - see this article, which also contains a link to a youtube audio. Guess where we get just under 50% of our power in this country? If you said coal, you win.

Obama wants to establish a national civilian security force "just as powerful strong and well-funded" as the military - watch him say it yourself. Which will cost what? More importantly, do what? Remeber the brown shirts?

He wants to redistribute wealth (see my post from October 27th).

He tolerated - accepted - embraced the rantings of Jeremiah Wright for TWENTY YEARS!

Tony Rezko. Father Pfleger. William Ayers.

Nobama.

Joe the Plumber and Character Assassination

2008-10-30T08:53:00.001-07:00

OK, perhaps it happens on both (or all) sides, but this is the one currently in the news. Joe the Plumber, he of Obama's "spread-the-wealth" comment fame, had his background checked through state-managed computer systems back in Ohio.

According to this article in the Columbus Dispatch, Helen Jones-Kelley, Director of the Department of Family and Job Services (whose sytems were used to make the checks), indicated that it was "consistent with past departmental practice" to make such checks.

Considering how quickly we discovered that Joe doesn't have a plumber's license or a business license or a union membership, I'd say the only reason we don't know that he's involved in a child support case or have tax problems is because he isn't and doesn't.

Reality check: Redistributing Wealth

2008-10-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

Joe the plumber. Instant iconic hero (well, for conservatives, anyway!) He managed to expose the Messiah with a simple question which Obama answered - and accidentally answered honestly, stating that everybody benefitted when the wealth was spread around. The invasion of Joe's private life is another story which I hope to get to.

This raised the obvious question: is Obama a socialist? A Marxist? Joe Biden tried to spin it away as meaning that there would be tax cuts.

Well, Uncle Joe - what about this interview with Obama done in 2001? Let's look at the important statements:

(Referring to the success of the civil rights movement of the 1960's): But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society.
One of the I think tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributed change and in some ways we still suffer from that.
(A caller to the show asked:) is it too late for that kind of reparative work economically and is that that the appropriate place for reparative economic work to take place – the court – or would it be legislation at this point?
I’m not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts... The court’s just not very good at it and politically it’s very hard to legitimize opinions from the court in that regard. So I think that although you can craft theoretical justifications for it legally. Any three of us sitting here could come up with a rational for bringing about economic change through the courts.

So here we have the Democratic presidential candidate lamenting the fact that the Warren court had not gone far enough with regard to redistribution of wealth. According to Obama, we're "still suffering" from being too court-focused to have brought about redistribution (or have it the other way - that we're still suffering from not having brought about redistributed change). Finally, Obama asserts that bringing about this "redistributive change" is not likely to happen through the courts - leaving unsaid the alternative posed by the caller's question, that such change could be legislated. Of course, with at least two Supreme Court appointments available to the next president, and with a congressional supermajority, what's to stand in the way of judicial appointments (at every level) of judges who do believe in redistributive change, an Obama presidency could have its cake and eat it as well - court decisions in addition to legislation, with the enforcement capabilities of the executive branch (ie, the IRS, the FBI, the Justice department, and whatever new agency Obama was referring to establiching a couple months back).

The press reaction to all this? Here's one ostrich, which tries to bury the currency of Obama's beliefs by positing the statement of an Obama spokesman, Bill Burton, that the statements in question were "seven years old". (And while we're passing by, let's look at liberal bias: Burton :said", but the so-called news article alleges that "Both Boehner and John McCain have been trying to pin the 'socialist' label on Obama ".

Seven years? Is that really so long? I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday.

Grow up. Vote against Obama by voting for McCain.

Searching for a job

2008-10-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

My previous employer and I parted ways about 5 weeks ago (long story, not here). So I've been doing a variety of things - back surgery, consulting, job hunting. And that's the source of this post.

I went to a job fair a few weeks back, and left a copy of my resume with the sponsor, who farmed it out to whoever was interested. So I got a call last week from a local agency, they'd seen my resume, and could I come in and talk to their "Sr. Vice President". Well, that's one possible way to get a job, so I set the appointment.

When I got there, it was an hour early (my mistake, but didn't realize it until ten minutes later). They had made a point to emphasize that I should be prompt. All I said at the front desk was that I was here to see Mr . so-and-so, and I was invited to sit down, he'd be with me in a couple of minutes. Although the receptionist was older, there was bubble-gum music playing on a portable radio. Obnoxious bubble-gum music. There were also a couple of dinosaurs wandering around (and I don't like the age discrimination when I'm looking for a job, but these dudes were seriously mid-70's, minimum).

About five minutes into the waiting, the first faint alarms started going off. If they're so doggoned busy, where was everybody? More to the point, I was supposed to respect their busy schedule, but they didn't need to respect my time? Oh, yeah - that's right, I'm not employed, my time's not important...

I was just about to walk out when this younger guy comes into the room, extends his hand, and says "Hi, Mr. Smith" (not me!), and I said "No, I'm Jones", the receptionist looks up and says "Your appointment is at 10:30", and the dude turns to her and says "I don't have any 10:30 appointment scheduled". Clue #2 and 3: Disorganized. Not busy. Anyway, they set my appointment to "10:00". I guess the ten-minutes-late thing is ingrained, because 10:10 is about when I got into the dude's office.

The dude proceeds to ask some "personal" questions "Employers can't ask these, you understand, but we're not an employer, we're here to help". Yeah, sure, move along. "Married?" "Kids?" and here's what I think they're really after: "How much staying power? That is, how long can you afford to continue a job search?" In other words, how sure can we be that if we charge you $10,000 up front, can we expect to see the money?

He then proceeds to tell me how very selective they are, that only about "one in seven" of the people they interview get "accepted" as clients (at the pace people were pouring in through the door for their interviews, I'd guess they pick up maybe one client a week at that rate), that they have an office meeting every afternoon to decide who they were going to select to be their chosen, and that they'd get back to me on Monday if I were selected (I guarantee you I'll be "selected") to set up a second interview to which I would bring my wife, and that they'd expect me to make a decision before I left. More alarm bells going off. And would I fax them a copy of my resume? Sure, I'll email a softcopy. "No, fax is better - we're getting deluged with email". Yeah, right, your last appointment stood you up, you spent most of an hour with me, and there's nobody in the lobby - you must be incredibly busy, dude.

When I got home, I googled the company. No luck. Same with the recruiter. Then I tried the Better Business Bureau. Not there either, but what's this? A listing for a similar name, same address. Click on the record, they dissolved in December 2005. "BH Careers International". Obviously not the same company (right?? ) so nothing I say here could possibly have anything to do with this same agency located in the same office space, could it?

And that linked me to the website ripoffreports.com, and page after page of complaints about Bernard Haldane (BH??) I think the tie-in was actually the addess, they had the same address listed. Anyway, many common themes running through the complaints: you could be one of the select few we decide to represent... our committee meets this afternoon... we'll schedule another appointment, bring your wife...

I guess you wouldn't expect to find a bunch of satisfied customers on a website called "ripoffreports", but it confirmed my gut's reaction. I don't need anything more.

Biden's Brain Scan

2008-10-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

The headline reads: "No brain scans in released Biden medical records".

I suppose asking "What brain?" would be too obvious...

The liberal straddle

2008-10-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

This report from ABC News: "Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., on Sunday guaranteed that if elected, Sen. Barack Obama., D-Ill., will be tested by an international crisis within his first six months in power and he will need supporters to stand by him as he makes tough, and possibly unpopular, decisions."

Let's say Biden's correct. The response? "We told you so...."
Let's say Biden's wrong. The response? "The world loves Barack..."

If you can figure out the "right" way to say it, I guess you can have it both ways.

I've thought the same thing for some time now, regarding the global warming controversy. Some of the allegations of gloom and doom are win-win propositions for the doomsayers. Take this interview with "scientist" Dr. James Hansen of NASA, who throws out the following observation: "The last time a large ice sheet melted sea level went up at a rate of five meters per century. "

Let's say Hansen's correct. The response? "We told you so...."
Let's say Hansen's wrong. The response? "Look how wonderfully successful all of our efforts to save the environment have been!"

Besides, 100 years from now, Hansen, Al Gore, and all the other prognosticators of doom will be safely dead and unavailable for comment (or personal ridicule).

Me? I'm still trying to figure out how humankind has managed to cause the polar icecaps on Mars to shrink.

The Obama Hitler Youth phenomena

2008-10-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

Things are getting scary out there.

Let's leave any discussion of the merits and morality of "using" children to convey a political message when the belief system of the child is one that's largely taught by a parent - it's no different than what faithful religious folks do when they raise their own children to be believers.

To the point: George Santayana said: "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it." In that light, be sure to watch this video. In the not-so-unlikely event that the video is no longer available, what it depicts is the recording session where the children sing the "Obama's gonna change the world" tripe that came out a few days back. The scariest part is the last 30 seconds or so of the video, a film clip of the Hitler Youth in 1930's Germany singing a similar tribute to Adolf. YIKES!!

As with all things youtube, there are linked videos, and I actually got to the video above from this one: this one, which was linked on the drudgereport. Again, if it's gone, it depicts a group of roughly ten young (teen-aged) black men dressed in military camouflage bottoms and black T-shirts dork-stepping (as opposed to goose-stepping - you've got to see the video to understand) into a room chanting "Alpha - Omega" (I think). After stopping, they take turns stepping out and saying "Because I have been inspired by Barack Obama, I will be the next ___" (fill in the blank with a career pursuit: architect, lawyer, fireman, auto mechanic). This is followed by more chanting and synchronized calasthenics. The youth then take turns again stepping out, and each enunciates a point from the Obama health insurance proposal (or at least, what it would be in Obama's ideal world where there's no cost to implement any plan and all government administered programs function perfectly...)

I'm all for kids taking inspiration from wherever they can find it to form a direction in their lives that will be a force for good in the world. And I must admit that there are some similarities between what I see in the second video and the Boy Scout organization that I have been active in over many years. However, I think a line has been crossed. Not only is the unison dork-stepping three or four steps beyond anything the Boy Scouts ever did, it's highly reminiscent of authentic goose-stepping. Then there's the synchronized calisthenics combined with the chants. Yeah, kind of like a football team working out before the game. But the topper here is the dedication to The One - Barack Obama. Boy Scouts dedicate themselves to God and country, and a set of high standards of personal conduct. Football teams are dedicated to the team and the school. The young men in this video are dedicated to one individual.

Can you say Jim Jones? David Koresh? Adolf Hitler? Barack Obama???

Press on. And don't forget to vote.

Sarah Palin has a WitchHunter? Look out, Hillary!

2008-09-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

This post by Hannah Strange (and the name ought to be a clue) seems to have difficulty being tolerant of Sarah Palin's faith, but uses as a vehicle to criticize it the words and actions of a visiting pastor who prayed for her success.

I'll see your Pastor Muthee, and raise you a Wright and a Pfleger. The difference being that Pastor Muthee was engaged in seeking the blessings of Diety in assisting Sarah Palin, and in fighting a perceived evil, while Reverend Wright's published vitriol was directed at tearing down the country that I love, and Father Pfleger's mean-spirited and personal attacks against Hillary Clinton (in black-voice, no less - he must have forgotten his face paint) can hardly be construed as charitable. Some man of the cloth!

Sure, I find Pastor Muthee's actions hunting witches quite foreign to my own experience. Then again, where is Ms. Strange's tolerance for cultural diversity? I've heard a lot of stories about African spiritual beliefs (and admit it - from every other corner of the world as well). But it's so condescending of Ms. Strange to fill us in on the minutae of Pastor Muthee's quest to rid the village of a witch. I'll withdraw the "condescending" remark when Ms. Strange inspects ANY of Obama's associates - Wright, Pfleger, Ayers, Dorne, Rezko, Alinsky, etc - as closely as she has Pastor Muthee.

Obama kindergarten sex ed

2008-09-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

I had a great discussion at work the other day, which should provide fodder for more than one post. One of the issues that came up was the release this week of an ad by John McCain that accused Obama of supporting comprehensive sex education for kindergartners; one of my coworkers stated that the intention was only to educate them about sexual predators so that they could protect themselves better.

So yesterday, Sean Hannity spent perhaps five minutes discussing the kindergarten sex education issue, and I had a little more basis to do some research and thought I’d share what I found with you.

To summarize: the McCain camp made the statement about Obama being in favor of kindergarten-age sex education. I’m not sure where there’s any current Obama camp response; I did find one from 15 months ago that echoed what was said in the office that "You can teach a kid about what's appropriate and not appropriate to protect them from predators out there", which I found here, among other places. According to that piece (and others), Obama spokesman Bill Burton issued a document “showing” that the Sexuality Information And Education Council of the United States has a curriculum for those in kindergarten, as does the Oregon State Board of Education. FWIW, the OSBOE document (you can find a link here) is a pretty sensible document, and they seem to have a reasonable handle on the concept of “age-appropriate”. HOWEVER: according to the guy writing the article (Daniel Brody, never heard of him before, so I can't vouch for his credibility but things do seem to fit together), he was referred to the OSBOE document by Obama’s people in 2007; that same year, they sent the SIECUS guidelines to MSNBC.

You can find the SIECUS document here. They divide the curriculum up by age; “Level 1” is defined on page 50 as ages 5-8. It then describes several different areas of the curriculum, with an accompanying educational objective by target level. Some of the material there is completely reasonable, IMHO. Other topics are completely insane to even be mentioning to any child in the Level 1 age group:
· Touching and rubbing one’s own genitals to feel good is called masturbation. (page 51)
· Some boys and girls masturbate and others do not. (page 51)
· Masturbation should be done in a private place. (page 51)
· People often kiss, hug, touch, and engage in other sexual behaviors with one another to show caring and to feel good (page 52 – do we really need a reference to “sexual behavior”? “What’s sexual behavior, mommy?”)
· Like other body parts, the genitals need care.(page 58 – what does Susie and Billy’s kindergarten teacher do – show pictures? Describe things? Hopefully, mommy and/or daddy have already taught them how to wash themselves. I don’t remember any particular need for any other care for me, my siblings, or my own kids at that age).
· Sexually Transmitted Diseases (page 63 – the last point excepted about picking up needles found on the ground, do we REALLY need to start teaching kids at this age about STDs?
· HIV/AIDS (page 64 contains 11 new points focused on HIV/AIDS. I’m a little torn here, but my general feeling is that it’s too much information for “Level 1” children
· Sexual abuse (page 67 – yes, it’s true – one portion of the curriculum focuses on abuse and predation. As you can plainly see, though, predation is not the only topic covered)

Part of the problem here is one of resources and time allocation: if we’re teaching this stuff, it takes repetition to sink in – you can’t just mention it once so what do we do about all the other legitimate diseases (cancer, diabetes, mental illness, Downs syndrome, tuberculosis, etc etc etc). The guideline acknowledges this on page 81, though they do state that ideally, all programs would cover all topics. OTOH, page 82 says that you can’t just present the bullet points to consider the job done; you’ve got a responsibility to fill in the information when necessary. What do you say when Johnny asks teacher how masturbation feels good, when he went home yesterday and tried it in a private place and didn’t feel good, is there something wrong with me?

More directly relevant to my discussion of the other day, however, is the Obama campaign’s denial that Obama’s comments supported anything EXCEPT warning them about predators. In thinking about this, “unwanted touching” doesn’t even have anything directly to do with sex education. It’s the same as finding a needle on the ground, or being exposed to another person’s blood – don’t touch it. In the case of predators, I believe that general guidelines are sufficient: don’t let strangers touch you, don’t touch strangers, run away, private parts are private, even when it’s mommy or daddy unless you’re hurting and need their help. There is no requirement that this be couched at this age level in any kind of sexual context.

We all know that there’s spin on both sides. But in this case, Obama’s spokesman apparently refers to a document that puts the lie to his own words. I have referred to this tactic (on all sides, in many situations) as lying by telling half the truth. And unfortunately, the defense of Obama in this particular appears to have been based on an acceptance of the Obama spin machine’s denial. I doubt this is my coworker's primary issue and I doubt that finding this out will sway his opinion much, if at all. But I did want to provide him and you with a few more facts.

UPDATE: OK, I found the McCain ad that apparently set off the furor. If you haven’t seen it, it’s embedded here. There’s also a link to the Illinois Senate bill at the top of that same page. You have to wade through the legalese, but boiled down it says that each class offered in any grade K through 6 SHALL (a magical legal word which compels action) include instruction on prevention of STDs including AIDS. Then, there’s language (subparagraph c(2)) that says material shall be age-appropriate, which leaves the door wide open for interpretation, and sure as God/Darwin made little green apples, some teachers will construe that as permission to teach materials at the kindergarten level which others will believe are best left alone until 10th grade.

Also, apparently a lot of the objection is to the use of the term “comprehensive”. Whether it was the right word to use or not, the Illinois senate bill uses precisely that phrase – “comprehensive sex education” – when referring to everything which comes within the definition of the act, including what’s taught to kindergartners. And yep, I agree, that’s the McCain people using the truth to convey the wrong impression, because the word “comprehensive” is not used in the act (I hope!) the same way most of us would use the word in normal discourse.

Pit Bulls and Lipstick

2008-09-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

One controversy du jour involves Obama's remarks that "you can put lipstick on a pig (pregnant pause) (raucous crowd laughter)" [CUT !!]

OK, Mr. Obama, riddle me this: what was YOUR crowd (of partisan supporters) laughing at? Before the supposed "punch line" was delivered?

Hmmm? And don't you dare pretend that it was the alleged punch line of a hackneyed old phrase.

There is absolutely nothing inherently funny in your comment, nothing to laugh at - unless it's casting Sarah Palin in the role of pig, linked by the lipstick reference she made the week before, so fresh in so many people's minds.

You're not fooling anybody, Mr. Pretender. Well, I take that back: you're fooling yourself if you think the American public believes your denial for a moment.

Does "Community Organizer" = "Black"?

2008-09-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

In this article, Governer David Paterson of New York asserts that referring to Barack Obama's life experience as a community organizer is nothing more than Republican code for saying that he's black. He whines that at the Republican convention, "they kept saying it, they kept laughing."

Gee, David - don't you find it pretty laughable? Not to denigrate The Chosen One's life experience, but he does have an exceptionally weak resume for someone applying for the job of Most Powerful Man in the World... No offense toward community organizers as a group of people; but on balance, aren't they just like any other group? Some contribute value to society, others are little more than shakedown artists, most are somewhere in between. Just like lawyers (one of which I used to be), used car salesmen, and politicians.

But NOTHING I have ever seen/heard/read/experienced about the calling of community organizer prompts me to think we need to find one to take over the helm of the homeland.

On some other notes, David - aren't there any white community organizers? And what exactly does it mean when Barack refers to his own past as a community organizer, hmmm?? It's only a snide racial reference when a Republican says it?

You didn't pass the bar exam, David - and it sounds like you didn't do very well in Logical Thinking 101, either.

Large Hadron Collider

2008-09-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

They lit up the large hadron collider in Switzerland last night (my time; 10:36 a.m. Swiss time, and heaven knows they're renowned for their accuracy with timepieces). Anyway, along with all the buzz about discovering "God" particles and the amount of power this sucker consumes (35 Megawatts at IDLE!! and 180 when it's cooking), there was no small amount of speculation that the experiment would generate a black hole which would proceed to destroy the world as we know it and otherwise.

My youngest sent me this link this morning.

Too funny. So far, anyway - they've only fired one beam in one direction. Stay tuned.

Update: then my oldest sends me this link - along with the observation that there have been 5 earthquakes in the past 24 hours between 6.1 and 6.9 magnitude.

Coincidence?