Picture: Pope Palpatine??

Wicke was kind enough to post a link to this picture. I can't HELP but add it here.

Now, I'm not a conspiracy theorist or anything but the above pictured compare-n'-contrast is just...well...hilarious! "I am Darth Benedict! Rarrr!!!" If he's ever up on the pulpit and lightening starts shooting out of his fingertips, that'd be cool!

Now, remember....I am not anti-pope (or anti-emperor, for that matter) and am not trying to besmirch his image. I just thought it was funny. :)

"On one hand, there's the pastromi on rye. The other....BLT. Oye! Decisions!"

Entry: Dating strengths and weaknesses

So, because I'm such a sucker and always jump on the bandwagon when I see a good personality-evaluation site, I decided to check out this one to see what my dating strengths and weaknesses are. Here are the results....

Dating Strengths	Dating Weaknesses
1. Financial Situation - 84.6% 2. Open-Mindedness - 63.6% 3. Independence - 57.1% 4. Sense of Humor - 57.1%	1. Shyness - 70.8% 2. Appearance - 66.7% 3. Selfishness - 54.5% 4. Insecurity - 53.8% 5. Pessimism - 50%

Dating Strengths Explained
Financial Situation - You've got your financial situation under control, which is a very desirable quality. Be careful to avoid women who are only interested in your money. Open-Mindedness - You are open to trying new things and entertaining new ideas, and this widens your pool of available women. Independence - Your strong sense of independence comes in handy while dating. You are not held back or tied down; you are free to pursue your interests. Sense of Humor - Women are attracted to people with a good sense of humor. Be sure to put yours on display!
Dating Weaknesses Explained
Shyness - You know all too well the limits shyness places on you. Putting yourself out there in social situations may be difficult, but essential to your dating success. Appearance - Devoting a greater effort at making good first impressions is a must. Try to be fit and develop a style if you want to catch a woman's attention. Selfishness - You think too much of yourself and your needs. You must learn to put your partner first and tend to her needs. Insecurity - Your insecurity makes you doubt yourself, but you must learn to love and trust yourself if you want to succeed in dating. Pessimism - Too much cynicism can be a turn-off. Try to see the brighter side of things and people will be attracted to your positive outlook.
Take the Dating Strengths and Weaknesses Quiz

Hmmm....interesting. :)

Article: Why isn't Saudization working?

Only folks who have ever had ties to the Saudi kingdom should read this. And, of those, only a handful will find it interesting. It discusses the current state of Saudization and why it's not working out quite like the Saudis thought that it would.

For those who don't know, back in the early 20th century, when Saudi was mainly tribal and the initial discoveries of oil were made, the royal family made an agreement with foreign nations that they could come in and make the major contributions to the development of their country but that a planned phase-out of expatriate employment would happen decades later to allow the state to be wholey owned and operated by Saudis and for Saudis. The primary instrument for this development was the formation of a company called the "Arabian / American Oil Company" (or "Aramco" for short). Aramco later became the greatest oil producing company in the world. In the late 80s, the Saudi govt. bought the last of the remaining publically traded stock in the company and it became a completely state-owned entity. Since then, the phase-out of foreign workers (called "Saudization") has been taking place. It has not been as successful as the Saudi government had hoped.

"Why did we fail in achieving the Saudization target? Is it because we are a spoiled nation? Is it because we don’t have the required expertise? Is it because Saudis are always waiting to assume administrative positions? Is it because we’re not used to being punctual and starting work early? Is it because we can’t do overtime like the foreigners that work in the Kingdom? Perhaps these are some of the reasons why the process of Saudization is not succeeding. Some people may think I’m exaggerating — but I wonder what the truth must be?"

My interest in this is simply because I was once a beneficiary of Aramco. That was long ago though. Since then, I just kinda keep tabs here and there.

Entry: Another Wednesday in the history of Miller

I had the fortune of seeing a blood-red moon this past weekend. It was pretty cool. I know it's just an illusion, but it's still neat to see regardless.

Other than that, the weekend was smooth and uneventful. Had a friend come over Saturday night. We talked and watched a movie. Went over to another friend's house with the intention of playing some UT2004 but was ultimately foiled since we couldnt' hear the doorbell from the game room (and since we were waiting for the pizza guy, that was a big deal). We watched another movie instead. For anyone who hasn't seen 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose', it's a pretty good flick.

The house-unpacking is coming along. I get a little more done every day. I'm going easy and taking my time since I spent 6 weeks moving all the stuff over. Sloth, unfortunately, is consistently one of my reigning virtues. :)

I haven't seen ANY good movies lately. That needs to change. Do you hear me Hollywood?! Get off your cheeks and start earning that money!!!

I need to take the initiative and get a new Betta. I will miss Rex dearly. He can never be replaced. But, unfortunately, I do need to move on.

I was helping out with the Charleston Stage people last night doing the props for the upcoming production of 'Nevermore'. That sounds like a truly awesome show and I can't wait to see it!

Ok....I know....this is a boring post. I figured I was overdue for one though. ;)

Website: Find wealthy men

So, I was driving around doing some errands on Sunday when I heard this commercial for www.wealthymen.com. This is a dating site where any woman can put up a public profile for guys to see but yet, only guys who make $100,000+ a year can post a profile.

"Wealthy Men is the one and only online personals dating site dedicated to those men seeking a higher quality online dating experience. Women who visit Wealthy Men, will find that each profile is of real men who have excelled greatly in their life, but are still seeking a partner to share their experiences with. All women can set up a free profile, however, only a select few men can join Wealthy Men as each of our members are verified by a salary approval process. This is your chance to be a part of a larger than life experience in an online personals website who make their dreams a reality. Your prince awaits."

I found this kind of interesting because I have always made a point to avoid the topic of my income on such sites. Not that I could ever be eligible to make a profile on wealthymen.com, I'm still one of those "love me for my mind" kind of people. (Which probably means that I'm poor as dirt) ;)

If anyone's wondering what the graphic for this post has to do with it, he's one of the first profiles that showed up when I clicked to browse. Seriously though...who needs THAT much muscle??? The dudes trapezius (sp?) muscles are bigger than my thights!

Give us a kiss....

Article: To veil or not to veil...

I found this interesting article over at the Arab News today. It discusses the Arab view of the requirement for the women to be veiled. Of course, that view is bound to vary wildly depending on the person whom you ask. As with any other religious point, it's all up to interpretation. I also found that I was also wrong on a couple of the points that I've argued in the past. Anyway...for any who are interested....

Entry: Yet ANOTHER manic Tuesday ;)

Hello and good morning/day/evening to all! Just got done with the Labor Day weekend. Didn't really do anything spectacular. Mostly dorked around the house. Still plenty of unpacking and organizing to get done.

I regret to inform everyone that Rex, my fearless attack Betta, died last Wednesday. <:( He has been with me for a year. I think that the stress of the move was his final undoing. He had a very rough move (much to my disappointment) and, as anyone who has owned any bettas knows, stress can actually kill these fish. So, if you would, observe a moment of silence, and wish Rex a happy and fruitful afterlife. Give 'em hell, Rex!!

As just about EVERYONE knows by now, Steve Irwin, the fearless aussie "Crocodile Hunter", was fatally attacked by a Stingray. I wish that I could say that it is a huge tragedy, but the truth of the matter is that he lived his life playing with fire (figuratively speaking, of course). There are only so many times that you can handle deadly snakes, swim with man-eating sharks, wrestle crocodiles, and befriend lions before one of them decides that they don't like you. I really did enjoy his show. The silver lining here is that he truly enjoyed his work. Everyone who knew him says that he loved life as much as he seemed to on camera. The man lived more in his 45 (was he 45??) years than most people could do in 3 lifetimes. If only everyone could be so lucky.

I have a bunch of other stuff to mention here but, for some reason, I can't remember any of it. This is what I get for waiting so long to post anything. ;)