Stability For Our Time

One of the things I'm doing differently this year is posting more often. For the last couple of years, I've let things slide a little. I got deeply involved in the political side of life, and it's taken me a few months to detox, but I'm feeling the itch to start writing regularly again. I'm still pretty much through with political writing, as it is a lost cause, but there are a lot of other things I want to write about.

The problem is that I need a goal in order to discipline myself to write regularly.

For every problem, there is a solution, and mine is to the right. I'm an amazon affiliate, and that means that anytime you go to amazon from one of the links on my site and make a purchase, I get a small commission. The cool thing is that it doesn't cost you any extra, and I don't have to waste your time with ads. The links to the right will show you what I'm reading, watching, or listening to, along with my goal for the year, a new telescope. For those of you who read via feed reader, I will post a link to an amazon product each week; again, it will be one I'm using and it will be relevant to the post. What I won't do is make up a post or review just to put out the link. I've seen that on other blogs, and it's pretty annoying. If I link to it, it's because I'm reading/watching/listening/using it, and I think it's worth spreading the news.

I want you to be annoyed at what I'm saying, not what I'm selling.

In order for this to work, I have to do a couple of things. First, I have to provide enough good content that you, the reader, want to come back on a daily basis, and just as importantly, value enough that you are willing to click one of my links to make a purchase you were going to make anyway. Second, I have to draw more readers in. Until now, I've just written what I felt like writing, when I felt like it. Any long time blogger will tell you that while it is more fun to do that, it is very difficult to build an audience that way. The most popular blogs tend to be the ones that specialize. Take SayUncle for example. He posts most frequently on guns. He's built a readership based on that, and now has the freedom to write about pretty much whatever he wants to, as long as he uses the term 'gun porn' at least every other day.

So I need to specialize if I want to follow that model. As I said when I started this blog, I'm going to concentrate on two topics: Science, and Religion.

How's that for a narrow focus? It covers everything in the world and beyond it!

Sorry, I just can't follow the one-blog-one-topic model. I'll pay for it with slower growth, but so be it. I have too many interests to be pinned down as a gun blogger, or a political blogger, or a dad blogger, or any other specific type of blogger. As Tommy Smothers said, "My mind has many faucets." But while I intend to post about everything under the sun, whatever captures my wandering eye (Squirrel!), I will write a post each day that builds on previous posts, and falls under one of my major topics, either science, or religion.

I want to write about science because it fascinates me, and I have a solid grounding in many of its subdivisions, thanks to an excellent high school education and extensive reading on my own. It bothers me when I hear people talking about how hard science is, or about how boring it is, or even worse, how irrelevant it is. My personal belief is that anyone with that attitude was the victim of a bad science teacher in school. (To all the teachers I've just offended, rest assured, I wasn't talking about you. You're wonderful, a credit to your profession.) Science is cool, and I hope to share that with you.

It may seem odd that a guy with a passion for science also has a passion for God, and that is certainly one area I want to explore in writing about religion. Her's a quick question for those of you who believe that religion has some kind of war on science. Look at America and Europe's highest institutes of learning and find out who started them. You'll find that nearly every one was founded by a church, whether Protestant or Catholic. If you look at hospitals and medical schools, you;ll find the same thing.

If the church hates science, then why did they spend billions over hundred of years to educate so many scientists, doctors, etc?

It's an interesting question, one that might just open your eyes to some new sights, if you keep an open mind.

So my pledge to you is at least one substantive post per day, Monday through Friday, along with whatever else moves me. If you like what you read, by all means, make a purchase from Amazon. I'll get a commission, and one day, my new telescope.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COLD, SEASONAL FLU & H1N1 SYMPTOMS
SYMPTOM	COLD	SEASONAL FLU	H1N1
FEVER	Fever is rare with a cold.	Fever is common with the seasonal flu.	Fever is usually present with H1N1 in up to 80% of all flue cases. A temperature of 101°
COUGHING	A hacking, productive (mucus-producing) cough is often present with a cold.	A dry and hacking cough is often present with the seasonal flu.	A non-productive (non-mucus producing) cough is usually present with H1N1 (sometimes referred to as dry cough).*
ACHES	Slight body aches and pains can be part of a cold.	Moderate body aches are common with the seasonal flu.	Severe aches and pains are common with H1N1.*
STUFFY NOSE	Stuffy nose is commonly present with a cold and typically resolves spontaneously within a week.	A runny nose is commonly present with the seasonal flu.	Stuffy nose is not commonly present with H1N1.
CHILLS	Chills are uncommon with a cold.	Chills are mild to moderate with the seasonal flu.	60% of people who have H1N1 experience chills.
TIREDNESS	Tiredness is fairly mild with a cold.	Tiredness is moderate and more likely referred to as alack of energy with the seasonal flu.	Tiredness is moderate to severe with H1N1.*
SNEEZING	Sneezing is commonly present with a cold	Sneezing is common present with the seasonal flu.	Sneezing is not common with H1N1.
SUDDEN SYMPTOMS	Cold symptoms tend to develop over a few days.	Symptoms tend to develop over a few days and include flushed face, loss of appetite, dizziness and/or vomiting/nausea. Symptoms usually last 4-7 days, depending on the individual. Diarrhea is common.	H1N1 has a rapid onset within 3-6 hours. H1N1 hits hard and includes sudden symptoms like high fever, aches and pains. Symptoms usually last 4-7 days, depending on the individual. Diarrhea is common..
HEADACHE	A headache is fairly uncommon with a cold.	A headache is fairly common with the seasonal flu.	A headache is very common with H1N1 and present in 80% of cases.*
SORE THROAT	Sore throat is commonly present with a cold.	Sore throat is commonly present with the seasonal flu.	Sore throat is not commonly present with H1N1
CHEST DISCOMFORT	Chest discomfort is mild to moderate with a cold.	Chest discomfort is moderate with the seasonal flu. If it turns severe seek medical attention immediately!	Chest discomfort is often severe with H1N1.

Based on the symptoms I had over the last week, I had either a moderate cold or a very mild flu.

Not the swine flu.

In all of its glory. For those of you interested in actually reading it, I should warn you that reading 1500 pages of Congressional language has been considered to be torture under the Geneva Convention, and while you can't be prosecuted for torturing yourself (yet) I can't be held responsible for any ill effects you might suffer from the experience.