I'm spending the afternoon getting caught up on the news from the various boards I visit, and linking interesting articles on the bloggie. There are so many things happening in the world right now, it's impossible for one person to pay attention to it all. The boards are great for getting caught on on the news.

The MIT free online learning is very interesting to me. MIT has such a great reputation for engineering, that I'm curious to see how they fare on courses like Economics, History and Political Science. These are the courses I will look at. For all my interest in politics, history and my job in finance, I never took these courses in college.

My interest in Politics came from my dad. He's a dyed-in-the-wool democrat, who participated in several union political campaigns while I was growing up. Finance and economics only interest me because it was part of my job for several years. When you work for a Planning and Analysis group, you learn economics on the job. History I'm starting to love because I'm finding out, once you understand the history of something like Middle East politics, it takes to a whole new level of understanding and complexity. Once you understand history, you start to see both sides of an issue and although it's harder, it forces you to rely on your own judgment regarding any issue. When you watch or read the news, it's also interesting to see how people distort facts for their own purposes, for their own spin.

And god, I love SPIN!!! It's the public relations side of me coming out, who just loves SPIN and all the many ways you can tell the same story, depending on your agenda. I have so much fun listening to the commentators after political debates, and what they have to say. Sometimes it makes me wonder whether I was watching and listening to the same event as some of these spin doctors. You can just see the BS dripping from their mouths sometimes, it's hilarious. You can also tell who's a biased journalist and who's not.

On September 30, MIT will starts its Open Courseware Pilot Program. Interesting idea huh? Free online learning courses from MIT.

These are the sample courses MIT will offering.

Anthropology
Biology
Chemical Engineering
Chemistry
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Economics
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
History
Linguistics and Philosophy
Management
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Ocean Engineering
Political Science
Urban Studies and Planning

An unexpected economic effect of the war on terrorism -
No terrorism insurance bill risks property bonds. I wonder how the economy will be affected if Moody's, Fitch and Standard and Poor's downgrades these bonds.

This one is quite funny! Where's the one for San Francisco?

Subject: NEW CALIFORNIA DMV TEST

For those of you who are not "fortunate" enough to live in California,
here is a copy of the California Driver's Exam, and for those of you who
do, study real hard. This is a new exam. Since driving conditions (and
culture) are unique in Los Angeles, you may not have realized that the
California Department of Motor Vehicles has now issued a special
application and driver's test solely for the Los Angeles Metropolitan
Area.

GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA DRIVER'S LICENSE APPLICATION:

Name:___________________ Stage name: ____________________

Agent:___________________

Attorney:______________________

Therapist name:_________________

Sex: ___male ___female* ___formerly male ___formerly female ____both *If
female, indicate breast implant size: _______

Will the size of your implants hinder your ability to safely operate a
motor vehicle in any way? Yes___ No ___

Please list brand of cell phone: ________.
*If you don't own a cell phone, please explain:________________________

Please check hair color:
Females: [ ] Blonde [ ] Platinum Blonde
Teenagers: [ ] Red [ ] Orange [ ] Green [ ] Purple [ ] Blue [ ] Skinhead

Please check activities you perform while driving: (Check all that
apply)
[ ] Eating
[ ] Drinking Starbucks coffee
[ ] Applying make-up
[ ] Shaving (male or female)
[ ] Talking on the phone
[ ] Slapping kids in the back-seat
[ ] Applying cellulite treatment to thighs
[ ] Tanning
[ ] Snorting cocaine (already checked for your convenience)
[ ] Watching TV
[ ] Reading Variety
[ ] Surfing the net via laptop
[ ] Discharging firearms / Reloading

Please indicate how many times
a) you expect to shoot at other drivers _____
b) how many times you expect to be shot at while driving _____

If you are the victim of a carjacking, you should immediately:
a) Call the police to report the crime.
b) Call Channel 9 News to report the crime, then watch your car on the
news in a high-speed chase.
c) Call your attorney and discuss lawsuit against cellular phone company
for 911 call not going through.
d) Call your therapist.

In the event of an earthquake, you should :
a) stop your car
b) keep driving and hope for the best.
c) immediately use your cell phone to call all loved ones.
d) pull out your video camera and obtain footage for Channel 9.

In the instance of rain, you should:
a) never drive over 5 MPH.
b) drive twice as fast as usual.
c) you're not sure what "rain" is.

Please indicate number of therapy sessions per week: ______.

Are you presently taking any of the following medications?
a) Prozac
b) Zovirax
c) Lithium
d) Zanax
e) Valium
f) Zoloft
g) All of the above
h) None of the above
*If none, please explain: __________________.

Length of daily commute:
a) Less than 1 hour
b) 1 hour
c) 2 hours
d) 3 hours
e) 4 hours or more
* If less than 1 hour, please explain:____________________.

When stopped by police, you should:
a) pull over and have your driver's license and insurance form ready. b)
try to outrun them by driving the wrong way on the 405 Freeway. c) have
your video camera ready and provoke them to attack, thus ensuring
yourself of a hefty lawsuit.

When turning, you should always signal your intentions by: a) using your
directional signals.
b) what is a "directional signal"?

Which part of your car will wear out most often?
a) the wiper blades
b) the belts
c) the horn

The "bright" setting on your headlights is for:
a) dark, poorly lit roads
b) flashing to get the car ahead to move out of the way
c) revenge!

Your rear view mirror is for:
a) watching for approaching cars
b) watching for approaching police cars
c) checking your hair