I was just cruising around the internet today and while at Ask Jeeves I happend upon their top 10 searches. Number 10 was "Federal Budget" and I thought, "what the heck" and followed the link. I found some interesting links and here they are:

• The Public Debt Online - The debt to the penny!
• National Debt Awareness Center - Advocates for reduction of the national debt.
• Budget Explorer
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• National Budget Simulation
• Congressional Budget Office

What is our current nation debt:

• As of 02/10/2005 the current nation debt is: $7,629,245,507,947.33
• of this $4,440,557,723,908.29 is Debt Held by the Public
• and $3,188,687,784,039.04 is Intragovernmental Holdings

Here are a few articles dealing with Social Security and what Sweden and Chile have learned from privitization:

• Sweden's Take on Private Pensions by Alan Cowell, New York Times
• The Chilean Plan is Working by Bill Steigerwald, Pittsburg Tribune Review
• A Personal Burden by Marla Dickerson, L.A. Times

Over all here is my take on the Social Security issue:

By conservative estimates Social Security will take in only enough money to cover 3/4's of its obligations in 2042 (I'll be almost 80 by then and either to senile to care or wondering if my next check will bounce!). Bush is pushing for workers to put some of there money in private accounts. Privatization does nothing to address the shortfall and may even hinder it further. There are really only two choices for keeping Social Security solvent: either lower benefits or raise taxes. And, trust me on this, neither political party wants to mention either one of those choices. With Bush just talking about private accounts, and really not discussing how to fix Social Security, he is forcing the Democrats to bring up how to actually fix Social Security and mention one of the two choices. Thus, he can then blame them for wanting to lower benefits or raise taxes.

Pretty slick Dubya, pretty slick.

The president is spending more time cycling, often outrunning his security and taking some spills.

Cancel the cozy days at Camp David, Md. Put away the underused running shoes. When it comes to weekend enjoyment, all President Bush seems to need is some winding trails and a helmet.

And his mountain bike.

Bush recently has been logging scores of miles on a secluded spread in Beltsville, Md., and the rolling hills of Quantico, Va., far from the White House.

The Seattle Times

The holiday creates so much pressure that it's a common time for relationships to end.

They're the Valentine's Day gifts no one asks for: a note slipped under the door that reads "I'm taking my freedom back." Or 25 votive candles with the comment, "The flame has died." Sometimes it's just the ring of a phone and the terse message, "We're through."

Those on the receiving end of such presents might want to break Cupid's arrows, since Valentine's Day breakups are becoming more common. As many as half of dating couples split up on Cupid's big day, estimates Jodi Smith, etiquette expert and president of Mannersmith Consulting.

The main reason Valentine's Day breakups are so frequent, culture watchers agree, is that the much-hyped holiday creates so much pressure and so many expectations. The ubiquitous ads for long-stemmed roses, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, and flowery cards prompt many to think of all the reasons they don't want to remain half of a couple.

He loves you not: Valentine's hype can force tough decisions By Elizabeth Lund, The Christian Science Monitor

PS: Thirty-eight percent of men have considered breaking up with a woman rather than deal with the "get her something really good" holiday, according to It's Just Lunch, a dating service.

The NHL will almost certainly officially cancel its season this week - after five months of exchanging proposals, counterproposals, and recriminations without a shred of progress in collective bargaining with its players association. Already the league has scrapped more than two-thirds of its regular-season games and reached the point where just a skeleton schedule can be salvaged.

The cancellation would mark the first time a full season of any professional sport had been washed out. Official word could come as early as Monday.

Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has confirmed he will compete in the Paris-Nice race next month. Armstrong, 33, is expected to face the likes of Alexandre Vinokourov and Jorg Jaksche in the 6-13 March event.

The American, who leads the Discovery Channel team, has yet to decided yet whether to compete in this year's Tour.

He has hinted he may opt to sit it out this year and return in 2006, but has promised a decision either way by the end of April.

Armstrong is also set to compete in the Tour of Flanders on 3 April and Liege-Bastogne-Liege on 24 April.

Lance is also confirmed for some selected one-day classics, including three -- Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallonne and Liege- Bastogne-Liege -- in a seven-day span in mid-April.

He says he will decide whether to ride in this years Tour de France in March.

If Armstrong opts out of the Tour de France this year (which most likely means he'll compete in Spain's Grand Tour, the Vuelta, in late summer), he won't be leaving Discovery Channel high and dry for the sport's most prestigious race. The squad has a slew of potential champions -- team veteran Jose Azevedo and newcomers Yaroslav Popovych and Paolo Savoldelli chief among them -- to take over in Armstrong's stead.

Sources: BBC Sports and San Francisco Chronicle

Lance Armstrong has ended speculation, announcing he will race in this year's Tour de France.

Armstrong plans to start his season early next month in the Paris-Nice seven-day stage race. He will then compete in the Tour of Flanders on April 3, before returning to the United States to defend his title at the Tour de Georgia that month.

Armstrong says he is excited to get back on the bike and start racing, though he said his condition is far from perfect. This year's Tour de France, where he will aim for a seventh straight victory, begins on July 2 and features 21 stages covering nearly 3,600 kilometers.

The Washington Post has been running an occasional series of editorials on the Social Security issue now brewing in Washington D.C. They are interesting reading.

The Risks in Personal Accounts - Sunday, February 20, 2005

Mr. Bush's Personal Accounts - Friday, February 11, 2005

No Social Security 'Crisis' - Tuesday, February 1, 2005

Social Security - Monday, January 17, 2005

The Cost of Reform - Monday, December 6, 2004

I found a new, interesting comic - "Day by Day" by Chris Muir. Check it out: Day by Day

In by boredom I have creating a tracking log for visitors to this site. It is based on my private Extreme Tracking numbers and is almost site wide. Because of this, the numbers will be different that those for the numbers on the Extreme Tracking link towards the bottom of the right column, which only tracks the visitors to this main page.

Did you get all that? It just seemed confusing.

I have a new desktop image - Triumph of Bacchus - courteous of a painter friend of mine - DD Seaton.

Hunter S. Thompson - 1937-2005

Hunter has left this mortal world as of yesterday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. I can only guess he was in ill health and didn't want to suffer. He is one person I could see taking the quick way out.

I was introduce to "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" a good 20 years ago while I was going to culinary school. I rapidly read the rest of his books and kept up with the new ones as they came out. At the time I never figured I would be privilaged to actually meet the man.

I ran into him quite a few times in the Aspen area. A couple of those times I was lucky to have actually had a conversation with him - that is, as much of a conversation you could have with him! There where definitely a few occasions that I will never forget. I can't share them here, but trust me, they where good times!

Anyway, I hope you found a better place Hunter.

We will miss you!

Rest in Peace.

-- updated: 8:23pm --

Statement released by Hunter S. Thompson's wife, Anita, and son, Juan, to the Aspen Daily News:

"On Feb. 20, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colorado. The family will provide more information about memorial service and media contacts shortly. Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family. He stomped terra."

-- updated: 9:00pm --

Some HST quotes:

The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.

No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.

The person who doesn't scatter the morning dew will not comb gray hairs.

A word to the wise is infuriating.

I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours.

It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.

We cannot expect people to have respect for law and order till we teach respect to those we have entrusted to enforce those laws.

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

Found these guys on the Cherry Creek Path this week. I thought they where pretty cool so I took some photos today.

© Ben Sargent - 02/20/2005

Walt Handelsman - 02/21/2005

Here's a list that's going to come in handy one day. You'll find out how to bypass and defeat voice-mail hell with ways to, well, find a human.

https://www.quickbase.com/db/85vqhz4a?a=q&qid=5