Istanbul Expansion: Mocha and Baksheesh

Great expansion to the board game Istanbul that adds coffee and other nice additions to round out game play.

ISTANBUL

I love this game. You play the role of a merchant going around the market in Istanbul trying to buy and sell goods to acquire gems. You have some assistants who you drop off at various locations to do the work for you. To win, be the first to fill your cart with gems.

Fair taxation based on usage?

Since most new cars have some form of GPS tracking system. Maybe a more fair / accurate method of taxation to pay for road improvements would be to track number of miles driven per car in any particular township and tax per mile. businesses would count the mileage between the office and their employees residence and pay 2x that as well (for to and from work travel). The result would cause the people / businesses that use the government supplied roads the most to pay the most. Discounts for using public transit. Imagine how businesses would back public transit if they get discounts for usage.

The problem with this system, if used for other government provided services, is that many services are for the betterment of everyone. For example education. Everyone is better off is everyone is educated. The smarter everyone is the more advancements will happen. Maybe even fewer people in jail. The bar for society as a whole is raised. So, Everyone should pay equally to educate everyones children.

But it might work for the roads. Maybe.

Morality

There is not a one to one correlation between morality and religion.

Progress

Human evolution has not progressed very far in the last 10000 years. We still are greedy weak violent beasts who barely understand the world around us. We have advanced technologically but it is of little worth since 95% of the advancement is either to improve methods of killing or methods of steling what others have for oneself.
When we can all solve our differences without resorting to pugalism then we will have made some progress. When we no longer need fictional crutches to help us get through the day and keep us from wronging others, then we will have begun an advancment.
We need to learn that cooperation is, by far, better for us than our current greedy consumptive ways.

The Bunny is Coming

I am the bunny. I am the bunny. koo koo ka choo!
Christian has begun a little pet project. He offered the gig to mo but
she had to work so I said I'd do it. I am very excited about being the
E. Bunny. I get to run around LA and be crazy. Today we shot some
footage downtown with 2 girls @ Pershing square, 2 boys @ 11th and hope
and another couple of kids in pinata row on Olympic. It was fun seeing
the kids eyes light up when they realized the bunny was there. Apart
from a couple frightened 3yr olds it all went great. Alice was a
tremendous help with getting the suit on and leading me around while I
couldn't see. The only complaint is how amazingly hot it is under the
rubber head.
We are shooting again next week and the video should be done in a few
weeks. I can hardly wait.
--daryl

LA marathon

March 19th I got up @ 10 and walked out to the next block over. Lo and
behold there are thousands of runners and walkers and bikers doing the
marathon. I didn't have the patience to watch more than 30 min. Mile 16
of 26 and some runners looked like they were about to keel over while
others looked like they were just starting.
--daryl

New Year Disney

Alice and I went to Disneyland on N.Y. day woth mo, sonya and michael.
It was a little rainy but we still had fun. Got to see the nightmare
before xmas haunted mansion. It was quite cool. Rode space mountain
twice and have a really fun picture of mo and me on the ride. Even
though it was a wet chilly day we had ice cream... But. no one was bold
enough to speak of the elephant in the room.
--daryl

Man down

We were returning home from eating at our favorte pho place when we
watched an elderly man fall over onto the sidewalk. Alice pulled over
and I got out to see if he was ok. He hadn't moved since falling and
iwhen I asked if he needed help he said "call 911". I called and was on
hold for way too long. When I finally got someone on the line they were
professional and quick to react. The ambulance got there quickly and
they helped the man out. Apparently when he fell he hit his head and
said he couldn't move his left. He was clearly a homeless man. I felt
sad for him but the ems guys said I could go. I hope the guy is ok.
--daryl

Disney and Joshua Tree

We went to disneyland. What fun! This was my second time and moms first.
When I was there before many of the major rides were closed. I was
miffed. This time I rode everything I missed. Space mountain was the
best thing hands down. I enjoyed the haunted mansion and the two
mountain rides and I scored well in the buzz lightyear ride. I know this
will be a great place to take my nephews.
We went to joshua tree ntnl monument on sunday and holy crap it was hot.
By 11 am it was over 105 degrees. We walked, took pictures of the
beautiful lnadscape and I bouldered at the dam. By the time we got back
to the "oasis" it had to be over 115 degrees. We were hungry after
hiking in the heat so we went to dennys...what a terrible idea that
turned out to be. Terrible service and less than acceptable food. We
stopped in Hemit to visit sandra and her daughters. They have a nice
place but who would want to live in that heat? Not me.
LA is hot enough.
--daryl