On December 3, 2007, I wrote this blog about Russian capatilists and the Vladimir Putin.  I wonder if it will get more attention today, in light of recent events in Georgia.

"Russia is now a very wealth country.  Vladimir Putin has created a disciplined nation, and the young majority don't like Americans.  They blame us for most of the problems in the world.

After seeing the report on CNN, one realizes that it is conceivable that something much worse than the former 'Cold War' could happen. 

According to the report, Russians are indoctrinating their youth to be strong nationalists with little respect for human rights.  One might summarize that within 10 years a conflict could develop between opposing sides of the old 'Cold War' 

If you saw the report you were surely as impressed as I am, and you may want to share your impressions.

Is there enough Russian wealth to take up the slack in our troubled mortgage loan industry?

Will Russian wealth buy cheap American real estate and business?

Will Russian wealth invest in American manufacturing to take advantage of our cheap labor as a result of the weakness of the American dollar on the international market?

At least there's a plot for an interesting book about 'Revival of the Cold War'!

What are your thoughts?"

 I just received the following message from Miss Prisca Doudou.  I can barely contain my excitement?!!  Prisca must be extremely wealthy and kind, as she would like to invest $9,500,000 in US manufacturing.  That's great for the US economy because we don't manufacture a lot of things, we import most everything from China.  Lucky me!  All I have to do is provide Prisca my vital information such a bank accounts, credit cards, etc., which she will use to export the money here for investment in the US, and, here's the reward, Prisca will give me 15% commission for the service!   I will earn $1,425,000 just for letting Prisca use my accounts to transfer the investment cash.  Miss Doudou is certainly generous.  Has anyone else been this fortunate? 

I wonder if Miss Doudou is a member of the ActiveRain community....

Yesterday morning, around 8 am, I checked my time, and it was eight minutes after eight am on the eigth day of the eigth month of the eigth year into the 20th century following the death of Christ.  This made me very hungry so I went str8 to the kitchen and 8 breakfast.  The Chinese chose that d8 to open the Olympic games in Beijing..  I forgot to play the lottery.  My wife heard on TV that a child was born at 8:08 am whose w8 was 8 pounds and 8 ounces.  This probably the eigth time I've told this story.  W8 a while, and I'll tell it again.  All in all, it was a gr8 day for me, and I hope yours was gr8 also.

Let the games begin.  I suppose most everyone say at least some of the festivities presented by the Chinese in Beijing to introduce the Olympic games of 2008...  Guess everyone was impressed so far...

We were shown much about the technological capabilities of the Chinese.  We got a glimpse of what can be done with the profits from all the stuff we buy from China. 

By the end of the games, we will see many more amazing things.  The Chinese will need to be treated with more respect henceforth, and will have more of a say in decisions that affect world governance.

Just trying to open an interesting topic of discussion... so what were your impressions?

Here are a few pictures of sunsets on Choctawhatchee Bay, from Driftwood Estates, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.  Amazing sunsets appear everyday, but today was special.  Hope you enjoy.

Isn't that breathtaking?!  When you have scenery like this to work with, you don't need to be a great photographer.

Can you think of any other planet you would prefer to live on?

Just more reason to love Driftwood Estates, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, and Choctawhatchee Bay

Let the games begin.  They will withing a week, and in China.  So many of us, probably like myself, respect the athletes, and enjoy a perfomance/contest from time to time, but probably prefer a good football game to spend our television time on.

However, recent programs on the travel channels are opening our minds about the Chinese, their numbers, the size of their country, their eating habits, living habits, and their nationalist devotions...

They seem to be really proud, and dedicated people, with a lot more history than any of us know about.

There is something eating at me, saying, guess what, Americans, all planetarians, are going to learn a lot about the Chinese and China, real soon. 

Question is, how will this knew knowledge affect our dependence on the Chinese for production of about everything we possess?  What else will we learn?

Hi, sunset in late July, from Driftwood Estates in Santa Rosa Beach, Walton County, Florida, across Choctawhatchee Bay, Mid-Bay bridge, Destin, Sandestin, Fort Walton Beach.  Sunsets are spectacular all year long, and change by the second.  Choctawhatchee Bay widens across the intracoastal waterway which goes from Pensacola all the way up the east coast to Virginia.  Barges and all sorts of pleasure watercraft are seen on the intracoastal.  Often, on Choctawhatchee Bay, sailboats are out and about.  There was hardly enough wind for them on the day of this picture. 

We see a lot of news about forest fires during the dry, hot, windy seasons, and we see the sadness of those who lose their homes to forest fires, and we even see these courageous souls come back and start all over in the same place...

Well, at the risk of getting hammered from all directions, I'll say anyway what I think I about that.  Leave fall from trees and dry up in forests, lightning is a fact of life and starts fires in dry forests.  Homes built inside forests that burn, burn just like the forest.

And somebody pays for the insurance to make restitution.  Firefighters risk their lives, and we spend fortunes dropping water from airplanes onto burning houses. 

What are we doing folks?  Just don't build a house inside a forest, or, if you do, build it underground, let the trees burn, then come out of ground....  really, we're never going to prevent mother nature from starting fires, and if we did, the consequence would probably be more serious than forest fires.

Hi.  I just wanted to share some of these flowers with my friends.  Aren't they just gorgeous!!  It seems like just about everything grows well here in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.  That's good, and bad...  Flowers, for example, a so beautiful and pleasing to the eye and the nose.  And many of the insects are tolerable.  And birds and lizards are all fun to see.  But, then, on the flip side of that coin, there is so much grass to cut, and weeds grow, too, and not all the insects are friendly, i.e., yellow flies, deer flies, 'no-see-ums' (those near microscopic gnats that bite, and mosquitoes, and not all snakes are cute like green snakes and black racers.... there are also plenty of pigmy ratlers...  and don't forget everybody's least favorite, the termite!!  Anyway, just wanted to share some flower pics with you...  hope you enjoy.

What do you think the real estate market will do after the election in November?  If Obama wins?  If McCain wins?  I can turn on the television and hear from the talking heads exactly what the outcome will be and how it will affect us.  I can hear that in two versions, the democratic and republican version.  But, really, what I find most interesting is opinions from working stiffs like you and me...  We live in a real world.  To me, if anyone one asked?, it looks like Obama is going to be our next president.  He certainly has the oratory, and the presence, and he's likeable here and around the world...  Anyone else have an opinion you dare to share?