Issue #6
Stay in the kitchen. Take the heat.
Controversial topics.
Copyright© 2004 by Aqua Craft Products°. All rights reserved.
Only in America!Article by Ed Anger
In the richest and currently most powerful country in the world we see inconsistencies, improprieties, contradictions and a variety of bizarre behavior.


Humu-humu-nuku-nuku-a-pua
Rhineacanthus aculeatus
This is an aquarium favorite. It is usually collected from Hawaii. It is also collected from most parts of the tropical Indo-Pacific, Australia, to the warmer parts of the western coast of Africa. There are several types of Rhineacanthus trigger fish. All are called Humu triggers. This trigger fish shown is also called the Picasso Trigger.

All humu-humu trigger fish are capable of inflicting a bad bite. Handle this fish with care. In the home aquarium they do well. They will eat a variety of foods. When adult, up to 14" - 18" they require tremendous amounts of foods.

In nature the trigger fish feed on crustations, corals and smaller fish. This trigger fish not recommended for inclusion into a reef type aquarium. Trigger fish are aggressive. They can destroy delicate tank mates such as butterfly fish or other less aggressive tank mates.
Television: Click - BAM! Pork fat rules! - Click - Buy the Gut Buster! - Chick - Eat Italy! - Click - Drink juice. Meat comes from dead things. - Click - The Atkins Diet. Meat is OK, no juice. - Click - Purchase a variety of abdominal exercisers. All beginning with the word AB. - Click - Watch a popular sit-com. See people talking with their mouth full of food. - Click - Witness a plethora of fast food commercials followed by anti-acid and stomach/gut remedies. - Click- Judge Judy! - Click - Order in the next 2 minutes and receive a complementary genuine artificial piece of jewelry.-Click - Buy property with no money! - Click - Place ads in hundreds of news papers. I made $50,000 a month from my tiny apartment. Just send me your money. - Click - Madam Creole the tarot fortune teller. - Click - Rub this dye on your body and get an instant tan! - Click - Use this electrical stimulator to torque facial muscles into spasms. Makes you look younger. - Click - Put this glue on your body, then rip hair from that area! - Click - Why is America attracted to dysfunctional families like Rosanne and the Soprano's? - Click - Mick Foley is good. - Chick - Televangelists ask for money as they sell access to god.

Physical appearance: The media plays up cosmetic surgery as if this is the norm. A few individuals are shown on television getting an eye or nose job, liposuction, a tummy tuck or hair transplant. To get a look at America's norm, visit the local mall. Check out the morbidity obese that cast a shadow like a wholly mammoth as they graze at stores that vend ice cream, cookies and what is generally agreed to be unhealthy foods. The reality is that 3 out of 5 Americans are overweight or obese.


Humu-hum-nuku-nuku-a-pua
Rhinecanthus rectagulus
This trigger is also an aquarium favorite. Not seen as much in the aquarium trade as R aculeatus. It is collected from the central and South Pacific islands and costs of China and Southern Japan. It is also found on the east coast of Africa.

It is a common shallow water inhabitant of the South Pacific island. Like other trigger fish it will hide in the small holes of rocks when approached by divers. One experienced diver from Tahiti reported he could catch as many as 15-20 juvenile fish per hour!

This colorful humu has a distinct color pattern. But, do not let these beautiful markings lull you into a state of aquarium passion. This trigger fish can be very aggressive and should not be put in aquariums with corals or other delicate tank mates.
Energy: In Jan. 2000 a full tank of gas cost $16.25. In Oct. the cost was $24.00. In May 2001 the cost was $31.50. In Sept. 05 it cost $55.00. Each time the price of fossil fuel rises the populous cries out. After weeks of price increases, the evening news informs us that price of gasoline is down $0.04 a gallon. Most smile with the good news, but forget it is still cost us 94% more than it did 18 months ago.

In California, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has the states utility customers by the nads. Utilities have gone up over 80% for many patrons. In April 2001, P.G. & E. handed out bonuses of over 55 million dollars to select top level employees.

The following week P. G.& E. filed for bankruptcy.

DOT-COM: Was it dot-com, dot-con, dot-bomb or dot-gone? Extinct are great sounding domain names like Furniture.com and PetShop.com, along with hundreds more. Imagine thousands of people leaving secure job positions in the hopes of striking it rich in the unknown, unproven and untried dot-com world.

In mid 1999 hard hat workers were talking about their investments in the stock market. They had about as much of a chance to strike it rich as Milosevic had of winning an international popularity contest.

Many defied standard work practices. They fought tooth and nail using laptops in an uneducated, hap-hazard feeble and pathetic approach to amass their fortune. They were refereed to as "day traders."

Responsible people watched a few day traders on the evening news. Day traders appeared to be weak, sniveling wimps that complained. They complained of being stressed out when using their lap tops for hours on end. Buying and selling... again and again. Early on, many boasted of making a few thousand dollars each day before noon. As the inevitable crunch gained momentum, the majority of day traders realized they possessed the same level of skill selecting winning stocks as Pol Pot had with human relations.

In the Silicon Valley part of California, the only thing the vast majority of dot-commers did was clog freeways with SUV's, 328 BMW's and 320 Mercedes. They pushed the cost of housing, food, fuel and nice automobiles to record levels.

Imagine a few 28-34 year olds suddenly getting more wealth then they could handle. Some paid $1.2 million for $850,000 homes. Some paid $4.5 million+ for $2.5 million dollar homes. Others forced the prices of model year 2000 Jaguar's, and Mercedes Benz's up to $20,000 over sticker price. Most of the individuals that behaved in this manner thought it would never end. Many could not and did not save any of their paper profits. They are now leaving their expensive homes. Automobile repossession is at an all time high in Silicon Alley.

Towards the lower end of the dot-com revolution were employees that assembled various items for use in high tech equipment. At the bottom end were unskilled grunts that carefully placed styrofoam peanut chips around costly items that they put into premeasured shipping cartons. Many of them dreamed of becoming multi millionaires. These folks are still driving their 1979 Toyota Corollas.

On their time off, many of the hip dot-comers frequented neuvo avant garde coffee boutiques. Cappuccino, double mocha latte grandees were in vogue. Juan Valdez was relegated to the cups of normal folks. Well groomed young men boasted, "I build web sites". Which of these highly trained people designed Web-Van's site?

Something has to be said for the vast majority of hard working Americans that have the discipline to simply go to work every day. They took care of their family and financial obligations. They watched the stock market soar then crash. They continued to work and save for their future. I salute those.

Automobiles: Various promotions offered... Our SUV has more space then the other SUV. Never mind the tires that come apart. "There is no roll over problem with our SUV." "Finally, an economy luxury sedan."

Gas stations: Where else do you pay more and more and get less and less service? It doesn't matter if your are a college student, home maker or top level executive. Park by the pump, go inside a small room, stand in line while someone ahead of us is buying junk food, cigarettes and then fuel.

Then it is our turn. We tell someone that speaks a language unknown to citizens educated in the Western world which pump we will use. This person might have received their green card earlier that day (maybe not)? We hand this individual our hard earned money. We go outside and put over priced and heavily taxed gasoline into our low smog emitting fossil fuel engines.

We return to the small room permeated with the personal body odor of the cashier who employs garlic as a deodorant. The laborious process of securing our proper change begins. We again wait in line while someone ahead of us attempts to make an informed purchase. Should they get the chemically induced chocolate pie, or the family pack of powdered sugar mini donuts?

Oh man. Just buy this crap. Eat it! Die! Just end it! Get out of my way. I am from America, the most powerful country in the world.

This is the current American version of... full service.


Humu-hum-nuku-nuku-a-pua
Rhinecanthus species
This trigger is collected from Hawaii, Indo-Pacific islands. and to the south eastern coast of China. The name trigger fish comes from a dorsal spine that erects. When the trigger fish is alarmed it darts into holes in rocks and erects this trigger like fin. When erected it resembles a trigger on a gun.

Like other humu trigger fish all have eight upper and eight lower interlocking rows of sharp teeth. A bite from these powerful jaws can tear a mans hand apart!

All humu triggers feed on sea urchins, corals, smaller fish and some alga. It is unbelievable to watch a humu trigger fish look over a needle sharp sea urchin, then rip it apart.

These are beautiful fish. However they are best kept in aquariums where they can be displayed and not tear apart tank mates. They grow to 18" in nature.
Taxi rides: I recently took a taxi from the airport to my home. The fare is usually about $24.00. As I hailed a taxi I see that my intended driver resembles either a holy man or a camel trainer. I give him the address and explicit instructions. There is little traffic. We arrive. The fare is $24.00. I hand the driver two $20.00 bills. He looks me in the eyes. I ask him for $10.00 back. He tells me "I would be offended if I did not receive a tip of at least $15.00". I am thinking that I am already offering this bozo $6.00 on a $24.00 ride. That is a 25% tip.

I say just a minute. I take one $20.00 bill back. I scrounge around and give him exactly $4.00 more. He is upset. I am home.

Tipping: For some unknown reason Americans have been trained to give after tax income in the form of hard cash to people that perform menial tasks. I.e. A waiter or server is hired and paid to come to work at a restaurant and do the following... 1) Hand you a menu. 2) Take your order. 3) Go to the kitchen and hand your order to the cook. 4) Bring you the finished plate. This is what they were hired to do. In most parts of the world, this is considered a no-brainer.

If a waiter botches up orders, does not pay attention to customers and/or acts in a rude manner he is fired. However, if the waiter does the job he was hired to do, in America you are expected to offer a tip of 15%-25% of the total check. That means, you are expected to tip this much even on the sales tax!

No doubt there are some that used to work in this field. They are thinking I am a hard nose. But, that is exactly why you used to do that type of work.

If servers or waiters want more money, they should get a better education. This could lead to a better paying job. Job. You know. Job. Get paid for what you know and what you can do. Do not expect extra free cash for just for showing up.

It is not the responsibility of the general population to subsidize servers and waiters that fall victim to restaurant owners that pay low wages. Especially with after tax cash from outside sources (the customer).

How many of us tip the wanna-be pump jockey in the gas station? The grocery clerk?? The tax man??? -- Are people in America so wealthy we can afford to reward those with hard cash who prefer to avoid skilled and/or hard labor? Perhaps it is the 'server' that is putting more cash in their pockets vs. the tipper?

Marriage: For less than half of the American population marriage is satisfactory. I am happy for them. Over 50% of US marriages fail. Could this be the result of perceived entitlement? Women brow beat husbands into spiritual submission. If hubby resists Femi-nazi tactics, he can be sued for divorce and pays for decades. What ever happened to being an independent? Standing and having your own ground. Sharing life with a soul mate?


Humu-hum-nuku-nuku-a-pua
Rhinecanthus assasi
This is the rarest of humu trigger fish. It is collected from the Red Sea and surrounding waters. It can be found in limited numbers in the northern part of the east African ocean near Yemen and into the far eastern part of the Persian Gulf.

The cost for the Red Sea Assasi Humu is likely to be considerably higher than Hawaiian or Indo-Pacific humu's offered for sale to the pet trade in North America. This is due to the increased shipping costs from the Middle East. Also collecting and shipping animals from the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Aden is usually limited to the winter months.

During the summer months the temperature can rise to 125°F+. This makes successful shipping difficult as high temperatures reduce the levels of essential oxygen in shipping bags.
Immigration: I am all for legal immigration, but not for illegal immigration. Why, because it is, illegal!

Our forefathers came to America to escape repression, oppression, injustice and/or political tyranny. They came to America for a better life. A life where they could bring children into the world that would have opportunities they could only dream of.

Today, far too many people visit America and simply forget to go home! Some legally immigrate and bring all the negative aspects of their homeland with them. Some enter America to have a baby or have their teeth capped. Then go back to where these medical services are poor at best. All this at the cost of American tax payers. The only people that pay taxes in America are the people that work. Please make an honest effort to embrace your step mother country. Do not demand that street signs be printed in your native language. Remember, right lane slow. Left lane fast.

Politics: We must recount the recount, again. Then recount again after the new President has been in office for a couple of months.

The out going president takes tens of thousands of dollars worth of furniture and items as he leaves the nations capitol. When he is caught, our ex-leader pathetically attempts to justify the theft of furniture as... perhaps a consolation prize?

Slick Willie left America with an economy that started to descentagrate like the Hindenberg's last arrival into Lakehurst. This unraveling of Americas perceived prosperity started a few months before he left office. He cost tax payers (we the people) over $40 million dollars by lying under oath. His legacy is a blue stained dress. He left his side-kick Mr. Gore with little chance to take the position he was groomed for. But this is America. How quickly we forget.

Why is that when President Clinton had white house staffers on their knees in the oval office, no democrats complained. When Attorney General Ashcroft had staffers on their knees and most democrats are complaining.

Ed Anger
Citizen at large

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