1 Year in 40 Seconds

Happy New Year



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Newbies

This week on my vacation I was running on as I often do about how blogging and twitter has become a passion for me in my spare time. I am often asked how do I find time to post, or to learn how to do this stuff, and it surprises me because of how little time I actually devote to my blog, or my tweets. More often the post arises from a brief moment of boredom, or sparked by a link that I can't wait to share. With the ease of publishing on blogger I recommended it to my parents, as well as my brother's in-laws, as a way to avoid the complexity of hosted sites, and web page design effort. The Lakeview Vocalists and St. Cloud Hog are two new blogs I have added in my links section. Totally unrelated to my topics, except for the way that Google technology has allowed even the most novice users to become instant publishers and web masters. Start yours today!

Economic Insantiy

I rarely watch CNN however visiting family there was a segment I was viewing where they were reading viewer email. I can't quote this word for word but what I remember was well worth repeating because of it's raw truth.

We got into this financial crisis by encouraging people to spend money they didn't have, and by lending money to people who could not afford to pay it back.

We are trying to solve it by allowing our government to spend money it doesn't have by lending it to companies who will never be able to pay it back.

I like to remind people of the definition of insanity:
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Season of Giving

The media and liberal pundits like to suggest the United states is out of favor with the rest of the world. Even the republican party began to fall into the media trap using buzz words like corporate corruption, and wall street greed to fault our long proven system of capitalism. The facts support that capitalism and freedom of religion (not freedom from religion) has made America the most generous nation in the world, more than twice as giving by percentage of GDP as the number 2 spot the UK.


The following numbers from MSNBC

World's most charitable nations

A country's social and political cultures influence how much money citizens give to charity, according to a November 2006 study by England's Charities Aid Foundation that ranks philanthropic donation as a percentage of gross domestic product. Among nations surveyed, these 10 are the most generous.

• 1. United States, 1.67 percent of GDP • 2. United Kingdom, 0.73 • 3. Canada, 0.72 • 4. Australia, 0.69 • 5. South Africa, 0.64 • 6. Ireland, 0.47 • 7. Netherlands, 0.45 • 8. Singapore, 0.29 • 9. New Zealand, 0.29 • 10. Turkey, 0.23

Federal tax laws -- notably low income tax, plus breaks for donations -- are often cited for American's generosity. As is religion, which drives one-third of U.S. charitable giving.

With this type of generosity why do we get such bad press from the media complex? This is the season of giving, all I want for Christmas is for the media to give me a break! Quit trying to be entertainment and report the facts. If I want drama and intrigue I will watch the Lifetime Channel.

And here is another interesting trivia question about US generosity, guess who gives the most? Read and learn.

Left Oregon Snow Behind

My sister sent this photo of her car in the Wilsonville, OR. I had been joking about my vacation travel to Minnesota for Christmas, well as it appears, I have left more snow behind that I am heading to. I am currently on I-90 near Sioux Falls, SD and there is less snow here that what looks to be in Portland Oregon.

Eagle's View Point

While visiting family in Ogalalla Nebraska we went out on a Geocaching search nearby where the eagles nest and hunt the open water by the spillway. They are amazing creatures to see in the wild and dont let you get very close. I have seen them in Oregon, never so many in one area, and never so close up.

The Odd Old West

This weekend I am in Nebraska visiting family. We visited the local western museum where a display (pictured right) was one of the west's first daycare. As it appears, the child would be caged while being supervised by a local Indian. To insure the safekeeping the sheriff would check in. In this simulated scene, a mother picks up her infant after a long night working the local brothel.

Front Street,Olgallala , NE

80% Chance of Snow Sunday in Portland

Bad things happen when Portland gets snow. Re-posting this as a reminder of the dangerous combination of ice, hills, and bad Portland drivers.

Pat McGee & Ernie Halter

Last night I went to a concert in Portland with my friend McKay. It was a random chance that I noticed Pat McGee was playing so I purchased tickets online, and was lucky to be in town the night of the show. I hadn't seen him play live in years, the first time I was more impressed by his music than the headline performance of Sister Hazel and started collecting his music, listening to it regularly. Saturday I decided to get the details on the show, when it started, and how to get there. I did not recognize the guest opening act, so I found his MySpace page, and immediately became a fan of Ernie Halter. The acoustic set was so intimate and personal it will go on my list of best ever entertainment experiences in my life. Sadly the show was barely booked up, and we sat 2nd row but this was in our benefit because we could converse with these artists, discuss our requests, and it was like listening to a good friend play guitar in your living room. Pat McGee finished his set, and then graciously came out for an encore where he unplugged and sat at the edge of the stage and just 'hung out' with us. It was more than words can describe how down to earth and personable both of these performers were. I shook Pat's hand after his encore and sincerely thanked him for what was the most memorable musical performance I had ever witnessed.

Find Jesus, with a GPS?

Mike Elgan's RawFeed blog, that I have neglected to read for the last week posted, GPS For Jesus where "Village officials in Wellington, Florida, last year inserted a GPS tracking device in the baby Jesus doll to combat theft. And wouldn't you know it? Jesus went missing, and authorities used the GPS to catch the 18-year-old girl who stole it. This year, Wellington officials plan to insert GPS trackers into the Christmas Tree, the Menorah and everything else in the holiday display that isn't nailed down."

If they are using GPS to find Jesus, would it be a sacrilege if I placed a geocache called find Jesus? I often find evangelical swag in geocaches, what a better way to get saved than by searching for him literally instead of figuratively. I am a Christian, just not a very respectable one apparently.

Hackers Ahead - Beware of Flash Update

A friend sent me a link to a video, and I love watching funny YouTube videos so I was eager to click even without reading any of the message that was included with the link. I was directed to a site with a typical video player as you would find on YouTube but it loaded for a few seconds and then popped up a notice that my flash player was outdated and I needed to upgrade, and provided a handy link to the update installation file.

Well most people would just run the new flash player right? While the notice may look ligitimate, I just know from experience that if my computer needs any updating, I will do so from a trusted source so I closed the notice, and instead went to official Adobe website to download the latest Flash Player from them. My player was not the latest version so I performed the update and returned to try and watch the video. Still no video, the site was a trick to get unsuspecting viewers to run a spyware program and collect personal information.

After some research this has been going on since August, and it was the first I have heard of it. Chances are you may have fallen for this, if you think you may have, you might want to be sure your virus and spyware software are up to date and scan your system.

One Dose of Sarin Can Ruin Your Day

How safe will we be under an Obama administration? The majority of the press coverage of the war and the standing opinion seems to be that the liberation of Iraq has put us in greater danger than had we left Saddam in power. What should be remembered, is one dose of sarin gas can ruin your whole day.

When you live your life in denial that you have made any mistakes, then you fail to accept them, fail to learn from them, and fail to improve your judgment in future matters. This can be said of both the Bush administration and the policy to be set in Obama Nation. GW neglected to administer the war in the early stages as he did in the latter, relying on Rumsfield's bad strategy, and to top it off, mishandled the media and the information that mattered to the public. Why we went to war, and what the results were, the insurance that no chemical weapons get into the hands of terrorists.

We all buy insurance, even though none of us plan to burn our homes down, or crash our cars. We all have airbags, not because we scheduled a head on collision, but because even the remote possibly exists and the safety measure may one day save our lives. For this logical reason alone, the invasion and destruction of the military capability of Iraq was good insurance for the safety of our future.

Since Obama was opposed to the war, opposed to the surge that proved to bring a successful end to the war, how can we be assured he will continue to pay the premiums of the insurance policy that has kept our nation safe for the last 8 years?

Obama's national security policy is akin to keeping your hands on the wheel, and looking both ways before crossing an intersection. Trusting that the other drivers are as safe and courteous as we are. He plans to release or prosecute terrorists as if they are simply criminals in our legal system, he wishes to withdraw completely from Iraq, when it would be in our best interest to keep a close eye on the region, and his policy of diplomacy with rouge dictators is naive and dangerous.

It will take just one munition smuggled into our country and detonated in a public place to show the world how weak the US has become under new leadership, and this is the test that Joe Biden was likely speaking of. Even Joe the senator knows what we may be facing.

For the first time I am NOT proud of my country.

Don't Play On This Play Horse

If I am a kid and see a carousel horse in the middle of a city park with soft padding below, won't I automatically assume this was placed here for me to play upon? If not, why the nice cushy safety mat paced at it's base? I can only assume one of 3 possible explanations for the sign above:

A) Salem city park department enjoys teasing kids.
B) A child has fallen off resulting in injury that they determined can be prevented by both a sign and a mat. OR
C) A soft mat was cheaper than a railing or barrier around it.

Regardless this is another example of our tax dollars hard at work.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Will Obama Continue The "LIE"?

A recent reminder I received about the movement of Iraq's uranium stockpile to Canada made me think harder about the future of our foreign policy now with Hillary Clinton soon to be running the State Department. The big BUSH LIED-PEOPLE DIED story about WMD has been a lost due in part the success we now have in Iraq, and with the Economy taking front page. While it was a major platform for the anti-war movement that put Obama in the political spotlight, the war and why we went in to Iraq will be debated for years to come. Will Obama continue the fiction, or will he, now that he is privy to the truth, also protect the former administrations from public scrutiny? This is the problem with the new Clinton administration sequel. The truth that we supplied Saddam, a vicious dictator with the means to mass murder his own people with weapons we provided, and the fact that it took a war to insure those same weapons would not come back to our soil and kill us, becomes a public relations hot potato for any president. Even Bill Clinton knew the truth. Don't let history get overwritten, take 10 minutes and watch the video I have posted below. In his own words Bill Clinton, husband to our future Secretary of State, and former celebrity president tells us all how serious the threat Saddam was, now multiply that times 911.

Sunburst Through The Clouds

Cleaning up my photos I noticed a set of shots taken just west of Silverton, where the sun was peeking through the clouds and the field rolled into the distance. None of them had the right exposure but his one was close enough to post. You can barely make out the irrigation in the shot.

Folding Display

Samsung demonstrates a folding display for portable electronics, I hope Apple considers such an idea, my iPod touch would be twice as awesome with twice the screen, I could flip it open into a mini multi-touch net-book! Ok, yeah I'm dreaming again.

Tip Courtesy of Mike Elgan

Daddies Still Swinging

This weekend I took my kids to see the Daddies play in Eugene at the WOW hall. This was the first time Karmann & Isaiah had been to see them. I have taken Nathan before, I think as young as 8 years old if the venue was accommodating to kids. As is normal in Eugene there were several abnormal encounters that made the trip memorable. First there was a drunk guy who was very friendly and talkative while we were waiting in line at the door, and was eager to share the story of how he found some sh*t at the door and it smelled like diesel fuel. He proceeded to inform us that he saved the place my removing the potentially flaming poo, and it was a good thing because it could have exploded. Once we were allowed entry we enjoyed the opening acts The Bad Mitten Orchestre & Vagabond Opera both were extremely entertaining, and loadded with talent. During the show we were frequently distracted by harmonica woman, who was fevereshly blowing on two harmonicas alternately during every performance. She would forcably push here way to the front of the stage and attempt to sit on stage as if she were part of the band. A few times she even stood on stage or sat near the the edge of the stage until being asked to get down. Vagabond Opera even gave her props for adding to the experience, but I found her rude unsolicitated addtion to be annoying. Regardless as always the Daddies delivered a energy filled performance and I am looking forward to there next appearance in Feburary.

We Are A Republic!

Begin Deprogramming

Wind Turbine Syndrome

It has for years been the oil industry out to get us, and then fears of nuclear melt down, the clean hydroelectric power has now been exempt from 'green' status because it impacts salmon, now wh have Wind Turbine Syndrome to put a stop to the evil wind farm corporations looking to turn a profit while delivering a deadly dose of vertigo to unsuspecting rural residents. When will the suffering and the horror subside.

For every thing that appears to benefit society, some whack job group forms to jeopardize our progress in the name of some minority's self interest. www.wind-watch.org is one of these groups, and you can expect that they will do what they can to drive up the cost of developing this new resource in the name of there lopsided agenda.

Salute Our Veterans

Surplus Electricity Good, WRONG

So here it begins... All those wind farms are now starting to make a noticeable difference in our electrical supply in the Pacific Northwest. It seems that unexpected surges in wind production mean other forms of power production must slow down or the green energy is all for not.

Here's the rub, see normally in a free market, higher supply than demand means we the consumer realize lower prices. Right? Wrong! Here in the socialist republic of Oregon it seems the solution is cut hydro production by dumping dam water or subsidizing carbon producing power generatoin so the coal and natural gas power plants don't go out of business.

Nice, So all these customers who invested in higher rates to help build a wind farm now get to subsidize the coal plants.

This is another reason why Nuclear is the key. No carbon, no salmon impact, minimal landscape impact. But not with this adminstration. No way.

Obama Win Not Paying Off Already

ACORN in ACTION

Projection to Prediction to Prosperity

While I am vehemently opposed to Barack Obama's politics, the projected results of the election will deliver at minimum one positive change worth noting for America. For Obama to become the first African American President, no longer with our young black youth have the burden of doubt that they are capable of great things. My hope for our country is that this will elevate that message in every minority community.

History will show this moment as pivotal, in both the issue of race, and the direction of our economy. God willing let the latter be a as positive as the former.

Now Be Patriotic And Pay Your Taxes!

Capitalist vs Socialist LIVE Transformational Map

Getting Raked Over The Coal

49% of US Electrical Production relies on COAL, Do they support any use of Coal?









How will you afford your electricity in these economic times?

Obama IS a Voter Fraud

I am not a closed minded conservative, I watch more than just Fox News, I read more than just the National Review, and I have friends (or at least I hope they will remain my friends through this) that are supporting Barack Obama.

Today, while trying to stomach another one of his deceitful speeches. While I could go on about the spin in today's rally speech, but what shocked me the most was his continued push for early voting.

We have had for the most part, elections in this great nation, every 2 years, without fail, with little issue, and with everyone's vote getting counted. Democratic operatives are out talking about voter disenfranchising, and yet Obama, at his speech today, in front of THOUSANDS, recommends they go down the street, and vote early.

Not only is this impractical, it is irresponsible. He said "They are open until 5pm" and went on to say "If your in line before 5, they have to let you vote"

So the volenteers, who love our country enough to come in on a Sunday, to help folks who have to work on Tuesday vote early, will be innodated by a bunch of Obama ralley attendees down the road, that are pumped up by Obama's speech, and want to vote early, not because they have a need to vote early, but because Obama, in his arrogant, self centered quest for power, knows, he will acomplish two goals. Insure votes, while disenfranshising voters who may have already planned on voting Sunday for McCain, but since the lines will be hours long thanks to Obama, they may not get the chance.

This is the kind of leadership, America does NOT need.

Diddy Don't Know Duck

Hip Hop Republican gives Diddy the smack down regarding this clip.


Now Click to jump down to my Ugly Duckling Post, Ditty Don't Know Duck

You can't take it with you.

Let's take a break from politics for a minute because another opinion I love to rant about is all the subscription services that are being pushed our way. I can remember when we would go out and sell magazine subscriptions for fundraisers, and I can recall when I got my first cell phone bill. Paying for a land line phone, cable TV, and then adding a cell phone at the time was a big deal. Then we add on internet access, and some people subscribing for XM radio, OnStar, and more recently the popularity of mobile broadband. All these subscription services pile on top of one another and can begin to overtake even your monthly transportation budget. There is a term for this being discussed by other bloggers "Subscription Overload"

One way I cut back, after realizing every member of the family had a cell phone, was like many, we eliminated the land line phone. While this is an option for some, depending on who you call your mobile plan may not keep up with all the peak minutes.

With the economy slowing and energy costs rising, families are trying to find ways to trim budgets and yet keep connected. One recent story posted by Mike Elgan suggests that even laptops will come down in price to as low as $99! This would be attractive but theres a catch, like your fancy new cell phone, your laptop would be subsidized by the data carrier you would be obligated to 'subscribe' to get online. This built in mobile broadband, while convienient, could cost you a 2 year obligation, and who knows what the monthly rate will be. I looked into mobile broadband, but could not justify the cost, at around $60 per month, it was another monthly expense that I can as of yet, live without.

Where devices and providers need to converge is a way to take your connection with you, without having to pay for an additional monthly contract. Avis recently began offering a mobile WiFi solution with rental cars, that you have a portable 'HotSpot' so you can connect all your WiFi enabled devices while you travel. Your kids can stay connected wile driving, you GPS may be able to get traffic updates, and you can grab your stock quotes or weather data on your iPod touch, and the whole family can share it, just like at home.

My suggestion, is handset makers and mobile carriers should add WiFi access points as a feature for our cell phones. This way we can take our data connection with us and share it! While Verizon offers a tethering option for the blackberry, who wants to have to string your laptop and phone together. We always have our phone with us, and what good is an unlimited data plan on the phone if you have to go and upgrade your laptop to an unlimited data plan as well, are you honestly using both connections at the same time? One side effect if only one parent's phone is the hot spot, the kids would want to spend more time around dad, right?

A friend has AT&T and she claims they offer a radio option to stream XM radio on her blackberry. If radio programs, internet, and phone service can be delivered on one device, wouldn't that expand the market for AT&T or Verizon if they offered packages that bundle one device and one bill to feed all your other devices data and media. You could then finally 'Take it with you!'

America, How Does it Feel?

So America, how does it feel to have a candidate spend millions of dollars to speak to you directly, without filter, without rebuttal, and without a wink, lie to your face?
Obama in this 30 minutes told you he was going to cut taxes for those under 200K, just weeks after he told you he was going to cut taxes for those under 250K, so he was lying to those who were between the 200 & 250 range, and some may have already cast there votes.. Remember Vote Early!

Obama told America he was going to help a retired couple afford medicine, a mother with kids, they can afford snacks, and a Ford worker he was going to find help when the Ford plant shuts down. I am sure Ford won't have any trouble keeping the plant open with the heavier tax burden on them, and the new fuel standards.

Obama told us he is going to rebuild our military, when his own plaform calls for cuts in military spending. Who knew he had the ablity to rebuild and reduce the budget.

All I can say is WoW? How gullable is the electorate? Sadly I think very.

Obama Infomercial 1/2 Variety Hour

Mr. Obama says: “We’ve seen over the last eight years how decisions by a president can have a profound effect on the course of history and on American lives; much that’s wrong with our country goes back even farther than that.”

While Obamas plans for American include higher taxes on the wealthy, and more government programs, nither of these ideas are new, and both of these ideas have been done. When spending increases combine with penalties for the wealthiest americans we histirically have moved from recesson to depression. What is wrong with America, is we fail to learn from the past.

He goes on to say: “We’ve been talking about the same problems for decades and nothing is ever done to solve them. For the past 20 months, I’ve traveled the length of this country, and Michelle and I have met so many Americans who are looking for real and lasting change that makes a difference in their lives.”

So to fix all your troubles, Obama is going to squeeze more from an already progressive tax program to provide all your hopes and dreams. The same problems Americans have faced for decades will be solved by one man, and your trusted government. It just wasnt' big enough.. yet.

Thanks Obama!

Ugly Duck

Why is the obvious not objectionable?

"If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands."
-- Douglas Adams

Barack Obama has done a great job of running a campaign absent of any substance in regards to Obama himself, his true beliefs, and what he has envisioned for our country. His speeches are full of politically populist rhetoric on lowering taxes for average Americans, and fairness, without any substance or track record of every accomplishing any of these feats.

The politics aside, the most amazing aspect of this campaign remains how he has dodged his past association, even as they continue to stack up and reveal his true motives and philosophic views. His views for government are so far from our nations founding principals, and yet our media, with our so called freedom of the press, fails to illustrate to the electorate who Obama really is, and what he truly believes.

My only conclusion can be that the idea of socialism, and a more powerful government media complex has become a populist idea. The association with radical extremists, terrorist sympathizers, antisemitism, and religious extremists seems to have no effect on the electorate. Had a fraction these associations had been those of a prominent white politician, media would be in a frenzy.

First there was Tony Rezco, then Jeremiah Wright, then Lewis Farrakhan, then William Ayres, then Ralia Odinga Obama, and now, Rashid Khalidi. When will the 50% of Americans the polls show would vote for Obama WAKE UP?

On Rezco, Obama "didn't recall the conversaion" then "did recall", "Bone headed mistake"
On Wright, Obama "He was the Pastor of my church"
On Farrakhan, Obama gave him honorable mention in his book 'Dreams from my father'
On Ayres "He is just a guy in my neighborhood"
On Odinga ? Not comment? Not a word? Nobody asks him? Odinga is socialist, that may be why.
On Khalidi "He is a respected scholar" More of the truth HERE

While inexperience does not seem to sway the elctorate, it appears Obama's qualifcation is not what he is, but what he is NOT...president Bush! While McCains association with Bush is obvious and transparent, they are both Repulicans. Obama has more than a Look and Quack resembeling a socialist extremist, he is an ugly duckling!

Blogette

I have been following John McCain's daughter Meghan McCain's blog, the McCainBlogette.com because it brings to light the reality of the campaign trail, the humanity of the McCain family, and shows how mainstream even an old Republican like John McCain really is. Although I lean much further right of the mainstream, I have stated many times that McCain was not my 1st pick for the Republican candidate. I respect John McCain for his heroism, his love of country, and his policy ideas in comparison to the ultra left policy that is instore for us if Obama is elected.

If you are still undecided read Meghan's recent post about her dad, and consider doing some research on your own regarding Meghan's views. You will find her to be unlike what you would think of a Rebublican senators daughter. Browse her past posts for some great photos of what it is like to travel across the country in this great example of democracy in action.

Media Handicap

Sport are not my bag, but I know that when you play against an unfair advantage the underdog is often granted a handicap to even the playing field. Well in this spirit, the election should provide a handicap to McCain for the unfair press coverage his campaign has received in comparison with the favorable media coverage of the messiah Obama.

Journalism.org has published a non partisan study on the press coverage of the presidential campaign and has proven what has been known all along, that Obama's biggest endorsements have come from the major media outlets themselves. With this in mind and the 20 point positive coverage spread that Obama has received, he should handicap his lead in the election by at least half of that, and throw 10 points McCain's way. Looks like he is going to need it.

While I can understand that when the press actually asks tough questions then the Obama campaign will black list them from future interviews, but is this really freedom of the press?

This guy ROCKS

I don't even need to blog my own posts, this guy says it all, and with enthusiasm.

My New Spokesperson!

The Average Joe

I think Samuel Joseph Worzelbacher will get more than the cliche 15 minutes of fame he may have asked for. If that name doesn't sound familiar you may know him as "Joe the Plumber" and he was used as an example in the last presidential debate with a mention more than 22 times, several more times than the economy, or health care. The unfortunate thing for good'ole Joe is now the press is storming in to get interviews, and vetting his past like he himself is running for office. In an attempt to discredit his comments, they have determined he holds no plumbing license, and in fact owes back property taxes, both facts totally irrelevant to the conversation, and both facts he himself has no problem with. As I write, in an attempt to give poor Joe some backup, I realize that even I am allowing the media to distract us from the point that thrust Joe into the spotlight. Obama's comment. It wasn't average Joe that stirred the debate, it was the answer Obama delivered that has put the Democratic nominee on notice.

"I think that when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody," Obama told Wurzelbacher in response to a question about his tax policy.

What Joe immediately realized is Obama is in fact a socialist, and that agenda contradicts Obama's previous suggestion that he believes in the American Dream.

The social engineering that will come to play if Obama wins, and if the democrats secure a stronger hold on our legislative branch will crush prosperity. Entrepreneurs and investors will go running from our borders, the social programs will attract the rush of third world immigrants into our country like ants to sugar. The haves will flee and be replaced with the have-nots, then who will be left with the bill? If you doubt this prediction, look at the states with the highest immigration, they are blue states with the largest social programs.

China has had no problem loaning money to us, because our prosperity had until now insured a good return on investment. When the social agenda of the democratic majority starts to squash our business growth, that investment will turn to liability, and they will not only be reluctant to finance our exploding deficit, they will begin to ask for some principle in return.

Now pile the social welfare programs Obama has on his platform on top of the financial bail-out and the state of our nations economy and it spells a recipe for disaster. I don't believe we are on the path to another great depression, what I believe if Americans are sucked into Obama's hope and change message, it will be social suicide.

Yes Please, Good Measures In Oregon

Read the always exciting voters pamphlet information on the state ballot measures and was pleased with most of them for a change. I always know they are good ideas when there is one or two arguments in favor, and then 3 or 4 pages of opposition commentary from every union, organization, and bureaucracy in the state. If some of these get passed our courts will be busy overriding the voters again this year.

There are 8 of them so here is my synopsis and my vote, would love to read your comments.

54 - voter eligibility for school board elections, simply YES PLEASE
55 - legislators finish term in same district after redistricting..YES PLEASE
56 - Tax Elections! Omits requirement of over 50% turnout.. NO! Sneaky guys, trying to make it easier to raise taxes... not so fast. VOTE NO, unless you want 51% of a fractional mid-term May election turn out to result in your property taxes to get a surprise hike.
57 - Sounds good, increase sentences, but read the fine print, also prescribes treatment programs, and riskes a conflict with Measure 61 - Vote NO on 57
58 - English Teaching Non English Students - YES - English Always
59 - Deduct federal taxes on state return - YES PLEASE! Lower my taxes!
60 - Merit pay and Merit retention for teachers - OH, YES, look at all the union opposition to this one. This is how you get around the political palm greasing of the unions, put it on the ballot! VOTE YES, YES, YES, Who wouldn't want to give a good teacher a raise? HELLO?
61 - VOTE NO on 57, YES on 61 - This is the peoples lock-em-up measure. Do it!
62 - Allocation of lottery - The lottery is corrupt, so I don't want public safety counting on a voluntary tax system. I'm voting NO
63 - Exempts building permits for small improvements, Hell Yeah! Build me a shanty in the back yard, let farmer john build a pole barn. Why not, permits smermits, VOTE YES. Seriously, stop the permit racket from killing our freedoms.
64 - Penalty for public resources fundraising for political purpose, YES, I think so.
65 - Election process in nominations, NAH, Voting no, Other states have done this, it leads to fraud voting in some cases, and limits our choices in the general election. This is a good way to end up with a one party system. Vote NO.

Economics 101

San Francisco Readying For Great Depression II

"Golden Gate Bridge to get suicide net to catch would-be jumpers"
19 people have called it quits off the golden gate thus far this year. That sounds like alot, more than one per month. I'm wondering if the nets will act as a deterrent or will people liken jumping to a circus act. I'll I can say is I admit the economy may be in trouble when we start building things to catch suicide jumpers.

Eric Risberg / Associated Press

Stainless-steel netting hanging 20 feet down and extending 20 feet on either side will be placed beneath the Golden Gate Bridge to catch would-be suicide jumpers, San Francisco officials decided Friday.

Your Vote Will Count

This year, more than any other election, your vote will be clear. Do you trust government to fix your problems, or do you believe in individual freedom and choice?
While our congress feels the need to socialize more and more, our two presidential candidates could not be more different. One is for socialized health care, increased government control of our economy, eliminating your choices in education, and taking more of your wealth to fund his vision of a more powerful and far reaching government. The other believes in the fundamentals of our nations economy, free markets, and low taxes, smaller government, and the freedom that comes with personal responsibility and the power of the individual. Just ask yourself if you are yet undecided, what has government been able to effectively, efficiently, and successfully accomplish? Should we give them more or hold them to account? If you are honest with yourself and the reality that faces our nation, you will then know who is on your side.

Somebody Stumped

I know you have all seen this already, but I had to find an example worse than Sara Palin performance in the debates tonight and this is what came to mind, something needs to take the focus of what is looking like a liability.

Interesting enough, even while I post this, I am shocked by the fox news commentary that is showing she won and did better than expected. I guess my expectations were to large. I think she lost it. The public is eating her up? I'm still confused with my own reaction.

Biden Gaff Timeline

Biden On Being Presidential, Dumbass!

"When the stock market crashed, Roosevelt went on TV"
FYI, Roosevelt was not the president at the time, and I don't think he had a TV yet.

Photo Euphoria With Picasa 3 (Beta)

Google has released a new BETA version of it's photo wizard, and now it has even more super easy to use features like retouch, text overlay, & video slide show creator! If your not using picasa yet, you really don't know what you have been missing, but now you can download the new Beta3 version and get even more organized and creative with your digital collection!

Pro-Bama?

Why is the media so quick to publish personal attacks on Sarah Palin & allow the democrats to blame the current financial crisis squarely on the republicans when they have been in control of the congress for the last two years?
The only explanation is media bias.

Here is 10 underexploited scandals regarding Obama, that rarely get mainstream press:

1. Obama-Rezko
2. Obama's Red Mentor
3. Obama-Fannie Mae Money
4. Fannie Mae Thanks Obama
5. Obama-Fannie Mae Executives
6. Obama ACORN Connection
7. Obama's Pastor
8. Obama on Redistricting
9. Obama Farrakhan Connection
10. Obama's Buddy Ayres

Obama should just suspend his campaign and let the media take over. John McCain should also grow a pair and start hitting harder. His handlers are playing hopscotch while Obama is playing hardball.

The WAMU is Consumed...Whoo Hoo?

Yes, I am a Washington Mutual customer, have been for years. I used to think it was the best bank, they had a small office blocks from my office, they had ATM's and bank branches everywhere I traveled. They had a great checking plan with free money orders, and at the time, one of the best online banking sites. All was good. Then things just slid sideways, no real improvements, no real incentives to stay. I started direct deposit, so I never needed the branch. I rarely used an ATM, if I needed cash I just took cash back at the store with my debit card. The online account was good when it came out, but more often it was problematic, and slow. While other banks were offering special savings programs that tied to your checking or overdraft protection tied to savings, WAMU stayed behind. The blame will be on the mortgage securites crisis, but I think it is more than that.

If you too are a WAMU customer, the Consumerist posts an interesting account of what to expect now that CHASE has CAUGHT them.

You may also like to read my ATM opinion regarding WAMU's 1st question to every customer.

Watch Obama Spin

Unfortunately, the Republican party does a poor job of communicating their messages, and an even worse job of balancing the platform of smaller government while not looking like it is in favor of an unregulated and out of control wall street.



On the other side, Obama is going to have to continue to spin into dizzy circles to avoid the facts that surround the current securities debacle that is stemming from the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now he is really going to have to raise our taxes to pay for that mess!

The Bloomberg.com news site has published a direct connection with the current crisis and the Democratic block on congressional reforms. As if the fact that his campaign contacted Franklin Raines seeking housing and economic advise for his campaign wasn't telling enough, it is now shown that Obama is in the top 3 recipients of campaign money from the mortgage companies.

Lies and the Lying Liars

A book by the same title of this post makes an attempt to debunk the growing feeling of an existing left leaning media bias. Unfortunately, current trends are pointing those fingers right back at the author.

I was eating lunch and grabbed the local paper, that I rarely read because of a cover story regarding Gov. Sarah Palin's speech to the troops leaving for duty (including her son) What was surprising was the tone of the write up, and the claim she was connecting 9/11 to Iraq. She clearly was speaking of Al-Qaeda. It is popular knowlege that Al-Qaeda has flooded to Iraq to engage us, and thankfully so. As was your mission to engage the enemy abroad and prevent attacks on our soil.

Several examples of media spin have recently escalated and in the blogosphere, several outright lies have been propagated. To my amazement the liberals are going from fantasy to complete fiction!

ABC Blows it!

Blogs Accuse Track Palin as a vandal!

Washington Post Blows it!

Thanks to Michelle Malkin for digging for the truth.

Never Forget

Some will be critical of the imagery of September 11th, some will say it is being put in the public eye to instill fear, and for political purpose. I say good, because on September 12th 2001, I was both afraid, and empowered. Empowered to become patriotic again, inspired to protect my country, and my freedom, from those who would see us wiped from the earth in honer of there religion, ours be damned.

Never forget, they have been fighting a Jihad with us for years, yet only on September 11th did they inflict a blow heavy enough to wake the sleeping giant. Fortunately this giant stands for freedom and liberty, and she will live in isolation no longer.

Never forget, for when we do, the virus of liberalism and pacifism can take hold. With the false hope of understanding and diplomacy, they will take with them bargaining chips in a delegation to those who's beliefs will drag us along to the grave. For our enemy glory is found through martyrdom, not peace.

Thousands of lives were lost, buildings destroyed, and our world changed forever.

Never Forget.

Sign the National Book of Remembrance

Remember

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is something I understand yet I cannot compare to the level of sacrifice that our proud men and women who serve our nation in her defense give each day. Please support John McCain for president, the majority of those who protect your freedom do, don't let them down. This is my viewpoint, feel free to comment.



This video was introduced to me by Meghan McCain's McCainBlogette, I recommend it for a great insight to life on the campaign trail with a real American hero.

Links:

Voters say McCain better suited to handle Iraq than Obama

Military favors McCain, poll finds

Veterans Solidly Back McCain

Military families support Sen. McCain

Government Transparency In Action!

The following expert from BetaNews again reinforces the position that the McCain-Palin ticket is ready to lead.

"Sen. Barack Obama has made government transparency part of his platform. Gov. Palin has indeed taken that a step further by actually taking action in Alaska government. Currently, any check written by the state government over $1,000 is posted to the Division of Finance Web site."

With the national debt at record highs, and the democratically controlled congressional approval at all time lows, the smart choice is in an administration that will control spending while protecting our nation. While Obama plans to cut spending on our national security, McCain & Palin have actual experience in confronting government waste and earmark pet projects, something Obama has no defense.

Free The Airwaves

I am a big supporter of Google tech, and for this reason I watched the video found on FreeTheAirwaves.com regarding a grass roots movement to push the FCC towards free unlicensed use of some of the radio spectrum being freed by the ban on analog TV transmission.

Unfortunately the video, and it's message is not well communicated, produced, nor clear as to what free use airwaves can mean to us, the consumer. Consumer electronic makers could provide us some exciting connectivity tools without the need for subscription based services if the FCC allows some of the new radio spectrum to become free conditional use, as opposed to licensed use as it currently is. Licensed use, such as TV broadcast, radio stations, and cell phone spectrum, only permit the companies who pay for the licenses to use the airwaves, thus we the consumer pay for access. Consider we already pay monthly fees for phone service, internet access, cable or satellite TV signals, satellite radio, and some even for wireless broadband mobile web access, does the tel com and entertainment industry really need to control more of the airwaves?

What we the public must demand of our airwaves is free use by us, our gadgets, and providers of content to deliver our entertainment and communication across our public airwaves, without service fees. Although free airwaves still may require end connection to require some access agreements like you see when you visit an airport with free-wi-fi, or login to subscription based WiFi accesspoints, the free use of the spectrum provides choice, and open access for competion.

Imagine being able to access the web in your car with a mobile WiFi signal as reliable as your FM raidio station, and free of a monthly fee. Have live content such as traffic, weather, and local news accessable wheverver you may be without paying some content provider for access to there privately licensed wireless service.

The possiblites with GPS & in car navigation systems, WiFi enabled media players, to name a few, leave unlimited possibilites.

Don't let the major media, cable, and phone companies steal our airwaves and charge us access fees to use them, sign the petition and tell your friends to support this as well. This will shape our future and how we communicate, and more importantly what it costs us to keep connected in the future.

That's It, Im Going For it And Going VIRAL!

Explore With Eye-Fi

A new version of the Eye-Fi wireless SD card has been out for a time, and I recently read a review here and was somewhat interested, however the using Skyhook Wireless as a method of geotagging does take some of the cool factor away from true GPS accuracy. Skyhook uses WiFi access point locations to approximate your position, similarly some cell phone services use your wireless signal to triangulate your location without using the global positioning satellites. Both methods get you within a few thousand yards, and can help with directions, but for photo geotagging, true accuracy within feet should be realized.

The feature that Eye-Fi Explore provides that I most see appealing is a 1 year Wayport hotspot access subscription. The original Eye-Fi card that I own, only allows pre-set hot spots to work, and only once you configure them using the provided software. This is fine for travel to frequent destinations where you can program in the access point and have your pictures transfer when you are in range. The trouble is no support for roaming access, when you are in public hot spot locations. Wayport has many public hot spots around the globe allowing your uploads to get transferred without being at your home base.

The usefulness of the Eye-Fi card is mostly realised for me around the house, taking photos for craigslisting sales, and getting shots for my work transferred in the background while I type away has saved a few valuable minutes now and again. If they could just shove a GPSr into this chip I might upgrade.

"For those who tag or organize, for those who blog or share in real-time, for those who need to upload here, there or somewhere else, and all the rest who are simply passionate about managing, sharing and saving their memories, there is now Eye-Fi Explore.
It uploads photos wirelessly to your computer and to the web, of course. But, Eye-Fi Explore also automatically adds geographic location labels to your photos and allows you to upload from more than 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the nation. Your memories will be easier to search and more fun to share with geotags, and you’ll be able to upload them on the go."