News, Politics and Anything Else I Want to Say

A Letter to Congressman Heath Shuler (NC-11) on Network Neutrality

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:01:00 +0000

Congressman Shuler,

I am writing to encourage you to reconsider your stance on network neutrality. I read the letter sent by 72 members of congress to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski opposing net neutrality and I was disappointed you were one of the signers. Net neutrality has been the de facto way of the Internet since it's inception and allows everyone equal access. It allows small and innovative startups to be on the same playing field as massive corporations like Yahoo and Google (which were both once small and innovative startups). Allowing network providers to restrict traffic of their choosing would stifle the innovation that has lead to the Internet we have today. It would also allow network providers to favor their own services over competing services, limiting competition. I hope you will reconsider your position and Chairman Genachowski will make the right choice and not make policy based on your letter. Thank you for your time.

To Senator Kay Hagan: Public Option in Health Care Reform

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:07:00 +0000

I've read a few articles (here and here) about Senator Kay Hagan's opposition to a public option in the latest health care debate and I felt compelled to write her:

Senator Hagan,

I have read several articles recently discussing your opposing a public option as part of the push to reform our health care system. I am writing in hopes that your will reconsider and support a public option.

My biggest concern is that everyone in our country has access to health care and personally I would like to see a single payer health care system. I do see the reality of the entrenched insurance companies in our health care system though and know that option is almost impossible politically.

I think that having a public plan may be the next best thing to single payer. Insurance companies are not in the business of making sure their customers stay healthy. They are in the business of making money. To do this they drop sick people or charge them outrageous premiums if they cover them at all. They also routinely deny coverage. How a "bureaucrat in Washington" is worse than a bureaucrat at a health insurance company, I don't know. Health insurers need the competition.

I feel that health care should be a right, not a privilege limited to people who can afford it or are lucky enough to have a job that provides it for them. That should be the overall goal of any health care reform.

Thank you for listening.

Forrest Samuels

Why don't we just tell the other 14% to Sit Down and SHUT UP!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:15:00 +0000

I got an email forward this weekend that got under my skin a little and not just because of the mere fact that it was a forward. It detailed some of the instances where Christianity has come into play in the history of our government and the amazement that "How, then, have we gotten to the point that everything we have done for 220 years in this country is now suddenly wrong and unconstitutional?". It closes with:

It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore, it is very hard to understand why there is such a mess about having the Ten Commandments on display or "In God We Trust" on our money and having God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the other 14% to Sit Down and SHUT UP!!!

I found the full email online here, though the version I received had a few less "Did you know?'s".

And here was my response...

It is true that our country is based on Judeo-Christian values but more importantly our country is also intentionally secular. The first amendment of the constitution clearly spells out that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". There is a very fuzzy line though in determining what is religious and what is favoring one religion over another. I think it is more important for everyone in this country to be able to practice the religion of their choosing (or no religion) though than it is for the majority to have their religious symbols supported by the government.

The thing that really bothers me about this email though is the idea that because a majority thinks something should be one way that makes it the right way, and that the minority should "sit down and shut up!!!". When the majority rules they can easily ignore the rights of the minority. Imagine if instead of being the majority, Christians were the minority. Would you feel the same way then? Or try being a Christian in an Islamic republic like Iran. Many of the first settlers came to what would become the United States fleeing religious persecution in Europe. Groups like the Puritans and Quakers. It is the separation of church and state that allows Christians to worship as they want.

The United States is the most diverse country in the world and that is one of the many things that makes us so great. Our diversity forces us to be more understanding and accepting of other views. Compromise and understanding are necessary parts of the process.

President Elect Barack Obama Mosaics

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:01:00 +0000

I love mosaics. Last night I was inspired to make a few of President Elect Barack Obama (and a few with Obama and Senator McCain). I made these using AndreaMosaic with the tile images as Economist covers between 10/12/2002 - 11/1/2008 (the only dates there are large versions available). Click on the images to get larger versions of the images or even full size if you'd like (I didn't link directly to the full size image as they are all 6-11mb).

If you look at the full size image you can make out the covers. All that red is thanks to the big red box that is the Economist logo.

Congratulations President Elect Obama!

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:55:00 +0000

I'm calling it. Congratulations President Elect Obama! Now don't blow it! Live up to your campaign promises that will hopefully mend the reputation of our country and help bring us together. Pick a competent Cabinet from people across the political spectrum. Run the country from the center and be a President we can all be proud of.

Landmines in my back yard in Fayetteville!?!

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:34:00 +0000

A few days ago when my wife came home she noticed a news crew and a few police cars near the entrance of the construction area behind our apartment building. We had no idea what was going on but since then there has been a security guard there 24/7. Today while walking the dog I asked the guard what happened. I initially thought it might be human remains but I was fortunately (maybe) wrong. There were landmines and other ordinances found back there!!

Construction workers unearthed two live anti-tank mines Thursday afternoon at the Carrington Place Apartments.
Agent Joe Lenczyk, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said the mines could have been buried on the site for 50 years and probably dated from World War II era.
In addition to the two live mines, about 10 training rounds were also found. The mines lacked fuses, so they posed no immediate danger of detonation, Lenczyk said.
No evacuations were necessary.
"If they had exploded, it would have been devastating damage," Lenczyk said, noting that a spark, fire or jostling by construction equipment could have set them off.
An explosives unit from Fort Bragg responded to the scene at 4230 Falmont Place. The Explosives Ordnance Disposal team will excavate the mines and take them back to the post to be destroyed.
Lenczyk declined to speculate about whether or when construction would resume. He said the decision is up to the apartment owners, who must consider whether to undertake the costly prospect of looking for other ordnance in the area.

Since I work from home I have been VERY annoyed at all the loud construction just outside of my window every day due to this construction so I am a little glad they had to stop. I'm certainly not so happy about why. Interestingly enough I also walked through those woods a few months ago (when they still were woods) looking for a Geocache. I think I am a little pissed at the apartment complex for not telling us about this yet!

I've taken a bunch of videos of all the construction as it has been taking place and put them on YouTube.

Don't blame me, I voted (early) for Kodos

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:46:00 +0000

I'm back from early voting and I feel great! So far I've read that 2,078,050 other North Carolinians have already voted too. That is 58.5% of the 2004 total. I can't wait to see the total voter turn out nationwide.

My wife and I got to the polling place at noon and were done at 1. We voted at the Cliffdale Recreation Center. The wait was worth it though. While waiting in line I got to meet Lou Olivera, a local candidate for district court judge. Only a handful of people were handing out campaign materials though. There was also a lady there getting people to sign a petition to the next governor requesting more effort to expand green energy in the state and stop building new coal power plants. I wish I remembered what group it was for. I even asked explicitly. Grr. There were people from the Honey Baked Ham store selling ham and turkey sandwiches for $5 too. Clever.

This was the first time I have voted on electronic equipment and I have to say I didn't much care for it. The machine was an ES&S iVotronic machine. I've always voted with the bubble sheet optical scan ballots in the past and I think I can vote that way faster. I don't know all the advantages of these electronic voting machines but they did all have a scrolling paper trail so as I was voting I could see it print out the candidate I voted for. That was a little reassuring. At the end it printed several 3D bar codes. There was also a little sticker that said it was purchased with funds from HAVA (Help America Vote Act). The election official who got me setup to vote didn't give me any instructions on how to use the machine because she figured I knew what I was doing thanks to my age. I thought that was funny. I wish I remembered exactly what she said. (She did mention several times that if I need any help to ask. Several people were getting help. I am not implying they were not on top of things there.)

Oh, and I got my "I Voted" sticker. Now I can dress up as a "slutty voter" for Halloween!

John McCain Rally - Fayetteville, NC - October 28, 2008 (with pictures and video)

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:53:00 +0000

This year North Carolina is a swing state and it is really exciting! A few weekends ago I got to see Barack Obama in Fayetteville and yesterday John McCain was here too! Both campaigns have been making frequent stops all over the state.

Yesterday's Road to Victory Rally was at the Crown Center Coliseum, the same location as the Obama rally was held on the 19th. There were a lot less people at this rally than the Obama rally but that was expected. This rally was held on a Tuesday afternoon instead of a Sunday afternoon. The coliseum was setup with that in mind too as the seats in the very top sections were all covered. I knew as soon as I drove up when there weren't cars parked all along the street that there would be less people there.

Getting in the rally today was much more organized than the Obama rally. There was actually a line and we were sent to several temporary areas before going through security. There were a lot of school groups here today. At least 2 of those groups were from Christian schools as indicated by their shirts/coats. In all it took me about 30 minutes to get inside. There were also a handful of judges and politicians greeting voters and passing out campaign materials.

Once inside, I tried to get on the floor but they weren't letting any more people on the floor. From what I could tell anyone was allowed down there before they reached capacity. Instead I walked around to the other side of the stadium to get a front row seat in the nearly empty section. By the time the rally actually started most every seat was full though.

The rally got going at 4:30 with an opening by Mike Surles of VFW post 670 here in Fayetteville. After that there were a handful of speakers (many more than the Obama rally) and then Hank Williams, Jr.

After the mini Hank concert McCain made his entrance.

And what an entrance it was! They drove the Straight Talk Express bus right onto the coliseum floor. Cindy McCain, Tom Ridge and Lindsay Graham all spoke before McCain.

I'm not going to give any more play by play details. Read the live blogging posts from the Fayetteville Observer at the bottom for that. My overall impressions of the event were this: This rally was exiting and much more so than the Obama rally. We had Hank Williams Jr. and a bus driven straight into the building. There were bang sticks and it was loud. But there was also more talk about why Obama is bad than why McCain is good. Most of the event speeches were very economic focused but some of the Ayers/ACORN distraction still got through. McCain's speech was mostly something I could get behind and support but many of the speakers went to far for my politics.

All of my pictures of the event are here and I took more videos this time which can be found here.

Live Blogging of the event by the Fayetteville Observer

Reuben Cashwell or D. H. Vinson for Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor?

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:12:00 +0000

I've been seeing a lot of traffic to my Cumberland County Voter Guide post with the keyword "Reuben Cashwell" lately. Unfortunately though, there is little information to be found about the Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor candidates Reuben Cashwell or D. H. Vinson. I don't even know what the job entails. So here is my research about the job and the candidates (I will update it if and as I know more):

First, the job. The mission of the SWCD is:

The mission of Cumberland Soil and Water Conservation District is to take available technical, financial, and educational resources and administer programs designed to encourage individual responsibility to conserve, improve, and sustain our soil and water resources for future generations.

Cumberland Soil and Water Conservation District offers free technical assistance to landowners in the county with land management, drainage, wetlands, soils information, best management practices and other land resource problems.

The positions on the SWCD are mostly elected (emphasis added by me):

A five-member Board of Supervisors governs the Cumberland Soil and Water Conservation District. Three are elected in the general election; two are appointed by the North Carolina Soil and Water Conservation Commission.

Their terms of office are for four years and are staggered. The terms of office begin on the first Monday in December following election or appointment. They receive no salary.

Now, the candidates:.

Reuben Cashwell is a farmer from Autryville. Mr. Cashwell planted a wheat variety test in the Beaverdam Community (link as Word doc). Out of Cumberland County farmers who received farm subsidies from the 5-year Extension of the 2002 Farm Bill, he was 83rd with $12,960. He ran for a position in the Local Administrative Area of the USDA Farm Service Agency in 2005 and came in 3rd for Cumberland County (pdf link). He also helped with the Edna W. Jones Memorial Garden at the J.W. Seabrook Elementary School.

D. H. Vinson is the current Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor. He lives in Autryville. From the 2007 SWCD Annual Report (pdf):

Mr. D. H. Vinson is a farmer and resident of the Beaver Dam community. He is serving his second term on the Board. Mr. Vinson is currently serving as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

So far this is all I have found about both candidates and none of it is very helpful for deciding who to vote for. If you are so inclined, call them up and ask them yourselves. From their candidate filing, Reuben Cashwell's number is (910) 531-3859 and D. H. Vinson's number is (910) 531-3284. That is all I've got. I wish someone would interview these guys or at lest provide a little more information on them beyond the mostly trivial and stupid stuff I was able to find with Google.

Rep. Robin Hayes (NC-8) says "liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God"

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:01:00 +0000

At a campaign rally for John McCain in Concord, NC on October 16th, Representative Robin Hayes said "liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God". People like Sarah Palin he says. Ouch. This was also after he started off by saying “make sure we don’t say something stupid, make sure we don’t say something we don’t mean." Double ouch. Listen to it for yourself.

This Real/Pro American path the McCain campaign is taking us down is ridiculous. There is no American participating in this election as a voter or a candidate that is not pro American. We all want to make our country better which is why we are participating. The sad part is this real/pro American talk has already become such an ingrained talking point that people like Representative Hayes say it without even thinking about what they are saying.

Mr. Hayes, just so you know, I live in North Carolina's 8th district.

Post election healing?

What worries me the most now is what happens after the election? If Obama wins, are a significant population of the country going to belive their president is an Arab Muslim Socialist Communist Anti-American terrorist who stole the election? If McCain wins, will there be a large group of people who think their president used fear, gross mistruths and innuendo to win? The McCain campaign is using a stragegy of division to win this election with a country that is already strongly divided. How will we heal? I know we have in the past and I think Obama is well situated for the task but it isn't getting easier for him.

I think what we need most is a great concession speech and a great acceptance speech like Gore and Bush gave in 2000 (just with more follow through from the one accepting). But that is just a start...

And because I have had fun with word clouds lately, here are the acceptance and concession speeches from December 13, 2000.

Bush

Gore

Barack Obama Rally - Fayetteville, NC - October 19, 2008 (with pictures and video)

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:28:00 +0000

I was pretty excited last week to learn that Barack Obama was coming to Fayetteville, NC today. Obama has a good chance of winning NC. If he does, he would be the first Democratic Presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976 to win the state. (That was the election after Nixon. That is an interesting comparison to Bush's popularity.)

The event today took place at the Crown Center Coliseum which holds about 8,500. Not everyone who showed up was able to get in though. Barack said at the beginning of his speech that about a thousand people had to wait outside to listen. (All of my pictures of the event are on Flickr and all my event videos are on YouTube.) Chuck Tryon was also there and blogged about the event and Melissa Garcia has posted pictures too.

I arrived at 10:30am and doors opened at 11. The event started at 1:30. I was glad I didn't come any later because it took me just under 2 hours to get inside. I was at the back of the huge crowd waiting to get in but by the time I got to the front of the crowd, there were just as many people behind me as when I first arrived. There really were not any lines which made the whole process a little chaotic but overall everything went smoothly. (I heard from some campaign staff that they did have ropes set up for lines but the Secret Service changed things.) Security was moving really slowly, which is very understandable, but that was the hold up. People in TSA uniforms were searching coats and looking at electronics while secret service (not the cool looking ones in suits with ear pieces) were manning the metal detectors. Fortunately my little Swiss Army pocket knife was ok to bring in. I think that is a little funny because I couldn't bring it on a plane but I could bring it a few feet from the potentially next US President.

After I got inside I wasn't sure where I wanted to sit. There weren't many seats open and the lower section was for VIPs. I am not sure what made you a VIP but I wasn't one. I was allowed to go down to the floor though which surprised me because it was fairly empty there. I don't know if everyone wanted to sit after waiting 2 hours standing up or if they thought you had to be someone special like I did to get on the floor. Either way, I was excited to be there and I got a big grin on my face walking around there looking for a good spot to stand and watch.

While waiting for everything to start people were passing out mini American flags and signs. Someone brought a sign that said "Plumbers 4 Obama". Haha! Many were singing to the music playing over the loudspeakers and at one point participating in a very respectable wave. I also overheard a guy who said he had breakfast at Hardees and there were some secret service agents eating there too. About 1:20 there was an opening prayer followed by the pledge of allegiance and national anthem. I haven't said the pledge of allegiance in a while and forgot how short it was! There were only a few opening speakers and then Obama showed up and the crowd went WILD!!

The speech was good. It was not terribly different from anything else I have heard so far but that was expected. My favorite parts though were his story about pie at a restaurant owned by a staunch Republican (they didn't have sweet potato pie btw), his rebuttal to John McCain claiming he is a socialist by pointing out that Warren Buffett supports him (no one around me laughed like I did at that one), the fact that this morning Colin Powell endorsed him and the strong and moving closing about the opportunity America provides and how he wants to make it better with our help.

After the speech he walked around the floor. I didn't get to shake his hand but I did get just 2 people away from doing so. Everyone was going crazy and pushing trying to get to him. It was great. After Obama left, the crowd dispersed fairly quickly. Maybe they all went out to go vote early which was one of the main goals of the rally today.

It was surreal being there today. I went with some friends to see Kerry/Edwards at NC State in 2004 but this was a lot more exciting (and I got a million times closer to the candidate). Also, I was very much a minority at this event and I thought that was a very encouraging sign about this election. Oh, and I bought a shirt.

Understanding ACORN Voter Registration Fraud

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:04:00 +0000

I'm rather disgusted over fraudulent voter registrations by ACORN this election. I don't like that so many fraudulent registrations have been submitted and think ACORN needs to work to reduce those registration cards from ever being filled out. Unfortunately though, most news articles so far have been sticking with the sensationalism "voter fraud" part of this story and aren't telling some very important facts that have caused this. I think it is explained best by in an article by Tom Matzzie (though the article overall is a bit too conspiracy theory for me, the normally overlooked points on ACORN are dead on):

The facts about ACORN are worth getting out. ACORN is an organization that, among other things, registers low-income people to vote. One of the ways they do this is to hire door-to-door canvassers from the neighborhoods they are working in. This sort of work is tightly regulated. So, when one of the thousands of people they give jobs to doesn't do their work right and brings back bogus or phony voter registration cards, the law REQUIRES that ACORN turn the forms in to the voter registration office. The law, rightly, doesn't want anybody throwing out voter registration forms for any reason.

But ACORN goes a step farther. They have people assigned to do quality control on all the cards--calling people on the forms after they fill them out. When they find bad information on the cards they attach a cover sheet to the card but, as mentioned above, they turn in the cards as required by law. The effect is that a few bad canvassers or a poorly run office will mean that bad cards are submitted as part of the normal process. But ACORN has done everything possible to make sure voting officials know to check the forms.

The sad fact is that in at least one state--Nevada--the voting officials disregarded ACORN's cover sheets flagging the voter registration forms. That should have never happened. The resulting blowup was a scandal in search of a scandal.

The stunning con of this whole thing is the assumption that bad voter registration cards being submitted will lead to vote fraud. If somebody submits a card for Mickey Mouse it isn't like Mr. Mouse is going to show up to vote. There is no voter fraud if nobody votes.

ACORN is not trying to commit voter fraud. They are legitimately trying to get people signed up to vote who generally don't. What needs to be fixed are the incentives for people collecting registrations that sacrifice quality for quantity. In the mean time, the ACORN organization should not be demonized for making our democracy better by involving more citizens in the process. Helping to give a voice to those who normally don't make themselves heard is a good thing.

Representative Robin Hayes (NC-8) Response on the Emergency Economic Stimulus Act

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:57:00 +0000

I contacted my congressional representatives a few weeks ago about my concerns over the economic stimulus act. I really just wanted them to slow down to let everyone digest the problems and the potential solutions. Today, Representative Robin Hayes sent me an email response:

Dear Forrest,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Emergency Economic Stimulus Act. I appreciate you taking the time to express your views.

I am extremely concerned about a credit crisis in our economy. Today, America is facing serious economic turmoil that is directly threatening our economic future. Many have said that we need action, and I agree. However, we need to be sure we respond the right way, in a way that protects taxpayer interests and provides stability for the financial markets.

As you know, the proposed legislation passed the House and was signed into law on Friday, October 3, 2008. I voted against this legislation because of the risks placed on taxpayers. In particular this bill contains a troubling provision that allows foreign-based banks or investment firms to have just as much access to US tax dollars as American companies. Ultimately I voted no out of concern that US tax money in this program would be diverted from the intended goal of strengthening our economy.

Since the legislation passed, it's now up to Congress and the Administration to make sure the program works to help our economy and protects taxpayers. Rest assured, as the program moves forward I will do everything in my power to ensure there is proper oversight and bad actors are not rewarded for their misdeeds and poor financial decisions with taxpayer money.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me and please do not hesitate to contact me again in the future. You can contact us by mail, email or phone, and our contact information can be found on our website, www.hayes.house.gov.

Sincerely,
Robin Hayes
Member of Congress

Thanks for the response. You are the first.

Word Clouds of the State of the Union Addresses from President George W. Bush

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:20:00 +0000

I've noticed a lot of word clouds from the presidential debates lately (first debate, VP debate, second debate) and it got me to wondering what other speeches look like. Word clouds show the frequency of words used based on size and can give you some idea what the important themes of the text is. The more times a word is used the larger (and often darker color) it is in the cloud. This should be very familiar to anyone who uses sites like del.icio.us with their tag clouds. In addition to the information shown graphically, word clouds are just cool as art.

I really wondered, what would the State of the Union address look like over time? As Article II, Section 3 of the US Constitution says: He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.

Comparing each year would show a glimpse of what important happened in the previous year and what the future holds as seen through the eyes of the President. To do this I found the text of all past State of the Union speeches at ThisNation.com. The images were then generated using Wordle and are all under a creative commons license.

For each images, I used the same settings so they could be compared more easily. I also went with an easy to read font, made all text horizontal and only used black text to make the comparisons easier. I could have made them a lot better looking with colors and different alignment of the text (look at some of the debate examples) but that would have made comparing each one more difficult.

I hope to do this for other presidents too. It would be interesting to see the evolution of the State of the Union from its beginnings with George Washington.

The things I notice most about these images are

President Bush uses the word "must" a lot in these speeches.
As everyone knows, the world changed after September 11th, 2001. This first address was in February 2001 so the 2002 address and later are post 9/11.

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

What are your thoughts? I want to make a word cloud t-shirt now!

Fayetteville, NC gets a Dog Park!

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:37:00 +0000

Today my dog Phoebe and I went to the dog park in Fayetteville. We found out about it through the mailing list of the Fayetteville Area Active Dogs Meetup Group. It has only been open since September 30th so I was worried there might not by anyone there but there were about a half dozen dogs there when we arrived. By the time we left after 45 minutes (as the sun was setting) we saw about a dozen different dogs.

We were really disappointed that there was not a dog park when we first moved to Fayetteville a few months ago. We moved from Durham where we lived in walking distance of the dog park in Pineywood Park. Phoebe went at least 3 times a week and some weeks in the Summer we went every day.

Finding the Fayetteville dog park is easy if you have the correct address. Most of the press releases had the address number as 355 but I think it was a typo as the address should really be 535 N. Eastern Blvd (directions) which is on a side road right in front of the wastewater treatment plant and across highway 301 from the Cape Fear Botanical Garden. I used Google Maps to make a map of the park.

The park is mostly grass which is nice. The man dog area is about 1.4 acres and has 4 or 5 benches and a fire hydrant doggie water fountain. The small dog area also has its own water fountain. There is another area connected to the large dog area with more benches and more room for your dog to run an play but that area was closed (with a lock even) when we were there. I am not sure why.

Just outside of the fenced in area there are also some tables and benches for those who don't want to venture into the dog area. That is a good idea if you bring your baby and your dog.

We really love the park and wish we had gone earlier (and that it was a little closer to us). My only complaint is there aren't enough poop clean up bags. There was only one trash can by the entrance and a roll of bags sitting on the top of it. People need not have any excuse not to pick up after their pets but with a park that has been open for less than a week there are already some places owners haven't cleaned up after there pets. I even stepped in one when walking to the trash can after cleaning up after my pet. Argh!

(I have also been told there is a dog park on Fort Bragg. The address I found for that is 40 Bastogne Dr but since my wife and I aren't in the military, I don't think we can go on base to use this one.)

And now for some pictures:

The entrance near the botanical gardens

Entrance to the park from the parking lot

The sally port entrance to keep those sneaky dogs from getting out

The fire hydrant watering hole for your thirsty dog

There is lots of seating

And don't forget the rules... especially the one about picking up after your dog!

Only 10 Days Left to Register in North Carolina for 2008 Presidential Election

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:41:00 +0000

North Carolina residents, we only have 10 more days to register to vote in the November 4th elections. You must be registered 25 days before the election in NC which for this next election is October 10th. If you aren't registered yet, head over to the board of elections site to register by printing out the form or pick up a registration form at your local library, post office or any number of other places that have them. Registration forms should be mailed to your local county board of elections office. If you are already registered, it wouldn't be a bad idea to verify your registration too. Now would also be a good time to find your polling place.

As of today in North Carolina, there are over 6 million registered voters (6,018,702). Of those, 2,730,195 are registered as Democrats, 1,957,912 as Republicans, 1,506 as Libertarians and 1,329,089 unaffiliated. Out of an estimated 9 million residents (2007 estimated population) and considering a good percentage of those are under 18 and ineligible to vote, that is a great percentage of registered voters. Now lets just hope all those people actually vote. Voter turnout is so sadly low across the country. Just compare the US voter turn out to some other democracies.

With all that done, now would also be a good time start your research to figure out who to vote for. For those who live in Cumberland County, let me get you started.

Cumberland County and Fayetteville, NC Voter Guide - November 4, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:34:00 +0000

Being a knowledgeable voter is not easy. Hopefully every voter knows who is running for President by now but what about your local officials? What do you know about them? Do you even know what offices you can vote for? I know I don't know them all. When it really comes down to it too, your local officials have a lot more of an affect on your day to day life which makes their selection all that more important.

The best way to know who you can vote for is to go download a sample ballot. This way you will know exactly who and what will be on your ballot in the voting booth on November 4th. You can even fill out the sample ballot and take it with you.

The first thing you should do is check your voter registration. When I last checked, there was a link to download a sample ballot there. That is the easiest way to make sure your voter registration is up to date and to get a sample ballot. Also make note of your precinct as that is how you will know where to go to vote. (Once you know your precinct go to the Cumberland County polling locations page to see where to go. Google is also working on a voter info site but it is not yet complete as of writing this.) If you don't see your registration or ballot listed, call the Cumberland County Board of Elections at 910-678-7733, tell them your name and verify your address. I asked about a way to look this up yourself on their website since Cumberland County has 34 (34!!) different ballots and was told that there should be something up to do that soon (so look before you call).

So, if you live in Cumberland County, I've listed are all the people you may be able to vote for (depending on your precinct) along with links to their campaign sites. If I could not find a campaign site, I have not linked to anything. I will update this if I find any more. I was pretty disappointed not to find many sites for most of the County Commissioners and Board of Education offices.

US President

US Senate

Kay Hagan (Democrat)
Elizabeth Dole (Republican)
Christopher Cole (Libertarian)

US Congress (District 2)

Bob Etheridge (Democrat)
Dan Mansell (Republican)
Will Adkins (Libertarian)

US Congress (District 7)

Mike McIntyre (Democrat)
Will Breazeale (Republican)

US Congress (District 8)

Larry Kissell (Democrat)
Robert C. (Robin) Hayes (Republican)

Governor

Bev Perdue (Democrat)
Pat McCrory (Republican)
Michael C. Munger (Libertarian)

There were a number of Gubernatorial debates. Several were with Perdue and McCrory and several were with McCrory and Munger. The only debate with all three candidates was the one on October 15th. You can watch the debate with all the candidates here.

Lieutenant Governor

Walter H. Dalton (Democrat)
Robert Pittenger (Republican)
Phillip Rhodes (Libertarian)

You can watch the NC Lieutenant Gubernatorial Debate online. This debate took place on September 17th.

Attorney General

Roy Cooper (Democrat)
Bob Crumley (Republican)

Auditor

Beth A. Wood (Democrat)
Leslie Merritt (Republican)

Commissioner of Agriculture

Ronnie Ansley (Democrat)
Steve Troxler (Republican)

Commissioner of Insurance

Wayne Goodwin (Democrat)
John Odom (Republican)
Mark McMains (Libertarian)

NC State Senate (District 19)

Tony Rand email (Democrat)

NC State Senate (District 21)

Larry Shaw email (Democrat)

NC State House (District 22)

William Brisson (Democrat)

NC State House (District 42)

Marvin W. Lucas email (Democrat)

NC State House (District 43)

Elmer Floyd (Democrat)

NC State House (District 44)

Margaret Highsmith Dickson (Democrat)
Lou Huddleston (Republican)

NC State House (District 45)

Rick Glazier (Democrat)

County Commissioner (District 2)

Kenneth Edge email (FayObserver page) (Democrat)
Marshall Faircloth email (FayObserver page) (Democrat)
Jimmy Keefe (FayObserver page) (Democrat)
Jessie Bellflowers (FayObserver page) (Republican)
Diane Wheatley (FayObserver page) (Republican)
Bob White (FayObserver page) (Republican)

Register of Deeds

Lee Warren (Democrat)

Supreme Court Associate Justice (Edmunds Seat)

Court of Appeals Judge (Martin Seat)

John C. Martin

Court of Appeals Judge (Wynn Seat)

Court of Appeals Judge (Tyson Seat)

Court of Appeals Judge (McCullough Seat)

Court of Appeals Judge (Stephens Seat)

Court of Appeals Judge (Arrowood Seat)

District Court Judge (District 12) (Devan Seat)

District Court Judge (District 12) (Dickson Seat)

John W. Dickson

District Court Judge (District 12) (Pone Seat)

Ed Pone

Board of Education (Dsitrict 1)

Arnita Mace Bristol (FayObserver page)
Alicia S. Chisolm (FayObserver page)
Helen Hooks Farrior (FayObserver page)
Zandra Bryant Peele (FayObserver page)
Freddie A. Robertson (FayObserver page)

Board of Education (Dsitrict 2)

Donald W. LaHuffman (FayObserver page)
James Archie McLauchlin (FayObserver page)
Dinah Shamblin (FayObserver page)

Board of Education (Dsitrict 3)

Frank Barragan (FayObserver page)
Ronnie Lee Peele (FayObserver page)
Carrie Sutton (FayObserver page)

Board of Education (Dsitrict 4)

Mbonisi Farri (FayObserver page)
Larry Lancaster (FayObserver page)

Board of Education (Dsitrict 5)

Kevin Paul Rodriguez (FayObserver page)
Mary Emily Royal (FayObserver page)

Board of Education (Dsitrict 6)

Leroy Atkins (FayObserver page)
Adam Beyah (FayObserver page)
Macky Hall (FayObserver page)
Sheryl Lewis (FayObserver page)

Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor

Reuben Cashwell
D. H. Vinson

I can't find much of anything on this race but what I have found is here.

One last note, please, please don't vote a straight ticket. Evaluate each candidate for each position against the other candidate(s). If you still can't decide, just leave it blank. It is worse to vote blindly than to not vote at all. I hope this page makes your research easier and helps you to make a knowledgeable decision about who to vote for.

Other Resources

Images used in this post are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic and Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic respectively from myJon and Steve Rhodes

The Bailout Plan: A Quick Note to My Representatives

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:08:00 +0000

Senator Dole, Senator Burr and Congressman Hayes,

Please don't allow a rushed bailout bill to pass. We do not need to rush through legislation if it is bad legislation. I am angry that people and companies who took on too much risk may now get to transfer their losses to taxpayers while any profits get to go to them. That is not how capitalism works. If there is a bailout, which I am not sure there even should be, it should be in the form of loans that will be paid back with interest or through buying an ownership stake in the companies that need help. The stock market has opened just fine all week and will do so next week while the country has a thoughtful debate on how to best solve this issue.

The First Ever Fayetteville, NC Tweetup

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:08:00 +0000

I've only been on Twitter for about 5 months now. I resisted for a while because I really didn't see the point. Since then I have used Twitter daily as a news source from distant and not so distant friends, people in my community, things that interest me and even breaking national and world news.

Since moving to Fayetteville, NC about a month and a half ago, I have used Twitter even more to find people in the area and to be in the know of what is going on. I first tried Meetup.com but there aren't many meetups that I find very interesting in the area. The biggest one is actually the Naturism meetup which I quickly discovered was not a group for outdoor adventures like hiking/camping/etc. as I initially thought and hoped.

So back to the point of this post. Last night was the first ever Fayetteville Tweetup. I had a great time meeting all the complete strangers I had been having short conversations with for weeks and who I felt I already sort of knew. I really didn't know what to expect when I got there but Tiffani, the organizer of the event, had a little presentation about the history of social media that got us all talking. I have to say, I talked A LOT more than I thought I would. I am generally really shy so I don't know what got into me. This was of course before I knew Wayne Sutton was streaming video of the presentation live. Eek. Fortunately you can barely hear me.

It was nice to have a discussion with like minded people. This is also the first time I have really used the internet to physically meet new people. I don't think that I was afraid of it before, I just never had the need before. Being in a brand new place, working from home and only interacting my my wife and dog on a daily basis is great but I still need people to hang out with (and a disc golf partner(s)). Hopefully some tighter friendships will form from last night and upcoming Fayetteville Tweeptups. I plan to pick some brains about RoR, blogging, other geek stuff and invite myself to go rock climbing in the coming weeks and months fellow tweeps. :-)

And for more thoughts, check out some other blog posts about the event last night:

(Picture credit to Wayne Sutton, snagged from here)

The 2008 Presidential Campaign is Depressing Me

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 08:23:00 +0000

And they're off! Since the end of the Republican convention the 2008 Presidential campaigns have kicked it into high gear. I was really looking forward to this election. First, there was no way George Bush was going to win this one. Second, we have 2 candidates who looked like they were going to run positive campaigns and tell us why they should be elected instead of why their opponent shouldn't be elected. I'd much rather vote for the candidate who is going to be the best for our country instead of trying to decide which candidate is going to be least terrible.

But of course all the hopes of a positive campaign have since disappeared. Mr. 9/11 (Rudy Giuliani) got things warmed up at the Republican National Convention with personal attacks by belittling being a community organizer and misrepresentations, all with the laugh of a hyena (Giuliani RNC 2008 transcript). I could overlook that though. I knew Giuliani was an ass before his speech and was just glad he wasn't the one on the ticket. I was hopeful that Alaskan Governor and VP candidate Sarah Palin would turn us back on a positive note but she spouted out more of the same. We got the same community organizer line and more "this is why our opponent is bad" (Palin RNC 2008 transcript). Some say this was all "red meat" for the party loyalists. Fine, but party loyalists aren't the only ones watching. Undecided voters are watching too.

Moving on from the Republican convention things really got crazy though. There were all the investigations into the complete unknown Sarah Palin. Some comments surrounding her went too far but there certainly was no media conspiracy to smear her. The media was doing their job investigating an unknown candidate and all the dirt they found was all new, all at once. It is their job to keep politicians in check. Either way, the pundits can say what they want. I want the facts and then I am most interested in what candidates have to say and what their campaigns put out. What are their talking points. What are their tv and radio ads?

When we get to this phase of the campaign though, things went farther down hill. Misleading statements are flying around faster than you can keep up. I think the piece Blizzard of Lies by Paul Krugman covers all the big ones so far the best. (if you only read one link from this post, read that one) Maybe this video pointing out the distortion of the truth by the McCain campaign will enlighten you some too.

Politics are dirty and politicians lie. That is a known fact. It is so known that it is often a joke. But it is a sad joke because the truth of the matter is negative campaigning works. Look at George Bush's win in 2004 as a good example of this. We even have a new term for this now: swiftboating. The saddest part is people believe these lies and then vote based on them.

The thing this week that pushed me over the edge though was a story on NPR where voters in York, PA Examine Race. The comments in that story that really stuck in my mind were the lady who did not trust Barack Obama. Let me quote:

Leah Moreland, the woman who said she grew up sheltered from prejudice, plans to vote for McCain. Party loyalty is also part of her decision. But her cultural compass also comes into play. She says her gut tells her not to trust Obama.

"I look at Obama, and I have a question in my mind," she says. "Years ago, was he taken into the Muslim faith? And my concern is the only way you are no longer a Muslim is if you are dead, killed. So in my mind, he's still alive."

Although Barack Obama has said repeatedly he is not a Muslim and has never been a Muslim, Moreland is still unconvinced.

"There is something about him I don't trust," she says. "I don't care how good a speaker he is, I just can't trust him."

After I heard this, I cried. Seriously. The claim that Barack Obama is Muslim is a one of those lies left over from the primaries but people still believe it and that is what scares and depresses me the most. It is just not true. This lie about Obama was not enough to bring the emotion about to make me cry though. It was the combination of it being false yet people will still base their vote on it but most importantly that it doesn't matter even if he was. There is nothing bad about electing a Muslim president even if he was. I don't see our country doing that anytime soon but it isn't a bad thing if we do.

How can we have a functioning democracy without educated citizens voting? Our elections have come down to talking point and smears. Who said what and what is your life story are important when they shouldn't matter so much. We need to vote based on what candidate has the best policy and the best ability to carry out those policies.

I want the best President, not the least worst President.

Who has the most style? You decide at ZiteFight!

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:26:00 +0000

A friend of mine finally released his new fashion and style site today: ZiteFight - World Championship of Style. It is sort of like Hot or Not (which I didn't know was still around) but for style. Users can submit one or more "fighters" who are then pitted against other users' fighters to see who you think has the most style. So go check it out, vote for a while and if you really get into it, submit your own Style Fighters. Be warned though, voting can get addictive so wait until you have some down time. Now I need to get back to work!

Just watched Cloverfield, this is what I thought

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:44:00 +0000

I just finished watching Cloverfield. I really didn't plan on watching it today but when returning another movie to Redbox, I couldn't resist finding out what all the hype was about for only a $1. I really didn't know what to expect beforehand other than there was some unknown monster in NYC. Not having expectations usually is a good thing though. I am more likely to enjoy the movie if I don't know what is coming.

Overall, I thought Cloverfield was a good movie. It was definitely entertaining and worth watching. I am glad I waited to watch it on DVD instead of in theaters though. It would not have been worth $10. I still fail to understand all the hype. Why did people talk about this movie so much? Was it supposed to be some wildly original film? Was it just the reputation of J.J. Abrams that sold it? The mystery about what you were actually going to see?

Maybe all of those but it certainly was not very original. We have a suspense/horror-ish movie shot in the first person with hand held cameras à la The Blair Witch Project. (This one didn't make me as dizzy though and only in a few places.) We have some crazy monster crashing through a major city with the military trying to kill it à la Godzilla. We have monsters biting people and likely reproducing inside of them before exploding out of their chest à la Alien (watch it). Copy-paste.

Bravo on then ending though. I wondered how they were going to wrap it up and they did it well.

WiiWare just got Dr. Mario, yipee!!

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:46:00 +0000

I've been waiting for the Wii Virtual Console version of Dr. Mario to come out for a while. (For those who don't know, Dr. Mario is a little like Tetris but with colors instead of shapes.) It isn't my favorite game but my wife LOVES it and anything that makes her happy makes me happy! Today I was excited to see Nintendo did one better: they released a new version for WiiWare called Dr. Mario Online Rx.

This new version has a mode that works the same way as the old game with some newer graphics and some additional features (like the annoying shadow pieces, which you can fortunately disable). The best part of the new features with the old game is you can play against others online. Currently my wife is almost on her 4rd straight hour of playing since I bought it for her and we found the online play feature. She has even faced several Japanese competitors.

There is also a new variation of the game you can play with the Wiimote pointer. It is the same game but you drag and rotate the pieces using the pointer and the buttons. The pieces move a lot slower and are a lot larger to make it possible. I didn't care for that as much but it was still neat and better than just Dr. Mario. Oh, it is also multi-player on the same screen.

The download cost is 1,000 points ($10) which is well worth it. Had they just made a virtual console version it would have been $5 but without the nicer UI, the additional game variation and of course the online play. Props to you Nintendo.

There are some excellent posts/reviews here, here and here.

Warner-Lieberman Climate Change Bill - a step in the right direction

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:18:00 +0000

Over 10 years after the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, the United Stats is finally getting a clue about the best way to tackle air pollution - economics. Debate in the Senate is set to begin soon on the America's Climate Security Act of 2007 (also known as the Lieberman-Warner bill). This bill aims to limit greenhouse gases using a cap and trade system. Air pollution, carbon dioxide mostly, would no longer be free for companies and people to emit. Polluters would have to pay to pollute but those who reduce pollution could sell their rights to pollute to make money. That limits the amount of pollution (the cap) and gives a financial incentive to reduce pollution (the trade rights to pollute for cash).

This was the idea that was implemented in Europe as suggested by Kyoto but it didn't work out so well. It is still being tweaked. The problems with cap and trade in Europe? - the caps were set too high and the credits to be traded were given away for free. The Lieberman-Warner bill looks make a similar blunder by only selling some of the credits but give away most. I hope for our sake we learn a little more from Europe's mistakes before we pass this bill. Most economists blogs I read think credits need to be sold too: Greg Mankiw on cap-and-trade and Robert Reich on cap-and-trade (They also both discuss the issue in relation to McCain and Obama's view on the subject.)

Either way, I am excited to see some real serious discussions about air pollution and global warming by the US government. I am even more excited that we are finally realizing our environment is a resource too that should not be free to plunder.

One more thing. The way I head about this was from an email from Human Events from Newt Gingrich. They are much more worried about the economic costs of the plan. That is understandable but destroying our environment for free has gone on long enough. The environment should not be a free resource. There should be a cost associated with polluting it and I for one don't mind that price being built into the energy and products I consume.

Are you offended by a scarf? Michelle Malkin thinks you should be.

noreply@blogger.com (Forrest) — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:43:00 +0000

This morning I read an article about a new Dunkin' Donuts ad that was pulled due to spokeswoman Rachel Ray wearing a scarf. Gasps! Oh no, not a scarf! Conservative blogger and FOX New contributor Michelle Malkin is one of those outraged. She doesn't want to call it a scarf. She wants it to be a keffiyeh. "The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad." Has it really become some symbol? I am guessing most Americans fall in that "for the clueless" group. It sure looks like a scarf to me. Stirring up controversy must be fun.

It really is a shame though that so many fashions and symbols have to go out of style because of someone's ideology. The toothbrush mustache will never be cool again thanks to Hitler.

I am glad I am not alone in thinking this is a slow news day and Malkin is looking for some attention though.