News, Politics and Anything Else I Want to Say

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

2009-11-12T18:01:00.001-05:00

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

2009-06-24T13:07:00.003-04:00

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!!!

2009-01-25T21:15:00.005-05:00

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

2008-11-05T11:01:00.023-05:00

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!

2008-11-04T22:55:00.000-05:00

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!?!

2008-11-03T13:34:00.011-05:00

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

2008-10-31T13:46:00.018-04:00

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)

2008-10-29T11:53:00.000-04:00

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?

2008-10-23T15:12:00.004-04:00

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"

2008-10-21T18:01:00.002-04:00

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)

2008-10-19T18:28:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-13T15:04:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-08T21:57:00.009-04:00

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

2008-10-08T12:20:00.004-04:00

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!

2008-10-04T21:37:00.040-04:00

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

2008-10-01T10:41:00.012-04:00

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

2008-09-26T20:34:00.010-04:00

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

2008-09-26T11:08:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-16T15:08:00.013-04:00

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

2008-09-13T04:23:00.020-04:00

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!

2008-07-30T17:26:00.000-04:00

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

2008-06-29T16:44:00.005-04:00

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!!

2008-05-31T21:46:00.005-04:00

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

2008-05-29T16:18:00.000-04:00

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.

2008-05-29T10:43:00.003-04:00

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.

Living in the mall, Michael Townsend did it in Providence, RI

2008-05-23T15:06:00.004-04:00

I heard about this guy Michael Townsend and his girlfriend (now wife) who lived in a hidden little area of the Providence Place Mall a while ago but never looked into it much. Today he was interviewed on the radio show The Story. It was really interesting. I found a good site with some videos of his home in the mall too. What a sweet pad!

Looking for free online storage for your blog?

2008-05-11T14:11:00.000-04:00

Today I needed to share a file on one of my blogs. A quick search showed a ton of potential sites but very few met my exact requirements. First, I wanted something free. Many of the sites are cheap but few have a free plan. I really only need a few hundred MB at most anyway. I also wanted something that I could share files with anyone without a password and also anonymously would be nice. Many of the sites were more backup oriented which wouldn't work for me either. I used this guide, The Online Storage Gang, at TechCrunch to help me.

The only real solutions left I found were xdrive owned by AOL now and The Link Up. I never was able to get an account setup on xdrive thanks to almost no available usernames and crazy password restrictions. I think The Link Up will work well for me though. They offer 2GB free and 25GB for $5.95 per month (I think). Their site is low on information. Check out a screen shot of some of the options:

Honestly though, I think the best solution would be to use Amazon S3 but I am still just looking for something very, very cheap (read free). Maybe if my blog ever gets big enough (I doubt it will, I don't have that much time for it) then I will use that.

And another note, I should have looked at dropfiles. I've used dropload before but it is no longer functioning. Lifehacker has some file sharing suggestions too.

Durham, NC - Republican Primary Voter Guide - May 6, 2008

2008-05-01T21:09:00.024-04:00

Looking for the 2008 Democratic Primary Guide for Durham, NC instead?

This is just a page of links to the candidates campaign websites for the Republican Primary in Durham, NC on May 6, 2008. This list is based on the sample ballots.

Also, you can print out a sample ballot that will be exactly what you will see when you get to the voting booth. First, go to check your voter registration and make note of your precinct number. Then go find you ballot based on your party affiliation and precinct.

President

US Senate

US Congress District 4

Governor

Lieutenant Governor

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Other Resources:

Announcements for Courses and Seminars in Implant and Cosmetic Dentistry

2008-04-30T10:51:00.007-04:00

Are you a dentist looking for some more continuing education credits? Looking to learn some new skills or improve your current skill set? Check out the new Continuing Education for Dentists blog for announcements of new courses.

Some of the course topics covered include:

I know this post seems really random. I am not doing some pay to blog thing. This is just a blog I run at work. Now back to the randomness of my other posts.

Durham, NC - Democratic Primary Voter Guide - May 6, 2008

2008-04-29T17:53:00.030-04:00

Looking for the 2008 Republican Primary Guide for Durham, NC instead?

This is just a page of links to the candidates campaign websites for the Democratic Primary in Durham, NC on May 6, 2008. I know I am missing some races because I only looked at 2 of the sample ballots. If I could not find a site, I did not link to anything. As I got farther down the list and the races got more local and smaller level offices, finding sites became much harder. Sites also started not being the top result or even on the first page. That is kind of sad. They need some SEO help. At least they have sites. Maybe my links here will help their ranks. Many of these candidates only have a week left though because they won't make it to the general election.

Also, I am very disappointed in our local newspapers and other media. Their election sites are very incomplete, hard to find, some are not up to date and they are all just generally crappy. The ones that are still showing info from the last election are the ones that piss me off the most. No one is going to use a voter guide in 2008 with Mike Nifong on it! They obviously do not care about the primaries. It is hard enough as it is for voters to get good candidate information. At least we can get it straight from the candidates now. Get with the times old media!

Also, did you know that you can print out a sample ballot that will be exactly what you will see when you get to the voting booth? First, go to check your voter registration and make note of your precinct number. Then go find you ballot based on your party affiliation and precinct.

Without further ado...

President

US Senate

Governor

Lieutenant Governor

Auditor

Commissioner of Insurance

Commissioner of Labor

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Treasurer

NC State Senate District 20

~~Ryan O'Neal Echoles~~ (search)
Floyd B. McKissick, Jr.

District Attorney District 14

Durham County Commissioner (Vote for 5)

Other Resources:

Why can't I buy beer before noon on Sunday (and other asinine laws)

2008-04-27T13:16:00.009-04:00

This morning, despite staying up way to late, I still managed to get up and make it to the 8:45 am church service. At 10 am I went to a very interesting Sunday School class on "Making Ethical Decisions in an Unethical World" where we discussed behaviorism. At 11am I was doing some grocery shopping at Super Target. At 11:50am I was in the checkout line with my $95 worth of groceries when I was told I could not buy the six pack of Yuengling for 10 more minutes. What?!?

I wasn't really surprised that such an asinine law exists but I was surprised when I was denied my beer. Had I know this before unloading all my groceries I would have browsed the DVDs for 10 more minutes. Instead I went without (I still have a few left over from my Samuel Adams Summer Sampler case).

Why does such a law even exist though? Why does it matter when I buy my beer? From the best I can tell, laws like these, called blue laws, were written to impose good Christan morals on us. Forget about Jews, Muslims or any other religions and their holy days. Also forget about us good Christians who are just doing some grocery shopping after the early service. In North Carolina the hours you can buy alcohol is outlined in § 18B‑1004. It says that alcohol can not be purchased between 2am and 7am on any day and until 12 pm on Sundays.

That is just stupid.

My other least favorite law lately is the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 which requires me to show ID so I can be tracked when I need some Sudafed (ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine) for a cold or allergies. Unlike showing ID to simply prove my age when buying beer, showing ID to buy some cold medicine gets me logged for 2 years. If I were in bad enough shape or if I bought some for my wife or kid for instance, I might get arrested. Read the post on Protectionism and My Stuffy Nose!

Box Office Receipts Graph Since 1986

2008-04-19T23:49:00.001-04:00

I love statistics, graphs and movies so I was extra thrilled a few months ago when I ran across this awesome graph of movie box office revenues from 1986 to February 2008. From this graph you can really see how concentrated the big money maker releases are in the summer and over Christmas.

Looking at individual movies is also pretty interesting. The Shawshank Redemption, for instance, is rated 9.2 out of 10 and is ranked as the 2nd best movie ever on IMDB but had a poor performance in theaters.

The Shawshank Redemption (click to enlarge)

Another interesting movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding was released in April 2002 and never had a big weekend. It started out making next to nothing but in the end it made money for a full year. According to the IMDB trivia page, "it surpassed Dances with Wolves (1990) as the highest grossing movie never to have hit number one at the box office".

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (click to enlarge)

Last but not least we have one of the worst movies ever made, Gigli (pronounced as Jee-lee). I've never actually seen it but it's reputation is enough for me. From the graph for this movie (I had to search to find it) you can see it had a semi decent opening weekend before everyone realized how bad it was and it was taken out of theaters. This movie opened in 2,215 theaters but by the third weekend it was only showing in 73 (IMDB trivia page). Gigli also did well in the Razzie Awards that year with 6 wins.

What have we learned? Good movies don't always do very well in theaters and bad movies sometimes can, at least at first. Go find your favorite and least favorite movies on the graph too.

Obma is an elitist, just what we need!

2008-04-16T22:46:00.001-04:00

Barack Obama's recent comment that some in Western PA are "bitter" and they "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them" was not good for his campaign but it isn't all that wrong either. Americans have been ruled by fear, ignorance and incompetence for the last 7 years. We have to cope somehow.

People cling to things that make them feel safe like their guns, their religion and a common animosity for people who are not like them. Everyone does this. I cling to the idea of checks and balances, my civil rights, my right to privacy and my faith in God. For several years I have had to fall back on these ideals to get me through the day and I too am bitter. So listen up, there is nothing wrong with your guns, religion or your concerns over immigration but don't forget there are other important issues in the world.

But now Obama gets to be labeled an elitist for all who will listen to his competitors or the pundits. As Jon Stewart points out, despite jokingly, is being elite really such a bad thing for a President? (Especially considering our current leader.)

You know, I hear what you are all saying but doesn't elite mean good? Is that not something we're looking for in a President anymore? You know what candidates, come with me. I know elite is a bad word in politics. And you want to go bowling and throw back a few beers. But the job you are applying for, if you get it and it goes well, they might carve your head into a mountain. If you don't actually think you are better than us then what the f*!k are you doing? ... In fact, not only do I want an elite President, I want someone who is embarrassingly superior to me.

Or watch Jon explain that we really do want an elite President on the Daily Show site.

One of my favorite aspects of the fictional President Bartlett was the fact that the man was brilliant. A democracy should be a meritocracy so shouldn't the top position in that system be the best of the best?

State sanctioned murder is legal again!

2008-04-16T21:39:00.001-04:00

Wohoo! Today the US Supreme Court ruled states can get back to murdering again. And what better day then during the first visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the US? It was a nice FU to the Vicar of Christ! Who really cares What Jesus Would Do (WJWD) after all? It was also great news to follow the Amnesty International report on world executions yesterday showing us that the US is only 5th in the world with a mere 42 executions last year. China is killing us (pun intended) with 470 executions last year. We are also well behind the other 3 above us: Iran with 317, Saudi Arabia with 143 and Pakistan with 135 executions last year.

There has been a moratorium on executions essentially nationwide until today. It has been in effect since the case Baze v. Rees, Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Corrections (PDF Opinion) was brought before the court last September. This was the first time since 1890 that a challenge to the method of execution has been brought before the court making the decision even more important. The court's decision could have forced states to rethink the way they are killing their citizens.

I guess not. Thinking is overrated anyway.

More reading:

Baze v. Rees on the SCOTUS Wiki
"Last Words" of those murdered by the most murderous state in the country, Texas. This statement makes me cry.
Executions aren't always quick or painless.
Death Penalty Information Center for stats
Amnesty International's yearly statistics, Death Sentences and Executions in 2007: Secrecy surrounds death penalty
Texas likes putting people on death row who aren't murders thanks to their Law of Parties. Kenneth Foster was one of these people. Fortunately his sentence was commuted to life instead.
Watch The Life of David Gale.

Charitable Donations, Now I'm On Their Lists!

2008-04-10T01:17:00.000-04:00

I don't think I make a lot of charitable donations but my wife and I have made a few small ones over the last 3-4 years. Some of these donations got us memberships to the organization and newsletters, etc or were for some fund raising events like bike rides so they are not all just pure kindness of our heart donations. Looking back, many of these were actually a result of a direct mail solicitation. I don't like that I donated because of "junk mail" but I wouldn't have if I didn't believe in the charity's cause on some level.

Some people we have donated to in the past include:

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) - Sure they support some wack jobs, hateful groups, and other despicable people but this is all the principle that matters.
American Cancer Society - Sponsored someone in a fund raising walk.
American Red Cross - Katrina donation matched by dealnews.com (plus about 6 pints of blood a year. I am pretty sure that is not tax deductible.)
Amnesty International - I don't like the crap we are pulling at Gitmo. US signed treaties have the force of US law.
Barack Obama for President 2008 > Hillary Clinton (read that as 'greater than')
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee - My distaste for the current administration got me to give them money.
Durham Literacy Center - My wife got me involved here. I would like to donate more money to them. Right now most of my donation is time in the form of tutoring. This is one of the organizations I have a real passion about. Since you have read this far, think about your life if you weren't able to read?
FINCA (Foundation for International Community Assistance) - Micro loans are a great idea! It is basically aid + Capitalism to achieve a sustainable life. Turns out Natalie Portman is one of their celebrity supporters so I get newsletters with her in them all the time. A win-win-win.
Habitat for Humanity of Durham - I've helped work on a house around here before and other houses in the past. I love it. But this was made to enter the Halloween 100 Bike Ride.
Humane Society - My wife got a letter. She is a sucker for animals.
Mental Health Association of Davidson County - Another bike ride. The Tour de Pig.
Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) - Group for the reform of Marijuana laws. They want it to be legal for medical use and eventually recreational use. NORML never sent me anything in the mail so MPP won that race for my $. I am not sure how they got my name in the first place though.
NC Museum of Art - I joined to get cheaper Monet in Normandy tickets. It did cost more in the long run but I helped out. :-)
North Shore Animal League - My wife got a letter. She is a sucker for animals.
Ron Paul for President 2008 - Free Market, Free People!
Triangle Presbyterian Church - The church down the road that we don't attend as frequently as I would like.
WBEZ Chicago - Ira Glass gave this long sob story about paying for their bandwidth and talked me into $5 to help pay for the podcast. He is well with it!
WUNC North Carolina Public Radio - How can anyone stand to listen to anything else? I listen to this or a CD. I can not stand riding in the car with my wife when she listens to those commercial stations that play a song every hour or so. This donation is well worth it. Plus, I always wait until the donation will enter me in some fun Eurpoean vacation drawing.

These days though, like many Americans, we are feeling a lot less wealthy and making charitable donations hits the wallet a lot harder. I'd like to donate again to some of these listed above and also some other organizations but I don't feel like I have the money too. (Kiva is one charity I have been looking at lately. Ever since I heard this story on Marketplace over Christmas last year I've been thinking about them. Basically it is micro finance like FINCA is except you get to actually pick who/what your money goes to. If only they had Natalie Portman too!)

Despite not having money to send out, I am on these organizations lists (and their friends). Just today my wife and I got letters from the following organizations asking for money.

Amnesty International USA - They want more.
Girls Inc. - From what I can tell they are like a Boys and Girls club just without the boys. This was actually addressed to me.
Human Rights Watch - I am guessing Amnesty gave them my name or they both got them from the same place.
James Carville on behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee - They want more but they aren't going to get it.
Union of Concerned Scientist - If I had the money I might give them some.
USA for UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency)
World Wildlife Fund - They are all about nature conservation. So am I, just not financially right now.

Since I don't plan on donating to any of these organizations anytime soon, I still think I will do something. Instead of donating to them financially, I think I will start giving each organization that sends me a solicitation a shout out every so often. I'll actually take the time to look into each of the organizations to find out what they stand for and then post what I find.

There, now I don't feel poorer and I do feel better about all these charities and organizations that keep sending me mailing address labels and I keep sending them zilch!

I'm a registered Democrat again, Yay!

2008-03-21T14:49:00.000-04:00

A few months ago I changed my life long registration as a Democrat to Republican. It was a pretty big deal for me but I changed it because I like choices. I figured I'd be ok with the Democratic candidate for President regardless of who it was (ok, I wouldn't have been too keen on John Edwards but I wouldn't have been repulsed). I knew I would have problems with some of the Republican candidates though. I despised the idea of Mr. 9/11 (Rudy Giuliani) being our next fear mongering President. I didn't think much of Mitt Romney either and despite liking Mike Huckabee a lot as a person and a candidate, we don't need 4 more years of the religious right making our country look like loons.

Now back to why I switched parties. I switched so I could help expand my choice in the general election. I knew if my choice was between a Democrat and Giuliani, Romney or Huckabee then it didn't matter who the Democrat was. They would get my vote.

If the Republican was McCain or Ron Paul, then I could actually listen to the candidates arguments, watch the debates and make a real decision. I was actually planning on voting for Ron Paul in the Republican primaries. Now, I am not as sure I would have really liked Ron Paul as President but I do like his libertarian views. Free Markets, Free People.

Since McCain is definitely now the Republican candidate, my vote for Ron Paul would have been purely symbolic (more so than it likely would have been if the race was closer at least). I switched my registration back to Democrat because of choice. I would much prefer to choose the Democratic candidate if I don't have a choice in the Republican candidate.

And I choose Barack Obama.

I am ready for a fresh face and Bush - Clinton - Bush - Clinton would not be a fresh face. More so, Hillary Clinton is a very entrenched career politician. That does not appeal to me.

Who falls for multi level marketing schemes?

2008-03-12T21:45:00.001-04:00

A month or so ago I met a guy at the NCHSAA swimming championship. He introduced himself and we just shot the shit for a while. We talked about work and the like. He lives near where I grew up. He ended up saying he worked for this company that might need some development work (when I hear development work I think writing software, he obviously didn't and wanted to use development in the loosest sense) and asked for my card. Sure. I am always open to doing work on the side if I have the time, it is worth my while and there aren't any conflicts of interest with my current employers.

Last week he called me and asked me if I was still interested. If so, could I meet with him for 15 minutes or so on Saturday at 2pm. He lives about an hour and a half away and was making the trip my way to meet with some other people too. I initially said I was busy despite having no plans because I didn't really want to schedule something in the middle of a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I eventually did agree to meet him in the food court at the mall just a few minutes from where I live. I was curious.

By now I am already thinking this is going to be a waste of my time but I wanted to go to the mall and check out new cell phones and look at the new, very sexy MacBook Air anyway so why not. I called him up about an hour before we were to meet to try and get more details from him. He was very vague and essentially just said meet with me and I'll tell you. He did tell me the name of the company he worked for though. I am glad I found that out because it made the meeting so much more fun!

He said he worked for LTD at first but eventually I got the full name from him: Leadership Team Development. Oh Google how thou art my friend. Thanks to whois I found out the site was owned by one 42 year old business man named John Dumproff of Raleigh, NC who apparently has a sweet NCSU themed room that is a little better now that Daryl's is out of business. The best part was all the info on the actual site though. You get to learn about i-Commerce conglomerates (whatever that is), cutting out the middle man, multiplying your time and all the big company names they could drop on 1 page. That was all on this secret part of the site. I say secret because the only way to get to it from the home page is using a login. Google doesn't need no stinkin' login though! Oh the security!

Anyway, I was glad to be armed with this information going into the meeting. I wasn't sure this was the same thing but since both the site and this guy were heavy on the marketing speak and lite on the anything meaningful speak, I suspected I was looking at the same thing. And boy was it the same thing! After exchanging pleasantries the guy whipped out a brochure with the same exact information (graphics included) as the website. I knew I was in for a good inner laugh then.

The guy (his name was Justin) just started going over the brochure. He showed me how the middle man got his cut and how I could get rid of the middle man and help get products directly to consumers (I thought to myself, hey, wouldn't that make me the new middle man?).

He also talked about how I could be making 30k - 60k in the first 6 - 18 months and after 2 - 5 years I could be making 150k a year. It would only take 15 hours a week. He also said earlier that he had been working for the company for about 4 years. So why is some guy that is obviously pulling in 150k a year by now having to recruit people like me at swim meets? Just another of those great observations I kept to myself. I think throwing out those numbers is how they do get people to fall for their spiel.

Another of my favorite parts was the explanation of the four different ways to bring in income. The first 2 are active. You can be an employee (check for me) or you can be a business owner (also check, but I imagine if he had known that he would know I had enough sense to not fall for his presentation, then again I did get suckered in to meeting him in the first place). Next came the passive income. You have your investments (check) and your business system. WTF is a business system? It is what they wanted to sell me on obviously but I wasn't buying. The next step of course was to go to a seminar but I had already wasted enough time on this and it wasn't that funny or entertaining for me.

I asked for more details before I told him NO to try and figure out really what they do to make these awesome sums of money but didn't get a satisfactory answer. I did get another funny comment though. I was asked if I had ever heard of Amazon.com. I don't even want to get into how funny that question is to me but the answer is yes I have heard of Amazon. He also said they were in the middle of an expansion. That is such an empty marketing term. They wanted to get their 1 billion dollar a year business to 10 billion with this expansion! You know who else had about a billion in revenue last year? Netflix. That's right, this company I have never heard of but should have is brining in a billion a year. They aren't like Enron.

I also liked the "training" slant. Justin didn't get into many details beyond these few selling points but something about training was mentioned. The company does have team development in the name after all.

And one more note. The owner of the site also owns ltdkate.com which looks like a site to help all those new "business system" starters to run their "system" for a mere $325/yr plus.

I also found a few others who have encountered people from the same company:

Some funny "conservative" observations

2008-02-28T00:31:00.001-05:00

As I get older, I find myself getting more and more conservative. Definitely not loony religious right conservative but more a fiscal and economic conservative. I would most identify myself as libertarian. In my hunger for more conservative points of view I've started reading Human Events occasionally and tuning into some conservative talk radio shows like Sean Hannity. I still find that I disagree with a lot of what is being said on these outlets and often just laugh at the sheer ridiculousness. Some of the things that have stuck out in my mind the most lately have been:

A caller to the Sean Hannity show a few weeks ago suggested George Allen as McCain's running mate. You may recall that Allen lost his Senate seat representing Virginia in 2006 in large part due to calling an Indian American a macaca, a racial slur meaning monkey. I am not saying Allen is not qualified but after the comments and the loss of his seat, he is forever tainted for an executive office.
Conservapedia is the non liberal biased attempt at creating an online encyclopedia. Apparently Wikipedia has some problems with it's content like requiring a neutral point of view and not allowing original research. First, "liberal bias"... really? I can't say that I see much liberal bias in Wikipedia but I sure do see a lot of conservative bias in Conservapedia. I had high hopes for Conservapedia (great article there) at first, especially considering one of their goals is to provide a resource for home schooled students. It has become a humorous parody of itself much like Uncyclopedia or better yet Wikiality though.
One of my favorites lines is "Fair and balanced". Putting on a pundit who is identified as liberal to counter a pundit who is identified as conservative does not make your content fair or balanced. Also, just because Fox News says it every break, it does not make it true. I think they hope the repetition will make the idea stick as true. Sadly I think it is working.
Today I heard an interview with talk show host Bill Cunningham about his recent comments before a McCain rally where he referred to Barack Obama by his full name. It is obvious this was an attempt to draw attention to his foreign roots since Obama's middle name is Hussein. McCain called him out on the comments but Cunningham said he used his full name to show respect. Cunningham then name dropped other presidents such as Dwight D. Eisenhower and JFK as proof of his respect by using a full name. Yeah, those are middle initials that they use Bill. We all see through your BS. Ah yes, and the best part was he started using McCain's full name. That was the first time I learned McCain's middle name was Sidney and that he was a 3rd.
Although not funny, Ann Coulter is nothing more than a witty hate monger. People like her don't help politics. She only divides and perpetuates the idea that every issue is black and white and you are either conservative or liberal.

That is it for tonight. I need to get some sleep because I've started going to Thursday morning Bible study and 6:30 am is EARLY!

The Simpsons Intro and What You Don’t See

2008-02-21T12:12:00.001-05:00

Maud is still alive (at least in the introduction)!

If you've ever watched the Simpsons you have no doubt seen the famous intro scenes. It starts with Bart writing something new on the chalkboard and ends with the couch gag. There is one very brief scene between Marge and Maggie driving home from the grocery store and the shot of the Simpsons' driveway that pans so quickly you can't really process what is there. Thanks to DVDs, now you can see what goes on from screen grabs.

Check out this very interesting blog post The Simpsons Intro: What You Don’t See to see a picture of all the scene and a little rundown of who you see there. That scene goes by so quickly I never even think of it as being there.

Pink and Blue and Yellow and Girls and Boys and Who Knows

2008-02-08T20:12:00.000-05:00

I was closing some of the many open Firefox tabs I always leave open today and I found a cute site I saw last week again. It was the Pink and Blue Project.

I'll let the photographer, Jeongmee Yoon, explain it.

“The Pink and Blue Project” was at first motivated by my daughter. At five years old, she loves pink so much that she wants to wear only pink clothes and use only pink toys or objects.

I found that she is not unusual and most other little girls in the U.S. and South Korea love pink clothing, accessories and toys. This phenomenon seems widespread among various ethnic groups regardless of their cultural background. It could be the result of an influence of customs or the power of pervasive commercial advertisements for merchandise such as Barbie and Hello Kitty.
While producing the “pink” images, I also became aware that many boys have a lot of blue possessions and started photographing them as well. Through advertising, consumers are directed to buy blue items, symbolizing strength and masculinity, for boys; and pink items, symbolizing sweetness and femininity, for girls.

More Pink and More Blue for you. But why is yellow "gender neutral"? Ah, and an interesting blog post on the history of the color/gender relationship.

Juno is Awesome, Honest to Blog!

2008-01-22T21:46:00.000-05:00

I watched Juno this weekend and it was great! All the Oscar buzz is well deserved. There were at least 2 trailers for it shown every day during The Daily Show last week which really sparked my interest. Plus, it has Michael Cera as one of the stars, who I have admired since Arrested Development (the most under appreciated show ever). The first scene is really funny with Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight Schrute) and really gets you into the movie quickly.

It wasn't really laugh out loud funny but then movies that are laugh out loud funny aren't nearly as good as a comedy of wit. I do wonder though, do kids these days really talk like this? I think not...

Juno: I'm pregnant.
Leah: What? Honest to blog?
Juno: Yeah, yeah, it's Bleaker's.
Leah: It's probably just a food baby. Did you have a big lunch?
Juno: No, this is not a food baby alright? I've taken like three pregnancy tests, and I'm forshizz up the spout.
Leah: How did you even generate enough pee for three pregnancy tests? That's amazing.
Juno: I don't know, I drank like, ten tons of Sunny D... Anyway dude, I'm telling you I'm pregnant and you're acting shockingly caviler.
Leah: Is this for real? Like for real, for real?
Juno: Unfortunately, yes.
Leah: Oh my god, Oh Shit! Phuket, Thailand!
Juno: There we go. That was kind of the emotion I was searching for on the first take.

My favorite part of the film though turns out to be the soundtrack. The song on the opening credits, All I Want Is You, is one of those fun little romantic songs like When I'm Sixty-Four, except this one was originally written as a kids song by Barry Louis Polisar, you know, like TMBG. Nice work Barry!

I really like all the music by Kimya Dawson (never heard of her before) and who can go wrong with Cat Power? She only has 1 song on the soundtrack but, man, the raw emotion in Chan Marshall's (Cat Power) voice gets me choked up sometimes, regardless of the words. I wish she would record and release a full version of the cover of Cat Steven's "How Can I Tell You" that she did for that diamond commercial.

So enjoy the trailer and go see the film if you haven't yet!

Cool, I noticed Cat Power has a new album, Jukebox, that came out today! Go check that out too.

Full Screen Movie Releases Should Die!

2008-01-19T20:46:00.000-05:00

I watched a video last night, Skinny Girl Owned By Desert Eagle, that got me wanting to watch a movie I haven't seen in a long time, Snatch, all because of this scene with Bullet Tooth Tony.

And, the fact that you've got "replica" written down the side of your guns. And, the fact that I've got "Desert Eagle point 5 0" written on the side of mine, should precipitate your balls into shrinking, along with your presence. Now... fuck off.

Anyway, when I started watching Snatch, I was asked, which version I wanted to watch, Wide Screen or Full Screen. It reminded me of a question I have been wondering for a long time, Why do full screen releases even still exist?

Watching a movie in full screen is an abomination. You lose much of the movie the director intended for you to see and pan and scan is noticeably annoying. Movies are an art form that should not be disrespected just because someone owns a POS television and doesn't like the letterbox, even for bad movies. Furthermore, as old TV sales have been greatly eclipsed by newer 16:9HD TVs, wide screen is full screen (aspect ratios explained) on newer screens. Shoot, some movies like Gladiator, with an aspect ration of 2.35:1, are still letterbox on a 16:9 (1.78:1) TV.

I don't have any problems if the movie is released with both versions in the same package but it is a waste of resources to even create the full screen version. Many movies support both on the same disc but I still am annoyed at having to select it instead of going right to the movie. Some movies are released on dual sided discs to accommodate both. That is a little better but it does make the disc more expensive and I don't care to pay for the crappy full screen version I never will watch.

On Black Friday, there are always lots of good movie deals. This past year I went to Target on Black Friday to find a ton of movies for $5 and $10 each. I would have stocked up but they were all full screen! Why? I wouldn't even pay $5 for a full screen version of a movie. Another visit to Target in search of the newest Harry Potter release also proved frustrating. There were plenty of full screen versions of the film to purchase but the wide screen versions were all gone (fortunately they were only gone in the actual DVD section, there were still some wide screen versions by the checkout line).

I have to wonder, with the obvious differences in demand, why even offer a full screen version? Consumers are voting with our purchases but whoever makes the decision to carry more or only the wide screen version isn't listening. I imagine there are a number of full screen purchases made out of ignorance of the version purchased and other full screen purchases because only a full screen is available and the customer really wants the movie. Once or twice I have mistakenly purchased the full screen myself, only to return or exchange it ASAP. So full screen DVD releases should die a very quick death now with the prominence of widescreen televisions and the rise of HD-DVD and Blue-Ray high definition discs. Please!

And check out the Letterbox and Widescreen Advocacy Page.

Welcome Back Jon Stewart And Stephen Colbert!

2008-01-14T21:04:00.000-05:00

I meant to post this last Monday when ~~The~~ A Daily Show and The Colbert Report came back on the air after the holidays despite the writers strike. I thought both shows did an excellent job without writers and did a good job covering the writers strike (that is about all they did actually). The explanation of both sides was both informative and entertaining. Colbert was much funnier than Jon though.

Favorite Daily Show quote was about 4:10 in: "Why did Viacom sue YouTube? Well, they sued them for a billion dollars, clearly a figure they pulled out of their asses. If there were real money on the Internet, don't you think they would have gone with a believable figure? A billion dollars? What are they four year olds?" Thanks for the play by play go to Variety's WGA Strike Blog.

It is clear they don't have writers though. It isn't nearly as funny or polished as before the strike and they both, but Colbert especially, do a lot of things that are obvious time killers. Colbert did some Ellen dancing and also had the audience applaud for him for several solid minutes on episodes last week.

The best part of their being back is it got me to the gym all week. I purposefully only have the most basic cable package so if I want to watch the Daily Show, I have to go to they gym. So here is to another week of working out. Thanks Jon and Stephen.

American Gladiators Is Back On NBC!!

2008-01-07T22:19:00.000-05:00

Before getting into the BCS National Championship game tonight, I watched a little bit of the reincarnated American Gladiators. I knew this show was coming back but I didn't know it was on tonight until late this afternoon. I asked a few coworkers about it and got very mixed responses from "oh, ugh" to "awesome!". This show, fundamentally, is in fact awesome. I don't know that it has a place in prime time though.

The basic idea is you get a bunch of people who spend way too much time at the gym (these are the Gladiators) and pit them against "average" people who just spend too much time at the gym. That is the fun part. The show has all of these crazy games that involve shooting at each other, hitting each other with big padded bars while standing on a platform, many other physical games and finally The Eliminator! Dorky but fun to watch.

This new version of the show is very true to the original that I remember watching back in the early 90s from time to time on Sunday mornings while skipping church. We watched it in one of the Sunday School rooms. (Sorry Mom!) It still has all the great games from the original and the basic ideas are the same.

That is where the greatness is lost though. The hosts of the new show are Hulk Hogan and one of Muhammad Ali's daughters, Laila Ali. The fact that they are hosting isn't so bad but the way it is run is bad. It is run like a stupid WWF event with the annoying macho talk (from the ladies too) and all the stupid sports cliche talking. I swear, in one interview with the women competitors (before The Eliminator), they both said they were going to give it 110%. I mean, come on!!!

If it stays in this time slot there is NO WAY it will beat How I Met Your Mother once the writers strike is over but it will be fun while it lasts. It is in HD too which is always a plus since I don't have an HD package and only get what the network is sending out on basic cable.

And one last note. Although she didn't win tonight, watching Christie Philips compete was nice. She is a Karate Instructor, read her bio. And watch the video...

Or something else...

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

New Years Resolutions and Stress

2008-01-03T18:12:00.000-05:00

I think New Years Resolutions are kind of stupid. Why wait until January 1st to start getting your act together? I am not one to bash those who make resolutions though because I am one of you too.

I have been pretty stressed out since getting back to work after the holidays. I have so very little motivation to do anything. I put off a few things I wanted and needed to get done until after the holidays and now they are here and I still don't want to do them. Somethings I never wanted to do in the first place, which is why I procrastinated, but others I just didn't have time to do. Now I am swampped and stressed.

Another source of my stress is my weight. I feel uncomfortably fat. My weight has been creeping up there a lot since the middle of 2007. Over the holidays, I rationalized gorging and put off doing something about it even longer, fooling myself into thinking it didn't matter what I ate or how lazy I was because starting in 2008, I was going to get my act together. I am the heaviest I have ever been and would like to see my weight at 30-40 pounds less than it is now. Oh where are you willpower?!

As if having all this built up stuff to do and changes in my life that I need to make isn't enough, new things to do are coming in at the same time which is even more overwhelming because it makes it hard to finish all the old crap. My ideal solution of course is to just forget about it and put it off until tomorrow or next week. That is how I got where I am now though.

So starting right now I am going to make some changes:

Finish what I am doing before starting on something new
Stop eating like the only way to find nourishment is at a fast food place or eating like I am at a buffet for every meal, and then track my eating and weight
Get myself to the gym and/or pool and take the dog for longer walks
Stop doing things that aren't worth my time (this is a hard one)
Early to bed, early to rise... (and earlier to work)

Some of the best advise a friend gave me once was to take care of yourself first because when you don't you are worthless and can't take care of anything else. That is where I am now. Swapped, stressed, overweight and not doing enough about it. But I am going to start taking care of myself.

Google Indirectly Encourages Major Google Spam

2008-01-02T02:06:00.000-05:00

Today, January 1st, 2008, there was a posting on Digg titled "January 1 TCP/IP". That posting is an example of Search Engine Spam at its finest.

That link caught my eye because it was such a stupid, uninformative title for a Digg article. I also found it strange because the site it went to was january-1-tcp-ip.blogspot.com. That sure is a specific blog with some specific keywords.

So then I followed the link to the blog and sure enough, it had 1 post about the advent of TCP/IP on January 1st, 1983. What in the world I thought.

Then I realized what was going on here. As most everyone has seen, Google occasionally honors certain people and holidays with a special logo. The special logo today was to honor the 25th anniversary of TCP/IP. With these special logos, they also link to a query and todays query string was "January 1 tcp/ip".

I imagine the search term originally went to something useful and informative but not now. It was Google Spammed thanks to Google themselves. Now that search phrase, and the clicking of the image on the Google home page, goes to a crap page created to exploit the link and make some AdSense cash. I guess Google doesn't mind too much since in the end they are making money off any click on that site too but still, that is disappointing.

Others also tried to take advantage of this. The first page of the Google search results returned things like this:

www.digg.com/tech_news/January_1_TCP_IP
byrev.net/2008-01/january-1-tcpip-switchover
january-1-tcpip.blogspot.com
january-1-tcp-ip-123.blogspot.com/2008/01/what-is-january-1-tcpip-and-why-it-is.html
january-1-tcp--ip.blogspot.com

So why oh why Diggers did you digg this link? As of writing this there are 1895 Diggs!! Is there some revenue sharing here? Can I get in on it too?

Oh, and Google, it is 2008 now, update your copyright text! Geez, keep it to 1 screw up a day on the home page please.

Happy New Year 2008!!

2008-01-01T03:32:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year 2008!!!

I just got done watching the ball drop again this year with Dick Clark and his eventual replacement Ryan Seacrest. Since his return to hosting Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve after his 2004 stroke, I get a little teary eyed watching him. Dick Clark is a trooper. He is still having speech troubles but despite his stroke he is still carrying on with the show. I really admire and respect that.

My wife brought up another interesting point tonight, New Years Day is when we both feel older, not on our birthdays.

More Things To Do With Your New GPS Than Just Navigating

2007-12-27T03:44:00.000-05:00

If you are one of the gazillion people who got a new GPS for Christmas this year, I have some suggestions of other things you can do with it beyond just getting from Point A to Point B. GPS uses are almost endless!

Geocaching (or TerraCaching) - This is one of the most fun uses for your new GPS. It is a game where you find and hide geocaches (a container plus a log book) along with other geocachers. You download or enter the coordinates of a cache into your GPS and let it lead you to the location where you then have to search for a container, some as small as the tip of your finger to some as large as a big storage bins (like the ones you may keep your wrapping paper in). Many contain toys and other items to trade which is perfect when taking the kids. Right now there are over 497,000 caches worldwide. Read more at the Geocaching FAQ page and go ahead to see if there are any in your neighborhood.
Waymarking - Brought to you from the same folks who brought you Geocaching, this helps you find all sorts of stuff from Off-Leash Dog areas to Ginormous Everyday Objects to Museums, all over the world. Many have made a game out of this too, trying to find 1 place in every category.
Exercise - Mount it on your bike or stick in your pocket when you exercise to keep track of your progresses as you go. Then use great sites like MotionBased or Training Peaks to upload the data, map it and analyze it. I use my GPS instead of a cycle computer to know my speed, distance traveled, elevation changes and all sorts of other interesting metrics.
Travel Planning - This past Summer my wife and I went to Europe. I spent a few hours with Google Earth finding and loading all of our lodging locations, train stations and major sites into the GPS. When we got to Europe, we didn't have to worry about getting anywhere, the GPS would always lead us there and tell us exactly how far we had left to go. This saved us a lot of frustration, time and money while on our trip.
Golf - Add your favorite courses to your GPS and never question how far from the hole you really are.
Exploring new places - Just go exploring!! I know gas is expensive but it is still fun to just get a little lost sometimes. Just hop in the car (or bike or by foot, you don't have to drive) and travel somewhere new in your area. You don't have to worry about getting lost.
Find a new restaurant/bar/club/movie theater/etc... - Most all GPSs come preloaded with points of interest (POI). Use them! On mine, I can search for places by category and when it comes to restaurants, I can get even more specific and find the closest Indian places when I have a curry craving.
Track your flight home - I love using my GPS while flying. It is fun seeing you are going 400-500 mph at 30k feet. You almost have to have a window seat and have to hold the unit up to the window for a while to get this to work though. It also takes a while to acquire a signal but it is worth it. Also, be warned, while some flight attendants understand the GPS doesn't interfere with anything, some can get downright mean. I have encountered both. Few airlines have concrete policies either so play it safe and ask a flight attendant first.
When the kids ask "Are we there yet?", you can tell them almost exactly how much longer until you do arrive.
Mark your favorite hunting and fishing spot - Get within ~10 feet of your favorite fishing spot.
See what the sun and moon are up to - Many GPS devices will show you the phase of the moon and when sunrise/sunset are. Don't forget your GPS is also a superbly accurate clock. It has to be to calculate your position.

With GPS sales up 488% this Christmas and all these other GPS uses, don't you wish you had bought some Garmin stock back in May 2007. What else do you use or plan to use your GPS for? Leave me some comments!

Note: I do have one little caveat to all these suggestions though. If you got one of the in car only units, not all of these things will work as well for you. After you fall in love with your in car unit though, try getting an entry level hand held unit like the eTrex Legend or one of the best selling hand held units (I bought one of these for my birthday last year and LOVE IT), the GPSMap 60CSx.

Blockbuster vs Netflix vs Redbox

2007-12-24T03:29:00.000-05:00

My wife and I seldom rent from Blockbuster anymore. We have always found it hard to stomach paying ~$5 to rent a movie. For 2x - 3x the rental price we could own the movie so we may as well buy it!

A year or so ago, we tried Blockbuster Online for a few months. This was before the days of in-store trade ins. We did have the 2 free in-store monthly rental coupons. Back then I really liked the plan but we got busy and we really felt like we were not getting our money's worth so we canceled our plan.

I've always thought that Blockbuster has a much better offering than their main competitor and mail order DVD rental pioneer Netfilx. Being able to get movies from one of the over 5,100 stores nationwide in addition to movies by the mail allows you to grab a movie on a whim. Netflix offers video downloads which potentially could be great but I think it is still a little too early for that technology. People can't watch downloaded movies in the same environment or as easily as a DVD. I think downloads will be an advantage for Netflix in the future. Much of Blockbuster's advantage got thrown out the door just last week though when Blockbuster Online raised prices. This price increase has really pissed some Blockbuster (and now former) customers off. I don't blame them.

Blockbuster took very reasonable and competitive prices and made them non competitive. I looked at prices tonight at both Blockbuster and Netflix. The current Blockbuster's mail only prices are all the same as Netflix prices and the in-store trade in plans are only $1 more a month. The new prices, although only $3 more a month, still is enough to piss off existing customer. This is on top of a previous reduction from unlimited in-store trade ins.

I really would like to support Netflix for being the company that kicked off subscription DVD rental and forcing Blockbuster to offer a similar and competitive offering. I still don't feel like we would use either service enough to be worth our money though. My wife is in grad school and busy, busy, busy!

We have been renting a lot more movies recently though. A few months back we discovered RedBox at our local Harris Teeter. I have read that there are a bunch of these kiosks at McDonald's too but not in our area. With RedBox you can rent new and slightly less new movie releases for $1 per night (+ tax). How can you go wrong with this model? While shopping for groceries we can just pick something up or if looking for a movie we can grab some snacks. If it is a terrible movie, we've only spent $1 instead of ~$5 and I can at least say I have seen it. The RedBox kiosk is also right across the street from Blockbuster so it is no more or less convenient than going to Blockbuster.

If we liked the movie a lot or don't get to watch it that night for some reason, we can keep it for another day for only $1 more. The return time is always 9pm the next day, regardless of when you rent it on the previous day (it used to be 7pm). You can also return the DVD to any kiosk location, an ability I have taken advantage of several times now. If for some reason we are irresponsible and loose it, we'll end up paying $25 total. Not great but not crazy like the old fee system Blockbuster screwed customers over with.

A friend of mine has pointed out one issue with their model but it doesn't apply to my viewing habits and I wonder if he is not the exception or has just been trained by the Blockbuster model (he is also a current Blockbuster Online subscriber). When he rents a movie, he doens't always watch it that night. He generally doesn't get to watching it for a few days. My wife and I always rent a movie with every intention of watching it that very day.

We have had some problems with availability, especially of the newest releases. There is also the issue that the kiosk can only hold but so many different movies. You can't go to a RedBox kiosk expecting to rent Half Baked or some classic movie like that but you will likely find a movie or 2 that you want to see, at least for a dollar.

The other beauty of RedBox is the cost. I've recently rented Shooter which I doubt I would have ever watched but turned out to love. I also rented Transformers this weekend which I considered buying but for only a $1, I now know I don't want to watch it again (the special effects were great, the story line and dialog was NOT, and since when does an Aussie with a super cute accent work for the the DOD at such a high level she can sneak into a meeting with the Secretary of Defense?).

So my conclusion is RedBox wins! Blockbuster and Netflix offer great services that RedBox doesn't fill the need for (older movies, TV series rental, etc.) so I don't think they are without value, just not the best method for my rental habits. Look for a RedBox near you and use some free codes for a free movie from time to time (these codes work oncer per credit card I think, depending on the code) from here, here and here.

What is the Senate Doing For Their Christmas Vacation?, Staying in Session is What!

2007-12-23T21:37:00.000-05:00

I read an article last night on CNN about the Senate's plans to technically not take a break for the holidays (you know, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Years and others). They plan to hold "pro forma" sessions through mid-January. I say not technically taking a break because all but a handful of Senators will be gone. The Senate will be taking the minimum amount of action required to legally remain in session. I believe that involves someone banging a gavel every 3 days or so. Senators Jim Webb of Virginia, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Chuck Schumer of New York will all take a break from their holiday plans to keep the Senate in session.

The reasoning for this really shows how at odds President Bush is with Congress. The US Constitution, Article II, Section 2, Clause 3 provides the ability for recess appointments. The reason for this was so federal governmental positions would not go unfilled while the Senate, who confirms those appointments, is not in town to vote on those positions. Back in the day, the Senate was often out of session for many months at a time so it made sense for the President to have this ability. Sadly, recess appointments have become nothing more than a political maneuver.

Now the Senate does not take breaks nearly as long and with the advent of the flying machine and commercial air travel, the Senate can get back in a hurry to vote on a Presidential appointment if necessary. Recess appointments are now used by the President to make appointments that he (or she) can not get approved by the Senate for any number of reasons.

The Senate did this same thing over Thanksgiving and is doing it now to prevent the appointment of Steven Bradbury to the head of the Office of Legal Counsel for the DOJ. I think we should expect our President to use this provision responsibly and for the reason it was intended. Otherwise, maybe we should just get rid of it all together. That would take a Constitutional amendment though. I guess we should just start expecting longer sessions of the Senate.

Just a Place For the Leftovers

2007-12-21T14:39:00.000-05:00

This is my second blog. The first one I started, Adventures in Switching to Linux, has a very narrow focus but I have a lot to talk about. I created this one for everything else. I don't know if I will write much on this blog but I would like to talk about politics, news and the like from time to time too. I also created this blog, initially, to play with templates and other Blogger features without screwing up my other blog while experimenting. Sadly, this blog may just turn into one of the many abandoned blogs. I hope not. I did try a dozen different URLs before I got this one.

News, Politics and Anything Else I Want to Say

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

To Senator Kay Hagan: Public Option in Health Care Reform

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

President Elect Barack Obama Mosaics

Congratulations President Elect Obama!

Landmines in my back yard in Fayetteville!?!

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

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

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

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

Post election healing?

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

Understanding ACORN Voter Registration Fraud

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

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

Fayetteville, NC gets a Dog Park!

Other Links

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

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

US President

US Senate

US Congress (District 2)

US Congress (District 7)

US Congress (District 8)

Governor

Lieutenant Governor

Attorney General

Auditor

Commissioner of Agriculture

Commissioner of Insurance

Commissioner of Labor

Secretary of State

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Treasurer

NC State Senate (District 19)

NC State Senate (District 21)

NC State House (District 22)

NC State House (District 42)

NC State House (District 43)

NC State House (District 44)

NC State House (District 45)

County Commissioner (District 2)

Register of Deeds

Supreme Court Associate Justice (Edmunds Seat)

Court of Appeals Judge (Martin Seat)

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)

District Court Judge (District 12) (Pone Seat)

Board of Education (Dsitrict 1)

Board of Education (Dsitrict 2)

Board of Education (Dsitrict 3)

Board of Education (Dsitrict 4)

Board of Education (Dsitrict 5)

Board of Education (Dsitrict 6)

Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor

Other Resources

The Bailout Plan: A Quick Note to My Representatives

The First Ever Fayetteville, NC Tweetup

The 2008 Presidential Campaign is Depressing Me

Who has the most style? You decide at ZiteFight!

Just watched Cloverfield, this is what I thought

WiiWare just got Dr. Mario, yipee!!

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

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

Living in the mall, Michael Townsend did it in Providence, RI

Looking for free online storage for your blog?

Durham, NC - Republican Primary Voter Guide - May 6, 2008

President

US Senate

US Congress District 4

Governor

Lieutenant Governor

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Other Resources: