Thursday

Hello again, hello. I am coming to you today from the chair in the living room. I am driving to work today so I thought I would get something out rather then skipping it entirely.

I tried to watch the Daily Show last night. I noticed it was on and thought I usually enjoy that so I will watch it again. But I am not sure what happened. There were parts that I found humorous but overall it really seemed to be lacking for me. There was a section of the show where Jon Stewart was talking about the first speaking engagement of our last President Bush. Now I am well aware of the idea that President Bush as a public speaker does lend itself to some humor but in this case the Daily Show seemed almost mean about it. I think what bothered me is that I like things to be a little clever. I am not above mocking someone or something and I often find that kind of humor pretty funny. But, this seemed pretty mean spirited. Which, while they are a comedy show, seemed out of line from a show that has largely risen above the pettiness that seems to have infested the other political shows like Olbermann and Beck.

The new just showed President Obama at Dover Air force Base he was there to honor some of the latest soldiers that were killed in Afghanistan I believe. It was interesting to me because they showed him saluting as a coffin was carried past. Now I believe that in the years prior to Vietnam they used to show the coffins of dead military personal on the news as sort of a tribute to there efforts on behalf of the country. But, I think, correct me if I am wrong that the amount of military killed and the anger the Vietnam was generating caused the presidential administration at the time to move to stop the practice. I wonder if we should go back to showing the service men and woman come home. I think that it is to easy to forget that we have people dying on foreign soil and in a America whose military is composed of volunteers it really seems easy to forget that the people who are being killed are more then just statistics.

They just mentioned on the news that the United Nations General Assembly voted against the U. S. embargo of Cuba. This is not a surprise the vote was 187-3 with only Israel and Palau supporting the U. S., I find this interesting because this is the 18th year in a row that they have condemned it. My problem with the embargo is that if we were being consistent about how we were treating communist countries we would be embargoing China instead of Cuba. I submit that China by far is a bigger threat to us. I will grant you that Castro is not a nice man and he is not deserving of our friendship but it just makes no logical sense for us to treat China differently then Cuba. Wait let me note that it makes economic sense because Cuba does not have millions of dollars of our debt and American companies doing business there.

That's all I got folks, have a good day.

Journalistic Integrity?

Good morning friends, I have mentioned before that I have been listening to three types of radio on my way to work and coming home each day. These are basically conservative, moderate, and liberal though to be fair NPR does lean more to the liberal but I like that there stories tend to be a little deeper and thoughtful and not so full of the propaganda that either side likes to throw around.

That being said the lady on the liberal station that is on after work was going on and on last night about Rush Limbaugh and several passages that he had read from what he thought was President Obamas thesis from Columbia. Here is the passage,

" ... the Constitution allows for many things, but what it does not allow is the most revealing. The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned. While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy."

Now Limbaugh read this passage on the air and then went on a rant about Obama and the damage that he is doing to America. It was not that his rant was any different then other rants but word soon came down that the quote was actually not real. That it in fact was completely made up. It was taken from a blog called Jumping in Pools.

Well it seems that this is a blog that does mainly satire. I looked it over and really was unimpressed with the level of humor or even cleverness in it. But that is a story for another day. But, why I bring this up is because this whole so called thesis was completely made up by them. Once Limbaugh found out this was his response

"So, I can say, "I don't care if these quotes are made up," "I know Obama thinks it."

Now, while it may very well be true that this is what Obama thinks. I think the bigger issue here is integrity. Should not a news show actually do research and verify what they put on the air. I know there are people who feel that what is on liberal radio or conservative radio is all truth all the time. So I wonder should he not apologize rather then just attack. I understand being embarrassed when egg hits your face. It has happened to me before. But I do not claim to be a journalist. I am not held to any kind of standard. I can write and often have about whatever garbage I want to write about. But even then if I knowingly say something that I am wrong about I will do all I can to correct it.

It seems to me that Mr Limbaugh is doing just the opposite of this. I could be mistaken and if I am please let me know. But do it gently please. I am very sensitive. I promise to print a full retraction if that is the case.

Terrific Tuesday!!!

I got nothing today. Last night was one of those nights were you feel like you never really fell asleep. I woke up at 4:30 and my first thought was what is going on. I should still be asleep. So I rolled over and then the alarm went off and now I am sitting on the train but havinb a hard time keeping the old peepers open.

I was going to write about the French going after Scientology but I am just to tired for that. I will see you tomorrow.

Monday

It is Monday morning and I wasted a good part of my morning writing time trying to come up with a clever title for today. As you can see. I was unable to come up with one. I like to write and I am well aware that some days I do better then others. But it kills me sometimes to try to come up with a title each day. I tried initially to title each post related to riding on the train but I eventually gave up on that. I just had to hard of a time coming up with something new so I am now just throwing up the days of the week. I know it is pretty clever.

I had a nice weekend at the coast. It was basically just one night but it was nice to get away and the people I was with are super good people. I have known them all for years and I usually have a great time with them and this weekend was no different. I played some craps at the casino and basically broke exactly even. So that was fun as well. I would have liked to win some money but I am willing to break even that is better then losing.

I just realized that next Sunday is Daylight Savings Time. I believe that it is Fall Back. So we lose an hour. I have a question for people in that regard. What is the point anymore of Daylight Savings? I understood that we needed it to some degree in the days of old when it came to farmers and people wanting to get their work done during the daylight hours. But, what is the point now? We have electric light bulbs and we are able to work when it is dark. Stores are open later and it seems to me tat we do not need it. Why not just leave the time the way it is? Does anyone have an answer for me?

I wanted to thank those of you who answered my time travel question last week. I thought all of you answers were very interesting. It seems like a fair amount of the fiction I read involves time travel of some sort. I wonder why people find the idea so fascinating? I like the idea of people going back in time and bringing their modern ideas and equipment with them. To me that is more interesting then people coming forward in time and being unprepared for what the future has for them. I also like the idea of being able to go back in time and change what is happening in the future with a new idea or new political plans. Not that things are going to always be better but that things would change and I wonder if some of the newer political ideas would work or if things would be pretty much just the same.

In political news it seems that some people are concerned about something coming up in Stockholm and that President Obama may be giving away America. That at least is what Lord Brockton is saying. He appears to be popping up all over the internets. I have not done deep research into it but it seems like people are making a mountain out of a molehill to me. I just do not think that, as I have mentioned before, in a 4 to 8 year span President Obama is going to really be able to fundamentally change America. The latest whispers I have heard is that this is a first step to a one world government. I really hope people are mistaken but then my cynical side kicks in and I think well we already have a one world government it is one controlled by the corporations, I would like to be wrong about that as well. But I feel like that is closer to the truth then anything else is.

On that happy note I will leave you as we are going to be pulling into the station. So I ask you please, explain the point or need of Daylight Savings Time in modern day and your thoughts on what is going on in Stockholm. (One paragraph Van) :) I will talk you you later.

Friday

Well it is Friday and we have made it through the week. I am looking forward to the weekend. A good friend of mine is turning 40 and I will be joining him and his family at the coast. Which is what I did last week as well. This is going to be an interesting year in that most of my friends are turning 40 and I will be doing the same. I think I have heard that 40 is the new 30 so I should be fine. Maybe I will get myself a new tattoo or a convertible. I actually doubt I will do either of those things but you never know I guess.

I do not have much to comment on today. The car ride was a little but unfun with the rain and the other cars driving like it wasn't raining. The radio was not very interesting this morning either. There was some talk about the Portland Beavers and the Portland Timbers and the trouble with finding a stadium for the Beavers to move to and how Beaverton is split in terms of wanting it or not wanting it. I am excited about the idea of the Timbers becoming a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise but I could really care less about minor league baseball. I like sports and I like baseball but the Portland Beavers as a whole have never been very interesting to me.

While the idea of MLS coming to Portland excites me quite a bit. I know there are some mouth breathers out there who do not like soccer. So for them I say. Nuts to you and bite my tongue at them. I think the bottom line with soccer is either you get it or you do not. If you do not get it then there is no way to make someone get it. That being said all the cool kids love soccer!!

Thursday

Well first off I want to say thank you to the two readers who took the time to answer my question about going back in time. Both Joel and Travis highlighted some historical events that I did not even think of so that was pretty neat. I just wish more of you would have responded.

Well on my daily quest for radio diversity I heard some interesting things. On the liberal station they talked to one of the candidates for the upcoming Oregon Gubernatorial election a man whose name completely escapes me right now. Which does not bode well for him. In a state like Oregon with an ex-Governor running again as well as the founder of Soloflex and the former Secretary of State name recognition is going to be huge and the name of a former business man for Hewlett Packard with no previous government experience is not one that people know. I just heard his name no less then 10 minutes ago and I am totally drawing a blank. I can remember the other candidates names but I am going to opt to not name them for fairness sake.

On the conservative side of the dial they talked about the recent federal governments plan to not go after medical marijuana users. I thought that was fascinating for several reasons. Lets see, leaving aside the moral issues of the drug as well as the differing positions as to whether or not it should be legalised and taxes. I think it all comes down to states rights or Federalism. In Oregon voters have voted to legalize marijuana for medical use. That is our right as a state. Now my personal choices aside and in this case I am in favor of medical marijuana. The key for me is that the state decided not the federal government.

I realize that my position may not be consistent in that I am in favor of the federal government controlling some things. But, I feel that way primarily because the states control so little that any step toward letting a state decide is a good one. I understand that there are most likely bigger issues at stake then letting a state decide to allow the use of medical marijuana or not and it isn't that the federal government is saying that marijuana is legalized but it means that they are not going to be spending resources on pursuing sick and terminal people who just want a little bit of relief.

That is all I have this morning on a foggy Thursday. I hope everyone has a good day. I will talk to you tomorrow.

Wednesday

Good morning folks. I am sorry that I missed you yesterday. I ended up driving myself to work because I had to pick up papers from the elections office. I am sure you believe me when I say that I would have rather ridden the train. It is not that the drive was bad. It actually went very smoothly but I like being able to write for you folks and I am not able to do that and drive at the same time.

I mentioned before that I like to listen to basically three different radio stations as I drive to the train station. One is National Public Radio (NPR), the other is Portlands progressive station whose numbers I am unable to remember and the third is Portlands conservative station that play Lars Larson and Rush Limbaugh and the like. So I was attempting to do just that as I was driving but it was a rough trip. NPR was and is doing there fund raising drive. It isn't that I dislike the fund raising because I understand the need for it but it is the fact that it seems to go on and on. So I switched over to the liberal station but that seemed to be all commercials. The funny thing is that both of those stations seemed to be playing the same commercials. Which surprised me. I would think the marketing would lend itself to a different audience but I guess I was mistaken.

So I switched to the conservative station and they were talking about what they would like to be able to see or record if they could go back in time with a camera. I found that the most interesting. They talked about going back and seeing dinosaurs and seeing if it was really a comet that wiped them out. A caller mentioned being in the Oval Office and seeing how much advance notice we really had about Pearl Harbor. I found that an interesting idea. Some one mentioned spending a day with Jesus and his disciples or with DaVinci or perhaps Mozart as they were creating something. There was another caller who wanted to find out who had grounded the planes on 9/11 but the announcers rightfully brushed that person off because it would not have been beneficial to get derailed into that discussion.

But, what I found most interesting was the person who mentioned returning to the moon and taking some new pictures with a color camera in high definition. I thought wow that would be pretty neat to see those pictures as opposed to the grainy black and white footage that we have now. But all that being said I am hoping for some interaction from my readers. So here we go. I would like you to list the 5 times or places that you would like to go back to and either take part in or just watch as a fly on the wall. They can be in any order of preference but just try for 5 please. To get us started here are mine.

1. The signing of the Declaration of Independence.
2. The joining of the transcontinental railroad.
3. Hitler in his bunker at the end. ( Just to see if he was crazy or not)
4. Do anything with Ben Franklin
5. The first Super Bowl win for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Those are mine folks for better or for worse. Please tell me yours.

Monday, Monday

Good morning everyone, to this foggy Monday. At least it is foggy where I am in Wilsonville sitting on the train waiting for us to leave the station. I hope you all had a fine weekend and got some relaxation in.

I was down at the Oregon coast in a small town called Pacific City with some friend for a 40th birthday. The funny thing is I will also be down at the beach for the same thing this coming weekend. That should be fun. It will be a time of board games and relaxation so I am looking forward to it.

There was not much to listen to on the radio this morning. The Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) station that I listen to some mornings is in the middle of a fund drive so that was out though they did talk a little bit about Iran and the Uranium enrichment and a plan to send some of the Uranium to Russia and France for enrichment and then have it returned to be used in medical isotopes. I think that is an interesting idea. One that I hope Iran can agree to. But one never knows how these diplomatic things will pan out and the suicide bomber attack on the Iranian Royal Guard from a Pakistani really just complicates things right now.

I also listen to a conservative station in the morning but I did not manage to make it over there today. I did make it to the AM 620 station which bills itself as Portlands only progressive radio station. Which is funny to me because when I first heard that said I thought it was "aggressive" radio and really that is pretty true. Today they were discussing a new business venture in Seattle, Washington that sells deeds for different circles in Hell. These deeds people can buy as a gift and give them to others in a framed certificate. It is a funny idea and one that will probably make the creator of this plan a nice sum of money. But what struck me as odd was that the first thing the broadcaster did was wonder what circle Glenn Beck would be in. Now I am no fan of Glenn Beck, I have complained about him in the past and I know that broadcasters talk to their core audience and I am definitely not the core audience of either conservative radio or progressive radio. But, it just seemed a mean spirited attack to say that Glenn Beck would be on the crying circle of Hell. I am all for going after a man for his politics. But, I see no reason to mock anyone because they get emotional when they are discussing an issue that is important to them.

It may be that I take this a little closer to home because anyone who knows me, also, knows that I am a crier. But, I do not think that my getting emotional takes away from the validity or importance of something I am trying to say. Now I realize some of my readers may feel that Glenn Beck is just putting on a show and that may very well be true. But, if he is crying for a show I think it is hurting more then helping him.

That being said I do not like Glenn Beck and I think he is hurting the country overall with his antics. I have to be fair and note that he began his anti big government run during the Bush administration but he seems to have really hit his stride with the Tea Party and the 9-12 movement stuff. If you as me he is gearing himself up to run for some sort of office on a back to the Constitution platform. One of limited government and fiscal responsibility. I hope I am wrong but I also hope I am right so that I can tell people see Glenn Beck is just like all the rest of us. He is looking for himself and wanting to rise to power. So we shall see what happens but I feel like it is something that I want to keep an eye on.

Thursday

Hey folks. No blog today I drove myself into work. Have a meeting after work. I hope everyone is well and I can spill my wisdom all over your brains tomorrow!

Wednesday

Sorry about the lack of an update yesterday. I was feeling a little under the weather and I did not make it to work. I am feeling better today and I hope you all are well.

Lots of interesting goings on this week so far. This morning on the radio they talked about a move to tax soda-pop I believe a penny an ounce per serving. The reasoning they were using were the same as the reasons for the different tobacco taxes. Health reasons. Now I believe that I have had this conversation before when it comes to taxing tobacco. I do not smoke. Well, lets be clear I do not smoke cigarettes but I do have a pipe and I smoke that now and then usually a nice vanilla black Cavendish that smells oh so nice. But that isn't the point. The point is that I understand why there is a desire to tax tobacco and a large reason is the idea of second hand smoke and that a person who does not smoke can still get lung cancer. But soda-pop is different. I can go to a store and not have someone blow soda-pop into my face. I am not going to get cancer from drinking soda-pop and if my friend drinks it next to me I am not going to have to taste it against my desires.

I think we are all well aware that America has a obesity problem. But, where do we stop once we began to tax soda? Do we tax candy? Do we tax potato chips? Where do we separate the line from looking out and preventing known disease causing agents and from just controlling people so that they are unable to eat how they like? I realize that my questions are just opening up a can of worms. But I wonder is there an answer or should what one eats or drinks be a totally personal choice that other people should mind their own business about?

That being said I shall continue to sip my coffee that I am horribly addicted to and the government can have when they pry it from my cold dead fingers!!

From the Living Room...........

Hello folks! Well thanks to the WES and Trimet my train is not running due to maintenance I should say that my normal train at 7:49 is not running. Which leaves me to either catch the 7:19 or the later train which runs at 8:21 which would make me late to the office. Now we all know how important it is to me to get to work on time so that I can continue to make the world safe for Democracy!!

All that being said, it means that I am writting this in my living room because I am going to be driving myself up to the office today. I hope I am back on track tomorrow. haha Nice one Lance, back on track. I am so funny. I do not have much else to report. I hope you all had a good weekend and remember to take a deep breath now and then and walk away from the internet and the politics and the stresses about the future of America and the world as we know it. Just take a moment to live in the now and not worry about the future.

Gentlemans Folly

Hey everybody. I must confess that I have a bit of a plan in mind as I sat down to write on the train this morning. But, I realized that I do not write very well with a plan in mind. At least I do not think I do. There may be a few of you out there who feel like I never write very well and to those I say psshaw!! I shall do as I like. Good day to you sir! I said good day!

Back to the point. I tend to do everything from the seat of my pants. When I have had to give speeches I would often write down my speech and then promptly leave it in my pants pocket as I would then just talk about what ever popped into my head. I am not sure if that was the best way to give speeches but I always did well in class. It worked for me.

I heard on the radio this morning that President Obama received the Nobel price for Peace yesterday. I am not sure what to make of that. I think it is to soon in his administration to give such an award. Now, some of you that think the award in and of itself is silly are going to say it doesn't matter when he received it because recognition from an international agency is a waste of time. Others, are going to say that this is a great thing and that the USA is finally moving toward a time of unilateral diplomacy rather then might making right. All the politics of the issue aside I am thinking it is too soon for such an award. I mean lets wait and see for a year or two to even see if the policies that he has implemented are even effective.

I am not going to go deep into the pro Nuke/No Nuke argument but I am not even sure that a completley nuclear free world is the safest world possible. I may have to explore that thought later.

Foggy

Just a short note to let my 3 to 7 readers know that my head is feeling a little foggy this morning and I do not foresee any writing going on. I hope everyone has a good day.

A Czar To Far, One Czar To Many

I was listening to the radio this morning and they were talking about a Congressional hearing concerning the advisors or, "CZARs" if you are Glenn Beck, that President Obama has hired. It was an interesting listen. Both Bush Sr and Jr hired multiple czars and I imagine that many of the presidents before them did as well. So I am not sure if this is a new argument or just one that I am paying more attention to.

It seems like the biggest complaint from critics of the system is that these people are unelected. That they are chosen by the President and that there is no accountability. But I wonder if that is people getting to worked up over basically a non issue. I can understand being concerned with the appointment process of the Surpreme Court. They make laws that affect the entire country. Now while it is true that these Czars advise the President and in doing that they may have some effect in the policies of the country I just do not think it is the same thing.

I think it would be good for the President to have several advisors coming from different areas on an issue so that he could hear multiple sides of said issue. If a decsion is made that is made by the President. The Czar can not and does not make policy. In affect anything or anyone the President listens to on any given day on any given subject is an advisor or sorts. These Czars are in a position of having the Presidents ear. That is true. But they can't direct troops, they can't make laws, they can't enforce anything.

To be worked up about this when there are so many other issues going on right now makes no sense to me.

That is my two cents. I woke up late today. I was moving part of last night into a little house near where I was living before. It isn't ideal but nothing about this whole situation is ideal. Things may change in a few weeks or months but for now this is the best plan for both cost and piece of mind. I hope that living alone I can reach some sort of mental clarity and begin to figure out what is going on. I do not have high hopes of that but you never know stranger things have happened. But, for now I have a bed in the house and my TV and entertainment center and my XBOX and my laptop. That is it short of a few clothes. I feel like the house has some potential not that I am an interior decorator but once I get some furniture in that will make a difference.

That is it for today. I hope you are well. I leave you in the capable hands of the Snuggler

The Beans of Java

Good morning readers, I hope everyone had a nice weekend and you were all able to be either productive or relaxed or perhaps a bit of both. It looks to be another pretty day today. This time of year is one of my favorites. I love the cold and sometimes foggy mornings and the clear sunny days. I like being able to wear a pair of shorts and a jacket. I wish that the valley was like this all year. I do not mind the rain. But there is just something about this type of weather that I really like.

The brightness of the sun coming through the window makes it hard to see my screen this morning. It always makes me laugh when I see the ads on TV for laptops or internet service and someone is outside in a park just computing away. I realize things might work differently for other people but I can hardly see me screen outdoors let alone type on it. I have been interested lately in buying one of those mini laptops. They look like the perfect thing for blogging on the train. They are light and easily portable. We will see what happens. I need to type on one for awhile and see if I am actually able to do that since I have such big hands.

More geese flying along the tracks this morning. What an amazing site that always is to me. The way that they fly in formation and sail along looking so effortless. It is always fascinating to me as well when I watch them from inside the train or a car or the house how silent they look. I intellectually know that there is noise going on and that they are honking and their wings are flapping but when seen from the inside of the train car they appear to be sailing silently through the air, Almost magnificent creatures, using the wind to soar on.

Some of the leaves have started to turn color and I am enjoying watching the change of season as well. I am looking forward to some snow I just hope I can get to Wilsonville when that happens. Several bikes on the train this morning it is going to be interesting to see how long they are going to ride for. If they are riding when the weather gets rainy the train car will turn to a sauna with the steam from the wet clothes. That should be some fun riding.

Sorry for nothing exciting to report today. I did not hear anything that really got me going this morning. I will chat with you tommorow I am sure.

Driving

I am driving today so no blog post. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Cosmopolis

Today on the way to the train I was listening to NPR and they talked to a women who had worked in a lumber mill in the Washington coastal town of Cosmopolis. I found the name of the town fascinating. I have no idea how it was named or even how the town was founded. I did a quick Google search and found the Wikipedia entry that I linked but other then that I did not not find anything. I fully intend to do a deeper search later.

I also heard today that President Obama was in Copenhagen to find out if Chicago was going to get the 2016 Olympics and my first thought was..........big deal. *shrug* When I was a kid I remember being very excited about the 1984 Olympics in L A. But since then I have not really cared. I am not sure if that is a sign of me growing older or of the world changing and the impact of the Olympics meaning less and less. I know a lot of my earlier interest in the Olympics and sports in general is due to my mother. Often my friends would and still do tease me about my knowledge of figure skating as well as professional bowling and tennis. In fact I think I know or knew anyway more about figure skating then most hetrosexual males have any right to. :) In my parents house growing up if there was a figure skating event on the television my mother and I watched it. Since I moved out on my own I have not watched figure skating. I do not think I miss it but thinking about it does bring up some fond memories of my youth.

As per usual my section of the train car seems to be empty this morning. I do not know why. Perhaps it is the growling sounds I make as I type this and when I write a sentance that I like I let out with a "WOOP! WOOP!" people do not seem to apriecate that. Well it is their loss if they do not understand my genius. I realize few do. But one day like Nesse rising to the top of the Loch my genius will surface and the world will tremble in fear!!! "WOOT! WOOT!"

Why are people staring at me? Oh! There I go again spraying my genius around the train car.

WOW! The train is going through some fog and there are some geese flying along next to us through the trees. That is pretty cool. It was a nice image to see on a Friday morning. I actually dug the winter hat out today and plopped it on the head. I am also wearing a jacket thing so it must be a little bit chilly today.

Well I hope everyone has a good weekend and I will see you all on Monday.