4-22-2010 (Thursday)

Well, well, well, as soon as a new idea comes out the Hipster sympathizers rise up and question the new regime. Now while I applaud Joel and his idea to shoot them into the sun, he must understand that such a thing would just not be cost effective. But I am always looking for new ideas so please keep them coming. There may be a place for you in the new Theocracy as a Minister of New Ideas.

Now on to Shakes and her concern about the camps and the fear that this will lead to a couple of potential different results. Shakes writes

"I first thought of the British moving the criminals to Australia, but you have jumped past that into a regimented camp. How long will it be until you see an untapped, unlimited work source? Sure you say they will be fed, but what happens when you realize how much you could save if you reduced their food intake?"

I understand your concern Shakes, but trust me. The average Hipster is so lazy that they are sure to be useless for actual labor. Now I grant you, it may be possible to find a way to generate some sort of energy using their ability to generate anger in others. Perhaps we shall find a way to hook their brains up to a machine and they can do their fair share to power the grid matrix style. I know already that a side benefit of my new "Hugs instead of dollars" campaign will be the generating of small amounts of energy. Perhaps this would be the time to talk about the new uniforms. Everyone who is not a Hipster will be outfitted with a form fitting jumpsuit made out of Angora Wool. Along with the jumpsuit will come a small battery pack that fits on your belt. The prescribed method of hugging will be to shake hands with the right hand and put the left hand and arm around the other person them pulling them close you make three up and down rubbing motions with the left hand on their back. This action done as required per each hug will generate (an estimated) .005 kilowatts per stroke and will serve to power the grid by wireless. So thank you for your thoughts Shakes and please keep them coming. You will be monitored by the Minister of Monitoring.

As to S. and his little poem as it were. You must already be aware S. that I have a place for you in the new Theocracy as the Minister of Coffees. Within that role you will be in charge of all things caffeinated. You should not fear my friend. As long as the Coffee flows the Theocracy will continue. But know this the Minister of Monitoring will be keeping an eye and you and your cleverness.

In fact all those who are clever are going to need to wear a big C on their chests. I will not have the Clever roam about and spread "ideas". There is enough of that going on right now.

Now please stay tuned as later on (Tomorrow or perhaps next week) I will lay out my 10 point plan for the new Theocracy and the Hugonomy that will bring us into a new GOLDEN AGE!!

4-21-2010 (Wednesday)

It appears that there may be some initial resistance to my plan to replace the world's economy with Hugs. I heard from one Commentator Joel who absolutely refused to Hug a Hipster. Now I can respect that position because after all who would really want to Hug a Hipster. But I am unable to allow for any potential destabilizing of my chosen method of payment. The economy must stay strong and the power and value of the Hug must be inviolate. So therefor I decree that from the day of the beginning of my Theocracy all Hipsters will be done away with. Their presence and the fact that most people are not willing to or want to Hug them will do irreversible damage to my economic system.

We will just relocate them to a Hipster enclave. I am thinking Portland or Seattle because the mild weather will make it easier on them and they seem to thrive in the damp weather. Almost like mold really. But never fear. In the enclave the Hipster will be fed and allowed out daily to exercise. They will be allowed to listen to the latest albums from the hottest indy bands that haven't even been signed yet and in some cases do not even have an album to listen to. They will be allowed a long debate time each day as well as two hours each day to correct errors on the Internet about their favorite bands and films. But I will not allow the drinking of Pabst Blue Ribbon. It is not needed and will only serve to prolong the scourge of Hipster-ism upon the land.

Trust me in this. We will not be truly free until Hipsters are done away with. I tell you upon that glorious day. The sun will shine and the birds shall sing. All will be right with the earth. Now join me in a group Hug as we concentrate upon the gradual removal of the Hipster. My will be done.

4-20-2010 (Tuesday)

Good morning folks. I hope today finds you well. I added a new gadget or widget to my blog if you look up to the right of it you will see a spinning globe. I believe that the globe will show where people visit from. I hope it keeps a running tally because of all of the information that I can track. What I find really the most interesting to me is where people are reading from. I think that is the best thing by far about the Internet. I love that people from all over the world can find something to read and discuss. I do not have a lot of readers that is for sure. I think there are probably 4 or 5 of you that read me everyday and I am thankful for that.

Most of the time if I have a good day with readers it will be 20 or so. One day when I blogged about not having a very good time at the roller derby and complaining about the rules I believe that I hit 75 for the day which is incredible for me. But what is most interesting to me is that even though I do not have a large amount of readers I have had readers come from all over the world and that just blows my mind. I just wish people would take a moment to say hello and tell me how they found me. But other then that it is just pretty cool for me to think that someone from Europe who doesn't know me from Adam is reading my thoughts. Who knows perhaps one day my thought cause a revolution of thought that will one day bring down society as we know it.

When that day comes and all that we know will have been torn down and buried beneath the rubble of the past. Then and only then will L. Andrew C. rise above and take my rightful place as Emperor and those of you who are reading me now will all be afforded new positions in the Theocracy that will soon follow. I will need ministers to administer my demands for the people. There will be no hunger!!! There will be no poor!! Because when I do away with the world monetary system and install payment by Hugs we will all be the richer for it. You want to buy a car? Well that is easy 20K Hugs for you. The happiness that Hugs will bring us will make the world a better place.

In fact on the day that I assume my rightful place as ruler I will decree "FREE HUGS FOR ALL"!! So as this thought revolution builds you must ask yourselves. What would you rather have made up paper money or a monetary system based on the value and volume of pure Hugs? I know what I would rather have.


Now, who wants a Hug?

4-19-2010 (Monday)

My friends and I went to the Portland Timbers game this weekend. It was opening game for this season as well as the last opening day for the Timbers in this league. Because next season is their first season in Major League Soccer (MLS). It was a great opening day. My buddy Nick and I have season tickets and they are in the third row right on the 48 yard line. So it was a fun evening overall.

But what I wanted to address in today's post was the fans at the game. The Timbers have a pretty rabid fan base. The game was sold out with a little over 15K people now when the team starts MLS next season the stadium will have been renovated and should be holding closer to 30K I believe. I just hope that we can continue to fill it. I think that Portland as a city and the parts of Oregon that surround it can pull in those kind of numbers. I know there are some non-believers out there and that is fine. But to them I say we will not know until we try. So I think it is a good move on the part of the Timbers ownership as well as the Portland city council to go for this chance.

But the best part of the day for me was seeing my friend's Travis and Andrew and Nick and then playing "Hipster Slug" (Copyrighted) "I own that so none you trolls better steal it. If you do at least send the traffic my way please." So anyway I am sure most of you are familiar with slug bug. Well this is a variant of that. Now I realize that most large city's have a fair share of their own hipsters but I think Portland seems to attract a special sub-set of hipsters.



So I thought lets play that and promptly punched Nick when I saw one. Well that was fun but honestly after a very little bit. Between the punching of Nick and him punching me back and Travis having a good eye for hipsters and lets be honest in certain parts of Portland you can't throw a can of PBR without hitting a hipster and they seem particularly drawn to the Timbers games. Well my arm was getting sore and there never seemed to be an end to them. They just kept coming and coming. They were always there around every corner with their tattoos and their black rimmed glasses and their smoking. It was like a zombie movie except the zombies had been replaced by hipsters.

As the Timbers season progress's I will be giving you more updates about the season and I think I will begin tagging hipsters Marlin Perkins style. I think it will benefit all of us to keep track of their movements around Portland. At the very least it may benefit the numerous coffee roasters in the area.

4-15-2010 (Thursday)

Well we have made it to Thursday. I suppose that is a good thing. It is also Tax day today. I suppose I should be working on those this evening.

Other then that I do not really have anything for today. I hope you people have a good day in whatever direction that takes you and try to take a moment to just enjoy the present and focus on that with out getting to concerned about what has happened in the past or what you think will happen in the future.

Ahhh. Happy moments from Lance. I am your new guru! Just take a sip of this Kool-aid and follow me.

4-14-2010 (Wednesday)

I just realized that I posted yesterday as a Wednesday and I think actually Wednesday is today and yesterday was Tuesday I hope I didn't mess up anyone's day. :)

I heard on the radio this morning an interesting piece about ranchers in eastern Oregon and the problem they are having with rustlers. Yes you heard that right it is 2010 and we are dealing with rustlers in eastern Oregon. What I found most interesting about the story was that while Oregon has a law about brands on cattle and they use that to track ownership and make it impossible for people to sell the stolen cattle in Oregon. But since some other states do not have the same laws it is possible for the thieves to take the cattle to other states and sell them there.

So the sheriff of the county down there has been talking about micro-chipping the cattle to be able to stop the theft. They are all ready micro-shipping house pets and to do the same with cattle would be an incredible hassle. But I just found it fascinating that they were talking about using new technology to stop an ages old problem. Though as the sheriff said "ranchers are stubborn people". It was a very good piece.

4-13-2010 (Wedensday)

Tuesday morning and one step closer to tax day. Which reminds me that I need to sit down and get to work on that. I am wondering if any of you out there turned in your census forms or form I should say. I mailed mine in. It was kind of interesting I was a little surprised at how simple it was. Now granted I do not really remember any of the other Census that I have been a part of. So I am not sure if that is really a good or bad thing.

But to me it seemed really not all that invasive. Name, address and what my ethnicity was and how many people were living in my place of residence. I feel like I answer a form or that question all of the time when I am cruising around online. So because I do not find it a big deal it has been a little surprising to me that there has been some resistance to the process. Now, I could totally understand being resistant if this was some brand new and never been done before thing. Something that had been put in to place for strictly political and partisan reasons. But, this is not the case.

I mean it is right there in the Constitution in article 1, section 2. So we have been counting every 10 years since 1790. This isn't a new thing. So get with it people!! Fill it out and send it in. Do not let perceived partisan politics get in the way of this. In this case that is not the issue here at all. We could have a Whig or a Torry in office and we would still be having a census.

4-12-2010 (Monday)

Monday, Monday!! How is it going folks? I feel like today is starting out to be a pretty good one.

I smiled as I drove up the freeway this morning listening to the book radio. The only thing that cause me to frown was when I begin to speed up to pass a car in the middle lane I noticed a white Volvo coming up behind me. I was not going fast enough for him it seemed. Now I was going at that point about 70 MPH which is five miles over the speed limit in Oregon. When I noticed the Volvo he was so close that I could not see his headlights at all but I could see the driver gesturing at me. Well........I did not find it very amusing and so I made eye contact with him in the mirror and then lifted my foot off of the accelerator.......

You are just going to have to wait to here the rest of my tale.

4-9-2010 (Friday)

It is Friday, Friday, Friday! I hope things are going well for everyone out there in the internet land. I am looking forward to the weekend. It isn't that I have anything planned but I am looking forward to not having anything really to do. I am sure that I will find something to do but I doubt it will be anything all that productive. Though you never know. Perhaps I may get inspired.

It is funny to me that since I bought the new car. I have not been listening to that much NPR or really anything that is new radio in the car. It came with free satellite radio for three months. I thought well that is kind of cool but I do not really care. It was not a selling point for me. It was just something that came with the car. But the problem is that I stumbled across a station that is exclusively directed towards books. Not only do they talk about books and interview authors they also do readings and stage presentations of radio serials.

What I have been listening to in the mornings is a half hour show that does only books by Orson Scott Card. Now some of my readers will have read his books and I am sure that others will never have heard of him. I hate to cut this short but that is all I have time for today. I am hoping to address this later this weekend. So have a nice day.

4-8-2010 (Thursday)

I am a little groggy this morning. No. I did not stay up to late last night. But my neighbors kept me up to late. If it wasn't the thump of, what I think is, techno. Then it was girls outside talking. I do not mind people having a party and staying up late. Or even music being played loudly but at 12:30 or later on a Wednesday night? Come on people!!

So far Kent has gone over there once at 1 am and they turned their music down. I have gone over there once at about 11:30 and they turned their music down. But I wonder how often I need to do that before they figure it out. Or, should I just take it to the next level and call the police and let them deal with it. If I was living in a house in a normal neighborhood then I might have already done the second option. But since I am living in basically a duplex that makes upsetting the neighbors a little more problematic.

Sorry for the break there. I was filling my coffee cup and looking at the ducks outside the office window. It is nice outside this morning and the ducks are starting to look at each other with amorous intent. I am looking forward to the appearance of ducklings in a few weeks. But, what I am not looking forward to is the appearance of the Herons which I have been told fly in to eat the ducklings. Ahhh, the circle of life! It is things like that which make me glad I am on top of the food chain. It would be an interesting world if there were creatures who stalked us and used us for food. Think about that for awhile and let it blow your mind. There would be stores for them and they would by human fingers and eat roasted human. I imagine ours would be a tender meat. I think in my case I would be nicely marbled and filled with flavor. But I know a few people who would certainly be lean and too tough.

Hmmm, maybe we should consider this idea for ourselves. I mean overpopulation is fast becoming a problem why not fatten us up for harvesting? Wait a minute. What is McDonalds and the other fast food chains doing? Is that what is going on? Is this all part of President Obamas grand Socialist agenda? To fatten us up for the harvest? Is that what this is? He isn't a president he is a farm manager!! He is fattening up the American people to be harvested but harvested by who?

Rest assured my readers I will get to the bottom of this. We will find out who it is that we are being prepared to be eaten by.

4-7-2010 (Wednesday)

Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday folks. My head was not in it. I had to go to a memorial service yesterday for a student I knew at Western Oregon. He was 25 and a very talented artist in multiple mediums. I knew his cousin and through his cousin I met him. He donated several pieces of his art to a fund raiser that my MUN club did at school and I was always amazed at the quality of work he put out as well as the sheer volume of it. He seemed to always have new stuff out.

So needless to say. It was kind of a rough day yesterday. There was a lot of people at the service ranging from members of Mark's family to other past and present students at WOU as well as several members of the faculty. It was a nice service and it was obvious that people really loved Mark and will miss him.

I do not have anything witty or poignant to say about all of this. I am still kind of processing what it means when someone dies and the different ways that people use to cope with it. There really wasn't a message to the service yesterday. It was mainly people remembering the good things about Mark and good memories. I just hope his family and his really close friends are able to keep remembering those things and can continue to value those memories as they move forward. I hurt for his sister as she talked about being alone now and not having Mark any more for the rest of her life.

I am going to stop there otherwise I will just continue to ramble on. I will talk to you tomorrow. I hope it will be a little more coherent.

4-5-2010 (Monday)

No real post today folks. I am running a little bit behind schedule and that is all. I hope to be back on track tomorrow.

4-2-2010 (Friday)

It is Friday and I got nothing. There is a storm coming in from the Oregon coast and the wind is blowing hard, the rain is coming down and there appears to be an old lady riding a bicycle past my window. So hang in there folks and I will see you on Monday. Have a good weekend.

4-1-2010 (Thursday)

Well, well, well. It is April 1st, 2010 also known as April Fools day. I am not sure when this whole day began there are references as far back as Chaucer in his "Canterbury Tales" but it is hard to say. As it is now it seems like most of the world takes part in this one form or another. The internet has made it even easier to take part and to fool lots of people. Some of these are clever and some not so clever. But, I think you could make that same case for most of the internet.

I found a site that claims to have the Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time. It looks like a pretty interesting at least the top 10 does anyway. I am not planning on any shenanigans on my part. I do enjoy finding them but I do not think I am clever enough to pull them off. One of my friends already posted a link on Facebook to an article saying that McDonald's was stopping their leftover food composting plan because none of their food will compost. I thought that was pretty funny. So I am looking forward to finding and seeing more of these hoaxes as the day goes on. I hope you people have a fun day as well.

3-31-2010 (Wednesday)

I have dubbed today as Free Writing Wednesday. I am going to write for as long as possible and only going to be writing what pops into my head. I am not sure if this makes it any different then any other day except that I have given it a name.

And begin....I am not sure what to write about. I am really only thinking that know I need to write whatever pops into my head and so that is what is circling around in there. I hope I do not bore my usual readers with this exercise but I need to work on just writing down the thoughts as they pop into my head. I had dinner with my mother and father last night and that was pretty interesting. My mom had been going through some old cards and some stuff in the garage and she found a card from my Dad's mother. Who has died now. She found a card that Grandma had sent them when I was born. What was funny was when she opened it she found a $5 bill from 1963 inside of the card. They must have just put it back in and tucked it away. What I find even more interesting is that the card stayed with my parents after I was born until 2010. I was born in 1969 and soon after I was born I believe I was 2 my parents decided to become missionary school teachers and they were sent to Indonesia or more specifically, as I understand it, Papua, New Guinea. We lived there for about 2 years and then returned to the states. We also had lived in Pendleton, Oregon for awhile.

So it kind of blows my mind that my mother was able to keep this card for so long. I am not one for saving money but I think I may tuck this $5 bill away for awhile since it is the oldest money I own. That is all for today. I also want to add a quick thank you to Steve for his information about coffee machines on yesterdays post. Please check it out in the comments it is pretty interesting. Thanks Steve.

3-30-2010 (Tuesday)

Tuesday morning and we are back at it. It looks like the rain has slowed down a little today and my drive to work was a little more relaxed. I heard some very interesting stories on the radio this morning.

The first was about a new coffee maker or coffee making machine being built in Seattle called Slayer and according to the report and what looks like info on their website it sells for a cool 18K. Yes you read that right. It cost $18 thousand. I really have no idea why it costs so much. I know of one person in my circle of friends who I think may have tried it. The only reason I think that is because he loves coffee and has tried lots of different kinds. So, I will see if I can prevail on him to join us in the comment section and let us know what or if the machine is worth the money.

The second thing that I heard was about cigarettes and Menthol. It seems that at some point either during the Obama administration or during the end of the Bush administration I do not recall the date. The federal government banned clove cigarettes. Now I know that some of my readers were alive when those were popular in the Salem area at least and I know of one or maybe two of you that actively smoked them. I remember that the kids that smoked cloves were always a little different then the rest of us. A little bit cooler and interested in different books and music then the rest of the herd. Well the ban on cloves came and went with out much of a stir. But, the attempted ban on Menthol cigarettes has not been so easy. One reason being that the market share of menthols is far greater then that of cloves. I do not smoke cigarettes any more and even when I did I would say I was not at all a regular smoker. I smoked an English brand called Export A. Well I was mistaken. It seems that the Export brand is actually made by a Japanese company and sold in Canada. Wow, who knew? But, I did smoke those for a little while but now I just smoke my pipe and even that I do not do very often. But, I love a good cup of coffee and a bowl of Vanilla Cavendish along with a book. But, I have not been able to partake of that lately. I may have to remedy that this evening I think.

That is all I really have today. I just found those stories interesting and I hope you did as well and maybe it will make you look up more information on them yourselves. I also am interested in seeing what type of advertising this blog post causes. I know my one about car insurance and health insurance caused car ads. I am wondering if this will cause coffee ads or perhaps some form of tobacco ad. We shall see.

Quote of the Day

"But my question is: do I have to decide between two of my least favorite residents of planet Earth? I mean, Glenn Beck is a posturing, money grubbing, anti science emotionalist and serial exaggerater. James Cameron has substituted special effects for real emotion and true thoughtfulness in a series of Hollywood blockbusters while proving to be a very poor husband to at least two women, one of whom whipped his butt at the Oscars and took home the Best Picture award that he craved but did not deserve for Avatar."

--Chris W.-- (Blog commenter)

3-29-2010 (Monday)

Happy Monday to my loyal readers. It is a wet one out there today. But the drive went pretty smoothly and I am starting to feel even more comfortable driving the new car. It really seems to handle the wet roads well and I only hit one possible hydro-plane spot which is a record. Because in the old car I was always feeling like I was on the verge of spinning out of control. To the extent that drives in the rain like this morning were almost white knuckle experiences and made we want to pull over and just wait it out.

Today on the way up to work they played a clip on the radio from a protest that took place in Nevada this weekend. It was a "Tea Party" protest directed at Harry Reid and put together by The Tea Party Express. It was an interesting piece because while it was on National Public Radio (NPR) it really seemed to be just about letting the people who were attending the event tell why they were there. Now for me. Even if I do not agree with what the people are saying. I think that far to often when it comes to news be it on television or the radio. That far to often we hear the opinion of the broadcaster or commentator rather then the reasons why the people are there from the people themselves. I find hearing from the people to be both far more interesting and more enlightening because you get a better idea as to what the common man is thinking.

I realize we are in a representative democracy and since we are it sometimes doesn't seem to matter what the common man is thinking. But, it sure feels like at any given time at least 50% of the country or a little bit more feels like they are not being heard. It is interesting to me because I remember during the last couple of years of the Bush administration, or even longer for me, I knew lots of people that felt like they were not being listened to. What has me a little bit bothered about this whole Tea Party movement is that it just feels so organized and any kind of dissatisfaction before was not so organized.

Now, that may just say more about the conservative versus the liberals and which group is better at really getting together and organizing a movement. There is also a more centralizing voice I feel for the conservatives in terms of both Fox News as well as talk radio. Now some would argue that the whole of mainstream media is a liberal strength. I would say that, while it may be true there is not a centralized voice for the liberals. They tried that with the whole Air America thing and it failed. I am not sure what that says about liberals but you would think that they could have supported a radio station that catered solely to their political positions. I realize that there are more complicated issues as well here and some are going to argue that MSNBC meets the need for liberal news. But, I think people are so varied in there positions that to try to direct a group of liberals is really a little bit like herding cats.

That is my two cents. Take it for what it is worth. I am also starting to get interested in what court cases are going to be popping up as this whole health care thing begins to build. I know that there are already several states that have filed suit or will file suits against the mandatory nature of the bill. I am awaiting with interest the end result of these suits and I think that they may do more for states rights then anything else in the last 100 years. So I hope things will grow more interesting as we move further into the future.

3-25-2010 (Thursday)

I really do not have much today. I listened to NPR on the drive up this morning and I didn't hear anything that really got me fired up. I am sure, much like, that bumper sticker I saw a few years ago. "If you are not outraged. Then, you are not paying attention." I should probably be all fired up and foaming at the mouth about something.

But, I am feeling pretty mellow today. Maybe all of my effort to be zen like is starting to pay off. I am sure that will fade the next time I hear about a new Oliver Stone movie or some other stupid thing that Hollywood has done. But as of right now at this moment. I am feeling pretty mellow about stuff.

So have a good day folks and lets do all we can to maintain our calm.

3-24-2010 (Wednesday)

Here we are Wednesday morning. The world still seems to be moving along. Did you know that we are actually never at rest that the world is always moving through space but we just do not feel it.

One of my favorite books floats the idea that the earth is on the back of four elephants that walk in a circle on the back of a giant sea turtle that swims through space. Also the world is flat like a disc. It is one of my favorite series of books. They are called "Discworld" and I have been reading them for a long time. So if you looking for some fantasy and some good humor along with sometimes a nice dose of satire or political commentary they are the books for you. I have enjoyed every one that I have read in one form or another. I also can say that I have never been disappointed by any of them. They are all written by Terry Pratchett

So what about you my loyal readers. Do you have any books or books series that you love? I would love to hear about them. Now there are some of my readers that I think I know what books and Authors they love. But, do not let that stop you. I want you to link them in the comments and I hope other readers can learn about some new books.

3-23-2010 (Tuesday)

Well we have survived another day and now the fallout will begin from the health care issue. President Obama is supposed to sign it into law today. I am already wondering what the next big point of contention is going to be. The only thing that I do know for sure is that there is going to be one. But that being said a friend sent this yesterday and it made me laugh. I realize not all of you may find this amusing but such is the nature of humor. I realize it is making some pretty broad statements but I nonetheless found it amusing to me.

3-22-2010 (Monday)

man·date
   /ˈmændeɪt/ Show Spelled [man-deyt] Show IPA noun, verb,-dat·ed, -dat·ing.
–noun
1.
a command or authorization to act in a particular way on a public issue given by the electorate to its representative: The president had a clear mandate to end the war.
2.
a command from a superior court or official to a lower one.
3.
an authoritative order or command: a royal mandate.
4.
(in the League of Nations) a commission given to a nation to administer the government and affairs of a former Turkish territory or German colony.
5.
a mandated territory or colony.
6.
Roman Catholic Church. an order issued by the pope, esp. one commanding the preferment of a certain person to a benefice.
7.
Roman and Civil Law. a contract by which one engages gratuitously to perform services for another.
8.
(in modern civil law) any contract by which a person undertakes to perform services for another.
9.
Roman Law. an order or decree by the emperor, esp. to governors of provinces.

"Mandate." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 22 Mar. 2010. .

There was a rather large event this weekend. One that generated a lot of heat on both sides of the political aisle. That issue was the reformation of health care. Now I am waiting to see what this all means in the long term. It seems that for the majority of those against it this heralds the beginning of "Socialism" in America and the end of our great nation. Those who are in favor of this seem to feel that this is evidence that "change" can happen and that America will finally have the health care system that they should.

I am not here to debate either of those points. Though if my readers want to, please feel free to do so in the comments section. What I would like to talk about is the word "Mandate". As I listened to and read and watched things pertaining to the Health Care debate of the last year. It seemed that one of the biggest objections for those opposed to it was that health insurance would be mandated. Now I live in Oregon and in Oregon car insurance is mandated.

"Oregon's mandatory insurance law ORS 806.010 requires every driver to insure their vehicle. The minimum liability insurance a driver must have is:

Type Amount
Bodily injury and property damage liability

$25,000 per person;
$50,000 per crash for bodily injury to others; and
$20,000 per crash for damage to the property of others

State law also requires every motor vehicle liability policy to provide:

Type Amount
Personal Injury Protection (for reasonable and necessary medical, dental and other expenses one year after a crash)

$15,000 per person
Uninsured Motorist Coverage

$25,000 per person;
$50,000 per crash for bodily injury

You must certify that you have this insurance each time you register a motor vehicle, or when you buy a light vehicle trip permit. You must also certify that you will comply with Oregon's motor vehicle insurance requirements as long as a vehicle is registered in your name, or for the duration of the permit.

Some motor vehicles are exempt from financial responsibility requirements. Those exemptions can be found in ORS 806.020."

Also in Oregon if you drive a motorcycle you must wear a helmet another mandatory law. Now one of the core ways that both of these laws were put into practice was the idea that uninsured motorists and helmetless drivers raise the cost for the rest of us if we mandate these things then the cost will eventually be kept lower. Now I was not around for the debate on those and I am not sure if that has been the case or not. But I wonder if the fight for mandating car insurance was a heated as the fight has been for health care. Now I know that in the case of car insurance the federal government has left it up to each state to decide the laws on car insurance. I believe that car insurance is mandated in each state. So I wonder what makes health insurance different then car insurance in this case. Is it strictly because cars are a machine and there isn't the emotional connect?

I know several states are already moving to file cases against a federal mandate for health insurance. I do not have a problem with that. I think states should have the ability to make their own laws. If New York wants to ban the use of table salt and they vote it through okay. That is how it works. Sometimes things will get voted on that we do not like but ideally then they can be revisited and changed. I did not mean to get sidetracked on that.

My main question is this one. What is the difference between mandating car insurance vs mandating health insurance? Are both equally bad? Would it be okay if each state was doing it on it's own? Is the problem that the Fed has mandated it and that goes against the Constitution? I really want to know what is the difference?

3-19-2010 (Friday)

It is Friday and it looks like it is going to be another pretty day in Oregon. When spring begins to hit here and we get some of these sunny days it is really a nice place to be. Now when the gloom of January and February are in full effect it can be a different story but it is amazing how easily one forgets that when it is so nice out side.

I got nothing for today. I believe that there is a big health care vote this weekend so we will see how that pans out and I may address that on Monday. I know I have readers on both sides of that issue. So lets look forward to that and I hope you all have a nice weekend.

3-18-2010 (Thursday)

Well it is Thursday morning and I hope people survived yesterday's festivities. I did not celebrate at all. I went home from work and took care of the ferrets and then watched a new show starring Timothy Olyphant called 'Justified'. To put it as simply as possible after seeing 'Deadwood' I am willing to give almost anything a chance that has him in it. The show did not disappoint at all for me.

The action was well done and the humor was nice and did not seem forced. The drama was not to much of a drag on it. I also felt that the supporting cast was well chosen. It is going to be interesting to see how they develop the characters as the season moves along. There must have been lots of people interested in seeing it as well as it was the FX networks second highest premiere ever. Only 'The Shield' scoring higher. Now I realize that having a lot of people watching something does not make it good. But I really did enjoy it.

Though I do have one complaint. The show is taken from some Elmore Leonard novels and that is who the main character is. In fact some of the dialogue is taken straight out of one of the stories. But there was one sequence that, for me, reminded me a little to much of 'Get Shorty'. It reminded me of it because it is almost the exact same scene! The biggest difference being that Timothy Olyphant is a far better actor then John Travolta ever was. I also think the fault may lie more with Elmore Leonard then with the director of the show. Also I tend to notice stuff like that.

So if you have FX and you get a chance to catch on a rerun I urge you to give it a try. If you like crime dramas you will surely enjoy this one.

3-17-2010 (Wednesday) St. Patrick's Day

Today is St Patrick's Day. A day some would argue is the biggest amateur drinking day of the year. Now some of you make be wondering who is St Patrick and why do we celebrate him.

Well...I do not know either and I am to lazy to look it up. I know there is something about the shamrock being a tool to explain the trinity to early non Christians and that the "wearing of the green" went from wearing a shamrock to wearing green so that some little hooligan on the schoolyard or in the office doesn't pinch you. I also am aware that for some Protestants this is a day where they put on orange instead of green. So if I wanted to follow that thread I could move into a rabbit hole about the "Troubles" in Ireland between the Catholics and the Protestants but having attempted to write one term paper on the subject and then picking a different topic I have no desire to do so again.

The history of St Patrick's Day aside it now appears to be mainly a day in America where people wear green and get really, really, drunk. Often there is a parade of some sort in the bigger eastern cities and I think in Chicago and Boston they may color the rivers green.

I do not think I will be going out this evening. Tomorrow is a work day and I do not like to work hungover. But I hope those of you who do have a good evening and a safe time. I will see you tomorrow.

3-16-2010 (Tuesday)

Well I have heard the stories but I never believed it was true. I just didn't see how someone could do it. It seemed to dangerous and almost foolhardy. I mean sure I have done some dangerous things over the years. There are people who will even tell you that I have done some foolish things. But, that isn't really the issue here.

Today as I was driving into Beaverton to go to work. I noticed a woman in front of me in a BMW. She was driving...I will use the word erratically and I thought what is going on. Then as I got closer to her. I realized that she was literally putting on makeup using her rear view mirror to do so. I have seen people on the freeway do this. But I have never seen anyone going through town in traffic doing it. Then to top it all off. She goes through a red light! I am glad I was paying attention or I might have followed her right through it.

In other news...I had coffee with my good friend Jennifer last night. I have known Jennifer since just after high school kind of. She was in the high school group at the church I attended when I was a senior but I didn't really interact with her until after high school and some time beyond that. But since then and over the years we have become pretty good friends. She is married now and has three kids and we still stay in contact when we can. But what I find interesting about spending time with her is that she has the ability to cut through whatever wall I am putting up emotionally. There have been times where I opted to not talk to her for very long on a particular day because I knew she would make me cry.

I love talking to her. But she has always affected me this way. It isn't that she is mean. Because she is probably one of the nicest people that I know. I have no idea what it is. She just cuts straight through all of my defenses and what seems like a really innocent question just kicks open the flood gates. So, that being sad it was just a good conversation and a good experience. I would recommend talking to her or having coffee at the Ike Box to anyone. It is a very nice place comfortable inside and the coffee is tasty.

That is all for today folks. I hope you all have a good day. I will see you tomorrow.

3-15-2010 (Monday)

I had a very good weekend. I went up to Seattle on Saturday to the Emerald City Comicon and it was great fun. My friend Travis and I drove up in my new car and that was a nice road trip. It was a short one the drive takes for me four hours and from Portland three hours so it is not a long drive but it is a nice way to put some highway miles on the new car.

There was a lot of people there. I really have no idea how many but we got there at ten o'clock and the place was already packed. I think the most interesting aspect for me was the different celebrities from the comic book world as well as the film and television world that were there. The biggest name as far as the comicon was concerned was Stan Lee but also Leonard Nimoy was there along with Lou Ferrigno as well as Erin Gray from "Buck Rogers' and a few others. But what had me the most excited was that several of the creators of my favorite webcomics were going to be there. It really seemed like almost all of the big names were going to be there.

Now, I realize that a comicon is a busy time and it is hard for these guys to have to deal with so many drooling fan boys. I also realize that the fan boys seem to come in two separate camps. There is the "Oh My God!! I love your work and it is the best thing ever it changed my life camp." followed closely by the "Worst Comic Ever!" *sniff* crowd. I tend to be a little bit in the middle of both camps. I really have no desire to wait in line to meet someone unless perhaps they are going to sign something that I will keep or sell. I doubt that I have anything clever enough to say that will make them take notice of me amongst all of the other fans there. But if there is no line and I am going to purchase something because I want to support there work I am more then willing to say hello to them and to thank them for the work that I have enjoyed.

The responses of the artists at the comicon were interesting. Travis and I stopped by Kurt Busiek's table. He was there with his wife and daughter kind of against the back wall of the room. He was super nice. He signed Travis's books and chatted with us and answered some questions just really a nice guy. Later on Travis and I stumbled upon the writer of The Mice Templar series Bryan J. L. Glass and the artist Michael Avon Oeming. This is a series I enjoyed on the web but I did not know that is was out in print so I was pretty excited to see it and them there. Well both men signed my hard copy graphic novel and were very nice. Bryan Glass told us about some upcoming plans for the series and when the next set were due to be released and it was a very nice chat with the both of them. The a little bit later I went over to the webcomic area where a lot of the creators were gathered and the creator of Sam and Fuzzy was there Sam Logan. He was also very friendly and nice to chat with as I purchased a print from him.

I was feeling pretty good at that point and I decided to head over to the PvP table and buy something else from the guy I was most excited to see, Scott Kurtz. I had earlier picked up a stuffed Skull the Troll doll from him and now wanted to get a print from him that he had done for the comicon. Well I do not know what happened but as I realized as I purchased the print and waited for him to sign it. He did not seem to care for me. It felt like his whole manner changed to the point that even Travis noticed it. I realize that it can get pretty crazy and people can be annoying but I have never had that kind of response. I mean as far as I know people tend to like me. So it was a odd experience for me. I am just going to chalk it up to stress and things like that for now. Since I have really no other way to respond to it.

One last special mention goes to Andy Runton the creator of "Owly". He did a sketch for Travis as well as several other people and just was a super nice guy. I wish I would have purchased something from him but I felt like one stuffed animal was enough.

Overall though it was a great trip. I look forward to returning to it next year.

3-12-2010 (Friday)

Good morning again folks. Today I wanted draw your attention to a little quiz that I recently took online. It is only 10 multiple choice questions. The Nolan Quiz So give it a go if you like and please return and share your results with me.

In the spirit of facts and truths I took the quiz and I ended up pretty much where I thought I would. I am a centrist and I lean to the liberal according to the chart. I am close to that line but I didn't cross over. I am not saying that my result was the correct result by any means. I would just like to see where a few of my readers fall. But, this is not a perfect quiz by any means. It is very and I say very heavily weighted toward the Libertarian side of things. The choices for answers are not very nuanced at all but it is interesting and seemed pretty accurate at least in my result anyway. So please check it out and stop back by and let me know how you did.

3-11-2010 (Thursday)

Thursday! Thursday! Thursday! That is all.

3-10-2010 (Wednesday)

So where to begin? It is Wednesday morning and I am looking forward to a pretty good day. I get to go into the big city and pick up some stuff with Travis and that is always a fun time. I am also going to see my friend Eric for lunch and that is good as well.

One of the reasons why I am seeing Eric is to let him borrow my graphic novel "Wanted" now some of you may recall a movie with Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman by the same title. Well the movie was LOOSELY and I do mean LOOSELY based on the comic. I just have to say that the comic is ten to a hundred times better then the film. In fact I would go so far as to say that other then the characters having the same names and perhaps one or maybe two small plot points they are nothing alike.

I thought the movie was horrible. I will post a clip below.



That is the trailer. As far as trailers go it is a very good one. It makes you want to see the film. But...it was just so bad. There are things that make absolutely no sense in this movie. But...when I read the graphic novel after having seen the movie. They made sense. It didn't make the move any better but I understood why it sucked so badly. So if you get a chance read the graphic novel. It is an R rated one but it is good. Then if you have seen the movie or see the movie and lets talk about how much they missed the target on this one. Please do it I would love to have that discussion.

3--9-2010 (Tuesday)

Well, here we are it is Tuesday morning and today is the last day for people to file in Oregon if they are going to run for office. It may be an interesting day but I am not sure. I was going to write some more about the upcoming elections in Oregon but I honestly am not all that interested in it. I will be shocked and amazed if a Republican were to win. I will be even more shocked and amazed of a third party candidate even gets any recognition in this state at all. I think the reality is that Oregon is basically a Democratic state. Or at least the population centers in the state are and until we start counting votes in a different way that is not going to change.

Now, understand me, I am not taking a pro or con on that position. I just think that is the case. The thing that may benefit the Republicans in this upcoming election is if maybe Chris Dudley can be thought of as some sort of political newcomer and can pick up some of the moderate and independent voters. They took a straw poll this weekend at Dorchester, the big Oregon Republican conference in Seaside, and Allen Alley won. I honestly am not sure what that means. I do not think Alley is going to be able to pull a moderate vote and I believe the majority of the people that attend an event like Dorchester are the pretty hard core true believers.

On the Democrats side I do not think anyone they are putting up in the primaries is going to beat Kitzhaber. While it is true that Bill Bradbury is making some noise I just do not see him actually toppling the Kitz. Also on a personal note Bradbury is not a friend of the work I do. He never has been and if he becomes governor he will most likely hurt the system in Oregon. I believe and believed even when I did not work in the process that the petition system is part of what makes Oregon special and lets the voters have a say now and then. Oh sure there are problems much like in any system but even at it's worst it still comes down to a vote and that is a good thing.

That is about all for today folks. Have a good one.

3-8-2010 (Monday)

Happy Monday folks. I hope we all had a good weekend. My weekend was pretty good. Well let me rephrase that. On Friday night my right eye was feeling itchy and felt like something was under the eye lid. But when I looked at it I could not find anything. But I spent Friday night and all of Saturday with my eye weeping and my nose running. It was an unpleasant experience to say the least. But, when I woke up Sunday morning everything was fine. I am not sure what was going on. I think I caught a little cold.

That was really about it. I did my best to have a pretty relaxing weekend overall. I really did not hear anything that I think I need to share with you folks today. I did see that 'The Hurt Locker' won the Oscar for best picture as its director won for best director so I am very happy about that screw you 'Avatar'. SCREW YOU!!

The Writer's Almanac

I was out late tonight. If you are reading this tomorrow morning then it was Thursday night. I went to see my friend Levi and we played a game called Magic at another friends house. But that really isn't the point of the writing. I met Levi because Nicole, my ex-wife, worked with then Levi's girlfriend Eva. Now Levi and Eva are married and Nicole and I are not. It is funny how things change and how plans change. Well as often serendipity seems to work. I was ruminating on that on the drive home and listening to National Public Radio (NPR). Well every night I think about 9:50 or so they a quick show called "The Writers Almanac". It is hosted by Garrison Keillor of "Lake Wobegon" fame. Well he reads a poem or two and tells about writers birthdays and different books. Tonight he read a poem that I am going place below. Please take the time to read it and I will meet you on the other side.

Cecil
by Stephen Dobyns

How calm is the spring evening, and the water
barely a ripple. My son stands at the edge
tossing in pebbles, then jumping back. He knows
that someplace out there lies Europe, and he points
to an island to ask if it is France. Here
on this beach my neighbor died, a foolish man.
He had fought with his daughter, his only child,
about her boyfriend and came here to cool off
when his heart stopped. Another neighbor found him
and thought him asleep, so relaxed did he seem.
He had helped me with my house, gave me advice
on painting, plastering. For this I thank him.
As I worked, we discussed our plans, how he wished
his daughter to go to the best schools, become
a scientist or engineer. I said how
I meant to settle down and make my life here—
My son asks me about the tide, why the water
doesn't keep coming up the street to wipe out
the house where he lives alone with his mother.
Is he scared, should I console him? Should I say
that if I controlled the tide I would destroy
that house for certain? Our plans came to nothing
and now, a year later, I'm just a visitor
in my son's life. We walk down to the water,
pause, and look out at the world. How big is it?
he asks me. Bigger every day, I answer.
"Cecil" by Stephen Dobyns, from Cemetery Nights. © Penguin Group, 1987. Reprinted with permission (buy now)

what did you think? I am not a great poetry reader. I do read all of the time and I fancy myself a bit of a writer but I do not have an ear for and never have really enjoyed poetry. But, as I listened to the poem being read and he mentioned the neighbor dying on the beach I thought "oh that is sad." and then he moved to the man's son asking about the tides and why didn't the water didn't come all the way up the street and "wipe out the house where he lived alone with his mother?"

That was when it hit me. The man was divorced and the plans that he had talked about previously with the now dead neighbor didn't matter. That the plans for the future came to nothing and now he is just a visitor. Well I do not mind telling you that I begone to cry as I was driving down the highway. I cried because the plans that I had now mean nothing. I cried because it feels like every time I have a good week or day something comes along from out of nowhere and makes me realize what I have lost. I honestly do not feel depressed a majority of the time. But in some ways I am dreading reaching a time where the thought of Nicole does not make me sad. As it is there is an empty spot in my life and for me to lose the memories I have of her, for me to lose the memories of the good times I do not know what that will mean for me.

As usual when the pain hits me. It hits me hard and it takes me by surprise. I have no idea how she is coping. Or even what she is doing to cope. The only thing that brings me some comfort is the vague hope that she is happier then I am now. At least I hope she is. I do not know. If she is not then this is truly a horrible thing for the both of us and there really was no benefit at all. I do not know that there should be a benefit but the thought that at least she might be happy or happier now has been of some small comfort to me.

Now, i sit in the garage and write on my laptop. Wullie is asleep in the ferret sleeping bag and Sebastian is roaming around like he usually does. "It's just you and me fellas." I tell them. I know they can't understand me. But sometimes it feels as if they are the only ones that I can really just let myself go with. Their needs are simple, clean food and water. Some bedding to sleep in and a little bit of attention but they do not even need much of that. I think they are aware that things are different but I am not sure what that would mean to them. I have no idea how aware they are of things. I wish I did...I wish I did.

3-4-2010 (Thursday)

Good morning folks. Today is March fourth or as some people refer to it March Forth. I think is kind of an interesting way to look at it. Using the calender to make today a day for stepping forward and doing things I would assume differently because why else would you want to feel this way. If you feel like things are going well and nothing needs to change then I doubt you are going to care one way or the other but maybe if things have seemed a little off then calling it March Forth maybe just what you need to start things fresh.

I am kind of on the fence myself. I realize that this has been a pretty crappy six months and I could use that as an excuse to make this day mean more then a normal day. But as far as the last week or so things are looking pretty good. Things at work are cranking along and there seems to be a future so that is good.

Other then that I got nothing today folks. My head is not really in it. But hopefully tomorrow the wisdom will flow forth like wine. We shall see.

3-2-2010 (Tuesday)

It is Tuesday morning and the sun has risen again and I am back at it. I hope you all are well and my lack of writing yesterday didn't leave to big of a hole in your lives. I know my wisdom that I give to you all freely is very important and without it most of you would not be able to really function. So rest assured that I am not planning on going anywhere. Also remember that when I rise to the top and I stand astride two pillars over the ashes of all who opposed me. Know that I will remember you and you all will have places in the new regime. Well some of you are going to. I really can't be expected to have a place for all of you. I am not sure who I can trust. So better safe then sorry. You know what? Just forget about that last part there. Things well work out you can trust me.

I listened to an interesting piece on NPR this morning talking to Mitt Romney and discussing his chances for 2012. He seems to be pretty obviously getting ready to run again. It is going to be interesting to see the build up to 2012. The Republicans feel that they have some momentum and that things are going to change in their favor. I think anything is possible but I wonder if Romney is conservative enough for the Tea Party crowd. I also still question as I did in 2008 if he can pull in the conservative Protestant Christians. I do not think he can. I have been wrong before but I do not think I am wrong on this one. It will be hard to tell anything on this one until we get closer to the primaries. I am not really sure who else the Republicans will put up.

That is all for today folks. As usual feel free to throw your thoughts at me.

3-1-2010 (Monday)

I do not have time for the blogging this morning. I just wanted to say hello and hopefully we will be back at it tomorrow. Catch you later.

2-26-2010 (Friday) The Birthday of Johnny Cash

1932-2003

I was going to write today about Johnny Cash and what his music means to me. But as I sit here listening to his music on Johnny Cash Radio
I am feeling myself slightly overwhelmed. I am really unable to put into words what it means what he mean. I realize he was a musician and just a man. He was a man, much like I am a man. But he was a man who fought his demons his whole life. He never presented himself as anything more then that. He also warts and all was a believer and he never shied away from that. One last album is getting released this week American VI: Ain't No Grave please check it out.

In closing I am going to leave you with his version of 'Hurt'




I MISS YOU

2-25-2010 (Thursday)

It is Thursday and I am having a bad hair day. I opted to not wear a hat or to put any sort of product in my hair and now it is falling over my face. I feel like I should be wearing all black and listening to the Cure. I really, really need a hair cut. It is days like this that I really miss the mo-hawk. I had a pretty sweet one going for awhile there. I also miss being bald. It was easier for me to take care of. I would just use normal soap in the morning and maybe apply a little lotion and boom done for the day. Then every week or so I could shave it or have someone shave it again. I think I am to lazy to have a haircut that takes a lot of maintenance.

Today is a pretty big day in the world of politics. It is the big Health Care Reform meeting with President Obama and Congress. I doubt much will come of this at all. There are to many vested special interest groups and to many people making millions and millions of dollars off of health care right now for there to be any kind of meaningful change.

Yesterday was also a pretty big news day with the head of Toyota coming to America to testify before a special committee about the Toyota recall. I found it pretty interesting and I felt like he said really all he could say about the whole thing. A thought that struck me while I was was watching and one I heard later on from someone on the television I can't remember who. The thought was now that the federal government owns a majority share in General Motors at what point does investigating another car company become a conflict of interest? I am not trying to be snarky about this. I really do want to know. I understand the need for automobile safety and I think you do need to build cars to some kind of standard so that our highways are relatively safe. Maybe this is why the federal government should not be in the business of buying up companies because then it makes any attempt on their part to regulate an industry a conflict of interest? I just do not know.

That is about it for today. Just a couple of thoughts that were ping ponging around inside my noggin.

2-24-2010 (Wednesday)

Good morning again folks and salutations to you. I hope this Wednesday finds you well. I wonder how many of you remember a movie from 1975 called "Doc Savage: Man of Bronze". I do and so do several of my friends. It is so interesting to me what will make you interested and what will stay with you years and years later. It isn't that the movie is high quality because believe me after looking at the trailer on You-tube yesterday it isn't I would say that the sets are probably at best 'Gilligan's Island' level quality sound stages.

But that isn't really the point. There are just things I remember from my youth that have stuck with me for my whole life. They exist in some sort of hallowed space inside my psyche that makes them the coolest thing ever. Well to be honest the coolest thing ever until I decide "Oh! That was cool I should watch it again." That invariably turns out to be a bad idea and what I thought was the coolest thing ever is usually some sort of hackneyed crap that is low budget and has some bad, bad, bad, scripts and plot lines. But as a kid I loved it. There was a channel then called KPTV 12 and this was before cable and satellite television and I think we had 5 channels at most. Along with reruns of 'Perry Mason', which is still awesome by the way, they showed an afternoon movie from 1 until 3 and then the reruns of the sitcoms would start. But I will get lost in the memory of those sitcoms if I go down that path. That is best left for another day.

But I remember watching these different films and just loving them. There were sometimes Tarzan movies which were always a favorite. My brother and I had a couple of rubber knives and we would reenact the movie fight scenes, that usually took place in water, on family camping trips.



Now this is a classic fight but it pales in comparison to the fight that I am going to show you next. This fight, brought to my attention by my good friend Travis is the finest example that I have seen of what he likes to call Kirk-Fu and I can't argue with that. So here it is and please enjoy it.



The 'Tarzan' fight scene above stars Ron Ely who also played 'Doc Savage'. He was a good 'Tarzan' but he was no Mike Henry. I think Mike Henry was the best 'Tarzan' ever. So what about you gentle readers is there a film from the past that you have fond memories of? Or perhaps a classic television show? Please let me know I would love to hear about it.

2-23-2010 (Tuesday)

Good morning folks. It is Tuesday morning and the rain has returned to Oregon. I do not mind the rain. It smells nice outside and is kind of refreshing. I think though that after about 3 or 4 days of it I will be back to wondering where the sun is and when is spring going to return. I like living in Oregon. I even like living in the Willamette Valley despite the months of gloom that can settle over us. When the Valley is in the middle of the rainy season it can get seriously gray and gloomy. But, once spring comes and we move into the summer Oregon becomes a really beautiful place to live. I am basically less then two hours away from the ocean or the mountains and when the weather is nice both places can really be nice. But I didn't come hear to lobby for Oregon.

I wanted to go back and touch on what I wrote about yesterday on how I agreed in part with what Glenn Beck said at the CPAC speech. But I also had to mention something he said that I felt didn't make any sense. He was doing his usual talking about how Communists and Socialists became Progressives because that let them be sneaky. He mentioned how things had gone from Revolution to Evolution and the change had allowed for the newly named Progressives to sneak in and undermine the foundation of America. Now I have heard him say this kind of thing before and he, I think, really does believe it. But at one point during his speech he was talking about how he was not a smart man and how he didn't go to college. But what he did do was go to the library because there the books are free. His exact phrase was

"I went to the library -- the books are free."

That kind of threw me for a loop. The biggest reason being that...BOOKS AT THE LIBRARY ARE NOT FREE!!!!! I pay taxes and part of my tax dollars go to fund the library in my town. Now maybe Glenn went to some hippy dippy socialist library where everyone who takes a book can leave a book and there is no librarian but I doubt it. What I found surprising about what Beck said was that libraries are basically communist institutions. They are funded out of the tax roles and anyone who wants to can get books there. I believe the first public library in the country was actually created by progressives who felt that everyone deserved equal access to books.

It just struck me as so typical of all of the talking heads on television be it Olberman or Beck or Limbaugh or Maddow they seem to speak without thinking. The basic idea of following a logical chain to it's conclusion seems to have escaped them. The saddest thing for me is that they make millions and millions of dollars doing this and most viewers just lap it up. They buy their books and listen to their radio shows and watch the television with out taking the time to do any critical thinking on their own.

These people depend on us to be angry but not on us to pay attention to the bigger picture. So lets all take a moment and really think about some of what these people tell us. They are all employees for big companies they wouldn't be working for these companies if they didn't agree with what goes on there. Keep that in mind when watch these shows. Look into where these companies do business and what products they make and sell. I do not think this will hurt us what this will do is make us better listeners and make us more aware of what we are being told. This goes for both sides of every issue. Think before you react. Take a moment and decide if what you are being told actually makes any sense.

This will benefit all of us in the long term.

2-22-10 (Monday)

Good morning and a happy Monday to you folks. We had a sunny weekend in Oregon and it seems to be nice today as well. So that is a good start to the week. Now anyone who reads me at all regularly knows that I do not care for Glenn Beck. I disagree with most of his positions on things and I think that his understanding of history and how that impacts America today is incorrect. I think he has good intentions but I think the way he goes about trying to get is message across is not beneficial to the process. But as he was addressing the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) he said one thing that I had to agree with.

Beck said:

“It’s not enough to not suck as much as the other side,” said Beck, on how Republicans can regain their ideals. “The first step to redemption is admitting you have a problem. … When they do say they have a problem, I don’t know if I believe them. … They’ve got to recognize they have a problem. … ‘I’m addicted to spending and big government.’”…

Beck went on to compare GOPers to Tiger Woods, who recently gave his first public apology for his cheating scandal. Beck said some people believed he was only sorry because he got caught. Beck, to GOPers in Congress: “You got caught. Are you sorry?”…

More Beck: “One party will tax and spend. The other party won’t tax, but spend. It’s both of them together. I’m tired of feeling like a freak in America.”

It was refreshing for me to hear someone from FOX News actually say that. I think anyone who has looked at or studied politics of the last twenty years realizes that it is incorrect and wrong to blame the countries economic problems on just the Democrats and President Obama. The idea of the federal government spending more and more and taking away the power from the states of the union has been going on for a long time. I often hear Republicans and Conservatives of today praising Reagan but in reality he grew federal government as much as his predecessors did. He was not the fiscal conservative that Republican historical revisionist historians want us to think he was. I am not saying he was a bad President but I would like for both Republicans and Democrats to be honest about things when they discuss past politicians.

All of that aside it was refreshing for me to hear what Beck said. I just hope the young conservatives that were at this conference actually took that to heart. Because he is right it isn't enough to point a finger at the other guy and say that they are bad and we are correct and continue to vote no on everything without coming forward with solutions. The reason that the majority of these Democrats are in office is because the voters were fed up with what was going on during the last Bush administration. The voters voted out the Republicans and the only other choice available to them in this horrible two party system of ours was the Democrats. Well the Democrats just basically said thank you very much and continued with business as usual. Now it seems that the voters are growing fed up with the Democrats and are going to vote them out of office and put back in the Republicans. I just hope the Republicans actually understand that this is not a mandate from the voter for them to do whatever the hell they want to do. It is a mandate for the other guy the only other choice there is.

So you heard a rare thing from me today. You heard me acknowledge that something Glenn Beck said I agree with. I do not know if that will happen much in the future but you never know.

2-19-2010 (Friday)

It is Friday. I hope everyone has a good weekend and I look forward to talking to you all on Monday. It has been an interesting week. My post that mentioned the issues that I have currently with the sport of Roller Derby and how it is being played in Portland has had the most comments of anything and the most comments of anything I have written in quite a while.

I find it kind of funny that I really am unable to predict what will draw peoples attention. Sometimes I write something that I think is very witty and will be sure to ruffle some feathers. "Here comes the comments!" I think. But nothing comes of it. Other times I write something that I think is purely a throw away post and people pop up out of no where to comment. It is one of the things about blogging that makes me keep doing it.

So I will talk to you on Monday. Catch you later folks.

2-17-2010 (Ash Wednesday)

Good morning folks. I hope you have good day regardless of whether or not you decide to do anything for Ash Wednesday.

Well as everyone seems to know we are in an economic downturn or recession. I have been reading a lot lately about a state in America that is doing pretty well. That state is North Dakota now every state is different and they all have different products that allow for different levels of income. But the biggest difference that North Dakota has is that they have a bank that is totally run and owned by the state of North Dakota. Now, according to the Huffington Post

"The Bank of North Dakota serves as an economic development agency and "banker's bank" that lessens the loan risks of private banks and helps them finance larger projects. It offers cheap loans to farmers, students and businesses.

The bank had almost $4 billion in assets and a $2.67 billion loan portfolio at the end of last year, according to its most recent quarterly financial report. It made $58.1 million in profits in 2009, setting a record for the sixth straight year. During the last decade, the bank funneled almost $300 million in profits to North Dakota's treasury.

The bank has the advantage of being the repository for most state funds, which can be used for loans and occasional relief for private banks that need a jolt of cash during sluggish credit markets."

Also another mention in the article is that North Dakota has an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent. That is the lowest in the nation and something that my home state of Oregon could only dream of. Now I am sure there are other things that makes North Dakota different then Oregon and also makes them more successful then Oregon in terms of jobs and state budget issues. But what I wonder is what is working about their bank. One of the biggest difference is that they are not part of the FDIC so if the bank were to lose money the residents of North Dakota would be on the hook for it. But, so far that has not happened. The bank is running a surplus.

I am just wondering what makes North Dakota special? Is this a model that could work in other states? Should it be something that is attempted? Should it be something that we totally write off as a cursed socialist idea that would fail and hurt the state in the end? Any thoughts out there folks?

2-16-2010 (Fat Tuesday)

Hello again, Hello. Here we are it is Tuesday morning and we are heading further into the week. They mentioned on the television this morning that today was Fat Tuesday. That honestly does not mean a lot to me. I have never been a big Mardi Gras fan and I do not go to the church and get ashes daubed on my face on Ash Wednesday. It might be a bigger deal if I lived in Louisiana or had grown up Catholic but I am not sure. I would go so far as to say that it is one of the few things in life that I do not really have an opinion on either way. I think for some people it can really be a time of focus and concentration on faith and their life and for others it is a chance to have a huge party and just go nuts.

I went with my good friends to Roller Derby in Portland on Saturday night. I like Roller Derby and the Rose City Rollers
are starting their fifth season. But it just wasn't the same for me. I went to most of the bouts during the inaugural season and I absolutely loved it. This was a sport that really had been started by a group of women. They were not professionals they were playing because they loved playing. It wasn't about big contracts or advertising deals and they were out there having lots and lots of fun. So was the audience. They played loud music during the matches and during the halftime break they would have a show of some sort. One time it was a circus act with people doing rope work. Once it was an adult dodgeball league and I got hit in the face by a ball. It didn't matter it was fun. You could sit right on the edge of the track and the skaters would whip past you. Sometimes they would crash and could end up slamming into you. It didn't matter it was fun. That was the key, fun.

But after Saturday night I am not sure if it is fun any more. There are all kinds of new rules and at one point one team had less then half of their girls on the track. I spent more time watching the refs and trying to figure out what penalty was called then I did actually enjoying the bout. I know things change and as something becomes more mainstream the rules get manipulated to allow for different things. But I think this new batch of rules just slows the game down. There was no real flow to it and I am not a new watcher I have seen lots of matches and I understand how the game is played.

Maybe I am wrong and what is going on is going to be drawing in all kinds of new fans. But as for this one. I am not sure if I will return. Other then me being able to see my friends it was not a fun evening for me. The atmosphere was not the same. It was not the almost rock concert scene I remember. I just do not see it lasting much longer if this model continues. I hope I am wrong I really do.

You folks have a good day

2-15-2010 (Presidents Day)

Good morning everyone. I feel like I have emerged from the gloom that was possessing me last night. I hope my posting wasn't to depressing for you. I also would like to apologize for the video I posted. When I get gloomy I often find that music works for me to get my feelings out but choosing 'Mad World' as much as I like the song was just plain melodramatic. That being said I hope at least some of you got to hear a song you had never heard before.

Today is two things both Presidents Day and the day that we observe Washington's Birthday. According to Patriotism.org

"This holiday is often called President’s day as well, though the official name is Washington’s Birthday. This federal holiday is celebrated each year on the third Monday of February, though it was originally celebrated on Washington’s actual birthday of February 22nd.

It’s the first federal holiday to recognize an American citizen and was enacted in 1880 as a holiday for the District of Columbia only. In 1885 it was named a federal holiday for all federal offices in the U.S. It wasn’t until 1976 that Washington’s Birthday was moved to the third Monday of February in an attempt to establish it more along the lines of President’s Day to also honor Abraham Lincoln who was born on February 12th. Though the change in day passed the change in name did not.

Currently 12 states have renamed Washington’s Birthday, President’s Day or a similar variation to honor all of the U.S. presidents. In Massachusetts the holiday focuses on honoring presidents from that state and a few other states have passed similar holidays as well."

I am glad that we honor the men who have run are country over the years. I think that even if you do not like all of the decisions that a particular President has made we should all be able to agree that it is a hard job and, I think, a thankless one. I myself would not want to be President at all. When I think about the abuse that the President takes it is pretty upsetting to me at times. And by this I mean all Presidents not just the current one. The President is second guessed at every turn. There always seems to be someone who thinks they know better then the President and in this day and age of the Internet these people have more opportunity then ever before to express that opinion. I am often more guilty of it then most as I step up on my blogging stump and throw my opinion out on the tube of the Internets.

I do not think this should change. One of the great joys of living in a relatively Democratic society is that I am free to put my opinion out there. I am free to write or say pretty much any crazy thing I want to without fear of reprisal. That is a great thing. Yes I am aware that we are living in a Representative Republic and not a true Athenian Democracy. But, honestly, in some ways I actually prefer this model. I say that even though I disagree with what my elected Representatives often do. I think the sheer size of the United States would make true Democracy a really messy, messy experience.

Though that does make me wonder that if what kept purely at a individual state level what it would be like. I know it would be messy and everything but I wonder if it would be a manageable mess. Then each state would just send one representative to Congress and they would kind of stream line issues. Hmmmmm, I realize this is an idea that would need lots and lots of work and I am sure there are all kinds of problems with it. But, it intrigues me. I may have to do some thinking about this one and get back to it later.

All of that being said and all of my rambling aside. Please take a moment today and be thankful for our past Presidents and present as well as future Presidents and at least acknowledge the hard job they have done. It is a job that frankly I would not want to do and I think most of you wouldn't want to either.

2-14-2010 (Valentines Day)

I normally do not blog on the weekends but I am sitting here getting ready for bed and I figured I would write a little bit. I imagine this will replace tomorrows post but we will see. I hope those of you that were able to have a three or four day weekend due to Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays had good ones.

This was a weird weekend for me. I have never been crazy about Valentines and of course this is worse by far. My first Valentines with Nicole we went to the Oregon Zoo and she gave me a pocket knife. It was then that I knew she was special. I did not know what the future would bring and had I known I am not sure if I would have done anything differently. Ironically, our last type of real date or couples time together also was a trip to the Oregon Zoo. I doubt if I will ever go to the Zoo again. As I sit here thinking about it I am barely able to hold the tears back. I always enjoyed the Zoo and I enjoyed my time there with her most of all. It will never be the same again. Nothing is ever going to be the same again. I am not sure what that means.

It seems like every time I start to feel a little bit better then something comes along to knock me right back into some kind of emotional spiral. What is more frustrating for me is that this is not even a real holiday it is totally put together by the greeting card companies and makes them millions of dollars every year. But I am not writing this to complain about Valentines day. It is to easy of a target and is done a million times every year by the long time and newly single divorced.

I am not sure why I am writing this in all honesty. I just felt like I had things that I needed to get out. You see I loved maybe I still love Nicole. I just do not know any more. I know that I can't think of her without intense pain. I have good days and bad day but mainly I have days that are just gray. It is a relatively good day if I can make it through with out thinking of her. Yet I still hope to get an email or some kind of text message or instant message nearly every day. It isn't that I have anything to say because I don't. I don't know what I want.

I do know what I miss. I miss her being in my life. I miss having dutch babies with her on lazy Sunday mornings. I miss staying up late and making cupcakes while we watched a movie on Netflix. I just miss her being around. I do not know if I was comfortable and in that level of comfort I just did not show her the love that she needed. I do know that I blame myself for what happened. I did not listen and I did not react and do what was needed to keep things going okay and now I am paying that price in my being alone. I fully realize that I have friends but this is on a different level then that. It is hard for me to fully articulate the level of emptiness that I am dealing with.

I imagine that things will get better I do not see how they couldn't.

I realize that this may be to intensely personal of a blog for many of my readers and I apologize for that but sometimes there are things that need to be said. If you return I soon will be back to my usual slightly humorous and topical thoughts and political ideas. So please bear with me.

2-11-10 (Thursday)

Another day, another dollar. Good morning folks. I am here and ready to gift all of you with my wisdom. There just does not seem to be much wisdom flowing today. I am just not feeling it. I spent some time looking at Facebook and I guess I shouldn't have today because I can feel myself starting to spiral. I hate when I get like this and I think the most frustrating aspect of it is that while I do not know when it is going to happen. I can feel it when I am on the precipice of it and am unable to stop it.

I am well aware that everyone deals with things at different speeds but I wish my speed was faster. I am tired of feeling this way on and off. I would just rather be done with all of the emotions. Sorry to get all emotive with you guys but sometimes blogging is cheaper then therapy.

That being said I do not have much more to say, I hope tomorrow or later today I might feel more inclined to write a little bit.

Quote of the Day

"There is room for social programs in a free-market economy without it becoming socialist. America, you are not on the road to serfdom." Colin Horgan

2-10-10 (Wednesday)

It is Wednesday morning and it is the middle of the work week. I hope everybody is having a good one so far. Things have been going pretty well so far. I have just been working and trying to stay busy. I mentioned on Monday that I haven't been able to work up any righteous indignation to allow me better blogging and one of my friends said she didn't realize that you needed righteous indignation to blog.

Well I thought about it and while I may not need it. It certainly makes it easier for me to get the words out when I am upset about something even if it is a silly of an issue as James Cameron and that fact that he steals ideas for his films and doesn't give credit to his victims. The funny thing is that just writing that down just now has got me a little bit fired up. See that is all it takes for me. I am going to control myself and not go off on a rant about Cameron and his actions as well as the movie business in general and how the overall stupidity of the movie going public is what allows criminals like Cameron to stay in business while younger and perhaps newer more creative voices are being left out in the cold.

See! Look at that. I said I wasn't going to and then I couldn't help myself. It is just sad. I do not know James Cameron personally. I doubt I will ever meet him and I am sure that he cries himself to sleep at night on his bed stuffed with $100 bills at the idea that I am upset with him. But I do not care. All I care about is getting out here on on stump and letting loose with a few good broadsides.

I think that is how I few myself. I am the captain of the ship of reason and sail about upon the seas of lunacy and idiocy. "Sharing" my wisdom with others. By "sharing" I mean lots of chest pounding and screaming and since it is my ship there is usually a show tune or two followed by some fancy dancing. I like my crew to be multi-talented. Ummmm, never mind about that last part lets just pretend that I never said it. "Hey, Jackson, put away those tap shoes!"

So, where were we? Oh yes, I travel around visa vie the Internets and tell everyone else what they are doing wrong and how I can fix them. For me to be able to do such a thing I have to be surly and dissatisfied otherwise I just can't work up the energy level I need to really get things fired up. That being said there maybe up days and down days where I didn't read or listen to something that really ticks me off. So please bear with me and keep checking in because I hope to continue blogging I am just not totally sure what form it is going to take on any give day.

That phrase reminded me of the movie "Any Given Sunday". As most of my friends know already I hate Oliver Stone and the only good work he ever did was writing the screenplay for "Conan the Barbarian" that is all nothing he has done ever since has any merit or well have any merit and "Any Given Sunday" was a prime example of his hackitude. That is all for now.

2-9-10 (Tuesday)

Good morning folks. I hope everybody had a good weekend and a good Monday. I frankly was surprised at the outcome of the Super Bowl. I thought for sure that the Colts would win it. I was even more surprised that Payton Manning threw an interception. I really went into the game thinking well he isn't Brett Favre and there is no way he will make a mistake that could cost the Colts the game. I was wrong. But, I have been wrong before and I will be again. That is one of the many reasons why I watch sports. I like to be surprised. If I always knew the outcome of every event I watched I think things would get a little boring.

In political news Democratic Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania has died. He was 77. He had been suffering complications from gallbladder surgery. The retired Marine Corps officer was an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq. It is going to be interesting to me to see how this shakes out in terms of who replaces him. I am not sure what the policy is in Pennsylvania. I know that it varies from state to state with some state having the Gov appoint a replacement until the next election and some run a special election. Either way I am sure the Republicans are going to be "chomping at the bit" to get one of their own into office. He had been in office for 36 years and it will be pretty fascinating to me to see what happens next. I am sure that the "Tea Party" folks will begin rallying for some sort of candidate as well as the Democrats.

Interesting story on NPR this morning about the paper published in the "Lancet" several years ago that claimed a link to Autism from Vaccine. This caused a pretty strong anti Vaccine movement and now the "Lancet" has released a press release saying that the paper used false information and bad data and there was no link. One Doctor went on the air and said that the paper was basically a hypothesis and that it shouldn't have been published. He said it would be akin to him saying that "peanut butter causes Leukemia, and then tracking down five children with Leukemia who had eaten peanut butter a month before diagnosis and using that to make his case." I also found that fascinating and it is going to be interesting to see what potential fallout may come of this.

Thanks for reading and you folks have a good day.

2-8-10 (Monday)

Happy Monday...I do not have much today. I hope to have some more tomorrow to write about so please check back in. I have been having a hard time working up the righteous indignation I need to blog effectively but I hope to be my usual disgruntled self tomorrow.

2-2-10 (Wednesday)

Good morning folks. It looks like six more weeks of winter the Groundhog saw his shadow yesterday. Over here in Oregon it has been a pretty mild winter overall. We have had some snow here and there but nothing really stuck for a long period of time. Unlike last year where we had a serious stretch of frozen snow.

Today appears to be a slow brain day. There isn't anything popping into my head that I feel really upset about. Or even really inspired by. It seems like it is just a blah kind of day. I am okay with that. I can't exist on a sense of outrage all of the time. To fuel myself with energy generated from apocalyptic over the top rage is the path of Olberman and Beck and I refuse to go down that path. Sure it is fun sometimes to get wound up to really get myself going about the, big G, government and different liberal and conservative conspiracy theories. But really who does that benefit other then the people watching me foam at the mouth as I stomp around muttering different key words and punching the air.

"9-11 was an inside job, Kennedy was killed by the mob, Roosevelt knew about Pearl Harbor, Obama is selling us to the Chinese!!"

That feels better. I got all the crazy out. Actually one of the things I said above is totally true. Don't believe me. Google it!! I'll wait.
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Oh, your back. You didn't find anything? Hmm well that is just more proof that the government is covering it up because in my experience you can find anything on Google. Or, Or!! Perhaps you are part of the conspiracy? Do not try to deny it. I can see it in your beady little eyes. I will be watching you. Count on it!!

That's all for today folks