Archive for the ‘Ramblings’ Category
Tomorrow is the election finally. I will let you know how it goes at the polling place for us. We will be going as a family tomorrow with our eighteen year old daughter who will be voting for the first time. The only one missing is our son who will be voting in New Jersey. I urge you one and all to get out and vote. This election is too important not to.
I found this video and I thought I would share it with you. Enjoy.
We are in the home stretch of the election. This is the last weekend before Tuesday when the polls open up for everybody across our great nation. Early voting is going on even today as many places have extended hours and even days for those wishing to vote early. Turnout is tremendous with millions having already voted. No matter who you are in favor of getting the presidential office it is great that so many are out and voting. I subscribe to the feelings that if you do not vote you forfeit any right to complain what any of them do once they get into office. Not only for the office of president but all your elected officials. I am not one of the early voters as it is miles away to the election commission?where they are voting early and it is a mere hop and skip to my polling place. I do not know about your situation where you vote but here in South Carolina you can not wear any pins or shirts proclaiming who you intend to vote for. There is a law that prohibits campaigning withing 200 feet of a polling location and anything with the candidates on it slogan or whatever is considered campaigning. They won’t make you leave but they will insist that you cover up or remove any thing considered campaigning. As many of you already know I am no fan of Bush and am counting the days until he is gone. Right now it is 79 days and counting until he is out of the White House. Anyhow after much thought I have finally made my mind up for sure and I will go with Obama and vote straight Democratic ticket. This is something I have never done before. I always picked and chose each candidate on their merits. Lindsey Graham is up for reelection to and I may change my mind about the straight ticket yet. Oh well I said I was 100% mind made up but perhaps I am a little shy of 100%.
What I had intended to write about was the fact that after these elections the States of Virginia and Maryland are going to scrap touch screen voting machines in favor of old school paper ballots. I will?write more on that issue in the future as I strongly feel that there must be accountability in vote counting. The battle for the hearts and minds of voters on whether electronic systems are good or bad has been lost. The academics and computer scientists who said they were unreliable?have won that battle. At least in those two states. Now for the rest of them.
A US Army intelligence report has identified the popular blogging tool Twitter as a potential terrorist tool. It along with GPS and possibly voice changing software are at the heart of this intelligence report. The report by the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion examines a number of mobile and web technologies and their potential uses by militants. The report is posted on the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) website. Parts of the report mention how activists at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis used it to provide information on police movements and Twitter members got out the news of the earthquake in Los Angeles in July faster than news outlets. Now lets see what happens when they discover chat rooms and email.
Louisiana recently lost their case in front of the Supreme Court and therefore denied them from executing child rapists. Personally I feel they do not deserve to breath the same air anyone else does and felt that the death penalty was not too harsh in child rape cases. Indeed if there were a worse method of killing them I would be happy to see that done. Give me a rock and I’ll throw the first stone.
Well anyhow apparently the lawyers for the state of Louisiana overlooked a law on the books for the military that calls for the death penalty for child rapists. Their request to reopen the case in front of the Supreme Court is based on the failure of anyone involved in the case – lawyers on both sides as well as the justices – to take account of this law when the case was heard and the decision handed down.
The court almost never reopens a case once ruled upon but the 5-4 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy relied in part on what Kennedy called a “national consensus” against executing convicted rapists. We do not know if the case will be reopened as it takes five justices, a majority, to?reconsider a ruling.
The ruling in June struck down laws in Louisiana and five other states and spared the lives of two Louisiana men convicted of raping girls 5 and 8. I hope this case is overturned and the death penalty is once again applied to these sicko’s. I feel anyone that sick does not deserve to take another breath and should be killed ASAP.
I no longer keep up with professional baseball or any pro sport any longer as it makes me sick to see the way these over paid players act. But I am not going to get off on a tirade about the public spectacle that baseball has been going through with all the steroid and allegations of steroid use and who knows what else. As I understand it the expanded the leagues by two teams one of which is the Washington Nationals. For opening day the first pitch was thrown out by President Bush who had been exercising his throwing arm on the south lawn in anticipation of the opening pitch. A sign of the times and dissent amongst common Americans was the reception he garnered as he strode to the pitchers mound. He was greeted with throngs of boo’s and cat calls. Not exactly what he had anticipated or hoped for. No he was boo’ed. I don’t think a President has ever been treated like that at a public gathering before. They were booing because the war and occupation of Iraq has taken over a million Iraqi lives and sent 4,000 U.S. soldiers and marines to their graves. They were booing Bush because of the loss of millions of jobs, with nearly two million people facing foreclosure of their homes. They were booing because of the massive secret spying campaign against the American people and the violation of First Amendment rights and other criminal acts. Our representatives in Congress should listen to the voice of the people. There is a valid point being made that we are viewed as war mongers and war criminals abroad and it should be investigated and stopped if necessary.
Today is an anniversary of sorts. Today five years ago we as a nation invaded the sovereign nation of Iraq. At the time we were led to believe that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction pointed at us and our allies. Our military, the finest in the world, went through the Iraq's like a dose of salts through a widow woman. In a matter of a few weeks we had captured anything and everything worth capturing, but still - after five years - have not found those weapons of mass destruction that were supposed to have been pointed at us. We have seen that there was absolutely no plan in place for what to do after winning the ground war. Five years after invading them and having Bush stand on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln with a huge banner in the background stating mission accomplished. This is the same image that once graced the White House page but has since been removed as the mission has not been accomplished. What has happened is that nearly four thousand of our brave soldiers have been killed and countless many more injured for life. We have seen cronyism at its worst, as corporations like Halliburton - who the vice president is in bed with being a former vice president of the corporation and still a stock holder - were given no bid contracts. A free reign to grab up all the cash they could milk out of us the tax payers. And the abuses were terrible and have yet to have any repercussions. The wool was pulled over our collective eyes and we were deceived by President Bush and his administration. We investigate or our congress will investigate so many things that though they do matter seem trivial to this, will not investigate who did the lying to bring us to this point. Being the referee in a civil war. Being in the position as an invader - something no one would like in his or her country. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Leaving without security in place leaves a mess for the poor people in Iraq who have suffered mightily over the past five years. Staying only encourages more extremists to attack us as invaders and infidels. Any way we go we can't win. It is a lose lose situation. If only we had listened to voices of reason objecting to the invasion we might be ahead of the game still. Instead we are stuck in Iraq for now with no real solution in sight.
???? Today I was astonished by President Bush at his speech at the New York Economics Club. I listened intently to his speech and actually agreed with one statement about how terrible it is for someone to lose their home to repossession. I used to work for a bank and did exactly that except the homes were mobile homes and not stick built. 90% of the time the ones that lost the homes were long gone so I did not have to see them at all. And during some of the times there was someone still at the home I was able to help them out and allow them to catch up their payments so they could keep their home. I felt best about those times and hated it when we had to pick up homes that people had to move out of as we got there.
??? But I didn’t intend to tell you stories of me repossessing mobile homes. What I was so amazed about was the fact that I agreed with Bush at least once and then at the end of his speech I caught him telling the truth twice in a row. Man that must be some kind of a record. First he stated that we have done a terrible job as far as our energy efforts have been and then after that truth hood he followed that by telling the questioner that he was going to duck the rest of the question. Wow! It was amazing to me that he could tell the truth twice in a row like that. Wouldn’t it be nice if this started some kind of trend and all politicians would start telling the truth instead of telling us what we want to hear then doing just the opposite.
??? As many of you might know I have fibromyalgia and many times it is a “tough row to hoe” so to speak. I have been really feeling its effects this week therefor my lack of new posts everyday as I try to do normally. I did make it out with my wife yesterday afternoon, the first time this week, and then only rode with her to pick our up daughter from school.
??? I did notice something that brought back memories of when I went to high school, that was students gathered up right off of the edges of the school grounds smoking. I noticed a group of maybe a dozen and a half lit up and puffing away, oblivious of the fact that they are dangerous and a hard habit to kick. Now when I went to school the only ones that had to sneak off campus to smoke were the lower class men or one that did not have a permission form signed by their parents. Every rest room or at least every one for the boys was smoke filled as there was always someone sneaking a smoke that was not allowed to. Students who had permission slips filled out and on record could use the student smoking areas. I think back on those days as I see how the new rules are layed out. Tobacco itself is forbidden anywhere on campus, much less its use by anyone on campus student, teacher or visitor. Gone are the days where they had to catch you in the act and even then it was only a slap on the wrist. Now simply having cigarettes on your person is an offense that will get the student a few days off from school as well as their parent having to come in and have a conference before the “vacation” is over.
??? I am glad that they have made smoking so much harder to do for students than when I was a teenager. I smoked all through school with and without a permission slip. Tobacco is a gateway drug. It opened up the gates for many of us to use drugs. I was skipping school smoking cigarettes and helping consume a stolen bottle of wine when I first smelled and tasted the sweet aroma of marijuana burning. I am not saying that I would have never been exposed to it had I not been smoking cigarettes but it would not have been during my school days. Or was that school daze? I know that as a teenager you are supposed to be a little wild, rebellious, and willing to try new things but making it harder at each step for them to get a hold of things that can hurt them is a good thing. I worry about my daughter the same way I worried about my son when he was that age.
??? I wish there was a way I could have made the students I saw smoking see what they are letting themselves in for by smoking cigarettes. As many of you know it is a very hard habit to break. Even though it has been over 6 weeks since I had my last smoke I still reach for one every time that I lean back to let my hands rest up or to catch my thoughts. It has become that ingrained – smoking is insidious. Like the Sirens of Odysseus day that Homer tells us of. If only they had Orpheus, (a talented musician) on board with them. [He played music even more beautiful than the Sirens so that the men did not hear them.] I doubt we can find anything good for us that is more alluring than cigarettes other than good health and being able to breath. Though those are two darn good reasons in themselves. At least smokers are becoming less and less in the norm and it is lots harder for children to start.
???? Yesterdays tragedy in Illinois brings sadness to my heart and no doubt all of you. The investigation is still in its infancy and as time goes by we will learn more of what happened and what may have caused this individual to go nuts and start killing people. Maybe my saying “going nuts” is not politically correct but thats how I feel about anyone who would do something so senseless. I can almost understand someone being mad at another and killing them. I can’t condone it as all killing is wrong. But it is easier to understand than killing people you do not know and can’t have a gripe with. Suicide is wrong but killing a bunch then committing suicide is even worse. If he was hell bent to kill himself he could have done that easy enough alone, and without involving others.
??? We might be better off if some of the students or professor had been armed themselves. At least they might have been able to stop him before he killed and wounded as many as he did. Something to think of as I am sure there will soon be some kind of bill to potentially outlaw guns or make them more difficult to obtain. As I understand it Illinois has one of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation. When guns are outlawed all it will do is embolden the criminal and make the law abiding citizen helpless and unable to protect themselves or others.
??? I did find some good news with a gun involved. In Texas a WWII veteran, successfully fought off two attackers who forced their way into his home and sent one of them to the hospital. Police said they believe the brothers went to 80-year-old James Pickett’s home with the intent to rob him, and even possibly kill him. It all began when Pickett said he opened his door and two men barged inside. According to Mr Pickett, “He just came through that door stabbing and beating.” However, Pickett said just before he went to answer the door, he had first placed a pistol into his pocket. The two brothers, Paul and Holden Perry, ran, but didn’t get far before calling an ambulance. One of the bullets just missed Paul Perry’s spine. I saw the interview and you could tell that he [Mr Pickett] had went through a heck of a fight, showing numerous bruises and stitches from where he was beaten and knifed. I got tickled when he told the interviewer that the only problem was he ran out of bullets. Those two deserve all they got and more and I for one applaud the the old gentleman for standing up for himself.
??? I tried to watch the Super Bowl last night and fell asleep during the first half. My not sleeping the night before must have caught up to me as I awoke at 2 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. At 3 am I remembered that I had not taken my bipolar meds and got up to take them about 8 hours late. So I guess my record is still intact of not watching any pro ball games this season. I am a sports lover and avid ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) basketball fan, but no longer watch any professional sports on television. The athletes make sinful amounts of money just for playing a game while being a piss poor roll model for the children that want to be like they are. That along with the strikes they have gone on and the steroid controversy leaves a sour taste to professional sports. We all the time hear of one athlete or another in trouble with the law. And the teams don’t seem to care as long as they can get the players back out there playing again. Though I must admit the Atlanta Falcons wasted very little time in suspending Micheal Vick. Nor did the commissioner of the NFL as they suspended him from playing football in the league. They did act promptly but I think there was more to it than just the public outrage that he was fighting dogs with the money he had gotten from the Falcons. I think part of the reasoning for suspending him was monetary as they wanted as much of their money back as they could get. It’s not just football, it also encompasses baseball and basketball too. They both have very serious issues that really need to be addressed and I won’t watch any of them any longer. Colleges are not immune to the bad behavior of athletes, coaches and supporters but they are held accountable more than pro athletes and teams are. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has strict rules for all sports and enforces them to the letter. Individual teams and coaches also typically enforce suspensions and such when a player goes out of bounds with their on or off court/field life. That type of enforcement insures that the athletes and schools haven’t cheated their way to a better season and places them on higher ground to me than pro ball. Plus the students at the games cheering for their schools make for an exciting atmosphere. This is most noticeable at basketball games where they are enclosed in the gymnasium and cheers are easily heard and noticeably pick up the teams encouraging them to play even harder and better. Thinking of that makes me want to attend a game near me soon even though I am way past the typical ages of students. Student athletes get nothing out of playing other than maybe their education and the love of playing the game. Maybe I can interest my daughter in going to a game at her high school. It’s been an eternity since I was inside a high school gym but used to love it and went to all my schools games.