Bobby's Rants

Things EVERYONE should research

2011-09-17T05:37:00.000-04:00

The state of affairs in the USA has been getting very disturbing in recent times. Wiser men than me have stated those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. This year congress passed a bill giving the key to the purse to a "super congress". This super congress sits atop regular congress and the power bestowed upon it renders the house and senate useless. Hitler did something just like this before coming to full dictator power. America is now on a direct path to the same thing. The media is controlled by the elite globalists (another thing for you to research) and this story is pretty much not been touched.

The FDA claims people do not have the right to choose what they put in their own bodies and have no recourse to seek nutritional healthy foods for themselves. This on the heels of the rawsome foods raid.

TSA is violating everyone that flies 4th amendment rights. They now have mobile stations that they drive around and set up wherever they feel like groping people. They have groped high school students at a dance recently. Now they will be feeling people up "from the ankles up" at NFL games. Boycott the NFL until this policy goes away. If you don't stand up for yourself who will?

Fluoride has been put in our water for many many years now. What most people fail to realize is fluoride is actually toxic waste from aluminum plants. Yes....toxic waste. Google this...you will never look at water from your tap the same way again.

Vaccines are not the way to health. In fact vaccines cause more deaths or side effects than they prevent. Taking a flu shot each year is you just saying I have no faith in my immune systems ability to defeat a minor sickness. Also.....MERCURY is in most vaccinations. Yes, the heavy metal mercury which everyone knows is horrible for the body is actually being injected in you when you get most vaccines. Bill Gates has been quoted many times saying vaccines are the key to population control. Just google Bill Gates vaccine population control and have your eyes opened.

Google Fast and the Furious to see how our very own DEA has been buying billions of dollars of guns and giving them to drug gangs not only here in the US but in Mexico. Be amazed that nobody is getting in trouble for this. Also check out how top kingpins in the drug cartels are being released from custody because they say they are working with the DEA/FBI etc. This is far worse than the Iran/Contra affair yet no heads are rolling in this instance.

If any of this is new to you I'm sure you are thinking I'm just a nut. That is why I ask you to research these things on your own. I can say that all these things have appeared in main stream media sources like the NY Times.

Want more? Of course you do. Research Genetically Modified Foods, or GMO's. I had the pleasure to be in a country where GMO's were forbidden along with animal growth hormones. I traveled over half the country and if I saw an obese person it was an American tourist. The entire population of this country that I visited was healthy and thin. GMO's are not good for us. Wild animals will not eat GMO food. The only other thing besides humans that touch GMO's are honey bees. The honey bee population is dwindling at an alarming rate. Why? Because GMO's cause sterilization. Already humans that eat GMO's are experiencing a lowering of fertility rates. Don't take my word for it, research it.

Cows are given corn to fatten them up quickly. Cows that are given corn to get fat produce a white gross fat mixed in with the meat. Grass fed cows that are only fed grass have a more yellow fat that actually turns crispy when cooked. So think of this: Cows are given corn to get fat. What is a large portion of US food made with? Corn Starch. What country has a bunch of obese people living in it?

Many people are realizing that global warming/climate change is false. Need more facts or proof? Try these out. Yes, polar bears can swim. No, they are not dying off...quite the opposite actually. The population has exploded recently. No, the ice caps are not melting causing rising sea levels. Actually sea levels are low right now. Another fact is the ice caps are growing right now and are actually thicker and bigger than they have been in quite some time. Now we all saw pictures of them receding. This is normal in the summer months. Some years they recede more than others. One article I read the other day even mentioned you could see the bottom of the NorthWest Passage beginning to open up....Proof of Global Warming. HMMM, at one time the NW Passage was all the way open....kinda how it got its name. Another fact to examine is EVERY planet in our solar system has heated up at the same time. I don't think SUV's are on pluto.

More on global warming. Carbon Dioxide has been said to be bad. Plants BREATH it and give off oxygen. At this moment our atmosphere only has 0.036% Carbon Dioxide in it. Long ago it was as high as 30% or more. Some scientists are alarmed at how low c02 is right now and can't believe plants are still living. Some are going as far as saying we need to pump more c02 in the atmosphere. These facts alone should tell you the idea of a carbon tax is complete nonsense and is nothing more than a way for big oil and gas to push coal out of business. Another thing to research....big oil is one of the biggest financiers of global warming/carbon tax media. Oh, Al Gore happens to be part owner of a large oil company.

Some of you may be wondering to what end is all this? Everything I've stated is by design. Following the money trails you will understand that 20 families control the elite globalists movement. Rockefeller and Bildeburg are two of them. They want to bankrupt the world. Then step in and "save" it by instituting a global currency. Along with this comes global control. Once they own our debt, they own us. On that line of thought, research derivatives. Most of the debt of the US isn't even our debt. It was tacked on by illegal derivatives by shady globalist banking deals.

Sorry for this long post that hops from one topic to another. The bottom line is all our freedoms are being attacked and diminished. Free speech is under attack, people are being arrested for standing on street corners holding a sign against Obama. Gun owners are having homes invaded with no probable cause by the ATF in southern states like Texas when they buy 2 firearms at the same time. Congress denied them the law but they are doing it anyway.

See something, say something. Just like communist Russia. Spy on your neighbor mindset. These ads are popping up all over the US now. They do not portray a "typical" terrorist. They show white men and women. I didn't realize white men and women living in the US were suicide bombing.

Fat kids are now being put in a database and could potentially be taken from parents.
In Europe kids as young as 3 are being put in a database if they are racist. What? A 3 year old has no idea of race. This database could affect jobs in their future. This is an article in Newsweek by the way.

Have you heard enough? I think if you start researching these things you will come to the same conclusion I have. The US is in big trouble and unless we the people step up and take back our liberty then we deserve to lose it.

So What do I think of the Verizon iPhone?

2011-02-05T04:14:00.000-05:00

....and why should you care?

Actually, I'm glad Verizon is getting the iPhone. The when will it happen rumors were driving me insane. Report some real news for a change. Now maybe they can. In my humble opinion though I really feel the iPhone experience will be lessoned on Verizon, at least until a 4G iPhone comes out. I say this because only AT&T (and T-Mobile if you jailbreak) allow you to be online while on a phone call. Now I've seen people out there that say "So, who cares? I'm on a call to talk to somebody not surf the web." Here is why I think you will care in the end.

Say you are on a call and need to check something out, or verify directions, or confirm an email. You can't do that with Verizon. Now, those existing Verizon customers that have never been able to appreciate this feature may not miss it. Those that were AT&T customers and got used to doing that are going to go nuts. Again, many people may so who cares. Ever been on that phone call with someone you don't want to talk to but can't get off the line. It is nice to pass the time looking at stuff on the web while they yak on and on. With a few well placed mhmms, and uhuhs they are none the wiser.

Will the dropped call thing be better or worse than AT&T? I think this one will be a toss up. I did work for the evil AT&T for awhile and I got many a call from pissed off Verizon customers sick of crappy service. Just like I'm sure they get many of the same calls from pissed AT&T customers. It really depends on where you are located and the kind of service you get.

In the end though, I think the Verizon iPhone will do well. It will be nice when it is available on all the networks. That way maybe the pricing structure for data will change due to all the competition.

Apple, Droid, blah blah blah

2010-07-25T13:38:00.000-04:00

Like a bunch a sharks in a feeding frenzy the media is all over any news Apple these days, or Droid, AT&T, Verizon, etc. The effect is somewhat amazing at times and often the facts are not quite right, or blown a bit out of proportion.

Take the Apple antennagate issue for instance. Is this an issue that effects every or even a majority of iPhone 4 users? Seeing as how you still have to order one to get one I think not. In fact, it was a very small amount of people it affected. But to read the plethora of news stories you would think iPhone 4 was a bust. Even one Microsoft exec stated iPhone 4 was Apple's Vista....really? I really think iPhone 4 has sold more copies now than Vista has to date. Actually I have no hard data of this but the fact remains the Apple product remains quite popular and in strong demand while Vista is only mentioned with a horrified whisper.

Android should make Apple nervous articles always amuse me. Sure, Android is awesome. I love google products. Here is the thing though, with Android. It does not have the polish of IOS 4 on the user end of things. Take syncing music for an example. Apple made this chore a simple task with a nice front end. Plug in and wait for the most part. Doing that with ANY other device becomes a bit of a chore in comparison, and maybe even difficult for those that are not computer savvy. My friend and I were comparing his Droid to my iPhone 4. Both our takes on the devices were this. The display was spectacular on iPhone 4 compared to his Droid. The way you ended open apps in multitask was easier and more intuitive and folder creation was implemented in a more user friendly way. He still likes his Droid, and I became less interested in them after the comparison. My Brother bought a Droid against my advice. After having it less a month he threw it against the wall and is about to get an iPhone. The lack of responsiveness on the touchscreen drove him nuts.

Bottom line is this though, and debate on the subject is pretty much retarded. Who you use for your cell phone provider and what device you use is all personal choice. As I've said in the past, depending on who you talk to and where you are located will make a big difference on your opinion. At the end of the day, I could care less who you use or who you think is better. I'm more than happy with what I have.

I love the ever persistent iPhone on Verizon rumors. Two years of them. Again, big reason it didn't happen the first time was CDMA. Doesn't allow simultaneous data and voice. That is a big iPhone feature. Second, CDMA is old tech. The strain on the network would probably make it even more crippled than AT&T's became in dense population areas. AT&T has proven it is willing to spend money to improve things. Verizon? Only time will tell. They did stop installing their fiber optic FIOS network, while AT&T continues to push its own fiber optic U-Verse network. With Android 2.2 coming out and allowing up to 5 devices to share an internet connection over the 3G network sounds grand I really feel if enough people use that function it will begin to strain the aging Verizon CDMA network. And to all you sprint lovers out there loving the "4g" connection....it isn't true 4g. It is WIMAX. Yes, it is fast but their is a reason the rest of the world isn't using it. LTE is the way of the future and both Verizon and AT&T will be on it.

Rants of the day...

2009-11-19T23:32:00.002-05:00

So it has been awhile since I've gone on a rant. I've been trying to keep my blood pressure down by ignoring the news but it can no longer be helped. I have to rant.

First up, the AT&T and Verizon war. Do we really care? All cell phone providers suck in their own way. Is Verizon a bigger network? Sure, maybe so. But they are also running it on a dated CDMA network. Does AT&T coverage suck? Sure, in places. But then so does Verizon's and T-Mobiles, and Sprint. And for the record to the nay sayers out there. AT&T is the ONLY network where you can talk on your phone and surf the web same time. The ONLY network that has that capability. So cheer for your provider of choice, but just like a hot girl someone somewhere is sick of her shit.

My two cents on why it is absolutely retarded to bring gitmo terrorists to Illinois jails. Those in favor say look at the 1900 jobs it will create. Think how awesome it will be for our economy. People like me who are smart will say, ummmmmmm those jobs are state jobs hence payed for by the taxpayer. And how many hundreds of thousands of dollars per inmate does it cost taxpayers to keep people in jail? How do those two things help the taxpayer? How does adding more cost to the regular Joe improve the economy?

Healthcare...I've covered this rant before but my god. Let us do the math here shall we. At this point in time 10-11 million people are unable to get healthcare. Under the obamacare plan at least 17 million people will be unable to get healthcare. Score 1 for no change. Right now it costs us 4 billion (that is with a b) each year to care for ILLEGALS. Stop doing that already. I know people that did not go to the doctor because even with insurance the bill would be too high. Yet someone that is not even a legal citizen of this country can march in an emergency room, state they are illegal and be seen for free. Something stinks about that whole policy. How bout call immigration next time that happens. Sorry you are sick, go back to where you came from and try coming back here legally next time. And no I do not care if our system makes it too hard for them to do it properly. It is that way for a reason. The bottom line is obamacare will cost us 8 billion more a year to cover less people than our system already does that we have in place. So the figures I see just do not add up. Change for the sake of change is not the kind of change we need.

The TERRORIST from Ft. Hood has been brewing as a rant for some time now. If it walks like a duck, acts like a duck, and looks like a duck, then it is a duck. This mass murdering jihad freak is nothing more than a domestic terrorist. No, he was not suffering from PTSD like the media whores want you to believe. You kinda have to be deployed to get that, he never was. Besides, he was a head shrink so a deployment for him would have been nothing more than getting used to a warmer climate anyway. It makes me sick how the media is trying their hardest to paint this guy as some type of victim. The only thing he is a victim of is being a religious fanatic nutcase. I hope he suffers horribly before dying sometime soon. I'll just pray for that right now.

My solution to ending terrorist acts against this country is very simple. When we catch you, we will execute you by firing squad. But here is the kicker. It will be a FEMALE firing squad. Why you ask? Because these nutjobs believe that if they are killed by a woman they will not get their virgins. Kill a few of them with women, like asshole from Ft. Hood and see terrorist missions against the US decline. Hell, I bet membership to the cause would decline. Who would want to risk not getting their virgins?

Which Browser?

2009-09-02T01:49:00.004-04:00

Back in the early 90's you had only a few browser choices. Most people used the default AOL browser because it was already there. Others used Internet Explorer, and another group used Netscape Navigator. That was about it as far as choices went. IE and Netscape had the largest share of users in the mid to late 90's. The browser war was on, with each side inventing standards not supported by the other. Surfing the web had almost become a nightmare. Some sites were IE friendly, others were Netscape friendly. You almost had to use two browsers to experience everything, and that sucked.

Finally the World Wide Web Consortium or W3C was formed and web standards implemented and the rest is history. Slow moving history as the standards always seem to be slowly implemented due to the lack of people upgrading. Why do they not upgrade right away? Why do some people still insist on using IE6 even though it is many many years old? Netscape Navigator has died, or transformed rather in to Firefox, IE is still around and dominant, while a batch of new browsers has emerged. Which one do you use? Which one is the best? At this stage of the game, the best is most likely a matter of opinion.

Since IE has been in the game for quite some time I'll start with them. I don't use it. I stopped using IE several years ago when Firefox was born and never looked back. Newer versions are typical Microsoft. Copy, copy, copy. Nothing new, no trend setting. Like a 2nd rate designer using played out trends Microsoft just doesn't seem to know how to innovate. Sure, corporations love them because they work with their infrastructure but so would many of the other alternatives if given the chance. At one time I really liked IE, until I started designing web sites. They are the worst for implementing web standards, and even when they do it is still wrong. Oddly enough, most of the population still uses this browser so all the above is really just my opinion.

Next I'll go to Firefox because it has been my go to browser for quite some time now. The fact it was more secure from spyware, the add ons, the themes, and those awesome tabs made it an instant hit in my eyes. Lately it has become a bit bloated and is in need of an overhaul. My second favorite feature was the bookmarks bar. With a slick little add on I could shrink the bookmark down to just a favicon. I could have 25 links across the top and not even be half way across my screen. The fact I could add folders to the bar only increased the amount of visible bookmarks and is much more convenient than the bookmark menu. I also loved how FF dealt with saving my passwords to sites so I didn't have to remember them anymore. Then I bought a MacBook Pro and things changed for me.

Safari is where I'll go next. I've always hated Safari. The bare bones "chrome" look, no add ons, the way it displayed fonts compared to other browsers. I just didn't care for it much. But when I got my Mac and Safari 4 I thought what the heck, I'll try it out. Somehow it slowly grew on me and I found myself using it more than Firefox. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because much of what I liked in FF now was included in Safari. Rather than a bulky plus sign for new tabs, I just have to double click. I like that feature. Two things I do not like! I hate where Safari put the refresh button. Why is it separate from the rest of the navigation and way on the end of the URL bar? I also wish that I could favicon only the links in the bookmark bar. Anyway, now I found myself using both browsers at the same time. One for certain sites and tasks, the other for different sites and tasks. It seemed to be working out fine, until a friend showed me the Mac build site for Google Chrome...

Downloading Google Chrome was exciting. I had been wanting to try it out for quite awhile. Favorite feature, one box at the top of the screen for everything. Searches, URL's, whatever. Very slick, speedy, and handy. It was also fast. I could click on FF, Safari, and then Chrome. Chrome would be open by 5 or more seconds faster even though it was the last one clicked. It included most of the features I loved about FF and Safari, with a few tricks of its own. Plus it is speedy. The only reason I don't use it exclusively is because it is still a build, not even a beta so quite buggy and not full featured yet. I can not wait until it is.

So now I use three browsers, often all at once. Then Opera comes out with Opera 10. I had tried Opera before but didn't care for it. It wasn't as customizable as FF and using it seemed awkward to me. Version 10 is much better and adds some new features not seen on the other browsers. The thumbnail view is cool at first, but then to me anyway becomes a who cares feature. I don't need it. Some things I do not like at all are biggies in my book and put it in the bottom of the list for browsers I like. Well, above IE which I can't use on a Mac now anyway. The fact the tabs are on top is weird. Why put them so high. It makes switching with a mouse more of a burden than it should be. Sure, it is only like a half an inch further up, but it is further than I want to go. Second, it doesn't recognize the track pad gestures on my Mac. When I swipe three fingers to the left, I expect to go back a page. In Opera 10, nothing. So far it is the only browser to not support this feature. So after using it only a day I'm not fond of it at all. It does have quite a few widgets though. For those that like to collect them, Opera 10 is worth checking out.

So for now I guess I'll keep bouncing around with FF, Safari, and Chrome. I'm pretty sure Chrome will be my browser of choice once it is finalized for Mac. For now, I'm undecided on which browser is my favorite. Let me hear your thoughts on what you use and why.

Twitter, Google Street View, AT&T, and Apple whiners

2009-08-25T02:52:00.002-04:00

Reading the news headlines these past couple weeks makes me shake my head in wonder. I'm amazed at the ignorance of people out there that spew their opinions based on nothing more than fear, misinformation, and ignorance. What do I mean? Read on.

Twitter has been getting a lot of hate lately. Comments range from I don't care to read when someone eats or goes the bathroom to I don't want to know the inane details of people's lives. As a Twitter user, I can say that I've never read a tweet like any of those mentioned above. I only follow people I know, and they tweet things with substance. We are a group of friends separated by hundreds of miles and this is a way we can keep in touch, plan get togethers, or meet up with each other if we are in town. Other people on twitter use it to follow news, or world events. Sure, if you read unfiltered tweets you may run across the lame "eating dinner now" tweet, but most people don't use twitter like that.

Google Street View is in trouble again. This time the Swiss are making a stink about privacy concerns. I guess what gets me is these people complaining must not realize that if they are outside, their life is no longer private. If they stop at a light, their picture is taken, if they go shopping, they are on surveillance cameras. People have picture phones, cameras, and even spy cameras so your photo can be taken at anytime while you are in public. I don't see anyone coming to the defense of celebrities when photos of them are taken by paparazzi and published in magazines across the globe. But when it happens to you, and you are put on a web site oh my gosh, end of the world. Get a grip. Nobody cares if they see someone they don't know. If you are outside, don't expect privacy. It's almost like saying your privacy has been invaded if someone looks at you. Stop being retards.

AT&T whiners have a somewhat valid thing to whine about if they also happen to own an iPhone. Where is the MMS? Where is the tethering? I am anxious for MMS. Sure, it was something I could deal with not having, but I am sick of not having it now. But I can wait until it rolls out. Those groups that are suing are just retarded. These are the same people that wonder why insurance rates are so high, why malpractice rates are so high, and why lawyers are a dime a dozen.

Apple has been getting hit with a bit of bad press lately. I've given them some myself. Lately I've been seeing two sides to their coverage. Those that bash the "fanboys" and those that want to write an article based on nothing more than speculation and rumor. Stop it already. Everyday I see 30 articles about what Apple may be doing or thinking. And at the end of those articles are people chiming in with their two cents...twittering if you will as it amounts to the same thing.

What Apple says about Google voice; and why I call BS

2009-08-21T23:10:00.003-04:00

So in Apple's letter response to the FCC they state that they did not in fact reject the Google Voice App. They state that they are still pondering it because of the following reasons: It duplicates the iPhone's call and SMS features, which could confuse users and it transfers contacts to Google servers, making Apple question how secure that would be.

Now here is why I call bullshit. First, Google Voice at this time is by invite only. Users of this service are more tech savy than the casual user. Meaning I think they would understand that if they click the Google Voice App that they downloaded it would be giving them different phone features than if they clicked the iPhone phone App.

Reason two of why I cry bullshit is this. If a user chooses to sync their contacts with Google, or Yahoo they are in effect putting their contacts on those servers. I know at this time I sync with Google and any contact on my phone is automatically and almost instantly synced to their server from my phone. This is my favorite feature as it backs up all my contacts in a second place.

So for Apple to specifically site the contact sync as a reason for stalling is complete and utter bullshit because they already allow it. I only hope someone from the FCC reads this and asks Apple to clarify why it is OK for it to happen with an Apple app, but not a Google app.

I am very curious why Google opted to keep part of their response private. I can only imagine that it slams Apple in some way and they did not want that public. Part of their letter was blatant in the fact that they had no restrictions on App approval for their Android store, nor was the Android store the only means of getting apps for Android based phones. This thinly veiled slam against Apple makes me think even more was said not viewable by the public.

Obama and National Healthcare...

2009-08-14T02:11:00.003-04:00

I have blogged about this before, but with recent events it seems worth a small revisit. Tempers are hot on both sides of the debate, and seemingly both sides have valid points. Here is the thing, from my perspective and limited knowledge. Me talking from my ass if you will, although I'm doing it from the standpoint of I have done some research in this matter. More so than the average American anyway...

First and foremost, to date our GOVERNMENT has bankrupted social security, made a mess of Medicaid, and has passed huge bailout money to failing companies that have deserved to fail due to shady business practices. Do we really trust them to run yet another healthcare/welfare program?

On one side of the aisle people will scream about the 20 million Americans without healthcare. The one fact though is anyone that really needs to see a doctor can not be turned away, even if they are uninsured. So in reality everyone can get healthcare if they need it.

The other side to include me states this. I make my own way in life, I do not need GOVERNMENT taking care of me. When you start letting the government run things for you those things become bogged down. Red tape is introduced in to your life, and so is a bit more government control. Look at welfare. Sure, it has helped many thousands of people that really needed it. But for every one person it has helped, it has created five more just looking for a free handout. Why work if someone else will? Now welfare limps along helping some and causing freeloaders of more. The scary thing is this mentality is passed down from parent to child and the cycle never breaks.

The side that is for social healthcare wants to point at the Netherlands. Look how great it is over there! We want that! Do they want the 60% or higher tax to go along with it? No, they only want to tax the "rich" ie those who make $250,000 or more a year. Well that "rich" number is getting lower with time. Why do you think Obama and the Dems want this rushed through so fast? So we the people don't realize how messed up it is until it is too late.

Lets look at the Netherlands again. They have been doing social healthcare longer than anyone else. The long term result of government control is cutting the budget because this system is expensive! In the Netherlands patricide and infanticide are common practice. "My parents are too old and can no longer function." Bye Bye. "I'm sorry, your son was born with deformities." Bye Bye. So what Palin may have been trying to say is just that. The end result becomes something we just may abhor.

My last and final point, and perhaps the strongest one of all is this. If social healthcare is soo flipping great then why are members of congress above it? If it isn't good enough for them, it isn't good enough for me or my family either. When congress can hammer out a social healthcare system that includes them, I will be all for it. But the fact they make sure to spell out they will be exempt from it tells me it isn't as great as they tell me it is. Until this changes, join with me and tell Obama "Thanks, but NO Thanks!"

Microsoft Word case and other anomolies

2009-08-12T12:25:00.003-04:00

A judge has ordered an injunction against any sale of Microsoft Word until the case is settled. A lot of MS bashers are probably rejoicing at this news. The main problem I see with this case is a problem with our flawed legal system and our very flawed patent system. The so called patent sounds like it is trying to put a patent on XML, which is open source code and also what word is based on. I am sick and tired of second rate companies popping up out of the woodwork with a patent against a large successful company with their hands out wanting money. It is this type of behavior that has our legal costs, and insurance costs out of control. If you have a legit claim that is one thing, but I for one am tired of all these "broad patent filings" that are filed just to make a quick buck off someone else. Where was this company 10 years ago? 15 years ago? Word has been around for quite awhile and to lay claim to it now is just retarded. Why would you not open your mouth about a copyright infringement as soon as you were aware of it. Was this company in a cave with Bin Laden for the past decade or so?

Real Networks DVD copying software also has an injunction against sales on it. If you grew up in the 80's and dubbed your tapes and recorded songs of the radio raise your hand. If you copied VHS movies and recorded live TV raise your hand. It wasn't hurting the movie/music business back then, and it isn't hurting them now. So why are they making such a huge fuss over it? It isn't like the common consumer is out making thousands of copies for resale. Fair use is fair use. If I want a backup copy of something I own I should be allowed to do so!

In other news I just read an article that says the fancy telescope Spitzer caught a "rare" collision of planets. The article then states that in the solar system Peacock a 12 million year old star blah blah blah. How do they know it is 12 million years old? They can not even say for sure how old our star is. To state it as fact is ludicrous. To claim they can tell us how old a star is that is 100 light years away is insane. I mean, it would take 100 years at the speed of light to get there, yet they are telling us how old it is? Give me a break.

Trying my hand at the App Store

2009-08-11T02:33:00.002-04:00

While looking through the Apple App Store I noticed an App that wasn't there that should be. Why should it be there you wonder? Because it is something that is quite popular, yet nobody has done it for the App store yet, that is why. So what is this mystery app that I speak of? Not telling you. Not yet anyway. I have to get it built first silly, or some random reader could steal my idea and get it done before I do. I believe that I have discovered an untapped niche on the App Store and plan on filling it nicely.

Actually my idea was for two separate Apps, but I decided it would be a better value to combine them in to one solid App. The only problem I had was I'm not a programmer. I don't know C, Progressive-C or any other variant. Lucky for me I remembered a good friend from my Air Force days that is becoming pretty slick with programming. A few emails later and I have a partner.

Now I'll see firsthand how rough or easy working with Apple can be. I'm curious how they will respond to my niche. Perhaps it is unfilled because they refuse to approve these type of Apps. Perhaps nobody has tried it yet. I will keep you updated on the process as things develop.

MacBook Pro 17" review after 6 months of use

2009-08-02T14:29:00.002-04:00

Roughly six months and some change ago I finally purchased a 17" MacBook Pro. At the time I also opted for several upgrades including 4 gigs of ram, the faster of the two available processors, and the 7800 rpm 320 gig hard drive. This setup is probably overkill for a typical user, but I do a lot of graphic intensive work so it was needed. Thanks to student loans I was also able to grab the 24" LCD monitor made just special for MacBooks.

So after using this setup for six months I thought I would write a type of follow up review. How does OS X work after lots of daily use for this amount of time? Has the laptop slowed down like windows does? Any issues pop up? Only these kinds of questions can be answered with time.

In short, I was at one time a loyal windows user. At one time I even hoped that Apple would just go away. Then Mr. Jobs came back to Apple and revived the company like nobody's business. In short, I most likely will never own a PC again. Yes, I like my MacBook that much.

The biggest love I have for my MacBook is the HUGE track pad. I love this thing. I have even stopped using my Wacom Tablet for everything but tasks that need the utmost accuracy. Surfing the web with that track pad is great. Two fingers up or down scroll the page. Three fingers left or right move you forwards or backwards in history, two finger tap for a right click. Four finger up or down swipe to see all open windows/programs and moving the chosen one to the front. It's perfect, easy, and quicker than a mouse. My only gripe is the three finger forward and back swipe isn't as responsive as it should be at times. But all in all this is truly a must have feature and I can't imagine not having it now that I've used it this long. As a side note, it makes going to a tiny PC track pad a nightmare as I'm constantly fighting with it as my fingers intuitively want to use the Apple gestures now.

When Apple says it just works, they mean it. I have an older Epson printer, copier, scanner deal. It will not work with a PC unless you use the included disk to install the software and drivers. With Vista I had to go online and find the Vista drivers after using the disk just to make it work. The entire process takes about a half hour or longer. On a whim I plugged it in to my MacBook Pro and wham, it recognized the printer and printed my pages out. No setup, nothing. Last week I had to print out a resume'. My printer was out of ink so I went next door to borrow my neighbors printer. His was even older and even though the driver for his model wasn't found, I used one that was close from the drop down list and bam, I was in business. This is just something Apple has done right that a PC can only dream of doing at this time.

The speed is still roughly the same as when I first bought it. Sure, at times I get the spinning wheel of death. Nothing is perfect, not even a Mac. Menus fly open, programs load quickly, so the speed side of things is great, still, after six months of heavy usage.

Battery life was never as good as advertised. But then again I don't use my system in the most battery saving way either. I like my screen bright when I edit photos or watch movies. I never use the slower of the two processors. I tried using the slower one for awhile but didn't like it. After being used to the speed of the faster one I just couldn't bring myself to wait those few seconds longer. With ample power around me why bother with it?

So what is a typical usage day for me? I usually have Safari open, Firefox, and iTunes open at all times. When I'm doing graphic design work I will also have open Adobe Bridge, Photoshop, and depending on what I'm working on also Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and sometimes Flash. My MacBook setup handles this with ease. I have the entire Adobe Creative Suite which includes 10 memory hogging programs. I opened and used all of them at once and barely noticed a slowdown in performance. With eight gigs of ram I know it would be even better!

So you may be wondering with all this good what is the bad? Well, the bad for me so far has been minimal. This baby runs hot with usage. At times it is almost uncomfortable on my lap. Sometimes software isn't developed for it as fast as for windows. (I'm still waiting for Chrome, Google!) Although it doesn't happen often, the spinning wheel of death is a pain. With the setup I have it shouldn't happen ever...at least not when all I have open is two browsers and iTunes. Many people hate the glossy screen. After using it for 6 months I like it. It does seem to attract dirt or get a greasy looking spot on it. I'm not sure how this happens as I never touch the screen, but it happens. My biggest gripe really is the keyboard. I miss the number pad to the right. I would have though it would be included on the 17" model due to the extra room. I'm one of those that learned to use it and I miss it not being there.

All in all though, I have found my user experience to be more enjoyable on a Mac than it ever was on a PC. Things just work. I don't have spyware or virus problems, and everything is still as speedy as the day I bought it even though I have loaded up on lots of programs. Sure, the initial investment was a bit higher. But I also got a lot of software included that I would have had to buy with a PC. In the end the cost evens out one way or another. With Apple you pay it up front. With a PC you spread it out a little.

Companies that have ticked me off

2009-07-17T01:42:00.002-04:00

This article has been a long time coming, I just wasn't ready to write it yet. Thankfully by waiting I've been able to add to the list. So, without further ado, here goes.

Quality Movers: First off, STAY AWAY from them. They are the WORST moving company I have ever dealt with. Long story short is this. We asked to move on a specific date three months in advance. We were told that was perfect and they would see us then. That day rolls around and the movers are a no show. I send my family off 1500 miles on their own while I take a day off work and wait for them to show up. After several phone calls to them I'm told they will be there. They show up at 10:30 at NIGHT. They do a half ass rush job of loading the truck in darkness and realize they don't have enough room to get all our stuff on so they need to come back. I had to be at my weekend drill with the Army the next day so I said fine, but they had to be done by 5pm latest. They said they would see me by noon. They show up at three instead. They were not going to be done by 5. I had to call my Brother to finish up so I could go to drill. The topping on the cake was the bill. Because WE didn't estimate correctly it went from just under $1000 to almost $6000. Are you friggin kidding me? What can you do at this point but agree. They already have half your stuff somewhere and I'm leaving the state in two days.

And then it gets worse. We were told 7-10 days for delivery time. The fine print states 21 days max. Guess what. On the 21st day we got our stuff. I'm sure if I hadn't made repeated phone calls it would have been longer. The lady that worked in the office would give us one date. That date would pass with no belongings being delivered. I would call and ask her why I was told a date only for it to not happen. She would basically say she never said that. Was she calling me a LIAR?

So we finally get our stuff later in the day on the 21st day. We were told our price went up so much because we had soooo much stuff that we would be using an entire truck. Well, when all was said and done we used just over 1/4 of a trailer. Just about what we had estimated. So we paid for an entire trailer but didn't use an entire trailer. So to sum up the horrible Quality Movers experience: Very Rude customer service. Very Rude. The operator of Indian (dot not feather) race was particularly rude. We were ripped off on the price, and they damaged some of our stuff. On top of that it took them forever to get our stuff delivered. Stay away from Quality Movers at all costs. It would be cheaper to buy everything new. We have a claim in with their claim department but I"m not optimistic. Lucky I have photos of how much trailer we used if I have to go to the next level.

Aqua Texas: Why I hate them. They buy up small water companies and then turn around and triple the rates on customers. Our water bill is $189.00 before water usage. That portion is for sewer and fees. Tack on the water usage and you are looking at over $200 a month. They don't improve the system in anyway to justify the cost. If they do guess what, your bill goes up more to pay for the labor to improve the system. They are evil plain and simple.

Apple. I love Apple but lately I've become a bit disturbed by them. From releasing glitchy iPhones to draconian rules on their app store they are turning in to a large company that walks over their customers. I'm not so mad at them I'll stop using their products, but I am keeping my eye on them. Hell, who am I kidding....I love you Apple, try harder to not be such assholes at times.

AT&T. Need I explain this one? Besides shoddy service, making us iPhone users wait for god knows how long for MMS and tethering, horrible customer service, and did I mention crappy ass service? I wanted to change my number after I moved. I hate having to dial an area code for everything local to me. Seemed easy enough. Made a phone call, waited on hold for a few minutes, got transfered around a few times, gave each person I talked to my phone number, name, and last four of the social (like 7 times...really?) until I get to someone that can help. She was great, we chatted while she did her thing, even read me the list of numbers and let me choose one I wanted. Perfect. We get it all set up, I send out dozens of texts, emails, and phone calls updating everyone with my new number. Later that evening I discover although I can make calls, send and receive texts, I can't get incoming calls! They go to some dude's voice mail. (Hey fella, if you are reading this sorry about the goofy messages from my kid, she didn't know.) So I call AT&T around 10pm hoping to get it resolved. I figured my SIM card didn't fully update or something. Well, it turns out AT&T doesn't support contract phones after business hours. Only prepay customers get 24 hour support. WTF? So the loyal contract user is ass out while some dickhead that can't get a contract gets priority? That is jacked up and ass backwards. So I call the next day. I call the SAME number I used the night before. Only this operator tells me she can't help, and gives me a new number to call. So I call that number and it is for promotions. So I call the old number, wait on hold, and get a second number to call. It rings and rings and rings and rings and nothing answers. So I call back, get a THIRD number to call and finally get someone. After dicking around with this guy for about 15 minutes I'm told he can't figure it out but someone will call me that day with a resolution. I ask how they are going to call me if it is the only phone I have and the calls do not go to me. Good Point, I'm told. So he puts me through to tech support. At least this guy had a brain and in about 5 minutes figures out AT&T does not own the number they gave me and I have to get a new number. But don't worry pal, I'll put a note on your account so you are not charged for a new number. What? It was free the first time, why wouldn't correcting a mistake be free as well? So yeah, they need to work on customer support big time. Especially the 3 different phone number thing to get help, I was ready to commit homicide over that.

Why I jailbroke my iPhone

2009-07-15T05:12:00.002-04:00

I was one of those iPhone purists for quite awhile. Why jailbreak I thought, the risk of screwing it up isn't worth it. Then I learned how easy it is to recover your iPhone to factory settings. If all else fails, you can force restore via iTunes.

In time jailbreaking became more popular and apps that Apple would never approve for their store started showing up. The thing is, some of these apps are ingenious. Some are not really apps at all, but tweaks. Want five icons in your dock instead of four? Their is a tweak for it. Want to create folders to put all like apps in one spot thus saving you tons of room on the springboard? Their is an app for that. Want tethering now? Want to customize anything? Want to make your own theme? Want different sounds? You get the idea, their is an app for it. Just not with apple. I'm surprised that they don't offer many of these standard on the iPhone actually.

Can Apples recent success have gone to their heads? Perhaps they have become so involved in admiring their greatness they can't see the forest for the trees. Innovation can come from everywhere and they should not be shutting out these new innovators unlocking the hidden capabilities of this great phone.

When you jailbreak your phone, which is a matter of downloading a program like redsn0w and running it while your iPhone is hooked up via usb cable you get a new app called cydia. This app gives you access to all the goodies and more above. Cydia has also created its own app store. No pirated apps allowed! Apple has turned its lawyers loose and they want to shut it down. The thing is, I don't feel they can after reading some law case studies about the topic. A company can not lock its system down to prevent third parties from developing programs to run on it. That stifles innovation.

Apple is being a bit pigheaded about this and I can understand why. The app store is generating huge profits for them and they want to protect that. However, when you don't approve apps for things like a typo somewhere, or don't even give a reason is ridiculous. To not approve an app because it mirrors something one of your apps does is something Microsoft would do. Dear Apple, you are not like Microsoft but you are starting to act like them in regards to your app store policies.

Anyway, back to why I jailbroke my iPhone. Basically, I was curious. It seemed hard to do and apps hard to find just reading about the process online. However, it is one of those things that if you are half way smart about things once you do it everything you were reading that didn't make sense suddenly does. So I took the plunge and jailbroke my precious iPhone. I then downloaded themes, tweaks, apps, and sounds. I changed at&t to my first name and the clock on the main screen now says my design company name. My background and icons look like glass and when I lock and unlock my iPhone it makes the lightsaber on and off sounds respectively. When my phone is charging it has a cool looking sphere that has blue fluid in it to show how much my iPhone is charged. I have folders for games, tools, shopping, and misc. I can link it to my macbook pro via wifi and transfer files back and forth, or I can connect with a usb and do the same thing. I can play Zelda on NES or SNES thanks to some sweet emulators. Your non jailbroke iPhone can only dream of the things my jailbroke iPhone can do...

A Petition to Apple about App approvals

2009-07-10T14:05:00.002-04:00

This is an open letter to Apple.

Dear Apple,

You have a great product with the iPhone, and your app store is great. However, with the advent of 3.0 you introduced a rating system yet do not take advantage of it. I can name several apps that were fine before 3.0, as in they were approved. When said apps were forced to do an update to work correctly they were not approved! This type of business practice is unfair to the developers and the users that love those apps.

It is time to loosen the standards a little bit. If an app is rated 17+ then it should be expected to contain a bit of nudity. Not porn of course, but nudity. That is the reason for ratings is it not?

Further, the approval process needs to be examined as it takes way to long for something to get approved in your store. What will it take to open your eyes that the end user is getting tired of the tyrannical way in which you are running the app store? Perhaps if the iPhone community started jailbreaking their phones on a grand scale and using apps not from the app store would your eyes open up.

Do not make the mistake of trying to rule with an iron fist. It is not your job to play nanny state with the populace on what we have on our phone and what is or isn't allowed. Open up your standards and use the ratings as they are intended or deal with the fact us users will be jailbreaking our phones to get what we want.

Petitioners, sign in the comment section. When this reaches several thousand it will be sent on to Apple to show them we are serious.

Obama: is he a threat to our freedom?

2009-06-10T12:37:00.002-04:00

Well BO has appointed yet another czar. How many does this make? I believe it is 19. That is 19 offices with broad power, none of which answer to congress, only BO himself. This should really start to scare Americans as BO has been slowly, neigh, rapidly grabbing executive power. Out of all the Presidents this country has seen, none have grabbed as much power for themselves as BO has. Read some history books folks. This is what all dictators do in the beginning. They slowly grab power while quietly removing your freedom bit by bit until it is too late to do anything about it. Next thing you know gulag squads are dragging dissenters away in the middle of the night. Not in America you say?

To date, since BO has been in office he has taken control of GM, the banks, and has been appointing czars of HIS choosing that only answer to him. He wants to install a "civilian" police force aka gulag aka SS that is bigger and better funded than the military. What happens when government has to bail out the failing newspapers, radio stations, and tv stations? Thats right, government owns them. They then dictate what they say, who advertises, what they broadcast ect. Think I'm exaggerating? What kind of cars will GM be building? The small little tinker toy type that they drive in France, thats what. Who wants them? BO does, thats who. He even fired GM's CEO to make it happen.

The funny thing is he does this all in the name of the financial crisis, and to make the US more "green". The BO worshippers think he is brilliant for these moves and applaud him for it. Little do they realize soon this country will no longer be the home of the free, but the home of the controlled. I like my freedom of CHOICE. That is being taken from me. I like my SUV because I camp, hunt, and fish. I really do not see a little tinker toy pulling a boat or getting me to a camping site down a long bumpy two track. I really do not believe in global warming. Trees love carbon dioxide, yet it is being treated as some kind of evil gas that is warming our planet. How about planting more to offset the imbalance. To logical?

BO also says it is OK to borrow money to implement social healthcare. Even EU is telling us not to do that as the system just doesn't work. The level of care goes down, and wait times are horrible. Not to mention the debt. Someone is paying for healthcare, free or otherwise. Our system is not perfect, but it is better than everyone else's.

Remember, Obama said, "America is the greatest country in the world. Help me change it..."

AT&T: ignorance and greed personified

2009-06-08T19:04:00.004-04:00

The greed and ignorance of AT&T never ceases to amaze me. They claim to have one of the largest networks in the country, yet for some reason they are known for having the worst coverage.

Now that the iPhone 3GS has been announced they (AT&T) have dropped the ball once again. Well, at least three times in my book. 1. They are the only carrier to not offer MMS for the iPhone by the launch date. WTF? Why is this so hard for them to do seeing as how they offer it for other models in their line up. 2. They will be the only carrier to not offer a tethering package at launch of new iPhone. 3. They are not offering an upgrade price to older iPhone users based on how much time they have left on their contracts.

Checking AT&T's site I can get an upgrade price at the end of Feb, 2010. This puts me into the last year of my contract. Not a very good deal for me, as first gen iPhone users were offered an upgrade price. Perhaps Apple will offer a better deal after enough customers grumble. Maybe they won't.

Bottom line is if Verizon becomes a carrier before AT&T allows me to upgrade I'm jumping ships. I've missed Alltel's superior network since leaving them for the iPhone so perhaps I can be happy once again.

I hope you get the message loud and clear AT&T. You are pissing off your strongest customer base. Do you really want all of us mad at you and ready to leave at the first chance? Many of us broke contracts to get an iPhone with you, so what makes you think we won't break your contract on your crappy network to go with someone offering a sweeter deal? I hope your PR people are having nightmares and fits over all the bad press you are receiving and I PRAY Apple works out a deal with another carrier in the very near future!

For now I'll do what I've been doing. Enjoy my awesome iPhone and complain about the service I get with AT&T. In fact, that should be a T-Shirt. Q: How do you like your iPhone? A: I love it, expect for AT&T.

If I only had a dollar for every time I said that...

Why I shake my head at the news...and a rant

2009-04-16T04:29:00.003-04:00

Headlines of the past week or so.

Homeland Security claims veterans are a threat risk

Spam has a carbon footprint equal to driving three feet

Republicans hold tea party...(only republicans? not quite but ok)

Rendell wants to reinstate ban on assault rifels

Obama lifts travel ban to Cuba without preconditions

8 Year old girl found dead in suitcase, possible rape and murder committed by woman

Obama travels EU bashing the US. Has he no shame?

French President claims Obama Weak and Ineffective

Tens of thousands protest taxation without representation in so called tea parties

NSA exceeds legal limits in eavesdropping

Has America lost its mind? This is just a small sample of the crazy news I've been hearing. It seems when liberals are in power, things go very wrong very fast. This is a great country, but it seems that it has become sick. Sick with corruption, power grabbing, socialist thinking, and fear.

Fear is the key word here. The libs have learned to use fear to control us. This is how the minority has become the voice of the silent majority. Thankfully we are rising up. The tea parties are just the start. The libs are scared. Can you see it? Can you feel it? Already they are trying to use fear to control the uprising. Beware the white supremest groups. They are responsible for the unrest, because we have a (half) black president. But the lib media doesn't stop there. Oh no, lets throw in veterans and repbulicans as well. These are the main groups that are angry. Lets deal with them by associating them with a hate group and turning it into a white vs. black thing.

It makes me sick. Its time to take our country back from corruption. Lets shrink government so it does what its supposed to do and not what its not, like running my life. Lets disband the IRS, which is an illegal institution that was supposed to have been disbanded at the end of WWII. Lets start a flat tax that EVERYONE pays, not just the few. Lets stop with the crazy political correctness and start living. We are Americans, lets act like it. I saw us band together after 9/11. Lets band together now. I look back to the roaring 20's when it meant something to be American. Immigrants came to this country with nothing, and worked hard to get something. They came here to fight in WWII not as Spanish-Americans, or Jewish-Americans, but as AMERICANS. Now immigrants come here with there hands out. They don't want to work, they want a free ride. Illegals come here with there hands out looking for a free ride. And the libs give it to them. Have health care, have a baby, start a business tax free for 7 years. And WE pay for it. We who work hard, live here legally, and are proud to be American. We PAY for it. All of it. Lets take back what is ours and put America back where it should be. In control of the people. We are a Capitalist, Democratic Nation, and that is why it is so great. A poor person can become a CEO of a billion dollar company, a woman can speak her mind, a child can dream of becoming an astronaut and make it a reality. We are a melting pot of nationality's, and that is why America is so GREAT. Rise up silent majority, and be heard. Rise up, and do what is right, Rise UP and give sound to your voice.

FT Custer Traing 05/09

2009-04-06T03:47:00.006-04:00

Some training photos this weekend. This may take awhile to load...

Some New Photos of Ford Airport

2009-03-20T15:27:00.002-04:00

Here are some new shots of the Gerald R. Ford Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Why Congress Has Failed!

2009-03-20T02:04:00.002-04:00

Last year AIG gave full disclosure on everything to do with their financial situation, including paying out contractual bonuses. Now I don't agree on giving a bonus if you're in the red, but it was in the contract. Bad business I guess. So congress rushes out a stimulus package without even reading it. They did not READ one page of it. Should I say it one more time. They passed a bill without even KNOWING WTF was in it.

So AIG gets their bonuses out. Sure, that should make us mad but congress knew about this stuff before hand and did not ensure the stimulus prohibited it. What should really make us not only mad, but scared is the fact they are now passing a law to go after this money and tax it. By 90%! Are you kidding me? The only reason it wasn't taxed 100% was they wanted to leave some left for the states to tax. They are basically saying we are taking your wealth retro-activley because we screwed up. Where do they draw the line with this? Can they down the road say so and so made too much therefore we are going to suddenly tax you retro-activley to make up for it?

The real root of the problem is the corruption in congress! They were elected to serve the people, not take our money to give to failing companies. It is pretty obvious that AIG has poor business practices. To gurantee a bonus even if the company is in the red is just riduculous for one thing. What other dumb things do they do? A company like this deserves to fail, not get bailed out by tax payers. This is how free market enterprise works. Those who practice sound business policies succeed, those who don't fail.

The new rumor is BO wants to create civil unrest so government can step in and take over. Question: What is claimed when society revolts? Answer: Martial Law.
Who enforces martial law? The military, thats who. Now, does BO really think the military is going to back him and his corrupt government, or the people they are sworn to protect? Maybe he should realize the military is sworn to protect America from all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC! So far his actions are not very friendly to America, unless you are a corrupt fat cat politician that is.

Obama Continues to Fail US Soldiers

2009-03-14T13:44:00.003-04:00

Obama is now refusing to call terrorists that attack the United States enemy combatants. Really BO? Then just what is a militant person who attacks us to be called? A pissed off foreigner? If someone attacks us, they are the enemy. Plain and simple BO, it makes things easy. By not calling them the enemy are you saying you want to grant them US rights and give them trial lawyers? The UCMJ is around for a reason Barry. The trial system is for US Citizens, not terrorists or illegal immigrants that don't live in this country. Just to be clear, in case you missed that memo.

In further news, BO also wants soldiers that were injured in combat to pay for their own medical costs. WTF Obama? Are you really serious? You really want the military to turn its back on you, don't you? As a member of the armed forces, I'm going to say right now that with these last two actions against myself and all other members of the military I am ashamed to refer to you as my commander in chief. You do not have my respect. You are ruining this country. Try ruling for the people, and not with your ego you prick.

My Review of the Macbook Pro 17" Laptop

2009-03-11T20:11:00.002-04:00

After weeks and weeks of waiting I finally received my MBP in the mail. It is awesome, gorgeous, and fun to use. It is also my first Mac computer. I love it. I installed all my software, files, and photos with no problems. It recognizes hardware easily. So what is my gripe?

The claims of 7 to 8 hour battery life, that is my gripe. So far the best I've done is about 5 hours. Not bad, but still hours short of the claim. The five hour time though was basically having it on and not doing much else. That also includes about four hours of sleep time and I was left with about 3% battery life left. Having bluetooth on drains the battery faster than having it off, and I keep the keyboard back light to just one titch away from being off and the monitor is below half for brightness.

Getting 4 hours plus of normal usage is a plus, but that is half of the claim. Maybe I have a crappy battery, or maybe Apple exaggerated the battery life claim....a bit.

Obama to destroy our country?

2009-02-27T15:18:00.005-05:00

After promising not to raise taxes, BO's new budget does just that. After saying his budget would not include earmarks, it does just that....9,000 of them! After promising to end the Iraq war he does that....sort of, if you don't count the 50,000 plus troops that will remain there in 2010.

BO claimed the "rich" would pay for all the new tax programs. Now he says they will pay for the national health care plan instead. Who will pay for all of this crazy big government out of control spending? The middle class, thats who. Our Kids, and their kids. Fiscal responsibility my ass!

Taxes for small business, taxes for those who were frugal and saved, taxes for the "rich" who worked hard and went to school to get a good job. Who benefits from all this? The lazy, poor people that don't want to work? I guess to them this is a great deal. Those that bought a home they couldn't afford because the liberal democrats imposed rules and laws on the banks. Yeah, they will benefit from my hard work.

With China being begged to buy up our debt via bonds it becomes very clear they could destroy us simply by reselling those bonds on the world market at a steeply discounted price! Every time BO mentions nationalizing the banking system the stocks plunge by hundreds of points.

Wall Street has no faith in this big budget, big government, stimulus package. Why should we? One just has to look at the Carter or Lyndon B eras to see these plans are not new, and were devasting to the country. It wasn't that long ago, but it seems we are doomed to one again repeat history.

Who is John Galt? Hopefully the silent majority will be soon.

New Photos, New Purchases

2009-02-18T02:32:00.002-05:00

So I've been and will be a spending fool for the next few days. Thanks to a decent tax return and some student loan refunds I have been able to invest in some things that I've been needing, and some things that I've been wanting. My 17" MacBook Pro is on order and should be arriving in a few weeks, I just bought the 24" LCD monitor to go with it and I can't wait to use them together!

I'm also getting my 40 caliber SIG handgun soon. I've been wanting one for years. Since BO is going to try and outlaw the lower receiver of M4's I'm getting one this weekend too. Hell, I have to protect my new toys right?

Last but not least, I've gotten a new camera lens. I purchased the Sigma 150-500mm lens. I'm a bit of a Nikon snob, but this lens is great for the price. You can get great shots hand holding at 500mm. The images tend to need more sharpening than usual but that is easy. At times contrast is soft as well, but fixed in camera raw. Here are some shots I took while at work. All these shots were taken shooting through filmy glass windows, which may give you an idea how nice this lens is.

HDR Photos of Grand Rapids

2009-01-27T05:04:00.004-05:00

I thought I'd share some photos I took tonight for a school project. Nothing super fancy done post processing, just some tweaks in Camera Raw. Of course these images are copyrighted by me so no unauthorized usage thanks. Click the photos for a larger view!

Biden Disrespects Tomb of Unkown Soldier

2009-01-21T03:08:00.002-05:00

BO and Biden visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. To show respect you walk backwards from the tomb as it is disrespectful to turn your back on it until you are outside the wreaths. After plunking down his wreath Biden performs an about face and strolls out. BO managed to do it properly and walked backwards.

Its this kind of disrespect to the armed forces that I've been fearing from this administration. I couldn't help but notice that when BO walked by the Marines today he just strolled on by not giving them a glance. They were treated like invisible house servants. Bush always made a point of nodding at them, giving them a smile, and shaking hands.

To the MEDIA! Obama is NOT the first black president. Or to put it the PC way, he is NOT the first African American president. He is MIXED. His Mother was White or Causcasion if you prefer, not BLACK. A minor detail maybe, until the time comes when we actually elect a full Black man or woman to be president. Then what? He or she gets shafted because you have wrongly bestowed the title to BO.

In other news. BO is shutting down Gitmo. Some say about time. BO is also trying to use some diplomacy in the Middle East. Again some say about time. However! Forty, that is 40, 10 x 4 = 40 Al Queda nut jobs killed themselves while experimenting with dirty bombs and bio weapons. They haven't given up on taking the fight to the next devastating level. Good thing BO is closing down Gitmo, it would be a shame if we had to waterboard someone to find out where the next dirty bomb the Hadji's make is going to be planted. Hopefully the jihad minded freaks remain stupid and keep killing themselves. Maybe they will unleash the plauge on themselves solving 90% of the worlds problems by wiping out the majority of their population.

Last but not least, a message for Mr. Bush.
As Hannity says and how I agree. Thank you Bush for keeping our country safe the past 8 years. Under you we have not been attacked in all that time. Thank you for having the balls to stick to your convictions and see the job through. I only hope BO doesn't undo what you have done.

Thank you for the tax cuts. The extra money I kept really helped me out. The child tax credits have been great as well.

Although I don't really agree with all the Patriot Act does, I do admit it seems to have been effective. As a Libertarian though I won't be sorry to see it go if it does. But Thank You for having the balls once again to get aggressive to keep us safe.

Thank You for how well you treated your troops. I've read and or heard story after story by those that had the honor to shake your hand. They all said the same thing about you. You made them feel like they were the only ones in the room. You were a genuine person with a strong aura. I also like how you paid attention to those protecting you. It seems that will come to an end with BO.

Thank You for being the whipping boy for the liberal media. Your Presidency was one that was very challenging. You inherited a recession from Clinton, you dealt with the most devasting attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, and you tackled terrorism on two fronts while most of the world ridiculed you. Yet you never wavered from your path. You stood tall and proud.
History WILL be kind to you. America has lost its mind a little right now. The press is full of social minded liberal lunatics and many people take what they read at face value. However, history will remember the good things you did. Hold your head high. You did much to be proud of.

New Photo

2009-01-17T19:27:00.003-05:00

While in one of my classes dealing with digital SLR cameras my Prof said something that made the last piece of the puzzle drop in place. I can now use my camera in Manual Mode with out the guess work. This makes me happy because it has opened up new doors for me in my photography. I had to rush to work after class but got a chance to snap a shot of a co-worker. He recently came home safe from Iraq.

Nothing super fancy in post processing, just good lighting and some tweaks in camera raw gave me this effect. No filters or plug ins needed.

Gripes

2009-01-17T12:33:00.002-05:00

It has been awhile since my last batch of gripes. I've been trying to not watch the news because it is so slanted but some headlines just scream at me from google news.

1. EU is suing Microsoft again for its "IE monopoly". Give me a break man. Microsoft makes windows, it also makes IE. It makes business sense to bundle the two together. Its not like it prevents anyone from using another browser or three if they wish. I for one love and use Firefox exclusively. Besides, for how much market share IE has lost the talk of monopoly is pretty much null in my opinion. Oh, Opera is behind this one. Opera, your browser may render CSS better than IE, but it is clunky and hard to use.

2. BO (Obama) wants to delay the digital television change over by three months. Why? We have been told this was going to happen for years now. Besides, wouldn't new TV sales help the economy a little bit? I really don't see a point in a delay.

3. After having one of the coldest winter in years, why do I still hear talk of global warming. Especially now that talk of an ice age is once again popping up? This winter is like the ones I remember as a kid. Zero and below temps with lots of snow. This is what winter was like in the 70's and 80's here in Michigan.

4. Not news related, just an observation. A taxi company called the Green Chauffeur is in town. They pick up their customers in a gaudy Prius. Here is what I observe:
a. The customer is always some tree hugger type with a snooty attitude. Always!
b. The customer waits at least a half hour or longer for the taxi to arrive, even though Metro has two taxi's curbside at all times ready to go.
c. The drivers of that green company don't like to follow the airport rules very well making my job difficult.
Why is it that the "green" crowd is like that? Its not like they are making a difference using that company. Besides, with the winter we are having, I wouldn't want to ride in a tiny plastic car when their is a foot of ice and snow on the roads.

5. I'm sick and tired of the BO fans thinking their messiah is going to fix all the problems this country has. He is one man about to implement the FAILED policies of Carter. Their talking points are almost identical. Read some history people. Please! Pretty Please.......with sugar on top! Our mini recession we have now is not nearly as bad as the one we had in the 70's. When Carter was President. BO is talking about doing the exact same things Carter did. Why will they work for BO when they did not work for Carter? Someone please ask BO this question. Please!

Why is Israel getting hit with a neg?

2009-01-02T03:17:00.002-05:00

The past few days it hasn't failed. I turn on the talk radio, or read an article and it seems Israel is getting grief for the bombings they have launched against Palestine. We hear about how much ordinance they dropped, how many Palestinians have been killed, and how Israel is "over reacting". I heard one quote that Israel's response to attacks against it are overboard.

Reality check. Have we heard about the THREE years of bombings Palestine has launched against Israel? Have we heard about how Hamas targets schools and other civilian targets? How about how Hamas hides amongst the civilian crowd in Palestine so civilian casualties happen when Israel strikes back.

No, we haven't heard these things. Why? I'm not sure myself, but I'm sick and tired of all the anti-Israel protesters flipping out and protesting something they know nothing about. Hamas doesn't even recognize Israel as a country. They want to wipe them off the face of the Earth. The fact is these two nations have been at war for a thousand years. Israel isn't responding with excessive force morons, they are responding at a higher level hoping to finally end all the senseless violence perpetrated by Hamas.

Gerald R. Ford Airport 20 Million Dollar FAIL

2008-12-15T03:35:00.006-05:00

Gerald R. Ford Airport in Grand Rapids Michigan has spent 20 million dollars to upgrade its front end. A magnificent glass overhang shelters travelers from the elements while two skywalks will bring them to covered parking across the road.

So how did the engineers screw it up so bad? It seems easy right? Build a pretty glass overhang to keep the weather off the people down below. Unfortunately this endeavor proved too difficult for the brightest engineers. The thing just plain doesn't work. It leaks on the people worse than if it wasn't there at all. Today the weather was nice and warm for December. The temperature rose above freezing and all the snow on top of the glass overhang began to melt. Due to the roof being built like a pasta strainer it was in effect raining indoors while being nice and dry outdoors.

Way to blow 20 MILLION BUCKS Grand Rapids. Its not like we have a kick ass economy or anything. Frankly we have one of the worst economies in the country. Just more well spent money with a great plan that couldn't be pulled off by so called smart engineers.

Why Wal-Mart is Winning

2008-12-07T11:45:00.002-05:00

In my area Wal-Mart isn't the number one store like it is in many other areas. Here Meijer is King. For those not in the small region where Meijer is located think of a Super Wal-Mart. Meijer has been around for decades. Most of my life it was the only option for a 24/7 grocery and everything else store.

13 years or so ago Wal-Mart came to town. I remember Meijer being very worried about it. This worry has caused them to update aging stores and buy up land where Wal-Mart could build on just to keep them away. So far their plan is not working. A super Wal-Mart finally went up blocks from a Meijer store. People love it of course.

The trend I'm seeing now with Meijer is that they are raising prices on many of their items, only to mark them on "sale" at the original price. A quick visit to Wal-Mart shows the same items for 50 cents to a dollar lower in price than the sale price.

Hey Fred, (owner of the Meijer stores) do you really think your customers are so dumb they don't realize that something they buy each week has had its price raised? Do you think the fake sale price which was the original price is a good idea? Especially when I can go to Wal-Mart and get it for an even cheaper price?

On that note, have you ever heard of the 5S program? That means making the layout of each store the same so no matter which one a customer enters they can quickly and easily find the goods they are looking for. I hate going to a "foreign" Meijer and have to wander around for 10 minutes looking for something that is on the opposite side of the store from what I'm used to.

Love them or hate them Wal-Mart is here to stay. They will put you out of business if you can't offer a service to your customer base that will offset the cheaper prices they offer. I for one don't mind paying a little extra if I'm getting superior support from the staff.

Secretive Site HiJacking New Threat?

2008-12-02T02:13:00.001-05:00

About 6 months ago a friend mentioned that whenever she tried to visit my site it tried to download something. After typing in my url: http://bobbydoran.net I discovered nothing amiss and just assumed she was smoking crack. During this period I have been very busy so my design site was a very low priority. I did notice that my inquires had dropped off to nothing but dismissed it as my fault for not putting in the time that I had used to promoting my site. Again, with training with the Army and doing design for a company rather than myself I wasn't overly concerned.

The other day I decided to install Google Analytics on my site to see what it would show me. I couldn't access my FTP. Thinking I messed up the password I requested a new one be sent as it had been forever since I logged on and wasn't quite sure what it was any longer. After NOT getting the email I realized my account was using a now defunct email. A quick email to my hosting company and a verification later I was back in business.

As I was looking through the folders on the server I noticed some strange files that I knew shouldn't be there because I didn't put them there. They were named ht_access and ht_access_mal. Every folder on my server had these files in them. Even the sub-folders in my folders. Now I don't know how to code except XHTML and CSS but I've played with enough javascript and actionscrtipt to where I can usually look at the code and can tell what it is going to do. It seemed to me this code was a redirect of some sort. But a very tricky sort.

This is where it gets interesting. It seems this code would only redirect a user from my site to one of those scam download this spyware your computer is infected sites if the user clicked my link on a search engine. If the URL was typed in the browser or someone had my site bookmarked it would go to the site like it was supposed to. Finding my site on a search engine I tested my theory and sure enough, I was brought to an attack site that closed all my tabs but one and tried to get me to download some anti spyware virus crap. In a fit of rage I deleted all the files from the server. Clearing my cache and history I tried it again. This time it went to my site, so for now the problem is fixed. I will be contacting my hosting company and informing them of the intrusion of my domain.

This is the first time that I have heard of hackers attacking a site in this fashion. Has anyone out there heard of this subtle technique? Because I hadn't updated in quite some time nor spent any time with SEO this went on for quite some time. How much business has this cost me? How many lost clients did I miss out on? How tarnished is the name of my site by people clicking on those hijacked links? I'd love to skin whoever did that to me alive, pour lemon juice on the raw flesh and leave them on a fire ant hill to die a slow death.

Black Friday Begins with Death

2008-11-28T14:40:00.002-05:00

Are people really stupid? Seriously, with everything we as a species have accomplished I really think that we are just stupid. Can the need to purchase crap that won't be around 5 years from now really be so important that a throng of people literally tear the doors off of Wal-Mart and trample a person to death while injuring others?

I guess I can't fathom being in such a rush to spend money because something is on sale that I wake up before dawn, wait in a line, and not unlike cattle stampede inside a store. It's Wal-Mart for gods sake. For the most part they sell crap anyway. Its not like you are rushing to buy things you normally couldn't afford. It's Wal-Mart. They always have sales to offload the crap on their shelves.

Kids nowadays are so spoiled their parents are willing to stampede and kill to buy them the Hannah Montana guitar they need to survive. Can't teach them to deal with disappointment, so rip doors off the hinges and crush someone to death in a mad rush to get the last one. Have we all gone insane? This happens every year yet we don't learn. Its silly. I hope every customer involved in the mad rush gets tried for man-slaughter and spends Christmas in jail.

Jobless claim not that bad

2008-11-26T21:36:00.002-05:00

Rush made a good point today, and I thought I would echo it here. It is about how bad the economy is, and how many people are not working. What these fear mongers fail to say while comparing the jobless rate to that of 1985 is the work force has DOUBLED since that time. This means the jobless rate is actually half of that of 1985. With that many more people in the workforce the economy is not going to fluctuate as badly as this liberal nut jobs are claiming.

If you have a job, buy things. Save. Be normal. Quit letting the media spoon feed you the fear. If we are not scared, we are less likely to be controlled by those in power that want to remove some of our freedoms so THEY can tell you what is good and what is bad in your life.

Cool Stuff for your pad

2008-11-24T00:16:00.000-05:00

Save the Whale Wack Job

2008-11-23T00:18:00.002-05:00

It was a late night and nothing was on TV. Flipping through the channels I landed on Whale Wars. Seemed OK at first, until I realized just how crazy the captain of this group is. He puts the life of his crew below that of the whales.

Watching this show reminded me of the South Park episode where the anti smoking crowd comes to town and is going to kill Cartman to prove that second hand smoke is fatal. The anti smoking crowd was manipulating the media to turn the public opinion against smokers. Much the same way the captain of the ship first attacked a Japanese whaling ship before putting two of his crew members on board knowing that they would be taken captive or worse. He then chose the "worst" photos to give to the media to get attention.

Its people like him that give the media a bad name. They only know what they are told sometimes. I really can't believe I'm writing something defending the media, as I think they are a bunch of liberal wack jobs already. But in this case, they ran with what they were given. All I can say about the entire show is that it made me want to be on a ship so I could attack these people back. I'm surprised the Jap whalers haven't hired some mercs to blow them out of the water yet.

Got to go fishing

2008-11-16T14:18:00.003-05:00

It has been awhile since I've been out night fishing. It is one of my favorite things to do but I have been unable to get out for quite some time. My stepkid and I decided to head out and go to my favorite spot last night. It was cold, snowing, and dark. The odds were against us but we kept casting. After awhile with no strikes or the telltale minnows skipping on the surface telling me a walleye was eating I decided to shine my light in the water. Nothing. No fish, not even a sucker to be seen. I decided to move us below the dam and fish the river. Nothing again. Not wanting to go home empty handed I moved us upstream through the woods.

It isn't a fun journey to do in the day, and its even worse at night. Mucky ground, fallen trees, prickers, puddles, did I mention it was snowing? So after a not so easy hike we get to the bridge. After many casts our lines became tangled. While I was about to unwrap my lure from his line a fish strikes. So now I have to get my line free of his before the fish escapes. At one point we thought the fish was off because it stopped tugging and jumping. Grabbing hold of his line I pull and feel the weight of a heavy fish on the other end. I quickly bite my line to free it from his line.

The battle starts again but is short lived. The fish has tired. Of course I have no net, no waders, and have to now help land this nice 30" brute. Ryan was thrilled to catch this one, and even though I was happy for him I wasn't happy about getting skunked. Shortly after that my lure hit a rock and broke ending my fishing for the night.

Be an outlaw!

2008-11-14T01:38:00.002-05:00

I've been watching Sons of Anarchy for the past two weeks. After catching part of an episode it became my goal to watch each one made to catch up. The show is that good. It made me wonder how real bikers felt about it, so after mentioning it to some friends I know that ride I discovered two things. They love it! It is a bit unrealistic at times, but has a lot of truth to it as well. I met some guys that are actually part of an MC and they voiced the same opinions.

So what has this show done for me besides give me something to do for an hour? I want to be an outlaw thats what. I want the vest with the club name on it, the Harley with loud pipes, the brothers, and yes....even the danger. I know that all sounds a bit melodramatic but this show calls to my dark side like nothing else. If I was in a different time and a different place I could easily see myself falling into that lifestyle.

Should this revelation scare me? I think no as this show just calls out to the desires most men have. (Unless they are from San Fransicko or some other such lib town) What guy doesn't want to cruise around at will on a bike, slamming chicks, knockin' off the bad guys, and making lots of money on top of it? Sure its illegal, but the freedom to live like that would almost be worth all the risk.

Does anyone know about Etsy.com?

2008-11-12T14:48:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I wonder if people know about Etsy. You know, the site that people use to sell things that they make? Kinda like an online flea market of homemade goods. I just wonder how well they do because most people I talk to have never heard of Etsy.com. If you mention ebay everyone that doesn't live under a rock knows about it. Mention Etsy and most likely they never heard of it.

On the flip side of that though is if the person has heard of it they rave about it. So why don't they advertise more? Or do they and not in my area? I don't know and I'm too lazy to find out.

If you find that you want to buy some art type stuff for your home, better yet some art type stuff that I made visit my shop at Etsy here and you will make me happy.

Sigh...

2008-11-07T19:40:00.003-05:00

Well the election is over and the commie is in. Hopefully it won't be as bad as I fear, but I think it will be. I'm just trying to make myself feel better. Watching the South Park episode helped a little, but not much.

To make matters worse, I dropped my iPhone from less than two feet. It landed face down on cement and the glass has cracked like a car windshield that had a head smack it in a front end collision. It still works but I feel little shards of glass moving around and I fear I'm going to slice open my delicate finger tips or make it worse if I use it too much. Hopefully this isn't the change BO was talking about.

Looking online, my options seem bleak. My only hope is to get a cool Apple Genius at the Apple store that fixes it for free or doesn't charge me that much to get it replaced. I'm going to go cry or smash my head against the wall for awhile now. I read that you burn 150 calories an hour doing that...

46 Questions for Obama

2008-10-29T19:26:00.001-04:00

My friend from guysnightout.com came up with these questions for BO. I thought I would share them with you as well.

1.Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama have blamed the current economic crisison McCain and Republican Deregulation policies, and 8 years of BushPolicies. Do the Democrats in Congress and the Senate bear ANYresponsibility for this crisis?

2.Wasn’t this crisis precipitated by the failure of Fannie Mae &Freddie Mac which John McCain did try to regulate and the Democratssuch as Barney Frank, Chris Dodd , and yourself blocked saying therewas no problem?

3.Wasn’t it disingenuous of you to suggest that deregulation ofcorporations urged by general Republican policy was the catalyst ofthis current crisis when the problem was Democrats refusing to regulateFannie Mae & Freddie Mac when Republicans asked for it?

4.Has the former Freddie Mac top guy Franklin Raines who made millionsfrom the now failed Freddie Mac, advised your campaign in any wayofficial or unofficial?

5.Is it in any way possible that the push by groups like Acorn andDemocrats in Congress to force Banks to alter their lending practicesand have quasi federal agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac backhousing loans to minorities and other people who could not reallyafford them is a cause of the current economic crisis?

6. Has your campaign ever given money to ACORN for any reason?

7.Have you spoken out forcefully about voter fraud in this campaign ortaken definitive action to stop it such as personnaly asking the OhioSecretary of State to validate all votes as legitimate?

8.How is it possible that you could sit in Rev Wrights church for 20years and not get the impression that he is a Black LiberationTheologist who thinks America is a bad country that still oppressesblacks and demands that Black be given something now such asreparations, jobs, power, etc to get them back to equal standing withwhites in this country?

9.Rev Wrights act looked very polished like he had given it many manytimes before. How can you say in all honesty that you never heard theseviews that most Americans despise and didn’t know he had them?

10. Do you agree with Bill Ayers views on education reform in this country?

11.Would you have education policy that includes the views that Bill Ayersespouses on education such as political activism being part of theeducation process?

12.You are tied in various ways to the Chicago education reformestablishment that Bill Ayers is a huge part of. Has Bill Ayers had anyinfluence on how your views on education were shaped?

13. Do you think that White people in this country owe Black people?

14.You have repeated talked about the evil Corporations in this countryspecifically citing Exxon Mobil. These statements are potentiallydamaging to companies like Exxon Mobil in the global marketplace. Doyou realize how many Americans Exxon Mobil employs and how manyAmericans are invested in these companies through mutual funds, 401k& pensions?

15. Do you think that is irresponsible for you to make those kind of statements?

16.If the big evil corporations that you criticise so often were put outof business, how many jobs would be lost and how would you replacethose jobs?

17.If all these big corporation jobs were replaced with government jobstherefore making the Government the biggest “Corporation”, Would youconsider the lack of competition bad for America?

18. Please explain what you did to help rebuild some of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods.

19. What went wrong with your plan to “spread the wealth”?

20. TonyRezko received large sums of money with your help, but nothing was doneto help Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods. Were you involved in Rezko’scorruption?

21. What role did Rezko play in helping you buy your house?

22.It seems like the people in YOUR neighborhood did just fine, while thepeople in the poorest neighborhoods continued to suffer. Isn’t that thevery corruption that you said led to “quiet RIOT”?

23. Weren’t you part of the problem, not part of the solution?

24. If you don’t succeed in winning stealing the election, will you encourage that “quiet RIOT” to turn into full-fledged riots?

25. Why did you vote against the bill dealing with babies who survived abortion–even though you wrote it?

26. How is removing the temporary Bush Tax Break on the middle class notincreasing our taxes?

27.Will you encourage WaPo to release the tape of you at the anti-Jew,pro-Terrorism party? And in the event you say “no,” why not?

28. What are you going to do with the extra millions of dollars in cash your campaign has left over after November 4?

29. Why won’t you release your college records?

30. Why won't you release your birth certificate?

31.While I understand why you can’t disavow everything that every nutrootdoes in your name, why won’t you at least respond to things like thechildren’s choir singing a praise and worship hymn to you when they hitthe major newsmarkets?

32. Where did you get the money to buy your house?

33.How will your healthcare reform affect your wife’s paycheck from thehospital that has repeatedly fleeced its patients who are Medicaid andMediCare?

34. Why do you want your daughters to abort your grandchildren? Don’t you love them?

35.Why did you, on March 27, 2004, tell Cathleen Falansi that you wereraised by your Christian mother, yet you have told the rest of theworld that your mother wasn’t really a Christian, that she consideredall religions basically equal (in your book), and that yourgrandparents raised you?

36. And if your grandparents–as in both of them–raised you, is that the same thing as being raised by a single mother?

37.How is “from each according to his ability, to each according to hisneed” different from you taking more money from the wealthy to give tothe poor, or, as you have called it, “spreading the wealth around”?

38. Can you ever admit when you are wrong?

39. Where were you when Rev Wright said “God DAMN America!”?

40.Will you be taking more money from Rev. Wright, since he’s nowpurchased a multi-million dollar home and giving it to the people onthe street?

41. Why do you not want voting booths to require a valid picture ID, yet you do want one at your party on November 4?

42.If you’re–as you claim–for the “non-elite”, “regular” people, why areyou charging so much money for people to attend your party on November4?

43.How is it any different for you to run the risk of getting shot whilepumping gasoline than for me to run the risk of getting shot whilepumping gasoline? Do you get your gasoline in worse areas than I do? Doyou even pump your own gasoline?

44.Why is Michelle so angry? Why does she hate white people so much? Whyis she so ill-at-ease with herself if she’s in a room full of whitepeople who probably don’t think a thing about the fact that she’s notwhite?

45. What does a Community Organizer actually do?

46. Why do you want to write another Bill of Rights?

Too Little Too Late?

2008-10-27T18:20:00.002-04:00

The media is finally starting to report on NoBama's tax plans and his idea of redistribution of wealth. The question is do people really understand what that means? Quite often I hear liberal friends of mine say redistribution of wealth is a great idea. Really? Do they really think that? Did it work in Russia? Has it worked for Cuba? Has it ever worked? Nope, Nope, and Nope. Communism looks great on paper, but in real life it sucks. If you can get all your needs met without lifting a finger, what moves a person to lift a finger? I know if I can be lazy I'm the first one to do it.

So if we want to become an even lazier society with a shrinking work force because we won't have to work because the "rich people" who went to school and made something of themselves will take care of us while the nanny state tells us what is good for us (mercury filled light bulbs instead of incandescent anybody) then by all means vote for BO.

This will work until the successful people get sick and tired of taking care of the worthless and move themselves, their money, and their business to more friendly locations overseas. Then we can stand in line for bread like they do in Russia.

If you think BO won't be raising your taxes, think again. By letting the Bush tax cuts expire if he were to become President would in effect be raising your taxes. I for one am sick and tired of BO's lies, half truths, and omissions. This guy has been barely examined by the press and now that he is starting to get some negative hits I just wonder if it's too little too late...

Playing Around

2008-10-24T02:21:00.002-04:00

So I was messing around with a photo I took in Austin Texas awhile back and discovered you can do some amazing things to a photo that was taken in raw format. I shot this in raw, and tweaked some settings in camera raw getting this as the end result.

BO running Scared?

2008-10-21T18:59:00.002-04:00

So BO is heading back to Hawaii. He states it is to visit his Grandma, the one he visited for an hour on his last two week trip to Hawaii. Strangely enough, his trip coincides with a petition to the Hawaii Supreme Court to expedite the release of his birth certificate...

What does he have to hide? Maybe the fact that he isn't half black, but half arab? Or could it be an even bigger fact? Could he have been born outside of the US, in Kenya perhaps? That would make him NOT a natural born citizen and therefore NOT allowed to be President...end of story, end of campaign, end of the messiah.

Taxes Made Simple

2008-10-17T17:14:00.001-04:00

I came across this and thought it fitting. People in this country don't seem to grasp how our tax system works, and this puts it in terms almost anyone can understand.

Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for allten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, itwould go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with thearrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since youare all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost ofyour daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes sothe first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.
But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could theydivide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtractedthat from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man wouldeach end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man'sbill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out theamounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first fourcontinued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the menbegan to compare their savings.
'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'
'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too.
It's unfair that he got ten times more than I got' 'That's true!!'shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got onlytwo? The wealthy get all the breaks!'
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks so the nine satdown and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill,they discovered something important. They didn't have enough moneybetween all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, ishow our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get themost benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them forbeing wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, theymight start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhatfriendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

BO Sis Koom Bah

2008-10-17T12:40:00.002-04:00

BO must have done something wrong because the MSM cheerleaders are in overtime. I still find it amazing that even after this guy has a long list of pals who are either racist, anti-American, or full blown terrorists bewilders me. I don't want to hear that BO made a new ad attacking McCain, I want to hear about why he can raise almost 1 million dollars for a hostile village raping and killing political party in Africa that is trying to overthrow the legally and legitimately elected president that was voted into office and yet we hear nothing of it. (google obama raises 1 million for odinga)

Can we expect the same thing to happen here when BO suddenly loses because the polls the press show are nothing more than slanted polls taken by liberals from liberal areas and readers? Their are many "Joe the Plumbers" out here in the real world who view BO for what he is. A snake oil salesman with a scary agenda and creepy friends.

I do find it humorous though that suddenly all these BO supporting plumbers are making news to help combat what the real "Joe the Plumber" stands for. I don't think any self respecting American who owns a business will vote for the terrorist loving freak we call BO. Unions have to like him, they always go for the democrat, even though democrats have done nothing for them since the Hoffa years...

A Training Pic

2008-10-17T03:22:00.001-04:00

I'm going to take a break from politics with this post. Earlier I promised that I would share some of my Army training photos so here is the first one. I was the platoon sgt. and although the job wasn't all that fun I did learn quite a bit by doing it. The pit in front of us is where we practiced our hand to hand combat. It was filled with shredded rubber tires which made moving around difficult. The smell wasn't that great either.

In the News WTF of the Week

2008-10-15T23:52:00.003-04:00

In the wacky city of Sans Fransicko, first grade children attended the wedding of their lesbian teacher. The kicker was they attended by calling it a field trip. Now call me too conservative but I'll be damned if my kid attends a gay wedding under the guise of a field trip. Indoctrinating youngsters to the gay lifestyle just doesn't seem right to me.

So WTF is wrong with the parents of this charter school? Turns out, it was an idea from one of the parents to surprise the carpet munching educater by having the students attend the....ahem...wedding.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not anti gay or anything but marriage is a religious ceremony. The government stepped in and decided to make gay marriage legal. To me that is mixing church and state. Let them have a union of some sort but don't call it marriage. That hell is reserved for us hetero types. I do draw the line at gays raising children. That door better never open even a crack.

The beginning of the end for BO?

2008-10-15T12:08:00.003-04:00

It seems like the BO camp is neck deep in voter fraud, intimidation, and illegal funding. The main stream media isn't covering this because they have been backing the wrong horse from day one. I see them having to jump ship in the days to come or sink with the ship in the aftermath. This article http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/clinton-supporters-sharing-evidence-for-rico-case-against-obama-campaign/#comment-7997 is a little long but a very interesting read.

I urge all of you to start contacting your local news, and congress officials what they are doing about voter fraud, and what they will do to prevent it in the future. BO and ACORN are manipulating the democratic process to their gain by illegal methods and we as US Citizens need to stand up and be heard.

Something Stinks...and his initials are BO (thanks guysnightout.com for that one)

2008-10-15T00:59:00.003-04:00

So my daughter comes home from school today. From what I gathered they are talking about the election and discussing candidates. She then says "I think I'm going to vote for Obama"

Taking a deep breath and counting to ten I calmly ask her why. She replies, "well he has a plan that if a little kid needs glasses then they can get new glasses for free."

Not a bad reason if you are an 8 year old kid, but Dear ol' Dad can't let that slide. So I proceed to tell her that the glasses will not be free, but Obama will take some money from everyones paycheck to pay for those glasses. Suddenly that idea wasn't so swell to her anymore.

I then asked her if she knew what redistribution of wealth meant. I know, a crazy way over her head conversation but we have them all the time and she always understands in the end. So of course she has no clue what that means. So I give her this. It means he will take money from rich people and give it to poor people. "Oh, that is nice. Thats a good idea huh Dad?"
"No honey, it isn't really. What if you worked really hard, and after a long time you finally had enough money to be called rich. Then Obama comes along and says you have to much money, so I'm going to take some of it and give it to these people over here because they were to lazy to work hard and would rather other people take care of them."

"I don't think that is right Dad, Obama isn't a good person. I'm going to tell my friends to vote for McCain."

Its amazing how children can see through the bullshit if you talk to them like they are adults and not silly little kids.

Obama is like Senator Palpatine

2008-10-09T09:21:00.002-04:00

Everyone in the world of Star Wars thought that Palpatine was a good Senator. Like Nobama, he promised them hope and change. His hope and change was to rid the galaxy of dissent and end wars. We all saw were that ended. Many years of misery under the oppression of the "Empire".

Nobama also promises hope and change. His plans to tax big business, new business, and the "rich" to help the middle class is silly. By taxing those "evil big corporations" he is going to do nothing more than hurt the middle class. The big companies will have to raise the costs to us to maintain the profits they need to operate. I'm a middle class guy, at times I'm a lower middle class guy and I think Nobama is the devil.

I may be showing my Jedi geekdom with the above Star Wars analogy but it holds true. People are swayed by his so called charm and oratory skills but the truth is he speaks very poorly when off of the cue cards. His so called "new" plans are nothing more than what Jimmy Carter did back in the 70's. He touted "Trust", Nobama touts "Hope". Carter was one of the worst presidents this country ever had. We were such a mess it took years to straighten out. Nobama will bring us the same ruin as Carter did, only on a much larger scale.

Don't vote for the man who has close ties with known terrorists. He is a member of the New Party which has an agenda of pushing socialist agendas upwards. That is not what America is about. Do not be fooled by the sweet honey talk of this dangerous person. We don't have a Luke Skywalker waiting in the wings to overthrow him.

The Bailout

2008-10-01T09:03:00.005-04:00

I really do not understand why congress is in such a hurry to spend OUR tax money to bail out failing companies. I was sent an email joke that actually makes much more sense. Rather than repost that, I will condense it down to its highlights.

To make the math simple, 85,000,000,000 has been proposed for this bailout.

America has a population of 301 million. Keeping it simple still, lets assume 200 million of those people are adults 18 and up. If you divide the bailout money by that number it would be 425,000 for every person. If we were then taxed 30% everyone would pay 127, 500 right back to Uncle Sam. That would leave you with 297, 500 for a single person and 595,000 for married people.

What could a person do with that money?

Pay off the mortgage, housing "crisis" solved

Buy a new car, create jobs

Help pay aging parents medical bills, heath care improves

Invest in the market, capital drives growth

As for AIG, liquidate it.
Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Let American General go back to just being American General.

This plan is better because it would do more and only cost 59.5 billion because 25.5 billion is instantly returned to Uncle Sam in taxes.

I think this is a great idea, it is just to bad that congress doesn't have the balls or imagination to think of it on their own...

*Edit*

A good friend decided to do what I should have done before posting this, actually do the math. It works out to 425 dollars a person, not 425,000. Now if the bailout was 85 trillion the math would be right. Thanks for pointing that out Dave.

Why Liberals Piss Me Off

2008-09-26T09:01:00.003-04:00

So now the Dems are blaming McCain for holding up the "bailout bill" they were trying to get passed yesterday. But witnesses to the event say the opposite. The funny thing is why is our democratic led congress trying once again to make the taxpayers foot the bill for crooked lenders?

FREE MARKET means let the market take care of itself. If a bank or a company gives a poor or crooked service, then they no longer stay in business. I for one think it is a bit scary how the democratic led congress is bailing out these banks, and taking control of the housing and lending sector. That is a little too close to communism for my taste. Now big brother will be in charge of when and where you live? I see a chiropractor who is from China. This is really freaking him out because that is how it is there. He keeps telling me to buy guns, ammo, and food and have someplace to go. For awhile I thought he was a bit eccentric, then nuts. Now maybe I'm thinking he is on to something...

ps. Hey Letterman, get over it already. You're going to give yourself another heart attack.

Palin!

2008-09-17T10:02:00.002-04:00

Well I have been absent for awhile, but with good reason. I have spent most of my summer in Army training of one sort or another. If all goes well I'll be off soon again for yet another school. I will post some photos of that in good time.

So while I was gone McCain chose Palin as his running mate. This was a brilliant move on his part, and the wacky libs have no idea how to handle it. Wait, they think they do. Lets bash her. All these silly celebs are saying such crude things about her it is almost unbelievable. Its even more unbelievable that they are backing the commie Nobama. Ignorance is bliss I always say. I'm having fun watching the backlash they are getting from their fan base who happens to think Palin is great!

Why is she so great? Here is a little top ten:

10. She is a women
9. Her husband races snowmobiles
8. Her husband likes to fish
7. She likes to hunt
6. She sold the Governers jet on eBay
5. She doesn't take shit from anyone
4. Hilliary supporters have a new female to vote for
3. Nobama says she is inexperienced, but so is he
2. She brings a platform for special needs people
1. She is a true CONSERVATIVE

Random Thoughts and Feelings

2008-06-26T10:42:00.002-04:00

The topic of gun control seems to fade in and out. You have those that are for it, and those who are against it. Of course I'm against any form of gun control. It just doesn't make sense to me because the criminal element isn't going to follow the rules regardless of what they are. If I'm armed, at least I can protect myself.

My brother and I have been training the past few weeks. I have some hard training coming up soon while he has an Iraq deployment around the corner. So we load up our rucksacks and go for a hike two or three times a week. Our kickoff point is in front of an American Legion and then we hump down the trail until one of us starts to get hot spots on our feet.

Last night started like any other, only this time a fellow walked up to us and wanted to know how much our rucks weighed. Mine was a light 50 while my brothers was pushing 60. He gave us each a simple fist bump, holding it long enough to say, "I love you, Jesus loves you. Stay safe."
He then told us he was in 'Nam and I thanked him. Like all vets from that era he brushed off my thanks while heaping praise on us. I told him, "no, thank you. We get our thanks, you guys didn't."

And that got me to thinking about how it must have felt to come home from a war you didn't want to go to. After somehow surviving it all even though you watched friends get killed around you each week. The horrible things you had to see. And finally, when you get home you discover that your own country thinks you are disgusting. They spit on you, ridicule you, and call you things like baby killer. Funny thing is many of those same people are now the ones running this country. So much for being against "the man". Now they are "the man" and they suck still.

Vietnam Vet's may get thanked today but to them it is to little to late. Can you blame them? The most touching thing though is how they go out of their way to talk to the new generation of military guys and gals. One group that I know of meets every plane of soldiers when they come in. Time doesn't matter. 2 am, 5am, 11pm, they are there waiting. As one of them told a friend of mine. "We are here because no soldier should come home and be treated like we were. We are here so you know that you are not forgotten and that what you did is appreciated." They then brought all the guys inside and treated them to a dinner. Its acts like these that make me proud to wear a uniform. Those are the kinds of people that make what we do all worth it.

Dispute these Obama

2008-06-12T12:18:00.001-04:00

Obama's Not Exactly's

1.) Selma Got Me Born - NOT EXACTLY, your parents felt safe enough to
have you in 1961 - Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in
1965. (Google 'Obama Selma' for his full March 4, 2007 speech and
articles about its various untruths.)

2.) My Father Was A Goat Herder - NOT EXACTLY, he was a privileged,
well educated youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.

3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter - NOT EXACTLY, he was part of
one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had.

4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom - NOT EXACTLY, your
cousin Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to
overturn a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya. It is the first
widespread violence in decades. The current government is pro-American
but Odinga wants to overthrow it and establish Muslim Sharia law. Your
half-brother, Abongo Oba ma, is Odinga's follower. You interrupted
your New Hampshire campaigning to speak to Odinga on the phone.

Obama's cousin Odinga in Kenya ran for president and tried to get
Sharia muslim law in place there. When Odinga lost the elections, his
followers have burned Christians' homes and then burned men, women and
children alive in a Christian church where they took shelter.. Obama
SUPPORTED his cousin before the election process here started.

Google Obama and Odinga and see what you get. No one wants to know the truth.

5.) My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian - NOT EXACTLY, she does
her daily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own interviews. Not to
mention, Christianity wouldn't allow her to have been one of 14 wives
to 1 man.

6.) My Name is African Swahili - NOT EXACTLY, your name is Arabic and
'Baraka' (from which Barack came) means 'blessed' in that language.
Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.

Barack Hussein Obama is not half black. If elected, he would be the
first Arab-American President, not the first black President. Barack
Hussein Obama is 50% Caucasian from his mother's side and 43.75%
Arabic and 6.25% African Negro from his father's side. While Barack
Hussein Obama's father was from Kenya, his father's family was mainly
Arabs.. Barack Hussein Obama's father was only 12.5% African Negro and
87.5% Arab (his father's birth certificate even states he's Arab, not
African Negro). From....and for more....go to.....

http://www.arcadeathome.com/newsboy.....25%25_African

7.) I Never Practiced Islam - NOT EXACTLY, you practiced it daily at
school, where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for
31 years, until your wife made you change, so you could run for
office.
4-3-08 Article "Obama was 'quite religious in islam'"
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559

8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian - NOT EXACTLY, you were
registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for
making faces (check your own book).

February 28, 2008. Kristoff from the New York Times a year ago: Mr.
Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer,
reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed
delightfully uncalculated (it'll give Alabama voters heart attacks),
Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as "one of the prettiest sounds
on Earth at sunset." This is just one example of what Pamela is
talking about when she says "Obama's narrative is being altered,
enhanced and manipulated to whitewash troubling facts."

9.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian - NOT EXACTLY, not one teacher says you
could speak the language.

10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign Experience -
NOT EXACTLY, you were there from the ages of
6 to 10, and couldn't even speak the language. What did you learn, how
to study the Koran and watch cartoons?

11.) I Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs - NOT EXACTLY, except for Africa
(surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise), you have never been
anywhere else on the planet and thus have NO experience with our
closest allies.

12.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion - NOT EXACTLY, you
were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of
Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify - your classmates said
you were just fine.

13.)An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office - NOT EXACTLY, Ebony
has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and
never did, exist.

14.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life - NOT EXACTLY,
Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't,
and never did, exist.

15.) I Won't Run On A National Ticket In '08 - NOT EXACTLY, here you
are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough
experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.

16.) Voting "Present" is Common In Illinois Senate - NOT EXACTLY, they
are common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.

17.) Oops, I Misvoted - NOT EXACTLY, only when caught by church groups
and Democrats, did you beg to change your misvote.

18.) I Was A Professor Of Law - NOT EXACTLY, you were a senior
lecturer ON LEAVE.

19.) I Was A Constitutional Lawyer - NOT EXACTLY, you were a senior
lecturer ON LEAVE.

20.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill - NOT EXACTLY, you
didn't write it, introduce it, change it, or create it.

21.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass - NOT EXACTLY, it took just 14
days from start to finish.

22.) I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill - NOT EXACTLY, your bill was
rejected by your own party for its pandering and lack of all
regulation - mainly because of your Nuclear donor, Exelon, from which
David Axelrod came.

23.) I Have Released My State Records - NOT EXACTLY, as of March,
2008, state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet to be released,
exposing all the special interests pork are still closed.

24.) I Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess - NOT EXACTLY, you
were part of a large group of people who remedied Altgeld Gardens. You
failed to mention anyone else but yourself, in your books.

25.) My Economics Bill Will Help America - NOT EXACTLY, your 111
economic policies were just combined into a proposal which lost 99-0,
and even YOU voted against your own bill.

26.) I Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois - NOT EXACTLY, even your
own supporters claim to have not seen BOLD action on your part.

27.) I Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year - NOT EXACTLY, they were
not YOUR bills, but rather handed to you, after their creation by a
fellow Senator, to assist you in a future bid for higher office.

28.) No One on my campaign contacted Canada about NAFTA - NOT EXACTLY,
the Candian Government issued the names and a memo of the conversation
your campaign had with them.

29.) I Am Tough On Terrorism - NOT EXACTLY, you missed the Iran
Resolution vote on terrorism and your good friend Ali Abunimah
supports the destruction of Israel.

30.) I Want All Votes To Count - NOT EXACTLY, you said let the delegates decide.

31.) I Want Americans To Decide - NOT EXACTLY, you prefer caucuses
that limit the vote, confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only
operate during small windows of time.

32.) I passed 900 Bills in the State Senate - NOT EXACTLY, you passed
26, most of which you didn't write yourself.

33.) I Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics - NOT EXACTLY, you used
tactics to eliminate Alice Palmer from running against you.

34.) I Don't Take PAC Money - NOT EXACTLY, you take LOADS of it.

35.) I don't Have Lobbyist - NOT EXACTLY, you have over 47 lobbyists
and counting.

36.) My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad - NOT EXACTLY,
your own campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.

37.) I Have Always Been Against Iraq - NOT EXACTLY, you weren't in
office to vote against it AND you have voted to fund it every single
time.

38.) I Have Always Supported Universal Health Care - NOT EXACTLY, your
plan leaves us all to pay for the 15,000,000 who don't have to buy it
"Qui non intelligit aut discat aut taceat". Who does not understand
should either learn, or be silent

Cheaper Gas!!!

2008-04-29T22:51:00.002-04:00

Wow, can you all believe how the gas prices fluctuate on an almost daily basis? I love watching them drop from $3.69 a gallon to $3.56 a gallon only to shoot up to $3.75 a gallon mere hours after dropping. WTF?

Then all you ignorant fucks bitch that the big oil companies are to blame for the outrageous price of fuel. It is NOT their fault. Yes it is, you say? Go ahead, wallow in your own ignorance. God knows most American's do. The simple fact is we have ONE refinery in this country that was built in like the early 70's. ONE frickin refinery to change the black gold in to go go juice for the automobile. Seems to me if we built another refinery, and began drilling off the coast of Florida for our own oil things would be much different. Gasp, we can't do that the freaky liberals cry out. Sure, OK but in the mean time Castro is slant drilling OUR oil. Do you all realize that the oil fields of ANWAR have as much or more oil than the fields in Saudi? Our country could be energy independent if we would start drilling there. But the Sierra Club carries a bigger stick than the little man so go pay four bucks a gallon for fuel.

I'm so sick and tired of Obama I'm not even really going to say much about him right now. OK, just this one thing. To all you black voters out there that are voting for the stretch chin just because he is black.....sort of. Did you see how he turned on the bigot Rev. Wright? Did he not say just a mere few weeks ago he could "never turn on him. Turning on him would be like turning on blacks." Well he did, and he will. He isn't the one. Wait for the next one. This guy is a terrorist. I really believe he has ties to some extremist group and will do great damage to this Country if he gets elected. And by great damage, I'm not even counting all the costly social programs he will try to put in place.

On a non-political note. I landed a new design gig. This one a little closer to home in fact. My little Brother's Brother in-law and his partner have designed a new broad head. It is going to take the hunting world by storm. There is nothing on the market like it, and what they have is locked down by bullet proof patents. I'm excited to say that I will be responsible for designing the site and branding for this exciting new company. More to come on this as details and projects emerge.

And even more lies...

2008-03-28T10:55:00.003-04:00

Wow, between Hildog and Obama the angry (half) black man with an agenda the lies and drama is stacking up pretty deep. Now the owner of the long stretched out looking chin is claiming that he would have left the church had not the bigot, racist, anti-American rev. wright not retired. R E A L L L L Y? So for 20 years you sat and listened to his drivel, and upon his retirement you made him one of your campaign advisers. The only reason you asked him to step down from that role is because all this stuff popped up. So DO NOT LIE to US Obama the pencil neck, radar ear, stretchy chin, liberal, angry (half) black man with an agenda that wants to ruin the country. You and your America hating wife want to destroy what we value with your wacked out notion of redistribution of wealth, attacks on big business, increasing taxes to pay for the social programs that don't work, making people reliant on government rather than their own abilities, retreat and surrender in Iraq.

We do not want government in our lives. It can't even run a retirement program for the masses, let alone a healthcare program. Please crawl back under whatever rock you came out from under and let us be.

Politics...

2008-03-27T17:33:00.002-04:00

Obama, Hildog, and McCain. How does one choose from these three to be the leader of the free world? Easy, pick the one that is least liberal. McCain wins. I'm not a huge fan of McCain, but he is the lesser of three evils.

Hildog is a lying liberal freak that wants to quit the war in Iraq thus branding America as losers. We must finish what we start. Can't she understand our Military is building an entire infrastructure over there? This is something they just are not trained to do, yet they are doing it.

Obama wants to surrender in Iraq as well, but not quite as quickly. He is a big fan of anti big business. Doesn't he understand that big business makes the world go round? He also wants to tax more from the rich, and give it to the poor. Yeah right, he means give it to bloated government and give the scraps to the poor. Redistribution of wealth doesn't sound very Constitutional to me! That pencil neck dumbo ear is one of the biggest threats this country faces. He is an angry (half) black man with a scary agenda. Obama and his Wife are more racist in their views than most people realize. Statements like "typical white person" should be a big clue. I won't even talk about his bigot, racist, anti-American preacher turned campaign advisor.

So that leaves McCain. He won't surrender to Terrorism/Islam, and he supports the Bush tax cuts which have kept this Country floating. He isn't that conservative, but he isn't a hardcore lib and that is what matters.

On another note.....

Google Fitna Movie Online. This is a powerful film showing how wrong the islamic religion is. I didn't capitalize that on purpose, as I have no respect for a religion that relies on terror, mutilates women's genitals, and commits atrocious acts against people that are not of that particular religion. Islam is on the rise, and they can not be reasoned with. Just watch the part of the movie where a three year old refers to Jews as apes and pigs, because that is what the kornyran taught him. Sick Sick Sick

On even another note....

I joined the Army because I once again felt the call of duty. This is the second time I enlisted during a time of war. Support our troops, Support the war, don't believe the hype of liberals and the drive by media.

As I see it

2008-01-09T08:49:00.000-05:00

Hello again. So much going on in the world today this entry will cover some top hits.

1. The NH vote. As Rush predicted, the media is referring to Hilary and McCain as "Comeback Kids". How stupid. McCain doesn't count as he basically camped out in that state for months and it will be the only victory he sees. Hilary winning is more to the fact that many independents voted Republican rather than give Obama their vote. It has been pointed out that a black candidate has never won in NH so that is most likely another reason for Hilary's slight win.

2. Iran, stop it or you will suffer like Iraq. So now you claim video/audio footage of your boats clearly harassing US Ships as fake. Is this how you go about things? Flat out denial! First the claim of no gays in Iran, and now this. Your Country and its politics is laughable. You are not Persia any longer, don't make us go Sparta on your ass.

3. The muslim group CAIR. You are nothing but terrorists living in America. I can't wait until Mike Savage sues your front right out of the country. And yes, we are aware that you are a three headed snake. You thought you were smart, but we are smarter. For more on this visit here to read about this dangerous group and what they are trying to do in America.

4. And last but not least, a delegation from Columbia University plans to visit Iran to "apologize to Ahmadinejad for the way he was treated" during his visit. I think that if they go they should not be allowed to return to this great Country. Keep liberal assholes like that out of my USA.

Animal Rights Wacko Nut Jobs

2008-01-08T14:04:00.000-05:00

OK, so on with more global warming crap in the media. As a side effect to the "global warming" polar bears are now being considered for the endangered species list......Only one problem with that though, they are not endangered. The polar bear population has exploded in recent years, and has higher numbers now than ever. A new story here claims their is even video of drowning polar bears. I've been to the zoo, and I've watched discovery channel. I can tell you first hand these creatures can swim their asses off, and hold their breath for long periods of time. So this "drowning polar bear" propaganda is just silly.

This is just another issue people are jumping on because they have no self identity so these types of issues become everything that they are. Now, say it with me.....GLOBAL WARMING IS A FARCE!!!

Our Media is Horrible

2007-12-21T10:09:00.000-05:00

Why oh why is everything negative these days? Global warming this, war losing that, impending recession, bad housing market....WTF? Can't they tell the truth? Do they check sources anymore?

The housing market is not in "Dire Trouble". 94% of mortgages are paid on time! 94 frickin' %! A mere 6% of the population made some poor choices and/or did not read the fine print and are defaulting on their payments. Hardly enough to cause an economic implosion like the "pros" are predicting.

Look at this article: Spending As you can see, they point out people are buying more than the naysayers predicted, yet still have to put the slant of a possible recession next year. Even though jobs are up and still growing!

The media (ABC) flat out refuses to report good news from Iraq. They claim that the HUGE DECREASE in violence and death is not news, yet say any violence that does happen is news. What the hell?

It seems the liberal drive by media and most democrackheads want a recession, and want us to lose the war. They claim they are for the people, but it seems more likely they are for their political power.

It is time for the silent majority to start speaking out. We are sick of all the politically correct labels, misinformation from the media, and the few talking for the many.

If any rich business minded types would like to start a National Newspaper that speaks the truth, and reports on how things really are contact me. I would love to start one up.

WTF TIME?

2007-12-19T20:41:00.000-05:00

So TIME Magazine declared Putin man of the year. Are you frickin' kiddin' me? The guy is KGB just itching to get the cold war started again. Besides his anti US attitude, ballet fixing, and his push to turn Russia back to communism what isn't to like about him?

And Gore was a consideration? What did he do besides propagate one of the biggest lies of the century? I guess all these global warming fanatics forget that it was only about 10 years ago the same scientists that are claiming global warming used to claim the Earth was COOLING. I remember being in the Air Force and the big news was we were "in a mini ice age" and that was why things were so cold and why the weather patterns were all messed up. I have two words for ya, GRANT MONEY.

Nutjob Muslims!

2007-11-30T12:32:00.000-05:00

You know, I always thought the hardcore Christians were the looniest until I discovered how fanatical the Muslims were. They now want to execute a teacher because she let her students name a teddy bear Mohammed!
The funny thing is once again it is the voice of the minority that is making a racket. Shut up already!

Now isn't Mohammed one of the most popular names for a Muslim? So it is ok for a person to be named that, but not a stuffed animal? That seems a little hypocritical to say the least. I think they just want to kill an "Infidel" because these people are nothing more than animals. Us Infidels should be more like young Vader. He realized the Sand People were like animals, and he put them down like animals, as we should too.

So what am I going to do about this weird situation going on in Sudan? I've already started. I bought two stuffed PIGS and named one Allah and the other Mohammed. I kick them and fart in their general direction whenever the urge strikes me.

Back in Touch

2007-11-18T23:19:00.001-05:00

Well I had an interesting weekend. One of my good friends from my military days got in touch with me, and through him I was given contact info to my other two close friends. The image to the left will mean something to them and those that knew us. Talking with these guys again was damn cool. We are all older and have gone our separate ways. Only one of us is still in the military (WTF Javy?) Even though many years have gone by since I last talked to these guys, about 9 in one case, it was like no time had passed at all. They were my only family while away from my family. We worked together, lived together, drank, chased women, got in trouble, and pretty much anything else you can imagine we did together. (except that you homo's)

Now that we are all back in touch, I will have to make us an online place to meet and share pics so we can all do a better job keeping up with each others lives.

My Newest Magazine Ad

2007-11-13T22:53:00.000-05:00

Well I haven't posted any work lately as work as been hectic lately. Here is an ad I designed for Advanced Recovery Center (arc-hope.com)

France Reclaims its Balls

2007-11-07T16:38:00.000-05:00

I must say, for quite some time I have thought of France as a big whiny liberal cess pool. The new President however is quickly changing my viewpoint. Here is a little excerpt from his latest speech:

France will remain engaged in Afghanistan for as long as it takes, because what is at stake in that country is the very future of our values and that of the Atlantic alliance," Sarkozy said. "Failure is not an option. Terrorism will not prevail. For democracies are not entitled to be weak, and because we, the free world, are not afraid of this new barbarism. And because of that, America can count on France in its battle on terror."

On how he feels about America, he had this to say:

He also spoke emotionally in the toast of American sacrifices in liberating France from Nazi occupation in World War II and vowed that "never will any French man or woman forget that."

Sarkozy said: "In my country there are thousands upon thousands of white crosses to remember those men who didn't know France, and yet who came to die on French soil. And I want to tell you that whenever a U.S. soldier dies anywhere in the world, I think of what the . . . American army and Americans have done for us."

After reading that, I got a tear in my eye. Its nice for a European Country to recognize the things that the US had done and is doing for the world.

Thank You Mr. Sarkozy, for remembering what our Countries have done for each other.

Lunatics on the Radio

2007-11-02T10:19:00.000-04:00

This rant is for a lady with a mental disorder....the liberal Randi Rhodes. This lady is a complete freak and has no business talking to thousands of people on the radio. She belongs in a mental institution.

Last night she had another would be mental patient on her show, Naomi Wolf. Talk about a case of paranoia. This lady actually thinks America is going to turn into a fascist state like Nazi Germany. She even wrote a book detailing all the "steps" we have taken and she "loses sleep each night with worry". Its no wonder Steven Colbert basically laughed her off his show, but she has found warm welcome with fellow mental case Randi.

Naomi seems to think that Blackwater is filled with agents from other countries that thrive on brutal torture and it won't be long before they start acting on the public to control us. Hello, we have guns in the general populace too! Do you really think all the gun totin' people of this great country would stand for any actions you are describing? Furthermore, Blackwater is comprised of highly trained ex US Special Forces Soldiers, not some freaky Gulag wannabes.

Naomi Wolf really needs help, some meds or something because paranoia is contagious and she has it bad. Randi is not as severe a case, but she enables this kind of behavior so maybe something like shock therapy would help her realize she has a wacked out perspective on reality, as do most libs.

Hmmmm

2007-10-29T21:14:00.000-04:00

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

This is a little bit different than my usual, but it's a football topic this time. I'm a huge Detroit Lion fan and I'm starting to wonder when they are going to start getting the credit they deserve. What am I griping about you may wonder? It is the Lions after all! Yes, I know they still aren't great. But they have now won 5 games. When you read the reviews about them though, they act like it was because the other team did not play well, or seem to almost pass it off as luck. When they show the highlights of the game, they breeze through them with hardly any details at all. This wouldn't be a big deal except the other teams seem to get a lot more attention.

Now we have this mini stink going on about the score of the Pats and Skins game. Really, who cares if they were running up the score. My real gripe though is this was not an issue when the Eagles blew the Lions out a few weeks ago. Sure, the Lions scored more points than 7 but it was the Eagles led by more than 30 points and kept their first string in. So why the double standard there? Must be a slow news week....

The trouble with Dumbledore's Homosexuality

2007-10-26T08:46:00.000-04:00

J.K. Rowling dropped a bombshell on Oct. 19^th that Albus Dumbledore was gay. Not the happy go lucky type gay, the homosexual type gay. While this in itself is not a big deal, the manner in which it was told is. First, since she was not specific in her books about it readers had already formed their own opinions about Dumbledore and his private life. Now she is filling in the blanks our imagination is supposed to fill in.

From the fact she claims the clues were there in the books, mainly the final in the series, should we go on to further deduce that was he not only gay, but a boy lover as well? Lets examine this theory a little. What if we were to make further deductions from the story that make him a much more evil character.

1. M. Jackson created Neverland Ranch and always wanted to have young boys around.
2. Most child sex offenders live near schools or parks so they have access to children.

Dumbledore was first a teacher, then the headmaster at Hogwarts. He refused the nomination several times to be the Minister of Magic, an office of highest power. He claims it was because he was power hungry and not to be trusted. Could the truth be that he did not want to remove himself from children? Or is it because being gay, he liked being referred to as "headmaster"?

His first "love" happened when he was younger, and ended very badly. Could this have scarred him to the point where he could only find attraction to young boys?

Males of every species have certain needs that need to....ahem...be taken care of. If he had no other adult lover in his life as we are led to believe, how many Hogwart's students became victims of unwanted attention from the powerful "affectionate" headmaster?

He often watched Harry, and kept him close whenever possible. In the last book, they took some private trips for two together, and spent lots of after hours time in his study!

What dark secrets did Rita Skeeter really write about in her book? Did she discover the horrible truth about a child predator within Hogwart's walls?

So if we were to deduce that Dumbledore was gay from the subtle clues J.K. left, are we to further deduce that not only was he gay, but liked them a little young as well?

The California Fires

2007-10-24T23:50:00.000-04:00

OK, so fires are burning up the forests in Cali. Not cool as many people are losing everything. Why is this disaster different than the Katrina one? Easy, the people in Cali actually listen to the evacuation order so not many have been injured or died. Also, the community has pulled together and rather than take a bail me out government liberal attitude, they are taking action for themselves.

To hear the politics behind this is maddening. Why is something as mundane as forest fires suddenly being politicized? It's ridiculous to say some of the things that are being said. Here are the top hits:

1. Cause of fire is global warming. Stated on the Senate floor then denied 6 minutes later by Harry Reed. How can you deny something you said 6 minutes prior??? Did he forget already?

2. The National Guard can't help because most of them are in Iraq.

What? How could they help anyway? The fires are moving so fast if they tried to stand in front of it to fight it they would become crispy critters. Not to mention how they pulled 800 troops from border patrol for no apparent reason.

I'm just glad to see people are catching on to the tactics of the libs and the drive by media. Now we just need to start standing up to them so they fade away.

As for global warming.....c'mon......really??? Everything that is happening now weather wise has happened in the past. And for those who say the oceans are going to rise 20+ feet when the polar ice caps melt....

The ice caps are floating in the ocean. A solid object in liquid will displace the same amount of water as if that solid became liquid.

To dumb it down for you that want to believe the hype. Fill a glass with ice and water. Mark the water level on the outside of the glass. The water is the oceans, and the ice is the polar ice caps. Let the ice melt, "global warming"......look at the level of the water......gasp! It didn't move!

Old but Funny

2007-10-23T23:57:00.001-04:00

I love this.

My Mom

2007-10-22T23:57:00.000-04:00

I took this picture before my little brother left for Army Basic Training. This was just before my Dad, Me, and my two younger Brothers went up north for a weekend of fishing. Mom wanted to go I think, but elected to stay home so the guys could have a weekend together.

Thursday Rants

2007-10-18T16:51:00.000-04:00

Dear China,

Do you really think the average American cares that you are "furious" about us giving an award to the Dalai Lama? Your country is one of the worst in the world when it comes to human rights, so do you think your opinion matters?

Stop trade with us, who is it going to hurt more. The trade agreements are so lopsided in your favor that other than having to find new products to buy to replace those that come from China I don't see a problem. Besides, do we really want to have good relations with a country that uses child labor and harmful lead paint in children's toys?

Dear Maine,

Congrats on helping your children become whores. I'm so proud of the liberal movement. What an achievement. The day I consent to my 11 year old girl getting birth control from school without me being notified is the day I die.

Who in their right mind allows their 11 year old to be in a position that she/he can have sex? What kind of parent are you? How can this activity go on in schools? What are the teachers doing? If they can get away with sex on school grounds during school, what else are they doing?

Rather than spend money for pills and condoms, hire more staff to prevent the behavior. Have a counselor the CHILD can talk to about wanting to have sex, so he/she can talk her out of it.

Passing these items out does not decrease teen pregnancy. It increases promiscuity, which increases the risk of not only pregnancy, but disease. We should be preserving our children's innocence, not promoting rampant sexual behavior by kids.

My rant of the day

2007-10-17T16:13:00.000-04:00

Many things are bugging me about American society lately.

1. Social health care: If it was so great, Canadians would not be going to New York to see a doc. Who wants to wait up to three years for an initial consultation? Look to the Netherlands that have had a social health care system in place longer than anyone. Genocide and patricide are the norm, so don't say it won't happen here.

2. Liberals. Yes, liberals. Basically everything about them, from their twisted view points to the need to make everyone PC. Freedom of speech means freedom of speech. It might be mean, it might offend, but it is free speech. Hate Speech???? Get out of here. It is little more than something the liberal front hates, and now its against the law......

3. Making Facebook/Myspace secure: What? Since when should it be a business owners responsibility to ensure that children are not doing something they aren't supposed to? Shouldn't it be the parents that make these things more secure by monitoring what it is their kids are doing and who they are talking to online?

4. People that don't understand the terrorists HATE you. Your not Muslim, your not Islamic. You suck. You are a blasphemy and must either convert or die. If we leave Iraq, they won't stay over there, they will follow us here. I would rather the war be on foreign soil rather than in my backyard. WAKE UP SHEEPLE, quit believing the hype and realize that you can not talk things over with religious zealots. They hate you and everything about our country. Osama himself said he will not stop until we give up democracy and embrace Islam. Get a clue already.

OK, I'm done ranting for now. Sorry about that.

Just another shot

2007-10-15T21:40:00.000-04:00

Well, its another Monday. It got a little warmer today, but the rain still persists. Here is another shot from my last shoot. The buildings are a little crooked, next time I will have to remember to bring my level along.

Photo for the DEA

2007-10-13T13:20:00.000-04:00

I got a phone call last week and the guy wondered if I could do a night time skyline shot and put their logo on it as a going away present. As the conversation went on I was told that they were actually the DEA. As guys rotate out of the city they thought it would be cool to have a photo with their badge in it matted and framed.

Well, after I took some shots I was told they were going with a photo that an agent there had because it was free. It's to bad though, because he sent me the shot they were using and it does not have enough resolution to print at the size they intend to print it at.

Here is my vision of what it should be. I liked the gritty feel of this photo. I think it tells the story of what it is the DEA does, and how they do it without the general public even being aware of it. Until now, I did not even know we had a unit here in GR.

The tech stuff:

D200
18-70mm lens @ 18mm
F11
20 second exposure
Shot on tripod with M36 cable release

How Things Change

2007-10-13T12:51:00.001-04:00

I have been neglecting my blogging for quite awhile now. My career has changed dramatically from my last post. I went through a dry period and watched my funds slowly shrink. I started seeing the need to take a "real" job and lucky for me I had a buddy that was going to help me get work as a dock worker for a sizable trucking company. The pay was decent and the hours would have worked well for me. After passing the drug test, getting hired, and filling out my W2's I was stuck waiting for a start date.

One afternoon my phone rings and its a fella asking if I was still interested in the graphic design job that I had applied for over a month prior. Because I was applying all over the country I asked him to fill me in on what company they were, and the job description. As soon as he started telling me about it I remembered it as being one of the jobs I really wanted. He asked if I could come in for an interview that afternoon. To make a longer story short, I went in and kicked ass. He liked me and my work, and after a phone call that evening to lock in my salary I started working the very next day. The trucking company called me two days later with a start date, but of course I had to turn them down. I guess it was lucky they strung me along for three weeks or I might not have gotten the call for the design job that I really wanted.

So now I'm the "Creative Services Coordinator" for Progressive Distribution. We run catalog and ecommerce sites for big companies so they don't have to. We take care of everything from customer service to shipping out the product. I am responsible for all the site updates, email blasts, any graphic design work needed, and the new product photography. So I get to do the three things I enjoy everyday.

Some of the clients I work with are goldsgear.com, sourceperrier.com and our newest client is going to be Tracy Reese. Work on her site will be starting next week, and I'm looking forward to it.

Tao of Inspiraton and Design

2007-03-08T23:51:00.000-05:00

This comes from Bruce Mau Design. I really liked it and found it to be inspiring to my work, so I thought I would share it with all of you.

An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth

Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements that exemplify Bruce Mau's beliefs, motivations and strategies. It also articulates how the BMD studio works.

1. Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.

2. Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.

3. Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.

4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.

5. Go deep. The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.

6. Capture accidents. The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.

7. Study. A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.

8. Drift. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.

9. Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.

10. Everyone is a leader. Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.

11. Harvest ideas. Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.

12. Keep moving. The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.

13. Slow down. Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.

14. Don’t be cool. Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.

15. Ask stupid questions. Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.

16. Collaborate. The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.

17. ____________________. Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas of others.

18. Stay up late. Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you're separated from the rest of the world.

19. Work the metaphor. Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.

20. Be careful to take risks. Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.

21. Repeat yourself. If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.

22. Make your own tools. Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.

23. Stand on someone’s shoulders. You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.

24. Avoid software. The problem with software is that everyone has it.

25. Don’t clean your desk. You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.

26. Don’t enter awards competitions. Just don’t. It’s not good for you.

27. Read only left-hand pages. Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our "noodle."

28. Make new words. Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.

29. Think with your mind. Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.

30. Organization = Liberty. Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between "creatives" and "suits" is what Leonard Cohen calls a 'charming artifact of the past.'

31. Don’t borrow money. Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.

32. Listen carefully. Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.

33. Take field trips. The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.

34. Make mistakes faster. This isn’t my idea -- I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.

35. Imitate. Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You'll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.

36. Scat. When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else ... but not words.

37. Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.

38. Explore the other edge. Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.

39. Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms. Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces -- what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference -- the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.

40. Avoid fields. Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.

41. Laugh. People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I've become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.

42. Remember. Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.

43. Power to the people. Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can't be free agents if we’re not free.

The Ball is Almost Rolling

2007-03-05T14:25:00.000-05:00

After bailing on the last "great job prospect" because it turned out to be nothing more than hype I focused on getting my own freelance gig rolling. It is amazing how many doors the right job can open. After revamping a web site for a large well established rehab center they hired me on to do their first magazine ad. They loved it so much they put me in "charge" of all their advertising. The ad I made is now going to be in a second magazine, and after talking with the fella that works over there he wants to use me as a freelance ad guy for them. So this one job has opened up referral work from two different magazines. Now that ball just needs to start rolling down the (hopefully) long and never ending hill.

Back Up and Running

2007-02-21T13:32:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a stressful week. My computer died and I lost a whole bunch of stuff. Something like this can make you a firm believer in backing files up on a second hard drive! I can say the computer upgrade is nice though. I went from 512 ram, 60 gig hd, and a pentium 4 to a whopping 2 gigs of ram, 110 gig hd, and a dual core processor. I can have the entire Adobe Creative Suite open and work with large files and not notice any lag. Ahhhh, so nice.

I'm also happy because my first magazine ad will be published in Wellness Magazine for their March edition. If you happen to see one laying around look for the Advanced Recovery Center Ad.

Craigslist: Free Design Work

2007-02-08T00:13:00.000-05:00

While Reading in the HOW design forum the other day I came across a thread posted by a fellow designer. He found this great post on Craigslist by an unknown author. Many of the designers are posting this to their blogs to help educate other designers, clients, and the general public.

It is a bit long, but a great read. So without any further build up, here it is.

Every day, there are more and more CL posts seeking "artists" for everything from auto graphics to comic books to corporate logo designs. More people are finding themselves in need of some form of illustrative service.

But what they're NOT doing, unfortunately, is realizing how rare someone with these particular talents can be.

To those who are "seeking artists", let me ask you; How many people do you know, personally, with the talent and skill to perform the services you need? A dozen? Five? One? ...none?

More than likely, you don't know any. Otherwise, you wouldn't be posting on craigslist to find them.

And this is not really a surprise.

In this country, there are almost twice as many neurosurgeons as there are professional illustrators. There are eleven times as many certified mechanics. There are SEVENTY times as many people in the IT field.

So, given that they are less rare, and therefore less in demand, would it make sense to ask your mechanic to work on your car for free? Would you look him in the eye, with a straight face, and tell him that his compensation would be the ability to have his work shown to others as you drive down the street?

Would you offer a neurosurgeon the "opportunity" to add your name to his resume as payment for removing that pesky tumor? (Maybe you could offer him "a few bucks" for "materials". What a deal!)

Would you be able to seriously even CONSIDER offering your web hosting service the chance to have people see their work, by viewing your website, as their payment for hosting you?

If you answered "yes" to ANY of the above, you're obviously insane. If you answered "no", then kudos to you for living in the real world.

But then tell me... why would you think it is okay to live out the same, delusional, ridiculous fantasy when seeking someone whose abilities are even less in supply than these folks?

Graphic artists, illustrators, painters, etc., are skilled tradesmen. As such, to consider them as, or deal with them as, anything less than professionals fully deserving of your respect is both insulting and a bad reflection on you as a sane, reasonable person. In short, it makes you look like a twit.

A few things you need to know;

1. It is not a "great opportunity" for an artist to have his work seen on your car/'zine/website/bedroom wall, etc. It IS a "great opportunity" for YOU to have their work there.

2. It is not clever to seek a "student" or "beginner" in an attempt to get work for free. It's ignorant and insulting. They may be "students", but that does not mean they don't deserve to be paid for their hard work. You were a "student" once, too. Would you have taken that job at McDonalds with no pay, because you were learning essential job skills for the real world? Yes, your proposition it JUST as stupid.

3. The chance to have their name on something that is going to be seen by other people, whether it's one or one million, is NOT a valid enticement. Neither is the right to add that work to their "portfolio". They get to do those things ANYWAY, after being paid as they should. It's not compensation. It's their right, and it's a given.

4. Stop thinking that you're giving them some great chance to work. Once they skip over your silly ad, as they should, the next ad is usually for someone who lives in the real world, and as such, will pay them. There are far more jobs needing these skills than there are people who possess these skills.

5. Students DO need "experience". But they do NOT need to get it by giving their work away. In fact, this does not even offer them the experience they need. Anyone who will not/can not pay them is obviously the type of person or business they should be ashamed to have on their resume anyway. Do you think professional contractors list the "experience" they got while nailing down a loose step at their grandmother's house when they were seventeen?

If you your company or gig was worth listing as desired experience, it would be able to pay for the services it received. The only experience they will get doing free work for you is a lesson learned in what kinds of scrubs they should not lower themselves to deal with.

6. (This one is FOR the artists out there, please pay attention.) Some will ask you to "submit work for consideration". They may even be posing as some sort of "contest". These are almost always scams. They will take the work submitted by many artists seeking to win the "contest", or be "chosen" for the gig, and find what they like most. They will then usually have someone who works for them, or someone who works incredibly cheap because they have no originality or talent of their own, reproduce that same work, or even just make slight modifications to it, and claim it as their own. You will NOT be paid, you will NOT win the contest. The only people who win, here, are the underhanded folks who run these ads. This is speculative, or "spec", work. It's risky at best, and a complete scam at worst. I urge you to avoid it, completely. For more information on this subject, please visit www.no-spec.com.

So to artists/designers/illustrators looking for work, do everyone a favor, ESPECIALLY yourselves, and avoid people who do not intend to pay you. Whether they are "spec" gigs, or just some guy who wants a free mural on his living room walls. They need you. You do NOT need them.

And for those who are looking for someone to do work for free... please wake up and join the real world. The only thing you're accomplishing is to insult those with the skills you need. Get a clue.

Slowly but Surely

2007-01-18T19:23:00.000-05:00

Well still no contact with the Tax Site owner, but she has been billed at least. The great news is I just landed a nice web site job for a high profile rehab center. It should be an interesting project and the best part is the clients are easy to work with.

**Sea Monkey Update**
To those who care about my sea monkeys and how they are fairing. Well it took several weeks but I now have a nice colony. About twenty of the little fellas are swimming around and growing.

All work and no Pay?

2007-01-12T00:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been working on a web site for an accounting company. A nightmare job by all counts. Absolutely no input from the client, low paying job, and I can not even get in touch with the client to answer pretty important questions. Sheesh, talk about winging it.

Then, another client that was in the market for two web sites and was actually paying well decides to put the project on hold for awhile longer. Hmmmm, anyone care to pay my rent for me next month as I may be a little short?

On the plus side of things, my computer crashed not once, but twice. I think I managed to fix the problem. Looks like it was some bad spots on my hard drive that scan disk was able to correct. Thank God for that. My power supply is bad though. I actually have to put something under the power cord to put upwards pressure on it where it connects to my laptop, or it won't charge the battery. Weird huh?

Been Awhile

2007-01-04T03:54:00.000-05:00

Wow, where do the days go? It has been quite some time since I posted some ramblings here. The holidays came and went, got to visit with the family. The new job is starting to get rolling. In fact, lots of work is on the horizon.

On the plus side, lots of work is coming, on the negative side, I feel like I have to compromise my personal design values as it is mainly small companies that are happy with a rinky dink web site rather than a visual piece of work. So the boss man wants low bids to not freak out customers who will be purchasing other services from our company. So I have to make "basic" sites for now and if they want more it will be charged as add ons. I really don't like working like that but at the same time if I'm doing 3 to 4 web sites a week from 300 to 500 each that is not to bad money wise. Especially since the funds are getting low after a half a year lay off. One thing I did learn is if you work for a company as the only design person, and they have lots of salespeople out hitting the streets web and graphic design jobs come flying in the door. Interesting.....very very interesting.

A New Job

2006-12-15T14:47:00.000-05:00

Well after being laid off for over six months I finally found a job I can live with. I'm going to sort of miss days filled with nothing to do but leisure time, but money does make the world go 'round. It is a startup business, so I'm getting in at the right time. The company is Infinite Business Solutions, and they help small and medium size companies grow!

My role will be to be in charge of the internet side of things. I get to work from home, make web sites and business identities for our clients. I will also be responsible for our image, so I have a lot of work to do. Already I have four web sites and brochures to create. Not to bad as our company is not yet quite off the ground yet. If things work out, I will be a partner with the owners.

This is the type of thing I have been hoping for, and it finally happened. The best part is I will be able to go to school and still work, although I am going to be a very busy bee when school starts again.

Long Day

2006-12-06T16:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I was up way to late last night. I have an Art History exam tomorrow and I have been studying for weeks. The range is from Impressionism to Pop Art. For those of you that know, there is a lot of material in between. For those of you who don't know, take my word for it, or do some research.

My daughter had to come and stay with me today because she was sick. So now I have about two hours of sleep, and have to be her little butler for the day. Not that that is so bad, she is a little sweetheart. I have half a dozen new pictures for my fridge, which is always a bonus.

I think I will try to include something fun for you to do in this post. I made a flash game in class this semester, so you can play it. One day I will add sound and more levels, perhaps.

Click that to play ---- > Acornians <----- Click that to play

Geek

2006-12-06T03:42:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm such a geek. Not only am I doing two posts back to back, this one is about Sea Monkeys. Yes, thats right, Sea Monkeys. I really for real ordered a kit online and it came to me in the mail. I love getting stuff I bought online in the mail. Anyhoo, I poured in the "bottled water" and the purifier stuff and waited almost 24 hours. Then I poured in the batch of "instant life" and looked for my little Sea Monkeys. Well, it has been about six hours and I still can't see them. I understand that they are really small right now. About the size of this period --->. But no, I can't see them. The funny thing is tonight on South Park Cartman and gang bought Sea Monkeys as well. His worked, but he was pissed they were brine shrimp and not actual little people. Long story short, he mixes human sperm with them and wallah, small little sea people are born. They create a small underwater society and destroy themselves by war.

Here is a picture of my colony so far. It has a cool glow in the dark ship in it.

My first post

2006-12-06T03:07:00.000-05:00

Hello to anyone who cares to read this. I finally followed the pack off the cliff and created my own blog. Why are these things so popular? Does anyone really care about random people and what they have to say? The popularity of these things must be a big YES!

I guess I should tell you a little bit about me, since we probably just met. I was in the Air Force for four long years. My job was Security Forces. Kinda like the Army of the Air Force. In fact, part of our training was at Fort Dix in New Jersey for six weeks with the Army. That was probably the most fun I had during my training. Our job was to protect the base from any ground threat that might come along. For the most part we drove around in four wheel drive vehicles looking for new ways to get in trouble. I did get to go to Saudi Arabia, Korea, Ireland, Germany, Naples, and Hawaii. After all that fun my brother and I moved out to California.

We were in San Diego for quite a few months, not finding any work but having fun nonetheless. A job offer in Santa Rosa sent us on a little road trip, but the gangs up there were a little aggressive so we decided not to take the job. Lucky for us we were given a chance by the same company to work back home in GR at their unionized plant. Much better. Great pay and great benefits. After a couple years I realized I wanted more. I taught myself HTML and all the fun programs like photoshop and illustrator. Then dreamweaver and flash. Once I realized I could get paid for doing what I thought was fun I discovered that design principles were lacking in my repertoire.

I started my college education at Davenport University. They offered a four year degree in E-Business. Unfortunately it was heavy on the business and lacking in what I needed...DESIGN BASICS. So I put together a little portfolio of things that I had done and went to the top art school near me. Kendall College of Art and Design. To my delight I was accepted and have not looked back.

Well, that is probably more about me than you really care about, but it is my blog. You can't expect me to write about YOU in my blog now can you? Well, if I knew you and it was something interesting or funny then maybe I guess I would. Otherwise, start your own blog and write about you.