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May 28, 2005

Home from the Hospital

This morning, the boy had his last vial of blood drawn. Everything looked good, so they let him come home. He's not going to be playing any football for a while. He's restricted from many vigorous activities. No bike riding, climbing, swimming, or pretty much anything too strenuous or mildly risky. Methinks there will be quite a bit of gameboy playing in his future. His Mom and I are resting, as we haven't had a good night's sleep for a few days.

In other news, I'm starting a new job on Tuesday. I can't wait.

Posted by Lockjaw at 3:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 27, 2005

Hospital Update (Friday)

Things are progressing nicely, but slowly. Even a minor rupture of the spleen can take a while to stop bleeding. There's still abdominal pain, but all of the blood tests and other monitoring shows that things are going well, and that surgery will continue to be unnecessary. I have no doubts of the hand of God in protecting and healing my son, as this whole process could have been MUCH worse.

Now, the worst part of the process is boredom. The boy is spending a lot of time playing MegaMan games on his GameBoy. He's coloring his felt-art picture, reading his "Foxtrot" and "Calvin and Hobbes" books. He's already built his Lego kit (Brickmaster exclusive Jedi Starfighter) and is surrounded by a number of his stuffed animals. In the late morning, most of the kids TV channels go to the shows for the really young kids, so there's no "Ed, Edd, and Eddy" for him to watch then. Today is also the day of his school's promotion ceremony, and he's bummed about missing that.

Today is probably the day that he'll move to a regular room, also. That will mean a bit more visitors will show up. It should also mean that his Mom and I will be able to sleep better at night. Last night, I slept on the cold hard floor. Trust me, it was a vast improvement over pulling two chairs together. Shannon gets the recliner, but even that had to be pulled in especially for us, since ICU isn't normally a place where people are allowed to sleep in.

My wife just called me while I typed this, and informed me that the surgeon checked him over and things look good. This means that he will be moving to a regular room sometime today, and most likely will be able to come home tomorrow. You can't believe how happy this makes me.

Keep praying.

Dave

Posted by Lockjaw at 8:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 26, 2005

Hospital Update

I'm home for a short time. The boy is doing well. They're still following the "Watch and Wait" strategy, which is apparently the standard in minor pediatric splenic injury cases, according to other doctors we've consulted with. We're still looking at another day or two of the hospital stay, and the word came through today that the school's insurance is taking care of everything.

As "bad stuff" goes, this is turning out well. We still request prayer, as everything is in the hands of God.

Posted by Lockjaw at 2:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 25, 2005

Family News - Slow Blogging to Come

I expect that the next few days will see little or no activity from me on the blog. I will be busy with far more important things.

Early this afternoon, my 10 year old son fell off the playground equipment at school. He apparently did a classic bellyflop onto the ground. Afterward, he complained of sharp abdominal pain. My wife contacted me, and we decided to watch him closely until she got home so I could take a look at him. Soon after, he vomited. I did a little research on the net, contacted a local doctor, and decided to take him to the Emergency Room. My wife took him directly there, as they were still on the way home from school.

In the Emergency Room, they took blood and urine samples. The urine sample showed some blood, so they did a CT scan. The result? My son has a ruptured spleen.

The next steps aren't as bad as they could be. They want to watch him closely, and probably NOT do a splenectomy. If things go downhill, that may change, but at this point, he's looking at some time in the ICU. We'll be spending a lot of our time with him.

I ask for your prayers. My son is in pain, and doesn't like needles, but is otherwise well enough to lie in bed and play his Gameboy. Please pray for his well being and healing.

Posted by Lockjaw at 7:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 24, 2005

American Idol Finals Voting Math

Tonight is the final performance episode of American Idol. Count me as a fan of Bo Bice for the winner, but I'm not putting a lot of stock in either tonight's performances or the voting when it comes to the outcome.

The reason for this is the method being used to vote for and decide the winner. Each of the finalists will have four phone lines assigned to them for a four hour period. Presumably, each phone number can handle more than a few telephone calls at once, but everything will be equal. Equal time, equal lines, equal call handling capabilities for each line.

For the next four hours, those phone lines will be jammed. Phone calls will be coming in to every available line as fast as they can be piped in, registering votes so fast it boggles the mind. Each person voting can vote as many times as they wish.

The result of all of this will be a very close result. In the end, I believe that the final tally will be decided as much by variances in the electronics making up the phone and voting circuitry as anything else. It isn't that the support for these two is so evenly divided. I believe that the support is actually quite unbalanced, by human nature.

How could we get a more accurate tally of who has the most support? We can change the system completely. Here are my basic ideas.

Let's propose an experiment. We get 50 people to line up in front of a ballot box labelled "Candidate A." We get 100 people to line up in front of a ballot box labelled "Candidate B." When we start the lines, each person takes a slip of paper from a pile and drops it into the box, then gets in the back of the line. For one hour, both lines will cycle as fast as they can, casting as many votes as they can. At the end of the hour, the number of slips of paper in each box are counted to determine the winner. What are the odds that the winner will be the candidate with the most people in line?

50:50

That's right, the odds that the candidate with the most voters will win is statistically dead even. That's pretty stupid, isn't it? That's the same system being used by American Idol.

In a real election, we use a single ballot box. Of course, we've replaced the ballot box with other voting systems, but each voter goes through the same line. Each voter also votes only once (theoretically). This allows each voter an equal opportunity for representation. Equal representation means a better vote, and it really is that simple.

Why should they use a 1-900 number? I believe that the 1-900 number represents a form of poll tax that is entirely appropriate in an entertainment venue. By charging a small amount to voters (say, $1), the fans who decide to vote will place a higher importance on their vote. If the vote is free, the voters do not have to take it seriously. If the voter has to pay a buck, they'll place a value on the ability to vote. Those who don't think voting is worth a buck just won't vote, and who needs them anyway?

By the way, I do think we should charge a buck to voters on Election Day, as well. As a "poll tax" goes, a buck is hardly oppressive. 99% of people who might find one dollar to be too much to pay would probably not hesitate to spend that same amount on a drink at the store, or as much as five times that for a day's worth of cigarettes.

Tomorrow night, I'll be watching to see who wins American Idol. I won't be fooled into believing that the vote is an accurate representation of the feelings of the fans, but I'll watch anyway. Maybe next year, the American Idol producers will institute a better system. Until then, I'll just have to enjoy the real world instead.

Posted by Lockjaw at 8:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Skype - Still Loving It

I know I've blogged about it before, but I'm just LOVING this Skype service. Personally, I'm only using it for Skype to Skype calling, but my friend Dave has turned it into his primary phone line when he's on the road (which is all the time).

What is Skype? Skype is a Voice Over IP application that acts like a telephone. Using my headset, I can talk to other Skype users without worrying about long distance rates or using my cellphone minutes. They also have options for having your own telephone number, so people can call you by phone and you answer through your broadband connection. One great feature of this is that you can use Skype from your hotel room when you're on the road. Dave uses his with his notebook PC, and has access to his phone line everywhere he goes. He's reduced his cellphone minutes to 200 per month, and saves big bucks. He has both the SkypeIn function (the phone number) and SkypeOut (call phone numbers for 2 cents per minute).

If you haven't tried VoIP yet, it's a great way to go. As I say, I'm not using SkypeOut or SkypeIn yet, and I'm loving it. If you're interested in trying it out for free, with the PC-to-PC option only, like I am, click here to try Skype.

Skype me by clicking this link once you've installed Skype.

Just after typing this, I spent over half an hour talking with Danny Chen, a young man in China who is practicing his English. We had an enjoyable conversation, and I picked up some new Mandarin words to use.

Posted by Lockjaw at 10:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

John Kerry Signed the SF-180?

Months after saying he had released ALL of his military records during his failed Presidential campaign, and over 100 days after promising to do so during an interview with Tim Russert, John Kerry has stated that he has signed the SF-180 form. The SF-180 is the form that would allow public access to all of John Kerry's military records, and shed light on many of the questions about his military service that have been raised but insufficiently answered.

Of course, it isn't quite that simple. According to Kerry, "I have signed it." He also adds that his staff is "still going through it" and ''very, very shortly, you will have a chance to see it." He also points out that he hasn't actually submitted the form to the Navy.

So, he's signed the form. His staff is still going through it. What, exactly, is his staff going through? Are they going through the form? If so, and he needs to verify information in the form, then why has he signed it? Are they going through the information that the Navy will release? If so, are they going to decide to not submit the form if they find something incriminating? What, exactly, is it that we will "have a chance to see?" Do we get to look at a copy of the form? Will we get to see a full release of his military records?

As is normally the case with John Kerry, nothing is very clear about what he's saying. You fill out the form, sign it, and submit it. The Navy releases the information. Why the fuzziness?

Thanks to Decision '08 for the link. D08 has turned out to be a great blog to follow for politics.

Posted by Lockjaw at 9:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 23, 2005

Virginia Postrel on Journalistic Bias

Over at Dynamist Blog, Virginia Postrel lays out a very good explanation of why the media sometimes gets things wrong.

"Much--though by no means all--journalistic bias lies in reporters' assessments of what's likely to be true. Those assessments are based in part on experience with sources and in part on how the reporter understands the world. What do you believe about political motivations? What do you believe about the way the economy works? What do you believe about the likely behavior of U.S. soldiers in combat, or of business executives, or of the clergy, or of Republicans, or of Jews? What do you believe about human nature in general? About political institutions? About the corrupting influence of money? About the power of ideology? About the relative importance of genetics versus culture, nature versus nurture? About the prevalence or sustainability of discrimination? About the influence of violence on TV? About the effectiveness of conspiracies?"

As a fellow of the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership, I had access to a fantastic six months of training in the nuts and bolts of politics. One of the most important nuggets of information I gained in the process was in a discussion of the media. A reporter from the News and Observer out of Raleigh, NC spoke to the class. This reporter laid out the number one criterion for deciding what stories to cover.
"We want the story that is important to our next-door neighbor."

This is a good thing to remember. Reporters and editors have to decide what to report based on a lot of things, but if the story doesn't appeal to the guy next door, then who WILL it appeal to? Newspapers are out to make money, and they do that directly, and indirectly, through readership. If the guy next door has the perception that his job may be in danger, then employment issues are what needs to be covered. If the guy next door is a retiree, then Social Security may be the story of the day.

The bottom line? A reporter's perception of his audience is very important in his choice of what to cover, and how to cover it. He perceives this audience by the people he talks to every day. Those people are his co-workers, his friends, his neighbors, and his other associates. Any bias in his reporting may come not only from his own point of view, but also from the points of view of those around him.

If you talk to a reporter, why not tell him what stories would be important to you, instead of how his bias screwed up what could have been a good story?

Posted by Lockjaw at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 21, 2005

Revenge of the Sith - Political Review

There has been a lot of discussion about George Lucas' politics, statements, and the content of Revenge of the Sith lately in the blogosphere. Now that I've seen the movie, I thought it was time I gave my own point of view on what I saw. My take is going to be a little different than what you've seen elsewhere.

If you have NOT seen Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith, and do not want to have the story spoiled for you, read no further. This entry is bound to be full of spoiler information. You have been warned.

Is Revenge of the Sith an anti-Bush movie? My answer is a resounding NO! I think you can get from the movie what you want. Some of the same things that others saw in the movie as anti-Bush or very liberal, I saw as the exact opposite. Instead of a commentary on conservatism, I saw a strong commentary on modern liberalism. Since this bears some explanation, read on.

The basis for this explanation is in the two sides of the battle. The Jedi and their allies represent the people, Democracy, and freedom. The Sith, on the other hand, are the liberals.

Wait, the Sith are the liberals? Isn't that a pretty strong statement? That's a horrible thing to say, don't you think? Isn't it obvious that Lucas intended the Sith to represent something altogether different?

Lucas probably DID intend the Sith to represent something altogether different. I am making a strong statement. Is it horrible? I don't think so. Movies, as with any art, leave the interpretation in the eyes of the beholder. Lucas can make any movie he wants, but he can't control what I, as the viewer, see with my own eyes. My eyes saw something unique, that no one else in the theater saw. We watched the same images, heard the same sounds, and followed the same dialogue. What I'm conveying is my own interpretation of this work.

Palpatine, the Sith Lord, tells Anikin Skywalker, "Good is a point of view." As with modern-day liberalism, the concepts of good and bad must be twisted to draw someone to the dark side. If one believes in the concept of absolute good and absolute evil, the lure of evil isn't as strong. When I look at modern-day political belief structures, I only see this moral relativism coming from the left-of-center political divisions.

Later, Palpatine tells Anikin, "If one is to understand the great mystery, one must study all its aspects, not just the dogmatic, narrow view of the Jedi. If you wish to become a complete and wise Jedi leader, you must embrace a larger view of The Force."

If you replace "Jedi" with "Christian" and "The Force" with "The Universe," you've got one of the great anti-christian liberal arguments of the day. In Star Wars, "The Force" is often presented as a religion. The Jedi are presented as the preservers of order and justice in the galaxy. The parallels to the modern battle between liberalism and faith are obvious. I have real trouble seeing how this could be interpreted as anti-conservative. Quite the contrary, this makes the Sith look more and more as the great liberals of the galaxy.

"If you're not with me, you're my enemy." This line was spoken by Anikin Skywalker after his conversion to the Sith. This is being seen as strictly anti-Bush in nature. I'm not so sure. Yet again, this is the point of view of modern liberalism, much more than conservatism. I see the modern conservative movement criticizing liberalism on a case-by-case basis across the issues. To conservatives, the difference between left and right is visible through the issues. Liberals are defined by their views on taxes, crime, abortion, international affairs, individual rights, property rights, and so on. Liberalism, increasingly, tends to generalize. Conservatives are bad, not by their responses on individual issues, but because they are not liberals. This can be demonstrated through their reaction to George W. Bush and the current Congress. As the Republicans in Congress move further toward the center, liberals paint them as more extreme. As President Bush reaches out to the left, even having prominent Democrats such as Kennedy and Moynihan author large parts of important bills on education and Social Security, the left lambasts him on those same issues.

Let me be clear on this. George W. Bush had Kennedy write much of his education bill. Liberals blasted Kennedy's work as evil, right-wing extremism. Patrick Moynihan led Bush's team to develop his Social Security Reform. Those same reforms are blasted as right-wing extremism. While the Republicans are reaching out to work with the Democrats, the Democrats are screaming about how partisan the Republicans are being. It isn't true, but truth is not the way of liberals, or the Sith.

Later in the movie, The Emperor gives "Order 66" to the Clone Troops. Order 66 can best be described as the great liberal protest sign, "We support our troops when they shoot their officers." The clone troopers set out to kill their commanders, the Jedi that have been protecting the Republic, and Democracy.

The clincher? Anikin Skywalker goes to the Jedi Temple, and proceeds to kill the young children who are being trained as Jedi. When I look at the "right-wing," I see many faults. One fault I do not see, though, is the need or will to kill young, innocent children. Indeed, that is one urge virtually limited to the left-wing in the United States of America. When I see a newborn child, I know that there is a small minority in the world that could care less whether that child lived or died. Abortion is the child sacrifice demanded by the modern religion known as liberalism. To liberals, a child can be killed in the womb simply because it has the potential to be a problem. Anikin's murder of the "younglings" in this movie was for the exact same reason.

Had it not been for Obi-Wan, Anikin and Padme's children might not have lived. Had Padme been left behind and discovered by the great, wise, liberal, Sith Lord Palpatine, it is likely that her children would have died with her, or even in the womb before she died.

Indeed, I believe that this movie should be seen as one of the great anti-liberal statements of modern cinema. George Lucas should be applauded. When Padme asks if this is how freedom dies, my thought is, "Yes." Freedom dies when you let liberals gain too much power.

Posted by Lockjaw at 11:05 AM | Comments (13) | TrackBack

Revenge of the Sith Review - Apolitical

Last night, the wife and I went to see Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith with our friend Roxie. We showed up early, got into the admit line, and grabbed the ideal center-screen seats. What followed was a movie that met my expectations, explained many of the questions, and entertained. This will be a quick non-political review of the movie, with as few spoilers as I can give. Later, I'll give my viewpoints on the political discussion of the movie, with significantly more spoilers.

Revenge of the Sith wasn't without its problems. Yes, the dialogue was often poorly delivered. Yes, the love story was poorly delivered. At times, story elements seemed to happen because they were demanded by the original trilogy, instead of because they made sense.

All that said, it was a great movie. I truly enjoyed it. You can see the mistakes made along the way that led to the downfall of Anikin Skywalker. The opening space-battle scene was spectacularly done, but dissapointingly short. Likewise, the battle between the Jedi and Dooku left me wanting more.

Further on in the movie, more is what I got. Obi-Wan versus Grievous was an exciting, varied battle. Palpatine's arrest scene surprised many in the audience. Above all, Anikin and Obi-Wan's fight was the most exciting duel I've seen on film, surpassing the big fight in Episode I by far.

My son, at 10 years old, decided to wait to see the movie until he is 13 years old. In retrospect, I'm glad he did. He'll enjoy the movie when he does see it, but some aspects of this movie were deserving of the higher rating of PG-13. I heard repeated gasps from Roxie at times, as she was disturbed by what she saw.

I've said for many years now that George Lucas doesn't produce high art. Lucas is a master of the cinematic form of schlock. He delivers some of the best schlock around, but Citizen Kane it isn't. If you're expecting cinematic brilliance, Revenge of the Sith isn't the movie to see. If you're looking for a good conclusion to the Star Wars series, that's exciting and engaging, you'll get what you want out of this movie. I loved it for what it is.

Posted by Lockjaw at 10:44 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 18, 2005

Coding Day

Today's going to be a productive day. I'm working on a redevelopment of my wife's website. My wife makes some beautiful jewelry, which you should go and buy (hint hint). My mother designed her website, and did a great job of it, back when she was getting her certificate in Internet Technology from our local community college.

The site looks great, and works well for the purposes, but has some limitations. Mainly, it isn't database driven. Each page, and each item for sale on the page, is manually created. This means that any changes to any item for sale, such as marking it sold, requires a manual edit of the page. This is less than ideal.

I've been jawing about how I needed to redesign the website so it can be run from a database for a long time. This isn't such an easy job, because I've never actually written any database driven websites before. I've maintained code written by others, installed sites, maintained the databases themselves, and tweaked things to work better for my purposes, but I've never started from scratch to do it myself. Today, this changes.

This morning, I've made the first few steps. I've created the database. I've built my first table. I've put in several entries, and I've got my php script pulling entries from the table. I've got the beginnings of a catalog listing going, with checks to see if the item is sold or on display in the local art gallery (with different text in the place of the price for each of those). Because of the mild quirkiness of my webhost, I had to jump through a hoop or two before I got this far. As it turned out, the mild quirkiness was solved completely by the fact that they provided much of the code I needed to solve my problems right there in the interface. I had been concentrating so hard on my reference materials, I overlooked the answers that were right under my nose already.

Once I'm done, my wife's job will be much easier when it comes to website management. Instead of editing many pages and re-uploading, she will only need to click a checkbox or edit a field for the items she needs to update. This will mean more regular updates, better functionality, more available features, and hopefully more sales.

Personally, this means a much wider skillset for myself. I plan to put these skills to use in the future, in many ways.

Posted by Lockjaw at 8:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 17, 2005

George Lucas / John Kerry

George Lucas is generating a lot of words in the blogosphere, including a few here, because of his statements on politics, freedom, and Star Wars. Many see Episode III as an anti-Bush movie. I have no opinion on that, per se. I'm going to go see the movie, and I expect to enjoy it greatly. I never have, however, considered Star Wars to be any sort of deep allegorical statement on anything at all, and where it has tried I've found the weakest moments in the story.

That said, let's take another look at what Lucas has had to say.

"In terms of evil, one of the original concepts was how does a democracy turn itself into a dictatorship.

"The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable."

Lucas has previously stated that one of the influences on the Star Wars storyline was the Vietnam conflict. Now we see comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq, with apparent references to our current governmental situation thrown in.

Look at the story so far in the new trilogy.

We have a Senator that represents the dominant, enlightened population of an idyllic coastal resort planet. The non-dominant population look like, among other things, toads. The Senator exploits a trade conflict to place himself in the prime position of power.

As it turns out, the Senator is also the primary force behind the other side in the conflict. He is playing both sides against each other in order to give himself still more power. Eventually, he is able to gain a position of absolute authority in which he has singular control over a "grand army." Those who oppose him are hunted down, and eventually the Senator becomes Emperor and abolishes the democratic form of government.

If this is allegory, then who would be the person represented by the Emperor? Is it Nixon? Is it Bush? Is Lucas trying to say that Nixon orchestrated the Viernam conflict, or that Bush planned the Iraq conflict in concert with the opposing side? If so, Lucas would seem to be nothing more than a wacko conspiracy theorist liberal like Michael Moore.

As I wrote this, a completely different image popped into my mind. I had to change the title of the post. Consider this. Massachusets is coastal resort state. The junior Senator of that state worked both sides of the conflict in Vietnam. The non-dominant population (Republicans) of Massachusets are presented by the dominant population as inhuman. All Kerry had to do was win the election, and he'd have been commander in chief of the grandest army on the planet.

Wow. I'm going to see the next movie in a whole new light.

Posted by Lockjaw at 2:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Arthur Chrenkoff on George Lucas

Arthur Chrenkoff has posted an open letter to George Lucas concerning his recent statements in Cannes. Lucas stated,

"In terms of evil, one of the original concepts was how does a democracy turn itself into a dictatorship," Lucas told a news conference at Cannes, where his final episode had its world premiere.

"The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable."

In response, Chrenkoff points out how to him, and many of his former countrymen who lived under the yoke of socialism and communism in Soviet controlled Poland, the Star Wars movies gave an allegory not of the United States as oppressor, but the Soviet Union.

"Yes, we were very wrong indeed - to you, the Empire was the United States of America, and if that's the case, then the brave rebels could only be all those people around the world fighting the American Empire - the Castros, Che Guevaras, Ho Chi Minhs, Pol Pots, and by extension, the Brezhnevs and the Mao Tse Tungs of this world. You, of course, live in the Free World, and as such you have the right to believe that your country is the most powerful force for evil operating in the world. But just for the sake of completeness and historical accuracy, can I just mention that whatever the sins of the United States - and I certainly understand well enough that no country is perfect - your rebels, both when fighting for power and when finally in power, ended up being responsible for the death of tens of millions and enslavement of hundreds of millions; the Luke Skywalkers and Han Solos of the last century gave us gulags and re-education camps, terror famines and political prisons; they institutionalized cults of personality, stifled every human freedom and impoverished whole nations."

In one paragraph, Chrenkoff sums up very well why I question the intelligence, logical thought processes, wisdom, and knowledge of anyone who willingly identifies themselves as "socialist" or "communist."

Posted by Lockjaw at 10:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 16, 2005

Newsweek's Bogus Koran Story

Newsweek reported, as many of you know, that interrogators destroyed a Koran as an interrogation method, eventually flushing it. As a result, riots have been taking place across the muslim world. At least 17 are dead and many more wounded. Now, Newsweek has come out and said that they can't verify that the story was correct.

This morning, Jonothan Alter was on Imus in the Morning. Asked about the sources for the story, Alter stated that a single unnamed source was used for the story. The story was then read to a Pentagon source who did not "wave us off" publication.

Want to know the state of the major media? Journalistic standards have now been reduced to single-sourcing with anonymity. As a second source, the story may be presented to a second person, and as long as they are not personally privvy to information that contradicts the story, it can run.

If, for instance, I was told by a person I do not wish to name that Al Gore was a flaming homosexual who frequented gay bars and had unprotected sex in bath houses, I could write a story for Newsweek about it. Newsweek could then take the story to a minor functionary of the Democratic Party. If that person then said, "I've never seen him at the bath house, but I can't prove it isn't true," then Newsweek could run the story under the same standards they followed for their Koran story.

That doesn't mean the Al Gore story would be true.

This is why journalism students are taught, or at least once were taught, that dual-sourcing is the standard for their profession. Once upon a time, an unnamed source would have to be named to the editor, and possibly another named source be added to the requirements before the story could run.

This is, simply, worse ethics than those followed by certain black-and-white supermarket tabloids. The entire Newsweek organization should be shamed.

Posted by Lockjaw at 7:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 15, 2005

Semi-Open Thread - First Amendment and BOR Preamble

It's comment time. I'd love to see what my readers have to say on the following topic. How do you interpret the First Amendment to the US Constitution in regards to the preamble of the Bill of Rights?

Preamble to the Bill of Rights (relevant excerpt)

The conventions of a number of the States having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution.

First Amendment to the US Constitution

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Posted by Lockjaw at 8:21 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 13, 2005

Border Patrol and the Minutemen

In today's Washington Times is a report that US Border Patrol agents in the Tuscon Arizona area have been instructed by their superiors to make sure that arrests do not increase after the Minutemen protesters/neighborhood watch leaves the area. The Minutemen, though often misdescribed by pro-illegal-immigrant advocates, simply watched the border for illegal entries, contacting the Border Patrol if they found encroachment. As a result, potential illegal immigrants reportedly waited until they left, or moved to other areas of the border to cross.

Now that the Minutemen have left their posts, attempted crossings are expected to increase. This would, normally, result in an increase in arrests. Apparently, any increase in arrests would show that the Minutemen were successful. More than a dozen agents who patrol this area told the Times that orders were relayed to them that arrests were "not to go up."

What I don't understand is why the Border Patrol has been so vehemently opposed to the Minutemen. In my opinion, they should be forming a Border Patrol Volunteer Reserve that would do exactly what the Minutemen have been doing. Build them a bunch of lifeguard towers along the border, and let them sit in the towers and report illegal entries to "the professionals" by cellphone.

It would work.

Undoubtedly, the Democratic Party would oppose it.

Posted by Lockjaw at 7:18 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 10, 2005

Huffington Post Day 2

No, this blog isn't going to become a one-stop critique clearinghouse on the Huffington Post. With all the pre-launch publicity for Ariana "The Kook" Huffington's effort to change the blogosphere, though, it behooves us bloggers to give our honest opinions on what she's doing right. Unfortunately, she's not doing much of anything right.

It's only Day 2, but there's no reason to think things are getting any better, or will soon. Nikki Finke has an excellent column that goes into a lot of the smoke and mirrors that Huffington used to get the word out about this travesty. (Hat Tip: LaShawn Barber) My own visit, today, makes me quite sure this will not become one of my daily reads, much less a subscribed RSS feed.

Today's roundup?


Ariana, I could produce a blog of greater quality than yours by spending all day on the toilet and taking pictures of the bowl. This "Post" of yours has been two days in existence, and has produced exactly TWO entries that are worth reading, and only one of those has been of any serious merit. This whole thing is reminiscent of the South Park episode where the kids work to produce a quality newscast, only to be beaten in the ratings by a show full of closeups of pets with a wide-angle lens. You've taken thousands of dollars of other people's money and produced the same thing that others have for $100 in hosting fees, only of lower quality.

This is so typical of liberal methods. Start by raising a lot of money. Follow up with flashy ideas. Gain the involvement of a bunch of "beautiful people." Declare your efforts to be the best thing since sliced bread. Follow up with a declaration that your effort is an answer to the "right-wing control" over whatever industry it is you're going into. Get the cooperation of the major media in tooting your horn for you. Produce lesser-quality pap that appeals to the leftiest of the left. Watch the money dissapear when revenues don't turn up. Re-tool your efforts, not to match what the audience needs but to meet the new, lower budget. Repackage your marketing to say that your offering is a necessity to the few rather than the panacaea it was originally touted as. End as an also-ran with a shoestring budget.

Rush Limbaugh started on a shoestring budget, offering people views that they had been missing in the major media. His ideas appealed to millions, and now he makes millions of dollars as a great success.

Air America started with millions of dollars, offering people views that they could get in the major media nearly anywhere they looked. Their ideas appealed to dozens, and now they're coasting as best they can on what little money they can bring in as a great failure.

I wonder which of these the Huffington Post will emulate.

Posted by Lockjaw at 7:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 9, 2005

Welcome to the Blogosphere, Huffington Post

It's been weeks since it was first announced, so imagine my glee when celebrity nutcase Ariana Huffington's new group blog finally launched. The Huffington Post is off to a start this morning. It isn't really a good start, but most blogs take a little time to get running well. In fact, if I had to choose one word to describe what I've seen so far, it would be "boring."

John Cusack blogs about Hunter S. Thompson, a truly current event. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her husband (mostly her husband) have something to say about marriage, but it's hard to tell what it is. Ellen Degeneres blogs about wild horses. Hillary Rosen can't figure out what every other iPod user can, how to use music you didn't buy from Apple.

I've been looking forward to the Huffington Post. I thought it would be a good opportunity for Hollywood Liberals to say their piece, put it all into print, and let us know exactly what they thought without having a reporter or editor screw it up in the process.

Here's hoping that it doesn't continue to look so irrelevant. Day 1 is just so... sad.

Posted by Lockjaw at 1:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 7, 2005

Rusty Humphries Slams Liberal Situational Ethics

Over at TownHall, Rusty Humphries has laid out one of the best explanations of liberal actions I've seen in a while.

Liberals don't care about judges. They don't care about Senate rules. They don't care about people, constitutional principle or precedent - and they especially don’t care about you. They only care about emotion, power and secular socialist policies. As they say, if it walks like a duck...

Posted by Lockjaw at 7:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 6, 2005

Physics Teacher Fired for Insisting on Academics

Democracy Project tells the story of veteran physics teacher Larry Neace, who was fired from his job. His crime? He enforced a decade-old policy of penalizing students for wasting time in class. He had a student that slept in class during a class assignment, so he halved the grade on the assignment as he promised to do at the beginning of the year.

The problem was that the student was a star football player at the school. The school asked him to undo the markdown of the grade, and he refused. They fired him. Read on for more of the story. Michelle Malkin is also on the case.

Posted by Lockjaw at 10:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Baby Got Book! Watch the Video

I had to send this link to Nate, the Youth Minister at our church. If you've ever wondered what Sir Mix-a-Lot's song "Baby Got Back" would be like if it were't about large butts, but instead referenced Bibles, this is the song for you. I found it via Ace of Spades, where it has generated quite a bit of discussion.

Posted by Lockjaw at 10:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 5, 2005

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Review

The wife and I just returned from my big birthday event. We went to see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I won't go into great detail, and spoil it all, but I do want a couple things to be clear. First, the movie was great. I had come to expect something less than that which was delivered, and I was greatly surprised. Secondly, I left the theater feeling as if the most important bits of the book, TV show and audio show were there, as well.

The Zaphod in the movie is exactly how Zaphod should be played. The same goes for Arthur. Trillian was different than I expected, but surprisingly enjoyable. As for Ford, I'm becoming more of a fan of Mos Def's acting every time I see him.

I almost cried when I saw Marvin the Paranoid Android's cameo.

At the end, during the end credit song, "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish," we watched the other half-dozen folks in the theater file out. We sat still. You should too.

I expected to give this movie a C+. I have to give it an A.

Posted by Lockjaw at 10:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Happy Birthday to Karl Marx

A classic post from Lockjaw's Xanga Page

On May 5, 1818, Karl Marx was born the son of a rabbi. Along with Engels, he authored one of the most prominent works of fiction the world has known, "The Communist Manifesto." Armed with such falsehoods as the belief that wage-labor is oppression, and that capitalism is the cause of most social ills, followers of this work have caused more damage to our world society than can be easily imagined.

Thanks to the philosophy put forth by Marx and Engels, millions have been driven to poverty, lawlessness and death. More people have died in wars and mass-murder because of communism than in all religious wars in the history of mankind. According to an investigation done by the US Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, Soviet communism is responsible for 35 to 45 million deaths. Communist China has upped the ante even further, with 34 to 62.5 million deaths. Some experts such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn suggest that the soviet estimates are low, and that the actual deaths from Soviet communism are near 100 million. To put that in context, to kill the same number of people as communism, we'd have to run a scythe through the entire populations of Japan and Kenya.

Hitler? Osama Bin Laden? Pansies!

That's just two countries, by the way. That's not counting any of the other countries, like Cuba, who've followed this murderous route.

On top of this, one can see the major differences in economic terms between countries which follow communist and capitalist principles. In communist countries, subsistence farming is a necessity among a large portion of the population. In capitalist countries, small subsistence farms are giving way to large corporate farms which can efficiently feed thousands of people for each person working on the farm. Those of us old enough, remember seeing video of the lines that people stood in in the Soviet Union to buy toilet paper. In America, toilet paper is so easy to buy that I often buy enough on sale that I can hold off another purchase until the next sale. Capitalism grants power to the consumer, the worker, the low-man to be able to name his price. Communism takes away all power from everyone except those at the top, who have the task of making decisions for the masses.

So, Happy Birthday Karl Marx. You've truly made the world a worse place through your actions. I have no doubt you're burning in the Hell that you deny.

Oh, and happy birthday to me, too.

Posted by Lockjaw at 5:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 4, 2005

Dennis Kucinich -vs- Howard Dean

Howard Dean, continuing his promised tour of "Red States," gave a speech in Minnesota. As part of the speech, Dean said, "The president has created an enormous security problem for the United States where none existed before. But I hope the president is incredibly successful with his policy now that he's there."

This prompted Dennis Kucinich to write an open letter to Howard Dean. In it, he asks, "Did these words really come from the same man who claimed to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, and who had recently campaigned on the antiwar theme? What's changed?"

"Perhaps you now believe that an electoral victory for Democrats in 2006 and beyond requires sweeping this war under the rug. If so, you are only the latest in a long line of recent Democratic leaders who chose a strategy of letting "no light show" between Democrats and the President on the war. Emphasize the economy, instead, they advised, in 2002 and again in 2004."

Fun, fun, FUN! There's nothing like watching the Democrats fight amongst themselves. They've gotten so used to being in the majority, with the ability to guide the debate, that they just can't handle things as the minority party. The focused front they've kept up against the Republicans is showing more signs of fracturing. Having these two has-beens going at it in public wouldn't be half as much fun if Dean hadn't elevated himself to the status of "Former Has-Been" as Chairman of the DNC.

This isn't the end, either. More fractures are showing all the time. I'm looking forward to the 2006 election cycle.

Posted by Lockjaw at 10:39 AM | TrackBack

May 3, 2005

After 10 Years, Donald Herbert is Back

During a house fire in December of 1995, firefighter Donald Herbert was buried in a collapse. He went without air for several minutes, and emerged from the fire brain damaged and in a coma. The coman lasted for two and a half months. Afterward, the brain damage kept him blind, with no awareness of his surroundings, and unable to communicate. For almost 10 years, he was in this state. Saturday, Donald Herbert suddenly said, "I want to talk to my wife." What followed was a 14 hour conversation with his wife, four sons, family and friends.

Donald Herbert is back. Good thing his wife wasn't trying to get rid of him, like Michael Schiavo did with his wife. How many people argued strongly that Terri Schiavo had to die? Good thing they didn't know about Donald Herbert.

Hat tip to Decision '08 on this one.

Posted by Lockjaw at 12:29 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 2, 2005

Holy Crap! Powerline at 25 MILLION Hits!

I'm coming up on 25 thousand hits someday soon on my blog. That's cool. Powerline, though, has reached the 25 MILLION hit mark. Congratulations are in order. I'm awed.

Posted by Lockjaw at 9:30 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 1, 2005

One eBay Auction You Don't Want To Miss Payment On

My friend Doug, down in Texas, is auctioning a copy of Max Headroom's Guide to Life. If you're looking for an odd piece of '80s memorabilia, this one might be for you. If you win the bidding, though, you'd better pay up. Down toward the bottom of the page, you'll find these payment terms.

"Payment due in 7 days or hordes of the undead will rise and slay you. You will also be subject to legions of demons with firey, hot pokers. Eventually your festering corpse will receive a negative and have a Final Value Fee mark on your eBay record. Oh, and we'll tell your mom, too. You will be sorry when your dad gets home, believe me."

Posted by Lockjaw at 8:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Busy Weekend - Concerts - Street Fair - Rain

This weekend has flown by. I've hardly had a moment to breathe between all the fun. Friday night, my family and I went to an unofficial event for the church's youth group. A local church has an annual "RockFest" which brings in several local christian rock bands, and this year our church provided two of them. The headliner was Working On Commission, which has three of our church members on guitar, bass, and drums. They do a great show. If you've got a church event anywhere near central North Carolina, think about bringing them in to play.

The opening act, which I refer to in this show as the "untested, unknown, kid's act that isn't expected to be anything but a new act," was our church's youth band, "Stain of Peace." By the time their sound check was over, many of the event planners had been blown away by the 13 year old drummer and the 11 year old lead guitarist. When they took the stage to do their set, they did a great job. There's little doubt that they'll be moved up to a more important location in next year's show.

Saturday Morning was the Southern Pines Springfest. The She-Ogre had loaned her canopy to her school for the event, and offerred to assist. I went along, but armed myself with a map and listings of several Geodetic Survey markers that I wanted to find. While she worked the booth, I walked a few miles down the roads and railroad tracks, seeking out little 4 inch brass plates. At 1:30, I got word through my ham radio that a storm was due to roll in. We had 30 minutes to do a 40 minute takedown job. We ended up folding the canopy in the heavy rain, and then carrying it approximately 5 blocks to the car. We got soaked to the bone.

After a very short rest, we were up again for the Steven Curtis Chapman, Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns concert at Alltel Pavilion in Raleigh. Our group of 21 kids and adults took up station on the lawn, and watched a great show. Getting home at midnight, though, has me a little worn out this morning. It's time to go to Church, so I've barely got time to type up this entry.

Somehow, in all of this, I've managed to work on brokering a deal to sell a 1946 Dodge Fire Truck. If anybody is interested in a great restoration project, drop me a line.

Posted by Lockjaw at 8:13 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack