Religion, Politics, Culture: Defined & Explained

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Saturday, January 07, 2012

The genius of Barack Obama

No, really. By sending all the job opportunities to other countries he is not only diminishing the superiority of America and making us a socialist country but he is solving the immigration problem without bothering to secure our borders. In fact he is making us into such an unattractive place that soon our own people will be going elsewhere to seek opportunity and freedom. Maybe ABC got it wrong on how we become Amerika.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Borders Fire Sale

A few days ago I went to Border’s Books to browse their remaining inventory during their going out of business sale. I had a feeling that sections would be somewhat disorganized. The attached photo is one such example. Since there were several pre-season football games on the TV at the time of my visit, I thought maybe this was a commentary on fantasy football. The photo below is not staged, just strangely random.

Also, I found Charles Dickens classic “A Tale of Two Cities” in the Science Fiction section.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Diablo III is Near?

Attention gamers. Blizzard now has a smartphone app so you can have your own Horadric Cube right at your finger tips.

You have quite a treasure there in that Horadric Cube app! Using this app, you can transform and recombine any number of other apps you drag into it. Use the Cube’s transmute power, and the Cube’s Horadric magic will change the existing apps into a new, potentially more powerful app. But beware! A terrible fate awaits those who do not heed the warnings contained within the ancient scrolls. You must not attempt to drag the cube into itself! No good can come of it! . http://us.blizzard.com/diablo3/media/horadrapp/

In addition to transforming any apps on your phone to make them even more powerful, Blizzard promises that you will soon be able to use their smartphone app to open “…portals to the deepest depths of the Burning Hells…”. The correct runes must be downloaded separately.

Using new media is the best way to spread the word so hopefully this means Diablo III will finally have a release date in the second half of 2011. Skeptics caution that this app might be the real reason the world ends in 2012. Beware!

Monday, April 04, 2011

Source Code

After all the nonsense with the CRA this past week, I grabbed the middle child and went to the movies on Saturday. Partially based on reviews and on the movie description, I chose to give Source Code a try. On Fandango it was rated with a reviewer score of 74. This was much higher that some of the other films that I pondered. The film description on fandango reads:

When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. In an assignment unlike any he’s ever known, he learns he’s part of a government experiment called the “Source Code,” a program that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last 8 minutes of his life. With a second, much larger target threatening to kill millions in downtown Chicago, Colter re-lives the incident over and over again, gathering clues each time, until he can solve the mystery of who is behind the bombs and prevent the next attack.

The premise could be compared to a mash-up of Groundhog Day, 7 Days and Quantum Leap. As the main character keeps living the event over and over again, he begins to take unconventional approaches to solving the challenge before him. He even gets to know many of the people on the train with him.

As the movie progresses you get a glimpse of the larger world that is impacted by the terror attack on the train. The main character learns how he was chosen to be part of the Source Code project. He also comes up with some creative ways of testing the limits of his eight minute time loop. The movie ending is satisfying. I won’t give it away, but it’s worth a look even at full price.

Monday, March 21, 2011

AT&T Ranks last in 4G speeds

The news for AT&T continues to be bad. First, AT&T has the most dropped calls of any U.S. cellular provider and terrible customer satisfaction results from J.D. Powers. Two weeks ago, it was reported that AT&T’s 4G speeds are actually slower than their 3G speeds. And now, AT&T has received yet another honor. Today CNET is reporting that RootMetrics has conducted a survey of AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.

In the results shown below, Verizon clearly beats all other carriers. This news comes the day after AT&T announced that they have agreed to buy T-Mobile. Ironically, most folks that I know using T-Mobile are refugees that fled from AT&T because of their high prices and lousy service.

AT&T has become to the cellular phone industry what America Online has become to Internet service providers. If the recent data on AT&T won’t persuade you to change carriers then you deserve to wallow in mediocre technology.

Here is a sample of the press AT&T has received recently.

J.D. Power says Verizon tops in call quality
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20039032-266.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

How AT&T Totally Flubbed 4G
“…if you stand in the same place with a “4G” phone and a “3G” phone on the same network, the 3G phone will be faster.”
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381915,00.asp

Study: Verizon fastest among 4G networks
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20045376-251.html?tag=cnetRiver

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Get Expelled for $4.99

I found Ben Stein’s Expelled: No Intelligent Design Allowed at Fry’s Electronics today for $4.99.
If you aren’t familiar with the movie here are some things for you to learn more.

World Magazine Article. http://www.worldmag.com/articles/13903

RC Sproul interviews Ben Stein about the movie.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Why Vote

It’s like a classic episode of the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits. The world as it should be has been turned upside-down, inside out and backwards, but just enough familiar remains to give you a tenuous point of reference. The names of the dominant industries are the same but these engines of capitalism are now fascist vassals of the State. The pillars of Wall Street are shills for government command and control. Legislators abdicate their responsibilities in order to get reelected. The Senators of today are as irrelevant as their Roman counterparts two thousand years ago. Jury nullification has been replaced with judicial nullification. The will of the people is continually nullified by the tyranny of evil men in black robes. The specters of 1984 and Brave New World are no longer the stuff of science fiction but an integral part of our daily lives. What’s worse is that most of us can’t live without them. We say we want something else but when given the chance we become just like those that we say we hate.

Our society is sick. We have cancer. This cancer is Liberalism. Unfortunately it is the kind that cannot be surgically removed. One of the more advanced places you will find the disease is in our judicial system. Here are some examples of the extent of the illness.

• We vote over and over that the worst criminals in our society should get the death penalty. The courts keep ruling otherwise. Most death row inmates die of natural causes decades after their conviction. Judges diminish the vote of the people.
• We vote to stop government benefits for illegal aliens. The court rules that is unconstitutional. Judges diminish the vote of the people.
• We charge the citizens of our state less than the citizens of other states to attend our colleges and universities but we have to give illegals that same benefits as our citizens and even grant them scholarships. Judges diminish the vote of the people.
• We vote that marriage should be between a man and a woman but judges say no. This diminishes marriage and redefines it into something it is not. Judges diminish the vote of the people.
• We vote that private property should not be taken by the State except when it is for the public good. The courts rule that citizens have no right to keep property if the State wants it for the benefit of another private party Judges diminish the vote of the people.
• We vote that parents should be involved in the decision of their minor children to seek an abortion but the courts say no. Judges diminish the vote of the people.
• We vote that people that vote should prove they are citizens but the courts say no. Judges diminish the vote of the people.
• We vote that States should uphold federal immigration laws. Judges say that is unconstitutional. Judges diminish the vote of the people.

Then our politicians lament that nobody votes any more. I wonder why?

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Special People

Singer/Song Writer Larry Norman once lamented, “Why are the rich more equal than others?”
In state government there are the rules and then there are the exceptions for “special people”.
The point is that regardless of what the Marxist folks among us proclaim about equality, some folks are more equal than others. This is my chance to vent about such an occurrence yesterday at work.

Yesterday I got this email message “Please let me know the status of a travel advance for my boss.” Travel Advances are money loaned to a state employee prior to traveling on state related business. Once the trip is complete the employee must file an expense claim for the trip and the advance is “recovered” from the money reimbursed to the employee. In this case the travel dates of the advance were July 26 – 30.

My response was “The claim was returned on 08-02-10 since dates of travel had already past. It looks like the TA is being resubmitted. Since dates of travel have already gone past (July 26-30), this travel advance will not be paid.”

Her reply was “The TA was submitted on 7/20/10, a week in advance of his travel.  Why was it not paid in a timely manner originally?”

My next response was “Due to not having a budget, virtually all travel advance requests are not being paid. We let people know this at the beginning of the fiscal year. Furthermore, no expense claims for travel after June 30th are being paid.”

Her next email message was “There are no exceptions (travel was approved by Chief Deputy Secretary)??”

My response to her was “I don’t handle travel advances; I can just tell you what is coming from upper management. Here is text of first memo on budget that we got on June 30th.  As you can see travel advances and expense reimbursements in new fiscal year are not allowed.” Then I attached a June 30 memo from the Department of Finance. Part of the memo states:

This BL reminds state departments that Office Revolving Fund (ORF) disbursements are generally prohibited for fiscal year 2010-11 payments until the 2010-11 Budget is enacted.  Generally, this restriction applies to ORF payments for travel advances, travel expenses, discount invoices, and other payments made by ORF check.

Emphasis in red was in the original message sent to me. (Travel Advances are paid from the Revolving Fund.)

At this point I did not have any further correspondence with this employee. However, about 45 minutes later my manager came and had a talk with me. I was told that everything I have told the employee was correct but so and so had the big boss at CDCR accounting and hesaid that we should pay the travel advance for this employee. Furthermore that any travel advance questions that I received in the future were to be referred to another employee because she had the list of people that were exceptions to the rules.

Per Travel Manual Chapter 3, “A travel advance will not be issued for the following:… When the employee is requesting an advance for days already elapsed.”

Conclusion, there is one set of rules for the masses and another set for the ruling classes.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Veterans of Foreign War

The following is an essay that won the Fallen Soldiers Scholarship at Elk Grove High School in 2010.
It is proudly written by Kendall Connolly.

Veterans of Foreign War

        Most people understand that, on the surface, one is a veteran after one has served in the Armed Forces. Most people believe that once a soldier becomes a veteran, he hangs up his uniform, gun, and camelback and goes on with his life. Most people believe that a solder’s life stops after he leaves the army, and the soldier becomes a normal, everyday citizen. They assume that veterans are just as common and just as ordinary as anyone else in this country. That assumption is false. Veterans are not ordinary people – they’re extraordinary people.

        Veterans are different from others not in the fact that they wore a uniform at one point, but in the fact that though their uniform is hanging in the closet, they still perform as if they still wore that uniform. In other words, a veteran never stops being a soldier. A veteran carries the values he learned in the armed forces – pride, honor, dignity, hard work, unity, and courage – and lives by them every day of his life. A veteran knows that these qualities are what makes any team successful. A veteran knows that through his hard work, he can help the greater good of the country. A veteran knows that by living with these qualities, he can do anything he sets out to do.

        While normal people struggle with everyday problems and complain about the smallest aspects of their lives, veterans take these things in stride. How? It’s simple: they’ve been through things normal people can’t even imagine, and they’ve learned to fight through whatever comes their way. To veterans, everyday problems seem like a walk in the park. When life hands them big problems, though, they’re just as stoic, just as poised, just as steadfast as they are when they fight through the small problems.

        That’s how veterans serve their community, their state, and their country. Veterans don’t live a “normal” life. To a veteran, life means so much more than getting by. To a veteran, life should be spent becoming everything one can be. To a veteran, life should be spent exemplifying what it is to be a soldier, what it is to be a citizen, and what it is to be an American.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

More Tax Dollars at Work

In other government news, I just got permission today to install Service Pack 3 on our Windows XP computers. This Service Pack was made available to the general public for download on May 6, 2008.

CalATERS Crawl

I work for an obscure part of the accounting department within the California Department of Corrections (CDCR). We have three computer systems used for various accounting functions. None of the computers can talk to each other. At best data from one system can be batch dumped into another system.

The mainframe system seems like it was state-of-the-art when Ronald Reagan was President. Much of accounting is done via a program from SAP. Travel expenses are done via a custom application designed for Windows XP. This program runs in a Java “sandbox.”

Recently, the “sandbox” has gotten filled. Hundreds of man-hours are wasted just trying to log-on to the system. This program is the primary application that people in my unit are supposed to be running. Lately, many in my office have gone a day or two at a time without being able to log-on or process travel claims.

The ultimate organization that controls this program is the State Controller’s Office (SCO). Unfortunately, SCO is caught with their cyber pants around their ankles and a look of bewilderment. Instead of being prepared for a department wide implementation of the program by CDCR, they have been caught unaware.

Now this program has been in its current form since 2001. Requiring all institutions to use the program was a deliberate decision and I’m confident that SCO said no problem when they heard CDCR would begin requiring the use of the program. Only about 26,000 people in the department are even registered users. That’s less than 1/3 of CDCR employees.

SCO supposedly upgraded their servers and maxed-out RAM in the system last week-end. It has resulted in no noticeable improvement in the functioning of the travel program. The bottom line is that there are too many users trying to connect simultaneously and the system—no doubt built will millions in tax dollars by the lowest bidder—is unable to handle the real world conditions.

It will be interesting to see how the long this situation persists.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Happy New Year

I haven’t blogged much laterly but plan to get back to it in 2010. I will finish my MBA from University of Phoenix in mid January.

Random Thoughts
Best Electronic Toy of 2009 is Google Android phone by Motorola.
Best Radio Talk Show host is Rush Limbaugh.
Avatar will win some awards from Oscar next time.
Most over-hyped show on SciFi Channel was Battlestar Galactica.
Worst first year term as US President goes to Barry Obama, I never thought I’d be missing Jimmy Carter.
Worst Republican in 2009 Dierdre Scozzafava in New York’s 23 Congressional Race
Worst Democrat move is following Harry Reid anywhere.
Dumbest environmental move of 2009 was decision by California Democrats to recycle Jerry Brown as the annointed candidate for Governor in 2010.

Monday, September 29, 2008

HP IPAQ 910

Review: HP IPAQ 910
Several weeks ago, I purchased the Hewlett-Packard IPAQ 910 phone.

This phone runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and got great reviews from PC Magazine. In fact it was their Editor’s Choice.

The IPAQ is a business grade phone with full internet capability. As I found out, not all web browsing experiences are the same. It is much slower than my home DSL but faster than dial-up. Pages with fancy plug-ins or scripts don’t do well. I tried Opera’s mobile browser and it choked on the same websites. Hopefully the upgrades that Microsoft has in the pipeline for release will improve things. A new Internet Explorer should be out before Christmas and a major OS upgrade is planned for next year.

The Windows Media Player will play all my favorite songs on the 2 GB mini SD card.

The one thing I miss is my ability to listen to the radio. Many radio stations have websites and listen live buttons; however, these don’t work. Only the Salem Radio Network has an option to listen via Windows Media Player.  After many searches and frustration I found a solution. There is a site that plays AM and FM stations from a variety of markets. Even though my local stations have dropped Laura Ingraham, I can hear her live on several stations. I can listen to Rush Limbaugh or just about any other syndicated talk show. The website is http://radiotime.com/mobile/index.aspx Simply enter a zip code to see programming in that area. (You can enter any zip code in the US not just where you live.)I use this site more than any other one on my phone.

Interestingly, you can exit the media player application and it will continue to play until you restart it and hit the STOP button. It will pause if you get a phone call and resume playing when the call is completed.

The GPS feature works well in areas with faster internet speeds; however, it takes several minutes to acquire your location. The GPS feature must be able to access Windows Live or Google Maps in order to display your location. There is a program available at extra charge that will make the IPAQ an honest to goodness GPS device.

The Internet usage is a big drain on battery life. The phone needs almost daily charging or a phone charger in your car to keep it going. You don’t need to buy the $30 HP charger. You can get a Motorola compatible car adapter that fits the mini USB plug on the phone. I got mine for about ten dollars at Fry’s.

The camera is billed as 3MP. There is a big delay from the time you press the camera button and the time it takes to capture an image. Almost a second passes between pressing the button and the image being captured. Still photos can be done. Photos of moving things are difficult to capture. This seems to be the weakest feature on the phone.

Lastly, buy a case for this phone. The molded plastic body is soft and scratches easily should you drop it from your lap onto a hard floor.

Programs for the phone seem limited compared to others but look for Microsoft to beef-up both the Operating System and variety of software over the next year. With both Apple and Google in the smart phone market they have to get into gear. (The IPAQ is technically a Pocket PC not a Smartphone.)

The phone has no contract and requires a data plan with your carrier. Check HP or PGMag.com for more info on the phone.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Review: The Wiggles Live

There are a lot of creative ways that people have come up with to simultaneously market to young children and separate their parents from money. A pioneer in this field was Walt Disney. Walt entertained children and made a fortune doing it.

Much of the stuff geared to children finds its way into our homes via television. Some of this programming is entertaining to children but like constant fingernails scraping on chalkboards to their parents. Teletubbies and Barney come to mind in this category. Other programs are more like Pixar animation, geared for kids but with something there that adults can enjoy also. For me The Wiggles is in this more creative group.

Last night, my wife and I took our three-year-old son to see the 2008 version of their road show. The show entitled Pop Goes The Wiggles Live! was ninety minutes long and featured The Wiggles and all their friends: Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus and Captain Feathersword. In addition there were many extras on the stage as well.

It was my first time to see Sam. He is the new Wiggle that replaced the ailing Greg. Sam was good. He knew his part and seemed comfortable with the other members of the group. His vocal range was close to Greg’s and he was able to sing and dance his way through the show.

What amazed me most was physical nature of the whole act. There was lots of running and jumping. In addition, The Wiggles exhibited limberness that would be expected more from Jackie Chan that a group of guys that sing silly children’s songs. Lets face it, the Wiggles are getting into middle age and yet they can do the splits and limbo! I would expect some of their moves from someone trained in ballet but not from some guys that majored in child development.

Some of the music they did was prerecorded but much of it was actually done live. Again, it was impressive. They did many of my favorite songs during the show. Can You Point Your Finger and Do the Twist, Fruit Salad and Rock-a-bye Your Bear. They also did an instrumental version of The Knack’s My Sharona. Big Red Car was the last number in the show.

Our seats were about forty feet from the stage. There was lots of audience singing and clapping. Many children brought roses for Dorothy (according to Wiggles lore, Dorothy eats roses) and there were a few bones for Wags the Dog. Some children brought handmade signs that they held-up during the show.

My wife and I enjoyed the show. However, it was a bit overwhelming for our three year old. He experienced sensory overload. He spent much of the show in my lap just playing with the Wiggles stickers that were in our seats when we arrived.

I would like to see The Wiggles again in about two years. By then I think my son will enjoy it more. If you have a chance go see them please borrow a kid and go. I think even my high school aged daughter would have enjoyed the show.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Gary S Paxton

Gary S Paxton may not be a household name but his work is widely known. He has produced a variety of musical hits since the 1960’s. His music hits span Top 40, Country and Gospel. Today, his best know hit is probably the Monster Mash, which was recorded in 1962.

He has won Grammy Awards and hits that he has produced have sold tens of millions of copies. He was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999.

His personal life has been a roller coaster of substance abuse. Paxton has a history of drug and alcohol abuse. In 1973, he converted to Christianity. In 1975 he started his own recording label and he did very well until 1985 when he lost the business due to bad business decisions and problems with drugs.

In 1980, he was shot five times in the head by hitmen hired by a country musician that Paxton was producing. Amazingly, he survived the attack.

Paxton has started his life over again in Branson Missouri.

Gary S Paxton sees the world differently than most folks. Like many artists, he can see the wonder of mundane everyday things and he also can glimpse into the future and see what’s lurking just over the horizon. Some of his songs are serious and sober and others are satirical and fun. Paxton’s music, like Bob Dylan, is and acquired taste. His songs will stick in your head and rattle around long after you’ve shut off the music.

What makes his music stand apart from that performed by others is that each song that he writes has a little piece of himself in it. From what I know of his life, it is safe to say there are two Gary S Paxtons. One is the partying hell raiser and the other is the saint touched by God. Much of his music is one Gary looking at the other.

There are pieces of Gary S Paxton all over the Internet but not in one central location. Even his entry on wikipedia is spotty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_S._Paxton

Gary has two different websites that each host unique content. Each is incomplete but overlapping.

The main page at http://www.GarySPaxton.net and http://www.GarySPaxton.org are the same but as you drill down each menu item you will find differences. The music link on each page goes to different music offerings. These choices are not duplicated.

If you follow this link and click of CD covers, you hear samples of songs offered on these CDs. http://www.garyspaxton.org/Music/index.htm

His new wife Vickie has two sites
http://www.TimeForJoy.com was used at one time but now just links to the .org site mentioned above. Paxton’s e-mail is listed as garyspaxton@timeforjoy.com
More recent activity and biographical information can be found at http://www.urban.ne.jp/home/koa7/newsletter.htm

Discography http://www.ymg.urban.ne.jp/home/koa7/garpax.htm
Discography of NewPax Records http://www.bsnpubs.com/word/newpax.html