Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Good Times

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Thursday, September 21, 2006

This is who I am

You'd think I could pull it together enough to just be aware of my various bank balances, but no, not me. The worst part is, if someone had said that crappy Jack in the Box milkshake would cost me effectively $30, I'd have still taken it:















09/18/2006MC-SUBWAY II SALEM -$9.99 $0.96
09/19/2006MC-MCDONALD'S F594 Q17 SALEM -$4.55 ($3.59)
09/20/2006*OVERDRAFT CHARGE -$27.00 ($30.59)
09/20/2006MC-JACK IN THE BO00071Q43 SALEM -$2.49 ($33.08)
09/21/2006 *OVERDRAFT CHARGE -$27.00 ($60.08)
09/21/2006*CUSTOMER DEPOSIT+$60.00($0.08)

The best part is where I decided to go put $60 in just in case the balance was getting low. I'm sure the teller thought I was a genius in coming up $.08 short. I didn't even look at the receipt.

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Wednesday, March 29, 2006

My Evening on the Mean Streets of Salem

Earlier tonight was kind of a downer. Headed for Subway and parked a block away, and an older homeless guy hit me up for a dollar for food. I had no cash on me, so I had the genius idea of offering him a meal at Subway. Not only did he not really want food, he was kind of indignant, and said, "I can get my own food." Obviously wanted booze, not food.

So I was a little discouraged, figuring all homeless were basically the same as those freeway onramp career panhandlers or lying drunks.

Well, coming back from my midnight stroll through Bush Park, I ran into a guy in my back alley carrying a couple of blankets to wherever he planned to sleep. When I got to my driveway, his bike was parked there, my Diet Coke 2-liter bottles in a plastic bag, and it hit me that his blankets were the two I'd thrown in the trash earlier that night during Spring cleaning.

Obviously it was kind of a downer, but at the same time, the guy was making his way, whatever way that was, on his own. I talked to him when he came back for the bike, and he had a little route he runs every day. So we worked out what I can do with stuff he might use, he doesn't have to root through my trash, and I have my own personal Goodwill drop-off.

I'll probably get ripped off now somehow, but I'm Mother Teresa tonight. At the very least I got the bad taste of that old drunk guy out of my mouth.
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Friday, March 03, 2006

My Message to Ron Wyden Today

Mr. Wyden,

I look forward to seeing how you apply your Internet Non-Discrimination Act to the US package delivery service industry and other industries with different levels of service.

We are all tired of having to choose between Next Day Air, Second Day Air, and Ground transport for packages, and look forward to our egalitarian future where nothing can be delivered any faster than USPS Media Mail, regardless of what you are willing to pay.

From there, with your foresight and guidance, we can work on abolishing charter and private plane flights that move passengers back and forth in a discriminatory fashion, only based on how much they are willing and able to pay. Better yet, ground the planes and get everyone on Amtrak, for the ultimate in delivering poor service equally to all.

I'll leave it to your imagination where we can go from there, but suffice it to say we are all looking forward to a future with less confusing choices to make, or, God willing, no choices to make at all.

Thank you,
Morgan B MacArthur
Salem, OR
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Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Go George - The UAE Ports Deal

Lawmakers, he said, must 'step up and explain why a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard.'

Exactly. We have both enemies and allies in the Middle East, and I'm glad someone is keeping track of them by criteria beyond skin color and religion.

Besides the racial idiocy on this one, our ports system should not rely on the trustworthiness or security of a private business to safeguard our country. It shouldn't matter who is managing the ports, the policies are ours to set, not theirs.
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Friday, February 17, 2006

My Hat's Off to Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google

Everyone's outraged at our Internet companies doing business in China without somehow single-handedly overturning their Communist government. As though it is business's role to actually affect change in the form of government in their marketplace.

Microsoft was never a fan favorite, and Yahoo has been getting it pretty good lately. For my part, I don't really like Google. "Don't be evil" is a little self-righteous for my taste.

But let's be honest. Before these American companies were doing business in China, nobody knew or cared to know the extent of the censorship that goes on in China. We have learned more about the Chines government's repression in the last few months than we ever wanted to before.

When a company does business in a foreign country, they are generally required to follow local law, not write it. The people complaining should instead be applauding, because there is now a spotlight on the Chinese government's abuses.

So keep it up, American tech giants, you're doing the right thing-- business.
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Friday, February 03, 2006

I Haven't Seen Outrage Like This Since...

I haven't seen outrage in the Muslim community like that over this image--









--since the outrage in the Muslim community over this image:









Oh yeah, I forgot.
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Monday, January 16, 2006

Happy Birthday Dr. King

In comments commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, Mayor Ray Nagin seamlessly joined the insanity Pastor Pat Robertson --
"Surely God is mad at America... Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses."
-- with the racism of former Klansman Robert Byrd --
"It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans _ the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans."
-- Happy Birthday, Dr. King.
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Friday, January 13, 2006

Why Oh Why Do I Watch Lost? Part 1

This weeks installment:

Monsters about? Murderers in the night? Have a new born baby? Don't move indoors with the showers and kitchen, just spread this crappy tarp on the sand next to the deadly jungle.

Learning to shoot? Short on food? Use a gallon of ranch as a target instead of a piece of wood. It'll give the show a good opportunity to showcase the mysterious Dharma logo and it looks dramatic blowing up.

Need parts? Engines? A radio? Something to make a boat out of? Nope. Burn the wrecked plane anyway, and don't worry about torching the jungle or attracting the "Others".

I'm sure I'll watch next week anyway.
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Call Your Representatives - Support Shadegg

We have a real opportunity to make meaningful change in the House. Call your representative and tell them to support John Shadegg for House Majority Leader. The reason I think he'd be great? The Enumerated Powers Act says it all. Anyone that would conceive it has my support.

I called my lonely Oregon Republican Greg Walden, and they said he's supporting Blunt. But the girl on the phone also wanted to know my opinion, which was nice, enough calls into the offices have got to at least make the members take notice.
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Republican Representative Reference

StateNamePhone
AL1Josiah R Bonner Jr202-225-4931
AL2R Terry Everett202-225-2901
AL3Michael D Rogers202-225-3261
AL4Robert B Aderholt202-225-4876
AL6Spencer T Bachus III202-225-4921
AKDonald E Young202-225-5765
AZ1Rick Renzi202-225-2315
AZ2Trent Franks202-225-4576
AZ3John Shadegg202-225-3361
AZ5John D Hayworth Jr202-225-2190
AZ6Jeff Flake202-225-2635
AZ8James T Kolbe202-225-2542
AR3John Boozman202-225-4301
CA2Walter W Herger202-225-3076
CA3Daniel E Lungren202-225-5716
CA4John T Doolittle202-225-2511
CA11Richard W Pombo202-225-1947
CA19George P Radanovich202-225-4540
CA21Devin Nunes202-225-2523
CA22William M Thomas202-225-2915
CA24Elton W Gallegly202-225-5811
CA25Howard P McKeon202-225-1956
CA26David T Dreier202-225-2305
CA40Edward R Royce202-225-4111
CA41C Jeremy Lewis202-225-5861
CA42Gary G Miller202-225-3201
CA44Ken Calvert202-225-1986
CA45Mary W Bono202-225-5330
CA46Dana Rohrabacher202-225-2415
CA48John Campbell202-225-5611
CA49Darrell E Issa202-225-3906
CA50Randall Cunningham202-225-5452
CA52Duncan L Hunter202-225-5672
CO4Marilyn N Musgrave202-225-4676
CO5Joel M Hefley202-225-4422
CO6Thomas G Tancredo202-225-7882
CO7Bob Beauprez202-225-2645
CT2Robert R Simmons202-225-2076
CT4Christopher H Shays202-225-5541
CT5Nancy L Johnson202-225-4476
DEMichael N Castle202-225-4165
FL1Jefferson B Miller202-225-4136
FL4Ander Crenshaw202-225-2501
FL5Virginia Brown-Waite202-225-1002
FL6Clifford B Stearns202-225-4501
FL7John L Mica202-225-4035
FL8Richard Keller202-225-2176
FL9Michael Bilirakis202-225-5755
FL10C William Young202-225-5961
FL12Adam H Putnam202-225-1252
FL13Katherine Harris202-225-5015
FL14Connie Mack IV202-225-2536
FL15David J Weldon202-225-3671
FL16Mark A Foley202-225-5792
FL18Ileana Ros-Lehtinen202-225-3931
FL21Lincoln Diaz-Balart202-225-4211
FL22E Clay Shaw Jr202-225-3026
FL24Thomas C Feeney III202-225-2706
FL25Mario Diaz-Balart202-225-2778
GA1John H Kingston202-225-5831
GA6Tom Price202-225-4501
GA7John E Linder202-225-4272
GA8Lynn Westmoreland202-225-5901
GA9Charles W Norwood Jr202-225-4101
GA10J Nathan Deal202-225-5211
GA11Phillip Gingrey202-225-2931
ID1C L Otter202-225-2911
ID2Michael K Simpson202-225-5531
IL6Henry J Hyde202-225-4561
IL10Mark S Kirk202-225-4835
IL11Gerald C Weller202-225-3635
IL13Judith B Biggert202-225-3515
IL14J Dennis Hastert202-225-2976
IL15Timothy V Johnson202-225-2371
IL16Donald A Manzullo202-225-5676
IL18Ray H LaHood202-225-6201
IL19John M Shimkus202-225-5271
IN2Chris Chocola202-225-3915
IN3Mark E Souder202-225-4436
IN4Stephen E Buyer202-225-5037
IN5Danny L Burton202-225-2276
IN6Mike Pence202-225-3021
IN8John N Hostettler202-225-4636
IN9Michael E Sodrel202-225-5315
IA1James A Nussle202-225-2911
IA2James A S Leach202-225-6576
IA4Thomas Latham202-225-5476
IA5Steve King202-225-4426
KS1Jerry Moran202-225-2715
KS2Jim R Ryun202-225-6601
KS4Todd Tiahrt202-225-6216
KY1W Edward Whitfield202-225-3115
KY2Ron Lewis202-225-3501
KY3Anne M Northup202-225-5401
KY4Geoff Davis202-225-3465
KY5Harold D Rogers202-225-4601
LA1Bobby Jindal202-225-3015
LA4Jim McCrery202-225-2777
LA5Rodney Alexander202-225-8490
LA6Richard Baker202-225-3901
LA7Charles Boustany202-225-2031
MD1Wayne Gilchrest202-225-5311
MD6Roscoe Bartlett202-225-2721
MI2Pete Hoekstra202-225-4401
MI3Vern Ehlers202-225-3831
MI4Dave Camp202-225-3561
MI6Fred Upton202-225-3761
MI7Joe Schwarz202-225-6276
MI8Mike J Rogers202-225-4872
MI9Joe Knollenberg202-225-5802
MI10Candice Miller202-225-2106
MI11Thad McCotter202-225-8171
MN1Gil Gutknecht202-225-2472
MN2John Kline202-225-2271
MN3Jim Ramstad202-225-2871
MN6Mark Kennedy202-225-2331
MS1Roger F Wicker202-225-4306
MS3Charles W Pickering Jr202-225-5031
MO2Todd Akin202-225-2561
MO6Sam Graves202-225-7041
MO7Roy Blunt202-225-6536
MO8Jo Ann Emerson202-225-4404
MO9Kenny Hulshof202-225-2956
MTDennis R Rehberg202-225-3211
NE1Jeff Fortenberry202-225-4806
NE2Lee R Terry202-225-4155
NE3Thomas W Osborne202-225-6435
NV2James A Gibbons202-225-6155
NV3Jon C Porter202-225-3252
NH1Jeb Bradley202-225-5456
NH2Charles F Bass202-225-5206
NJ2Frank LoBiondo202-225-6572
NJ3Jim Saxton202-225-4765
NJ4Chris Smith202-225-3765
NJ5E Scott Garrett202-225-4465
NJ7Mike Ferguson202-225-5361
NJ11Rodney Frelinghuysen202-225-5034
NM1Heather A Wilson202-225-6316
NM2Steven E Pearce202-225-2365
NY3Peter King202-225-7896
NY13Vito Fossella202-225-3371
NY19Sue Kelly202-225-5441
NY20John E Sweeney202-225-5614
NY23John McHugh202-225-4611
NY24Sherwood Boehlert202-225-3665
NY25Jim Walsh202-225-3701
NY26Tom Reynolds202-225-5265
NY29Randy Kuhl202-225-3161
NC3Walter Jones Jr202-225-3415
NC5Virginia Foxx202-225-2071
NC6Howard Coble202-225-3065
NC8Robin Hayes202-225-3715
NC9Sue Myrick202-225-1976
NC10Patrick McHenry202-225-2576
NC11Charles Taylor202-225-6401
OH1Steve Chabot202-225-2216
OH3Michael R Turner202-225-6465
OH4Michael G Oxley202-225-2676
OH5Paul E Gillmor202-225-6405
OH7David L Hobson202-225-4324
OH8John A Boehner202-225-6205
OH12Patrick J Tiberi202-225-5355
OH14Steven C LaTourette202-225-5731
OH15Deborah D Pryce202-225-2015
OH16Ralph S Regula202-225-3876
OH18Robert W Ney202-225-6265
OK1John Sullivan202-225-2211
OK3Frank D Lucas202-225-4811
OK4Tom Cole202-225-6416
OK5Ernest J Istook Jr202-225-5711
OR2Greg Walden202-225-6730
PA3Phil English202-225-5406
PA4Melissa Hart202-225-2565
PA5John Peterson202-225-5121
PA6Jim Gerlach202-225-4315
PA7Curt Weldon202-225-2011
PA8Michael G Fitzpatrick202-225-4276
PA9Bill Shuster202-225-2431
PA10Don Sherwood202-225-3731
PA15Charlie Dent202-225-6411
PA16Joe Pitts202-225-2411
PA18Timothy Murphy202-225-2301
PA19Todd Platts202-225-5836
SC1Henry E Brown, Jr202-225-3176
SC2Joe Wilson202-225-2452
SC3J Gresham Barrett202-225-5301
SC4Bob Inglis202-225-6030
TN1Bill Jenkins202-225-6356
TN2Jimmy Duncan Jr202-225-5435
TN3Zach Wamp202-225-3271
TN7Marsha Blackburn202-225-2811
TX1Louie Gohmert202-225-3035
TX2Ted Poe202-225-6565
TX3Sam Johnson202-225-4201
TX4Ralph Hall202-225-6673
TX5Jeb Hensarling202-225-3484
TX6Joe Barton202-225-2002
TX7John Culberson202-225-2571
TX8Kevin Brady202-225-4901
TX10Mike McCaul202-225-2401
TX11Mike Conaway202-225-3605
TX12Kay Granger202-225-5071
TX13Mac Thornberry202-225-3706
TX14Ron Paul202-225-2831
TX19Randy Neugebauer202-225-4005
TX21Lamar Smith202-225-4236
TX22Tom DeLay202-225-5951
TX23Henry Bonilla202-225-4511
TX24Kenny Marchant202-225-6605
TX26Michael Burgess202-225-7772
TX31John Carter202-225-3864
TX32Pete Sessions202-225-2231
UT1Robert Bishop202-225-0453
UT3Christopher B Cannon202-225-7751
VA1Jo Ann S Davis202-225-4261
VA2Thelma Drake202-225-4215
VA4J Randy Forbes202-225-6365
VA5Virgil H Goode Jr202-225-4711
VA6Robert W Goodlatte202-225-5431
VA7Eric I Cantor202-225-2815
VA10Frank R Wolf202-225-5136
VA11Thomas M Davis III202-225-1492
WA4Doc Hastings202-225-5816
WA5Cathy McMorris202-225-2006
WA8Dave Reichert202-225-7761
WV2Shelley M Capito202-225-2711
WI1Paul Ryan202-225-3031
WI5Jim Sensenbrenner202-225-5101
WI6Tom Petri202-225-2476
WI8Mark Green202-225-5665
WYBarbara L Cubin202-225-2311
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Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Bring on Shadegg

Between the Enumerated Powers Act and this:
“We need to ferret out anyone embroiled in this mess and any practices that contributed to it. We need to be taking the initiative to get back to our core principles. We need to shrink the size of government, not grow it. We need to reform government, not manage it.”
All I can say is-- SOLD.

Just because the Democrats are a little weak right now, it seems like our party has no incentive to do the right thing, and it's pathetic. We'll deserve what we get if we don't clean up quick.
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Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Keeping People Safe With Gun Control

Thank goodness the French can't carry concealed firearms, so they can't be victims of violent crime. Oh yeah, knives:
The gang of between 20 and 30 youths boarded the train, heading from Nice on the French Riviera to Lyon, in eastern France, early on Jan. 1, as it carried 600 passengers home from New Year’s Eve partying overnight.

Once inside, they went wild, forcing passengers to hand over mobile phones and wallets, and slashing seats and breaking windows. A 20-year-old woman cornered by several of the marauders was sexually molested.
Aside from how sick it is that French people aren't permitted to forcefully defend themselves, the police that people are forced to depend on were in turn forced wait an hour and a half to board while they waited for a formal complaint.
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Thursday, December 29, 2005

Dear Palestinians: You Are Our Enemy

How many Palestinians polled give "Support to Al-Qaeda's actions like bombings in USA and Europe"? Interestingly enough for a place that receives hundreds of millions of dollars from us, 38% strongly support, and 27% support, Al-Qaeda actions like bombings in USA ans Europe.

That's 65% of the polled population. That is an enemy, not just the government, the entire country. A country that wouldn't exist if it weren't for us and Israel. Jordan certainly wasn't ever going to give them their homeland. The only place they ever had any rights to speak of was in Israel.

This is exactly the response to expect from 20+ years of negotiating with terrorists.

The poll results can be seen here.
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Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Why I Love Public Transportation

It's the same reason I love gun control. Reliance on police takes away your ability to protect yourself. Reliance on public transportation takes away your ability to transport yourself. So now these folks are your only way to get to work. Merry Christmas.

So New Yorkers, you better give those transit workers the the respect they demand and deserve (and $50K a year), because you've already given them a government-sanctioned monopoly, and you'll never get your transport independence back.
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Sunday, December 18, 2005

Candid News Photo of the Day

This photographer has skillfully captured an honest, unrehearsed, moment of pure emotion.


"Iraq is worse than Vietnam."
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Thursday, December 01, 2005

Jimmy Breslin, Profiles in Moronacy

I don't care for Hillary Clinton, but Jimmy Breslin uses one of the lamest, most shopworn, tired, and stale statements ever constructed to criticize her politics:
If Hillary Clinton wants this war to go on, then she should send her daughter to fight in Iraq.

Oh, very clever, and fresh too!

Our fighting men and women continue to be 100% adult, 100% volunteer, whatever the Sheehans, Moores, and Breslins of the world pretend to believe. But "she should persuade her daughter to volunteer to fight in Iraq" doesn't have the same punch.

Fortunately for everyone, they are fantastic, brave, adult volunteers, and history will erase the nonsense of the naysayers and doom-and-gloomers.
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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

More on the Negroponte $100 Fiasco

David Henderson makes some great points about the miguided $100 computer project, but I think he gives Negroponte far too much credit:

"Few people admire Mr. Negroponte more than I do, but his plan for how to distribute the computers is a tragedy in the making."

The results that Mr. Henderson points out were completely avoidable from the start, and they are inexcusable for someone with Mr' Negroponte's stated intentions.

For one, the entire project was inspired by the use of donated laptops by some Cambodian families. But when you read the story, you realize the laptops were being used as light bulbs. The target audience is far, far away from needing a laptop to put them over the top into the information age.

Further, the results of a public project like this are already being felt in places like Thailand, where schools that can barely stay open are being tasked with creating a network infrastructure to support these computers. Taking the decisions out of locals, the higher-ups in the government get to sign on to a sexy project like this one, and everyone crows about the vision, and avoids thinking about the results.

Last, November's over. The prototype didn't even get made. Trevor Bayliss came away less than impressed, saying the prototype "could have been made with Lego". This is the man tasked with creating the crank charging system.

Bottom line, read the David Henderson piece, it's more important to understand the economic mechanisms at work than to even worry if the product will ever exist.
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Monday, November 28, 2005

Loser of the Day



$2.4 million accepted in bribes, by California Republican Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham, to steer defense contracts. There is not much lower you can go.

This is one reason that I don't really care about immoral CEOs. They don't actually have the power to steal your money directly, without some kind of government help.

It's also why lawmakers need less power and less money, not more. Of course bribes are going to be offered, when they have the power to spend so many billions, through contracts, subsidies, and anything else they please.
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Sunday, November 27, 2005

Thank You Ms. Goldberg

From the comic genius who brought us this material (from 1993):



Comes a warning on racial insensitivity in this (from the 1940s):



About Looney Toons, Whoopi says, "These jokes were wrong then and they're wrong today." So they were wrong in 1993 as well, but it didn't stop her writing Danson's schtick.

Thanks, Whoopi, glad you're on the case.
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