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Showing posts from 2008

Some More Random Thoughts

I thought it was kind of ironic that on Christmas Eve, while Fox News was running a two hour Christmas special with readings from the Bible and Christmas music . . CNN was at the same time running a special of their own honoring their Messiah: Barack Obama. Am I the only one who is getting tired of all the global warming hype? Yes, I do believe that by and large it is all hype. On the one hand we have a warming period that is milder than previous warming periods experienced (the last being about 500 years ago). The warming period we are experiencing now comes after a relatively mild ice age period. So this is nothing new. Secondly, the global warming experienced 500 years ago predates any impact man would have had with burning fossil fuels. In other words, the more serious version of global warming that occurred 500 years ago came at a time when our world wide population was a fraction of what it is today, and it came when there were no cars or planes. So who, or what, was responsible...

More Old Family Photos

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Here are a few more images from my dad's negative collection. I have scanned over 3000 images so far. These here are my mom, one of my dad with his painting, and the boys.

Photoshop

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In scanning my dad's old black and white negatives, a bunch of them have scratches and dust marks. The great thing with digital is being able to go in and clean out those blemishes. It can be time consuming, and sometimes the results are not all that great (this photo being somewhat an example); but still, it is better than having all the blemishes. If you click on the images, you can enlarge them and see the before and after. I've been having fun seeing a bunch of photos that I have never seen before. I'll post some more soon.

Little Nemo

This video is one of the most watched on YouTube. As someone who has done the Little Nemo skit a few times in the past, this really is fun to watch.

Just A Matter Of Time

It seems that every few weeks we hear that another high ranking terrorist has been killed, either in Iraq or in Pakistan. It shows that our troops are actively engaged in hunting down these people. Some people believe that Osama bin Laden is already dead, but if he isn't, it is just a matter of time before he is found and killed. My guess is that the timing of this will be at some point during Obama's presidency . . and he will get all the credit. Our economy stinks right now. Even though our economy always goes through cycles of good and bad, everyone believes what we are going through now is unusually bad. It appears to be even worse overseas, which is little comfort; but when it comes to blame it is hard for me to pin it on any one thing or any one person, including President Bush. Our economy though will bounce back . . it always does. My guess is that the timing will be at some point during Obama's presidency . . and he will get all the credit. Things are going fairly ...

How Obama Got Elected

I'm sure there are uninformed citizens on the right just as there are on the left, but after watching the following video you have to wonder if it is a disservice to encourage anyone who is this uninformed to vote. It's also interesting how people's impressions are formed, and the power of the media to sway thoughts and opinions. Probably my own biggest objection about Obama is how he has been given god-like status among his followers, and yet how little they seem to know about him. There are very, very, very few (if any) people who deserve that kind of status, and that is especially true when you are speaking of a politician. Let's all say this together: Barack Obama is a politician. Nothing more.

Found Treasure

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When my dad was in his early 20's and 30's he took a lot of black and white photos of my mom and us boys. He did his own developing and printed a number of those images, but I always wondered what happened to all his negatives. My dad passed away in 1989 and I'm pretty sure my mom said she thought all the negatives were thrown out at some point. Well, last week I found them, thousands of them, in a box in my mom's attic. I've already scanned about 1400 images, finding a bunch of images that we have never seen before. And there are thousands and thousands more. Over the past several years I have been compiling all of our family images, digitizing, keywording and indexing them, so that everyone in the family can have their own full digital album of all of these images. Right now that album contains over 30,000 images. Finding my dad's negatives could add another 10,000+ images to the collection. Yikes!

Is Obama Invincible?

It didn't take long for the American left to really turn on President Bush. They have called him names (Hitler, dumb, a terrorist, etc), mocked him, protested against him, and spread unrelenting hate toward the man. It doesn't speak well of the left, a group that says it wants tolerance and peace, but sure has a hard time living it out. I tend to believe that a sizable bunch of loud mouths on the far left made a point of pulling Bush down through trashing him and altering the public's view of him. As for me, I've always liked the guy. If Iraq is given the chance to succeed, and becomes a positive influence in that region, Bush should be given full credit and be seen as a liberator on the grandest of scales. He has implemented humanitarian aid to a degree that previous presidents never did. For most of his presidency the economy was cruising along at a great pace. It is unclear whether the crisis we are in today has anything to do with this administration's economic ...

Political Science

When it comes to politics, I'm one of those who enjoys observing it like a science as opposed to actually getting in there and doing something. I'm the movie critic, not the actor. So I always appreciate it when I get to read something intriguing about the political process, or something that to me just makes sense. Jonah Goldberg writes today an article that questions the merits of getting more people to vote, particularly the youth vote, as well as putting so much emphasis on undecided voters. I find it hard to argue against what he is saying here. Take a moment and read it . . it's short.

Respect For Obama

Obama and his team ran an impressive campaign. Organization and control are probably the two words that I would use to best describe Obama at this moment. Those are two good qualities, although control can easily morph into oppression if not careful. At any rate we as a nation should allow Obama the opportunity to pull together his administration and their policies. This could be a good time for our country to honestly debate several issues that have festered along the surface for years: most notably health care, taxes and wealth distribution, and our role internationally. I do not believe that any of us should roll over and just let Obama have his way. Many beliefs are worth standing up and fighting for . . hopefully not only will people do that, but their rights and ability to have a say in this administration will not be oppressed. On the humorous side, Ann Coulter wrote today something that made me smile: "For now, we have a new president-elect. In the spirit of reaching acro...

President Obama

For the past few months I have been pointing out aspects about Barack Obama that I found troubling. Despite his presidential victory, those aspects still remain, and I still remain troubled by them. I've heard several pundits and news people over the past couple days conclude that they still don't really know who Obama is, and yet now he is president. We know he is ultra liberal, but we don't know how that will translate once he is in office. We don't know how much power Pelosi and Reid will have over Obama. We don't know what kind of constraints will be placed on all of them by the current economy or by the unknown "9/11's" that may come along and change their course. We can assume that Obama will be calm and slow with decisions . . we just don't know whether his decisions will be sound or if they will end up causing even more problems. These next couple years will be "fun" to watch politically. I'm not sure Obama can live up to all ...

Obama and Fundraising

Whether Obama wins or loses the 2008 presidential campaign, there are questions about his fundraising that hopefully will linger large enough to catch the eye of an otherwise sleeping media. I don't mind using the word "fraud" in describing what presumably is taking place. First of all, there is absolutely no accountability in who is donating money to Obama. I thought there were rules about this, but either they don't exist or the Obama team is ignoring them or they are simply not being enforced. How can people contribute money via a credit card without any kind of verification? And how can people contribute without a disclosure by the Obama people of who and how much is being given? It is no wonder that he backed out of his "commitment" to use public finance. If you want a quick, 5 minute overview of what is going on here, please check this out . Don't expect a Reid/Pelosi/Obama team to ever look into this.

Obama and the Courts

Barack Obama has said that when it comes to appointing judges to courts, he will be looking for someone with "the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old." What? Is this really the stuff that makes for a good judge? I mean, sure, it sounds nice; but should this be part of the equation when it comes to selecting a person who's sole responsibility is to decide whether something is lawful or constitutional. By and large the law is dispassionate. If I do something unlawful and go before a judge that knows me, that judge will most likely bow out because they cannot be dispassionate in this case. Making judgements should be based on the facts of the case weighed against existing law. Empathy is not part of that, at least not for a judge. What if Obama said he would be looking for judges that understood the negative impact abortion had ...

Consistency

Back when the Patriot Act was news, liberals were decrying it as a tool for the government to invade the privacy of American citizens, all in the name of national security. I applaud them for wanting to protect an individual's privacy and property. We should all be concerned about a government (or even a press) that seeks to destroy individuals or intrude into their private concerns, especially if it has absolutely nothing to do with the government or national security. But for liberals, their concern with the Patriot Act was a phantom hypothetical. There was no evidence that the Patriot Act had ever been used in that manner. But still it was enough to get them all worked up about the Bush Administration going too far. Because of that they now want a new administration that would not seek to invade privacy. If they think an Obama administration is the answer, they are in for a rude awakening. They have not seen anything yet. Obama comes from the Chicago school of politics. Adversar...

An Excellent Read

Please take a moment and read Thomas Sowell's assessment of Barack Obama. Short and to the point.

Chicago Style Politics

I mentioned yesterday how Joe the Plumber has been under investigation by the press and by the Obama campaign because he dared to ask a question. This was not the first time the Obama campaign has used Chicago style politics in this campaign. When Obama ran for state senator he aggressively set out to discredit and through loopholes find ways to knock his opponents off the ballot before there was an election. He was good at it. Today Anat Hakim writes about other tactics recently used by the Obama campaign to shut up anyone who opposes Obama (some excerpts below). And this is from someone who claims to bring a new kind of politics and who promises to reach across the aisle. I guess that becomes possible if you first destroy everyone on the other side of that aisle. It is chilling to consider what this country will look like should Obama become president. On August 27, 2008, respected radio talk show host, Milt Rosenberg invited National Review journalist and Ethics and Public Policy C...

Joe The Plumber

History will tell us whether Joe the Plumber unwittingly made the difference in the 2008 presidential campaign. There are a few things though we can already learn from Joe's imprint on this campaign. First of all, it is possible for an average citizen to have some kind of impact on a national level. Joe did not set out to make that kind of impact. In fact if Obama had not answered his question using the phrase "spread the wealth around", most likely Joe would have been long forgotten by now. So Joe was essentially an innocent bystander, minding his own business in his neighborhood when Obama came calling. Joe asked a simple, no nonsense question about Obama's plan to take even more money from wealthy people and give it to others. Obama made the news with his "spreading the wealth around" comment. The second thing we learn from Joe the Plumber is that if Obama and his followers do not like a question, or if Obama messes up an answer, their immediate action is...

Are You Sure You Want This Guy?

I've always believed that Obama was great at pursuing job titles, but not so great (or even good) at performing those jobs. He's like the guy that is all about the pursuit of various women, but once he gets them, he is not comfortable with maintaining or building that relationship. This video gives us a glimpse of Obama as a U.S. Senator. Watching it, you get the sense that his commitment toward being a senator is not all that deep. Most of these sound bites occurred prior to his run for president. Imagine if being a U.S. Senator was a real job. Would any employer be happy to have an employee who was always late to work like this, or would they fire him? Would you hire someone who was constantly late to work? If not, why give him the job of president? It's 3:00 am . . where is President Obama? Oh, he's running late again, or maybe he's now running for king of the world.

Obama and Taxes

Generally speaking, I do not believe politicians, especially during campaigns. They promise everything to everyone, with either no intentions of actually following through or any idea of how they could actually fulfill their promises. Obama's tax "cuts" for people earning under $250,000 is a great example. He claims that 95% of people in America would experience a tax "cut". By now most people have heard that nearly 40% of Americans do not pay Federal income taxes, so there is no way they can experience a tax "cut". In Obama's plan these 40% would actually receive money from the government, even though they did not pay any income taxes. This is all part of Obama's "spread the wealth" philosophy (also know throughout the world as Marxism). Obama sees these checks as compensating and "cutting" what these people pay in payroll taxes (Social Security), hence the tax "cut". My question is what impact will this have on t...

Why I Cannot Vote For Obama

There is no question that Barack Obama is a very telegenic politician. He has managed to capture the imagination of at least half the country. But to me there is a huge disconnect between the masterful speaker and his record of accomplishment. I look at it like this: either we are electing a car salesman for president, or a surgeon. Each comes with a very different set of qualifications. The car salesman is a smooth talker, skilled in making the customer feel good about buying something they maybe don't really need. There's nothing wrong with that. Sales is their job. Contrast that with the surgeon. We want our surgeons to be experienced, well schooled, tested and competent. It would be great if they were good communicators and had a nice bedside manner, but given the choice, we would prefer knowing that they have successfully done this surgery before, many times in fact. I prefer a president with the skill set similar to that of a surgeon over those of a car salesman. I starte...

Please Help Us Avoid An International Crisis

According to Joe Biden, "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy . . We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy." If that is the case, then doesn't it make sense that we should not elect Barack Obama as president? Biden is convinced that this international crisis will take place if Obama is president. Let's say this event takes place in much the same way that 9/11 occurred. Wouldn't it be prudent to do whatever we can to prevent that, including not electing the guy who would unwittingly be responsible for such an event? Please do your part to make sure we never have to find out.

Nice Video Showing Tolerance of Liberals

Some McCain/Palin supporters march through the streets of NYC a couple weeks ago. This video shows how the tolerant society responds. The video says it all.

Barack's Socialism

American Thinker has a great article titled "Why Obama's Socialism Matters" . It is a great review and description of socialism. And if you are not convinced that Obama has a Socialistic world view, check this out .

The Rage at McCain Rallies

Over the past couple days much has been made of the apparent rage against Obama heard among people going to McCain/Palin rallies. I don't get the sense that it is all that prevalent or all that scary, but many in the press sure seem to be concerned. They don't like bad things being said about their guy. I tend to think that many of the people in the crowd are actually growing impatient with McCain himself, wishing he would "grow a pair" and start challenging Obama with more conviction and passion. Obama has gotten a free ride throughout the campaign, despite his shady background and his elusive answers, and conservatives are more than disappointed with McCain. I also have to wonder if some of those people hurling insults toward Obama at these rallies are in fact Obama followers who have infiltrated the other side, trying to stir up controversy. It fits in with the kind of tactics used by these people in demonstrations and other venues. Think of it this way: a half doz...

Some Down Time

I'm taking advantage of some down time by making a trip out to Oregon. Visiting some friends in Portland and then down to Ashland/Medford area. It's always tough leaving Virginia during the fall, especially since the weather has been so great lately. But I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some old friends out west. After that trip I'm heading up to New York City for the PhotoPlus Expo. Looking at some album companies as well as hearing from some nationally recognized photographers. All in all the next couple weeks should provide some fun travel.

ACORN

I just had the displeasure of watching ACORN spokesman Scott Levenson on tv this morning (check it out below). He was being interviewed along with John Fund, who has written a book about stolen elections. I'm not sure I have seen a more annoying person being interviewed then this Levenson guy. What a jerk. It is common for people to interrupt others on these kind of split screen interviews, but this guy took it to a new level today. When he was speaking he was extremely insistent on finishing his comments, not letting John Fund say a word. When it was Fund's turn to answer a question, this Levenson guy would interupt or sigh out loud or go "tsk, tsk, tsk". I could tell that John Fund was in disbelief at Levenson's arrogance and rudeness. I don't know a whole lot about ACORN, but it is clear that somewhere in there structure they are instructing their below entry level helpers to secure as many registrations as possible, without regard to their legality. How e...

Another Problem For Obama

Jack Cashill makes a very compelling argument that Obama's "Dreams Of My Fathers" was not written by Obama, but by Bill Ayers. On the surface it sounds like a stretch, doesn't it? But if you are curious to how he came to this conclusion, check this out right now . He lays out the timeline for how this could be true, but also examines the choice of words used by both men in their memoirs, as well as the cadence and sentence structure. If this proves to be true (it is certainly possible), it tells us even more about "that one". Not only is he not the thoughtful thinker/writer, but he is lying once again about his true relationship with Ayers. The proof isn't there yet to make those kinds of accusations; but Obama is such an unknown commodity that it is easy for me to draw the above conclusions. What has always struck me is the absence of writings from Obama's past. Cashill writes about this to some extent in his article. That in and of itself causes me...

Guilt By Association

Whenever people bring up questions about Obama's relationships with people like Ayers, Wright, Rezko, and ACORN, the Obama camp cries out about the unfairness of using guilt by association. Maybe it's their way of saying "we know he is guilty, so stop making the association". But I have another guilt by association that a candidate has been and still is using: Bush/Cheney = McCain. I was thinking that the Bush/McCain relationship is probably very similar to the Clinton/Obama relationship. I don't think Bush and McCain particularly like each other. They were pretty fierce opponents back in the 2000 election, just like Clinton and Obama were in this election. Bush and McCain have never come across as being "comrades" or even friends. When pressed into duty, each could put on a good enough face for the sake of the party, but you always had a sense that in private they really had no use for each other. That pretty much describes the Clinton/Obama relationshi...

What Is McCain Thinking?

John McCain proposed during the second debate a $300 billion mortgage bailout. If I understand this correctly, it goes something like this: a person buys a house for $500,000 in 2005 and secures a mortgage of $450,000. The house is currently valued at $350,000, but the person is still liable for the $450,000 mortgage, and perhaps is unable to now make their payments (or unwilling to continue making payments). So now McCain wants the government to essentially buy that person's $450,000 mortgage, revalue the house at $350,000, and then create a new mortgage based on that $350,000. In other words, the government (taxpayers) will come in and cover the difference. For the homebuyer there was no harm, no risk. For the taxpayer there is the forced collection to cover for people's misfortune and/or mistakes and/or bad investments. Where in this entire scenario does personal responsibility fit? With all these bailouts, what's next. I've lost money on several stock investments. W...

Obama and the New Party

It appears that Barrack Obama really is a socialist. Back in the mid 90's Obama belonged to the New Party, a party reportedly established by the Democratic Socialists of America. The New Party apparently was set up to help socialist minded candidates secure wins in elections that they thought they had a shot at winning. The New Party also had strong ties with ACORN. Obama denies involvement with the now out of business New Party, but someone has dug up old website archives that indicate that Obama was a card carrying member. If all of this is true, and it sure seems to be, then we are about to elect someone as president who at least was (and has shown tendencies to still be) a socialist. I cannot believe we have gotten to that point in our country. And even if people had this information (I doubt the big media will follow up or expose this), it's questionable whether it would make a difference. Too many people have already drunk the Kool-Aid. Check out this article for more i...

Presidential Debate #2

Why have a second debate when all the questions are the same as the first debate? No new ground was covered. We, the American public, learned nothing from this debate. What a waste of time. For me personally, I would like to see the two candidates sit down and debate with each other. Perhaps have two moderators, a liberal one and a conservative one. Let the moderators challenge the candidates and what they are saying on the campaign trail. Get them to answer all the questions that they have been dodging over the past year. This is a job interview, and yet we keep asking them the exact same questions week after week, expecting them to give us some new answer. Instead they keep giving us the same evasive responses. It's like we're in the fourth quarter, the players are tired, they (Obama, the press) are in prevent defense, playing it safe. Tom Brokaw, being in charge of this, did a terrible job, simply because he went conventional. Again, what a waste, and what a bore.

Obama's Aloofness

So often it is the coverup of a potential scandal that ends up bringing a person down, rather than the scandal itself. I'm not sure most Americans are tracking with Barrack Obama's past association with William Ayers, so I'm not sure how effective it has been for the McCain/Palin campaign to now make an issue out of that association. But as of today (Oct. 7), the official Obama response is that when Obama worked with Ayers, Obama never knew of Ayers' past terrorist bombings and radical statements. This is remarkable, and highly, highly doubtful. But let's take it at face value. Let's say that Obama, while serving on boards and panels with Ayers, while letting Ayers host his political launch event for state senator, while writing an endorsement for Ayers' book, while living in the same neighborhood . . let's say that Obama really was unaware of this man's radical statements and views, and his highly publicized past bombings of police stations and the ...

McCain vs Obama

Barrack Obama and John McCain are two very different people. Obama is young, McCain is older than most candidates we have seen before. Obama is an effective communicator (as long as he has his tele-prompter), McCain is oftentimes painful to listen to. Obama is an evangelist, McCain is the pastoral counselor. Obama has few confidants from his past (what ones there were have been thrown under the bus), McCain seems to have a large number of close friends that have stood by him throughout his life (and have not yet been thrown under the bus). This last point to me seems striking. McCain has many surrogates, among them Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman, as well as a number of men who served with him in the military. All of these relationships go back 10, 20, even 40 years. There is a depth and a commitment within these kind of relationships. These are not people who are opportunistic, just hanging around hoping their guy wins the lottery so they might get a windfall. When I look at Obama ho...

Afghanistan

Senator Obama (and Biden) have a lot invested in Afghanistan. That is where our attention should be, as they see it. We need more troops, more money, and more attention paid to that area. But why? Why do Democrats, who 1) traditionally hate war, 2) continually tell us that money spent in Iraq could be used to improve our schools or pay for health care, and 3) proclaim that America is evil for getting involved in or occupying other countries . . why do they want to fight, spend money, and occupy Afghanistan? And they want to do this without any exit plan. I'm not quite sure I understand this. I'm not disagreeing with them. After the September 11 memorials and reminders, I still believe we need to be over there fighting and disrupting any and all terrorists operations. Presumably that is the thinking of the Democrats. I wonder though how long they could stomach seeing American servicemen and women dying in Afghanistan. How long before they lose interest in being there any longer....

Palin Won

That's all I wanted to say. Palin won the debate. Joe Biden was so intent on not addressing or attacking her that he looked like he was on some kind of pain medication. Sure, he spouted off a bunch of facts and history which made him appear knowledgeable and experienced, but half of what he said was flat out wrong. It sounded good, but what good is it if the facts and the history he is quickly throwing out is just wrong? Palin looked good, sounded good, and came across with undeniable charm. She connected. Considering all the pressure she was under to perform and show us some depth, I think she showed a lot of courage and confidence. You won't hear the main stream media declare Palin a winner . . they have too much invested in Obama. So the best they will say is that it was a tie. I know better. Palin won.

The Economy Part II

I just read a good article by Matt Mayer about the economy. It's a bit windy and long, but there are some great points in there about the "taxing the rich" mentality, about how taxing one economic class (the rich) excessively while doling out money to another class (non-taxpayers) creates a divided non-productive nation, and the consequences of all that. Here is a sampling: "[As Scottish Philosopher Alexander] Tytler studied the lifecycles of civilizations and found that they last for roughly 200 years. These civilizations followed a similar pattern. Tytler categorized the pattern as such: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back into bondage." In conclusion Mayer says: "The American economy is in a very rough patch. The last thing it needs is a president who thinks th...

The First Debate

As I watched the debate I was not particularly blown away by either candidate. They each had their points they tried to drive home: for Obama it is that McCain is Bush, for McCain it is that Obama just doesn't understand how things work or the gravity of what we are up against. I'm sure that followers of both came away thinking their guy won, which is usually how these debates end. From my perspective I thought that Obama was perhaps too well rehearsed. We know his handlers have been working with him to stop the "hhhmmmm, uuhhhhh's" that fill up his non-scripted answers. To me he sounded much like how Sarah Palin sounds in her interviews . . overly handled by handlers and staff. For Obama though, he needs it. We've seen and heard what he is like when speaking off the cuff. And we saw it for a moment last night when Obama could not remember the name of the serviceman on his bracelet. I thought McCain could have been stronger all the way around, particularly on ...

Will Reform vs. Have Reformed

Sarah Palin made a statement in a recent speech that I thought said it all about Barrack Obama. It went something like this: He keeps saying he WILL reform, but he never says he HAS reformed. To me, this goes to the root of what is wrong with Obama. He continually tells us that politics as usual in Washington needs reforming, and that he alone is the man to bring about that change. After nearly two years, what I am waiting for from the press is an examination into what credentials Obama brings to this job interview. Here's an obvious question: Did Obama initiate reform in Chicago style politics while he was a state senator or while he lived and worked around Chicago? If so, how? If not, why not? Chicago style politics are more notorious and corrupt than Washington. What a great opportunity for him to demonstrate his skills in this matter. Here is another question: Just exactly what kinds of reform did Obama bring to Illinois? To my knowledge, and I've been following this for so...

Fannie & Freddie

For anyone who is confused about who is to blame for all this economic meltdown (and I am one of those who has been confused by it), here's some perspective that makes at least some sense to me: back in 2005 legislation was proposed that would have imposed a much stronger oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was apparent that both were heading for trouble and that reform was needed. It's impossible to know whether the legislation, if passed, would have averted today's meltdown. But we do know that the legislation was defeated along party lines, with the democrats (including Barrack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, and Chris Dodd) voting to defeat it. And we also know that Barrack Obama and Chris Dodd were by far the top two recipients of financial donations from Fannie and Freddie in its history. There were three co-sponsors on the reform legislation. One of those three was John McCain. I'm not sure why we don't hear all that much about it today from not ...

Weddings & Weather

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You wouldn't know it from the photos, but over the past two weekends I had one wedding take place during Hurricane Hanna and the other outdoor one delayed a half hour due to a fairly heavy rain. Fortunately neither one was a complete washout.

The Economy

There is no doubt that many people are hurting financially. Primarily this all seems to have its origin in the housing downturn and problems people had with overextending themselves with debt. And so maybe it doesn't sound right for McCain to say that the fundamentals of our economy are solid. That comes across as being out of touch, and Obama wasted no time in pouncing on that. But when you consider all that has been thrown at the economy over the past seven years: a recession coming out of the Clinton years, 9/11, the demise of the technology bubble, Katrina, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the housing meltdown, and now the demise of several financial institutions, the economy is still plugging along fairly well. Unemployment is in okay shape, interest rates are reasonable, 95% of people are able to meet their mortgages, people are still buying things. Sure there are some people who are living day to day, and some people are hurting, but the emphasis here is on the word "some...

Jesus As Community Organizer

This phrase "Jesus was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a governor" must have had it's origins among the community organizer crowd back in the 60's. For a bunch of leftists (I'm not sure I have ever heard of a conservative community organizer) who were often demonstrating and fighting against the establishment government, the phrase probably sounded cool. I never heard it though before this past week (thankfully I have never been a leftist) when it was used several times by Democrats in comparing Obama (= Jesus = community organizer) with Palin (= governor = Pontius Pilate). I believe it is a very offensive comparison, both to Jesus, who I doubt would be happy having his divinity stripped down to a community organizer, and to Sarah Palin, who I doubt would appreciate being compared to a man who is mostly known for his connection with Jesus' death. But there is a larger, more important question that I find much more compelling: just who is Jesus? You m...

Bias

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For anyone who doubts the bias of the media, take a look at this image I found on the Yahoo site today. It's an ad for the Charlie Gibson interview. Looks like Gov. Palin is calling the Iraqi war a "holy war". Wrong. Charlie Gibson asked her if we were fighting a "holy war". He was the one who used that term. She never used did, and in fact stated very, very clearly the exact opposite. Charlie Gibson quoted parts of a previous statement by her twice, both times taking each part completely out of context. It was disgusting, particularly for a "respected journalist". Watch the video here . Before you watch it though, here is what she said in her original statement: "Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and...

Beyond The Title

Much as been made about past positions Barrack Obama has held, all of which it has been argued gives him experience to be President. But few people, especially within the media who typically love to investigate these kinds of things, seem to care what exactly he did while in those positions. In other words, did he hold a title for a few years before moving on to another title, or did he actually make the kind of monumental change and improvements that gives him the right to claim that he is an agent of change? Heath Shuler can say that he played quarterback in the NFL, and by saying that he can equate himself with someone like Brett Favre, who also played quarterback in the NFL. But Shuler was no Favre . . he had a terrible NFL career. And the NFL is littered with players who are good enough to make a team, but not good enough to be known for their merits on the field. So it begs the question: as a community organizer, for example, was Obama a Shuler or a Favre? As a state senator, was...

Another Reason Why You Can't Believe Obama

This whole lipstick on a pig thing is kind of dumb. I'm not convinced Obama meant it in the way it was interpreted, but it has been reported that immediately after he said it that a large part of the crowd started chanting something about Palin. That would indicate to me that his audience interpreted his remark as a reference to Sarah Palin. If that is the case, then the McCain camp has reason to interpret it that way too. (Seems to me that a person with judgement would have recognized right away that he had a problem on his hand and should have dealt with it right there, but that's just me.) I was struck however by Obama's response the day after. Within his response Obama talked about this is why people are sick of Washington, because "they (the McCain people) seize on an innocent remark, try to take it out of context." Let's see, hasn't it been Obama who has taken McCain's $5 million dollar definition of rich joke out of context? Wasn't it Obama ...

Diversity

When you hear the word "diversity" you usually think in terms of race or gender. A room with 20 whites, 20 blacks, 20 asians & 20 latinos would be considered diverse. Take those 80 people and make 40 male and 40 female and you really have diversity. But that kind of diversity only goes as far as a photo opt. Is it real diversity if all 80 people hold the same beliefs, or if 90% of the people hold the same beliefs? And can an organization that says it represents a certain kind of person, let's say women, as the National Organization of Women (NOW) claims, really make the assumption that all those people hold the same beliefs of that organization? NOW assumes that all women believe and think the same. They assume that all women favor pro-choice policies and they see anyone who is not pro-choice as essentially being against women, or at least against the cause of women. Clearly a large number of women, perhaps even a majority, are not pro-choice. They are in fact very mu...

The Real Barrack Obama

For a great interview that reveals the real Barrack Obama, go here .

Obama's Dilemma

Barrack Obama has been campaigning for nearly two years. When He first started, His charisma and tremendous oratory skills drew large crowds and the kind of buzz most candidates would kill to have. Today, His speeches are a bit more tiresome. We've heard all of this before . . not only from Him, but from others in His party as well. After nearly two years, Obama has been in the news so much that He can now be perceived (falsely, I may add) as an experienced old sage. Of course the only experience He has now that He didn't have two years ago is running for President. He didn't have foreign policy experience back then, and He still doesn't. He still has no economic experience, no military experience, no executive experience, no experience reforming anything. But because Obama has been so visible for so long, many people will perceive Him as having all that experience. Of course all of this works against the image of Obama being something new . . and people want something ...

US Weekly Scandal

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I switched the headlines for the two US Weekly tabloid covers with Gov. Palin on one and the Obamas on the other. It's amazing how it changes the perception.

Experience: Obama vs. Palin

Want a good comparison of Barrack Obama and Sarah Palin, go here . Just keep in mind that Obama is running for President, Palin is running for Vice President. There is a huge difference.

We've Heard These Promises Before

As I listened to Barrack Obama's soaring acceptance speech, I kept thinking that, boy, this all sounds familiar. No doubt he delivered it well, but I'm speaking of the content. It sounded all too much like the stuff we've heard from these guys before: disgust with how things are done in Washington . . the opponent has been there too long . . how terrible the economy is . . how poor America is perceived outside the country . . all couched in the context of how the speaker rose out of difficult circumstances, elevating themselves to greatness. By comparison I thought I would look up Bill Clinton's acceptance speech back in 1992. It's striking how similar the two speeches are in terms of content. Even some of the catch phrases are similar: for Clinton it was the repetitious "we can do it" . . for Obama it's "yes we can". Bill Clinton talks so much now about what needs to happen: health care, global climate change, poverty. He and Al Gore had 8...

Democrats Confusing Message

As I listen to some of the featured speakers at the Democratic Convention, it sure seems like they give a very confusing message. On the one hand they speak of their upbringing, the struggles they and their parents faced, the obstacles they had to overcome, and how all of that proves that the American dream is alive and that all things are possible. If this is all you heard from them you would be led to believe that they believe that government played little if any role in their advancement. It was a personal struggle and a personal triumph. So why are they running for office? Well if you listen to their other message you would get the impression that the American dream is only possible if government is involved. They want to be in office so they can impose all kinds of programs and entitlements, because without these things people will not be able to overcome their own struggles. I can understand that not all people have the support system that these speakers apparently had while grow...

The Bush Legacy

I've always been a George W. Bush fan. Sure, there have been some times when I thought he could have been more conservative, but I still see him as a man of great integrity, good humor, and sound mind. Watching President Bush in action reminds me just how creepy and self-absorbed Bill Clinton was (and still is). At any rate, the following is a very nice reminder of what has been going on during the past 8 years while George Bush has been president. A Brief History of Bush's Time

Michelle Obama's Speech

I thought Michelle Obama did an okay job with her opening night speech at the Democratic Convention. She did a lot toward at least trying to appease her critics by sounding patriotic and moderate. This is contrast to many of her stump speeches during the primaries where she sounded angry and not particularly proud of her country. There were three things that she said in her speech though that made me cock my head and ask "what?". First, she mentioned that her husband wanted "to end the war in Iraq responsibly". Oh yeah? Her husband wanted to pull out all our troops during a time when Iraq was in chaos and we were "losing" the war. It would have been the most irresponsible thing we could have possibly done. Fortunately better judgement was in play and the surge was implemented. The second thing she said, in reference to her trying to give back to this country, was "that is why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service". Sounds like...

Democrats and Conservation

Democrats are always talking about the merits of conservation. Usually it is within the context of the environment, but there is also the context of living within our means and by living simply (so others may simply live). If this was all the Democrats meant, and if they really meant it, I would have more respect for them. But Democrats are all too quick to show us that what they really want is for everyone else to conserve, but not necessarily themselves. The Democratic Convention is a case in point. All was well with the convention as originally planned for the Pepsi Center. But then Barrack Obama and His handlers came up with the great idea of moving His acceptance speech to the larger Invesco Field. What is the cost of such a move? I'm sure it has been calculated somewhere, but the financial toll on Denver, the networks and cable news companies, the Secret Service, the Democratic Party, and numerous others will be much, much higher than if the convention stayed put at the Pepsi...

Perfect

Obama's Record

Barrack Obama is relatively young for a presidential candidate, which means there should be plenty of records and people around who could speak of his greatness and all of his accomplishments. There was his time as president of the Harvard Law Review, his years as a community organizer, his stint as an Illinois state legislator, his brief time as a U.S. Senator. Maybe I am missing something, but I just don't hear the testimonials pouring in. These past jobs are included in his resume, but there is never a mention of any accomplishment while in any of those positions. It's not like he is widely known for transforming poverty or education in Chicago. In fact he is not even known for changing anything while in Chicago. If that was the case, don't you think you would hear something along the line of "where he was widely credited for . ."? As president of the HLR, Obama apparently never wrote an article or opinion. My understanding is that, along with being able to add...

Obama & Abortion

It was an easy question, one that he has probably been asked numerous times before. Rick Warren phrased it a bit differently: when does a baby begin to have human rights? Others might ask it this way: when does life begin? There is a certain point when you can say "only God knows for sure", but this side of heaven God has given us the ability to reason and judge for ourselves the answer to that question (there's also that nagging verse in Psalm 139 where God says he knows us in our mother's womb). It's called conviction . . a personal belief based on reason, observation, our understanding of God, and what we deem to be right. And the man who wants to be president acts as though he hasn't really thought this crucial issue through before. He has no conviction on this issue, apparently. Or does he? Obama has a problem when it comes to abortion. He clearly does not believe that life begins at conception. If he did his answer would not have be so convoluted ("...

So Where Did This Ice Come From?

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The picture to the left is the usual kind of image that Global Warming alarmists use to make their claims of the affect of warming on the arctic. Two satellite images of the same area, taken one year apart, with one image showing less ice than the other. If you look at the dates however, you will notice that the larger amount of ice is for the most recent photo. In other words, one year later there is more ice in the arctic than there was the previous year. How can that be? For Global Warming to not only be real but also be a crisis, shouldn't it be the reverse? Will Al Gore use this image in his slide show? Of course not. It seems to me that the debate is not over, and that we should be skeptical about any and all efforts to change our society and our economy by implementing "green" measures that costs billions and ultimately may not do one bit of good. Of course I would half expect Al to take this image and say that there is more ice because of the great strides we have...

Investing In Great Equipment

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I've always believed that mediocre photo equipment in the hands of someone who knows how to use it is better than great equipment in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it. Having said that, I would much rather have great equipment. I just recently made an investment in Nikon's latest full frame digital camera, the D700, and wow, what a great camera. That coupled with some of the best glass around has me excited about hopefully capturing some stellar images. I'll post some soon.

Obama's Racial Accusations

"Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, 'he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name,' you know, 'he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills." With these words, Barrack Obama gets to make an accusation about something that has yet to happen (and very well may not happen) without having to prove anything. "They're going to try" means they have not done it yet, but watch out because they will. Obama's inference here is about race, even though he and his spokespeople deny that. Bottom line, Obama is calling McCain and conservatives racist, and he doesn't have to prove anything because even he admits that it hasn't happened yet. I find it ironic that Obama here is using a very common scare tactic, trying to raise fear in his listeners to beware and avoid those nasty, intolerant, racist ...