June 2004 Archives

In the past month, the Janjaweed militias, roving bands of muslim men have been terrorizing the refugee population of the Sudan, raping the young women, in an effort to scare them, humiliate them, and force them to have muslim babies. The people of Sudan would fight back, but the UN has been extremely active in trying to limit the arms going into the Sudan, so that the only groups left armed are the ones, like the Janjaweed, who are armed by the government.

It is because of this horror and terror inflicted on a largely unarmed populace that we here at mauricereeves.com award the Sarah Brady Truth in Gun Control award to the Sudanese government and their rape squads. It's good to know that when we all have our guns taken away by people like Sarah Brady, we'll all be much safer...like the young women in the Sudan.

So, yes, let's all give the Janjaweed militias a hand for showing us the true effects of gun control: mass genocide and systematic rape. This is what Gun Control advocates would deliver onto you, and I'm sure Sarah Brady would be proud.

In a supreme twist of irony, the Saudi government will now allow foreign workers to carry guns to protect themselves. Now, I don't know about you, but I find it deeply ironic that my own government throws a fit whenever someone talks about a nationwide carry-conceal permit system, and is actively trying to strip away our 2nd Amendment rights, but an Arab dictatorship widely recognized for it's human rights abuses WILLINGLY lets me carry a gun. Maybe I'm just not supposed to understand why I have less freedom in my own country than I do overseas.

A valedictorian in New York City criticized her school, which caused the school to withhold her diploma.

Thankfully, the city of New York seems to be dealing with this realistically, and isn't defending the school's actions. I particularly like Mayor Bloomberg's comment "[it was] a bonehead thing to do by somebody."

More and more, I'm hearing from people that are just planning on leaving the country in November. Some have mentioned New Zealand, others Canada, and still others Switzerland.

All across this country people of good conscience are voting not for who they think is best for the country, but for whom they think will cause the least amount of damage. The masses allow themselves to be distracted by smaller issues without examining the larger philosophical issues at play.

Think for a second. Does George Bush inspire your confidence? Does John Kerry? And what then after them? President Wolfowitz? Madame President Hillary? Does the field of those who would lead make you think that this country will be better when they leave office?

Maybe I'm just being pessimistic. Maybe my friends more so than I, as they start to look at their options overseas. I frankly don't want to think about. It's not typically for me to run from an issue, and I love this country. It feels traitorous to leave this country, but if my rights continue to be eroded, or more and more draconian laws get passed, if the people in power continue to ignore their oath to protect and defend the Constitution and preserve our freedoms, I might have to pack up my family, vanish in the night, and join the Kiwis of New Zealand.

My throat is so sore, and my mouth was so dry last night that I feel like I've got a chemical burn across my tongue.

Bleh...

When I hit the Midtown Scholar I picked up a couple of books to read: Locke's "Second Treatise on Government" and Hofstadter's "Gödel, Escher, Bach - An Eternal Golden Braid". I haven't started Locke's book, but GEB is downright fantastic so far.

The funny thing about it though, is that several people recommended it to me, but everyone I've ever talked to has said that they love the book but never finished it.

We'll see how far I get into it. So those sit on the pile of books I'm reading right now, along with rereading a biography on John Adams, two books by historian Garry Wills ("Inventing America", and "A Necessary Evil"), and "The Virtue of Selfishness" by Ayn Rand.

Reminds me of the time in Star Trek: TNG, when Picard took "Ethics, Sophistry and the Alternate Universe by Ving Kuda" on his vacation and Riker commented "Not exactly light reading", but Picard replied "To each their own".

And, by the way, if the above does not completely confirm that I'm a geek, well then, I don't know what will.

btw - Thanks to Jeff for thinking of me and pinging me with a postcard from his time in Germany. He's a lucky man, even if he's angry that his trip to Germany only came about because it's his two weeks of active duty for the Reserves.

I'd like to be in Germany right now.

Also, ladies, if you're in the market for a good man, you can't do wrong with Jeff. He's an articulate, well read, college-educated, military man. He's a world traveller, and treats his girlfriends like queens (which is probably why they end up (cheating || leaving) on him, you ladies always seem to like the jerks, and abuse the princes)...

Check him out. He won't stay stay single for long.

Summer flus suck.

Owen and I both have one and I feel like crap. What a way to round out an otherwise wonderful weekend. Friday, I went to see my mom and hung out at a party she was having. Had top-notch Mexican food and some libations while Heather got away from the kids and visited family. Saturday, I met up with my friends and we enjoyed some spicy Vietnamese pork soup and shrimp rolls, and then discovered The Midtown Scholar, a used bookstore that has been named "One of America's Best Independent Bookstores." Oh what a treat.

Today we went to IHOP and had some breakfast, swam in the pool and just laid around the house for a while. But all day, I've felt soreness creeping up my throat and my nose has started to run. I think this might be the beginning of an ugly flu.

So, I spent a few days with a co-worker of mine hacking out our build process in NAnt. We have the script working, and we're ready to start a few weeks of testing before we completely automate the whole shebang.

What a beautiful thing it is to behold.

We took what was a 45 minute manual process involving two servers and three Visual Studio projects and converted it into a batch file that finishes in 6 minutes.

I saved my company $5000 today. What have you done?

Out of work? Too skinny for sports? Suffer from an unbearable superiority complex? If you meet these qualifications, and you're willing to sing some sexually ambiguous lyrics, you too, can be an English Rock Star. Yes, the 'London Rock and Roll Preparatory Academy' can help you join the likes of David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Mick Jagger, Morrissey, New Order, The London Suede, Pulp, and Franz Ferdinand. Call or stop by today.

So, some people have written to me and pointed out that the star of the Philadelphia 76'ers is Allen Iverson, Alan Iverson as I've been talking about. The fact that everyone and their mother seems to be mistaking me, pale white boy (son of Yacub), with Allen|Alan Iverson is amusing to me:

Ur my idle n ur exzactly what i wanna be like when i grow keep bein you after all thats why ur my idle.

is just funny.

Of course, all of this begs the question: am I mental midget like the author of the above email? NO! I'm not. I, uhm, was talking about Allen's little brother, Alan, that also plays for Philadelphia, yeah, that's it.

So, I'm trying to cash in on the current TV trend of list shows:
101 Hottest Hotties, 100 Most Metal Moments, I Love The x's (Where x is equal to 70, 80, or 90), Best Week Ever (notice how almost all of these are on VH1? What are they doing over there?)

I want to create a Best of the List Shows Show. We'll countdown the week's best List Shows, and riff on them. We can call in a crack team of B celebrities, washed-up actors (Yahoo Serious anyone?), and young comedians, lured by the scent at a chance for legitimacy (and free coffee), who will spend their time cracking wise about what sucked on each list show.

It's my hope that at some point, we'll refer to our own Best Of List Shows Show, creating a circular reference, which will then suck the entire lot of shows off TV forever into some TVLand blackhole.

But before that happens, I hope to make a ton of cash doing it. Now quick, someone get me a phone and a latte. I have work to do.

BusinessWeek Online has an article this week talking about the business of pop-up ads, using Claria as their example. Amazingly, pop-up adds have a 3% clickthrough rate. They state in the article that 3 of 97 people shown an ad click on it.

Kudos for BusinessWeek for also discussing the dirty side of Claria's activities, which they highlighted in this paragraph:

Many of the Web surfers it targets have little clue as to what they're getting. If they did, say critics, the industry wouldn't have to contrive sneaky tactics to slip the software onto desktops. One common ploy: A "security alert" pops up when a user visits a particular site, offering a software download. Many users click "yes" without realizing they're getting an adware program unrelated to the site they're trying to view. Even customers who wade through the fine print can sometimes be duped by vague language promising "Internet enhancements" and "search augmentation." Says Rutecki: "I understand they've got to make a buck, but there's got to be another way. It's like somebody coming into your yard in middle of the night and putting up signs."

If Claria was really serious about 'helping people' or making our web experience better, they'd find a more ethical way of doing it, rather than trying to trick us with faux security updates and mislabeling what their software does.

I frankly believe that it's a shame that Claria will have an IPO and people will provide them funding that they will use to continue to use to deceive people and clutter their computer with unwanted ads.

Anyway, the entire text of the article can be found here:
Guess What, You Asked For Those Pop-up Ads by Ben Elgin
I also found this interesting:
Stopping Pop-ups Saves Life

I updated my site to the latest version of MovableType the other day, and now I was able to set up my site to use a database instead of DB Files, which should make it faster, AND easier for me to use.

Alright, alright, I'm a geek. These things excite me.

I watched Law & Order: Criminal Intent tonight, and they had a story about someone convincing people to strap bombs on themselves and rob banks. The similarity to the robbery and death of Brian Douglas Wells could not be missed.

The FBI has released portions of the note that Mr. Wells carried with him. I'm (obviously) intrigued by this case, and I want to help solve it. If Mr. Wells was indeed innocent, as the FBI seems to believe, I feel bad for him, and hope to bring the killers to justice.

Check out the note and see if anything rings a bell with the handwriting or the misspellings.

Thanks

A Kansas City grandmother was tasered because she was passively resitant during an arrest for 'misusing a car horn on a city street'.

I get down on my knees everyday and thank God that Officer Sparky is out there preventing rampant horn abuse. Whew. Imagine the chaos if we could all use our car horns like we wanted...what then?

Thank you Kansas City police department, for your fine work in this matter, and God Bless.

So, I got an invite to GMail last week, and was able to pick up maurice.reeves@gSendYourBloodySpamElsewheresMotherPusBucketMail.com.

I'm excited, because I wanted a GMail account since it went into Beta, and I love it. It doesn't feel like mail, but some fun hybrid between mail and IM. Frankly, I wish more mail operated in the same fashion as GMail. The notion is that there aren't folders, only categories of mail, and then you can label certain threads, so you can keep them in categories, but GMail handles the threading of messages, etc for you, and then you can search through your mail messages and find all of the messages containing what you're looking for.

The concept is called Conceptual Email, and it's the same model that was used in iTunes (another software I love) to help people manage their music collections. I think that at some point, this will be how we deal with all information on our computers, contextually, rather than a hierarchical system. Perhaps some hybrid for those who still want folders.

Anyway, before anyone asks, I don't have any invites to share, but if you do, and you have no one left to share them with, why not pass them along to Wil Wheaton, at his site GMail4Troops. GMail is ideal for soldiers overseas because it's a free service and it allows people to send attachments, but even more importantly, you can store up to 1Gb of data in a GMail account, which means it's ideal for sending out videos. It'd be nice to let soldiers overseas get to see more of their families. So, if you're in a giving mood, pass them along that way.

btw - In case you're oblivious, if you want to send mail to my GMail account, strip the "SendYourBloodySpamElsewheresMotherPusBucket" out of the address I listed above. :)

Emme, a blogger I follow semi-routinely had the headline "Ain't No Party Like The Detroit Party". I remember seeing that in a news article, as in, an attempt at something resembling serious journalism, highlighting the victory parties in Detroit for the Pistons. (Rock on Pistons)

The fact that a journalists use words like "Ain't" in a news story is just distressing. I recognize a language has to grow and change, but won't someone, PLEASE!, stand up for some standards in English?

Reuters is reporting that Al-Qaeda beheaded Paul Marshall Johnson.

I'm getting more and more angry, and each day that something like this happens, the more I want to carpet-bomb the entire region. I want to convert the entire Middle East into a single sheet of glass through continuous bombing.

They need to allow American citizens to go in private armies and hunt these terrorist assholes.

I upgraded the software that runs my blog to the new version. Huzzah. MovableType 3.0 is here...which means dick for you, but will make my life easier here on the back end.

*crickets*

Okay, I'll go now.

My buddy Brian posted this story on his blog about TV producers making a real-life Gilligan's Island.

Now, I don't know about you, but I think about the only thing I'd tune in for was to see someone deck Gilligan. If it had been me on that island with him I would have used him as a surfboard or animal bait or something, please God anything but screwing up every potential out we had off the island.

Now...a reality Hogan's Heroes? Sign me up.

A good friend, Ranzino, extended a great gift to me the other day: an invitation to join GMail, Google's free web-based email service. Not only is it fun to use (email, fun to use, who would have thought?), but it's just a sweet sweet interface.

On top of that, it's made me the current Alpha Geek in my office because I have the best toy currently.

Excuse me while I go beat my chest.

So, I think it's the apocalypse soon, 12 Monkeys Style:

• A truck driver carrying 9 million bees crashed his truck unleasing all of the bees into the Montana countryside. The beekeepers called to clean up the mess said that even though they were wearing protective suits, they continued to receive numerous stings.
• A black bear decided that he wanted to visit a hospital in Virginia. He set off the automatic doors and started strolling down the hallways before being cornered in a computer room and shot by police.
• A second black bear visited a town in Connecticut until he was cornered behind a hospital and tranquilized.
• Jabari the gorilla made the leap of a lifetime and escaped the monkey house at the Dallas Zoo, attacking a mother, and carrying away a toddler before being shot by Dallas police.
• Baboons on a rampage! Baboons in South Africa have been terrorizing a small town, breaking into homes to have baboon parties on people's beds and peeing on their clothes. They've also raided a local nursery school, snatching food and cold drinks from the children.

That's all for now, and while it may not seem of good portent for the human race, I for one welcome our new animal masters.

We're going through a period of growth here at work, and we need VB.Net/ASP.Net developers here at my company. The pay is good, the company is good, the product we're building is challenging to work on, and we're the market leader for our niche.

If you're in the Philadelphia area, or looking to move there, and you're looking for a ASP.Net/VB.Net job, shoot me your resume at mortgageramp-resumes@mauricereeves.com.

I had McDonalds for breakfast this morning, and yesterday morning, for that matter. I've noticed a pattern. Whenever I eat McDonalds in the morning, I drive like a maniac, and my temper flares (yeah yeah, when aren't I angry, I hear you say. Most of the time actually...).

So what I think is happening is that my body's angry at me for killing it, one McGriddle at a time and all that cholesterol rage seeps out of me like the oil on my forehead. I hereby designate said rage: McRage

Someone email me some wasabi peas. I'm craving them like mad, and I don't know where I could pick them up around here.

Feed me!

Heather and I have been talking about where we want to live. I want to stay here in Bucks County for another year and save up some money so we can buy a house and eventually, rent it out.

Heather wants to move to Maryland in preperation for being closer to her family. Being near Baltimore would keep us near her mom and little brother, closer to her sister, and eventually, maybe, if the stars align themselves correctly when they look for a job, Heather's older brother and sister-in-law...(hey guys)

Also, we'd be closer to my half-sister and her husband and their daughter, which means we'd have more kids to play with.

All of this is good, but I'm not crazy about moving to Maryland. It would add 20 minutes to my commute. I would be under severe restrictions as far as getting a gun. The area's crime-ridden (maybe because people can't get guns?), traffic's abhorrent, and prices are typically higher, though I can't see them much, if at all higher than the Philly area.

I don't know. We're going to drive down this weekend and poke around. My fear is that even if we move down there it's not going to do anything to make Heather happy. She's not happy here, but she can't tell me what would make her happy and that's frustrating. I'm not frustrated with her, I just want to see her happy, and I'm frustrated that I can't give that to her.

She asked me the other day what I wanted and my answer was "My goal in life is this: I don't care what happens, I just don't want to hear you complain." It was supposed to be a joke, and she laughed and called me a jerk, but in part, it's serious. I can put up with a lot of unhappy if it means my wife is happy, which means the kids will be happy, which means things will feel more pleasant in the house.

So, will we pick up and move again? It might happen

for getting one of the best blues songs I've ever heard, PERIOD, stuck in my head: Feeling Good.

"Stars when you shine, you know how I feel..."

This is a long dream, so it's really going to be in two parts:

I was staying at a friend's house, a large brick Victorian near a little town in Pennsylvania, situated on the side of a hill. Heather was at some event, and Debbie had brought the kids over, and I watching them. My friend was having a summer get-together and lot's of people were there, but despite all that, the babies were asleep. I was down in the basement washing and folding clothes. There were windows that ran along the ceiling of the basement, at ground-level, and I could see it was getting dark outside.

Suddenly a loud clap of thunder rocked the whole house, and I dropped the clothes I was folding and ran outside to see what was going on. A storm was coming, and on the ridge to my right I could see dark clouds forming and lightening piercing the sky. My brother-in-law Harold was there with me watching the storm and we watched as the lightening slapped the ground again and again with large tremulous explosions. I ran up to the widow's walk on the top of the house to get a better view. When I got up there, the entrance was boarded up, but the wood was warping, so I pushed them out, and everyone from the party joined me on the roof.

As we stood there, a lightening bolt shot down and vaporized a house into a cloud of dust. Right afterwards a thin snaky tornado appeared and danced on the ridge before vanishing a few seconds later. I knew what was going to happen next.

I looked forward and saw a tornado forming not far from the house and headed our way. I had visions of the kids and their locations in the house and I burst down the stairs and into their rooms, grabbing Owen first from his crib and then McKenna in the living room, sleeping on the couch. I could hear everyone screaming, and the house was starting to creak. The tell-tale sound of an approaching train warned me that it was getting too late, and I would never make it into the basement in time.

I jumped out the window with the kids in my arms and ran across the yard laterally to the dark black tornado. The kids were not afraid, but held onto me tightly. As I got further and further away from the house, the tornado got weaker and weaker until just before it would have destroyed the house it broke apart into a thousand black whisps. I stood there, with the kids in my arms, looking at the sky getting darker and darker and decided it was time for me to leave and go home.

James Prendergast, from FoxNews.com has the following great article about Spyware, like Claria and Bonzi Buddy.

What I think I like best is that he not only explains spyware and how to get rid of it, but he takes a stand I can appreciate: "Don't rely on a government solution to this problem. Rely on the market to handle the problem".

For example, since the "Can Spam" law went into effect, the amount of spam I get has tripled. I tried opting-out of a few emails just to see if it worked like the law says, and sure enough, I'm not getting any email from that company anymore, but the different company, that shares the same address and office with the company I opted-out of has bombarded me with EVEN MORE mail. Luckily I was using a throw-away email account anyway...

Anything that the government does to legislate spyware is going to fail in some crucial and amazingly stupid way. More importantly, I don't think it's the purview of government to manage my spyware. That's why I use AdAware. That's why I'm dilligent in what I download, because my information and my computer are my responsibility. And I'd like it to stay that way.

Thanks very much.

A good friend pointed out this link to me: Alex's Lemonade. She's a 8 year old girl living near Philadelphia that's got a very serious form of cancer, and to help find a cure she's been selling Lemonade.

I...uh...got a little misty-eyed reading her site. I'm kind of sensitive to people dying of cancer to begin with, seeing as that's how my dad died, and now that I have kids, it's all the more scary.

Anyway, starting tomorrow, there will be a stand in all 50 states. But I'd love for her to get more help. Won't you please donate? I, myself, am going to visit the stand tomorrow with the family and buy as much lemonade as I can carry.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go blow my nose.

My Fellow Americans,
We have gathered here today to honor the memory of a great man, an inspiring leader, a model of how to be an American: Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Reagan took the reins of a country drifting into a second great depression. Not only an economic depression, but also a depression of the soul. He revitalized and invigorated us, shaking us from the sleepy depths we'd sunk to.

His promise of restoring America's greatness lead us out of the darkness and back into the light. His firm ideals showed us that the path to a new day lead not through the government, but through our own efforts, and our own accountability. He reintroduced us to our own "can-do" spirit, so long lacking before he took office.

But just as Reagan has passed from us, we need him more than ever. We now suffer a leadership crisis in this country. Those that opposed Reagan, and those that claim to have taken up the mantle of Reagan, neither believe in people as Reagan did. Instead they advocate the power of government over the power of the people.

Our leaders today would expand the scope of their authority; giving themselves more power to intrude in our daily lives. In the 17 years since Reagan has left office, government bureaucracy has grown at all levels, in size and scope. The reach of the government's powers has exceeded far beyond what it should be.

It is indeed ironic, disgraceful even, that as our leaders, both Republican and Democrat, would stand and eulogize a leader that stood for less government, and returning the power to the people, only to turn around and advocate even more government powers.

I, however, live in optimism. I believe that another Reagan can arise, and wipe away the largess that threatens to swallow us whole. I believe that the people can and will recognize when the next great leader stands before them and promises to renew their spirit, in a way that only a great leader can. I believe in the American people, and in their ability to succeed greater than any other nation in the world. I believe the American people will give rise to another new dawn.

It is my hope that once they do, they strive to make it permanent, and that we may live in the light of day forever.

Apparently Zimbabwe did not get the memo that Communism failed.

I especially like that part where they say that food production has increased, thanks to their handy management of land, all the while, the people are starving.

Reminds me of when the Soviet Union would claim the best harvest ever, and then come to us for a hand-out for grain.

Chad Taylor loves his son Daniel very much. So when Daniel started to display disturbing side effects from Ritalin use, including, not eating and not sleeping, Mr. Taylor did the only thing that a reasonable parent should have done: took his son off the medication. Good for him, right? Stand up and say "Not my son, thank you very much, I love him the way he is!"

Oh, not in this country. Mr. Taylor is now under investigation for child abuse and neglect. Teachers say that Daniel's returned to commiting disruptive behavior in class. Okay, here's a hard concept for you knuckleheads to understand:

1. Daniel's probably starting to enter that wonderful period we call Puberty. Boys in puberty ARE disruptive. It's part and parcel of the whole living thing, and maybe we shouldn't try and medicate it out of him.
2. Maybe he's bored to tears. Maybe Daniel's not being challenged. Maybe he wants something more interesting. I know when I'm bored, I'm prone to mischief. So is my daughter, and she's only 19 months old. Maybe I need to start considering pharmaceutical solutions to her behavior problems.

No, instead, they're going to lock the father up and punish not only him, but Daniel, because Mr. Taylor said "Enough, my son is perfect the way he is".

Oh boy, I can already hear the comments on this one...the Boston Transit Police have announced that this summer they will start stopping random passengers and searching their belongings.

The ostensible reason given is to fight terrorism; to prevent a repeat of the Madrid train bombings. I think we can all agree that terrorism is a scourge, a plague on Earth that needs to be combatted. But just as the Patriot Act has since been used to fight corruption, and the manufacture of drugs, there is a danger that this will go beyond the prevention of terrorism. If they search you and find something they believe to be dodgy, but not terrorism related, will they let you go on your way, or will this become a fishing expedition to arrest people they suspect of drug use, or carrying a handgun 'illegally'?

But let's lay that aside for a minute. There are larger issues at work. The Constitution used to stand for something. I believe that it still stands for something now, but we've somehow lost our way. It used to mean that we were sovereign people, and the government recognized that we had sovereign rights. One of the myriad of ways that tyranny occurs in society is when people have their rights to privacy constantly eroded. That was one of the most chilling aspects of Soviet Russia and Communist East Germany. That is what lent so much chilling terror to Orwell's "1984".

I don't believe I'm alone in my stance that our right to privacy needs to be stronger than the irrational fears of a few people; people that would have us expose our entire lives, bit by bit, just so they can sleep better at night. Good laws are never passed out of irrational fears. The Government should not act on the basis of irrational fears.

I know that I speak for others when I say that somewhere, somehow, the powers-that-be got their jobs mixed up. Rather than work for us, to protect us, and preserve all of the wonderful things that make this country so great, they've started to work against you and I, the ordinary citizens, eroding the spirit of freedom and chaining the can-do attitudes that make this country great. They would have us live under a mountain of laws until we can no longer do what we believe is right without running afoul of the authorities.

I don't think that we should let these people in power do this anymore. I think it's time for you and I to stand up and tell them that we revoke their mandate, and want a return to better life. A life that more closely resembles the one our grandfathers and their fathers lived, free to make our decisions, and raise our children to the best of our ability, free to start our own business without having to apply for 18 permits in triplicate, free to ride the train again without having to consent to searches of our briefcases and backpacks. Free again.

Dear Mr. Lee Lentz, of Camp Hill. I read the news story today about your 7-year-old son's death while camping. I cannot imagine the depths of your guilt, or the dark pain you must carry with you now. Having recently become a father, to a daughter, McKenna, and a son, also named Owen, I can feel sheer black terror clutching at me when I envision what I read. I wanted to rush home right away and pick up both my children and never let them go. I wanted to surround them with bubble wrap and forbid them from going outside.

By all accounts, your son sounded like a wonderful boy, and a delight to be around. I'm sure you loved him very much, and he returned that love.

I'm very sorry for your loss, and I wanted to extend my condolences.

Take Care & Sincerely,
Maurice

"You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I
suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up
or down. Up to man's age-old dream - the maximum of individual freedom
consistent with order - or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism."
-- Ronald Reagan, 1964

"It is up to us...to work together for progress and humanity so that our
grandchildren, when they look back at us, can truly say that we not only
preserved the flame of freedom, but cast its warmth and light further
than those who came before us."
-- Ronald Reagan, 1982

but I love Hermione Granger. I've made my peace with it. If I were a 14-year-old boy, studying at Hogwarts, she'd be my crush.

At least I'm not alone

Rent In Peace, President Reagan, and thanks for all the leadership.

I found out that the Reeves Family motto is: "Animum Rege", or "Rule Thy Mind".

I'm still chewing on that one to figure out what it means.

• Man in Conneticut turned away from joining the polie because he's too smart. To protect and serve, but apparently, not to think.
• Justice Souter was mugged while running through the streets of Washington DC Friday night. Maybe this will have an impact on his views about the 2nd Amendment. He could have defended himself if he were allowed to carry a gun.
• No, actually, we'd prefer that you not be able to defend yourself, thanks! Ronald Honeycutt, a Pizza Hut delivery driver in Indiana was attacked while working and had a gun pulled on him. Mr. Honeycutt pulled out his own concealed handgun and defended himself. He called the police and they ruled it self-defense and do not plan to press charges. But Pizza Hut fired him for carrying a gun while working. Apparently it would have been better for him to get assaulted and killed.
• John Kerry is honored in Communism museum in Ho Chi Min City as a prominent Vietnam war protestor. It includes a picture of him meeting with the Communist General Secretary. Good. Good. (That was sarcasm, in case you're keeping track)
• Official in VA tried to stop an outdoor baptism because it 'might' offend nearby swimmers. Give me a break! If I say I'm offended by stained glass windows will they go make the churches take them down too?
• OH yes it's ladies night, and the feeling's right...oh shit, it's not...New Jersey's Director of Civil Rights (overblown bureaucracy anyone?) has ruled that Ladies Night at NJ taverns violates anti-discrimination rules. Apparently some men complained they weren't getting the cheaper prices women were.

Heather and I have been back and forth about what we're going to do with McKenna and Owen when they're old enough to attend school. I'm worried enough about the quality of the education that students are getting that I've considered home schooling the kids (hard as that is), or at least, sending them to a private school (as expensive as that is).

Sometimes I think that I'm being paranoid, or I'm turning into "that guy" ('back in my day, we really learned in school'...), but then I talk to a teacher at a Catholic High School that says that her students can barely read, and she teaches High School, or I read that they keep having to make the SATs easier to keep the scores higher, or...I see something like this on CNN, that quotes from a letter written by an 11-year-old that states:

"Your clearks (sic) sugjest (sic) that there is only one look. If that is true, then girls are suppost (sic) to walk around half naked."

I am glad that Ella Gunderson is not afraid to stand up and speak her mind and even take action when she thinks it's necessary, but where in the hell did she learn to spell, and where the hell are her teachers and her parents? 11 years old, she should be in what, 5th grade? I would hope that by 5th grade, words like clerks, suggest, and supposed would all be in their vocabulary.

I believe that a young child's intellect is one of greatest sources of potential for a child, and it scares me when I see it squandered, or squashed, or undeveloped.

Maybe I'm just getting old, but I think the teachers of Miss Gunderson need to be sent back to school themselves so they can learn the basics of giving a child the basic tools they need to educate themselves: literacy and vocabulary.