Open Quiz

(Click above...)

(91)

Sister Beth who-doesn't-blog, yet scored 97%... 12 out of 12 = 97th percentile!

Hmmmmm, 12 out of 12 doesn't equal 100% ... must be some sort of Republican math. (*Smirk*)

Open Nerdy

Open concern

I just watched John McCain offering his views on the most recent Senate vote ... and he spent half of his time - half of his time with his back to the camera. Is he not paying attention?

Open Political Revolution

I must admit that I sneered at the "elections" of South American dictators, communist puppet govenments and middle-eastern theocrats. All the while I tried to wrap myself in the warm comforter of USofA Democracy's one-person-one-vote. Even though I distanced myself from day-to-day political dealings I paid lip-service to the nobility of the American political process.

Then one day a candidate emerged on the American political scene that caught my attention. Stepping forward is an educated, erudite visionary who begins to speak to the heart of the American people. This candidate begins to evoke feelings that I once just paid lip-service to in describing our system of government. This candidate begins to show the American people that there can be an alternative to politics-as-usual. A candidate that understands that power does not come from the office but is mandated by the people. A candidate who is actively seeking just such a mandate. A candidate who is seeking the support of the people.

In contrast the politics-as-usual candidates, orating in first person presumptive tones, speak of the power of the office all the while evoking the fears of war. They play political brinkmanship with threats of boycotting the very process they are engaged in (and supposedly supporting as a political ideal). They further threaten to demand the return of monies if their party doesn't play the political game the way that they paid for. They insist on changing the rules of the game mid-play because they realize they are losing and must try every underhanded trick they can think of to salvage their failing position.

Should such politics-as-usual prevail then I will not be able to differentiate USofA politics from those of contemptable South American dictators, communist puppet govenments and middle-eastern theocrats.

Do not let the few dictate to the many what is ethical or right.

America, I call you to open political revolution.

Open Expression

Open observation

We are not going to elect Barack Obama's minister to any elected office.

We are not going to elect Barack Obama's foreign policy adviser to any elected office.

We are not going to elect Hillary Clinton's Head Fund Raiser to any elected office.

We are not going to elect Hillary Clinton to any elected office.

We are not going to elect John McCain to any elected office.

Please people, lets pay attention to who we are going to elect ... Barack Obama!

Open QOTD (4)

The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.

- Sydney J. Harris

Submitted for your consideration by Sister Beth (who doesn't blog, yet!)

Open Payment

Borrowed from

Obama in 30 seconds

Open Tone

Barack Obama has set the tone of his leadership... firm and fair.

Publicly announcing that even his 6-year old daughter recognizes the situation of Michigan and Florida's "Do Over" as being unfair is a clear indication of how he will lead.

Obama - Firm and Fair!

Open Loathing (2)

After 7 hours and 25 minutes during the previous sessions I started again at 07:10 this morning. Today is loading userland software (e.g. Lotus Notes, ODBC drivers, Postgresql tools, Adobe, etc.)
Except for the "Morning Meeting" (07:30-08:00) I was at it until 10:45.

07:10-07:30 = 0:20 CTT: 7:45
08:00-10:45 = 2:45 CTT: 10:30

10 hours and 30 minutes to restore a Microsoft system to its operational state!

(As a point of reference: the last time I loaded an Ubuntu system it took approximately 25 minutes for the initial system prep and FULL OS and SOFTWARE load. After 10 minutes of configuration it took Ubuntu approximately 35 more minutes to download and install ALL patches and updates. Roughly 1 hour and 10 minutes.)

Open Lists

This is one list that really needs to be examined ... from TIME GOES BY

I have been waiting for this list. Thank you Crabby Old Lady. Ya done good!

Crabby would be heartened to hear Clinton and Obama (and McCain) say:

• the Constitution has been trashed and must be restored


• the U.S. has supported and committed torture and it must end


• the economy has been wrecked by the power elite in both government and corporate America and that greed will stop, regulations will be enforced


• the Iraq War has been a disaster and we need a way out while acknowledging that we bear responsibility for bombing that country back or Ur


• universal healthcare is a human right and we’ll find a way to provide it


• our infrastructure - bridges, roads, water, sewer systems - will be fixed


• No Child Left Behind will be canceled and we’ll figure out how to improve our schools


• unwarranted searches and surveillance of citizens will stop


• there will be no more fooling around about the environment


• a fair solution will be found for immigration


• government ethics legislation will have real teeth


• separation of church and state will be restored


• every last political hack (thousands of them) appointed by the Bush administration to government agencies will be fired, replaced with non-partisan competents


• earmarks will disappear entirely from legislation – let them be properly legislated


• the wealthy elite have had it their way long enough, reaping collective trillions of dollars on the backs of the middle and lower classes and now it is their turn to pay it back

Borrowed from The Huffington Post: Modern Feminism ...

The feminist issues facing us now are different from the ones that we faced a generation ago. From Moms Rising (www.momsrising.org):

* Three-quarters of American mothers are now in the labor force.
* A full quarter of U.S. families with children less than six years old live in poverty.
* Nine million children are without healthcare coverage and many more are under-insured.
* Fourteen million children are unsupervised after school. 40,000 of these are kindergartners due to a lack of affordable after school programs.
* The U.S. is one of only four nations without any form of paid leave for new mothers. (The others are Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea.)
* Women without children make 90 cents to a man's dollar, but mothers make just 73 cents, and single mothers make even less -- about 60 cents to a man's dollar.
* Mothers are 79% less likely to be hired than equally qualified non-mothers.
* A recent study found that mothers were offered $11,000 lower starting pay than non-mothers with the same resume for highly paid jobs, while fathers were offered $6,000 more in starting pay.
* Of the twenty most competitive economies in the world, the U.S. is the only one that does not require employers to provide paid sick days.

Open Self Destruction

McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam

Washington Dispatch: Televangelist Rod Parsley, a key McCain ally in Ohio, has called for eradicating the "false religion." Will the GOP presidential candidate renounce him?

By David Corn

March 12, 2008

Senator John McCain hailed as a spiritual adviser an Ohio megachurch pastor who has called upon Christians to wage a "war" against the "false religion" of Islam with the aim of destroying it.

Open Loathing

Last week I decided to download and install one of Microsoft's "Express...2008" Development tools. When the smoke cleared I was no longer able to access the site that I require development tools to support. No amount of Add/Remove Programs would return my system to an operational state. My only recourse is to ... reload.

I started yesterday afternoon...about 14:30

By 16:15 I had Windows XP "loaded" as well as the proprietary drivers needed to access the network card and the video card. I was able to start the first "Windows Update" session before I had to leave.

Cumulative Time Total: 1:45

This morning at 07:00 I have returned to a rebooted system. Sending it off on the second manual "Windows Update" session promises 61 Updates. By 08:30 all 61 had been downloaded and installed. Mandatory reboot.

CTT: 2:15
In the mean time I have secured a copy of Windows XP Service Pack 2. Thankfully I am able to transfer it via my thumb drive. Saving myself a ~272 MB download. It is currently loading - finished at 09:30. Mandatory reboot.
CTT: 3:15
"Windows Update" session #3: 49 Updates. Mandatory reboot @ 10:00.
CTT: 3:45
"Windows Update" session #4: No Updates to install. Now it is time to start loading software.
MS-Office 2003: Completed @ 10:15
CTT: 4:00
"Windows Update" session #5: 6 Updates. Mandatory reboot at 11:00
CTT: 4:45
"Windows Update" session #6: 8 Updates. Wonder of wonders.... no reboot at 11:15
CTT: 5:00
Load FrontPage, Project, Visio, OneNote : Completed @ 11:30
CTT: 5:15
12:45 "Windows Update" session #7: 4 Updates, no reboot @ 13:30
CTT: 6:00
Loading VB2005 Express Edition, WebDev 2005 Express Edition @14:00
CTT: 6:30
15:15 "Windows Update" session #8: 9 Updates. Mandatory reboot @ 16:00
CTT: 7:15
"Windows Update" session #9 : No updates @ 16:10
CTT: 7:25

Tomorrow the userland software is loaded.

T. B. C...

Open Revelation

Hillary Clinton Sacrifices Career For Her Party

In what is being acknowledged as a great personal gesture Sen. Hillary Clinton is actively and aggressively sacrificing her political career for the good of her beloved Democratic Party. Under the guise of "running for the nomination" the Senator is actually keeping the fires of passion lit in the hearts of the party loyal as well as open minded independents and unfulfilled Republicans. Her carefully crafted posturing and prattling are designed to continue to keep the spot light shining brightly on the obvious Democratic heir apparent Barack Obama.

In a political environment that is played out entirely in the media Senator Obama is capturing almost every news cycle thanks in no small part to this selfless crusade that Hillary Clinton has mounted on his behalf. This priceless exposure in the press is the direct result of Mrs. Clinton's willingness to sacrifice any chance she has to attain her party's nomination. But in the end Hillary Rodham Clinton will be able to say that she, almost single-handedly, elected the next president of the United States of America - Barack Obama.

Open Politics...

...make strange bedfellows.

Spitzer Scandal Worries Clinton Camp

John Nichols | The governor of Hillary's adopted home state is in big, big trouble.

Open supporter

Please Ms Ferraro, please continue to support Mrs. Clinton... and speak up, we didn't hear you.


"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she continued. "And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." Ferraro does not buy the notion of Obama as the great reconciler.

Geraldine Ferarro lets her emotions do the talking

By Jim Farber Staff Writer

Article Launched: 03/07/2008 07:52:09 AM PST

So you managed to play the race card and the gender card in the same paragraph. You are a professional. Keep up the good work.

Open Puppetry

Just two more talking heads...

THE BILL FACTOR

It’s Not Her. It’s That Marriage.

Ben Sklar / Getty Images

Wanting it Both Ways: Clinton wants to run and win as her own woman and she wants to offer her years as First Spouse as 'experience'

Open Trust (or the lack thereof...)

I do not trust Hillary Clinton.

For a long while now I have been trying to find the essence of my dislike for HRC.

Today as I read the Newsweek post ...

How can you win the nomination when the math looks so bleak for you?
It doesn't look bleak at all. I have a very close race with Senator Obama. There are elected delegates, caucus delegates and superdelegates, all for different reasons, and they're all equal in their ability to cast their vote for whomever they choose. Even elected and caucus delegates are not required to stay with whomever they are pledged to. This is a very carefully constructed process that goes back years, and we're going to follow the process.

I was left with the "this is the way we have run questionable politics in the past" feeling. Even the suggestion that "delegates are not required to stay with whomever they are pledged to" smacks of disenfranchisement! I would have expected this kind of elitist power mongering from WASP men 50 or 100 years ago but today???

I do not trust Hillary Clinton.

Open Gothic

I found it here ... Thanks Peter Brooks

Open Advice, good advice.

Seth Godin offers some good advice on brand "correction" ...

Sunk costs, quitting and the value of your brand

Here's the math as I see it for brand Hillary: The only chance she has to win is to burn down other brands, violate protocol, push harder than many think appropriate. She has to change her brand to achieve her goal. Not only that, but she has to risk the entire Party at the same time. If she does manage to win the nomination, she will be pilloried by the right (the very same Rush that endorsed her in Texas). They're just waiting for the chance.

The new brand, the one that it would take to succeed at this stage, almost guarantees she doesn't succeed at the next.

And the alternative?

The alternative is to quit. To become a statesman. A respected power broker.

The alternative is to be the trusted advisor, the person who gave up one dream to realize a bigger one, and to build a brand and a lifestyle with long-term leverage.

So lets review...

Mrs. Clinton could be Not-President
... or ...
Mrs. Clinton could become one of the most powerful political influences in the United States of America.

Hmmmmm ...

Mrs. Clinton please pay attention. Please take Seth's good advice.