Open Memories: Albion MI

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.

I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open request: Google Calendar

Older laptops like this IBM R51 can only do 1024x768 which is now "low-res" compared to today's standards. My request is that Google Calendar make better use of this space (highlighted red rectangle) ... maybe move it to the left column.

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.

I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open MJQ, a morning jazz moment

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open: The Spin Doctor will see you now...

Anil Dash has offered one of the best "spins" of the era ...

Bill Gates has pulled off one of the greatest hacks in technology and business history, by turning Microsoft's success into a force for social responsibility. Imagine imposing a tax on every corporation in the developed world, collecting $100 per white-collar worker per year, and then directing one third of the proceeds to curing AIDS and malaria. That, effectively, is what Bill Gates has done.

If for a moment I thought there was one iota of forethought on the part of Mr. Gates I as well would hold him up as a paragon of virtue. Conversely I think Mr. Bill Gates is suffering the weight of his ill-gotten booty.

Having imposed Windows on the world and exacted a pound of flesh for each copy I think Mr. Bill now gets to try and crawl out from under the burden of his wealth. Some now he and the Gates Foundation would have us believe that out of the great Windows deprivation will come the great good of human health and well being.

Bill, how does it feel to be pwned?

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Hunting

Witch hunt continues unabated

June 29, 2008 · print · email

7 more people have been detained by the Public Prosecutor under the guise of the recently announced “protecting our values” as determined by the Prime Minister. This time, 3 of those investigated are writers for Alwefaq’s political party’s publication, the remainder are connected apparently with the already banned sites

Raise your hands if you think this is a clear abuse of power and yet another attempt at silencing criticism cloaked in “protecting our values” thingy.

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open to unite a divided nation

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Emptybottle

Real words of wisdom...

First, do no harm. Or as little as possible.

Second, do not suffer fools or Bad People. They will rob you of your life.

Third, make choices with an eye to minimize future regret. In other words, imagine you were on your deathbed looking back - live your life to make that old bastard as peaceful as possible about dying.

Fourth, learn and wander. We may or may not be hairless monkeys, but there is wisdom out there. It may be an evil world, but there is beauty. Find it.

Thanks stavrosthewonderchicken

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Heartbreak: R.I.P. Winston Rand

WINSTON RAND…HE WAS A PRETTY GOOD GUY.

My sincerest condolences...

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open and shut.my.mouth

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Truth Speak and Equality

There is a phrase that epitomizes the social struggles of our time. Struggles
against oppression by poorer, weaker people. The burden of the economically repressed 'have nots' being taken advantage of by the 'Haves'. The disparity of the Political Machine and the representation of the will of the people. On a larger scale the Oppressors and the oppressed.

There is a long standing fear. A fear so ingrained that we let only the most innocent among us, our children, state the obvious, "the emperor is naked." For a myriad of 'sophisticated' reasons we are unwilling or unable to ...

...speak truth to power.

We fear that the Emperor will seek retribution. We fear that our personal circumstance will be made worse by the powerful who's veracity we have impugned. The stakes are so high that we even feel as though our very existence, our life, is jeopardized by the telling of the truth. In short we are afraid of losing what little power we have for the sake of the truth.

As such we are just a culpable as the power elite. We are afraid of our own perceived self-imposed retribution. We are unwilling to sacrifice what we have in deference to the truth. We are unwilling to speak truth to our own power.

Immediately our egalitarian ire surfaces.

• "Why must I tell the truth while others refuse to do so?"
• "Why must I sacrifice my power when others refuse to do so?"

Observation: Truth and Equality are not interdependent.

Equality is the evaluation of two or more entities. A state of balance, measure for measure. Truth is a single entity for which there is not a more or less truthful counterpart. Equality is a conditional relationship. Truth is unconditional.

Observation: We have forsaken Truth in deference to Equality.

I have recently heard, again, the platitude, "Everyone is equal. It is just that some are more equal than others." I have to wonder if the speaker realizes that in espousing such a view how completely they have abrogated any semblance of validity to their discussion point.


Coming soon: Open Value of Truth and Time

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open PPG not MPG or MPH

Toward the end of April I posted...

Open Applied Physics

55 MPH beats $3.50/GAL

I am revising my plan... I intend to increase my

PPG (People Per Gallon) ratio.

As I drove to work this morning I had one of those "I am so affluent" observation moments.

I am so affluent that I can afford to drive one of two
automobiles 20 miles one way alone to get to work.

Once again I am struck with my own arrogance and selfishness. I insist that I have my car with me at all times. This is so ingrained in our culture that we want to be a 'cowboy and his horse'. Americans have put mass or public transit out of business while blindly adhering to the rugged-individual stereotype.

During the school year I usually get 3 people to the gallon. This summer I have only been getting 2 people to the gallon. This week while my children are all off on mission trips I am only getting 1 person to a gallon. Next fall I hope to recoup by getting 4 people to the gallon.

I will still have to get to work and the children will still have to get to school. The only way to realize any significant fuel savings is if we travel together attaining a higher PPG ratio.

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open: Coming out

I have decided to 'come out'. I have not taken this decision lightly. The ramifications to my family and friends have weighed very heavily on me during my hours and days of deliberation of this matter. All that having been said I have decided to make the following declaration:

I am a human being.

There! I said it. Right there in print for all the world to see. I am a human being and I am proud.

For the longest time I was in a state of confusion. I had feelings of not belonging. I felt that there just had to be more. As a closeted 'human being' I segregated myself from others. I felt that I should keep away from those that didn't keep the same human values that I have. I was afraid that once labeled as a 'human' I would be ostracized and shunned.

Then I slowly learned of entire communities of human beings. Open societies that endorsed and embraced human values. Enclaves of like-minded individuals who truly feel that being human, being a human being is the very foundation of equality. And in being a human being we are endowed with unalienable rights.

It even turns out that some of my best friends are human beings.

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Seal of Approval

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Counterpunching

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Urges

[ W A R N I N G ]

As the International Mystery Writers Festival winds down I have been experiencing urges. With the end in sight I am once again becoming nervous. I am developing an itchy blogging finger (Typing style: Christopher Columbus - Discover and land). Here are a few 'ferinstances' . . .

Mary-Jo Foley reports that Microsoft is going to spend an additional $200 Million in advertising. Now doesn't it strike a person silly that M$ would lay out all that green without having a product to tout? (Tell me they aren't going to spend all that to remind the public just how bad Vista is?)

Head Lemur says he is joining the club . . .

Open Space Technology (OST) is a method to run meetings of groups of any size.

• Whoever comes is the right people - this is meant to alert the participants to the fact that whoever attends a session is "right" simply because they care to be there
• Whatever happens is the only thing that could have - this is meant to tell the attendees to pay attention to what is going on at the moment, instead of worrying about what could possibly be
• Whenever it starts is the right time - clarifies that there is no given schedule or structure and emphasises creativity and innovation
• When it's over, it's over - to tell the participants not to waste time, but move on to something else when the fruitful discussion is over

[ This is like the Zen of Meetings. Brilliant! H/T to Euan for the link. ]

and finally Hugh admits he has made another new mistake . . .

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Push-back

Dear Friends,

Right now, Fox News is trying to paint Barack Obama as foreign,
un-American, suspicious, and scary. They're trying to send Americans
the message that our country's first viable Black candidate for
President is not "one of us."

I've joined on to ColorOfChange.org's campaign to push back on Fox,
publicly demanding they stop their race-baiting and fear mongering.
If that doesn't work, then we'll go to their advertisers and the FCC.
I wanted to invite you to sign on as well. It takes only a moment:

http://www.colorofchange.org/foxobama/?id=1867-526328

Here's what happened recently:

After Senator Obama won the nomination, he and his wife gave each
other a "pound" in front of the cameras. Fox anchor E.D. Hill called
the act of celebration a "terrorist fist jab." Then last week, a Fox
News on-screen graphic referred to Michelle Obama as "Obama's baby
mama"--slang used to describe the unmarried mother of a man's child.
It was a clear attempt to associate the Obamas with negative cultural
stereotypes about Black people, an insult not only to Michelle Obama
but to women and Black people everywhere.

After each of the incidents mentioned, Fox issued some form of weak
apology. But what does it mean when you slap someone in the face,
apologize the next day, then slap them again on the third? It means
the apology is meaningless.

These aren't one-time incidents--they're part of a pattern that
continues no matter how often Fox is forced to apologize. Fox has a
clear record of attacking and undermining Black institutions, Black
leaders, and Black people in general.

If we don't push back now, we will see more of the same from now until
November. Please join me in helping to bring an end to Fox's
behavior.

http://www.colorofchange.org/foxobama/?id=1867-526328

Thanks.

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Country

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Annoyances: 2 venues, 5 flavors each

The original post was entitled . . .

The 5 Annoying People You Meet In Kuwait’s Movie Theater

. . . from my point of view it should not just focus on Kuaitis. Here are the bulleted lists. You really should go and read the original author's descriptions.

• The Duckman
• The Gossip Girl
• The Bluetooth Whore
• The Incarnated Children of The Devil
• The Clown Clapper

When I finished reading the posting it suggested I might like . . .

The 5 Annoying People You Meet In Starbucks

• The Writer Who Wants You to Know He’s a Writer
• The Guy Who Hates Starbucks But Goes There Anyway
• Study Groups
• Manager Who Refuses to Recognize the Words Small, Medium, and Large
• The Person Who Peruses the DVD/Music Section As If He Might Purchase Something

Yup, got StarBUCKS exactly right.

Come to think of it here in our little town the same points that apply to movie theater goers applies to library patrons ... except perhaps the clapper ... and there are even a few of those lurking in the stacks :(

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Bloom

Leave it to Jeremy to help us remember the really important things . . .

Bloomsday

Today is bloomsday, the day of the year that we celebrate Ulysses by drinking guinness….

[from Too many topics, too little time]

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Patriotism

BrightKite

[Hat tip to /Ambivalence NASFW (not always safe for work)]

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.