Unity ticket still possible...

A meeting is going to take place on January 7th to work on a plan for "government of national unity". I'd say it sounds promising, except for this particular movement appears to be led by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and:

Conveners of the meeting include such prominent Democrats as former senators Sam Nunn (Ga.), Charles S. Robb (Va.) and David L. Boren (Okla.), and former presidential candidate Gary Hart. Republican organizers include Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.), former party chairman Bill Brock, former senator John Danforth (Mo.) and former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman.

It could however create an interesting spoiler factor given the way our current electoral system is created, which would potentially create a situation where the extreme end of a party ended up being a larger factor in the election win than moderates who might be lured into the idea of a unity ticket.

Lights beyond Christmas...

I've always been a fan of decorative lighting, and there are many ways to use Christmas lights year round as an easy way to provide accent lighting. Take a large silk tree and decorate it with a white or colored LED light string and you make a corner not only draw attention but provide an ambient lighting source. Or as my daughters have done, use a light rope to decorate the frame area of a platform bed or along the ceiling line where it meets the wall. One of my more daring daughters used blue lights which gave off a Sixties type blacklight affect that she found appealing during that particular decorating phase. Considering the average yearly cost for 2000 LED lights is around $50.00, it's an inexpensive way to creatively use those Christmas lights 365 days a year...

Election mischief?

I had to wonder at the choice of the term "election mischief" when reading this New York Times piece, since it really appears it would be more appropriate to call it "election fraud":

According to Kenya’s election commission, which is considered somewhat independent from the government, at least three areas from Mr. Kibaki’s stronghold of central Kenya reported suspiciously high numbers. In one area, Mr. Kibaki received 105,000 votes, even though there were only 70,000 registered voters. In another, the vote tally was changed, at the last minute, to give the president an extra 60,000 votes. In a third area, the turnout was reported at 98 percent.

When you go further into the article it's even more clear this is not "mischief":

The head of the European Union’s election observer mission said that several election officials in the pro-Kibaki areas of central Kenya had failed to publicly post their voting results, which is against Kenyan law.

“This is something we witnessed ourselves,” said Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, chief of the European delegation. “It’s clearly disturbing.”

The European Union is also investigating the high turnouts in the Kikuyu highlands north of Nairobi, where few have broken ranks with Mr. Kibaki’s party and some areas have voted nearly 100 percent in favor of the president.

Ivy League classes online...

I thought this was an informative article, since many people may not be aware of the increasing online access to Ivy League presentations and class material. One example is from MIT:

An MIT initiative called "OpenCourseWare" makes virtually all the school's courses available online for free - lecture notes, readings, tests and often video lectures. Strang's Math 18.06 course is among the most popular, with visitors downloading his lectures more than 1.3 million times since June alone.

Other colleges are providing this type of material and it is a great way to learn more, I've used several to try to stay up to date when it comes to algebra.

Save money on inkjet cartridges...

Thanks to the internet it's possible to not only find replacement cartridges for that old printer you have that used to be impossible to find one for that you really didn't want to have to replace as well as that newer model that you know there has to be a less expensive option for when it comes to replacement inkjet printer cartridges. I know I'm not alone in having been one of those that ended up getting rid of an old printer that worked fine but was impossible to find replacement cartridges for. I've also grown frustrated at the price for my newer printer and was happy to discover that thanks to places like www.inkjetdeals.info, it's easy to not only save money but find exactly what I need. They provide information on some of the top places to buy which makes your search a quick and easy one.

Empowerd parents...

Recommended article at CNN on parents who grew frustrated with a lack of resources and treatment options for their children and took action. You can view this as frustrating that the pharmaceutical companies are not doing enough research or you can look at this as a way parents are taking matters into their own hands and forcing the issue by bringing attention to the illnesses their children are suffering from and raising funds needed to push the issue even farther.

I think it's a combination of both but given there are limits to what research pharmaceutical companies can do with their bottom line being one that also includes marketability of a drug, what these parents are doing is admirable and very well could save the lives of not only their child but others...

Crime strikes next door...

We've experienced several episodes of cars being broken into in our neighborhood during the past year, but we just had a visit from our next door neighbor asking us if we heard anything last night. Evidently someone broke into their home and stole several items, including a plasma television set. It seems odd because our security system (two dogs that bark at everything) did not go off last night at all, and they also have a dog who barks at anyone who walks by. I did not get a chance to ask them if for some reason they took the dog with them, but at first glance the situation seems strange.

It does however drive home the message that even when you feel you are safe and secure, you may not be...

It's about more than the right diet meal, it's about a healthy lifestyle...

The bottom line reality when it comes to Americans is many of us weigh more than we have in the past and weigh more than what we should. This means the solution is a much larger one that just finding the right diet meal that you can tolerate to drop some of those additional pounds, it's about developing a healthy lifestyle where after the diet you don't just put the weight back on. One of the key reasons why many do weigh more is because we lead a much more sedentary life than we used to. I know this first hand, the hours I spend at my computer are not exactly helping me to achieve permanent weight loss.

I started walking two years ago, at first it was hard to motivate myself to do it on a regular basis, something always came up and I'd put it off then discover I had not walked. Part of this was my not wanting to accept how bad of shape I was in physically, when I was winded after a one mile walk it was hard to not feel like a failure. Now I try to walk at least one mile a five days a week aiming most times for two miles instead and I feel better when I come back in. I'm also doing some other basic exercises in addition to following some common sense diet tips. Websites like www.weight-loss-diet-help.com can be a huge help, not only providing information on the popular diet plans out there but also giving you tips and other advice to help you not only get to the ideal weight you'd like to be at but to be a healthier you as well.

Ron Paul on seeking Texas earmarks...

Can you be against earmarks and still realize that since they are a huge part of the way congress runs try to make sure those you represent do get something from their tax dollars? That's the basic underlying premise of what Ron Paul is doing, yet he faced some recent questions surrounding this a few days ago.

I understand where he is coming from, I'm against earmarks as well, but I believe if the system is going to exist it's in the best interest of the community to try to get as much as they can under the present system. If you state you are against earmarks and do not participate in the process it doesn't create a scenario where that money is not used. All it does do is create a scenario where some other area of the country gets the money. Until enough members of congress actually do something about earmarks it's great in theory to say you don't support them but hard to explain to those you represent why the next congressional district got x dollars and yours got none.

Court reporting is harder than it looks...

Years ago I did a brief stint doing transcriptions for depositions, and I considered at that time becoming a court reporter. It's a very lucrative profession but in this particular area it's hard to get into. That is when I first heard about Huseby, a national association of court reporters.

The reasons why you would want certified court reporters may not seem obvious at first but many times especially when it comes to appeals the information that a California court reporter could have an important role to play in future decisions, so what is written needs to be exactly as what was stated.

This means there has to be a consistency in the reliability of information, whether a transcript is being done by New York court reporters or if a transcript is being done by a Florida court reporting agency. When you use certified court reporters through Huseby, you not only get ease of scheduling for court reporting, video depositions, or video conferencing services, but you get reliable services that is critical when it comes to both civil and criminal litigation.

The birth of YouTube politics

Interestingly enough the Newsweek article gives very little attention to Ron Paul, which is a bit strange since the Ron Paul campaign has made better use of the internet than any of the other candidates out there and his campaign has also taken advantage of The YouTube Presidency factor. The only mention of Ron Paul at all is in this one paragraph:

The political videos of one user, Georgetown student James Kotecki, became so popular that Ron Paul and Huckabee showed up in his dorm room for Webcam interviews.

Can Food Magnetism help you lose weight?

Can Food Magnetism help you shed weight? It's one of the weight loss programs that are out there that many people have turned to in their quest to be thinner and healthier. The goal is to eat foods that create "invigorating magnetism" and avoid foods that are "contaminating magnetism". One advantage of this diet is it states it works for those of you have tried the lo-carb diets and found those unable to stick with. If you have not had the desired results in the past, this might be something of interest to you.

US helping Turkey attack Kurds

It's hard to see a positive outcome in the US intermingling itself even deeper into the mire that is Iraq with the recent news that U.S. Helps Turkey Hit Rebel Kurds In Iraq, the subtitle of the article reads, "Intelligence Role Could Complicate Diplomacy". I think that's a bit of an understatement given the reaction so far:

Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish regional government, which administers three northern Iraqi provinces, called the attack "a violation of Iraq's sovereignty." He blamed the U.S. military, which controls Iraqi airspace, for allowing Turkish warplanes to cross the border. The Iraqi parliament also condemned the attacks yesterday.

Unless of course this is meant as some type of a reverse psychology ploy where we anger Iraq so much that they order us out of their country...

Take liberties with your lighting...

I have a fondness or some would even say a weakness for unique light fixtures, nothing is more boring to me than a standard every day blah type lighting fixture. While we do live in a rental property, when the occasion has come up where fixtures need to be replaced, such as recently whenbathroom light fixtures needed to be changed, I selected something not overly expensive but with a bit of decorative flair.

We've also recently changed the kitchen light fixtures and while it might have to wait until we have our own home, I'd really love to have a chandelier in our dining room. Right how the older ceiling fan is still there and while it still works, it's not exactly aesthetically pleasing...One of the things I enjoy in visiting the Farreys website is the huge selection, as well as the decorating inspiration.

Ron Paul's latest fundraising success...

As the headline suggests, Paul 'pleasantly surprised' at $6 million fundraising haul. The campaign is reporting that it took in more than $6 million just on Sunday and they are also reporting it has raised more than $18 million this quarter.

His ability to raise funding has been a discussion point on many internet forums and blogs.

The Case for Ron Paul...

I read this from a posting on my other blog and thought I'd share it with the readers here who might have not had the chance to read it, it's called, The Case for Ron Paul. The website was developed for people who are interested in learning more about Ron Paul to be able to find out very specific details about his candidacy for president.

I found it very informative, so perhaps you will as well.

How to find the best webhosting choice for you...

I have blogs on blogspot and on their own domains, which means of course for those blogs I have to pay for hosting. It can be really time consuming to go try to search through the various hosting companies, or at least it was before http://www.webhostingchoice.com came along. Now all you have to do is enter the maximum amount you want to pay per month and the amount of disc space/bandwith you are looking for as well as what is the maximum you will pay for set up fees and you will be given a list of those hosting companies that meet your specifications with information/links to them. The web interface is easy to use and there is additional information for those of you who are new users to help you understand some of the terminology used.

Web politicting can't replace real thing?

Interesting article at Politico that even as a blogger I can't really disagree with. I think the huge advantage the internet offers is the ability to share information, yet I realize that so much hinges on the credibility of those offering the information and what agenda they have in sharing it. It's still incumbent upon voters to not believe everything they read on the internet and to care enough about their votes to pay attention...

One part of the piece written by Devin Talbott:

Just as clicks and eyeballs were no substitute for profits, Facebook “friends” do not necessarily equal votes.

And virtual connections cannot take the place of actual contact with candidates.

The Internet has changed how politics is played.

But it cannot — and should not — change what political outreach should be about. That is education on the issues and vigorous assessment of candidates proposing to advocate for voters.

Technology should supplement the modern campaign, not take its place. If technological advances help produce more voters with more access to information, then our democracy will have made progress.

But, as old-fashioned as it may be, casting your vote on Election Day will remain the most important form of political participation.

Colorado Councilwoman Resigns After Refusing to Remove Offensive Joke

Do we really have a right to not be offended? That's the basic issue at the bottom of a situation where a Colorado Councilwoman refused to remove a joke that was posted on a community message forum and resigned in protest. While it's clear that she did not have to resign and the web forum owner removed the joke that some found offensive, it's a common joke that has been out there for quite some time. How funny you find it is of course an individual taste thing.

In doing some more searching on the topic, Sandy Tucker is reported as saying:

"I'm sick and tired of all of this political correctness," Tucker told The Denver Post. "I'm not going to apologize if you don't have a sense of humor."

Posting on a community forum as an elected official was probably not the smartest move yet what's interesting is how quickly this story became national news.

New Jersey could be first state to eliminate death penalty

There is an interesting series of articles on the topic of the death penalty on NPR with the most recent one concerning the New Jersey's legislators possible decision to outlaw the death penalty in that state. This would make New Jersey the first state to make the death penalty illegal since the Supreme Court ruled on it 31 years ago. While not all states use the death penalty and New Jersey has not used it since the 1960's many advocates against the death penalty and advocates for the death penalty are watching this scenario very carefully.

Human Touch unveils new zero gravity massage chair

As someone who spends quite a bit of time in my chair at my desk typing, and doesn't sit properly in my chair, I know it's related to the lack of comfort from the chair. Reading about one of the new Massage Chairs from Human Touch, the HT 7450 Zero Gravity Massage Chair caught my attention. It looks like a very interesting concept, the chair is designed in a way to create a zero gravity sensation so that a massage works better in relieving muscle strain and pain. It's a testament to how we have taken science technology and placed it into products for the home with the memory foam and the other features this and the other massage chairs by Human Touch offers. Human Touch also has more than chairs, they carry items from foot massager's to many other accessories designed to create comfort and joy this holiday season.