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Arlo Guthrie supports Ron Paul...

According to Joel Connelly "You can get anything you want . . . with Ron Paul". The article points out that Arlo Guthrie is supporting Ron Paul. An interesting part of a comment posted:

It doesn't get more grass roots, mom, and apple pie than Arlo Gutherie and Ron Paul.

It also shows that when it comes to peace, protecting our civil liberties, and restoring the Constitution of this great nation, the "left" and the "right" can work together.

Ron Paul said Monday he is hoping for "a grand showing"

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Monday he is hoping for "a grand showing" in this weekend's three day Maine Republican caucuses. Stopping at the State House on a brief visit to the state, Paul was enthusiastically cheered by supporters throughout a rally that drew more than 150 people.

Sounding his themes of less government and more freedom, the Texas congressman said he is optimistic about many things happening in the country, but pessimistic about its leadership.

Paul is viewed as a longshot candidate nationally, but state Republican Party Executive Director Julie O'Brien says his supporters may have been the most active in Maine.

Roger Avary co-writer of Pulp Fiction kills man after driving drunk...

I don't normally write about this type of thing on this particular blog but considering the previous post on the topic of drug rehab, it caught my eye. It appears that Roger Avary was driving early Sunday when his car spun out of control and hit a telephone pole in Ojai. He was arrested and booked on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony drunken driving.

Killed in the crash was Andreas Zini, 34, a resident of Italy who was apparently visiting Avary and his wife, Gretchen, 40, according to the sheriff's department. Gretchen Avary was seriously injured but is expected to survive, said Capt. Jerry Hernandez. The theme of friends should not let friends drive drunk seems to ring true here.

The lack of political progress...

One of the most frustrating things about being a political blogger who tries to look at issues/individuals rather than a key focus just on party can be the frustration at the lack of progress. On the internet I've tried to compartmentalize my thoughts specific to the individual readership but the overwhelming commonality is a general feeling of dissatisfaction by some and a growing apathy by others. It's as if we are on giant treadmills, knowing which direction we want to go in but unable to actually move beyond how far the machine will let us travel. Some of the same issues that were problems over a decade ago are still facing us as problems today...

On becoming more efficient...

Our water heater is supposed to be new but has been acting up recently which has led me to do some research into the concept of a tankless water heater. With four young women living here and the number of showers, washing hair, baths, etc., it's becoming increasingly difficult to still have hot water. Which in reality means it is probably not a problem with our hot water heater but one of supply and demand. It does appear from an efficiency standpoint that it could be more cost effective for a tankless system.

Beyond punishing addicts...

Several groups recently have been focusing on the topic of addiction treatment and what needs to be done beyond just punishing offenders in the legal system. This has been a huge issue locally with several incidents of drunk drivers resulting in deaths and injuries in a short time period. A few of the suggestions that have been made include:

Increasing alcohol taxes;
Requiring insurance coverage for the treatment of drug and alcohol problems on par with other diseases;
Supporting the use of effective addiction medications;
Screening routinely for alcohol and drug problems in every primary care and emergency room visit; and
Requiring effective treatment and supervised aftercare instead of incarceration for nonviolent offenders.

I'm not sure I agree with the first one, unless part of the increase in taxes would be used to fund programs specifically related to addiction issues.

Technomarine sounds cool....

Just the name alone sounds like it would be something really cool, Technomarine watch. When you head over to Watch Zone and look at them? They are amazing watches and I was immediately drawn to the ladies version that comes in a pale pink band that is made from ceramic. Granted I don't dive, but I'd look like I could if I wanted to with a watch like that.

Ron Paul on Twitter...

I use Twitter on my local political blog and I'm still fairly new to it, so I was using the search feature last night to see what politicians had Twitter and which ones were actually updating. It appears that Ron Paul (or someone from his campaign) would score the highest in the Twitter update department. Several other presidential candidates who have Twitter do not update regularly at all. Hillary Clinton appears to come in next as far as updates.

It's kind of an interesting way to follow the schedules of where some of these candidates are if they make use of it.

Why I'll never be "upper crust"

Recently I came face to face with proof that I would never be able to be in the elite of this area, why do I say that? I don't like golf...Either playing it or watching it. The closest I'd ever come to a Nike golf ball would be at a putt-putt place or if I was playing fetch with one of my two small dogs who prefer plastic golf balls.

:-)

Sigh...The White House deleted my email...

I wondered why I never got a response back years ago when I wrote President Bush, now it's clear why, White House Tape Recycling May Have Erased Controversial E-Mails. Yes, that's slightly tongue in cheek because this is a serious issue. In today's email communication world to be able to properly archive history as well as to make sure that proper legal records are being maintained, it's important that email records to and from the government be preserved.

On Home ownership....

Part of the recent discussion concerning the mortgage industry has been related to the underlying dream most Americans have to be able to own their own home. The resulting problems with the real estate market happened in part because those with the dream, ended up in situations where they could not afford the monthly payments. At times this was due to a job loss, but many times it was unrealistic expectations on the part of uneducated buyers and mortgage lenders who had a very good idea that income wise what was stated to be possible as far as payments was not.

The discussion as to where the governments responsibility in all of this lies is an interesting one, how much personal responsibility comes into play is one that will continue to be raised as some of these companies turn to the government for a tax payer assisted bail out.

On buying direct...

I know people who have reported great experiences with directbuy and those that felt in their particular situation there was not a large savings. I think the reality is that it depends on your buying patterns and your planned expenditures. If you are planning on doing some major remodeling and/or major purchases, it's logical that the more expenditures planned the more net savings buying direct would create. Given the potential savings exists, it's worth checking out.

Freedom to display stickers...

Technically since I don't own a car I suppose the debate of my wanting to place a sticker on the side of the car I normally sit on would be a moot point. However, since I do contribute to the payment for said car, I've held firm to my belief that I should have a small say in the selection of auto accessories. Considering I have to tolerate being a vehicle with University of Michigan flags and other car decoration, a small tasteful "Don't tread on me" shouldn't be a problem, should it?

:-)

Media bias shows in headlines...

Clinton won 56% of the vote in Michigan yesterday, yet several headlines I've read demonstrate bias, "44 Percent Vote Against Clinton", "Clinton 1st in meaningless Democratic race", " Blacks, youngest voters choose 'uncommitted' over Clinton", and the various media sources can't even seem to report consistently how many delegates each one has.

Considering the impact the media has on politics, it's becoming clear that they do exhibit bias and that people should start paying more attention to the candidates who do not receive enough media attention (Edwards & Paul as two examples) and the selection of wording that is hard to ignore the bias in the headlines used.

Richard Viguerie Launches New Ron Paul Website

This release in via email:

(Manassas, Virginia) Richard A. Viguerie, the author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books, 2006), has announced the launch of a new website, www.UltimateRonPaul.com

“I remain uncommitted to any of the Republican candidates,” Viguerie said, “but it is clear that Ron Paul is truly a principled conservative in the grand tradition of Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater, and Ronald Reagan.”

Viguerie added, “By standing consistently for individual liberty and constitutionalism, Ron Paul has differentiated himself from all the other candidates, whose allegiance is to Big Government Republicanism.

“Paul’s principled stands have brought him a new and committed following. Many of them like what they’ve seen in the television debates, but they want to learn more about the candidate and what he stands for. UltimateRonPaul.com is designed to meet their needs by giving them everything they need to know about Ron Paul on one website.”

UltimateRonPaul.com aims to do this in a highly interactive way, with features such as:

* Petitions: One seeks to make certain that Ron Paul is included in the January 30 debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Another seeks a full-fledged debate on foreign policy between Ron Paul and John McCain.

* Polls: The first one asks, “Who should be Ron Paul’s Veep?” Viguerie says: “To maximize the impact of their votes, we will release the results to thousands of national, state, and local media outlets, including more than 2,000 bloggers.”

* Blogs and forums, such as the Ron Paul Soapbox, where readers can speak out and communicate with each other.

* A contest to select the best Inaugural Address and the State of the Union Address for Ron Paul. Viguerie promises that “if Paul is nominated and then elected President, we will submit these entries to the President-elect and to the members of his transition team.”

* And an opportunity to give advice to Ron Paul, which will be forwarded to the candidate.

UltimateRonPaul.com also presents the latest and most important news about Ron Paul and his opponents, launches a Ron Paul Fan Club, and provides detailed information about the candidate and his policy positions.

Get your 15 minutes of fame..

I've been on local television a few times due to my local blog and once the blog was shown on Good Morning America, but I've never had the national type of 15 minutes of fame that anyone can get through YawpBox. The name sounds funny but the concept is an interesting one, in addition to being a social networking site, there is a television element through two hosts, Lex & Terry called, "YawpBox Tv". Every week there is a special challenge, like "show us your worst hair day" and people submit videos to whatever that challenge is.

The best, or in some cases the worst videos make it to the television segment part of the show hosted by Lex & Terry, giving these videographers there 15 minutes of national fame not only on television sets but the website as well. I'm just learning to use my digital camera to record press conferences, which may sound dull to some of you who are not political junkies, but for me, how many times can you be in a situation where a local elected official says the word "Peckerhead" on a video you recorded...That is memorable...

Lots of us love user generated content, it's why videos online have become so popular and in this situation, some one might come up with an extremely great idea for a show of their own. That's how most reality tv shows were created...the idea of one person...so head on over to YawpBox and have some fun watching and join in the challenges...

When you can't beat em...smear em

It's hard to believe that Ron Paul would have written what is being reported on CNN that Ron Paul '90s newsletters rant against blacks, gays. Ron Paul denies that he wrote any of the articles:

Paul said the editor of publications "is responsible for daily activities." But he also cited "transition" and "changes" and said that some people were hired to write stories "but I didn't know their names."

The presidential hopeful described the newsletter revelations as a "rehash" of old material dug up by his opponents because he is gaining ground with black voters due to his stance against the war in Iraq and the war on drugs.

"I am the anti-racist because I am the only candidate -- Republican or Democrat -- who would protect the minority against these vicious drug laws," he said.

"Libertarians are incapable of being a racist, because racism is a collectivist idea."

Freedom to breathe...

This time of year, depending on what type of heat your home has you can start to experience dry skin, difficulty breathing while sleeping and even static pokes among some of the symptoms. This could be related to one specific cause, a dry home environment. An easy way to test this is to put down a small bowl of water in a room, notice how quickly the water evaporates. If it's clear the water is being absorbed into the air, then considering purchasing a aprilaire humidifier could be the solution to your problems.

There are also other reasons you would want to have a aprilaire humidifier in your home, during upper respiratory illnesses the cool mist that can be emitted can make breathing easier. This is especially important with young children since there are very few safe over the counter medications they can take to help relieve symptoms. One advantage of the aprilaire humidifier is that it has a built in thermostat (humidstat) system and is designed to cover 4200 square feet.

Ron Paul does better than Rudy Giuliani

If you really believe Iowa matters, which the only ones who seem to are those who are a fan of who won or those who believe the media hype and have never done any research into the reason for our primary process and the huge problems with both Iowa and New Hampshire...but if you did believe that Iowa matters than you would wonder why no one has really made mention of the fact that Ron Paul did better than Rudy Giuliani in Iowa. Paul got 2% and Giuliani received 1%...

It's disturbing to watch candidates drop out after Iowa, it makes one wonder why they even bothered to try to run a presidential campaign if they allowed one state that does not even follow a pretense of a democratic process to be "the decider".

Get great deals on HDTVs and related products

While they may have the name of Second Act you might want to make them your first stop when you are looking for HDTV's or accessories. From a price comparison standpoint, Second Act seems very competitive and their Deals of the Day offers some great bargains. I like personally like the RSS feed reader ability to be able to track what the "Deal of the Day" is, I think that's a nice touch and it makes bargain shopping even easier.

Another advantage of their Deal of the Day feature is you can also sign up via email for notification for those of you who are not addicted to RSS readers like I am. Most of the HDTV's and related products are factory refurbished, factory closeouts, overstocks, or open box which gives Second Act (a US based company since 2003) the ability to pass those savings on to you. I checked some of the feedback they've received online at places like Shopping.com, and it appears their customer service got high marks from those who have purchased from them. Good customer service and good prices makes Second Act a recommended place to check out.

When democracy turns violent...

While we here in the US at times get passionate about our politics, if we stop and reflect about our system of democracy compared to what is happening in other places in the world right now like Pakistan and Kenya we are very lucky. Granted we don't want to become so secure in our democracy that we are unwilling to fight for it, but while we worry about hacking of electronic voting devices people are not being murdered to keep them from voting or because of who they voted for.