Recently the TSA, transportation security agency (the ones that check people in airports), have been allowed to take laptops from people entering the country and look through files on it to see if there is anything suspicious. This only effects people coming into the US, not traveling within. Still the “Privacy People” are in a big up roar over it, even though it probably won’t ever effect most of them.  If I was frequently entering and leaving the US, the only thing I would not like about someone checking my laptop every time I had to enter the county is that it might take time out of my day, but if it helps improve national security I’m all for it.

So the most recent security measure that is being set into place is a satellite-surveillance program that would help protect the US by using imagery to find potential terrorist attack locations and to help with emergency response situations.

rja

WSJ.com -

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security will proceed with the first phase of a controversial satellite-surveillance program, even though an independent review found the department hasn’t yet ensured the program will comply with privacy laws.

Congress provided partial funding for the program in a little-debated $634 billion spending measure that will fund the government until early March. For the past year, the Bush administration had been fighting Democratic lawmakers over the spy program, known as the National Applications Office.

The program is designed to provide federal, state and local officials with extensive access to spy-satellite imagery — but no eavesdropping — to assist with emergency response and other domestic-security needs, such as identifying where ports or border areas are vulnerable to terrorism.

Since the department proposed the program a year ago, several Democratic lawmakers have said that turning the spy lens on America could violate Americans’ privacy and civil liberties unless adequate safeguards were required.

All I’m seeing on TV is that McCain is just trying to avoid the debate because he does not feel he can win and does not want to slide in the polls.  Lets get one thing out of the way first, those polls are BS and mean NOTHING. Second why would the man that wanted to have weekly joint town hall meetings EVERY week with Obama leading up to the election back out of a debate?

I also wonder how Sen. Obama can possibly think that with the melt down on Wall Street happening he felt that his time would be better spent campaigning.  Why is no one asking him this?  Isn’t 90% of success showing up, and the other 10% knowing what to say when you get there?

I just don’t know how our country has come to a point where we make fun of an experienced Senator and “battled war hero that gave everything but his life for his country” (quote from Bill Clinton on Letterman on Sept. 22) because of his age.  This is just one of the things that is making it hard for me to vote Democrat this November.  I really like Obama and feel that he is a breath of fresh air.  I also think that creating an industry around renewable energy along with ending this war would give a great boost to our economy. The thing is though I’m just not sure if I want to be associated with a group of people that are filled with blunt racists and feel that old age is something to use against someone instead of considering it a sign of wisdom and experience.

Now on to the second reason I am finding it hard to support the Democrats. How can a Democrat candidate be virtually tied in a race to be President after 8 years of the lowest approval rated Presidential administration from the other party.  The answer is one that is not considered to be politically correct from the Obama obsessed media. Racism is still a major issue in this country and it is bigger then what everyone is making it out to be.  The Democrats should be leading this race by such a large margin that Obama should be declared the winner before the votes are even cast.  But the close minded views of a large amount of Democrat voters will prevent one of the most refreshing and smart candidates ever from becoming President.

So now I am tied between voting for a war hero and time tested Senator that is associated with the party of the worse rated administration in history or for one of the most smart, most exciting, and best communicators that offers new, fresh, ideas but is associated with a group of people that make fun of the war hero because of his age, and has a large amount of racists, the Democrats.

I need an Advil.

rja

1. To learn how to buy and set up domain names.
2. Learn how to set up software on a server ( Wordpress ) using FTP.
3. Learn how to design websites using HTML, CSS, and other web programing languages.
4. Learn how RSS works.
5. Have a way of expressing some of my thoughts and sharing interesting things I find on the web with family and friends that visit it.

Basically it was an educational experiment to see what I can do without reading how to do any of this stuff in a book or taking any classes.  So far I have learned a ton by just searching Google for a certian task I want to do that I cannot figure out on my own.

There was one more reason that I remembered after thinking about it for a while and it was actually the most important reason.

To become a better writer.

When I first started the site I wanted to set a goal of writing one post a day to help myself develop my writing skills.  I realized that was a much more difficult task then it sounds.  I found myself writing about things that didn’t really matter at all because I could not think of anything to write or was not sure what my family or friends would make from my opinions.  Then the killer came. Embedding videos , mostly from YouTube, and posting pictures because it was the easier thing to do.  Before you knew it the site was filled with useless pictures and videos; and information about  events instead of my opinion on the important things happening around me.

So today I am here to announce that there will no longer be ANY pictures or videos posted to this blog, I’ll keep that stuff to email.  There will not be posts everyday, because starting now this blog is about quality instead of quantity.

Starting today, I am not holding anything back.  If I have an opinion on something you are going to hear about it,  whether its the popular opinion or not.

rja

President Bush has sent a bailout proposal to Congress seeking authorization to spend up to $700 billion to buy troubled mortgage-related assets (banks).  The government’s plan is to bail out (buy a large percent of the company) of all of the banks that are on the verge of collapse because so many people decided to take out a mortgage on a home that they could not afford during the housing boom and figured that they could flip the house for a profit.  Those people are called speculators. They are the same type of people causing the price of oil to go up so high.  As we know the housing bubble burst and now people are not able to sell their house for the amount they thought they were going to and are stuck with a house that they can’t afford.  Now that these people can’t afford to pay their mortgage payment, other homeowners interest rates on their mortgages are going up and they don’t know why because they were to stupid to do even a Google search for what an “adjustable rate mortgage” is before they devoted 30+ years of paying off a loan on a house.

The reasoning for doing this, other than preventing our country from going into another Depression, is that the government will be buying up stock ( about 80% ) from these companies and selling them off down the road for a profit.

Now, I feel that this is an unfortunate thing that we (tax payers) have to do because of human stupidity, but its necessary.  If we don’t buy these banks, the Chinese government or Chinese banks will. They have already been in talks with a number of them.

If the thought of possibly paying your house payment to a Chinese company doesn’t scare you here is something that will, and it’s ACTUALLY happening:

From CNN

The administration’s proposal also requests that Congress authorize an increase to the nation’s debt ceiling. Currently, it’s set to rise to $10.6 trillion for fiscal year 2009 - which runs from October 2008 through September 2009. But the proposal requests that limit be increased to $11.315 trillion to allow for the purchases of mortgage-backed assets.

The debt limit theoretically is a ceiling on how much debt the country is allowed to take on. Budget experts say the debt ceiling acts as a break on spending mostly because of political pressure, because lawmakers don’t like to vote to raise it. But lawmakers are free to change it if they have reason.

The Results were amazing.

Thats 45.7MB down and 21.8MB up.

Here is the commercial:

Here are some of his clips on the Bob & Tom Show

Was_a_cop_Armstrong.mp3

Dont_Care_Armstrong.mp3

New_House_Armstrong.mp3

Pulling_People_Over_Armstrong.mp3

Tips_Pulled_Over_Armstrong.mp3

Wikipedia

There she participated in a movement therapy pilot program that laid the way for a standard treatment for children with severe disabilities; she published the work Movement Therapy: A Possible Approach in 1978. Declining a role in the family business, she then began a special education teaching career working with children with Down syndrome and other disabilities at Agua Fria High School in Avondale, Arizona.

Now we all know who has a baby with Down Syndrome…that’s right Sarah Palin.

Looks like theres stuff going on that the public may not know about.

NFL.com

» Defensive helmet radios: Teams will now be permitted to have one defensive player on the field with a radio in his helmet. This gives the defense the same ability to communicate its signals as the offense.

» Incidental facemasks: The foul for incidental grasp and release of the facemask has been eliminated. Twisting, turning or pulling the facemask will remain a 15-yard personal foul.

» Forceout rule: The forceout rule has been eliminated. A player who receives or intercepts a ball must land with both feet inbounds. This affords the receiver and defender equal opportunity to complete the play.

» Reviewable plays: Instant replay will expand to include field-goal and extra-point attempts as well as illegal forward handoffs. This provides a mechanism for correcting an obvious onfield officiating error.

» Second half coin toss: Clubs will now have the option to defer the opportunity to kick or receive the kickoff to the second half.

» Muffed snap: It will now be a live ball when a direct snap from center to a player who is in position to receive a hand-to-hand snap goes untouched. It was previously called a false start, but now either team may recover and advance the untouched snap.

» NFL’S “third-quarterback” rule — sometimes misunderstood:

Seventeen years ago (1991) the third-quarterback rule was instituted to enable teams to have an emergency quarterback available who was not on the 45-man game-day active roster, since many teams, for strategic purposes, only carried two quarterbacks on their game-day roster.

Everybody thinks they understand the NFL’s “third-quarterback” rule. But do they?

The rule states that if a third quarterback is inserted before the fourth quarter, a team’s first two quarterbacks cannot be used in the game at any position.

Another aspect of the rule is sometimes misunderstood. It is a coach’s decision as to whether a third quarterback will be used.

The active quarterbacks do not have to be injured for a team to use its third quarterback.

ESPN

CINCINNATI — Maybe receiver Chad Johnson can go by the name that his head coach hates.

The Cincinnati Bengals receiver has legally changed his name to Chad Javon Ocho Cinco in Broward County, Fla., a switch that became official this week. Johnson, who lives in Miami, didn’t return a message left on his cell phone Friday night.

“It’s something I don’t think anyone has ever done before,” he told the team’s Web site. “Have I ever had a reason for why I do what I do? I’m having fun.”

Two years ago, Johnson gave himself the moniker — a reference in Spanish to his No. 85 — and put it on the back of his uniform before a game. Quarterback Carson Palmer ripped it off before the kickoff. After the season, coach Marvin Lewis — who dislikes Johnson’s attention-getting stunts — referred to the receiver as “Ocho Psycho.”

Bengals spokesman Jack Brennan said the Bengals had no comment on the matter.