Isn’t Life Strange?

Looking forward to this film. It looks like there will be plenty of eye candy for the special effects aficionado.

I found the following 45-minute video to be absolutely fascinating. For those of us who hadn’t visited Epcot before the mid 1990’s, the video reveals how much the Future World section of the park has changed over the years.

Granted, some of the newer attractions have drawn more people to the park, but I sure wish I could have seen EPCOT Center as it was in its first decade.

The video focuses on Spaceship Earth, Communicore East and West, and a rather nice attraction that looks at the computer control center of the park.

Check out this amazing photo of the Helix Nebula.

Several states have begun putting the federal government on notice about violations of sovereignty and increasing federal encroachment on the rights of the states.

The 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is one sentence: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”

Now I’m not a Constitutional scholar, so I am just going to take a common man’s look at this. If for any reason you believe I am mistaken in my analysis here, please correct me. Simply put, the Constitution is very specific about the powers granted to the federal government by the states. The 10th Amendment, the last of the Bill of Rights, makes the clear point that the states are responsible for anything NOT enumerated in the Constitution, and the federal government is restricted from taking steps to create new powers for itself or infringe upon the rights of the states or the people until they are specifically granted permission through the amendment process.

If I am correct in my reasoning above, the Constitution is more or less a meaningless document today. For generations the federal government has grown to massive proportions, created new powers for itself, new programs to create a society dependent upon government assistance, and has imposed several layers of bureaucracy that citizens must tolerate if they wish to be kept in the government’s good graces. I believe that most people don’t know or care about the intrusion upon their freedoms because for decades the people have been gently and gradually desensitized to it. Many are thrilled to get a tax refund check thinking how fantastic it is that the government cares to send them some “bonus” money, when actually they should question why the government holds it to begin with.

I could go on with an entire list of items, of grievances people have about problems that wouldn’t exist had the federal government not created them in the first place. But back to the point…

The great State of Indiana is one of several working to pass resolutions asserting state sovereignty based on the 10th Amendment.

SECTION 1: That the State of Indiana hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.

SECTION 2: That this Resolution serve as a Notice and Demand to the federal government to maintain the balance of powers where the Constitution of the United States established it and to cease and desist, effective immediately, any and all mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers.

SECTION 3: That the Secretary of the Senate immediately transmit copies of this Resolution to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of each state’s legislature of the United States of America, and each member of Congress from the State of Indiana.

The entire resolution can be read here.

There is much being said today about the uncertainty of our nation’s future. A gradual shift to the far left has been replaced by a sharp lurch toward a socialist state focused on centralized control and diminished individual rights. It is oddly comforting to know that the states are beginning to realize that they must act now before it’s too late.

Making the rounds on the Internet now is the following clip of economist Milton Friedman on the Phil Donahue show from many years back.

I’m not sure Donahue was prepared for such a well-reasoned answer to his touchy-feely question.

Honestly - I have nothing against Roland Burris. He has served the state of Illinois for as long as I can remember, in a number of positions which include State Comptroller and Attorney General.

I wish I could say I’m surprised to learn that he was involved in “pay to play” negotiations with disgraced ex-Governor, Rod Blagojevich. I wish I could say that I believed there was no way someone like Roland Burris could lie about his involvement in the scandal.

Quite frankly, nothing done by this gang of thugs and thieves surprises me anymore.

The junior U.S. senator from Illinois, a Democrat let it be noted, now admits that he was deeper into conversations with representatives of the disgraced former governor, Rod Blagojevich, about his possible appointment to seat than he first said, under oath.

The admission was made in an affidavit that he had quietly filed with an Illinois House committee on Feb. 5, the same committee that he swore to that no Blagojevich emissary solicited him, at least not more than once, for cash (a $10,000 figure was mentioned) in exchange for his seat.

Now, the question becomes: Did Burris commit perjury when he said in an affidavit: “there was not any contact between myself or any of my representatives with Gov. Blagojevich or any of his representatives” about the appointment prior to Dec. 26, when he met with a Blagojevich attorney. In his new affidavit, he said he actually had spoken with three of the former governor’s close associates.

Here’s the link to the article.

Here’s a collectible you may wish to avoid.

The widely advertised “Obama Presidential Coin Collection,” seen here, is a colossal ripoff.

The coins are nothing but ordinary pocket change with stickers! Video

So in other words, the new “coin” is simply the same old thing we’ve had for years, but it’s covered with cheap and pretty packaging designed to fool you into believing it’s something else.

How symbolic!

With all the announcements of jobs being lost, companies scaling back operations, and some going out of business altogether, it seems to me that most people would be grateful simply to have a job at this time.

Never count out a union negotiation to throw a monkey-wrench into a machine (That would be our economy) already in danger of collapsing.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Workers at 11 area refineries and chemical plants could go on strike as early as Sunday if ongoing negotiations fail to produce a new contract.

Labor agreements that cover 30,000 energy and chemical workers nationwide, including 4,200 Houston-area employees, expire at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. Key remaining sticking points are wages, medical insurance, and health and safety concerns, said Alan Barnes, treasurer of the United Steelworkers union Local 13-1.

So far, union negotiators have rejected two contract offers. The most recent one called for a 2.5 percent raise the first year and 2 percent raise in each of the second and third years of the contract, Barnes said.

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, but the union does have an issue here that I believe should be resolved.

One of the sticking points is a proposal by Shell to limit the amount of overtime each employee can work to 30 percent of their normal annual hours to prevent fatigue. But management reserves the right to waive the rule and requires some employees to work more overtime than the cap permits, said Barnes.

I don’t particularly like the “reserves the right to waive the rule” language. As a contractor, I’ve been asked to work well into the evening a number of times at a job site, and I am generally willing and happy to do so as long as it doesn’t pose a safety issue. But refineries are intrinsically dangerous places where workers need to be alert and aware of everything around them at all times. I can certainly identify with the union over this issue… and I am not a big fan of unions. These companies consistently trumpet safety and environmental responsibility as their main priorities for both employees and visiting contractors. But all too often those concerns are forgotten when the line goes down and they need to get it running again.

Hopefully these two parties will find a resolution and a new contract will be signed. Otherwise, production will suffer, supply will drop, and yes, fuel prices will spike. And this time, you won’t have George W. Bush to blame - not that some of you won’t try.

In January of 1992 I was a teacher at my hometown junior high school. I remember stopping by the classroom of a science teacher who was watching the inauguration festivities of the new President, Bill Clinton. As clear as if it were yesterday, I remember saying to this teacher, “This is a great day for America.”

In complete ignorance and without thinking much about the big picture, I had become a Clinton fan. I thought that day would be the day that everything about the culture of corruption in Washington D.C. would change and a wave of freedom and opportunity for all would wash away everything that he said was wrong with the system. I believed everything that was spoken about the previous President, and much of my opinion was based on the repeated cry that George Bush reneged on his famous “Read my lips - No new taxes” promise.

I learned soon that the philosophies espoused and decisions made by President Clinton were often in conflict with my own, and for the first time I began to critically examine politics and political leaders through the spectrum of my own values. And though I was thankful when Clinton’s Presidency was over, I can look back and say that even though I often disagreed with him, he was not at all a terrible President.

These days I am more educated and informed about politics, about the people in charge, and about their plans for America. This is a sobering time for me, as I am not at all happy or optimistic about the future.

I believe in personal liberty and in freedom. I believe in individualism over collectivism. I believe in the God-given rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence over the will of the state. I believe that people create wealth and that governments cannot. I believe that the involuntary taking of wealth from one person and giving it to another is theft. I believe that when politicians begin talking about making hard choices for the “common good”, personal liberties, freedoms, and wealth will all be compromised.

Over the past two years, I have paid attention to all the hype, all the talk, everything that has been said about Barack Obama. I have restrained myself from participating in the nonsense of some of the more wild claims about him. It’s pretty stupid to pass along rumors and unverified information that cannot be proved.

It’s not going to be a joyous day for me tomorrow. I will not be watching television or listening to the inaugural address. Based upon his promises and plans, President-elect Obama is diametrically opposed to my values. He intends to make broad, sweeping changes to the fabric of America. He believes in collective power over individual choice. He believes in a strong, central government that limits opportunity for the sake of fairness as defined by bureaucrats.

President-elect Obama will be my President. He will be our leader. This is a sobering thought indeed.

The talking heads have said we should all get behind him and want him to succeed. And though I wish him well, I won’t be able to support him in his plans for America. If he succeeds, the America I have loved, the America that has by its very nature given me the freedom to seek my own opportunities and chase my own dreams, will forever be changed and may be but a dream itself.

I needed to provide a quick addendum to last night’s long post in which I reviewed several radio apps available for the Apple iPhone.

It must be noted that if you wish to use your iPhone as a radio, battery life will be a concern due to the demand that network communications places on the battery. I’ve noticed that if I listen for as little as an hour or two, the battery drain is significant - especially over 3G networks. I don’t know if these radio apps will work with an iPhone speaker system (I hope they do), but that would certainly be a good solution to the problem. Whether you choose headphones, the internal speaker, or external speakers, you’ll need to plug the iPhone into a power source for extended use.

Admittedly, the reviews I posted last night were not detailed explanations of the functions or content available with each application. I missed a few things here and there but I stand by my assertion that if you are looking for content, FlyCast and Wunder Radio are the very best of the bunch. Do a Google search for these apps and you’ll find some good reviews with detailed screen shots.

After further exploration of the Wunder Radio app, I must report that there is an extensive selection of Internet radio available, including services from 1.FM, 977 Music, RadioIO, AOL Radio, and at least ten others. The only notable exception is that it does not offer access to AccuRadio, but with the other available options, I can’t see that this is much of a loss. The AOL Radio option allows you to listen to a handful of artist-specific stations. So if you happen to be a fan of artists like Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, Dave Matthews, James Taylor, Smashing Pumpkins, and others, this is a good place to get your fix.

Although Wunder Radio is the least pretty of all the apps I mentioned, the amount of content offered is overwhelming - and it appears that I’ve only scratched the surface.

I am really enjoying this.

As a new user of the iPhone 3G, I have to say that it is one of the most remarkable pieces of personal electronics I have ever used. Much has been said about the device before, so I won’t give my personal impressions other than to say that it works very well for me. The AT&T service in my area is excellent and both voice and Internet performance is as good as can be expected.

I’ve been looking at some of the thousands of applications that are available in the iTunes App Store, and one of the more interesting uses of the device I have found is in its capability to be an excellent Internet radio. I’ve downloaded and tried a number of Internet radio applications and I would like to review them here.

AOL RADIO (Free)
AOL Radio is a nice application that allows access to America Online’s streaming music service, and Spinner.com. It offers a wide variety of musical styles and multiple audio streams for each category. In addition the app offers access to the CBS Radio Network. Visit AOL Radio to see the selection of radio streams.

I’ve not spent much time listening to AOL Radio so I cannot comment much about its performance on the iPhone. The selection and variety of music available is quite good and the app seems fairly stable.

iheartradio (Free)
iheartradio is Clear Channel’s own application that enables iPhone users to listen to Clear Channel owned radio stations throughout the United States. In addition, it offers access to a small number of Internet radio streams.

The application is well-designed and allows users to browse for radio stations by city or radio format. Honestly the only use for this particular application is that it is necessary if one wants to listen to a Clear Channel radio station. Clear Channel has forbidden other services to use their streams.

TWIT.AM (Free)
Twit.am is an application that allows iPhone users to listen to Leo Laporte and the many programs that are part of his TWIT.TV family. If Leo is in the studio and broadcasting live, or if he just happens to be there and has the microphone turned on, you can hear everything that happens.

The application is very simple. It has a Play/Stop pushbutton and a view of the TWIT.TV Google Calendar so listeners can check for upcoming programs. I believe that when Leo is off the air, listeners are treated to recent broadcasts.

I have to hand it to Leo for using this incredible technology to make his programs more accessible.

PANDORA RADIO (Free)
The Pandora Radio app is a nicely designed, fully-functional version of the Pandora service for the iPhone. Users can listen to any of their own customized radio streams and can interact with the service just as they would on a computer. Some other nice functionality includes the option to email your station to a friend on your iPhone’s contact list, and a link that will allow you to purchase songs from the iTunes library.

The interface is attractive and intuitive, and album art is displayed as you listen. For more information about Pandora, you can read my review of their service here.

FLYCAST (Free)
FlyCast is an amazing application in terms of quality and content. In fact, it is one of my favorite applications on the iPhone and has me seriously considering canceling my satellite radio subscription. Like AOL Radio, FlyCast offers a good selection of genres from which to choose, but where it really shines it in its inclusion of the excellent AccuRadio service, the RadioIO and 1.FM services, and several popular podcasts.

For music lovers, I have found no better option than FlyCast. Quality is excellent as the stream is buffered for well over a minute for uninterrupted play. This app also allows for track skipping so if you are on a station you like but come across a song you dislike, you can easily skip past it.

FlyCast is an outstanding radio app that offers enough content to make almost any music lover happy.

WUNDER RADIO ($5.99)
Wunder Radio is the only radio App I downloaded which was not free, and the price was well worth it. This app is the perfect complement to FlyCast in that it offers a link to about every radio stream for thousands of terrestrial radio stations across the world. Users can easily find specific radio shows and other content simply by browsing the intuitive interface. For example, if I am looking for a particular conservative radio show, I will select “Browse Talk” from the main menu, then “Conservative”. The next list will be of audio content that is immediately available. I can directly select the radio show I wish to hear and then a list of stations currently broadcasting that show will appear. It even groups the radio stations according to how much time is remaining for that particular program.

The number of available radio streams Wunder Radio provides is mind-boggling. A great variety of radio stations from around the world - I’m not talking about a token handful - are at my fingertips. In addition to live radio streams, some radio show podcasts are also available, as well as some Internet radio stations including Radio Margaritaville.

Wunder Radio is a stable app and the audio quality is very good. While it allows users to bookmark favorite stations, it does not offer a great many options or a pretty interface like FlyCast or the others (although the screen displayed at the website does not at all represent the actual app). This app is all business, and it does the job masterfully.

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My favorites of the above list are Wunder Radio and FlyCast, and that decision is based on content and audio quality. Pandora Radio gets an honorable mention for a beautiful and intuitive interface. As I mentioned, I am seriously considering canceling my satellite radio subscription in favor of using these apps in the car and wherever I go. The only negative I see is that there will be a loss of service in areas which have poor cell coverage. But given where I live and where I primarily travel, I can’t imagine that shortcoming being much of an inconvenience.

Anyone who has visited the blog in the past week or so has probably noticed an error message replacing the sidebars to the right.

I thought I had tracked down the source of the problem and even replaced the entire script. That initially seemed to restore the sidebars to normal. But the problem persisted.

For the time being, I’ve changed the appearance with a different theme until I figure out exactly what the problem is, or find something I like better.

He’ll forever be immortalized as the villain Khan in the original Star Trek series. In the early 1980’s, a muscular Montalban appeared for a reprise of the role in the film “Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan”.

Of course, I’ll also remember him as the pitch man for the Chrysler Cordoba, with its “rich Corinthian leather”.

Rest in peace, Mr Montalban.

I saw the following (fake) headline over at FARK today. I found it amusing and thought I would pass it along.

“Sarah Palin’s second grandchild has arrived: Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston. Who the hell names their kid Johnston?”

I can’t read the following passage without hearing Handel’s Messiah in my head. It’s such wonderful music.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

– Luke 2:8-14 (KJV)

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas, no matter how or why you may celebrate the season!