Average Businessman

The Truth

2010-10-22T19:50:00.004-04:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The end of the year, the end of this blog.

2007-12-31T16:16:00.000-05:00

This blog is being put to bed, all posts will now be at Average Businessman - A WordPress blog.

As the stock market falls and the oil prices go up I wish you a happy new year.

Homeless Vets

2007-11-12T12:04:00.000-05:00

Who are homeless veterans?

The U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says the nation's homeless veterans are mostly males (4 % are females). The vast majority are single, most come from poor, disadvantaged communities, 45% suffer from mental illness, and half have substance abuse problems. America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom, or the military’s anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America. Forty-seven percent of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam Era. More than 67% served our country for at least three years and 33% were stationed in a war zone.

Happy Veterans Day

My Request

2007-11-05T15:07:00.000-05:00

I'm late and I nominated her.

Vote For Wonderland or Not Here

daily thru the 8th.

In Perspective

2007-10-31T12:25:00.000-04:00

These are the questions I want answered.
From Huff Post.

The vote for the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment put her in perspective.

Will it Blend

2007-10-30T10:59:00.000-04:00

Rained out Golf and Trick or Treat

2007-10-27T01:04:00.001-04:00

This was to be the last home golf weekend.
Not to be. It's been raining for days. Even if it stops tomorrow the courses locally are going to be shot for the weekend.

Golf business may lose millions

Some of Atlanta's largest golf courses are asking the state to exempt them from tough outdoor watering restrictions they say could cost them millions of dollars and diminish or drive away the region's top golf tourname

This is one damn fine golf shot.

We do the trick or treat thing with our son at a neighborhoood gathering Satruday evening and again next week in our neighborhood.

Happy trick and treat. I'm gonna catch - up on all the books written by the presidential candidates.

Another gift for Halloween

Check out Cooper's Poe Post at Wonderland or Not.

Work is Hell

2007-10-02T11:12:00.001-04:00

It's been awhile. Like I mentioned, my business is growing and I've been looking for office space. I sign a lease next week on a small suite of offices. This leaves me with no time to write in this thing, but money must be made, food put on the table and golf outings attended.

All eyes are on Iowa with polls giving conflicting data. Hilary is cackling her way into the hearts of some, while Obama's wife predicts he must win Iowa.

Check out Cooper's take on pinking up for Breast Cancer awareness month.

Shayna has officially quit the blogging scene and Pia is moving.

I want no more quitting out there. Hear me?

Enjoy the week.

Dr. Randy Pausch’s farewell lecture. Have a good weekend.

2007-09-21T19:53:00.000-04:00

My wife is not an email-er. She doesn't send me cute little notes all day; she's a busy attorney. If she needs me she calls, but otherwise we do our jobs with no communication during the day.
Today she sent me this. As rare as the occasion I watched it.

She sent be the version from ABC GMA -
Dying Professor's Lecture of a Lifetime

There are various installation currently on You Tube.

I like this because there was no talk about religion or being saved, except for a death bed conversion to MAC's. He talks about life lessons, life.

Take a look at this when you have time.

The Good and the Bad

2007-09-19T14:47:00.001-04:00

Senate deals legal blow to Guantanamo prisoners

The US Senate Wednesday narrowly rejected an attempt to allow 'war on terror' prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to challenge their detention in federal courts.

Senators voted 56-43 in favor of the bill, but the final tally was short of the 60 votes needed under Senate rules for it to move forward.

The bill would have restored the ancient writ of habeas corpus to inmates, giving them recourse to the US civil justice system.

Players fighting for jobs at Fall Series

The golf season is complete, but it's not. A four-week grind through the FedEx Cup playoffs is over, but a seven-week grind is about to begin. The PGA Tour awarded its biggest prizes of the year on Sunday at the Tour Championship, but it still has plenty more to dole out.

Beautiful Weekend

2007-09-15T16:36:00.000-04:00

This had been a most beautiful day, cool and sunny with a little bit of warmth from the sun. Golf in the morning, playing with my son in the afternoon.

I'm doing the raking the leaves thing, letting him jump onto them like I did when young. I know the leaves are full of allergens, but it's a lot of fun, and so far so good.

Someone published OJ's book. Greed has no boundaries.

You have a great weekend.

Keeping it Real

2007-09-13T13:47:00.001-04:00

Does Tiger have FedEx, and POY, wrapped up?

I don’t know but the greens are in pretty bad shape.

Now the PGA Tour postseason “dance” has another irregularity — faulty flooring. Drought conditions
have left the greens at East Lake Golf Club looking like the sands of Iwo Jima. The say the grass is always greener on the other side, but that’s not the case if you’re traveling I-20 East out of Atlanta.

I was watching a Nationals game the other night, they were playing the Marlins and it was surprising to
see how few fans there were in Florida. I think it was somewhere around ten thousand.

Obama Offers Most Extensive Plan Yet for Winding Down War

Someone needs to run with this.

Iraq on the mind.

2007-09-09T13:47:00.000-04:00

Posting to keep this alive.

I gave up a golf day to get my lawn in shape. Autumn approaches making this a much needed task.

Listening to a CNN discussion on Iraq. If the whole conversation has not gone around in circles for an a hour I'm a toad.

Depressing.

Frank Rich in the Times - As the Iraqis Stand Down, We’ll Stand Up

IT will be all 9/11 all the time this week, as the White House yet again synchronizes its drumbeating for the Iraq war with the anniversary of an attack that had nothing to do with Iraq. Ignore that fog and focus instead on another date whose anniversary passed yesterday without notice: Sept. 8, 2002. What happened on that Sunday five years ago is the Rosetta Stone for the administration's latest scam.

Read it if you have access.

Just a song before I go

2007-08-15T10:02:00.000-04:00

Tiger Woods wins the PGA Championship and has golf bloggers talking.

Golf blogging has made the headlines.

Tiger is Focusing on Fitness, to Build Walking-Only Golf Course

Tiger is concerned with the health and fitness level of his comtemporaries.

He has some valid points. One of the biggest factors in Tiger's game, talent aside, is his fitness.

W'ere leaving this weekend for a week of relaxtion. I'll have some computer access and will try to check in.

Enjoy.

A Question Unanswered

2007-08-09T10:54:00.001-04:00

Monday meanderings.

2007-07-30T15:51:00.000-04:00

Cooper and Pia both wrote a little about this in their blogs a of couple days ago.

Will the GOP you tube Debate Be Postponed?

Ron Paul the only willing candidate.

It's scheduled for the 17th of September but looks unlikely to go off at that time, according to recent reports.

Doesn't matter a lick to me I'm not voting Republican. Not even for money. ;)

Freaky sad situation on Ocean City Maryland where

The bodies of four small infants were found at the home of a woman who denied having been pregnant, even after she was taken to a hospital and doctors discovered a placenta and part of an umbilical cord, police said.

Police found the most newly delivered child, a baby boy, in the vanity below a bathroom sink at Christy Freeman's home, according to charging documents. A further search found the corpses of two other babies in a trunk in her bedroom and another in a small recreational vehicle parked in her driveway.

RIP Bill Walsh: Former 49er head coach Bill Walsh dies

Gonzales and Golf

2007-07-26T14:04:00.000-04:00

This summer is whipping by and I've often been too busy to make it to the writing section of my blog. I'm still reading don't worry. It is far more relaxing to read than to write. In my opinion.

I have to make mention of the total embarrassment of the Gonzales situation. The man is nothing more than a cartoon and is helping to make out government look look like the ultimate silly cartoon it is.

The Economist declared Hilary the winner of the debate. Cooper declared Obama the winner.

Having seen the clips I can't say. Hilary looked ready for the questions. Obama's answer to the particular question everyone is harping on, although apparently naive, has to be considered as more the general direction he wants to go in, a direction which some might prefer.

Drug testing policy on the way for PGA

Joe Ogilvie was on the range at the Angus Glen Golf Club yesterday as one player after another came up to congratulate him on his first PGA Tour win, at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee last week. Ogilvie enjoyed the backslapping and was soon addressing another timely matter: whether tour professionals use performance-enhancing drugs.

Gary Player ignited the most recent discussion last week during the Open Championship in Carnoustie, Scotland, when he said, unequivocally, that one player told him he's using drugs. Player suspects that at least 10 players are.

"I might be way out," Player said. "It's definitely not going to be lower. It might be a hell of a lot more."

Ogilvie, a player representative on the tour's policy board, has been party to discussions as the organization tries to develop a testing program. He was surprised by Player's provocative declarations.

"If he knows someone who is a tour member and who is taking something, he should name the player," Ogilvie said. "He might be mixing up Viagra with a performance-enhancing drug. If that's the case, more than 10 players are taking it."

Drug testing policy on the way for PGA

Finally

2007-07-16T10:39:00.000-04:00

Finally figured out how to get in here. I am posting exclusively at wordpress now.

Hot Tuesday

2007-05-02T14:40:00.000-04:00

I know nothing about Utah but the bill introduced to give voting rights to the District of Columbia is long past due. I hope this does not end up tangled in the judicial system.

Woods and Jordon paired up at the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte.

There is a lot of discussion in the blogs I read about blogging burn-out, or need for new direction. I don't have that problem because I never had a direction and don't post enough to burn out.

I hope all the blogs I read routinely keep on blogging or I might have to give it up.

I am noticing a decrease in the quality of blogs in general. New blogs keep popping up every day. It seems the only reason they show up is to ask for links or to make money.

Someone needs to make these bloggers aware that first they have to have a good blog, something worth reading, second if you just started a blog please do not make lists of what people who blog should or should not do.

Find a few good reads or become a good read but do not email me and ask for links because I am not interested and if you are asking me for a link you are pretty desperate.

The usual weekend post.

2007-04-29T13:17:00.000-04:00

A warning for anyone doing the add thing.
Some Google Ads Found to Spawn Spyware

I've been in marketing for years now. I never use the internet for anything but recently had to have a couple of web sites designed for two of my clients. I met up with some local designers for that task this past week.

As it turned out one of the designers was the cousin of a guy I went to school with. I went to school across the country from here so it is a small world.

Congratulations to Shayna for having her second son. Carter.

Congratulations to Cooper for graduating soon.

I'm catching up on my congratulations in case golf takes me away.

"Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens were rumored to want Brady Quinn, but the Browns probably did them a favor. Instead, they bolstered their offensive line (Ben Grubbs in the first, Marshall Yanda two rounds later), and landed one of the draft's best return men in Yamon Figurs." - via NCAA Fanhouse.
Figurs is from Kansas State, an excellent choice.

Weekend report

2007-04-23T10:48:00.000-04:00

You guessed it, I played golf all weekend, after mowing and seeding and taking care of weeds on my lawn.

I want to know who had the big idea of buying a house on large acerage?

I love my lawn but I dislike working on it. My son enjoys digging holes all over it and that is the part I enjoy. Watching his face and he uses a fork to design an underground home for the ramdom stones he had been assigned to pick up.

The Nationals look pretty bad this year so far. Itried to be a fan of couldn't get my loyalties switched over from the Orioles.There is hope there. I'mplanning on taking my son to his first baseball game sometime within the next week or two. This will be fun.

This "He's staying,'' says Dana Perino, the White House deputy press secretary." Is disheartening.

The B man speaks.

2007-04-20T09:55:00.000-04:00

I've had a busy few day so I missed recognizing the day Jackie Robinson "broke the color barrier".

One of the best things I've read on it.

Here's to you, Mr Robinson

Albert Gonzales - "MANIPULATIVE or clueless?" A question posed in the first sentence of this Econimist fot com. article.

How about, clueless that we know he is manipulative or that we know of their manipulations.

Get rid of them all. Is there no protectio for the people of this country?

Complaining

2007-04-14T11:35:00.000-04:00

We've had a rash of people coming to our door this week asking for money.

Don't get me wrong, I donate to the volunteer fire department and various other agencies. I have even donated to door to door solicitors in the past. I always do the kids who are selling things for the local high school or elementary school. I am always a sucker for Girl Scout Cookies and the like but over the least two weeks I have had three different fire departments here and just this morning someone from a small business association.

The small business people wanted me to fill out a survey, which I gladly complied with all the time thinking it would hasten their departure. What they really wanted was nine hundred dollars for a membership.

My wife no longer answers the door when strangers pull up.

"Jacob can you get the door please, it's someone wanting money again.

Just a complaint.

Post Easter Tirade

2007-04-09T11:53:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone who celebrates it had a happy Easter, and I hope Passover is going well in the case of those who go in that direction.

The Masters was on Easter so we ate and watched golf. It's not warm enough here to think of playing. It was warm enough a couple of weeks ago but winter has kept a small finger on us.

A relatively unheralded player won the Masters and it was good to see a different face.

Zach Johnson, 2007 Masters champion, talks about beating Tiger Woods
You can read it if you are interested. They ask these guys the stupidest questions.

Don Imus called members of the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy headed ho's" and now he is feeling the heat.

We need less of people like him in this world and on our airwaves. I didn't know people ever paid attention to him but there are millions of like minded people for him to pander and promote his racist, sexist stereotypes and hate-speak to.

If his employer had any gumption they would have kicked his sorry ass out immediately.

I have to go eat the rest of my son's Easter candy now.

Golf Day

2007-03-31T11:23:00.000-04:00

Bush chides Dems on pork in Iraq bill

Bush Chiding the Dems for Pork? That is pretty funny. Bush chiding anyone for anything at this point is just funny in general.

Weiss' semifinal picks

The two G's have it.

Golf day. Later Folks.

Tuesday

2007-03-27T08:39:00.000-04:00

Reading the last paragraph of this post SF Chronicle in Trouble?

I gave it some thought.

I would be disapointed if my local news journal went out of business. I read it to catch up on local events and politics and sports. It keeps me in touch with what is happening on my back yard.

I could read it online but I prefer to sit around with a cup of coffee in the morning and read. I also read both the WSJ and WAPO each day and I don't want to replace the paper version with the digitalized version anytime soon.

$2,500 to clean his chandalier is a little excessive.

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday,...Saturday

2007-03-24T11:15:00.000-04:00

That song is stuck in my mind.

Golf: Woods Regains His Powers to Take the Lead on Brutal Course
Regains his powers?? It's not like he really lost anything.
Next "The Master's".

Hoya's pulled it out by the skin of their teeth, good to see.
You can catch a brief video here if you are willing to wait a few seconds.

Leonardo Dicaprio And Kate Winslet Together Again

Am I the only human alive who has not seen Titanic?

Back Up your Birth Control

2007-03-20T12:46:00.000-04:00

My only contribution to the blogesphere today is to direct you to

Cooper - and Pia's posts about Plan B.

Today is the day to spread the word about Plan B.

Monday Madness in March.

2007-03-19T13:07:00.000-04:00

I'm still angry at this kind of thing.
Congress Investigates Walter Reed's 'VIP' Ward
If it turns out to be the case, and I have little doubt that it won't, everyone should be angry.

I have to mention that FIJI'S Vijay Singh has tied the record for the most US PGA Tour victories by a non-American player.

March Madness is not going exactly as I planned but that's for another time.

The weekend weather was not conducive to any kind of outside fun. In other words.............I got a lot of work done. It's looking good for the end of this week so I will work my ass off at beginning.

The joys of self employment.

Tuesday, I Got To Post Something.

2007-03-13T12:11:00.000-04:00

Top ranked teams - of course.

I get sucked into betting on this every year.I need a few days to get my predictions in order here.

Top medic out in Walter Reed scandal

This is something, considering the poor treatment, or at least less than stellar treatment, of veterans is not something new. I have personally known several veterans and their families. I think it has been well known for a long time that these men and women have not gotten the best after care for years now. When anyone I know hears the word "Veterans Hospital" they always cringe.

So now you are telling me this is a big surprise? I await further scapegoats on this.

It's a golf afternoon. I'll see you around.

Catching - up

2007-03-05T20:19:00.000-05:00

I haven't been on line that much the last few days, my business is booming and that does have drawbacks when it comes to online time.

This is a crying shame, making us a sham. It calls bullshit on the government and not just the current one. This has not just all of a sudden happened.

I find out from Cooper that MJ is back at The Barr Exam. This is good news.

Cooper has an interesting post up and I only feel more stupid whenever I read about things of which I know too little about. Sunni, Shia damn, I had to go read up on it after reading her post. I am not brave enough to outright disagree with anyone online. I am a coward. Or maybe I am just old and don't have the energy.

Pia has the start of a story which we all wish had continued.

March Madness - soon.

Golf and Snow

2007-02-25T14:15:00.000-05:00

I was stunned yesterday when Tiger was ousted from
match play thereby ending his streak, Ogilvy is looking good to take it all right now.

From Tiger's Streak Ends in Stunning Fashion

“Only after Woods struck his putt did he notice the ball mark he neglected to repair, which he said caused the ball to bump slightly off line to the right and slide by the cup. One hole later, O'Hern made a 12-foot par putt that sent Woods home without a trophy on the PGA Tour for the first in more than seven months.”

Ouch.

The ice pellets we were supposed to have did not materialize, instead we have a couple inches of snow and it looks like it had no plans of stopping any time soon. What a end of Febrary surprise. Another two hours will be wasted getting this stuff off of the drive in the morning.

Not my gamer

2007-02-21T12:56:00.000-05:00

All eyes on the match in Arizona as Tiger tries for number eight.

In other news, there is other news besides golf - "Colangelo-Bryan, a lawyer representing several of the detainees, said: "The court of appeal has said it is perfectly legal to lock men up for ever without even a hint of due process."

My wifes parents came in to town this weekend.

Tell me what a three year old need a gaming system for again?
It goes without saying we had to tell them it was inapproriate and we wanted them to bring it back. We are thinking age ten or so maybe a gaming system will be approriate but not for now.

I like to call it unaware instead of stupid.

Happy Weekend

2007-02-16T18:14:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

It looks like no golf for me this weekend but things look good for next week being a big melt.

We enjoyed the discounted chocolates from the day after Valentine's. The truth is we didn't get around during the day due to the weather.

The House has officially resolved against the troop surge, so where does it go from here?

Very tired, with a busy social weekend coming up.

I wish you all well this weekend.

Bill Maher resumes tonight.

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T11:19:00.000-05:00

I’m going to say it.

Happy Valentine’ s Day.

We have a lot of ice and snow, everything is canceled, my wife is working at home as am I. I just spent two hours de-icing the drive.

So far we have not lost electricity and I have to take advantage of that fact because chances are it will happen.

Blogger bite my butt.

2007-02-09T14:45:00.000-05:00

Over the next two weeks I will stop posting at this site altogether and go completely to the wordpress site I began some months ago, the link is on the sidebar.

I case you can't see the sidebar because you are either blind or not so smart here is the link o the newer Average Businessman.

I stayed here because I had some kind of page rank but it is not worth it to me because blogger is notoriously unworthy and often non functional and I like the wordpress dot com platform a lot so I am moving there permanently.

The Anna Nicole Smith story is tragic and I want to leave it alone and wish they all would.

We had a conference with my sons preschool teacher yesterday. Since when do you need conferences for preschool anyway?

The teacher said, and I quote more or less, " your son is quite bright; he is either going to be a leader of his peers or he is going to need to be handled with great care because he will be out of control."

All this because the kids in the school follow him around and do what he does but he sometimes gets "crazy" and does things to make them "laugh and carry on".

He is not quite four years old, I am not sure what they expect but I thought it was pretty ridiculous. I almost started to laugh, my wife did start to laugh, but she covered it well.

For the women for the world.
Harvard to Name First Female President in History of University

First Harvard then the country???

Shayna came back to let us know she was ok. A relief that was.

I link to A Few Minor Details to help cooper spread the word.

The Bizarre and the Stupid.

2007-02-06T11:25:00.000-05:00

Astronaut in bizarre kidnap plot in Florida court
jealousy is a horrible thing but you can't make this stuff up.

I don't understand how these tapes got out but Arnold seems smarter on these tapes than I gave him credit for. ;)

Turner broadcasting is going to be paying the city of Boston for their "error in judgement".

Lets get serious here.

One of the comments from the above highlighted post by Gina Serpe ("Turner Pays for Boston "Bombing") at E-online says it for me.

"I have to agree with Poorgarby on this one. This is a sad sad day for America. The ignorant people who called these in as bombs should be fined! Why not first fine television shows such as 24 for giving ideas to people who might want to become a terrorist? Not saying anything against 24...it is a great show. Wake up America...Fear is how people control you...As a President Roosevelt said "The only thing to fear is fear itself."

No more debate

2007-02-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

For those who are not caught up the debate on Global Warming is Over.

Hear that OVER.

I'm glad that only took twenty years.

I'm taking the Colts Sunday.

Seven Points.

True Dat thoughts at Darfur and Unforgettable Hell on Earth -Travesty, Politics, comments and Darfur is still Dying.

The ground-hog assured us we won't have to suffer much longer. I hope he is right, it's only eh third weekend I have been unable to play gold all winter and I don't like it one bit.

I wish Shayna would come back to let us know how she it.

Early Spring

2007-02-02T09:36:00.000-05:00

Blogger wasn't working for me yesterday so that post is only at the wordpress blog

I encourage all five people who have me linked to change their links to the wordpress blog.

Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil Predicts an Early Spring in U.S.

I bet that was difficult given this.

Looks like we'll be having an early spring from now on and it's a damn shame.

I should be happy about this because it will help with my golf game, but looking at my son and thinking of what his generation and the generation after him will have to pay for past mistakes makes me sad.

Monday

2007-01-29T10:50:00.000-05:00

Tiger wins, again.
Said best by Trent Warner on the PGA web page.
"that the most important Lesson Learned from the Buick Invitational is that steady is often better than spectacular"

Slow and steady wins the race.

Why do people with no chance of winning enter "The Race"?

SOTU fails.

2007-01-24T12:01:00.000-05:00

The SOTU address didn't go over very well; it doesn't take a variety of pundits, online or elsewhere, to point out the scary grimaces on Condi Rice's face during the whole thing. It was painful to watch, I was grimacing too. I didn't realize it until my wife asked me what was wrong with my face. She has asked me that before just not in this context.

How dare he give such an address to the American people, as if we don't know better.

This link, thanks to Daily Kos, to a reporter who knows better.
Reality Check: Bush's State Of The Union Speech

Do you think they are laughing in the rest of the free world?

My Monday morning sidewalk full of ice.

2007-01-22T10:49:00.000-05:00

Manning rallies Colts into Super Bowl

It hurts so good.

Cooper is blogging for choice.

Once they take away one choice it is only a matter of time before they all go.

Nothing more invigorating than getting up shortly after dawn to clear a driveway full of ice.

Have a good day.

Disappointing but not unexpected.

2007-01-18T13:19:00.000-05:00

The unseasonable weathered we suffered from is gone at last.We have a slight chance of frozen precipitation this evening.

According to the Washington Post, "Republicans Halt Ethics Legislation".

Was there ever a chance in hell this was going to pass? Of course not. Republicans want to play it as if they didn't pass it because they wanted tougher legislation.Some people might even believe that fairytale.

Disappointing but not unexpected.

Coming out of the Amercian Idol closet.

2007-01-16T15:16:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the premiere of American Idol.

I didn't want to ever have to admit this but my wife, a damn fine lawyer mind you, is addicted to this show. True she makes fun of it and knows it for what it is, but it doesn't stop her from making fast calls to home on evenings when she is not going to be home in time to view it.

So all I have to say is, here we go again.

The worst part about it is giving FOX the business, my wife feels bad about that.

There are dark little secrets in every family and I wanted to share mine with you today.
I feel better now that this is off my chest.

Awards

2007-01-14T20:23:00.000-05:00

I nominated cooper's Darfur: An Unforgivable Hell on Earth. It's at the Koufax awards and it's a rather confusing place, but don't let that stop you.

I like blog awards more than most people, because they are fun. I have enjoyed cooper since that first comment I read of hers at Political Notio. I find some of things she writes at other blogs a week after she has written them in her wonderland blog. I wish she would promote her blogs more.

I'm waiting to move my blog totally over to wordpress for now, but read whichever one you like.

One more trip to Miami this week and then things settle down for me.

Statement

2007-01-14T14:34:00.000-05:00

Finally got this straightened out.

Please relink to me at the wordpress site - Average Business Man, I think blogspot's day in the sun is over.

Football and roast beef today.

messed up

2007-01-09T10:27:00.000-05:00

This blog has messed up recently. I don't have time to fool around with it I'm leaving in a couple of hours for four days of meetings, so excuse the mess.

Singh Wins Season Opener

2007-01-08T14:44:00.000-05:00

Tiger didn't play but Singh won the season opener.

I've played three rounds of golf in the last several days. It is almost the middle of January so I am not complaining one bit.

Very busy week, I'll be in Miami for a day and then Austin.

Golf in the winter.

2007-01-05T11:18:00.000-05:00

Blogger beta, or as I call it most of the time booger beta, is dead; it's now a whole new blogger. I haven't noticed a difference. I 'm still keeping my wordpress blog going, trying to get it established. As established as I'm ever going to be.

I congratulate Nancy Pelosi. Cooper has fireworks.

Don't miss Pia's three word Wednesday which is often on Friday.

Shayna finds out the gender of her baby today.

Yes, there is golf in the winter.

The weather here is like spring. I am playing tommorrow, it's supposed to hit seventy degrees.

I rasie my glass.

2007-01-04T11:09:00.000-05:00

"The Democratic Party formally takes control of the US Congress today and will mark its return to power on Capitol Hill by introducing measures designed to curb the gifts and pet projects beloved of America's politicians."

Democrats promise ethics in Congress takeover

Not a moment too soon.

Nancy Pelosi will be sworn in today too.

"First, let's pause to recognize the historic significance of the first woman and first Californian to assume a position that will put her second in succession to the presidency of the United States."

I raise my glass.

Happy New Year

2007-01-02T13:56:00.000-05:00

I made a few resolutions last year and the year before and surprisingly I kept most of them.

Last year at this time I was in the process of thinking about starting my own business, the time-line, within two years; it happened much quicker than that.

The resolution to play more golf panned out but this coming year, due to running my own business, the resolution has to change somewhat, so it is now “I will play as much golf as I possibly can while continuing to work my ass off to rope in clients and increase my income potential”.

I made a resolution to spend more time with my son which I did; this year he will learn to golf or at least be introduced to a plastic golf club. He’s already managed to break a couple of things while trying to handle one of my old golf clubs which brings me to another resolution. I will watch my son more carefully when he is in my sole charge.

That’s about it.

Go USC

As the New Year Approaches.

2006-12-27T12:50:00.000-05:00

I'm taking the week off from posting in the blog, but I am reading them.
We had a great Christmas and hope everyone else did as well.

This is s busy time of year and we still have a couple of parties to attend. The post Christmas / pre New Year rounds continue.

It's amazing how many people do not work this time of year.

I have two new clients coming in to town tomorrow and will, if all things go well, be even busier after the New Year.

RIP, James Brown and President Ford.

Stay away from eggnog; it gives you gas.

Happy Holidays

2006-12-22T11:14:00.000-05:00

I want to wish you the best of the Holiday.

Don't eat too much.

Lunch leanings.

2006-12-13T12:40:00.000-05:00

Looks like people went to see Gibson's movie; It was the top grossing flim at the box office this weekend.

I am looking forward to the Eastwood film coming out next week.

A brief on Tiger.
When he mentions starting a family all I can think of is whther or not his kids will play golf and how good they might be.
This was not one of those nice to knows, from the Washington Post

"Maryland is one of the lowest-ranked states in the country in terms of preparedness for health emergencies such as bioterrorism or pandemic flu, but Virginia is among the 14 best-prepared states, according to a report issued by a health advocacy group yesterday."

Common life.

2006-12-11T12:46:00.000-05:00

A Christmas Light show, putting up the tree and one of those parties I mentioned in an earlier post, was my weekend.

I'd be remiss if I didn't post this:

Scotland's World Cup dreams end in play-off

I lead a dull life.

now....Jailing Journalist , next....Brutalizing Bloggers

2006-12-08T15:27:00.000-05:00

Increasing number of web journalists jailed

A third of all journalists currently imprisoned around the world publish their work on the internet, according to a new report by a watchdog group which reveals that China continues to jail more reporters than any other nation. The group says the growing number of jailed web journalists shows that repressive regimes are acting to suppress the radical opportunities presented by internet.

---------

The US is listed in joint 7th place, with three journalists currently detained. One of those, Sami al-Haj, an al-Jazeera cameraman has been held at Guantanamo Bay for more than five years. Another, Bilal Hussein, is a photographer with the Associated Press who has been held for eight months without charge.

Makes me glad I'm just a lowly blogger who posts links to others.

Makes me mad too.

Day after midweek.

2006-12-07T11:43:00.000-05:00

I usually read the golf news daily.
No one can blame me for getting stuck on the following article for more than a few minutes.

Sophie Sandolo continues to turn golf fans' heads with 2007 calendar.

Never would have come across it had I not been reading about golf, so I don't feel in the least bit guilty.

Honest.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep up with the postings of my blogger friends.

Pia has her blogging down to a couple times a week, or so she says but I don't think she will stick to it.

Cooper is frustrating me with her post at Blog Critics, I was never good at talking about economics and I wish she would act her age and post about ipods, or at least something most people her age would be posting about. I'd have a chance of keeping up that way.

Just joking cooper.

Shayna, is having a quiet time and I hope all is well with her and maybe we'll see her around more in a few months.

This is what we call a day after mid week post.

The Tribune reveiw of "Apocalypto".

Neither Gibson's fans nor his detractors are likely to accuse him of excessive subtlety, and the effectiveness of "Apocalypto" is inseparable from its crudity. But the blunt characterizations and the emphatic emotional cues are also evidence of the director's skill. Perhaps because he is aiming for an audience wary of subtitles, Gibson rarely uses dialogue as a means of exposition, and he proves himself to be an able, if not always terribly original, visual storyteller. He is not afraid of clichés - the slow-motion, head-on sprint toward the camera; the leap from the waterfall into the river below - but he executes them with a showman's maniacal relish.

And it is, all in all, a pretty good show. There is a tendency, at least among journalists, to take Gibson as either a monster or a genius, a false choice that he frequently seems intent on encouraging. Is he a madman or a visionary? Should he be shunned or embraced? Censured or forgiven? These are the wrong questions, but their persistence reveals the truth about this shrewd and bloody-minded filmmaker. He is an entertainer. He will be publicized and he will be paid.

I'll pass.

Today

2006-12-06T09:47:00.000-05:00

Clever spammers stay 'one step ahead' of law

This article tells us to give up, spam is here to stay.

A good article by the editor of a site called BBS news.
Dennis Prager Inspires Muslim Haters to Expose Themselves

Right Wing America Becoming Even More Dangerously Unglued

America's Health Rankings.

Looks like New England has the monopoly.

It begins again.

2006-12-02T13:52:00.000-05:00

Went out early and choose our Christmas tree; we go to a tree farm where we get a tree, and plant a tree, drink free cider and pick up a couple of wreaths to decorate.
The tree will sit on our deck for a week and we'll put it up next week.

This weekend starts the rounds of various social events, some worthwhile some a pain in a ass, to which we are invited every year. From now until the holiday we will be attending dinners, open houses, and what one invitation describes as "a mysterious night of fellowship to celebrate the time of year with our friends of all or no faiths". It was something like that I can't remember the exact terminology.

The first of these many events occurred last night, making me wish I was once again young, carefree and could take off to Barbados for the rest of the month.

Good weekend to all.

Nothing much this week.

2006-11-29T16:31:00.000-05:00

I thought the lawn mowing was over but I had to do another pass just to crush up the leaves. We don't bag them; we just crush them and let them sit. That's what happens when tow city kids moved to a two acre lot in the country - what used to be the country that is.

Pelosi won't pick Hastings to run intel panel
Speaker has not disclosed her choice, but it's unlikely to be Harman

A significant predicament for the incoming speaker.

I'm not sure I want the head of my intelligence committee to have believed we were standing up to evil.

“Do I think what we're doing today means we're going to war? No. I think we're standing up to evil,” Harman said when the House voted to authorize Bush to attack Iraq in 2002."

Do we fear the blue dogs?

Nothing else from here this week, business, and more business and
I'm grateful for that.

Post Turkey Day

2006-11-24T20:16:00.000-05:00

First, happy blog anniversary to Alice. May there be many more.

We had a good holiday and I worked most of today but ventured to the ice skating rink, and my son had his first ice skating experience. The rink was pretty empty because everyone was out shopping.

I am an average skater and really need to work on my triple toe loop, no one seemed to care especially my son; he had a good time and fell less often than his father.

Good way to work off a meal.

Try it.

Happy Turkey Day

2006-11-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

Had to do this before I pass out on the couch.

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving.

Cooper

Shayna

Pia

For getting me into this blog thing, very therapeutic.

Dinner was great, it’s raining, we are all full and there were only a few minor arguments about religion and politics.

Time to sack out.

Happy Thanksgiving.

2006-11-22T10:59:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Enjoy the weekend, your family, and your friends.

Red Red Wine

2006-11-17T13:29:00.000-05:00

Reading about the key ingredients in red wine which increases endurance just makes me want to down a few bottles.

I think we will be drinking red not white with out turkey this year.

My wife does not cook and we are having a large group for dinner; she has decided she is going to cook this year because she wants to play. ;(

I'm in shock and have nothing further to say.

I was disappointed on the decision regarding Murtha. Old Abscam...

Rainy Day.

2006-11-16T12:34:00.000-05:00

I started this, then the post disappeared into blogger hell.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 — House Democrats chose Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland as their majority leader today after a bruising fight that cast a cloud over the party’s post-election celebration.

The storms are raging here; it's raining cats and dogs. We are under a tornado watch until this evening and a severe thunderstorm warning for a while longer.

We have family coming in next week, for the holiday. I can't take the time to travel this year, my business is new and I have too much that needs to get done during the holiday. Instead we are having out of town guests.

I took an accent test at Shayna's site and I came out Southern. I don't speak with much of a southern accent at least not that I notice, I did do my undergrad in the south but I am not from there. In the state I currently live in the accents can be southern or northern depending on where you are but people, not from here, tend to think people in Maryland have a bit of a southern drawl.

Pia has another podcast and a new picture blog.

I borrowed this link from the Liberal Avenger.

Pope Considers Lifting Celibacy Rule
Rule Would Be Lifted For Priests Seeking Marriage

That's it for me.

A marketing consultant's noon break.

2006-11-14T12:00:00.000-05:00

The blogger beta is killing me, so remember my wordpress blog - the same thing but at wordpress. Link on the side.

Gunmen Wearing Police Uniforms Abduct Up to 150
Universities Ordered Shut After Four-Story Raid at Baghdad Institute

As if these folks have not had to endure enough.

Tiger Woods finally loses Hate to see him lose but if he doesn't lose once in awhile the other children are not going to want to play with him.;)

Shayna has baby pictures and a creepy boss.

Cooper does a bitchslap, a term used by the library man , of some guy who moderates wordpress codex forums and looks for women while doing it. Read it and you'll see why he doesn't have a chance.

I choose Murtha.

Do I get a vote?

Nothing but plugs

2006-11-09T16:37:00.000-05:00

Nothing but plugs.

Virginia is declared for Webb.

'60 Minutes' Anchor Ed Bradley Dies

No one really knew he was that ill.

I will miss him.

Rest in Peace.

Shayna is plugging and very worthy - Project Valour IT.

Obtaining laptops for our soldiers with arm and hand injuries so they can use speech activated software.

This is the link to Project IT direct.

Pia is now a podcast.

The Tribe Has Spoken

2006-11-08T13:11:00.000-05:00

The Tribe has Spoken.

Vote

2006-11-07T09:45:00.000-05:00

I'm going to do what every American over the age of eighteen should do today.

I'm going to vote.

That's it for today.

You know what you got to do.

Post Halloween sugar crash.

2006-11-03T19:48:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a good Halloween.

Not enough Snicker bars here, my son had more fun passing out the candy to the olde kiddies latter in the evening than he did obtaining it.

U.S. Site Suspended for Posting Nuclear Documents.

The kid next door tells me he could probably make one. Think I should move?

a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs">Quote from Rollng Stone.

I’ve actually got a lot of sympathy for Ted Haggard.

You head a 30 million strong coalition of born-again Christians. You’ve got a standing Monday phone date with the White House. You get second billing to _the_ James Dobson on “The Battle for Marriage” Simulcast…

But you buy meth from a massage-giving homo-gigolo, one time!, and everyone turns on you like you’re some sort of two-faced demagogue.

Seriously. What kind of world are we living in when our moral leaders can’t take the edge off with a little crystal and some deep-tissue homoeroticism?

I wish my last name were Jones. I could use a vacation.

Brings to mind, "Me and Mrs. Jones, we got a thing going on,"

Wonder if I can find that old CD.

I won a big arguement with my wife years ago when she insisted Al Green was the artist behind the hit "Me and Mrs Jones". I won, it was Billy Paul.

Trick or Treat.

2006-10-31T16:43:00.000-05:00

Tonight I Trick or Treat.

We've taught my son to share.

I hope he is overwhelmed with Snickers.

;)

Fall Back

2006-10-28T11:04:00.000-04:00

Testing the Waters - The NewYorker

David Remnick interviewed Senator Barack Obama at the American Magazine Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

Fall Back - tonight for some of us.

Frantic Friday

2006-10-27T13:34:00.000-04:00

This weekend will be a frantic one.

Out of towners.

You know how they are.

Hungry.

Many are semi retired from blogging.

For Pia that means posting about as much as I do now.

Shayna is still discussing the disgustiing commentary on the MJ Fox Video despite here pregnant state.

I'm singing coopers song.

Picked up another client this week so I told my son I could treat him to McDonalds.

No comments on how bad the food is for us, every so often I need all that fat; it keeps the brain cells funtioning.

What happended to Detroit anyway?

Pleasant Mood

2006-10-26T10:09:00.000-04:00

Things I've seen today that leave me in a pleasant mood.

New Jersey Court Rules for Same-Sex Rights

New Jersey's highest court rules that same-sex couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples. Now, it will be up to the legislature to rewrite state laws to provide for gay marriage or some other form of civil union.

I'd move there if it weren't almost seven degrees colder on average.

This was a disaster. GOP retires ‘Playboy’ ad in Tennessee
I heard the Congressman say that the people of Tennesee were smarter than to take words at face value, smart enough to look for the truth. I hope so.

Shayna has a question to weigh in on.

Cooper rewrites and dedicates a song to Pia.

So far I give the day a rating of 7+.

Following the crowd today.

2006-10-24T12:31:00.000-04:00

I can't help it I am going to follow the crowd today and direct you to the Essay written by Kevin Tillman.

There are referrals to it all over the web, I missed the article originally - you can read it here at Truthdig.

Editor’s note: Kevin Tillman joined the Army with his brother Pat in 2002, and they served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pat was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. Kevin, who was discharged in 2005, has written a powerful, must-read document.

I will be around.

2006-10-23T11:52:00.000-04:00

Do people purchase and consume egg salad from outside sources? I’ve always thought that was dangerous.

I’m busy working on some potential ways of product branding an organization which has contracted with me for two years. Two years is good for a first time client most people will give you one campaign two year will give me two maybe three. There will be little time for blogging over the next fee weeks, maybe well into and past the holiday season. I'll do my best.

My lunch hour is the time of day I usually read and post in blogs. In the evening my wife and I exchange our day, each competing for the "most diffifcult day" position. I spend the rest of the time with my son. I don't teach him anything we just play -t- ball, kick the ball, read me that book, jump on daddy's back and get black newspaper print all over. I sometimes read him my proposals, he finds this funny but at times is quite attentive. I can tell by the look on his face he is just humoring me.

Often while reading the news I want to bury my head in the sand. It’s easier to read stories about egg salad killing seventeen people than to read about the mess we have still in Afghanistan, the continued death toll in Iraq, the worsening genocide in Darfur.

I will be around but if not I'm not lost just putting food on the table.

Sunday - football is all.

2006-10-22T15:05:00.000-04:00

Baltimore Falling Behind, Election Worker Training

This is not good. Maryland in general could have quite a mess come election time with all the problems they had in Montgomery County during primaries. I'm not looking forward to this.

Will it be Hilary vs Obama or just Obama?

"Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged Sunday he was considering a run for president in 2008, backing off previous statements that he would not do so."

Cooper mentions she bought his book and is keeping a spreadsheet on potential political candidates.

Maybe we all should.

I like that she has me pictured as potential enemy on her sidebar now in her acknowledgment of the Baltimore%20Falling%20Behind,%20Election%20Worker%20Training'>Military Commissions Act of 2006. She's right, we are all a little behind in out concern for out basic freedoms.

Shayna has an interesting guest at the Music Highway - I wish I spoke Italian.

Pia does love her Capote.

The Prez - pissing on everything again.

2006-10-18T11:59:00.000-04:00

Bush Marks His Territory in Space

Comments - Iraq: time to signal a new era for health in foreign policy

2006-10-17T12:12:00.000-04:00

All the dicsussion over the last few days as to the untruth of this study has me reading it again and again and thinking - about things other than my new clients and the work stacked up long into the forseeable future of my existence.

I thing that however faulty one originally thought this study might be, reading it again and absorbing some of the minute details, calculating how long it took to do the surveying of the individuals and then in general looking at the conclusion it makes more sense to me now than it did at the onset.

I have read more on the deaths in Iraq, from various sources, over the last few days than I have since the beginning of this war, and my conclusion is that this study is not unreasonable and, although possibly a little on the high side, it is not as high as some would like us to believe.

From what I can see the death toll now is admittedly be significantly higher than what this administration and the people who support it have been claiming, they are admitting it despite the fact that they have disregarded this study.

From

The Lancet.com

In 2004, Johns Hopkins researcher Les Roberts and colleagues reported findings that suggested the risk of death in Iraq was 2·5-fold greater after the military invasion in 2003 than before.1 They estimated that there were 98 000 more deaths than expected, with violence accounting for most of these casualties. Their work provoked great political controversy, not least because the 95% CI around the 98 000 figure was wide, ranging from 8000 to 194 000 deaths. Despite rigorous methods, critics found this uncertainty hard to take seriously.

Since 2004, and especially recently, independent observers have recognised that the security situation in parts of Iraq has deteriorated dramatically.2–6 This week, The Lancet publishes a follow-up to the 2004 study by the same research group.7 Their findings corroborate the impression that Iraq is descending into bloodthirsty chaos. Gilbert Burnham and colleagues completed a mortality survey in over 1800 households in Iraq between May and June this year. The death rate in this sample before the 2003 invasion was 5·5 per 1000 a year, rising to 13·3 per 1000 a year for the entire postinvasion period. Interestingly, and reassuringly, the trajectory of the death rate up until September, 2004, closely matched that of their earlier survey. But now the estimated number of excess deaths has increased by an enormous amount.
They calculated that 654 965 excess deaths have taken place as a consequence of the war. The lower 95% CI on this figure is still huge, at 392 979 deaths. Violence—gunfire and car bombing in particular—remains the main cause of this excess mortality.

Given the controversy surrounding the previous Iraq paper that we published, it is worth emphasising the quality of this latest report as judged by four expert peers who provided detailed comments to editors. All reviewers recommended publication with relatively minor revisions. For example, one adviser noted that “this is an important piece of research which should be published because it is possibly the only non-government funded scientific study to provide an estimate of the number of Iraqi deaths since the US invasion.” She underscored the “powerful strength” of the research methods, a view supported by other reviewers. Indeed, this study adds substantially to the new field of conflict epidemiology, which has been evolving rapidly in recent years.8–10

The US administration recognises the peril of the present anarchy in Iraq, albeit in often unrewarding ways. Although a recent US report produced differing interpretations, the US National Intelligence Estimate did conclude that the situation in Iraq was likely to have increased the terrorist threat to the USA at home and abroad. US government officials are now blaming Iraqi leaders for this escalating spiral of violence. “You do not see them taking the levers of sovereignty,” Republican senator John Warner declared last week, according to a report in the Washington Post.11 And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has impatiently urged the Iraqi government to step up its efforts to quell sectarian violence.

The natural response to this deteriorating situation is despair. Military action in Iraq has dragged on, inflaming an already volatile atmosphere. Diplomacy seems to have broken down. The absence of any plan for reconstruction after the 2003 invasion has provided an inviting vacuum that continues to suck in violence and terror. And the rhetoric of democracy and freedom sounds little more than empty hope.

Of most serious concern must surely be the collapse of a foreign policy based, in UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's words, on “progressive pre-emption”. His doctrine of international community was forged on the humanitarian crisis in Kosovo. At that time he claimed that “The most pressing foreign policy problem we face is to identify the circumstances in which we should get actively involved in other people's conflicts”. A longstanding principle of non-interference in the affairs of other states was no longer credible, he argued. Intervention based on values as much as territorial ambition was to be the new military strategy. “The answer to terrorism”, he has said, “is the universal application of global values.” And in August, 2006, he called for “a complete renaissance of our strategy to defeat those who threaten us…by showing that our values are stronger, better, and more just, more fair than the alternative”. Yet the splinter of our presence in Iraq is increasing, not reducing, violence. By making this a battle of values, Tony Blair and US President George Bush risk pitting one culture against another, one religion against another. This could rapidly become—and for many it already is—the politics of humiliation.

Yet absolute despair would be the wrong response. Instead, the disaster that is the West's current strategy in Iraq must be used as a constructive call to the international community to reconfigure its foreign policy around human security rather than national security, around health and wellbeing in addition to the protection of territorial boundaries and economic stability. I would go as far as to say that health is now the most important foreign policy issue of our time.

The advantages of using health as an instrument of foreign policy are at least four-fold. First, focusing on health is strategically correct. By protecting nations against health threats (eg, HIV/AIDS, emerging infections, non-communicable disease epidemics), governments will promote internal stability.12 Second, focusing on health will produce unequivocally positive benefits—social cohesion, equity, and a strengthened national infrastructure. Third, focusing on health is a valuable diplomatic tool in its own right to promote good bilateral relations and to signal good leadership. Finally, focusing on health will encourage trust between nations and across global multilateral organisations. This strategic reappraisal of foreign-policy thinking would introduce important new actors into policy formulation, including academic leaders in global health, health-related non-governmental organisations, human development institutions, and new strands of public and media opinion.

Traditionally, public health becomes an important foreign-policy matter only when there is an immediate crisis—eg, the outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome—or when the scale of a health problem seems too large to ignore (eg, HIV/AIDS). Yet the longitudinal importance of health as a human security concern argues against this kind of discontinuous thinking. And the signs are hopeful that agencies and governments are beginning to lay the foundations for health as a broader policy instrument. WHO is taking a promising interest.13 A welcome joint ministerial initiative led by the Norwegian and French Governments aims to produce a preliminary analysis of the value of health in foreign policy early next year. And the issue has even surfaced in the debate about who should become WHO's new Director-General.14

Globalisation has changed the terms of human engagement at many levels—in trade, aid, economic development, environmental protection, and agriculture. Yet foreign policy is still governed by principles that had their origin in the 19th century, based, as they were, around notions of national sovereignty and economic and geographical self-interest. Those principles need to be radically revised. Health and wellbeing—their underpinning values, their diverse array of interventions, and their goals of healing—offer several original dimensions for a renewed foreign policy that might at least be one positive legacy of our misadventure in Iraq.

Monday Stuff.

2006-10-16T17:58:00.000-04:00

I just showed this to my wife - I got it off of a feminist website, which I check out every now and then.

As many of you know my wife is an attorney, she has a great sense of humor and I find her gorgoues but that's hardly the point.

She said, and I quote,"what a bunch of idiots on both accounts".
"Are lists the only way these people can get people to read their blogs"?

She has a good point.

I've signed three new clients over the last week so if I'm scarce don't be surprised.

Cooper, makes some good points at taking place, she also has some commentary on the much ignored Bob Herberts op-ed.

My eye is on Obama.

I'm still posting to both websites during the change; this could last forever.

Weekendish.

2006-10-13T12:40:00.001-04:00

Weekend links only today - short lunch hour.

Pia is getting roasted, it's the first roast I ever attended and admit to feeling uncomfortable roasting others.
But go feel free to take a shot.
Shayna may be giving up her blogging slippers, this would sadden me, but Iunderstand.

Cooper reminds us of the The Tibetan Massacre - Unmitigated Atrocity or at least she points us to some links which tell us about it. I had never read this before so it is surptrising to me how much horror can occur in the world without out knowledge.

For me: Winter has arrived here at least for the weekend and I have to meet a potential new client for a late lunch.
Wish me luck, my son needs shoes.

A Meme from the Music Highway

2006-10-09T11:57:00.000-04:00

A Meme I stolen from Shayna

1) Five Minutes to yourself. How would you spend them ideally?
Playing or watching golf.

2)Five Dollars to spend right now. How and where would you spend it?
A capucino from a place in the city near where I used to work.

3)Five Items in your house you could part with right now
the rug in the lower family room it's a disaster and should be burned
a vase of some kind given to us for Christmas by my parents - it's the ugliest thing you have ever seen
the phone - it rings way too much
the "old magazine holder" and everything in it

4)Five Items in your house you positively, absolutely could never part with.
my computer
my palm pilot
my coffee make
rmy golf clubs
Our family pictures wall thing...don't know what it's called a collage of some kind.

5)Five Words you love.
son
golf
sunshine
yes
breakfast

feel free to meme yourself

Rainy weekend update.

2006-10-07T11:40:00.000-04:00

Check out my renter.

Tell them I sent you.

I am posting at both blogs but posting the same thing, read whichever one you prefer.

I still can't figure out how to get Shayna's musichighway code up on my wordpress blog, because in the free wordpress blogs you can't change the code in any way. The rental code doesn't work there either.

This makes me sick.

I'll not mention golf today except to say because of the weather I can't play.

My son wants to go to this park, a park which opened here last year on the side of the highway and has continued to grow and now sports a roller coaster, a roller coaster which by all accounts was put in illegally without proper permits, a roller coaster which came from another site and has been traced back to at least 1976.

My son is too young for roller coasters, he just wants to ride the merry go round and if it stops raining that is where I will be this afternoon, and if the sun comes out maybe I'll take him to hit some golf balls, it's never too early to learn.

Oil Remains Below $60 A Barrel

I just love me some ~~cheap~~ cheaper gas.

If you are flying around the internet go take a peak at Shayna's baby pictures.

Be aware of Darfur at Cooper's blog Hell on Earth, a lot of worthwhile reading their this week. While you're at it check out her personal musings.

Check out pia's guest posters; interesting people.

I'm sorry I mentioned golf twice.

Pre weekend rambles.

2006-10-06T12:34:00.000-04:00

Same-sex marriage ban upheld by court
Ruling says change can come only from voters or Legislature
What strikes me a shameful in all this is that there is some statistical evidence that beibg married - unlike just living together and having a legal contract - it's good for your health both mentally and physical. It allows you to live longer and be happier.

ALMOST inevitably in the way of these scandals, if disgraced Republican congressman Mark Foley ends up facing criminal charges, he will do so because of legislation that he championed.

Priceless.

Bush Pitches Incentive Pay For Teachers
It's not about choices it is about fixing the schools which are not doiung their job; if most schools are not doing their job it is clear the problem is the whole system and this little bandaid will not work.

If you do any research you will see that most charter schools fail as well.

Check out my renter, not my usual read but I needed the money.;)

Rankings.

2006-10-05T11:18:00.000-04:00

I've posted a couple of posts at the wordpress blog, it's more pleasing to look at template wise. It is not ranked in google because it's new so I am going to keep posting here.

The other problem is on wordpress I can't put the code for the music highway.

I finally have a google ranking; I know it's not that important and it is all screwed up and means nothing but damn it so what.

My ranking comes mainly from my inbound links from cooper, pia and shayna, Cooper being my first real link, not including the now defunct political notio, with Shayna following shortly afterwards.

Goes to show I know how to pick them.

Speaking of cooper, she reminds us of Darfur day.
I'm giving up all my iced tea, coffee, you would be surprised how much that stuff costs.

A Simple Man

2006-09-29T12:52:00.000-04:00

I've kept it light over the last few weeks because the news is not good and like cooper and the library man both say it is not even news. At hell one earth too. People fret over the most insignificant things while the real news passes them by.

Detainee Legislation Gives President New Powers

This sums it up.

I have a bad case of lethargy.

On the other hand it's cool and crisp here, post the storms last evening.
Nothing like a few downed trees to stir me into action.

My list.

Fill out Shayna's questionaire for my interview. I keep meaning to do that but funny thing, everytime I look at it a different song pops into view.

That's it, the list is short, I am a simple man.

Going to check on Pia's guests, she is on vacation and her guest are pretty strange.;)

crossposted to The Average Businessman

when I find the time.

Golf Obsessed

2006-09-22T21:43:00.000-04:00

Americans Can't Finish Off Great Start

I'm golf obsessed for the week.

The scoreboard switched from American red to European blue about as quickly as sunshine gave way to rain, a tug-of-war that never let up for 11 hours and produced the tightest opening-day matches in Ryder Cup history. Little good that did the Americans.

They still couldn't seem to finish.

The Europeans hit their stride on the closing holes and grabbed a 5-3 lead Friday by getting points from all 12 players on a team they claim to be their best ever.

Golf

2006-09-20T13:37:00.000-04:00

Hitting the green: Ryder Cup preview & pick

Tiger out our Soliders still in

2006-09-15T09:59:00.000-04:00

Woods and Furyk make early

He is human afterall.

I've done my hiring for the week and have just signed a contract with two more clients.

From Slate. Won't Deploy? Can't Deploy.

Watching Jim Lehrer last night, an episode about the traumatic brain injury suffered to many of out soldiers due to the type of explosions used these days; this was a scary revelation to me.

Often times just the explosions. from the improvised explosion devices, cause the brain to rock back and forth inside the skull causing brain damage which at first often goes undetected; the potential is great for the soldiers who have been rocked by these blasts to somewhere along the line be found to have damage, it often goes undetected until someone all of a sudden starts acting strange, not as sharp, not as likely to follow orders, has personality changes, or starts forgetting things- including their family.

This was an update on an older series they have been covering, but I’ll tell you it hit me hard.

The estimates of the number of soldiers who have this are high and getting higher.
There is an mp3 link.

What are we doing?

head over to the new site it looks great.

Landlord again.

2006-09-14T10:46:00.000-04:00

Check out my renter on the sidebar ladies and gentlemen.

Looks like an interesting blog and I guarantee she won't give you a headache.

I VOTE for US to win Ryder Cup

2006-09-13T13:52:00.000-04:00

Cross posted that Average Businessman Wordpress.

I voted in our primary yesterday.

Maryland had some hiccups in that area. I hope this doesn't happen in November.

"Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, whose political career spans six decades, lost in his bid to retain his job."

Every dog has his day and Donald’s day has long past.

My wife and I hate a late afternoon "date" to vote. I knew that one of my blogger friends was working the poll where I vote and so we went a little early so we could meet her before she left. She was a sign holder, pamphlet passer and she was doing a fine job. Who wouldn't stop and grab a pamplet from her anyway?

Great and strange meeting someone from the internet; she was exactly what I would have expected and we all took off for Rachael's - a local coffee shop tavern.

My wife fell in love with her; they looked at pictures of our son, and talked about the local women’s group "Women in Black", women attorneys, and vegetables and the. I chimed in about marketing a campaign and we talked for a short time about the Republican Congressional Rep for the district and the changes of the Democratic rep defeating him in November.

There is a sixth degree of separation I am convinced. It turns out my wife knows someone Cooper knows quite well.

Other news.

The Ravens won a big one Sunday.

Redskins lose again.

The Ryder Cup. One area where the presence of the Tiger has never seemd to help us.

Pia has had some very good guest writers.

Shayna is adding to her family so go congratulate her on a job well done.

This is Great - Ohio State the best.

2006-09-10T11:31:00.000-04:00

Texas two-stomped

This is great.

And if there was any doubt before, there isn't anymore - Ohio State is the No. 1 team in the country.

This is my song - for the asking.

2006-09-08T11:33:00.000-04:00

Have yet to move to wordpress for real but I’ll be posting all posts on both blogs for now.

I won’t have time to do much of anything related to this blog over the next month.

I am starting up my own business while finishing some prior commitments at my former place of employment. I’m fortunate enough to have two permanent clients already and four new one time clients, but I have to work my ass off around the clock.

I’m also interviewing candidates for the esteemed position of “assistant”.

A few things before I spend my weekend buried in work- and a round of golf.

I filled up my gas tank yesterday and it was a relief to see it is cheaper than it has been in a long time.

May this trend continue!

Is it no surprise that most of what the industry does is deliberately misleading? Especially Disney.

And from the New York Daily News another quote which irritated my wife.

Couric, who accessorized her black jacket and skirt with three strings of pearls, also continued to tout the show's new user-friendly interactive features, including its ongoing quest to solicit viewers to choose her signoff.

Did they ever comment on Dan Rather’s accessories?

I'd liked this commentary and am willing to give Couric a chance.

Pia is winding down with some good stuff before to leaving us in the hands of some mystery guest bloggers as she goes off to write her book, and Cooper suggests flogging Fay Weldon for her orgasmic advice even as she ( along with the library man ) continues to promote awareness of the non relenting tragedy in Darfur.

I found another good blog while reading my bloggers buddies links.
The Fat Lady Sings.

jacob out

Tuesday already.

2006-09-05T09:02:00.000-04:00

Tiger does it again. No elaboration needed.

Damn, it's pouring rain again.

I was fortunate to get in a couple of rounds yesterday.

Labor Day was a perfect day for golf.

All things must end.

Trying to catch up on my favorite blog reads.

Be sure to check out Shayna's Music Highway Project,on the sidebar. Her guest this week is the lovely Emily of "Bloggers with Boobies" Fame.

There's a lot of news on Darfur and Cooper and Jason are keeping up with it at Darfur, an unforgivable hell on earth.

Can't wait for Katie to sugarcoat the news and deliever it in a way that will make it fun and discernible.

News shouldn't really be "news" anyway. Can't enjoy it that way.

Kudo's to Keith.

I won't be moved over to wordpress for a little while longer.

Don't forget to check out my renter.

My kind of blogger.

My new address.

2006-08-30T09:39:00.000-04:00

This will be my new address.

Average Businessman

I don't think I'll fully activate it until blogger is out of beta and I can import my posts.

For those of you thinking of leaving blogger, and I highly recommend it, import your posts prior to switching because they do not import to wordpress frOm the beta version that is going on.

Switching

2006-08-29T12:45:00.000-04:00

A little addition so just read yesterday's post.

I think I am switching to wordpress, will look later on to see if I can get my averagebusinessmanname over there. I'll wait until my renter is finished renting and then move.

I do not like this at all - signing in with my google name bugs me.

To much google following me aroung going on.

I have just learned it is not possible to import my posts to wordpress from this beta version of blogger.
grrrrr.

So to anyone thinking of switching. Import your blog posts first.

I am landlord

2006-08-28T15:25:00.000-04:00

As you can see I am a lowly Insect in the system.

I am on a quest to become a Slimy Mollusc.

I was surprised to be as high as Insect AFTER ONLY A YEAR , so I am celebrating my good fortune.

I am getting the hang of this blogging thing now.

Link to me and tell me and I will link back.

I know some of my cyber friends will have great disdain for this tactic, Cooper I do mean you specifically, but I have no pride; I'm in Marketing.

I do not link to blogs filled with hatred, racism or any of that garbage otherwise
lay it on me.

I even link to blogs about shoes.

If only I didn't have to work I could sit in front of the computer all day reading blogs.

Please check out my renter over there on the sidebar.

Scooter McGavin's 9th Green
Eclectic mix of pop culture and some golf.

Go say hello and tell him I sent you.

Shayna is having a one year party soon and here's to to MJ, who disappeared but the old " if not for " I would not have read cooper or shayna's blogs and not have found the rest.

I am not happy with this beta version of Blogger: it bothers me that Google now owns everything, and has access to both my blog and my mail and can link them together and all sorts of havoc with my life should I decide to go into say, espionage or politics.

I am investigating Wordpress and so far I like it.

Less invasive as far as I'm concerned.

Good afternoon.

Sunday review.

2006-08-27T13:30:00.000-04:00

I was going to switch to blogger beta but I figure it is too new and as much as I post in this blog I don't really need to switch yet.

I have never shied away from new things but it is just not worth any headaches that might ensue.

US politics 'obsessed' with ads

Nothing more true.

Finding cash to fund TV commercials is "the only thing that matters in American politics now", former US Vice-President Al Gore has said.

"The person who has the most money to run the most ads usually wins," he told the Edinburgh TV Festival.

It was "astonishing" that the average American devoted nearly five hours a day to TV viewing, he added.

And Mr Gore asserted the internet was making TV more accessible and letting people join a "multi-way conversation".

He called this an important move because people could find and distribute information, and then watch as it was judged by others in terms of quality.

Does the average American really devote five hours a day to TV viewing?
That is awfully high and if so it is no wonder we are in such a state.
I watch golf, and Curb your Enthusiam when I have the time, and I catch a few movies on the old HBO, but five hours?

Where does work, reading, family and fun fit in?

Adding this for fun. Stolen from Pia.

Your Fortune Is

The best way to save face, is to keep the lower part of it shut.

The Wacky Fortune Cookie Generator

Forgot to remind everyone to check out the new interview on My Music Highway. Or click on that long board at the right.

I want to thank Alice for that picture of Gin ( Bombay Saphire to be exact ) it almost makes me want gin, and I don't care for gin. It might have been the birth control pills that make the picture interesting.;0

This guy { they call him a zenformation professional} is not your average librarian, at least according to my wife who has proclaimed him “hot ".

My wife is a thirty year old attorney and it is rare she uses the term " hot " unless she is talking about the soup I so lovingly prepare for her when she is ill, or the stove when she mistakenly lays her hand on it.( this happens often as the stove is still pretty unfamiliar territory to my wife ).

I lied, I switched and now I'm tired.

Heading our to get some really hot Mexican food.

Vacation Over.

2006-08-23T13:22:00.000-04:00

We’re back and it was worth every "relaxing sit on my ass except for golf" minute.

Our son loved the beach, I think too much because we couldn't drag him away without something that resembled a seizure occurring.

I am just getting my home office situated and have made several trips in and out of the city over the last couple of days, so I haven't had time to write anything.

We got home Sunday just in time to catch Tiger's twelfth win.

There was never a doubt.

He is the greatest golfer of all time.

I'm going to check out the " blogger beta" and see if I want to switch over.

I am going to check out all my favorite bloggers now and I have to get to the questions for the music highway project and go take another look at cooper's knees and of course catch up with Pia after her vacation.

Before I go.

2006-08-10T10:14:00.000-04:00

Leaving Saturday very early, I've been packing all week in order to make sure we have room to fit the golf clubs in the car.

I'm not sure how much blog reading I'll get in while away, if any, but I am going to try to take a look here and there.

My son has been to the beach only once. I think he'll enjoy it this year. He is old enough to appreciate the sand, and not just for purposes of consumption, now.

I'm sure all the psuedo Republicans will be coming out in support of Lieberman now.

I joined the music highway you can see by my banner over on the right. Great idea - more highways on the internet where we find out little things about people.

Penn and Teller - several free videos for you to enjoy. Worth it if you do't get Show.
Digg has a purpose after all.

Alice makes a point about pubic hair and vows to start a web ring for bloggers who don't care one way or the other about pubic hair fashion. I love that girl.