The Shape of Things to Come (in Europe): Tesco has unleashed a fleet of vehicles to the London streets to deliver its goods, all electric. This is so cool. I know that UPS has been doing a lot of great stuff on alternative fuels, but wouldn't it be great if they could have a fleet of all electrics? Suppose that this thing only goes for 100 miles before a recharge, that might be enough for the average UPS truck. And what about USPS? I would think that the average carrier does far less than 100 miles in a day (although they wouldn't need anything this big). According to the USPS web site, they currently have over 37,000 vehicles in their fleet. Can you imagine the impact that this would have. Suppose that they average just 3 gallons of fuel a day. That would mean 936 gallons per vehicles saved, or 34,632,000 gallons of fuel for the fleet. That would mean one less supertanker for the US each year. Add UPS and FedEx, now you are talking about some fuel savings.

No Comment please: A lawyer (figures) who is active in the anti-video game industry had several death threats posted on a blog. So, instead of asking the site to remove the death threats he is suing everyone, the site, the ISP, etc. There are measures to be taken when this happens, but he is just a money grubbing, spot light grabbing, lawyer and can't be expected to follow the rules like real people. No offense to any lawyers who read this. I am sure that there are at least three or four really great lawyers in the world. Probably two of them in the USA. I have met one.

So why the rant? If this idiot is successful I will be shutting down the comments of the blog again. I shut it off once before because of spam posting (anyone want to buy some cheap off shore drugs, enhancing cream, etc.). I don't get a lot of comments, and that is cool by me. But, we might be shutting off that portion of the blog.

Hypocrisy Part III: Wow, you would think that people would learn. First Al Gore challenges us to lower our carbon footprint, and then it is revealed that he is one of the largest energy wasters in the Nashville area (although now has installed solar panels, so good for him for at least making a change). Then we find another elite leftist, John Edwards who campaigns on helping the poor (while moving into a $5M mansion). Today's hypocrite of the week is green lefty Sheryl Crow who wants us to skinny down to one square of toilet paper per use, while driving around in a caravan of three tractor trailers, six cars, and four buses. I have no problem with this, her work requires it. But if your position in life is that you need to tell everyone how to live, shouldn't you live that kind of lifestyle yourself?

I can't wait for Alec Baldwin's book on parenting, soon to be featured on Rosie and Oprah.

Wading into Politically Incorrect Waters - Gun Control: As soon as any madman makes his stand with weapons, the anti-gun lobby gears up for some free air time. Recently another lunatic made his mark on history, using legally acquired weapons. It got a lot of press, and now everyone is screaming about weapons.

What didn't make the news was what happened in Japan. They have some of the strictest gun laws in the world, but the mayor of Nagasaki was shot and killed by someone with a grudge. Closer to home, an 82 year old (former Miss America) not too far from where I live defended herself from thieves and shot the tires out of the vehicles that they were using to steal from her. After shooting the tires, she turned her walker around and rambled to the house where she called the sheriff. How cool is that?

The solution isn't to take away everyone's guns, it is to make sure that everyone has the right to keep a weapon. Then the bad guys are going to have to think twice when committing a crime. Does this victim have a gun or not? I can tell you where we live the odds are better that you will find someone with a weapon than not. Sure, a lot of our guns are used for hunting, but some are just "because we can". And I know that it gives my family a sense of security knowing that the bad guy is going to think twice before messing with the Digital Ranch.

Finely Tuned Hearing: I had two really strange experiences last night that need sharing.

Scene One: I was hanging around backstage at a great concert set last night. My brother-in-law gave me a pass and asked for me to shoot some stuff of the concert. Filled two 512K cards, two batteries. It was great! Anyway, the first band was The Secret, a new and coming rock band. They reminded me a lot of a lot of the bands that came to our high when I was a kid. The second band was Rufus Huff featuring Grammy nominated Greg Martin, Dean Smith, Chris Hardesty, and Jarrod England. What a great sound, kind of a bluesy, funky, soulful rock. Amazing! The final band was what I came to hear, Phil Keaggy and Glassharp. I heard Phil many years ago, but more on that in a bit.

I was drinking a bottle of water talking with Greg and Dean and Barry, my brother-in-law, in the break area in the basement while different folks were doing sound checks. All of the sudden Greg head whips around and says "Is Phil here?" He had just heard a couple of licks of a guitar playing from upstairs. It really wasn't more than just a couple of riffs, but that was all it took for Greg to recognize the sound of a master. I was dumbfounded.

Then a little later I was standing on the side of the stage and faintly heard the sound of a couple of Harley's outside in the back of the Capital Arts building. One of the guys standing next to me (turned out to be Jarrod England of Rufus Huff) darted toward the door shouting "That's my wife!" I followed him out and he tried in vain to chase down a woman on a Harley. He later explained that he knew the sound because he had built the bike. Who said that they all sound alike?

So I was talking with Phil Keaggy and told him that I had seen him perform once many, many years ago and I thought that it was in San Jose, CA. In the concert he started by playing for about 25 minutes without a break. Then he explained that he had laryngitis. He perked up said, "That's right, I then invited a girl up to sing one of the songs, she was actually pretty good." He then named the song she sang. Amazing! I was just standing there with my mouth open because of his memory. Then he added, "You are right, it was San Jose. It was 1980."

This and That, A Collection of Seemingly Random Thoughts: Okay, I have a billion things going on inside my noggin and I am going to spill them out here.

• Supreme Court, thanks for upholding law banning partial birth abortion. It is disgusting.
• Speaking of disgusting, my heart goes out to the families of the students who died at VT. Sad.
• Online "Risk" type game a blast with my son, thanks for the invite V2!
• Photography, not so fun a hobby when you are depressed.
• Podcasts, can't get enough! Love Tom and Veronica, I miss Molly. Gadgettes needs some help.
• Producers of Battlestar Galactica - tone it down, I have kids who like to watch!
• NBC News - shame on you.
• Al Sharpton - you opportunistic racist pig. You had your 15 minutes, sit down and shut up!
• Al Gore - kudos on the solar power permits. Hope it shines in Belle Meade more than normal.
• This weekend the weather is shaping up nicely for a big day of tilling and planting!
  

Different Standards: I was listening to Prof. Pogge in Astronomy 161 today and the lecture was on astronomical numbers, or the math of measuring distance and volume in space. Fascinating and I highly recommend everyone download the podcast (you didn't think I was actually attending college again?). Well, part of the lecture was on how in science everyone uses the metric system. But what really amazed me was when he said that only the US, Libia, and Burma use the Standard system. What? Being lumped in with those two countries was enough to immediately get me to change the setting on my ForecastFox to metric. It is a wonderful 16c right now by the way. I don't know if that means I should put on a sweater or turn on the AC, but I will figure it out eventually.

This goes to that old mind set that we are the leaders of the free world and everyone must adapt to our way of doing things. Look around, it ain't happenin'. Tomorrow I will enjoy driving to Louisville at 100 KPH, pumping up with about 200 liters (not sure about that one), and enjoying a nice 16c day. I will drive about 300 kilometers on the vehicle and then come home, at about 2000UTC.

This may take some getting used to.

Fun Web Site: www.wheresgeorge.com. This site is a hoot! I got a $1 bill the other day (actually my wife got it, but I declared my marital rite to the dollar). The dollar had a red stamp on it with the web site, and told me to track the bill and an arrow to the serial number of the bill. So I went to the site and it was so cool! This particular bill (L95447288L, 2003a) Only has traveled 24 miles in the last week since it was started, but I will be following it in the future. I plan to travel tomorrow to Louisville and I will purposely spend it up there. Trying to figure a way to get it on a plan just for fun, but I can't figure out how to do that yet. I have friend in Louisville who tavels some, just might give it to him to buy something somewhere. Here is the report for that bill if you want to watch it travel.

A Guy We Can Relate To: The history of leaders in America have tended to be the wealthy a lot of the time. In the earliest of days they were large land owners, and have continued that tradition throughout American history. Some people have a problem with this because they feel that these people are buying their popularity, they are naturally all corrupt (how else could they have been successful in business), or they are just so far removed from the common man that they couldn't possibly relate.

It is this last part that has me thinking lately. The field of candidates for President are again largely made up of millionaires (and one who might be in the billionaire club). This doesn't bug me too much, except when they talk about how they are for the poor and impoverished in America. That is certainly a noble sentiment, but it immediately makes me want to look at their lives.

Today I pick on John Edwards. I like Edwards as a person. He has a great smile, a non-confrontational manner, and seems to be a fairly good speaker. But, he cries about wanting to help the poor, while he is having his $5M mansion in North Carolina built. He earned his money as a lawyer, and I certainly applaud him for that. But, I would think that he would be better campaigning for the wealthy since that is the class of person he is.

Today it was reported that on February 20th he got a hair cut at a Beverly Hills stylist that cost $400. March 6th he did it again. That's $800 in one month for two haircuts. Now I doubt that I have spent $800 in haircuts in the last 20 years, but I am not a priss running for president. I pay $11 at Custom Cuts and I get my hair cut about every 3-4 months.

Here is my plan for Edwards. First John, admit that you are a prissly little girly man and that you need help. Go to your local barber and cut that hair (it still needs a cut BTW). Use a 1-1/2 or a 2, it will make you look tons better. Now, you have spent $11, plus a couple of bucks for the tip, poor people love tips. But there is so much more. Because you went to the local mall you are supporting the local economy. After that comment that your wife made about your neighbor you could use a little good local press. Since you don't have to fly to California for your hair cuts, you are going to save a little money there as well. Now with all that money that you are saving, do something good with it. Help some charity John. You might already do that, probably as a write off for something. But do this one for your heart. Do this because you can. Spare the hair, give some care.

April 15th: Tax day, it snowed again this morning. This is just crazy! It hasn't snowed on April 15th since 1943. FDR was president and we were in WWII.

The Cleansing Fire: There is a natural phenomenon where an old growth forest gets hits with a fire and it is destroyed. A few months later God starts all over and new growth begins and the forest is usually healthier than it was the year before. No one really wants the fire, they even try to put it out when it is happening, but months later every says that it is great to see the new forest.

My laptop has just had that cleansing fire. I had it loaded up with everything under the sun and then it crashed last week. The solution from my service folks was to replace the hard drive and now everything is running wonderfully, albeit without anything that I had before. Part of the new way that I will operate is to do as much on the net as possible. I am no longer using my beloved Outlook, but instead use Gmail (with my domain) for my e-mail. I have my spreadsheets and documents being stored in Google apps. I planned a trip today using Mapquest instead of my favorite MapPoint. I didn't like this much and will probably reload MapPoint again on Monday though.

It isn't really fun to lose everything, but it is so fun to start over!

I'm Back! Got the laptop back today and was online in about 10 minutes, fully back to normal. I have been re-installing stuff all day long. My iPod is so happy to have some stuff back on it. My camera is just waiting to get connected. My bit torrent client is just begging to stream. Now I am trying to install the network printer, the network file server, etc. I love a challenge!

Great Jay Leno:
Jay Leno to Dems: How Will You 'Stand Up to Terrorists When You're Afraid of Fox News?'
Video here.

Cool Beans: Set up some network stuff tonight. I can now stream my stored movies off the server, MP3 files, etc. Life is so cool!

In honor of my new achievement (big to me, old school to the rest of the world), I am now watching Blade Runner. Thought a Sci-Fi flick would be appropriate.

Weather or Not: While we had snow on Saturday, the latest snow on the record in these parts, it could be worse:

• Fenway Park is expecting 6 inches on Sunday, showing out the Red Sox game.
• Charlotte, NC reported the coldest day in April since 1923.
• Otters in Alaska are being killed (by humans and other animals) because they have been frozen out of the bay due to an extra cold winter, and have moved inland looking for food. Sad.

We tied the cold record of 1914, so I guess we aren't that much different from the rest of the country. I look at the snow on the Tulips in Crawford and realize that there are few places to go to get warm in America right now, although Vegas is looking pretty good!

The Freedom to Speak, the Courage to Debate: News came out today that one of the candidates for the 2008 Presidential election has again refused to debate on TV because the network holds a bias. Doesn't that just tell you everything that you need to know about the candidate? If the guy is afraid to handle difficult questions in front of a network that he feels is not as friendly as other networks, what is he going to do when he has to negotiate with a difficult head of state? I am not saying anything about his values or issues, and I would hope that I would say the same for a candidate on either side of the aisle. But it just seems to say a lot about a guy.

Being Pigeon-Holed: There are times when I really don't mind a little pigeon holing, it helps to define who I am and the views that I hold. For instance, I have referenced previously The 2008 Presidential Candidate Selector in which you answer 17 questions about your values. For instance, question 9 tends to be one of the lesser controversial questions:

9. What would be your ideal candidate's position on TRADE ISSUES?
Supports free trade.
Supports fair or protectionist trade policies.
Neither

So you click the one that you want (I left it as generic) and move to the next question. At the end the selector shows you the candidate that has the value system that is closest to yours, as well as those on the opposite end of the spectrum.

The reason that I bring this up is that I have a couple of dear people that I love who don't exactly hold the same political views that I do. But, in evaluating that, it really isn't just political views, it is wrapped up with social, religious, environmental, etc. When it comes to politics it is easy to look at a candidate and know what they stand for (at least for most, some tend to change their positions and that makes it a little more challenging), but I think that it is dangerous to label their supporters the same.

This morning I was reading an excerpt from a blog which pigeon holed me, wrongly I think. It said

It does not make me happy to know that people whose worldview is so narrow, intolerant, exclusive, and hateful are so much better at supporting their ideological soulmates than we on the left, whose values run to diversity, inclusiveness, a place at the table for everyone, human needs before defense contractors’ wish lists.
(Shakesville - warning, much of that blog is offensive to most)

Because I advocate a particular ideology doesn't necessarily make me narrow, intolerant, exclusive, or hateful. But, I will accept some of this.

Narrow: By finding that one candidate has views that I appreciate over another certainly narrows my thinking. There are some issues that I find important and I will vote to ensure that a candidate with those views is in office. But, I would suggest that those on the left (the opposite from my views) are going to do the same. Show me a liberal who supports our troops in Iraq and I will show you a liberal who isn't concerned about re-election (with the possible exception of Joe Lieberman). Where is the liberal who is pro-life? A liberal who supports the sanctity of marriage? Can you show me a liberal who agrees with the Second Amendment and would defend that right? Are these not narrow views?

Intolerant: This one is a personal pet peeve of mine. I am chastised for not being tolerant of others, but receive absolutely no tolerance for my differing views. Why? My views are old (about 2000 years old to be specific). Others can force their views on me, but if I try to share my views I am being intolerant of them. That just doesn't make any sense at all. Why can't I hold a belief that is different without being intolerant? In Iraq I would be killed for taking a Bible to school (if I were still in school), but here we allow our students to carry the Koran (or book of Satan, Book of Mormon, etc.)

Hateful: This is the one that I dislike the most, but also the one that I have to watch in myself. I watch those who scream at my beliefs with such disdain and I feel my blood start to boil. But I happen to have an underlying belief that tells me to love those who hate me. This is a difficult challenge at times.

So, with all that being said, this is who I am (alphabetized):

American: I was born here, but I think that if I were born elsewhere I would want to immigrate here. I am glad to be American.
Capital Punishment: I would love to see a capital punishment system that only executed those who were 100% guilty of murder. In absence of that I would be in favor of life without the chance of parole.
Capitalist: I am so grateful to live in a country that allows me the freedom to own my own business and to make as much profit as I can (although right now it isn't that much!). I think that the free enterprise system is terrific and is better than state controlled businesses. I also believe that a hybrid system (state controlled/private control) would be a better solution to Social Security than what we have going on now.
Christian: I love Jesus, think God is the best thing that ever happened to me. If you believe in Buddah, allah, Krishna, or Moroni, that surely is your choice. My faith tells me that there is one way to heaven, I have chosen that path. To accept that all roads lead to heaven is to say that the Bible is wrong. I have never known it to be wrong.
Constitutionalist. I support the Constitution of the United States of America. I think that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are great documents to guide our country. I don't think that they change, nor do they need reinterpreting, they are what they are.
Environmentalist: I stand apart from many in the right on this issue, but not necessarily as far to the left as some. I think that we have a tremendous responsibility to treat our planet with respect. I would like to see fines for littering triple, fines for illegal dumping go up by 10 fold. I would fine any company that pollutes so that it is impossible for them to consider such practices. I would take all the corn subsidies and pay them to companies developing solar energy solutions. Fair Trade: I think that it is only fair that if we buy $1B from one country that they buy $1B back from us. I think that we need to relook at how we trade with other countries. If it were a game we would be in last place.
Father: One of the greatest joys of my life is raising my four kids.
Husband: Its not for everyone, but I am glad that I am one. My wife is my best friend. Deal with it. I am glad that I have honored Mary with marriage, and made a lifetime commitment to her. I respect those who have chosen a single life, I mourn for those who have experienced the pain of divorce. I rejoice with those in marriage.
Male: Glad to be one, don't disrespect the women. I understand why women need special doctors, health clubs, and clothing stores, and I will stay away from them all.
Pro-Business: I support all efforts to build better businesses in America! But, I also see where unions have done a lot of good for some industries in America, but see also where they have totally destroyed other industries.
Pro-Citizenship: I truly applaud those who have immigrated here and have gone through the process of legal citizenship. I had ancestors somewhere in my past who did this. I think that those who would come here illegally should be sent home. Period.
Pro-Civil Rights: I don't believe that any group of people need to have their rights abused. People of color, race, or creed should not have their rights trampled. I think that men and women in the same career should make the same wage, as it applies to their skills. I don't think that just because a person is of one color or gender that they should receive any special consideration. If their ancestors had their rights trampled, that is a travesty in that particular history. But today, all should be treated the same.
Pro-Education: I think that one of the things that makes our country great is the importance that we place in education. I am also very grateful that I have the choice to put my children in a private school and not one run by the state.
Pro-Life: I believe in the scientific evidence and Biblical support that life begins at conception. When the cells begin to form the process is beginning. Recently a baby was born at 21 weeks and lived. That is four months. I believe that the rights of that innocent baby need to be protected, even from someone who would have him or her killed.
Pro-Peace: I am for peace, and against war. War is a terrible thing! But, I am glad that I live in a country that defends the innocent in other countries, especially when it is exacted upon them by their own leaders.

Well, there you have it in a nutshell. That' s me, or at least part of me. There is a lot more to me than those issues. I love rock music and jazz, photography and movies, coffee and English muffins. But, I will save those things for another time.

Ugh! My laptop died. I have a new one coming but I doubt I will have my pictures updated for a bit.

Slant, Writing the Bias of the Publisher: I just read an interesting article at CNN.COM. The basis of the article was a set of factual data regarding population growth trends in some major cities. But what I found interesting was the conclusions that they derived from that data, without any facts to support their conclusions.

Here is the scenario: a given city (pick one) sees its population stay even. However, when they drill down they find that immigrants are coming in at high levels, non-immigrants are leaving at high levels. Therefor, according to the CNN article, "Immigrants Stabilize Big-City Populations". The article offered that we should be embracing immigrants to our cities as they are keeping the population levels where they should be.

But I see other possible conclusions to this data. Not that any of these are correct, but they all could be valid with some additional investigation.

Immigrants Driving Non-Immigrants to Suburbs
Citizens seek successes outside of the city

Either of these might be valid arguments, although I don't have any data to know if it is true. And, I don't want to make an argument for ether of these cases. That isn't the point. The point is that the bias of a publishing empire can certainly sway people with just the littlest effort.

The Race is On, Pre$ident 2008: I know that these people need lots of cash to run an election, but the recent fund raising on both sides of the aisle really have me scratching my head. How much does one really need? I heard one of the contenders today on a podcast who got about 20% of what the top money getters in his party got and he said that he wasn't concerned because his position was about his ideals and not how much people will see his face on TV. Kudos to him!

What is the most interesting to me is how early things are heating up. Each party has identified its top 3 candidates and that is who they are pushing. But, there are still some great folks who are sitting on the sidelines who might make a viable candidate. Of course some of these people are going to fizzle out, and fizzle out soon. I have to think that if I have raised $3 million and the top guy in my party has $30 then it might be time to reevaluate things. Add the money from the top 3 Democrats and the top 3 Republicans and you will see fund raising in the neighborhood of $115 million for the first quarter. That just seems excessive.

A couple of things that have really made me curious is that there is not one clear third party candidate. No Ross Perot, no Steve Forbes. I guess when a couple of the richest guys in the country can't pull it off a guy like me would have little chance (although I would NEVER want to be President).