The Digital Life

2009-01-31T17:01:00.003-06:00

The perfect moment hopefully doesn't happen just once in a person's life, just is a series of perfect moments that weave through the fabric of our lives.

I have several moments that rank as those one time experience that are perfect and never be duplicated. Here they are, not in any order.

May 21, 1984, waking up for the first time with my wife.

Summer 2005 fishing with my sons on Barren River Lake at sunset. No words, just the sound of the waves on our bass boat, watching the sunset.

Fall 1999, dinner in the French Quarter with a friend then sitting in a Cuban cigar bar listening to some great Latin jazz and enjoying the best cigar I had ever had. Part of the night was shared with a famous movie star who asked just to be one of the guys with us. We laughed until after midnight.

Looking at Sinclair through the glass in the hospital nursery and feeling streams of tears running down my cheeks, realizing that was my son.

Each time I was blessed to baptize my child (four times).

July 4th, probably about 1998 at Nick & Necie's in Dayton KY. Massive people everywhere watching thousands of dollars of fireworks. Then suddenly I don't hear anything, see anyone. I look and see Mary turning and we stare at each other. We smile and both know that this is a moment we will remember for the rest of our lives.

January 2004, the International Hotel - Miami, FL. I decided not to go to the strip club with the others and just enjoy a cigar with a good friend who was a newly wed. Before I knew it there were 15 men all smoking cigars, opting for the more virtuous evening. 72 degrees, 3rd floor, we watched the sun set.

Falling asleep with any of my children as babies resting on my chest.

Sitting in front of the fire, reading to the kids.

2008-12-18T11:23:00.002-06:00

Democracy at Work: I have been keeping an eye on the Minnesota senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman. It has been so interesting because the vote is so close that they are looking at individual ballots that are questionable. I have yet to see a decision on these challenged ballots that I have disagreed with. The men and women who are doing this work are really helping democracy to work the way that it should - every vote counts. There are those who will point to the people in Minnesota who can't seem to correctly complete a ballot, but when you consider how few of these that they are it is really pretty impressive. Minnesota has proven the old adage "every vote counts" probably more than any race that I can remember. I happen to live in a state where the majority overwhelmingly selected the right candidate and there was never a question about it, but in cases like Minnesota its great to see it working.

Pundits from both sides have been questioning Minnesota and probably with just cause as it is such a close race and it seems that one side has produced some mystery ballots after the vote. But watching these impartial judges rule on each and every vote it gives me pause to realize that we do indeed live in the best country in the world where my vote makes a difference.

2008-12-01T11:58:00.002-06:00

CNN needs to rethink their policies: I just got a "Breaking News" alert on my phone. The idea of something that is "breaking news" implies that it is something that has just happened, and that it is news worthy. What was this breaking news? It was to announce that the United States is in a recession and has been for A YEAR.

I recognize that they need to feel relevant and cause their viewers to quickly come to their web site so that they can drive up advertising revenue, but how was this news? Maybe from their lofty offices they haven't seen what the rest of us have known for some time, but this is hardly something worth sending out an alert. In fact, this is hardly page 2 material.

2008-11-24T09:09:00.002-06:00

Hi Ate Us: I have this guy that I read almost daily who is an excellent political blogger. But the day after the elections his posts that ran 4-5 a day dropped to zero. I think that the election just took something out of him. I can understand that. While I would love to blog daily, life just gets in the way. This is 4th quarter and that means lots of work for me. I am pretty much on the road every day somewhere. Last week Western Kentucky and Illinois. The week before that Frankfort all week. Before that I was all over the state for 3 solid weeks. I am not complaining, when I am on the road I am usually making some money.

I feel like taking the next 4 years off, kind of a long term hiatus. I have been warning that the economy is going to collapse for years and received a lot of odd looks and scorn, so I have just decided to be silent. There are many who would bury their heads in the sand and say that things are great, but the economic indicators certainly don't reflect that. Jobless claims are at the highest levels in 16 years. The government is throwing billions and billions of dollars at our banking industry to try to help their incompetence. As I write they have just given Citi Group $300b. That's my money. That's your money. The stock market has dropped in the last year from a high of over 14,000 to under 8,000. I was listening to people last week who have lost half of their 401k. Insane! People actually banking all of their retirement in something so liquid as the stock market (I am a big fan of annuities, and not just because I sell them - because they are safe). But what really gets me was listening to the advisers who told them that we are at the bottom of this "adjsutment" and they should put everything that they have into the market now while the prices are so good. They got one guy so worked up he was going to take a loan against his house (illegal and foolish) to buy stock. So now this guy will have no retirement and have an extra loan against his home. I heard two people explain that they had intended on retiring in the next couple of years, and they don't have time for the market to recover. Bummer for them.

2008-09-24T08:27:00.002-05:00

The Foolishness that is PETA: Today Peta asked Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream to substitute cow's milk with human milk. They said that it would reduce the suffering that cows endure with being milked.

I won't even deal with the PETA agenda here, it is just plain foolishness. Let's assume that the brilliant minds at Ben and Jerry's agree to use 10% human milk. They produce 13,000,000 gallons a year and it takes 12 pounds of milk to make a gallon. That is 156,000,000 pounds of milk to keep them in business. So 10% human milk would be 15,600,000 pounds of milk. Where is PETA going to get 15.6m pounds of milk? A lactating woman can produce an average of 750ml a day. We will round that up to a pound and a half. That means that we would need 10.4 million women producing every single day, just for Ben and Jerry. The logistics of this just makes me laugh. There is a reason that Ben and Jerry's use cow milk. It is inexpensive, tastes great, and is very efficient. While a woman can produce a pound and a half, a cow can produce 50 pounds.

I hope PETA never goes away. They come out with stuff about once a year that just keeps me laughing.

2008-09-22T09:59:00.003-05:00

The United Socialist States of America: I watch with interest as our government is scrambling today to throw hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out the failures of capitalism. It is a really sad time for our country on so many levels. We are still the world's largest giver of help in times of need, but we are also a huge borrower. We bail out failing businesses but fail to prop up our Social Security program which has been robbed for years by politicians.

The reasons that the majority of these institutions (banks, stock firms, insurance, etc.) is that they were greedy and saw an opportunity to make a quick buck on risky loans. All of these firms had at the same time executive officers who made millions and millions of dollars in bonuses while their companies stood closer to the edge of financial peril. They have now made their money and don't care if the everything collapses. They can each easily buy a little island in the Bahamas and play golf for the rest of their lives.

So now who pays for that golf trip and that island? I do. Indirectly I am funding that lifestyle because the lost it all and the government is going to socialize it all. That means that the tax payers are going to foot the bill. I pay for that irresponsibility, and it makes me mad.

2008-09-15T11:53:00.002-05:00

Who has the right to comment? Everyone! I am a huge fan of freedom of speech. We live in this big fantastic country where anyone can have their say. But it is interesting to me how the celebrity types get front page coverage on issues in which they have no expertise. Now if Bono wants to talk about world poverty or Angelina on adoption - let them talk because they have eclipsed their celebrity status to give their lives to support causes they believe in.

But Lindsey Lohan getting a chance to throw a barb at Governor Palin is just amazing. She is a bad actress who is known for her traffic violations, drug and drinking binges, and now her pending marriage to her lover. What gives this little girl any credibility? Sure she has the right to comment, but why would anyone listen?

2008-09-06T08:14:00.002-05:00

Reflections on my love for Sarah Palin: When Senator John McCain announced that Sarah Palin was going to be his running mate for President I scurried to the web to learn everything that I could about her. I was immediately in love. Don't get me wrong, I am not in love with her as a person, I am in love with her as a concept and a cause. Her gender means little to me. Her race means nothing. But I love what she is, what she stands for, what she has done, and where she has been. She is an American. The media loves to demean her as being a mayor from a distant hick town, I love that. I live in a small town, by choice. She hunts, I hunt. She fishes, I fish. She eats moose stew, I love deer steaks. She is the American dream. She is a mom who got involved in local politics and became the governor of the largest state in America. What's not to love about that?

But its more than that. Finally conservatives like me have someone we can really rally behind, and rally we will. She doesn't just talk a good game, she backs it up. That is something that we rarely see in politics these days.

I compare that with Senator Obama. He was a community organizer, and that is important. Then he became a state senator, and that too is very important. However, I really don't understand how he just voted "present" so many times and never passed a single piece of legisltation. Then thanks to some disasterous decisions by Jack Ryan, Obama sailed into the US Senate almost unopposed. As a US Senator he again has never authored a single piece of legislation although he has a law degree from a prestigious law school.

Sarah Palin is the American dream for me, and she holds all the values that I hold. Its true that I am more excited about Governor Palin than I am about Senator McCain, but it is a ticket. And 4 or 8 years from now Vice President Palin might indeed step up, challenge Hillary Clinton (you know she is already preparing) and become the President.

At least we have hope, for a change.

2008-09-04T06:09:00.002-05:00

The Candidate for Change: It turns out that Senator Obama is indeed a candidate for change. While one party holds a convention the candidate for the other party has traditionally stayed quiet for that week, allowing the press to focus on the convention at hand. This certainly is what McCain did. But on the day that McCain is to receive his party's nomination Obama has said that he is going to launch an investigation into criminal charges against the Bush administration. Politics as usual, just at an unusual time.

We need a candidate who brings hope with action, and has a pattern of positive change. Barry is all talk.

2008-09-02T09:53:00.003-05:00

Obama vs. Palin: I found it interesting that during Hurricane Gustav Senator Obama was asked if his experienced compared to Palin's. Three interesting things come from the question and answer:

The question was comparing Obama (presidential candidate) against Palin (VP candidate). Shouldn't the question be comparing Obama vs. McCain?
The answer Senator Obama gave was again to denigrate her by indicating that she was still the mayor of a town with 50 employees instead of the Governor of the largest state in the USA. If we knock out the last few years of experience Mr. Obama is in deep trouble because he has nothing on his record. Check that, for Obama we can include the last three years and it is just about the same.
Finally, his answer was just flat wrong. He defends his experience because of his ability to manage millions of dollars of campaign funds and the legislation that he has passed after Katrina. Voting on issues does not make a person experienced. Having hired someone to manage your money doesn't make you experienced. Where has the Senator actually shown his executive experience outside of this campaign? If he wants to go toe-to-toe with the Republican VP nominee he is going to lose. He needs to stay with what he is good at, sharing his visions, talking about how he is going to initiate programs for the poor and tax the wealthy. This will get him elected. But if it becomes a battle on experience (him against McCain or him against Palin) he loses every time.

2008-08-21T11:16:00.002-05:00

Bloomberg is an idiot, just not a total idiot: Michael Bloomberg announced this week his plans to put wind turbines on bridges and roof tops all over New York City in an effort to capture some of the wind and convert it to electricity. His heart is in the right place. We need to look at ways to get off the grid, and especially get off of our dependence on foreign oil (not to mention domestic oil). But Bloomberg fell short of short in telling the people what these things would look like, how they would work, or even having a demonstration model working. So the naysayers immediately photoshopped some huge turbines on bridge tops and buildings making this look like a ridiculous proposal.

We need to look at every technology possible, and possibly combine several, to get away from the way that we are doing things now. But we also need politicians who can think through a plan and possibly even run small tests before they jump on the bandwagon with every fade that comes along. Bloomberg had a good idea, just poor execution in communicating that plan.

2008-08-12T12:17:00.002-05:00

I give up! So I found this article that said that Obama was going to reduce taxes on senior citizens (actually eliminate for those making under $50,000) and I finally found something to like about this guy. While his other proposals are full of Socialism, this is one that seemed to make sense. When folks get to a certain point in their lives it makes sense that they stop getting taxed. But wouldn't you know it, the liberals are all against it. I couldn't see why at first, it seemed to me that something that helps seniors is something that everyone could get behind. But then I had my eyes opened. Reducing taxes for any group is not a good thing for the Left.

2008-08-04T18:37:00.003-05:00

Comrade Obama: I like it when political leaders show their true colors. Barry has shown his. In an effort to try to match Bush's Supplemental Tax Relief plan, Freshman Senator B. Hussein Obama has announced that he will give each family $1000, but instead of using tax cuts (something deeply abhorrent to liberals) he is promoting the concept of using money from the profits of oil companies. With companies reporting astronomical profits this seems like a good solution on the surface. But consider what this really is, the confiscation of assets from a legally formed and operated company. Where else do we see that? Old Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, and other communist countries. What gives politicians such as Obama the right to take from some to give to another? This is the communist credo, the redistribution of wealth for the good of the common man. His mentor calls this the US of KKK, I think that they are planning on shaping it into the USSR.

2008-07-19T09:46:00.002-05:00

Roadtrip! Today (in a few minutes) I will embark on a couple of great roadtrips. I am not sure where we are going for sure, but do have a few plans. Trip one will be to take Sinclair to PCH to Strategic Intelligence Camp. The trip there should last about 12 hours, but I am sure that we will take longer. Then Peyton and I will get to spend a few days in New York City doing his Passport to Purity. Then Wednesday we head back and pick up the rest of the family and head back to PCH and get Sinclair then head to Colonial Williamsburg for a few days of relaxing time learning about early Colonial life in America. You can follow us at Twitter.com/TheDigitalLife, and of course the blog here at http://thedigitallife.net/blogger.html.

2008-07-12T15:19:00.002-05:00

When there are dark clouds, get out the umbrella: I am perpetually amazed at the ignorance that some people have when it comes to seeing the signs and not doing anything about it. Take Katrina. The people in New Orleans knew (and bragged) that they lived below sea level and that any severe hurricane could devastate the city. They had days to prepare and evacuate, but many chose to stay and paid with their lives. Some had the audacity to claim that they just never knew that the storm could be that bad.

When it comes to the economy people are just as ignorant. They don't want to admit that things are bad, or that they have the potential to get bad. This week the IndyMac Bank of California was closed by the government. They have been reporting problems for months and their stock has slipped from $30 to 28 cents. So what's up with all these people going to the bank on Friday trying to withdraw money and finding that the bank is closed? One of the guys that was interviewed admitted that they probably had over $100,000, more than that which is insured. That goes beyond ignorance.

US Bank closed at $25.80, so I guess I am safe for now.

2008-07-10T08:13:00.000-05:00

Maybe It’s Time for Some Change: I don’t mean change like politicians say it, I mean change like really doing things different. Politicians say change, what they mean is that they want their party in power and want to do things the same old way that their party has been doing it. But sometimes you have to just throw away the rule book and start all over.

What I am talking about is our dependence on foreign oil. I drove in today to see that the price was steady at $4.07 and I was actually glad. When we moved here it was $1.99 and that was considered high. And I really don’t see it coming down. So we have to do some drastic things. Some propose conservation, but conservation only helps a little. Some say alternative fuels, but they take a while to get to market and they are currently contributing to the global food shortage (who was the Einstein who thought taking food and making it fuel wouldn’t disrupt things?). We could drill off the coast, but that will take years to get to market. We could drill in ANWAR, but that is also years away.

I have an idea, let’s do it all! Seriously, if we take all of the solutions and adopt them all then we could really see some change. Let’s lower the national speed limit to 55MPH (and allow those who feel the need to drive at 45 MPH drive in the slow lane). Let’s start looking at raising the CAFE standard so that the next generation of vehicles get better mileage than what we have on the road today. Let’s back plans to install wind farms all over the Midwest so that our home electricity isn’t based on oil or coal.

If you know me you know that I don’t buy in to the global warming myth, so why all this talk about saving fuel? It comes down to money and dependence on others. One thing that I enjoy is not being dependent on anyone else. I long for a day when I can drive to work and then plug in at night so that the commute doesn’t cost me a dime (right now it is about $12 a day for the commute).

2008-07-03T18:25:00.002-05:00

The Conflict of Data: Today I found this really fun picture of a floating city. While I love this kind of stuff, it is interesting why this "city" is being developed. The Lilypad cities are for "climate refugees". This is of course because the earth is going to be submerged because the oceans are rising because we have too many cows. The article states as fact that the oceans will rise 3 feet by 2100. This is of course in direct conflict with the global warm prophet Al Gore who has stated that all of Manhattan will be under water in 25 years. Of course, if Manhattan is 8" above sea level these two facts might not be in conflict, and my comments are all wet. Also in conflict, Charlotte broke a 123 year old record today, for the coldest July 3rd on record. Hmmm.

2008-06-26T11:48:00.002-05:00

We the People: Today the Supreme Court of the United States of America overturned a Washington DC ban on the ownership of handguns. The ban, which had been in place for decades, was said to be unconstitutional. What the court affirms in this ruling is that the 2nd Amendment specifically holds the individual right to arms. In a city that saw nearly 150 murders last year this can only come as a comfort for the millions of people who have wanted the right to protect themselves.

2008-06-07T15:52:00.002-05:00

A True Abortion Story: News out of England highlights a couple of things about abortion that really put it in the light of truth. The story is of woman who decided to abort her baby because she was told that it would be born with a kidney problem as her first two children have. Her birth control failed and instead of dealing with the problems of having another child with a difficult affliction she made the logical choice to kill the child.

However, the procedure failed and she found out later that she was still pregnant. The doctors did another scan to confirm the baby and found that while it did have a kidney problem it would likely survive and live a healthy life.

Welcome Finley to the world.

The things that I like about this article is the truthfulness of the article. She wanted to terminate the baby because she was told that the baby was defective. The doctors were wrong. Makes me wonder how many babies are killed on faulty advice from doctors. No where in the article is Finley referred to as fetus or tissue. He is a baby. And now he is alive. His right to live triumphed her right to kill. Doesn't happen a lot, but I love it when it does.

2008-06-03T19:33:00.002-05:00

Liberal Logic: Today Governor Steve Beshear accused large oil suppliers with "raping the public" with their high prices. It is now a well known fact that they yield about 8 cents per gallon whereas the state of Kentucky gets 36.9 cents. So if they are raping the public at 8 cents, what are you doing Governor at 36.9 cents? And why would he choose to use such violent and inflammatory language, something that is so offensive to so many people. He called for President Bush to stop price gouging, while even today Congress was hearing testimony confirming that the problem is not the oil companies but speculators. So while our Governor is insighting images of rape, those that truly can govern are doing so.

2008-05-22T13:52:00.001-05:00

NOAA – Those Prognosticators of Disaster and Gloom: This marks the third hurricane season since Katrina and the third year where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted higher than normal hurricane activity. The year directly preceding Katrina brought record low levels of activity and last year was a close second. But it makes sense for them to once again try to pass off the high level of hurricane activity once again. First, they are going to be right some day and then they can tell the world that they got it right (the world will totally forget the previous predictions which were totally inaccurate). Second, its job security. If they say that the hurricane activity is going to be calm (as it was the past two years) then CNN won’t have anyone to run to and declare that the world is about to end. Finally, this continues to fuel the global warming myth because they can say that the high level hurricane activity is due to increased carbon emissions due to people flying around the globe telling people that the earth is warming. Guys like Al Gore as a matter of fact.

I have said this in the past, and will continue to campaign that the government needs to withdraw their funding. They are so incredibly inaccurate that it makes no sense to have them.

2008-05-20T12:07:00.002-05:00

Sometimes Even A Dictator Makes Sense: We tend to look at the things that are said from those we dislike, distrust, or hold with disdain are reflect that everything that comes from their mouth is evil, a lie, or a manipulation for their own benefit. I certainly feel that way about some people. But some times you can sort through the evil and find a kernel of truth or wisdom that makes you ponder it.
Today I had one of those "ah!" moments. Hugo Chavez, South America's most outspoken lunatic, came out last week against ethanol and said that it was a crime against the poor. Now granted Huge-O is a member of OPEC and wants to keep the world dependent upon his money train, but I would have to say that in this one area he might be kind of right. Look, it takes 400 pounds of corn to make enough fuel to fill one tank in a car. That is enough grain to feed someone for a year according to American Thinker. They show that the recent congressional mandate to produce 9 billion gallons of fuel requires about 1/3rd of our total corn output. So, there is little wonder that the price of corn has shot up to insane levels and there is a shortage.
So for the sake of saving the earth from emissions we are starving the poor. Sure, that makes sense.

2008-05-17T14:16:00.002-05:00

Moleskin II: I have been intrigued by the Moleskin Notebooks for some time. I bought one and have made some random notes on web sites that I want to visit (like when reading something in B&N), some photo things that I want to try, etc. I have recently just decided to get a little more serious about how I use it. I bought some little sticky tabs and decided to make individual areas where I can organize my thoughts. I just bought a second one that I will be using for my PoST thoughts (Prepare, Survive, Thrive). I realized that when the power goes out I won't have anything to keep track of my thoughts that I can easily pull up. So now when the PDA crashes (like it did last week) I won't have to worry about the SD card having the backup.

This is a big change in my thinking. Everything in my life is pretty digital. In my job if I have something that is paper I almost immediately figure out how to scan it and save it digitally. I have backups for nearly everything that is important, but there is something about having a notebook that has it all. The Moleskin isn't perfect, and that is part of the charm. Its like my Holga camera. The faults are what make it unique. I guess that is the same for me. I have faults, that is what makes me who I am. I will learn to work with the constraints of what I have, 192 pages of 3x5"and make it work.

Right now I am not sure exactly how I will divide this new one or how I will customize it, but it will be a fun challenge.

2008-05-03T15:34:00.002-05:00

My Vote for President of the United State - Boris Johnson, the mayor of London: I am fed up with the three that are being offered as candidates for President. Hillary is a prove habitual liar who will do anything or say anything to be elected, Obama is a racist who is now back-peddling as it is being discovered. His church has had as its mission statement (until very recently) several statements promoting the Black values. If I were going to a church that supported White Values I would be mocked and ridiculed, and rightly so. Their mission statement didn't say a word about Jesus Christ, rather odd for a Church of Christ, wouldn't you agree? That leaves McCain who is one of the least conservative Republican's that I have ever heard of.

So why Boris for the new President? Just read this statement from Boris and tell me what you think:

"It is time to reassert British values…That means disposing of the first taboo, and accepting that the problem is Islam. Islam is the problem. To any non-Muslim reader of the Koran, Islamophobia — fear of Islam — seems a natural reaction, and, indeed, exactly what that text is intended to provoke. Judged purely on its scripture — to say nothing of what is preached in the mosques — it is the most viciously sectarian of all religions. The trouble with this disgusting arrogance and condescension is that it is widely supported in Koranic texts, and we look in vain for the enlightened Islamic teachers and preachers who will begin the process of reform. What is going on in these mosques and madrasas? "When is someone going to get 18th century on Islam’s mediaeval ass?"

This man doesn't mince words. He has identified the problem in words that everyone knows and isn't afraid to do so. Islam is a menace in London, as it is in America. I didn't say Muslims, but Islam - the religion of Muslims. Those who are careful adherents to that doctrine are some of the worst people on the face of the earth. Not a week goes by where there isn't a story about how they have murdered a large group of innocent people. This past week they blew up a bunch of people in a wedding party and then followed up with a suicide bomber murdering those who came to help. All for the glory of Allah.

And does Mayor Johnson have a chance as President of The United States of America? You bet. While he is a citizen of the UK and an MP, he was born in New York and thus qualifies. And in the absence of someone who is honest, is conservative, and has a plan - I might just write him in.

2008-04-28T11:47:00.001-05:00

Balance of Rights and Freedom: Today the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled that states have the right to require a photo ID to vote. The reason for such a common sense law is due to incredible voter fraud. I suspect that in Chicago alone we will see voting drop by 50%. The liberal side of our great country claim that this is unfair because it somehow discriminates against those who do not have a photo ID. This is true to a degree, and that is the point. If a person cannot prove their existence with the correct documentation then they should be prohibited from voting. I am all in favor of the right to vote for all. I am glad that we no longer have polling stations for a specific race. I am glad that women can vote. I am glad that not just land owners can vote – but so can the most impoverished. There is not test for intelligence (as is evident by the large amount of people who still vote Democrat). Our polls are open to all citizens who are over 18 who want to vote (except those who have forfeited that right through the commission of a felony).

Citizenship is easy. If a person feels so strongly the need to exercise their right to vote, get an ID! If you whine about your rights, but won’t do the basics of proving who you are then your vote is obviously not that important. While I have a lot of people who disagree with me, I am also glad, very glad, that there is a requirement to have a photo ID to fly in the US. Some have couched this in the argument that we have to have ID to travel, this is patently false. In fact, you can travel across the country without any ID. You can walk, take the bus, take a train, etc. But because of the incredible events in our RECENT past, we now need to assure that the person who is climbing onto that 200 passenger ICBM is not a potential threat to those who are flying, and thousands on the ground. If you feel that your rights to privacy are more important then take the Greyhound.