The Raging Tech

It May Already Be Too Late

I am not usually too easily swayed by comments on a Digg.com article, but today I most certainly was alarmed, intrigued even. Digg was running a story about an army brigade being stationed here in the U.S. for domestic missions, including Federal response to man-made disasters, terrorism, or to provide support in case of natural disasters like Katrina or Ike. Here’s the comment, which was in response to someone else claiming this could lead to Martial Law right under our noses:

Leepil is referring to Posse Comitatus. It is not part of the Constitution but is a well established part of US Federal Law, going back to 1878 - after the Civil War.
Wikipedia: “Posse Comitatus Act”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act
The Bush White House in their usual style goes about asking neo-Fascist lawyers for an interpretation of US Laws that favors their side of the argument. And of course Congress plays right along. This is all part of the Unitary Executive which is nothing less than a plan to create a Fascist Dictatorship.
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See this article for more information on the Unitary Executive.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20060109_b …
Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense:
In America, the law is king. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.

The unitary executive doctrine conflicts with Paine’s principle - one that is fundamental to our constitutional system. If Bush can ignore or evade laws, then the law is no longer king. Americans need to decide whether we are still a country of laws - and if we are, we need to decide whether a President who has determined to ignore or evade the law has not acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government.
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See also the “Federalist Society”. It’s no surprise that belonging to the Federalist Society has been a pre-requisite for getting a job in the Bush “Justice” Dept.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_Society
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People, it is much later than we think. All Bush needs is a Declaration of a State of Emergency. That “emergency” could be a war, or a financial crisis, or a natural disaster, or civil unrest. In which case he will declare himself to have Dictatorial Emergency Powers. I sometimes think that this is why Congress is so afraid to stand up to him.

In fact we are already living under various States of Emergency. Bush declared a state of emergency after 9/11. He used those powers to declare “enemy combatants”, and to violate the FISA laws. The Federal Reserve had to declare a financial emergency to beg

in lending money and acquiring private corporations. Under its normal charter, it is not authorized to do that. And now we have US military, fresh from a brutal war in Iraq, that will be patrolling our streets!

I’m not saying any of this is what’s actually going on, and I don’t want you to think I’m “reporting” in any official capacity that this is legitimate. But as Americans, patriots, who’s ACTUALLY watching our backs? Does anyone else get the sinking feeling that either we really aren’t go

ing to have an election, or that it doesn’t matter who wins the election? 

Look at the facts: Obama is a charismatic and dynamic speaker with leadership qualities that people admire. I won’t bring up race issues, but I think America has grown up enough that that’s not as big of a deal as it would have been years ago. Joe Biden - I don’t know much 

about him, honestly. I think he’s a man who can stand by Obama and follow his plan. On the other side, John McCain, is old, stuck in his ways, but he’s also a bull-dog, or a rhino as I heard someone say. But his running mate is a joke. Sarah Palin? Come on. Ridiculous. I feel like this whole thing is a dog and pony show and America is just too dumb to see it for what it is. How is it, that out of a country full of hard-

working, honest, amazing leaders we couldn’t cull out anyone better than this? Why is it that if you step back, it looks like both sides of the party lines are pushing us towards Obama? Conspiracy? Maybe.

Or maybe it’s just a big show to distract us from Bush while he sets up the New Bush Order, a fascist dictatorship where we can say goodbye to voting and representation and anything else that used to make this country great. If the financial apocalypse hits, and it probably will, I wouldn’t be surprised if people didn’t riot, and Bush declares martial law before November 4th.

“Dogs and cats, living together, MASS HYSTERIA!” - Peter Venkman, Ghostbusters

Sunday, Yummy Sunday

I’ve been pretty busy here at home in the kitchen over the weekend. Friday I fell asleep (more or less passed out) on Marq and Melissa’s couch down the road, and woke up Saturday morning and came home. I realized I needed to take advantage of the weekend to get some pre-cooking done. Now that I’ve got a house payment, the money doesn’t stretch as far. I had (hopefully) gotten out of the grocery store with a month’s worth of food for about $100.

Yesterday I made some lasagne hamburger helper type stuff, and made plenty so that I’d have leftovers for lunch or dinner later. Then, I baked up 24 biscuits (3 cans worth) and two pounds of sausage (patties), and put together 11 days worth of sausage biscuits for me to take to work. Total cost was way less than buying those Jimmy Dean microwavable biscuits. I have them frozen in sandwich bags in pairs of two, so I just have to grab a bag in the morning and take it with me to work. Work actually gave us a t-shirt and a purple thermal lunch bag for Employee Appreciation Day, so now I have something to keep my lunch in when I pack it.

Today I ate my free Quaker Oats cereal bar that I got in the mail, and one of my Verve energy drinks. That is what substaniated for my breakfast this morning, unless you count my communion at church. Oh, that’s right - I forgot to mention - I went to the Methodist church this morning around the corner from my house (gas is killing me right now) and it was pretty cool. It was apparently World Communion Day or something like that. I went up to the front of the church with about 1/4 of the people and kneeled along side of this rail thing. They gave me bread and handed me one of those communion shot glasses. Then we stayed kneeling while the leader prayed, and then went back to our seats. They also had a greeting time, where they said “Extend peace to those around you,” and people came around and some said “Good Morning, nice to meet you, etc.” and some said “Peace be with you,” so I thought of Dane Cook and I said “And also with you.”

I’ve been watching a lot of cooking shows, and trying to find the simplest and easiest recipes. I realize now in retrospect there’s a lot of things I wish I’d bothered to ask my Mom to teach me to cook before I left the house. She taught me a lot still, but occasionally I come up with things I want to know. For example, yesterday I realized hey, I have eggs, bread, milk, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, flour, sugar, and salt. I think that’s all I need to make French Toast. I looked up some recipes and realized I could use some Hawaiian Sweet Bread to make it even more awesome and thick.

The French Toast I made was amazing. Especially amazing for the first time I’ve ever made them. I cut them really thick, used the recipe to get the ingredients in proper proportions, and then I drowned the sweet bread in the custard (egg mixture) and threw it in a hot pan long enough to brown both sides. Here’s how they turned out (Click Photo to view Full Size):

Get Off Your Butt and Register to Vote

Tuesday is it for many of you. You have to have your voter registration in the mail and to the board of elections by your registration deadline, or you don’t get a say in America’s future. My friend posted this video on MySpace, and I thought about several of my friends who I’ve heard say “this election is bull****, both candidates are going to ruin this country.” They are pretty sure they’re not going to vote. Watch this video, and please, please, please, go register to vote and then ACTUALLY VOTE.

“Caribou Barbie” Sarah Palin Loses VP Debate

I said a while back I wouldn’t put forth any clearly political blog posts… well, I’ve turned hypocrite (or maybe liar, at least) and have decided to renig on that promise. Today I sent an emailed Letter to the Editor at the newspaper in the town where my job is, because the town where I live really doesn’t have much in the way of newspapers. So here’s the letter I sent:

Dear Editor,

Joe Biden clearly won the debate on Thursday against Sarah Palin. Palin did a great job giving her canned and well-rehearsed answers, but she was ridiculously condescending in the way she refused to answer questions asked by the moderator. While it may seem cavalier and bold to do so, she showed complete disrespect for the moderator and the purpose of the debate.

Palin’s talking points all seem like a retro-rewind of the same-old same-old we’ve had from the Bush administration for eight long, insufferable years. Calling pulling our troops out of Iraq “a white flag of surrender” is not only a mud-slinging scare tactic, she’s basically puppeting John McCain from last week. We heard nothing new here, and getting our boys out of harm’s way is in no way a failure, especially if we do it correctly, turning power over to the Iraqi people.

I’m sick of all the talk about huge tax cuts on corporations. It’s not punishing them for being successful, as many will claim. It is also not, as John McCain would have us believe, to keep them from moving business over seas. Taxes alone are not what makes doing business in America a great thing. It would be exponentially expensive for major corporations to move their entire operations off-shore to save on taxes.

What’s important is what Biden said about the middle-class driving America. We are the ones who make America go. We drive trucks, we sweep floors, we serve your food, we answer your calls for help, we defend this country and it’s freedoms. It’s not a Robin Hood take from the rich and give to the poor situation. It’s not being foolish and giving the wealthy a break but leaving Joe Blue-Collar to struggle.

People complain Obama doesn’t have enough experience to be President. I say, he doesn’t have the years of corruption and indebtedness to lobbyists and PACs to influence his decisions. Yes, he’s got big ideas and not all of them will be able to be done with the budget he’ll be working with. But now, more than ever, people need to vote with their heads and not just their hearts, and not just for whoever’s the most popular in the news. Check your facts, know what’s real about the issues. Don’t vote for Obama just because he’s about “Change you can believe in” and don’t vote for John McCain just because he’s not Obama.

It is time for a change, America. We don’t need four more years of the same old song. Let’s be the America we were meant to be, the best country in the World, the *United* States of America.

see Sarah Palin pictures

Promote Your Web Site with Network Solutions

Internet marketing is not a simple science. You have to understand things like web trends, search engine  optimization, social bookmarking, social networking, forums, blogs, google analytics, and the subtle nuiances of ad placement and demographic targeting. You’re running a business. Do you really have time to bother with learning all that? You practically need a degree in internet marketing to be successful with your web site on the internet.

If you’re not interested in doing all that by yourself, wasting hundreds of dollars on books and webinars and training courses, or maybe you just don’t have time to handle your business’ marketing online, why not let professionals who have been doing it for years help you? Network Solutions has been in the internet business for a long time. You’ve probably heard of them at some time or another. They used to be the only place to go to register internet domain names.

Network Solutions offers more than just domain names, they have hosting and most importantly to you (since you already have a web site) they know how to market web sites successfully. They work closely with Google Adwords and Yahoo keywords to help you place targeted ads and their Pay-Per-Click system brings you customers right when they’re ready to buy!

Paying per click means the traffic you receive to your web site that you’re paying for should only be highly-qualified leads from Network Solutions and their affiliates. Let’s face it, other advertising and internet marketing programs can generate traffic, but how much of that is quality traffic? Probably not a lot. Get authentic visitors and let Network Solutions’ web site promotion services help you convert those visitors into sales.

Eat, Drink, or Die: Thomas McMuffin

Today while surfing around the intertubes at work, I found this awesome web site - it’s like Food Network meets Video Blogging. They have regular chefs and shows, just like any other cooking network, but the hosts are awesome and the food they make isn’t always something fancy.

Case in point: my favorite simple recipe I saw today is Jon and Vinny’s “Thomas McMuffin” - their take on the famous breakfast food, the McMuffin, using Thomas English Muffins. It’s dead simple, and you probably have some form of the ingredients available at your house (unless you’re me, and you don’t really eat English Muffins all that much).

The best part of Eat, Drink, or Die is that the community can vote on each video - “Delicious” or “Die.” They have recipes for vegetarians and vegans, as well as meatatarians like me. Check out Jon & Vinny’s “Two Dudes,” “Tastes Like Home Cooking,” and Chris Wilson’s “Comfort Food” series.

Save Money Buying Your Glasses Online

It’s a pretty big stereotype that a lot of geeks wear glasses. Well, count me in - I usually don’t wear mine during the day, I have contact lenses that suit me just fine. But my glasses were chosen on purpose: they are cheap, plastic crappy frames and cheap, plastic, crappy lenses with no add-ons because I honestly don’t wear them enough to spend a lot on them.

If you’re a frugal shopper and reading this blog, you probably already know how to use the internet to find the best deals. I’ve heard of this site before, but had only recently actually seen it - Zenni Optical sells frames and lenses at dirt cheap prices! They’re able to sell you the lowest price eyeglasses available because they skip the middleman and sell you only the glasses they manufacture themselves, and they rely heavily on customer satisfaction and word of mouth because they have almost no advertising budget.

This company was mentioned on the Clark Howard show: apparently the basic pair of prescription glasses costs around $8. The shipping time may vary and some of the commenters on the show’s page talk about how they couldn’t access the site, it appears to timeout a lot even for me now. The commenters also say that the quality for the price is outstanding. I’m tempted to make this where I buy my next pair of prescription glasses, and maybe a pair of sunglasses, too!