Sen. John McCain: ‘Mission accomplished’ banner not Bush’s fault

Posted on May 1, 2008 | Comments Off on Sen. John McCain: ‘Mission accomplished’ banner not Bush’s fault

From the AP: Sen. John McCain says President Bush should not be held responsible for the much-criticized “mission accomplished” banner five years ago, but he should be blamed for bungling the early months of the Iraq war. So, The Buck stops where? Not at the desk of the current President.

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I guess Sen. Obama must be doing something right

Posted on April 30, 2008 | Comments Off on I guess Sen. Obama must be doing something right

Because of his former pastor, Sen. Obama is getting hit from all sides. At this time, April 30th, 2008 8:30pm EST, nearly ALL the stories in Google News Elections are all about him. A few choice headlines:

I could be mistaken, but doesn’t this mean he’s doing something right? I mean, he is the Democratic Front runner and he’s being hit from all sides. Seems to me like he’s the one the other Presidential candidates need to worry about, not the Rev. Wright.

Seems to me that Sen. Clinton’s use of a GOP tactic by Osama Bin Laden in an Advertisement is a lot more impact to me than anything Rev. Wright is saying.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Black Horse And The Cherry Tree” by KT Tunstall from the “Eye to the Telescope” Album. Video here on VH1’s site.

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USA Today: “More U.S. troops battle foreclosure”

Posted on April 25, 2008 | 1 comment

Great. On top of fighting for our country, our soldiers have to worry about losing their homes. From the article: “The Army as a whole has seen an increase in soldiers and families seeking assistance for mortgage foreclosures,” says Army Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb, an Army spokeswoman, citing data from branch legal offices trying to advise soldiers.

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VOTE REPUBLICAN

Posted on April 24, 2008 | Comments Off on VOTE REPUBLICAN


VOTE REPUBLICAN
Originally uploaded by S.D.
Over the Top?

The GOP really needs to vette their candidates better. From USA Today:

SOUTH BEND – Tony Zirkle, Republican candidate for 2nd District congressman, said he is willing to talk to any group that invites him, and that’s why he addressed a weekend gathering in Chicago of the American National Socialist Workers Party. The occasion was a celebration of the 119th anniversary of the birth of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

You can’t make this up! You can see what I think is a photo of him addressing the Nazi’s here. Wow…

The photo on the right is a political sticker I photographed in the Village. While I think the sticker is over the top, maybe Tony Zirkle can use it in his campaign?

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley from the “St. Elsewhere” Album. Video here on VH1’s site.

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This has to be a Gag…

Posted on April 22, 2008 | Comments Off on This has to be a Gag…

File this under “They must be kidding…”

Seen on the news: “Obama’s Glider Diner Breakfast on eBay”

Apparently, someone grabbed Sen. Obama’s plate with the half eaten food on it.

Best part: The auction has “ALL PROCEEDS GO TO HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT!!!!”

It’s just weird. I bet Sen. Clinton’s campaign is thinking “Please Don’t!!!”.


Music I’m listening to right Now:
I Don’t Wanna Be In Love (Dance Floor Anthem) by Good Charlotte from the “Good Morning Revival” album.

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Stubborn Telemarketers…

Posted on April 19, 2008 | Comments Off on Stubborn Telemarketers…

When a Telemarketer calls (Despite my being on the F___ing DO NOT CALL LIST…) I try to be polite. The person on the other end is just trying to earn a living and likely not having a good time calling me up at home. I mean, Lets face it: Does anyone grow up and say “I want to be a Telemarketer Phone Operator!!”?

Usually the call goes something like this:
Telemarketer: “Hi! can I speak to the Man of the house??”
Me: “(sigh) Who’s calling?”
Telemarketer: “I’m Kevin and I’d like to speak to you about your Gas Grill!”
Me: “Hi Kevin, How’s it going today?”
Telemarketer: “Um, I’m good! I’d like to tell you how you can save money…”
Me: “Yeah, That’s great. Please remove my number from your list”
Telemarketer: “Um, OK..”
Me: “Great! Take care! Bye!”

They NEVER remove my number from their list.

That being said, I just got a call at 5:30pm today on Saturday that the gentleman just would NOT get off the phone. It’s rare that I have to hang up on someone, but I sure had to today. Despite saying two times that I’m not interested, and to remove my number from their list, he just kept going. After saying twice “I’m not at all interested” I just ended up with “OK, I’m hanging up now, bye“. I half expected him to call me back!

These calls have been increasing lately. The MOST annoying is the Automated “Heather in Account Services, calling re your credit card account” nonsense that has hit our answering machine 3 times this week alone. I’ve actually hit “1” and try to get the name of the company, but the best I get is “We’re From VISA!”. I’ve written about it back in January and I seriously think it’s a phishing scheme to get my Info and or credit card number.

I have wonder: Do people really give their Credit Card info over the phone to a stranger who calls? I’ve never been interested in anything people try to sell over the phone, but even if I was, I’d tell them to mail me something and I’ll send it back.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“New Soul” by Yael Naim from the “Yael Naim” album. You can see the video on VH1.com here.

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A Misleading headline?

Posted on April 19, 2008 | Comments Off on A Misleading headline?

WREG-TV in Memphis, Tennessee’s CBS television affiliate, is running a story labeled “Law Enforcement Crackdown on Terrorists“. Trouble is, other than the headline, it doesn’t look like “Terrorists” were actually arrested.  Methinks they are trying to go for Hype, not substance. Wouldn’t that be a first for a “News” outlet??

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Battlestar Galactica – The Ties That Bind

Posted on April 19, 2008 | Comments Off on Battlestar Galactica – The Ties That Bind

Episode 3 was interesting. I’ve always enjoyed the writing on the series (series that concentrate on effects and NOT the story don’t last) and the Final season is not disappointing. In this episode, not much happens with most of the crew, but lots of things happening in the background with the Cylons (all of them), Starbuck and the government. See spoilers after the break.

Also, you can see full episodes online at scifi.com here.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“The Taste” by Five For Fighting from the “The Battle For Everything”

Continue reading →

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The BBC Asks: “Innocent photographer or terrorist?”

Posted on April 17, 2008 | Comments Off on The BBC Asks: “Innocent photographer or terrorist?”

Saw this on reddit.com: “Innocent photographer or terrorist?”

The article has some scary stories of people being harassed by the police for taking public photos. (You need a license for the camera in the UK?!?)

This is a growing trend in many countries as well as here in the US: Treating Photographers as “suspicious” for just snapping photos. To make life more entertaining, The Metropolitan Police in UK has launched a campaign that has a poster with the text:

“THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TAKE PHOTOS EVERY DAY. WHAT IF ONE OF THEM SEEMS ODD?“

Wow, a great Question! But What defines “ODD”? Am I “Odd” for taking a photo of an obscure Box with a Cable in Times square?
How about this one in the Subway at 34th st??
Or my personal favorite The Brooklyn Bridge ate night?

Surely I was up to no good when taking that photo, right? That campaign poster will likely generate hundreds of calls just when tourists take photos of National Landmarks at night.

At what point does vigilance become outright paranoia? I don’t think harassing photographers is going to make us any more secure. Mind you, I’m all for the Police doing their job (BTW After getting stopped on the sidewalk by both the NYPD and the Secret Service, I have to say, both were Very polite and professional) , but encouraging the public to be suspicious of Photographers is foolish.

Here in NYC, we have the “If You See Something, Say Something” program. I wonder when they’ll take the extra mile and encourage people to harass photographers such as myself?

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Suspicious Minds” by Fine Young Cannibals from the “Fine Young Cannibals” Album. Seems appropriate.

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How to photograph fireworks

Posted on April 17, 2008 | Comments Off on How to photograph fireworks

A friend of mine is going on vacation where there will be Fireworks so she asked me how to take photographs of them. In looking into it, I found this really good tip page at Digital Photography School. Very good reading and advice that I’ll try to follow on July 4th.

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