I May Be Done

I'm clearly not updating and have lost my passion for politics. I may be done. It's been great, though. 3 years, lots and lots of hits. Crazy. If anyone wants to become a "Team member" and post here yourself, let me know. Otherwise, I'm sure I'll update on rare, rare occasions, but for now let's assume it's on hold.

Thanks everyone.

~Libro

Balloon Boy?

What the hell was that, really. And live video feed? Are you out of your mind?

Obama Honeymoon Over?

That was the title of an article I saw on my phone, yesterday. I ask then:

Who cares?

Really, at this point, who cares whether or not their is an irrational love for Barack Obama. Those that like him will like him, those that don't will not, and the media - which many believe completely reshape the public focus on a president - usually only reports based on public mood. Though admittedly the media has too much power shaping opinions, at this point those that watch the news have split off into their own partisan news cycle. MSNBC and Fox News aren't exactly likely to change their reporting styles any time soon.

So no, no one cares. Why people insist on reporting about this during 24 hour news cycles is beyond me.

PLR Stuff

One of my current projects is to write PLR articles - PLR stands for private label rights, and essentially for $1.00 per article, someone gets access to 10 articles about a particular topic, and they can reprint those articles in a blog, newsletter, etc., in order to have content to post on their websites.

Since this blog is focused on politics, this may be of little value to most visitors, but if anyone has interest in having one of these packages created for a particular topic, I can probably create the PLR articles for it. Here is an example of what the packages look like, and writing samples can be found on the main page. I can also write PLR for politics if someone believes they will need it.

Note that with PLR, about 50 copies are sold of each. The main purpose of these types of articles are to be:

a) Blog Filler
b) Rewritten to be original content

So keep that in mind. Let me know.

What is the Point of This?

Brinks/Broadview home security (I think that it is name) is a strange system. Once an alarm goes off, the call you to make sure things are okay.

We had that in my house about a half dozen years ago. The alarm went off, and it may have been someone breaking in, so we ran into a nearby room. The alarm continued on and on and on. Finally we turned it off after like 5 to 10 minutes.

Nothing happened.

No police showed up, no nothing. That night, we checked our phone messages and there was a message from our security service saying "We heard that your alarm went off and are checking to make sure everything is okay." Well, NO, it wasn't. What the hell is the point of that message? If I were shot, or dead, or being attacked, what makes them think there is any way I could call for help? Who in the world answers their phone when someone is breaking in and why is not answering the phone an acceptable outcome?

I don't get it. When you watch those commercials, the alarm in the house goes off, and suddenly the guy breaking in decides to run away, giving the lady time to answer the phone. If I knew she had Brinks home security, and I was there to attack her, I would simply attack her - because Brinks does nothing unless you tell them, via the phone, that you are in danger. And if you have time to tell them that you are in danger, chances are you are not in much danger at all.

HE COULD STILL BE ALIVE!

Though he'd be 110. So I doubt it. Still:

But the skull fragment the Russians dug up outside the Führerbunker in 1946 could never have belonged to Hitler. The skull DNA was incontestably female. The only positive physical proof that Hitler had shot himself had suddenly been rendered worthless. The result is a mystery reopened and, for conspiracy theorists the tantalising possibility that Hitler did not die in the bunker.

Also, for fun:

The autopsy also reported that Hitler, as had been rumoured, had only one testicle.

Random Thought

- When the economy was crashing, wages started getting cut, and people were forced to take jobs that were of lower pay, making it hard to pay their bills.

- The unemployment rate in America is based on surveys of the number of people actively searching for work.

- In many families, a family member was working while the other was staying at home to raise the kids.

- Lower paying jobs for that working family member requires that the other family member go back to work in order to live more comfortably.

Is it possible that the unemployment rate can increase not because jobs aren't available, or because people are being laid off, but because more people need to find work in order to pay their bills?

wut

Linda E. McMahon, who has presided over the sprawling World Wrestling Entertainment empire as its chief executive, announced on Wednesday that she was seeking the Republican Party nomination to challenge Senator Christopher J. Dodd next year.

Okay, why not. Not quite as funny as Vince McMahon running for president but then what is, really.

When King County Doesn't Run Washington State

Title from the Seattle Times:

Superior Court judge rejects challenge to R-71

A judge has cleared the way for a public vote on expanded domestic-partnership benefits in Washington state.

For the last decade or so, Seattle has pretty much single-handedly run Washington State. The entire eastern half of the state is as conservative as Idaho, and the bottom half is borderline full red.

Soon, once again, the rights of domestic partners will be up for a vote. Once again they are trying to take very important rights away from couples that will need them in an emergency. And once again, it seems, it will be up to King County to make sure that doesn't happen.

It's annoying, but it seems to happen every year, and every year carries the same doubt. Does King County - especially Seattle - have enough voters to carry the rest of the state?

Washington state pretty much has nothing if Seattle/King County were not located here. Spokane is barely in Washington (and may as well be part of Idaho), and most other small towns do not have the resources to support themselves. There is nothing wrong with Seattle essentially deciding each election, but every time this occurs it is hard to believe that it will happen again next year. It is a spot on the map competing with the rest of the giant state. Hopefully, once again, King County leads the way.

Woah - When Did the Stock Market Get So High?

The market is up at 9310 at the end of the day. It was not long ago where it seemed like it would never reach 1,000 again, and there it is at the cusp. Very cool. I wish I had bothered investing. If I had invested in Starbucks when I planned on it I'd be at double my money right now, but stupid Sharebuilder isn't fun to use and I decided against it. Boo.

Ted Kennedy Passes

I'm happy he held on this long. Even those who hated Ted Kennedy had incredible respect for him - it was often their respect for him that led to their hatred. That says a lot about a person.

Take care, Senator.

Baseball Quote

As a Mariner fan, I appreciated this:

“Chicks who dig home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me,” he said. “I think there’s sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I’d rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength. Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out.”

h/t USSM

What? I Didn't Update???

What's wrong with me. I thought I did, twice. Weird. Maybe I need to get a team together to post on this website more often.

I want to take a moment to discuss how the economy has impacted the freelancing lifestyle. I have been able to support myself for well over a year by freelancing. Essentially, I make more money than most people do for less work, but unlike full time jobs, any day I could not have work and I make no money. So while I make more per hour, I also run the risk of having no work and not making a dime. All in all, it evens out in the end.

When the economy crashed, everyone worried about whether or not I'd have any work - if people can't afford to pay for the things they need, why would they dish out money to pay high priced freelancers what they can get for free from their employees that they are already paying. This turned out not to be the case. In fact, the work seemed to increase, as layoffs left people (and companies) needing to find people to do the work for them as it was needed.

But recently that work has stalled. Why? Because all of those people that got laid off decided they no longer want to look for work. Instead, they have flooded the freelance market and are willing to make almost no money just so they can afford their bills (and because they are not sure how much their work is really worth to companies). So now, even though the economy is improving, these underbidding freelancers are actually harming the freelance economy. Essentially now, to get work, I have to get paid far less than the work is usually worth, and I STILL run the risk of not having work on any given week.

It kinda blows. I make more than enough to get by, but in a way all of these forced freelancers are lowering wages in the freelancing economy the same way people complain about migrant workers and Indian outsourcing. Hopefully the economic swing will get these people employed and things can go back to the way they were, but I won't hold my breath,

Cool, But Not Enough

More than a dozen Central Area drug dealers voluntarily walked into an auditorium full of police and prosecutors Thursday night and were presented with an ultimatum: Stop selling dope or prepare for prison.

Confronted with photos, video clips and binders full of evidence gathered in a yearlong operation along Seattle's 23rd Avenue corridor, from Madison to Jackson streets, the dealers were promised they wouldn't be arrested, prosecuted or sent to jail for 20 months or more if they embraced the job training, educational opportunities and chemical-dependency treatment being offered them.

Hooray for Seattle - combining both good law enforcement with progressive punishments. But for a city that clearly understands that drugs are not the worst thing in the world, they need to be on the forefront of legalization of marijuana and the creation of better treatment centers. It is usually a lot to ask of a city to make such sweeping changes in a short period of time, but in Seattle these things are long overdue, and the fact that the laws and practices haven't caught up to liberal values of the city is disappointing.

Should Texas Unbecome a State?

Yes.