Added
From the NC PTC web site:
North Carolina is one of SIX states to limit alcohol by volume in beer to under 6%. … Help us get rid of this old-fashioned law.
Apr 302005
Apr 292005
| Scooter! You scored 53 Mood and 48 Energy! |
| You are cheery, energetic and achievement oriented. You are a hard worker and you are proud of your accomplishments. |
 |
My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Muppet Personality Test written by TheLadyEve on Ok Cupid |
Apr 252005
Your Taste in Music: |
| Progressive Rock: Highest Influence |
| Classic Rock: High Influence |
| 80′s Alternative: Low Influence |
| 80′s Rock: Low Influence |
| 90′s Alternative: Low Influence |
Not surprising at all… Interesting that the Grateful Dead were not on the list.
| You are 32% geek | You are a geek liaison, which means you go both ways. You can hang out with normal people or you can hang out with geeks which means you often have geeks as friends and/or have a job where you have to mediate between geeks and normal people. This is an important role and one of which you should be proud. In fact, you can make a good deal of money as a translator.
|
Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com
| NEAL | ||
|---|---|---|
| N | is for | Nice |
| E | is for | Earnest |
| A | is for | Arty |
| L | is for | Liberal |
| NIKULAI | ||
|---|---|---|
| N | is for | Normal |
| I | is for | Industrious |
| K | is for | Keen |
| U | is for | Unusual |
| L | is for | Logical |
| A | is for | Alluring |
| I | is for | Innocent |
| WHEALER | ||
|---|---|---|
| W | is for | Wise |
| H | is for | Helpful |
| E | is for | Extreme |
| A | is for | Articulate |
| L | is for | Luxurious |
| E | is for | Excellent |
| R | is for | Rebellious |
Apr 242005
So, this morning, I heard two of my co-workers mention an Aaron Anderson. I thought ‘huh, I know both an Aaron Anderson and an Erin Anderson’. Then I didn’t think of it again until several hours later when I look up and there is Kiegan standing outside my cube. Small world.
Standing in the airport this afternoon, I noticed that you can tell those who are fairly frequent fliers and those that are not. When queuing up for the security check point, the experienced fliers start removing belts, shoes, etc. The inexperienced fliers wait until they get to the metal detectors and x-ray machines before starting the process. They also argue with the TSA agents when they are asked to remove their shoes.
Mental note: The Au Bon Pain in terminal B of the Atlanta airport does not provide eithr napkins nor straws. Grrrrrrr…
Speaking of the Atlanta airport… why does RDU have wireless access but not Atlanta. Hmmm … lets think about this… which one is busier? Which one is a major hub?
OK, I know – Raleigh-Durham is a major scientific and technical center, but yeesh! What a lost opportunity to wire this place.
Hehe … got an email from my brother noting that he was still awaiting the final installment of my Israel trip. The weird thing is I could have sworn I wrote it already, but I went back and looked and nope… If I had access here, I’d go look at where I left off, but…
I haven’t mentioned TOC. It was a great weekend. A lot of driving though – and it was a local event.
Friday I was running late but thought ‘court isn’t until 8:30 so I’ll be ok’ just to get there and find court was actually at 8. Caught the last 15 minutes though, and that was kewl. I was a bad peer though… because I was so late, I just through on my Pelican coat over my modern clothes. Not really setting a good example there… oh well.
After court I hung around a bit and chatted with some folks. Then I drove to
Saturday, I arrived later to site then I would have liked, so I missed Anne taking Manly and Melisant. I also missed the Golden Dolphin’s meeting which I didn’t know about. Ceridwen did approach me and ask what she could tell TRMs about Wystan’s service and I said ‘If the question is what has he done, the answer is just about anything and everything he has been asked to do.’
Other then that, it was a day of relaxing and talking to people and not working. A very much needed change for me. I really had not realized just how burned out I was until recently.
I got to see
Dinner on the field with Anne and Byrom’s households was very fun – good food, good people, good conversation. Sorry Anne that I didn’t remember that commitment and sorry D’Emma for ditching on you. I owe you guys.
Sunday I again returned to the site for the baronial meeting. Wandered into a cooks meeting before hand and got to provide some input on what kitchen equipment we should and should not buy.
The baronial meeting went well – and was done in about two hours which I think is fairly quick for Windmasters.
Hung out for a bit after, then went to
This was a rough work at week – strike that – reverse it. (Anyone got the reference?) Not in so much the amount and type of work but in motivation. It was very hard for me to get going and I don’t feel that I accomplished much. Whats strange about that is when I did my report at my team meeting, it still took almost 15 minutes to cover my workstream. Hmmm…
OK, I have to say, I am really frustrated with Diary Land. I have four different support items open with them and not even so much as an acknowledgement. It really bothers me that I am a paid member and I don’t even get the courtesy of a ‘we have received your support request and will be getting back to you’ message. I am thinking more and more that I will not renew my gold membership and I will move completely to Live Journal. At this point the only thing stopping me is that I cannot get the RSS feeds from DL to work.
I must express some amusement. About 15 years ago, Jerry Brown was running in the primaries for the Democratic convention and he was preaching the flat tax. He was ridiculed and not given much respect. What’s the big word now – a flat tax.
Actually, some of my law school class mates who were ultra-conservative went to a Jerry Brown rally to heckle and came back having made donations. They said that when they actually listened, he made sense.
Apparently the moon beam ideas were 15 years too early.
Anyway, I had a ninety minute layover and typing up this entry has sucked away that time. Time to save this, hibernate my laptop and head to the gate.
Apr 212005
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Hand Grenade of Enlightenment.
Apr 182005
Your Linguistic Profile: |
| 55% General American English |
| 30% Yankee |
| 10% Dixie |
| 5% Upper Midwestern |
| 0% Midwestern |
Apr 152005
Today (the 15th of April) is the 140th anniversary of the assasination of Abraham Lincoln.
On NPR’s web site there is an audio recording of a Civil War Veteran describing where he was when he heard the news. Its a fascinating listen.
Apr 132005
Top 10 things I have done that most of you probably haven’t in no particular order:
1. Wore a powder blue choir robe and danced in the background of a drag show. It was for charity.
2. Been stopped for being drunk and disorderly by a cop who was drunker then me and my friends. (He was trying to tell us that we needed to quiet down. He also tried to tell us that the open container law had been declared unconstitutional but couldn’t pronounce unconstitutional as he was slurring his words so badly.)
3. Did a firewatch shift at High Top
4. Used a fishing net, firedoors, and a cafeteria tray to capture a bat which had gotten inside
5. Worked a PIAA (personal injry automobile accident) extrication with another EMT with the same first name. You dont know fear until the firefighter holding the Jaws of Life says ‘Neal move your right arm quick! OTHER Neal!’
6. Taken and passed three bar exams.
7. Been stuck in Egypt and unable to fly home due to a sand storm.
8. Been caught in a revolution in Greece. (And a revolution is very boring, especially for a seven year old.)
9. Met with an Israeli Supreme Court Justice in a conference room in the Israeli Supreme Court building just moments after the court had hear arguments on one of the many appeals in the Demjanjuk case.
10. Watched a baseball game in a strip club out of boredom.
Apr 122005
Before I jump into the meat of this post…
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the polio vacine.
Pretty kewl.
I have frequently described myself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal.
The other day, I commented that I am basicly a conservative at heart. That got me a riased eyebrow or two.
In law school …umm I mean graduate school… I was once in a political discussion and was asked why I was a democrat. For the record, I am not anymore – I am now unaffiliated. Though I tend to vote more democratic and to participate in th democratic primaries.
So, I have been thinking about my political beliefs and decided to list my beliefs and let you, dear readers, give me your thoughts. Some of this will be repeats.
So, without further ado…
First, I believe that 80% of Americans are within one standard deviation of moderate. On some specific issues they may lean in one direction or the other, but on the vast majority of issues most Americans are pretty moderate.
I believe that the remaining 20% are more then a single standard deviation away from moderate and that they are the most vocal and, regrettably, form the base for the two major political parties. I believe that Nixon’s comment that to win the Republican nomination a candidate must run as far to the right as possible and then, once the nomination is locked up, sprint as fast as possible to the center in order to win the general election works directly the same way, but in the opposite, for Democrats.
I believe that a truly moderate candidate cannot be elected because the extremists run the party.
I believe that had Bill Clinton been able to keep his dick in his pants, he would have been one of the better Presidents of the 20th century. Not for any one act, but because he was moderate where being moderate was the right thing to do.* Newt Gingrich has claimed that Clinton took Republican ideals and made them his own. I believe Clinton took American ideals – from both sides of the aisle (or spectrum) and made them happen for the US. (* An example of where its the wrong thing to do might be Kennedy and the Civil Rights movement. I was not around then, so I dont know what the moderate perspective of the time was.)
I believe that Ronald Reagan, while he did many good things, does not take the blame for the bad things that came out of his administration – i.e. an amazingly huge national debt – and as such is over-hyped.
I believe that Jimmy Carter was too nice a guy to have been a good president. But, I believe he is probably the best ex-president we have seen since George Washington.
I believae that most Americans are Democratic-Republicans – i.e. they adamantly believe in the systems of government we have.
I believe that every one of our soldiers is a hero, and that we do not pay them enough. I believe that teachers are in a similar situation.
I believe what occurs between my doctor and I is none of the government’s business as long as the procedure / medication is safe. And that safe is a relative term. This goes for every procedure from removing a wart to abortion.
I believe what censnting adults do in private is up to the consenting adults.
I believe the first ammendment is sacrosanct, yet I understand that there are some necessary limitations on free speach and religion – i.e. slander, incitement, human sacrifice, etc.
I believe in the second ammendment – including the first thirteen words – is also sacrosanct, yet I understand there are some necessary limitations on the right to bear arms.
I believe in strict scrutiny. In order to satisfy strict scrutiny, a law must be neither vague nor substantially over- or underinclusive. It must further an overriding state interest yet be drawn with narrow specificity to avoid any unnecessary intrusion on constitutionally guaranteed rights.
I believe in the tenth ammendment. And, I believe the federal government’s sticking its nose in the Shivo case was a blatant violation of the tenth ammendment.
I believe that we (i.e. the US government) should live within its means. If we cannot afford something, we should not go into debt to make it happen. This includes war. I believe that the contrapositive of a tax and spend liberal is a borrow and spend republican – and in that respect the parties are two sides of the same coin.
I believe that the Republican partyu in 2000 missed a great opportunity to unite the nation.
I believe that it is our duty to help our fellow man. But in a teach them to fish way.
I do not believe in one size fits all government policy.
I believe that in general workfare is better then welfare, but any rule has its exceptions. For example, I believe parents living below the poverty line should not be forced to leave their children with neighbors or family members merely because they were on welfare too long. If it is in the best interest of the child and family for that parent to continue to receivce welfare so they do not need to work three jobs and can better raise their children, then they should be allowed to do so rather then be forced into multiple minimum wage jobs merely because its been more then a set numbe of years.
I believe that in some states No Child Left Behind has done a lot to help the education of our youth. I also believe that in some states it has hurt the education of our youth.
I believe that laws of morality are ingherently unjust, unenforceable, and have no place. By laws of morality I mean things like sodomy, prohibition, etc. I do not mean things like murder. Yes, I relazie murder is immoral, but its prohibiion is universally agreed. Abortion, drug use, pornography, etc is not. They are moral decissions and belong in the realm of personal decission and conviction, not government legislation.
I believe the war on drugs is a futile endeavor. We would do better to legalize, tax and regulate.
I believe in the common law system. Judge’s make law – that is their role. All judges are inherently activist or they are not doing their job. That is the nature of the common law legal system the United States endorsed and made its own.
I believe many decissions are better addressed in the legislaturem but when the legislature fails to act, or acts unconstitutionally, it is incumbent upon the courts to act.
I believe part of the role of the courts is to protect the minority from the tyrany of the majority and the majority from the tyrany of the minority. I believe that very notion is inherent to a succesfull democratic system.
I believe the best situation we can have in the US is when one party controls the executive and the other controls at least one house of the legislative.
I believe the government needs to adopt a ‘non-compete’ clause whereby government officials, politicians, and beurocrats would be barred for working for those who they regulated and / or moniored for a period of 18 months after leaving government service. These clauses exist in civilian employment contracts and are, for the most part, fully enforceable.
I believe those that want elected or appointed office are unqualified to serve in that office. I believe that William T Sherman (you know: “If nominated I will not run; if elected I will not serve.”) is perhaps the most qualified candidate in the history of politics.
I believe that if we are going to act like ancient Rome, we should do it the right way. Not the half assed shit we are doing in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nor the whole assed shit we did in Somalia and Vietnam.
I believe we need to teach people history. (Speaking of Vietnam – what made us think we would succeed where the French failed???)
I believe our policy toward Cuba is wrong – we should engage Castro as we have done in China.
I believe those who did not give up Elion Gonzalez top be returned to his father, who had legal custody of him under international law, should be prosecuted for kidnap.
I believe I have said the phares I believe too many times… 
So, what do you believe?
