tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102533322024-02-28T09:14:18.815-05:00NOMMO: New Stories of RA the movieMy personal journal chronicling the pre/production/post-production of the teaser trailer for "Nommo: New Story of RA."
<a href="https://smartflix.com/?ct=af225893"><img border="0" src="http://smartflix.com/banners/affiliate_120_090_af225893.gif" alt="SmartFlix.com How-To DVD Rental"></a>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-19744278242609109512012-01-17T01:01:00.003-05:002012-01-17T01:07:00.087-05:00Asian kid beat down by racist White kids...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="background-color: white; color: black;"><div style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: red;">So Screwed up </span></span></div><br />
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</div>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-63567081535219360952011-12-24T15:35:00.000-05:002011-12-24T15:35:30.915-05:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: red;">Racism as Design in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Design</span></span></b><br />
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<embed bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="file=http://dimewars.com/GetSecureVideo.aspx?BCMEDIAID=be8a2d86-7a29-444c-b32d-16cb49c97bbf&autostart=false&allowScriptAccess=true&shuffle=false&linkfromdisplay=true&linktarget=_blank&usefullscreen=true&rotatetime=5&logo=http://www.dimewars.com/MediaShare/dwlogo_embed.png&backcolor=0x000000&frontcolor=0xffffff&lightcolor=0xC10505&streamer=rtmp://ec2-67-202-18-233.compute-1.amazonaws.com/securetoken" height="344" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="http://dimewars.com/flashmedia/secureflvplayer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425"></embed><br />
<div style="text-align: center; width: 425px;"> <a href="http://www.dimewars.com/video">For Hip Hop News & Entertainment</a> at DimeWars.Com</div><br />
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</div>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-15723977216007902292011-09-30T23:48:00.001-04:002011-10-01T00:20:56.501-04:00Forgotten History Lessons....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Mostly if not completely unknown facts of history on maters of race that have probably formed the foundations of today's social strata.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yxskSMgbhGU" width="480">&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RovEVXS13Q8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/iframe&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</iframe><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yxskSMgbhGU" width="480">&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MTYn1WRCuoU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/iframe&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</iframe><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pAljja0vi2M" width="480"></iframe></div>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-19709612802981229032011-08-05T11:49:00.000-04:002011-08-05T11:49:34.098-04:00Just flat out funny...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="256" src="http://www.funnyordie.com/embed/a71d4bb3a0" width="384"></iframe><br />
<div style="font-size: x-small; margin-top: 0; text-align: left; width: 384px;"><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/a71d4bb3a0/black-best-friend-with-casey-wilson" title="from Funny Or Die, Casey Wilson, manasewitsch, whetzell, Betsy Koch, and BoTown Sound">Black Best Friend with Casey Wilson</a> from <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/caseywilson">Casey Wilson</a> <iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?app_id=138711277798&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.funnyordie.com%2Fvideos%2Fa71d4bb3a0%2Fblack-best-friend-with-casey-wilson&send=false&layout=button_count&width=150&show_faces=false&action=like&height=21" style="border: none; height: 21px; overflow: hidden; vertical-align: middle; width: 90px;"></iframe><br />
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</div>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-77883313564126226112011-07-09T09:44:00.000-04:002011-07-09T09:44:10.093-04:00More Funny Stuff for Now...<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" height="256" id="ordie_player_e147f3eb3c" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="key=e147f3eb3c" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed width="384" height="256" flashvars="key=e147f3eb3c" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" src="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" name="ordie_player_e147f3eb3c" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br />
<div style="font-size: x-small; margin-top: 0; text-align: left; width: 384px;"><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e147f3eb3c/obama-i-m-a-dick" title="from Funny Or Die, James Davis, Owen Burke, Alex Fernie, and ellhoof">Obama: I'm A Dick!</a> - watch more <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/" title="on Funny or Die">funny videos</a></div><br />
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<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" height="256" id="ordie_player_7836326dd7" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="key=7836326dd7" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed width="384" height="256" flashvars="key=7836326dd7" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" src="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" name="ordie_player_7836326dd7" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br />
<div style="font-size: x-small; margin-top: 0; text-align: left; width: 384px;"><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/7836326dd7/field-of-dreams-2-nfl-lockout-with-taylor-lautner" title="from Taylor Lautner, Ray Liotta, Dennis Haysbert, Ray Lewis, Tony Gonzalez, Shawne Merriman, Marielle Jaffe, Antonio Cromartie, Marshall Faulk, Kirk Morrison, Steve Smith, Shaun Phillips, Rich Eisen, Dwight Freeney, DeSean Jackson, Funny Or Die, Eric Appel, Alex Fernie, Ryan Perez, christiansprenger, BoTown Sound, and Kevin Costner">Field of Dreams 2: NFL Lockout with Taylor Lautner</a> from <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/taylor_lautner">Taylor Lautner</a></div>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-31743369507523740402011-04-18T20:15:00.000-04:002011-04-18T20:15:53.098-04:00I felt it necessary to post this...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Something funny that will make you think, especially when you watch it from beginning to end:<br />
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<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" height="376" id="ordie_player_4f5d2f4e82" width="448"><param name="movie" value="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="key=4f5d2f4e82" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed width="448" height="376" flashvars="key=4f5d2f4e82" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" src="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" name="ordie_player_4f5d2f4e82" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br />
<div style="font-size: x-small; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; width: 448px;"><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/4f5d2f4e82/while-i-was-away" title="from thejdspot">Girlfriend Doesn't Realize Boyfriend is on Vacation</a> - watch more <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/" title="on Funny or Die">funny videos</a></div><br />
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</div>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-59231628244720912522011-03-08T00:17:00.000-05:002011-03-08T00:17:01.647-05:00I'm not sure whether I should be impressed or totally creeped out...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It's more than mildly annoying to see people developing these kinds robots alongside artificial intelligent developments from other companies like Watson from IBM without really discussing the implications of self-aware computers. Even though I like technology stff like this tends to creep me out. See for yourself: (vids)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/uzwK02OYrTk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/snB24BHw1mw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/cFVlzUAZkHY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>I guess to me it seems logical that some scientists/programmer/engineer will want to put an AI like Watson into one of these and that's where the whole Terminator scenario eventually becomes possible.<br />
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</div>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-37025363151872843682011-02-16T19:52:00.001-05:002011-02-16T20:02:48.681-05:00Totally Kick-Ass small scale 3D cinema (Real 3D not gimmicky stereoscopic stuff)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Okay these are kick ass, but mostly I'm posting them for my own record keeping needs as they'll get completely buried in any watchlist I might have.<br />
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</div>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-24349097839595174002011-01-31T12:31:00.000-05:002011-01-31T12:31:07.413-05:00Hollywood as it is...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="body0"><br />
<em>Written by Joel Stein, published in the Los Angeles Times, December 19, 2008</em><b> </b><br />
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<b>A poll finds more Americans disagree with the statement that 'Jews control Hollywood.' But here's one Jew who doesn't.</b><br />
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I have never been so upset by a poll in my life. Only 22% of Americans now believe "the movie and television industries are pretty much run by Jews," down from nearly 50% in 1964. The Anti-Defamation League, which released the poll results last month, sees in these numbers a victory against stereotyping. Actually, it just shows how dumb America has gotten. Jews totally run Hollywood.<br />
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How deeply Jewish is Hollywood? When the studio chiefs took out a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times a few weeks ago to demand that the Screen Actors Guild settle its contract, the open letter was signed by: News Corp. President Peter Chernin (Jewish), Paramount Pictures Chairman Brad Grey (Jewish), Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger (Jewish), Sony Pictures Chairman Michael Lynton (surprise, Dutch Jew), Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer (Jewish), CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves (so Jewish his great uncle was the first prime minister of Israel), MGM Chairman Harry Sloan (Jewish) and NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker (mega-Jewish). If either of the Weinstein brothers had signed, this group would have not only the power to shut down all film production but to form a minyan with enough Fiji water on hand to fill a mikvah.<br />
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The person they were yelling at in that ad was SAG President Alan Rosenberg (take a guess). The scathing rebuttal to the ad was written by entertainment super-agent Ari Emanuel (Jew with Israeli parents) on the Huffington Post, which is owned by Arianna Huffington (not Jewish and has never worked in Hollywood.)<br />
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The Jews are so dominant, I had to scour the trades to come up with six Gentiles in high positions at entertainment companies. When I called them to talk about their incredible advancement, five of them refused to talk to me, apparently out of fear of insulting Jews. The sixth, AMC President Charlie Collier, turned out to be Jewish.<br />
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As a proud Jew, I want America to know about our accomplishment. Yes, we control Hollywood. Without us, you'd be flipping between "The 700 Club" and "Davey and Goliath" on TV all day.<br />
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So I've taken it upon myself to re-convince America that Jews run Hollywood by launching a public relations campaign, because that's what we do best. I'm weighing several slogans, including: "Hollywood: More Jewish than ever!"; "Hollywood: From the people who brought you the Bible"; and "Hollywood: If you enjoy TV and movies, then you probably like Jews after all."<br />
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I called ADL Chairman Abe Foxman, who was in Santiago, Chile, where, he told me to my dismay, he was not hunting Nazis. He dismissed my whole proposition, saying that the number of people who think Jews run Hollywood is still too high. The ADL poll, he pointed out, showed that 59% of Americans think Hollywood execs "do not share the religious and moral values of most Americans," and 43% think the entertainment industry is waging an organized campaign to "weaken the influence of religious values in this country."<br />
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That's a sinister canard, Foxman said. "It means they think Jews meet at Canter's Deli on Friday mornings to decide what's best for the Jews." Foxman's argument made me rethink: I have to eat at Canter's more often.<br />
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"That's a very dangerous phrase, 'Jews control Hollywood.' What is true is that there are a lot of Jews in Hollywood," he said. Instead of "control," Foxman would prefer people say that many executives in the industry "happen to be Jewish," as in "all eight major film studios are run by men who happen to be Jewish."<br />
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But Foxman said he is proud of the accomplishments of American Jews. "I think Jews are disproportionately represented in the creative industry. They're disproportionate as lawyers and probably medicine here as well," he said. He argues that this does not mean that Jews make pro-Jewish movies any more than they do pro-Jewish surgery. Though other countries, I've noticed, aren't so big on circumcision.<br />
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I appreciate Foxman's concerns. And maybe my life spent in a New Jersey-New York/Bay Area-L.A. pro-Semitic cocoon has left me naive. But I don't care if Americans think we're running the news media, Hollywood, Wall Street or the government. I just care that we get to keep running them.<br />
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- Joel Stein, LA Times<br />
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-stein19-2008dec19,0,4676183.column" target="_blank">http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-stein19-2008dec19,0,4676183.column</a></div></div>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-88892801875815132772011-01-07T12:50:00.001-05:002011-01-07T13:16:12.631-05:00TRON movie and Jeff Bridges' faces? (SPOILERS)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://u1.ipernity.com/17/51/07/9805107.225c385b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="http://u1.ipernity.com/17/51/07/9805107.225c385b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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(I suspect a lot of people that wanted to see the movie already have, but for those that haven't and don't like spoilers this is your second "Turn Around" marker)<br />
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Okay, while there were things I liked about the movie as a whole the Tron tech, vehicles and the overall aesthetic sensibilities that are the core of what TRON is about in terms of describing life inside of a machine for man was updated with justice for the most part I thought There was one thing that was just major thorn in my side watching the movie, what was up with the Jeff Bridges digital double? I knew when I saw some behind the scenes snippets on TV and he had old school markers on his face instead of using the Mova method it was going to look bad, but I didn't think it was going to look that terrible. Even though a lot of ImageMovers work looked a little suspect while they were still operating I still feel like had Disney not shut them down they would have done an exponentially better job on the performance capture work for this film given the opportunity.<br />
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With the face capture work as it is knowing they were using markers I didn't realize that they would just "Put it out front" as much as they did. I guess I figured that maybe the decision to go the fast cheap way with the markers for face capture was because they weren't going to use it much or maybe they were using it to animate an imperfect villain copy of the main character within the machine which could have been interesting, but Disney used the face marker capture material far too much knowing that it looked bad and I guess that's almost the most disturbing thing at least that's what has me posting about it. It wouldn't have be bad if there just wasn't another way to do it, but there is and several better methods are in use regularly so you have to chalk it up to Disney's incompetence and/or poor taste. The most disturbing thing for me is looking at Disney, in this industry, at the precipice of the performance capture era owning the first studio to pioneer this method and having seen the success of Avatar and Gollum in LOTR and Kong in King Kong they still shutdown ImageMovers Digital and then did a movie with A LOT of really bad performance capture work. <br />
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After seeing the story I thought it would have been cool to use Mova captured face anim. for the real world young version of Jeff Bridges and the markers for the character "Clue." Even if that didn't look great, considering direct Human to Human CG will almost always encounter the a large fail in the uncanny valley it would have looked a LOT better and it would have visually carried a lot more weight on the story end. <br />
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From the story standpoint I really liked the idea of TRON being a separate entity, being evil and still being kick ass. I was hoping they would bring back the original helmet at the end just for nostalgic purposes, but it seemed irritating that they chose not to show TRON's face at the end. (I guess in my mind I was like, "Oh and now at end of the journey you just discovered that the the face capture stuff looks like shyte and you embarrassed? WTH?" <br />
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I don't want to sound completely negative, because like I said there were some really nice things in the movie that helped it out considerably.SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-67247543477700382442010-11-30T22:00:00.001-05:002010-11-30T22:01:40.444-05:00And now for something a little different Some cool videos demonstrating the artistic tool competence of the iPad <br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y0GbXuZ2LPc?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y0GbXuZ2LPc?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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<object height="295" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OgTcyjzXfTg?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OgTcyjzXfTg?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br />
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And a well produced documentary that I wish would get more attention...<br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pAljja0vi2M?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pAljja0vi2M?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NOVJ6QwFmDI?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NOVJ6QwFmDI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/L-E4aqOs1_0?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/L-E4aqOs1_0?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bsylE79Hm30?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bsylE79Hm30?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jQEjWybFhac?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jQEjWybFhac?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-12153760398717868022010-11-25T00:13:00.000-05:002010-11-25T00:13:27.001-05:00stuff and things...So here's an embeded Youtube video from an author I've recently discovered that says a lot of things that make sense . I probably could write a discertatation on this and maybe I will one day, but for now I'm tired and I'm pretty sure video with a living heartbeat behind it is more effective then type.<br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Nj5vFl-YxaI?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Nj5vFl-YxaI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-87831344262266975832010-11-18T08:52:00.005-05:002010-11-18T09:01:09.883-05:00History Repeating Itself?Given how front and center race has insidiously become in the politics of 2010 it may be important to look into past. Kevin Phillips was Richard Nixon's political strategist and he made comments that should be pretty offensive to anyone, but ultimately Nixon won, albeit a short lived victory in the anals of history.<br />
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<div style="color: #cc0000;"><i>"From now on, the Republicans are never going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the Negro vote and they don’t need any more than that… but Republicans would be shortsighted if they weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That’s where the votes are. Without that prodding from the blacks, the whites will backslide into their old comfortable arrangement with the local Democrats."</i></div><div style="color: #cc0000;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: black; color: white;">With Bush's election after the Clinton era of extreme economic prosperity it would seem that there may have been something to this. In spite of Clinton's indiscretions most minorities were easily able to discern the weak man from his political accomplishments and saw Bush as just another hot headed, obtuse, Republican that was probably a bigot and someone that had no real ideas to get excited about. "The People" chose fiction over fact and were later emboldened by a man that unabashedly attacked people that didn't look like him without any evidence that they had anything to do with the specific terrorism that affected America. In otherwords the War declared on Iraq turned out to be international hate crime. Many Whites really didn't care about the macro-view of the decisions that were made, the loss of life even as it became clear and undeniable that there never were "Weapons of Mass Destruction" in Iraq. My guess is had it been Sweden or Finland (who had the same number of WMDs as Iraq) the American opinion of the attack would have been far different, but that's another story. <span style="color: #f3f3f3;"> </span><span style="background-color: black; color: black;"> </span><br />
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</div><div style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="background-color: black;"> Fast forward to now and it's clear that the current president doesn't indiscriminately hate brown people, has pulled the economy out of the free fall of losing close to a million jobs a month and it is now gaining 150,000 + jobs a month, Health Care Insurance companies hate the President (They loved GW Bush for allowing them to dig deeper into the pockets of the public) At least half of the voting public, vast majority being White, hate the current president. They have voted for and elected more than one candidate that has taken campaign contributions from White Nationalist organizations, made multiple racist and/or sexist comments publicly and/or privately revealing their world view. The political environment has become toxic because of this and certainly political campaigning over the last two years (from Limbaugh, Fox News, or actual candidates) has divided the country down race lines. </span> </div></div><div style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br />
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</i> </div>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-84932869551442643832010-11-04T10:44:00.002-04:002010-11-04T11:02:35.807-04:00<h1 class="page-title"><span style="font-size: small;"></span>How the Health Care Bill Will Save Us Money</h1><div class="supermitted"><span class="submitted">by <a href="http://www.economyincrisis.org/users/craig-harrington" title="View user profile.">Craig Harrington</a> on March 22, 2010 - 11:56am</span></div><div class="content clear-block">After months of heated debate and partisan rhetoric, the time has finally come. Nobody is completely happy with the health care reform bill, and many people still have their doubts even if they voiced support for the plan.<br />
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Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) had been voicing strong opposition because the bill lacked a public option, in the end however, he changed his stance in order to fight for something, anything, which looks remotely like reform. <br />
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According to the CBO, a non-partisan body organized to provide cost estimates on pending legislation, the health reform package would cost $940 billion over a ten-year span. It should be noted that this averages out to just $94 billion annually, and the program fits completely within the U.S. budget. <br />
According to the CBO projections, this bill will cover 32 million of this nation’s 47 million uninsured; bringing the national total to nearly 95 percent coverage. It will reduce the deficit by roughly $138 billion over the first ten years, and by $1.2 trillion over twenty years.<br />
Since the health care package is a fully “budgeted” item, it does not really cost the U.S. anything. Unlike the wars and bailouts, which are largely non-budgeted, the sources of funding for this legislation have already been lined out.<br />
Since the proposal is already budgeted, the costs are a non-issue. Instead, we must focus on the savings. By implementing this program, which is hopefully just the first in a series of comprehensive reforms, the U.S. will see average savings of $13 billion per year for the next ten years. If we simply follow this program for twenty years, without more progressive updates, we will save nearly $120 billion each year on average.<br />
Under the previous system private insurance would virtually bankrupt the economy within twenty years. Under the revised system we can begin to contain those growing costs.<br />
Republicans, and their conservative media cohorts, have already questioned the validity of the CBO estimates. Stopping short of actually calling the CBO liars, the editorial board of <i>Investor’s Business Daily</i>, instead implicates that the Democrats intentionally misled the government’s best economists. The column then proposes that, without any data to back up its claim, the real cost is 166 percent higher. <br />
Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio) stated on <i>Fox News</i>, that the CBO score was a ”fallacy” at the very least. <br />
The Democrats, according to him, are simply lying about the figures. The Democrats are trying to steal from the public, and the rich, and defy the Constitution.<br />
Basically, other than making baseless personal attacks, the Republicans have little real opposition to speak of.<br />
The fact of the matter is, this country is horrendously in debt. One reason for that debt is the fact that our government had no way of keeping medical costs down. <br />
Most countries have universal coverage, it works smoothly, people pay taxes, there is no fleecing of the rich, and there are no horrible evil underpinnings.<br />
The bill's passage demonstrates that Washington is willing to do something other than collect endorsement checks from corporate interest groups.<br />
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<h1 class="page-title"><span style="font-size: small;">(found at <a href="http://www.economyincrisis.org/">http://www.economyincrisis.org</a>)</span> </h1><h1 class="page-title"> What is the CBO? <span style="font-size: x-small;">(from Wikipedia)</span></h1>The <b>Congressional Budget Office</b> (<b>CBO</b>) is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_federal_agencies" title="List of United States federal agencies">federal agency</a> within the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress" title="United States Congress">legislative branch</a> of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government" title="United States government">United States government</a>. It is a government agency that provides economic data to Congress.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Budget_Office#cite_note-0">[1]</a></sup> The CBO was created as an independent nonpartisan agency by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Budget_and_Impoundment_Control_Act_of_1974" title="Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974">Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974</a>.<br />
With respect to estimating spending for Congress, the Congressional Budget Office serves a purpose parallel to that of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Congress_Joint_Committee_on_Taxation" title="U.S. Congress Joint Committee on Taxation">Joint Committee on Taxation</a> for estimating revenue for Congress, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_the_Treasury" title="United States Department of the Treasury">Department of the Treasury</a> for estimating revenues for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_%28government%29" title="Executive (government)">Executive</a> and estimates required for the Congressional <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_process" title="Budget process">budget process</a>. This includes projections on the effect on <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt" title="National debt">national debt</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Budget_Office#cite_note-1">[2]</a></sup> and cost estimates for legislation.<br />
Section 202(e) of the Act requires submission by CBO to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_the_Budget" title="United States House Committee on the Budget">House</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_Committee_on_the_Budget" title="United States Senate Committee on the Budget">Senate</a> Committees on the Budget periodic reports about fiscal policy and to provide baseline projections of the federal budget. This is currently done by preparation of an annual <i>Economic and Budget Outlook</i> plus a mid-year update. The agency also each year issues <i>An Analysis of the President's Budgetary Proposals</i> for the upcoming fiscal year per a standing request of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_Committee_on_Appropriations" title="Senate Committee on Appropriations">Senate Committee on Appropriations</a>. These three series are designated essential titles distributed to <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_depository_library" title="Federal depository library">Federal Depository Libraries</a> and are available for purchase from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Government_Printing_Office" title="United States Government Printing Office">Government Printing Office</a>. CBO also prepares reports and issues briefs and provides testimony often in response to requests of the various Congressional Committees. It also issues letters responding to queries made to it by members of Congress.<br />
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_House_of_Representatives" title="Speaker of the House of Representatives">Speaker of the House of Representatives</a> and the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_pro_tempore_of_the_Senate" title="President pro tempore of the Senate">President pro tempore of the Senate</a> jointly appoint the CBO Director, after considering recommendations from the two budget committees. The term of office is four years, with no limit on the number of terms a Director may serve. Either House of Congress, however, may remove the Director by resolution. At the expiration of a term of office, the person serving as Director may continue in the position until his or her successor is appointed.<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>In short the CBO is a budget evaluation board created within the constitution, in 1974, to make non-partisan projections about budget costs. My problem is that Republicans dismissed the CBO as if they were Moe and Joe from the local pub and dismissed the reports as if they were cooked up over the weekend by Democrats when in fact the board is comprised of Republicans and Democrats. The Republican projections used were in fact cooked up over a weekend, as I recall, and they feel that those are "Accurate." (no surprise there to me) It's pretty obvious to me that there's a fundamental distrust of President Obama because he's Black (i.e. "There's no way this can be true since it came from a Black guy.") </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>There's NEVER been a congress that just outright scoffed at the projections of the CBO publicly. Just as importantly there's never been a President that's been as attacked personally on such a large scale. A picket poster displaying Obama as an African tribal warrior in a less than heroic stance at more than one Tea Party rally(that's not even the half of it.)</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Tea Party organizers never call any of these individuals out and tell them that the Tea Party movement isn't a race propaganda movement. The posters/pickets continue to show up...really it's not about race? </b></span><br />
<h1 class="page-title"> </h1><br />
</div>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-82639146621768416522010-10-26T22:11:00.003-04:002010-10-28T14:37:23.593-04:00What's with the Political stuff?Ok, this is a blog/journal about science-fiction/fantasy stories, but also science-fiction/fantasy stories many times are used as metaphorical constructs of the real world often times making social commentaries on the state of the world or the world viewed from one perspective at the time the stories are created. Science-Fiction/Fantasy looks at the for what is and what it could be at least most good science-fiction/fantasy does. If you look at <i>Lord of The Rings</i> the recurring motif of the story is the idea of people supporting other people that they typically would not support against the evils of absolute power, lust, greed and selfishness. Another recurring motif is the realization that the barriers standing between people are artificial and in all cases detrimental to everyone involved. Most people don't see fantasy/science-fiction in this way and that's good, because no one wants to be preached to and feel judged it's also bad because people tend to view the ideas presented as overly idealistic or naive and then go back to their highly discriminatory or "Sheeple" way of life multiplied by millions of brains enacting what is in fact the real socialist/facist agenda that's been in place since the inception of this country on a day to day basis.<br />
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What I mean by all of this is that it's not just minorities that are discriminated against...and people know what I mean when I describe these things like "If you're not blond enough..." or "If you are blond you must be...", "If you are blond and have big boobs, you absolutely must be...", "If you're 'attractive' you must be..."(not going to mention that if you have a heterogeanous population you can't have one stnadard of beauty, but America does because helps certain people, or you're "Not 'Smart' enough...", "Not thin enough...", "Not conservative enough...", "Not trendy enough..." you get marginalized or even targeted for social extermination that's really the definition of socialism and facism because there's one group that exclusively doesn't get marginalized in this kind of way and it's W.A.S.P males. Seriously, W.A.S.P males the same people that have been getting a pass since the drafting of the Constitution...if you don't fall into this category you could get lumped into a stereotype and painted with a big ass bull's eye tomorrow. I can't believe there are still women that accept the trophy wife role. <br />
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Here's more racism within politics being paraded around as "Anti-PC." Brown Latinos better watch their backs in Nevada the Teabaggers just keep getting the green light to discriminate indiscriminately. I truly hope Sharon Angle doesn't win. She just seems like a total headcase that shouldn't be in charge of anything more that Sunday school scheduling.<br />
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Tea Party Racism at it's best:<br />
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The level of blatant racism that's been unleashed to the general public is definitely driving me batty, but I'm sure I'll be back after the election, regardless of the results.<br />
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A look back to two years ago and the beginning of the Tea Party movement where the familiar "Obama is a Muslim", "Obama is not a US Citizen" rhetoric began. Undeniably racist origin.<br />
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<object height="400" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LDxuykiU0sY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LDxuykiU0sY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="400"></embed></object><br />
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<object height="400" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XSFfEcj3uFY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XSFfEcj3uFY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="400"></embed></object>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-43378224444693487092010-10-09T15:09:00.000-04:002010-10-09T15:09:49.866-04:00What has President Obama accomplished so far?(Consider this a baby viral as I picked it up on another website.)<br />
<a href="http://answerology.com/index.aspx/question/2869837_So-what-all-has-Obama-done-since-he-took-office.html">What has President Obama done so far?</a><br />
<h1 class="qasummary">So what all has Obama done since he took office?</h1><span id="intelliTxt">I'm sick and tired of people asking "What has Obama done?" So here's a list of things he's done since he's been in office. Remember: He was elected President. He wasn't elected Jesus! The list is still growing. Let me know if I missed anything. <br />
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1. Saved the collapse of the American automotive industry by making GM restructure before bailing them out, and putting incentive money to help the industry. <br />
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2. Shifted the focus of the war from Iraq to Afghanistan, and putting the emphasis on reducing terrorism where it should have been all along. <br />
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3. Relaxed Anti-American tensions throughout the world. <br />
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4. Signed order to close the prisoner "torture camp" at Guantanamo Bay. <br />
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5. Has made the environment a national priority, and a primary source for job creation. <br />
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6. Has made education a national priority by putting emphasis and money behind new ideas like charter schools, but speaking directly to school children in telling them they have to do their part. <br />
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7. Won the Nobel Peace Prize. <br />
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8. $789 billion economic stimulus plan. <br />
(Obama put $789B into the US/ Bush put $800B and tons of American blood into assassinating Saddam Hussein to settle a personal vendetta)</span><br />
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9. Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court. <br />
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10. Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles. <br />
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11. Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans. <br />
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12. Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military 20 years after the Cold War to a more modern fighting force. this includes new procurement policies, increasing size of military, new technology and cyber units and operations, etc. <br />
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13. Better body armor is now being provided to our troops. <br />
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14. "Cash for clunkers" program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulates auto sales. <br />
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15. Changed the failing/status quo military command in Afghanistan. <br />
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16. Closed offshore tax safe havens. <br />
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17. Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan. <br />
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18. Ended media "blackout" on war casualties; reporting full information. <br />
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19. Ended previous policy of awarding no-bid defense contracts. <br />
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20. Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules. <br />
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21. Ended previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now realizing hundreds of millions in savings. <br />
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22. Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations, and reports. <br />
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23. Ended previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions. <br />
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24. Ended previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs; the new policy is to promote in-sourcing to bring jobs back. <br />
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25. Ended previous policy on torture; the US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with the Geneva Convention standards. <br />
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26. Ended previous practice of protecting credit card companies; in place of it are new consumer protections from credit card industry's predatory practices. <br />
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27. Ended previous "stop-loss" policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date. <br />
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28. Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources. <br />
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29. Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient. <br />
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30. Established a new cyber security office. <br />
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31. Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children. <br />
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32. Expanding vaccination programs. <br />
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33. Families of fallen soldiers have expenses. <br />
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34. Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research. <br />
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35. Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools. <br />
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36. Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters. <br />
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37. Improved housing for military personnel. <br />
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38. Improved conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other military hospitals. <br />
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39. Improving benefits for veterans. <br />
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40. Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants.) after years of neglect. <br />
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41. Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program. <br />
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42. Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel. <br />
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43. Increasing student loans. <br />
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44. Instituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return "home" to visit loved ones. <br />
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45. Limited salaries of senior White House aides; cut to $100,000. <br />
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46. Limits on lobbyists' access to the White House. <br />
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47. Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration. <br />
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48. Lower drug costs for seniors. <br />
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49. Making more loans available to small businesses. <br />
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50. Many more press conferences and town halls and much more media access than previous administration. <br />
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51. Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals. <br />
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52. New Afghan War policy that limits aerial bombing and prioritizes aid, development of infrastructure, diplomacy, and good government practices by Afghans. <br />
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53. New federal funding for science and research labs. <br />
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54. New funds for school construction. <br />
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55. Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending. <br />
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56. Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices. <br />
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57. Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren't even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan. <br />
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58. Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. <br />
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59. Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic. <br />
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60. Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research. <br />
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61. Renewed loan guarantees for Israel. <br />
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62. Restarted the nuclear non-proliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocol s. <br />
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63. Returned money authorized for refurbishment of White House offices and private living quarters. <br />
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64. Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had been neglected for years; reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy. <br />
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65. Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program. <br />
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66. States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards. <br />
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67. Students struggling to make college loan payments can have their loans refinanced. <br />
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68. Successful release of US captain held by Somali pirates; authorized the SEALS to do their job. <br />
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69. The FDA is now regulating tobacco. <br />
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70. The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010. <br />
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71. The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying. <br />
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72. The "secret detention" facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed. <br />
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73. US financial and banking rescue plan. <br />
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74. US Navy increasing patrols off Somali coast. <br />
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75. Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office. <br />
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76. Improved relations with Iran. <br />
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77. Improved U.S. policy on climate change. <br />
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78. Set timetable for exiting Iraq (already started removing troops). <br />
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79. Improved relations with Russia. <br />
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80. Improved relations with the Islamic World. <br />
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81. Made progress towards grater cooperation on limiting nuclear proliferation. <br />
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82. Economic stimulus plan has created jobs. (Unemployment rate decreasing). <br />
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83. Drastically slowed down the recession. <br />
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84. Saved Wall Street. <br />
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85. Passed the Lilly Ledbetter Act (equal work for equal pay). <br />
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86. HEALTHCARE REFORM. <br />
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87. Forced the arrogant General Stanley McChrystal to resign and replaced him with the more competent General David Petraeus. <br />
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88. Ended the Iraq war that Bush got us into like he promised and formulated a plan to keep an eye on things there with 50,000 troops. <br />
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By the way, the recession ended in June 2009. I'm sorry to the job situation didn't improve overnight, but he stated that it would take awhile. John Boehner and Mitch McConnell aren't helping matters; neither are Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, or any of those Tea Partiers. <br />
<br />
Once again, this is a lot to accomplish in such a short amount of time. He was elected President, he wasn't elected Jesus. </span>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-26824484672084234512010-06-09T13:52:00.003-04:002010-06-09T14:17:19.470-04:00BP and it's history...Dan Lawn ProfileBp's history of egregious atrocities against nature and free nation's economies goes all the back the the freaking Exxon Valdez. Bp was actually in charge of the safety of the drilling site/pipeline of the Valdez. There was one engineer that attempted to expose them prior to the spill to no avail.<br />
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<a href="http://library.thinkquest.org/10867/spill/people/lawn.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://library.thinkquest.org/10867/spill/people/lawn.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 284px; width: 198px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">An environmental engineer who worked on design and construction of the Valdez Marine Terminal, Dan Lawn joined the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation as one of the first inspectors of terminal and tanker operations. He was the first regulator notified the night the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef. For over ten years before the spill, Dan documented the failures of the oil industry to prevent spills and to adequately prepare for clean-ups, and warned the state about the potential for a major disaster in Prince William Sound.</span><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;"> For his efforts, Dan was harassed, intimidated, and wrongfully demoted by the state. Finally, in December 1996, he won a decision from Alaska's Supreme Court ordering ADEC to reinstate him to his former duties overseeing the Valdez Marine Terminal. He is now represents ADEC at the Joint Pipeline Office's Valdez office. </span><br />
<a href="http://library.thinkquest.org/10867/spill/people/lawn.shtml"><br />
-Dan Lawn -</a><br />
<br />
<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/U4kly6TynvA&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U4kly6TynvA&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-67403801470713702902010-02-16T22:28:00.003-05:002010-02-16T22:37:34.918-05:00Recovery Act is Working...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1hyRLVAHkqZuP5p822Zguoq-qkRa2YqLL6gsSm_DHKsuqt-RHKBjxihNKizBod77ZCGQQ9fNkkcaD6ss6MClL_8Rx1t_ZBx231kULpKQPJvRqWm7qOia4dSaPOFlOK2vs5FHRg/s1600-h/021610_roadtorecovery.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1hyRLVAHkqZuP5p822Zguoq-qkRa2YqLL6gsSm_DHKsuqt-RHKBjxihNKizBod77ZCGQQ9fNkkcaD6ss6MClL_8Rx1t_ZBx231kULpKQPJvRqWm7qOia4dSaPOFlOK2vs5FHRg/s200/021610_roadtorecovery.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439051031780125394" border="0" /></a><br />...Contrary to popular belief the Obama plan is working, but if you've been watching the news you already know that the rate of jobs lost per month has dropped dramatically (800,000 per month at the end of Bush era and now somewhere around 60,000 per month.) Bailing out banks allowed multiple billion dollar corporations to not collapse. It's nice to see a graphic with the shrinking job loss numbers.SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-47004772588962020302010-02-16T21:03:00.006-05:002010-02-16T21:21:56.631-05:00"Fly on the Wall" Healthcare conversation...So I had a conversation with someone that initially said that they didn't believe that a Public Option would be helpful and that a Physician's association would be best suited to make decisions for the masses. That the reformed Healthcare system should be modeled after the Veteran's Administration healthcare system and that stringent regulation of existing healthcare without opening the the geographic boundaries of Healthcare competition/coverage is the answer. I couldn't disagree more with most of that, but it does seem like, as for how we both view the current Healthcare system and what a working healthcare insurance industry would look like, we're on the same page. It seems like we're interested in a similar or the same destination, but are interested in two different sets of directions to get there. She would not give me permission to re-post what she said, but here are my two statements on the issue just to give a bit of a fly on the wall perspective on where HealthCare Insurance reform needs to go:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">It seems like we agree, in essence, on 90% of our opinion on the current state of US health insurance system. The one thing that I'm more than willing to accept that maybe you aren't is that there's no "For Profit" insurance provider that will A.) Allow Doctors to determine needs without extreme pressure to do what the insurance companies want {Look at what they did with the attempting to roll back mammogram testing through a completely valid Medical Association} and B.) There's no "For Profit" Health Insurance company that will even attempt to run their company like the VA there's a high enough profit margin in it for them. Additionally even if doctors were to run the system there will be an organizational structure, probably with a profit agenda, that will look and operate like a health insurance company, just called something else. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Understanding these things is what informs me that a Public Option is really the only efficient way forward to keep private insurers honest, pop their overinflated profit margin balloon and balance the cost of MediCare which insures the oldest people in need of the most and most expensive health care. My major problem is that abortions, lip augmentation, Botox injection, breast implants and other completely elective procedures should not be covered under a "Public Option" and those things have been included previous Acts. With a Public Option broad interstate rights for Insurers only helps, because they won't be able to charge 3X the rate of the Public option and they'll be forced to find new ways to differentiate themselves. That could mean medical transportation or, membership to more exclusive exercise clubs, or heavy discounts on expensive, but fresh organic produce. It's just a better outcome.</span><br /><br />(Cont'd)<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Like I said I think we are in agreement on a lot of things. I just don't know that a board of physicians, that are used to getting paid hundreds of thousands if not millions per year in some cases and enjoy "Rock Star" social status are the best group of people to put in charge of health care in the U.S. They have all kinds of reasons to make all kinds of decisions that aren't necessarily always in the best interest of patient care and we already see that happening now. Just as importantly again, organization of an AMA sponsored Healthcare system is going to look like insurance AND in all likelyhood would be outsourced to the same former private insurance companies that are leeching millions of people every year now. Hospitals that are run by Physician's associations locally in many areas where I live have already had management service reigns handed over to "For Profit" entities creating the same kinds of problems that existed before and worse so there's no reason for me to believe that that's not how a national medical association would handle ownership of national health care insurance. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I would prefer to roll the dice with smart people that get paid well, but still live in the real world receiving the same benefits for themselves and their families mediating some portion of the decision making. From my standpoint having a Public Option introduces all of the regulation that's necessary. For private insurers the only mandate they could have is to provide health care that people don't feel cheated by or whither away which is radically different from current mandate of "Take as much as you can." </span>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-8165397166934688052009-09-15T20:34:00.005-04:002009-09-17T08:51:46.312-04:00What no one is saying about Healthcare......Ok so occasionally I break from the norm of adding materials supporting the projects I working on to express an opinion or show something I think is interesting. This is one of those times and harsh words are used.<br /><b>BE WARNED!</b><br /><br />Just as a primer on the Health Care component of this check out the map below and compare the total per capita cost of health care pending in the US versus ANY other country on the map:<br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2009/08/health/map.health.global/index.html">CNN Comparison Map</a><br /><br />You might also want to compare governmental investment in Health Care in all these places and make the correlation between that and the cost of health care in the world and it's pretty clear to see what's going on as far as overpriced health care in the US.<br />_______________________________________________<br />In order to get into this I'm going to have to layout some background information just because I've found that a lot of people really just have no clue about what's going on as afar as the breakdown of the national budget. If you already know this stuff you can easily skim the info and move on.<br /><b>(There's a movie link at the bottom which is a first hand interview of an American living the Czech Republic and his experience with healthcare originally posted online from another artist )</b><br /><br /><i> Disclaimer: Okay, part of the YouTube user's name is pothead so, many may feel like the info he dispenses is of questionable value...which would be understandable. He also calls the procedure he had an UltraSound which is clearly not right since those are mostly used to look at unborn babies. What he had was probably a lipotripsy. BUT there is still some good general information to glean from this.</i><br /><br />First...this is definitely a conversation about the national budget as much as it is about the US health care system and we're talking about TRILLIONS of dollars. Generally, I've found that many people tend to believe that programs like National Welfare absorb significant portions of the budget.<br /><br /><b>FACT:</b> Welfare accounts for about <b>.00016%</b> of the <b>national budget</b>.<br /><br />Conversely, I've also found that a lot of people have, for whatever reason, decided that a number of other "Wasteful" expenditures which they generally can't name are responsible for our Ginormous budgets and national debt.<br /><br /><b>FACT:</b> <b>Social Security</b> is <b>BY FAR</b> the <b>largest budget</b> item on the US budget list. Social Security accounts for 50%-60% national budget and probably 70% of the national debt. National Security is between 12%-18% of the national budget the last time I checked. MediCare/MedicAid is responsible for something like 80% of the Social Security bill.<br /><br />I posted all of that just to basically try to start to put things into perspective. Most people will immediately say "What the Hell?" How did MediCare/MedicAid get so big in the first place...and more importantly what exactly is MediCare/MedicAid?<br /><br />MediCare/MedicAid is U.S. sponsored health insurance for citizens over the age of 65. In other words it's health insurance for medical patients that require the most medical care and the most expensive medical care. Some people might even have the obtuse opinion that states something like this "Cut those old frickers loose, They're holdin us back!" There are some elected officials whose opinions are fairly close to that, but I'll dig deeper on that a little further down. The reason why it's critical to get Social Security fixed NOW is because the Baby Boomer generation, the largest age group in the country, are about to collectively turn 65 over the next couple of years. Even with the smaller age groups up to this point Social Security has brought the U.S. economy to it's knees. If something doesn't change the U.S. will come out on the other side of "Baby Boomer" MediCare FUBAR'd (fucked up beyond all recognition) We really shouldn't want to be in that position. <br /><br />Here's the thing many democratic government officials are thinking but won't say...health insurance is pretty profitable if you don't have to cover old people which is where private Health Insurance has taken up exclusive residency at this point. The idea is that if the government can get elders out of the Medicare system that make a $250,000 plus per year that can easily afford their own private insurance, add some younger healthier people that require less care and bring some more profitability to government health care insurance roles and cut out out some ineffective medical policies that cost tons of dough without producing tons of results they can resolve the looming Social Security Budget Crisis by making government health insurance solvent. By introducing a public option they can bring down the cost of private health insurance/health care by creating a health care insurance company that operates WAY BELOW the 300%-1000% profit margins that private insurance companies enjoy now. A public option would also allow the government to hold the health care industry accountable for success and failure rates and use that as additional leverage in negotiating better pricing (at least for those in the government plan which would be a lot.) Private insurers will be forced to cut their profit margins and aggressively negotiate for lower medical costs instead of just cutting services/options for insurance holders.<br /><br />So one thing you might ask is "This makes perfectly obvious sense what's everybody screaming about?" As promised earlier I said that some people might have the obtuse opinion that states something like this "Cut those old frickers loose, They're holdin us back!" and that there were some elected officials whose opinions are fairly close to that right? Well here it is, Republicans basically have no interest in making the current MediCare/MedicAid system solvent, they want to blow it up and push all elderly citizens into the private health insurance sector. They want to provide vouchers which represent a fraction of medical care expenses that would be covered by MediCare/MedicAid. With the way private insurers operate this is the way you want to go if you want to reduce the U.S. population QUICKLY. If you want to hear about massive deaths and genocide conspiracy theories for the next 50 years because of something like this voucher plan than it's the way to go. Republicans have been trying to destroy MediCare and MedicAid for YEARS. You might ask "Well, the Republicans had the presidency, the House and the Congress majority for the better part of 8 years why didn't they do this then?" The simple answer is that self-preservation rules strongly in all of these parties. Destroying MediCare/MedicAid years ago would have destroyed many republicans political careers, so they are content to try to do this while the seated president is a Democrat so that they can eventually shift blame. If this isn't the first bill that's voted on and it lasts until the next election and Republicans loose more seats, or Massachusetts seats an interim congress person before the next actual election it could be a moot point and the the new Health Care plan could get pushed through without any Republican support.<br /><br />My personal feeling on this is that the Obama administration needs to keep pushing this, <b>BUT</b> again start the rumbling of a smaller bill that would allow the legal import of Canadian prescription medications sooner. I think he should have pushed this first, because it would have easily made it through the voting process and it probably could roll through just as easily now as well. Legalizing cheaper meds from Canada would have an immediate positive impact on those that need them and it would give all concerned a segue into actually researching a "Single Payer" government run health care system and it's benefits. Personally, I could care less about the "Public Option" eventually possibly turning into a single payer system even though I don't think it will happen as long as private health insurance companies run their businesses honeslty. Legalizing Marijuana FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES ONLY is also something that could possibly help win the Health insurance battle, most Doctor's agree that for a couple of conditions it's proven to be the most effective pain reliever available and going State by State creates more problems than it solves.<br /><br />Right now most people are disgusted with the way health insurance works and their ever shrinking options with insurance that they pay copious amounts of money for and it's just a hot button topic. Unless some very clear improvements are delivered quickly many will assume that it will only make things worse. It's unfortunate that a lot of people either don't remember or choose to ignore how much better health insurance was before the Bush administration was installed.<br /><br />American Living in Czech Republic Video<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3mL2gGQIc1w&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3mL2gGQIc1w&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-37310454223062081072009-08-10T11:46:00.004-04:002009-08-10T11:52:54.419-04:00Small steps...<a href="http://www.ipernity.com/doc/allusionists.studios/5269402"><img src="http://u1.ipernity.com/11/94/02/5269402.454ea2b3.240.jpg" alt="Poster by Butch007" border="0" height="165" width="240" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.ipernity.com/doc/allusionists.studios/5269405"><img src="http://u1.ipernity.com/11/94/05/5269405.e0bfec08.500.jpg" alt="Low" border="0" height="500" width="358" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.ipernity.com/doc/allusionists.studios/5269403"><img src="http://u1.ipernity.com/11/94/03/5269403.ae6a294d.500.jpg" alt="Front BW" border="0" height="500" width="358" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.ipernity.com/doc/allusionists.studios/5269528"><img src="http://u1.ipernity.com/11/95/28/5269528.a38a06fb.500.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Serval Rough Render" border="0" /></a>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-55455422399939737072009-05-27T00:14:00.003-04:002009-06-05T15:53:01.937-04:00In an effort to keep things moving along...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs43/f/2009/146/5/a/OUTLAW__Another_GrindHouse_Pro_by_Butch007.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 1000px;" src="http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs43/f/2009/146/5/a/OUTLAW__Another_GrindHouse_Pro_by_Butch007.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />While not related to Nommo or the Gliese 581 project this is a creative endeavor. I was messing around with so graphic design ideas that really have intrigued me for a while and came up with this.SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-73189211840851778742009-03-28T22:16:00.002-04:002009-03-28T22:21:49.276-04:00Hard times...I saw this post reposted on another website I frequent and I think it's good to have it here, for myself as well as those that stop through here. [Granted things area little different for minorities, BUT there's still A LOT of valid info here for everyone that takes on the concept of "Deferred Gratification" as a real part of their day to day lives]<br /><br />(originally from conceptart.org)<br /><br /> Jason Manley<br /><br />-----<br /><i><br />first, you are not trapped in your situation. You can get out of any situation you want if you are willing to take the pain of doing all the things you dont want to do..the long hard way. The fruitful way.<br /><br />At seventeen I was homeless and orphaned, taking care of my fourteen year old brother who I somehow managed to keep in school. I had dropped out of school. I did two years of wasting time eventually trying to get my head on straight. At nineteen I was homeless again. Scraped together enough money to get my ass to arizona to study art. Got a temp apt to get me through to the end of the month and took a job at subway (applied all over til I found something). The subway job paid enough money to sometimes eat and pay my small studio rental. I went back to school to get my graduation and was working full time (thought I needed to graduate from HS to get into a good college). Trust me...it was fucking painful. I transferred to a community college the following year and slowly got better and better jobs. Worked telemarketing fundraising to afford a 1977 datsun and art supplies. Shittiest job ever but paid double what subway did. Worked three jobs during the summer to get caught up including going to alaska to work the salmon docks across the country. I did not give a shit what it was, if it paid for my goals to be met and didnt involve anything illegal, I did it.<br /><br />As time went on I realized I needed to arrange my priorities again. I took a night time job so I could exhaust all my energies in my art and studies. Eventually got a job at AT&T...Att this is Jason how may I help you?...I was still far behind those who had life handed to them their whole life. However, I was catching up. In time I realized it was not a chase against others but to only my own race to my goals. Kept the nose down. Chose friends who worked on art or learning always. Ignored the time wasting folk who never will amount to anything other than regular. Grew up around enough of those to realize the difference. After three and a half years I took my first art job and quit my shit job...have lived with and from art ever since.<br /><br />By the time I was 29 I had achieved every goal I had reached for when I first set out. That is when I realized it was time to set new goals...each time this happens it feels like starting over...get something done..start again...in time your life becomes what you want it to be. Even those of money have to do this if their life involves learning, skill, and growth. It is not money that holds people back...is just their own mind.<br /><br />The hard part about certain situations is not everyone is told they can do and reach their goals if they just work their ass off starting RIGHT NOW. Some know it and wont work for whatever reason. They listen to that voice that says I want to chill and watch tv or i dont feel like it. Others have addictions or mental issues keeping them from growing and learning. I didnt want to be any of that. I wanted to do cool stuff...to have an interesting life...and to work in a creative way.<br /><br />Hard manual labor growing up taught me that my mind would rot if I chose that kind of path. I wanted something to use my mind. Bored if not...and with boredom comes making trouble or distraction. Gotta turn that into work ethic...no choice. Carl Dobsky was telling me this about the atelier every day. It has to be just uncomfortable enough to make the coolest thing to do be art. If there is a blaring tv or anything else, than there are other options. Options that keep one from not working to reach their goals.<br /><br />Complacency is the womb of mediocrity. You clearly are not complacent. So do something about it in every free second of your day. All this wandering around doing not a whole lot but thinking isn't getting you much done. It is however, giving you a taste of life many others would never have the guts to explore. Just dont stay down there too long without coming up for air.<br /><br /><br /><br />Good luck,<br /><br /><br /><br />Jason<br /></i>SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-61082455158450799242008-12-08T13:39:00.002-05:002008-12-08T13:42:27.918-05:00Another small update...This is Myurene, a Golden Jackal anthro, designed by one of my co-managers in the studio. It's coming along nicely, but this will probably be the last WIP posted publicly for a while anyway.<br /><br /><img src="http://u1.ipernity.com/10/87/59/3568759.047a86ff.500.jpg" />SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10253332.post-6682244996831556832008-12-03T12:03:00.004-05:002008-12-03T12:11:50.408-05:00Small UpdateThis character is a Gemsbok Oryx anthropomorphic character (Yes - the Nommo Universe and this Gliese 581 c/d Universe will most definitely converge...)<br /><br /><img src="http://u1.ipernity.com/10/31/35/3553135.e1954aa0.jpg" />SyFyGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08579916246025411862noreply@blogger.com