Monday, May 31, 2010

Donations for Promise (2)

Our first month of fundraising brought in $2050 of the aprox. $3500 in donations we needed to cover her surgery. If you're able to help or help again we'd greatly apprciate it.

Her surgery went well and she is recovering. Check our Facebook page for updates from Thom.

Promise is an assist dog in need of ACL surgery, we are seeking donations to help off set the cost for her owner who is a disabled Veteran.

We also have a facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Donations-for-Promise/107878719244327?ref=mf


Wednesday, May 26, 2010

BHO & Memorial Day (Tomb of the Unknown Soldier)

[Warning: If you are easily offended by someone disagreeing with the messiah (note lower case m) aka BHO do not read any further. I wish to exercise my freedom of speech in my own blog so turn away all BHO worshipers and liberal moonbats.]

Ok, so I'm no fan of BHO and that's been clear by previous posts BUT...

There's a lot of complaining about BHO not being there to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier. And I felt like commenting on it, why not it's my blog.

Story time! I went there during a 7th grade field trip to Washington D.C. and watched the changing of the guard. Even at a young age I knew the respect and dignity that it deserved as well as what it represents to USA and it's soldier's serving past, present and future. I still share that same feeling. And if you go to Youtube you'll see a video of a soldier scolding an idiot who dropped a water bottle that rolled past the chains. The idiot deserved the verbal beating but I digress.

At first I thought on boy, yet another example of his disrespect. I even thought that no other president ever missed this opportunity. Well folks if you think that's the case then you're wrong like I was. So before you cross post frothing claims that no self respecting President would miss it, read on...

A post at another blog (LINK) pointed out that three times modern day REPUBLICAN Presidents didn't attend. Lefty socialist liberals will like to know Bush missed it once and so didn't his father (blasphemy! screams the right!). And YES EVEN REGEAN! Ok! Ok! Lefty socialist liberals calm down, calm the hell down! I still think you're bloody nuts and should be shipped to Russia but that's not the point of this post.

So here's the blog post and a sensible response to BHO's absence. While I still hold him in very low regard I think on this one he'll get a mulligan. I know I'm sooooo generous :)

http://belowthebeltway.com/2010/05/26/obama-travels-to-chicago-for-memorial-day-conservative-media-freaks-out/

I would only add to the blog post that I think Biden's an idiot as well but I think for him even he'll take this seriously and consider it a high point in his single (Lets hope!) VP term.

So there, a sorta pro-BHO post...best you'll get so enjoy...

-Stephen

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Weymouth School Financial Woes...

...so last night Weymouth had a School Board/Committee meeting and there was a lot to talk about given the budget and financial short falls. I wasn't able to attend, though my wife did and is chatting about it as I type. Here's the Patriot Ledger article for the meeting:

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/education/x905415811/Weymouth-school-board-decries-catastrophic-budget-cuts

What intrigues me is something I heard a while back on WBZ1030's John keller segment titled "Thanks, Teacher Unions" and I was able to find his blog and linked it below.

Short summary: BHO's White House is handing out cash, state's need to provide proof of committment to better education and do so through documentation. Of $600 million being handed out, Mass got ZERO! Why?

Here's what John said:

"Massachusetts? Only 65 percent of eligible school districts were able to muster the required show of unity. In nearly half of the remaining districts, the local teacher union was the only no-show. Incredibly, says our application: "This level of participation represents a major step forward for Massachusetts" due to our "culture of strong local control.""

Now I'd like to know what his source was not because I don't believe him but because I'd like to know how Weymouth did. I suggest based on my experience with the Town's administration, School Administration and personal interactions that Weymouth failed to complete the work needed. And I'd bet a 6-pack that it wasn't just the Teachers Union that failed us either at least in this town.

I think John's Blog was well worded and right to the point so go read it and take his advice near the end:

"Next time a public-worker union member friend or neighbor starts giving you the business about, say, wanting relief from crushing property tax rates by questioning your concern for the greater good, ask them: "The greater good, or just your own?""

John Keller's blog, look for entry titled "Thanks, Teacher Unions":
http://cbslocalblogs.prospero.com/n/blogs/blog.aspx?webtag=wbz_keller

-Stephen

Friday, April 2, 2010

Donations for Promise

Promise is an assist dog in need of ACL surgery, we are seeking donations to help off set the cost for her owner who is a disabled Veteran.

We also have a facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Donations-for-Promise/107878719244327?ref=mf

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

New Stoves!

Warning Gear Talk! Woohoo! :)



So I finally purchased a few more toys for backpacking and included in this long list is two new stoves.

I really enjoy Tinny's website at www.minibulldesign.com

Two of his stoves are the Choke Hazard (top photo) and Bongo Pro (bottom photo).

Both are extremely lightweight and run on alcohol (100% methanol or yellow bottle HEET).

I'll do a more detailed review of each but so far they live up to the builders specs and expectations.

-Stephen

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Maybe it's NOT your VoIP connection...

...that is the problem...love this actual trouble ticket!

~~~
Ticket DELETEDTICKETNUMBER has been assigned to your group DELETEDGROUPNAME.
Service Type: User Service Request
Priority: Low
Summary: voip account
Notes: user says that he call other users and nobody listen to him he try in different computers and the problem continues.
~~~

Good gracious I needed a good laugh today!
-Stephen

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Nuclear Energy...

...well it's been a long time since I've posted here and I still owe a trip report from October which is about finished just have to review and post.

In any event given the recent announcement by BHO regarding Nuclear Energy I figured it was as good a reason to post as any.

Nuclear Energy for me has always been an intriguing topic that I've enjoyed reading about. I've read books and also countless articles on Wikipedia regarding the Manhattan project through today's nuclear reactors. I've read a lot about the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as the bombers that dropped the bombs. I've read a lot on Chernobyl and through a lot of the nuclear accidents. I've always been interested in the submarine programs and the extent of accidents involving both US & Soviet subs. Finally there's lot to be read about the long term storage and clean up involved. Am I an expert? No but it's a topic that I like, a lot! :)

Just a side note: While growing up I had relatives that protested Seabrook, NH's power plant and an aunt that "fondly" wrote on letters "Radiation Valley" with the nuke symbol. Though at the time I was far to young to really understand the whole picture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabrook_Station_Nuclear_Power_Plant

So when I first heard the announcement I was a bit skeptical. Yes energy is a huge issue and we have to look at all options. I feel that Nuclear isn't taboo, it should be used in some circumstances, e.g. space programs have valid uses though there are risks. Of course there's risks in all of it's applications.

There are many questions I think we need to ask, is this a good investment for the US (this is a lot of OUR money!)? Is this going to help us in the long run? Is this going to decrease our dependence on foreign oil? Is this going to decrease emissions? What about the waste?

I can't answer the first of these but let's say for the moment the investment is a good idea. Long term it will help with energy demand. Though I don't believe it will impact our dependence on foreign oil. Also, given the relatively small number of plants it will not likely have a huge impact on emissions. And the final but probably most important question is Waste. I think it's safe to say that until the basic questions regarding waste disposal, cleanup and storage are resolved this will override any benefits.

So at first blush I think I have to say that we're approaching this particular energy source from the wrong direction. I think the money would be better spent on dealing with the critical issues of waste (the end result of nuclear power) vs. building more power plants and putting our heads in the radioactive sand.

For those that have an interest in the topic and want to get a better picture of what is going on in the world regarding nuclear energy there is at least one good website that I know of. It covers many of today's issues in Europe that the US news won't cover or tell you much about. This site is certainly not pro-nuclear but I think does a good job of telling it like it is.

Bellona Foundation - Bellona
http://www.bellona.org/

I'm sure there are more sites but I've never spent the time looking for them (or at least I neglected to bookmark them!). So if you know of any please let me know, I'd like to hear your opinions on this announcement as well.

So sadly I've yet again found another issue in which I disagree with BHO on...

-Stephen