Christopher J. Arndt fights a never ending battle for truth and justice...


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Sketchy at best (oh yeah, booobs!)

Who actually does this shite?

A study in California says the average boob size is 32B. If you have this beaten put this in your profile.

And I'd like to know more about this study.

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/31/2007 02:56:00 PM | |

earth from space

I love to look at these pictures.

Labels: link dump

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/31/2007 12:55:00 PM | |

Testosterphone

From Urban Dictionary, definition 4(Verb):

To make a quick and to-the-point phone call that lasts under 30 seconds.

Twitter/Collin:

The ability to make a phone call that says everything you need in less than 60 seconds.

I live by it. So should you.

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/31/2007 12:46:00 PM | |

I love Jack Bauer, too... and hate Kim Bauer, too

I'm going to sample stuff from a blog post entitled "24 Heaven".

For those of you who don't watch the show, "24" chronicles the adventures of counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer as he suffers through a really stressful day trying to keep Armageddon from asserting itself. The show's format sets each episode as one hour of that day, hence the name.

Naturally, such a format makes "24" the enemy of credibility. For instance, it constantly asks viewers to believe that a drive across Los Angeles is a mere 15 minutes or some other ridiculous time interval that implies teleporting. And it brazenly declares that a man whose heart gives out under torture is able to return to full butt-kicking fury with only a shot of vitamin C. Or something like that.

Chronological credibility be damned.

Jack Bauer is the sort of American hero that makes Chuck Norris look like a mincing, powdered-wig Regency fop. He is a creature of natural justice with little use for due process when faced with a dire threat. He is ruthless and brutal when he has to be. He has saved Los Angeles from nuclear holocaust twice and germ warfare once (for some reason, terrorists really have mad on for L.A.; I guess they hated that Britney Spears movie, too.) by hacking, stabbing, shooting, beating, bludgeoning, torturing and decapitatingd his way through whatever terrorist group is threatening mayhem in America. What's fair is fair and what's unfair gets a dagger in the eye.

This was written in January 2006, just before the sixth season started its full swing.

His exploits -- and by that I mean his kills -- are savored by the shows fans, in part because it's usually righteous retribution when Bauer kills. The fans practically give style points, posting things like "Only one kill tonight, but that was suh-weet. Scissors to the neck, baby; that's pure money. Quality over quantity, I say." (The "24" body count can be found at www.fastandbad.com/archives/cat_jack_bauer_power_hour.php.) You wanna say that this reveals the coarsening effect of TV on the American soul? Fine, go ahead. Just don't let Jack find out... The man, however, is not impervious; he has suffered much saving the world. He was severely tortured in Season 2, and he was a heroin junkie at the start of Season 3. (Though he did get to put a bullet in his boss's brain in Season 3; what government worker hasn't wanted to do that?). Yet the greatest tragedy to befall him came at the end of the first season, when his wife died ... and his daughter lived.

The meat of this animal is Kim Bauer and her being the stupidest character on television.

Even in a land of towering villains, Kim Bauer deserves a special antipathy, not because she is exceedingly evil but because she is exceedingly stupid. Blonde and bratty, pouty and willful, she dashes from one ridiculous, self-created peril to the next.

In the first season, she was kidnapped three times in one day. One day! Three times! That might sound mighty unlikely to the rest of us, but it's not so hard in the Kimiverse. All you have to do is get the hots for your dreamboat abductor and then go running to him after you have been freed.

In the second season, she was running through the woods and got caught in the jaws of a steel trap, just like any dumb beast would. There she met her arch-enemy the mountain lion, who was chased off by a kindly, paranoid survivalist ... who then decided to hold Kim against her will so she could be his post-apocalypse mate. She, of course, escaped.

In the third season, Kim (or, as she is known at Television Without Pity, Spawn) had a safe office job at CTU but still wound up bound and gagged so she wouldn't spill the beans about a super-secret undercover mission. Unfortunately, she was freed yet again, and then decided to use her freedom to harass her boyfriend about "where their relationship was going" while L.A. was heading toward biological catastrophe. The spectre of millions dead just doesn't carry much weight in the Kimiverse when there is a commitment-phobic boyfriend to bring to heel.

Kim never really suffers from her idiocy. That's left to those around her. Her mother, her friend, her boyfriends, her employers, the girl she was nanny to -- they all have been killed, dismembered, raped or beaten. Except the mountain lion.

I suppose you could make allowances for her, given what her upbringing in the Bauer household must have been. She probably got fatherly admonishments such as "Eat your spinach, sweetheart, or I will start snapping you fingers like dried twigs." (Jack is the Rembrandt of coercion.) And when she asked her father for his advice about getting out of a sticky situation with her boss, he said, "Sweetheart, I want you to shoot him. Is he still breathing? Shoot him again." That's gotta mess with the mind a little.

Still, any sane person has got to find Kim pretty exasperating, and it's a another blot on the show's credibility that Jack treats her with patience and love. Perhaps the tenderest moment they shared was when he called her to bid farewell as he was flying to his death (or so it seemed at the time). There was much talk of love, regret and forgiveness. But it would have been so much better if Jack had said something like this: "Sweetheart, I'm flying a plane carrying a nuclear bomb into the desert where it will detonate and I will be vaporized in an instant. But I don't want you to worry; I'm going to a better place. After all, any place that is far away from you and your witless stunts is a better place. I'm doubly glad that your mother died just as you were reaching the nadir of stupidity. It spared her the pain of realizing she had raised a blithering idiot. So farewell, daughter. If only our places could be reversed; then the world could be safe from this hydrogen bomb and you, too. Frankly, I can't tell which is more lethal. But live your life, dearest, and try not to scatter too much desolation in your wake. I know that will be hard, but try. For me."

Still, every season that we are free from Kim Bauer's interference is one that I love to watch. But I'm done with 24 on television. Season 6, I mean "Day 6", broke me of that. I wait eagerly for the DVD release of "24: Season 6".

Labels: entertainment

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/31/2007 12:23:00 PM | |

Suggs - I Am

Check out this video: Suggs - I Am



Add to My Profile | More Videos

Labels: embedded media, music

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/28/2007 06:01:00 PM | |

Slavery found in Africa

I feel better when the African history professor feels free to mention the truth that the slave trade out of Africa, using human beings as slaves, treating them as property and mere commodities, and using people as mere labor, was founded in Africa by Africans.

It wasn't a bit by Europeans or a massive injustice founded by the white man as a byproduct of racism.

If you can remember that you have an intellectual place in the world; if not you are intellectually lazy and should be crushed, left to live out your days watching sitcoms, never to be righteously indignant again.

Any questions?

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/28/2007 01:18:00 PM | |

the coin is flipped...



posted by Chris Arndt at 8/28/2007 12:25:00 PM | |

Hilary Clinton versus oil companies and free market capitalism

Is Senator Hillary Clinton, the junior senator of (but not from) New York, a representative of and for American values, or is she a sort of a socialist?



She wants to take the profits from a collection of individuals (I assume that the majority of the American oil/energy companies are publicly owned) and use it for heavy-handed Big government purposes, likely headed by her.

Most Americans hate the entities with much more money. I also hold much animosity for a company that, compared to me, owns much much more wealth. But I'm also man enough to not let it motivate my actions. It's natural for people to be envious. We should not indulge in such behavior. The fact is that companies and people usually make money by serving the people what the people are willing to pay for. Even if there is something more than vaguely unfair, or seemingly unfair, about the situation, there is nothing American about taking what doesn't belong to you "for the public good" just because you don't like someone.

Labels: anti-Hilary, politics

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/27/2007 09:18:00 AM | |

death wears a bikini



posted by Chris Arndt at 8/22/2007 11:15:00 PM | |

I already lived by this code

And I didn't need anyone to tell me it beforehand: the Code.

Labels: entertainment, link dump, politics

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/21/2007 01:07:00 AM | |

Ted Nugent on logic, the law, and the border

Labels: politics

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/19/2007 07:21:00 PM | |

some believe I don't have a plan

I have a plan.

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/19/2007 07:11:00 PM | |

Medved uplifts Huckabee

I like Mike Huckabee and don't see much of anything to hold against him.... except for that one thing sitting with his knees crossed just outside the range of my memory.

Michael Medved holds up the number two winner in the Ames Straw Poll.

There are only two things that truly bother me in his arguments. The first is the continuance of the notion that former Senator Fred Thompson has had a "long delay in entering the race". Considering that this "race" seemed to begin a mite early, the 2008 election cycle candidates have mostly began their campaigns in early Febuary or January 2007, one could suggest that entering a bid for the Presidency in late 2007 is an apropriate time to enter the race. The other candidates started early and as a result I am nearly sick of hearing their names and efforts and I'm sure that I am not the only one. It's better that at least one contender jump into the ring closer to the actual year the election will be in, lest a bad prescedent be set. It may be good for professional candidates and soulless campaign professionals to have the next set of campaigns begin virtually the day after the last election ended, but I am not so sure about the good of the country.

The second is the use of the name of Reagan.

Huckabee spontaneously deploys the warmth, humor, gift of gab, accessibility and kindness that we haven’t seen in a GOP Presidential contender since Reagan.

Perhaps it is an overuse of Ronald Reagan's name. Perhaps the Party suffers for taking President Reagan and using his name as a technical term, a unit of measurement, and a heavy hammer of expectation. Notice how I over-use the Gipper's name? That's how it sounds to me to have a thousand pundits summon for his return, his next incarnation, a hundred times over. It's fine to compare a new candidate to the last great President but it certainly cannot help anybody to hold him towards expectations that no one can live up to. There will never be another Ronald Reagan and I would not want there to be. If a Mike Huckabee is good for this nation, let's have that. If another Calvin Coolidge is good for this country, let's have that. If someone brand new comes in but he happens to be Fred Thompson, or shake me to the bones, Mitt Romney, how can that hurt? Will the needs of this country be met by an unexpected quality from the next leader in the future? One can only hope.

Labels: politics

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/18/2007 03:50:00 PM | |

Governor Granholm is getting sued

Governor Granholm is the recipient of a federal lawsuit filed by the Thomas More Law Center because of her discriminatory practices.

The Governor currently allows private citizens to use the Office of the Governor website to submit a petition posted on the website addressed to Michigan's legislature leaders to lift Michigan's legal restrictions on stem cell research.The lawsuit was brought on behalf of three pro-life organizations, the Lansing Guild of the Catholic Medical Association, Flint-Area Right To Life, and Right To Life - Lifespan, after the governor refused their request to place a petition to the legislative leaders on the Governor's official publicly funded website, opposing efforts to lift the ban on embryonic stem cell research.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, "Governor Granholm's decision to use public funds to discriminate against citizens who disagree with her on the issue of stem cell research violates our clients' constitutional rights of speech, association, equal protection, and petitioning. Her support of embryonic stem cell research demonstrates a callous disregard for human life."

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Lansing, seeks a declaration that Granholm's policy violates the constitutional rights of those citizens who were denied equal access to, and use of, the website, as well as injunctive relief ordering Granholm to cease discriminating against citizens based on their views about legal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research in Michigan.

She is discriminating against opponents of one of her own public policy ideas and arguably violates the first amendment.

Labels: politics

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/17/2007 01:40:00 PM | |

so you want to goto college?

• Michigan State University StuInfo
• MSU Schedule of Courses
• Michigan State University WebEnroll

Labels: Michigan State University

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/16/2007 04:44:00 PM | |

Michigan State University academic calendar

DATES ARE TENTATIVE
	Fall Semester 2007	Spring Semester 2008	Summer Semester 2008
			Full Session	Session One	Session Two
Classes Begin	Mon, 8/27	Mon, 1/7	Mon, 5/12	Mon, 5/12	Mon, 6/30
Martin Luther King Day University open, classes cancelled		Mon, 1/21
Holiday-University Closed	Mon, 9/3				Fri, 7/4
End of Tuition Refund	Thu, 9/20	Fri, 2/1
Holiday-University Closed			Mon, 5/26	Mon, 5/26
Middle of Semester	Tue, 10/16	Wed, 2/27	Fri, 6/27	Wed, 6/4	Wed, 7/23
Spring Break		Mon, 3/3-Fri, 3/7
Holiday-University Closed	Thu, 11/22 Fri, 11/23		Fri, 7/4
Classes End	Fri, 12/7	Fri, 4/25	Thu, 8/14	Thu, 6/26	Thu, 8/14
Final Exams	Mon, 12/10- Fri, 12/14	Mon, 4/28- Fri, 5/2	Last Class Day	Last Class Day	Last Class Day
Commencements	Fri, 12/7 Sat, 12/8	Fri, 5/2-Sun, 5/4
Holiday-University Closed	Mon, 12/24 Tue, 12/25
Holiday-University Closed	Mon, 12/31 Tue, 1/1

Labels: Michigan State University

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/16/2007 12:26:00 AM | |

who is Leah Wood?

I know who Jade Jagger is. I have never heard of Elizabeth Jagger.

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | |

Typecasting Nine People

I don't actually agree with all on this list, but I have neither the time nor the energy to dissect it. Nor do I think I ever will.

However, I have some special appreciation for the stuff on #7 Kelsey Grammer

Role: Dr. Frasier Crane

The Movies/Shows: Wings, Cheers, The John Larroquette Show, Frasier, The Simpsons, X3

The History: Of everyone on this list, Kelsey Grammer is the only actor that, in four of the six shows listed, literally played the same person. It wouldn’t be so bad if Frasier were a deep character. The fact that he’s just a stock sitcom character means Grammer has spent a lifetime realizing little more than the ability to arch his eyebrows in befuddled wonder when someone tries to match a leather sofa with a white marble coffee table. And, whether he’s animated or in a suit made of blue carpet, let’s face it: All his other roles have been Frasier, too.

The Verdict: Grammer holds the distinction of being the only actor ever to win three Golden Globes for the same role. Sounds great, until you realize he has three statues at home reminding him every day that, as they lower him into the ground, there’s a good chance the priest will accidentally refer to him as “the departed Dr. Crane.” All in all, it’s kind of a toss-up.

He did make the joke on Frasier in one of the final seasons.

Labels: link dump

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/15/2007 11:54:00 PM | |

perspective



posted by Chris Arndt at 8/15/2007 11:49:00 PM | |

writing rules with numbers and numerals

There are ten rules. I do love to read

A number is an abstract concept while a numeral is a symbol used to express that number. “Three,” “3″ and “III” are all symbols used to express the same number (or the concept of “threeness”). One could say that the difference between a number and its numerals is like the difference between a person and her name.

I love a new writing guide.

Labels: link dump

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/15/2007 11:47:00 PM | |

Palgia

MySpace URL

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/15/2007 02:50:00 PM | |

Augie De Blieck Jr on customer service

He resents being ignored or talked to, Arune Singh says that the whole thing "is a dying artform", and I help by declaring my hatred for all instances where the associate or whatnot is being too familiar with me.

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/15/2007 01:33:00 PM | |

Barak Obama's grasp on foreign affairs

He thinks that Canada has a President.

That sounds like a mistake a twelve-year-old would make. It also sounds like a six-ear-old caricature of President George W. Bush.

Labels: politics

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/15/2007 01:30:00 PM | |

a mixed image -- KT Tunstall

Streaked hair and a straw hat




From Myspace

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/15/2007 01:17:00 PM | |

today, years ago....

[ T O D A Y  I N  H I S T O R Y ]

On this day in …


* 1704, the Battle of Blenheim was fought during the War of the
Spanish Succession, resulting in a victory for English and Austrian
forces over French and Bavarian soldiers

* 1846, the American flag was raised for the first time in Los
Angeles

* 1932, Adolf Hitler, ym"sh, rejected the post of vice-chancellor of
Germany, saying he was prepared to hold out "for all or nothing."

* 1960, the first two-way telephone conversation by satellite took
place with the help of Echo One

* 1961, Berlin was divided as East Germany sealed off the border
between the city's eastern and western sectors and began building a
wall in order to halt the flight of refugees

* 1981, in a ceremony at his California ranch, President Ronald
Reagan signed a historic package of tax and budget reductions

* 2006, Israel's Cabinet signed a U.N. cease-fire deal with
Hezbollah

The aource is the Jewish World Review daily newsletter

Labels: reprints

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/13/2007 10:05:00 AM | |

both action heroes

Somewhat contradictorily

Which Action Hero Are You?
	You are Sylvester Stallone. You eat lightning and you crap thunder. You may be the underdog in many cases, but nothing stops you. Not even old age! Passion and heart are what counts in this world.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

yet

Which Action Hero Are You?
	You are Chuck Norris. You fight for truth and justice with a custom truck and a never-ending supply of roundhouse kicks to the face! At the peak of your career you had your own cartoon, but what you'll be remembered for is a never ending supply of internet one-liners.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/11/2007 02:21:00 AM | |

Correcting Half-Blind Hindsight

Some people still push their misconceptions of the past. Why bother repeating the world's biggest cliche regarding hindsight, if they are deceived by their own eyes, or minds.

• There are folks, like Stu Bykofsky, who want another terrorist attack on American soil similar in scale to those on September 11th, 2001, in order to "sew us back together" which is hardly a relevant point if it was smart; there is a serious and annoying collective of leftists and Conservatives who believed that Americans truly united around the tragedy, and answered with a strong collective response that the President squandered, and that the actions of the President eventually spit the country into factions yet again. In other words, the "next attack" should duplicate these positive effects. Mark Steyn engages the stupid misconception directly.

  For a start, the author overstates the immediate unity post-9/11. Even then, there was a big difference between the "righteous rage" crowd and those who wanted to wallow in bathetic weepy let's-hold-hands-and-drone-"Imagine" candlelight vigils and retreat into antiquated tropes about "root causes" like global poverty (notwithstanding the middle-class backgrounds of Mohammed Atta and co). The second time round, there won't even be a momentary veneer of unity. The angry left will be demanding by lunchtime "What did Bush know and when did he know it?" and citing eminent scientists such as Professor Rosie O'Donnell to demonstrate that it couldn't possibly have been anything but an inside job. The less angry left will demand not a punitive military response but a 12-month blue-ribbon commission co-chaired by Lee Hamilton to call witnesses and investigate where the Administration went wrong. Less motivated types will be convinced - like British public opinion after the Glasgow attack and the sailor kidnappings - that it's blowback for Iraq. And a big chunk of the rest may even plump for the Spanish option post-Madrid: Oh, dear, we seem to have caught your eye. What would it take for that not to happen again? The split in this country is real. The so-called "singular purpose" of Fall 2001 was mostly illusory.

  It's a waste of time and distraction to pine for what has never been in this instance in this way. The split isn't even caused strictly by the Presidential policies, but as a series of preset, conditioned collectives which were then catalyzed by something, which happened to be the September 11 events and the September 12 response.
• People idealizing Ronaldus Magnus often do so by describing him as a fantastic demi-god manifesting whatever viewpoints that they believe to be mainstream today. Ramesh Ponnuru takes an anonymous writer from The Economist to task for suggesting

  It is hard to imagine Ronald Reagan sponsoring a federal amendment banning gay marriage

  on these historical grounds:

  If same-sex marriage had been an issue in the 1980s, it would have faced at least 85 percent opposition.

  The same writer insists that President Reagan probably would not have been "limiting federal funding for stem-cell research." This is despite "longtime Reagan aide William Clark [stating] that Reagan 'began a de facto ban on federal financing of embryo research that he held to throughout his presidency.'" Ronald Reagan wasn't perfect yet many a leftist will attempt to cast this President into a more "middle-of-the-road" mold.

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/11/2007 01:52:00 AM | |

The Ted Nugent Variable

I love the Motor City Madman, but as a music fan, I am certainly someone who appreciates the very pure concept of music itself. That is to say I am a layman at best. To be a fan is to be a fanatic. "Fan" is short for "fanatic". To be a fanatic one has to be fanatical. One has to be obsessive and knowledgeable and obsessive in the search and mastery of that knowledge, with application in one vein or another.

I am not qualified to be a musician, or a music historian, or anything approximating those life roles.

But I can listen. I have good ears. I can spot individual sounds, notes, musical instruments, beats, and melodies, even if I cannot identify all as such or whatever they are individually respectively are. Which is not to say that I am so stupid or uneducated as to fail to tell the difference between an electric and bass guitar. I know the sound of a bass guitar versus the sound of drums and I know what a backbeat is.

So who the hell is Ted Nugent to me? He's the man who hunts. His name pops up now and again as the potential Gubernatorial candidate for my Part, for good Politics, good ideas, running my wonderful state of Michigan. He is a sportsman. He ran away from us and lives in Texas now. That is a disappointment.

Certainly as someone who is not a fanatic the following, which would be the point, cannot offend or surprise. I do not own any Ted Nugent albums; I have little revenue so I must get my Ted Nugent music from network television and from the radio. Radios only play singles.

Rarely does the FM radio play anything resembling a deep cut.

Ted Nugent has what seems to be over a dozen albums. Then how is it that I have only heard two singles over and over to the end; one of those is Cat Scratch Fever. There is another single. How can there be a dozen albums and they only have two songs on them, and the same two songs?

Labels: entertainment, music

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/10/2007 11:48:00 PM | |

I'm not surprised that so few saw the GOP debates on Sunday morning

I mean, a good deal of Republicans are Christians after all.

Of course, I am a flawed individual, otherwise I would have been at church.

I'm not going to make any cracks about the Ron Paul Libertarians or the Mitt Romney Mormons. Giuliani's atheist supporters are fair game.

Labels: politics

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/06/2007 11:28:00 PM | |

weblogimages

We'll see if http://weblogimages.com/ follows up its promises, specifically as

a service to host your images, it's specifically designed with "bloggers" in mind (people who keep a dynamic online journal). Unlike many image hosting sites, weblogimages.com allows you to post your pictures anywhere on the net! Although it's designed for a blog (journal), it's also great for your favorite web forums, internet auctions, your personal webpage, or anywhere you need to post your images!

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/06/2007 07:35:00 PM | |

My horse

Recent attention to Governor Gilmore's sudden departure from the race for the GOP Presidential primary may imply that I have ever rooted for the man or his purported intention for higher office.

Nothing could be further from the truth, except the notion that I had a real antipathy towards the candidate. Aside from generic annoyance at numerous "second-tier candidates" flooding the various stages and venues in the race to be the Republican candidate, I have held geniune apathy, and even at one point ignorance as I stupidly confused the campaign of a former governor of Virginia with the sort of "campaign" ran by John Cox, and acted accordingly. Various personalities have stated that they only learned of Governor Gilmore's run when he stopped. The reason for Gilmore content in this blog network at all comes in two flavors: my yahoo address was shoved onto a Gilmore mailing list by some jerk and I get those press releases and upon the dissolution of his campaign effort a lot of the content was going to vanish into the MySpace ether and if I wanted to refer to it in the future it might as well be somewhere. The only reason to refer to the words of Jim Gilmore is regardless of who he is or how successful his efforts are, his words strike me as truly Conservative.

I just want off his mailing list where appropriate.

Appropriately my Presidential candidate, at least until recently, has been Tom Tancredo. Congressman Tancredo speaks with a clever tongue with a true Conservative mind in regards to philosophy and policy and truth be told the key to making sound policy is have your politics defined by sound philosophy. One leads to another. Only politicians, not statesmen or leaders, make policy without a guiding philosophy. Note all the people holding elected office, making desicions based on popularity surges, polls, and fashion. The Tanc has actually said many things which I believe would strike a chord with the American people, if not for the constant assertion of past statements, such as the infamous nuclear threat to mecca. Other problems include the gaggle of racists that support him and his causes, including David Duke, and the sheer lack of cash. If he could overcome any few of these issues, fundraising would not be a problem.

Most of all I find Tom Tancredo to be distinctly credible when he states that he doesn't want to be President per se, so much that the run for President is his route to pursue his agenda. As President he would pursue an agenda for smaller government, and increased national security through a more secure border and stronger immigration requirements. Far more likely he would like to remain a Congressman for twelve more years or longer. I'd bet that being a paid legislator provides a more reliable income for family and self, especially without the pesky term limits. For that reason I don't doubt that his plan and hope was to get the race itself, and his campaign to do the work for that agenda and draw attention to immigration reform. It is ultimately less costly on a personal basis to abandon a Presidential race to the more likely Republican, maintain his House seat, and have his effort draw attention to his political cause.

The reason I have moved away from Represenative Tancredo in his Presidential bid is Bay Buchanan. Pat Buchanan's sister runs the Tanc's campaign and however I would have done it different I cannot say but she has run it into the ground. (She is "Senior Advisor"; I have never heard of a "campaign manager" for the Tanc).

I take him at his word; he doesn't want to be President he just desires to promote immigration reform. Unfortunately if he seriously intended to put immigration reform to the front of national attention he would have fired Bay Buchanan. Her campaign has put the Tanc even more into the middle of a collection of candidates who have drowned themselves, each other, out from the public eye. His campaign is dead but the only importance is that his cause is invisible. Can I blame the Tanc for that? To an extent I have to but I certainly blame him more for the choice of campiagn leader and I blame her to a massive extent.

I've oversimplified that to an extent. At the beginning when he made his campaign official the way it was communicated to me is that Tancredo's team was made up from Pat Buchanan's "old campaign staff". Does anyone remember how well Pat Buchanan did the last few times he ran for President? How many votes did he get? What attention did he get and what sort of attention did he get? How much attention could Rep. Tancredo have pulled to his cause if the people he hired to promote him only have the experience of losers? This is what I have railed for seven months. I like the man and I root for him to get however much positive attention as he can. His campaign was a loser campaign since before the start and can only go in the direction of a loser campaign because it has nobody at the head acquainted with the feeling of victory.

Who do I support now? Shortly I will send a resume to the support team of former Senator Fred Thompson. The race for President has brought me many frustrations, especially with demands for early loyalty so far ahead of the Primary election, or even the year 2008. It helps any Presidential cause that the Man from Tennessee is a credible and viable candidate for the Party nomination, let alone for the Office, but quite importantly he hasn't worn down my patience, and others' patience, but imposing himself upon us so early. As far as principles he seems nearly as genuinely Conservative and philosophically pure as the so-called second tier candidates and moreso than the so-called top-tiered candidates. I have read his words and listened to him speak as Paul Harvey's substitute host, and heard a few words here and there from the Fred Thompson Report. His only major sin thus far is his support of McCain-Feingold; he repented for that, which is more than President Bush has ever done (or Senator McCain for that matter). I believe that waiting so long to enter the race is a strategically sound move. I wait patiently for Senator Thompson to enter the race.

Labels: Fred Thompson, Jim Gilmore, politics, Presidential race, Tom Tancredo

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/06/2007 06:14:00 PM | |

Always frustrating to lose bookmarks

I was in the library backing up the bookmarks that are on that network, as opposed to those on my home computer. I was in the middle of it as the process entailed finding in on the personal drive in the University network, dropping it on the local computer's desktop on its hard drive and a few minutes before I was about to drop it onto my thumb drive, Philo King, and then the Library's jack-assed computer spontaneously restarts, as in it shuts down, reboots and instantly all of the imagery (stupid imagery) I had built towards, and most importantly raw data which was not quite backed up, the location of articles and databases I distinctly wanted to keep and be able to use in the future, especially because I was clearing stuff out of the network's structure so it wouldn't crash their Firefox all the time... I cleaned out the Firefox and either way I look fine and dandy and I may just reinstall the extensions I like but Lord knows that all of the Bookmarks are gone forever.

As unfortunate and frustating to lost that data is, most of the stuff is trivial and useless with probably no sentimental value. One hopes, anyway.

Also, some of it is specifically recoverable by going throuogh the History, which was not erased from the network by that stupid computer crash. Hopefully I did save that one bit I like.

Any more lessons? Back up the bookmarks more often, and keep the bookmarks light regardless. Why was I backing up and erasing? Because if I couldn't clear the extensions myself I was going to make sure that I would have my data for use elsewhere and no one else could see it if they fix the extensions. Now few if anyone will. The data is mine and mine alone. That much I have accomplished.

Besides, this blog is supposed to replace a lot of use of bookmarks anyway, at least when I am not operating and writing at home.

Man, I miss my laptop.

Labels: off-topic

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/06/2007 05:12:00 PM | |

Jim Gilmore stuff

Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore recently dropped out of the Presidential race, and that is unfortunate to an extent, but there is still stuff to show.

• Human Events interview
  
• Human Events interview part 2
• In the wake for the death of the Presidental campaign, Governor Gilmore has launched his Virginia Patriot blog.
• He authored a Human Events article accusing the office of the POTUS for being lax in protecting property rights.
• The letter to President Bush regarding Iraq policy.
• The Politico features his declaration that the GOP needs a true Conservative in their Presidential Interviews series
• a video clip -- Governor Gilmore on immigration and border security
  
• a video clip -- Governor Gilmore on national security
• The Governor's Presidential campaign's YouTube channel is here.

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/03/2007 02:49:00 PM | |

MySpace privacy

Potential child molesters and various innocents have noticed that if you are an adult, the kids of MySpace are automatically invisible.

MySpace users that are under the age of 16 years old have their accounts set to private automatically. Only friends can view these profiles initially. However, to change it so that all users under 18 can view this profile, please do the following:

Click on the 'Account Settings' link. Then find privacy settings and click on the 'Change Settings' link. Find the box at the bottom of the page and select the button next to 'Anyone under 18 on MySpace'. The final thing that you will want to do is click the 'Change Settings' button.

If you are older than 16 years of age and wish to make your profile private(viewable by your friends only): Click on the 'Account Settings' link, then ‘Privacy Settings’ and then click on the ‘My Friends Only’ option.

And my sister's fake page is impossible to change.

posted by Chris Arndt at 8/02/2007 10:43:00 AM | |