Author: sailorj

You can listen or play the video.

What does it mean to have so many hurricanes hit Florida in one year? I for one am shocked. Some people would have you believe, “YOUR GONNA DIE!” “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!” And others just see it as a conspiracy dreamed up by Lowes and Home Depot, in partnership with your local broadcast affiliates to sell plywood.

Yet at the end of the day, if you have suffered severe damage, don’t you wonder where God is in all of this? Is this just nature taking its course, or is there a greater hand in all of this? Are we, Floridians being punished for something? Have we not let some people go, so that the floodwaters of the Atlantic would not bear down upon us?

Maybe this weather is on a 500 year cycle, and we just didn’t know it; and now we must expect this sort of weather from here on out… for a while. After all, our grasp of time is small in the large spand of the universe. Who is to say, maybe Nostradamus.

In the end, with technology, many lives have been saved. Early warnings and heeding evacuation notices has saved lives in most vulnerable areas.

As lucky as we are to have days of advanced warning for Hurricanes, California had no warning of the Seismic activity that is starting to occur; and add to that some activity at Mt. St. Helens, makes me wonder, what on EARTH is happening.

“Europe warns Iran against nuclear arms”

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How long does it take? But moreover what does this mean? We are watching Europe finally take notice of the nuclear build up of Iran. Can we expect Europe to really be “Tough and Friendly”? I’m not so sure, but where do you draw the line on your expectation of what America should do? Do we attempt to negotiate or be ready to fight?

CBS News | CBS: Bush Memo Story A ‘Mistake’ | September 20, 2004 21:42:19: “CBS: Bush Memo Story A ‘Mistake’

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Was there really a question by the staff? Let’s get serious. I looked at the documents over a week ago, when the first question of the authenticity came out, and after searching a few websites, and my own personal knowledge, came to the same conclusion.

In the high tech world of computers, it has become much more difficult to synthesize a typewriter. Typewriters are notorious for being much more like handwriting. Even using the same ball in a selectric typewriter, you may notice different drops, leading, and kerning. Besides that, if you look at probably 75% or more of military documents typed in the 60’s, 70’s and later, most are in Courier, a monospaced font-type.

If you need proof, look at John Kerry’s military record see:

Kerry Record

There you will see mostly monospaced courier fonts.

Besides that, you will see that most Command Letterheads are pre-printed, even today. They use different color inks, and are typeset. While today, it is done with desktop publishing, back until the early 1990’s it was done on very expensive typesetting machines.

I think that what upsets me here, is that journalists need to keep their skeptical edge. I don’t care if it is CBS or FOX. Moreover, who were these experts that said this stuff was legitimate? I would call into question their ability in the future to verify any documents.

Does it really mean anything? Feel free to post your results here as well in the comment area, if you care.

SimilarMinds.com > Test Results: “

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As Hurricane Frances leaves the Florida pennisula, and Hurricane Ivan treks along a similar path as Charley, we are left wondering if it will ever end.

On the better side, things are getting back to normal here in Brevard County, FL. Power is restored to many homes and businesses. Unleaded Gas is also becoming more and more available as well. Here are some pictures from the Cocoa Beach Area.

Enjoy.

SunTrust



Another sign blown out



Roof blown off a bit.



Wakkula Hotel on A1A



Motel 6 on A1A leaving the light on for Frances.

If you are like many people in the United States, you probably have your priorities related to your community and home first, and then war on terror somewhere after that. Yet it seems that this war on terrorism is the single issue that we are electing a president on.

I have yet to see either candidate with a call to action and a plan. There are two forces at work during this 2004 Presidential election: Limelight and moving targets. As long as you can stay out of the limelight and keep yourself a moving target, you will be safe, at least for now. And as we focus on who is a better leader, I think that we really need to be considering the entire platform of a leader. The biggest issue we face from a President is their ability to VETO bills based on it no being in line with the political party that he represents.

Hence, we need some easy way to determine who is the best candidate for us. Here is an easy guide to help you decided. Not all inclusive, but a good start. Will you make your decision on one issue, or add it up?

JFK GWB ISSUE

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XXX XXX CHARACTER

___ ___ Tells it like it is.

___ ___ Has the most Integrity.

___ ___ Is a role-model for the Youth of America.

XXX XXX LEADERSHIP

___ ___ Viewed by World as a leader.

___ ___ Viewed by Americans as a leader.

___ ___ Proven not to crack under pressure.

XXX XXX IDEOLOGY

___ ___ Abortion

___ ___ Drugs

___ ___ Right to Die

___ ___ Patriot act (1st Amendment)

___ ___ Gun Control(2nd Amendment)

___ ___ War on terrorism

___ ___ States Rights

___ ___ Gay/Lesbian Rights

___ ___ Affirmative Action

XXX XXX ECONOMICS

___ ___ Universal Healthcare

___ ___ Taxes

___ ___ Military Funding

___ ___ Foreign Aid

Recently it was reported that Alice Cooper was commenting on Don Henley and other liberal minded musicians. The gist was that they should stick to music, because music isn’t about hearing your political view, according to Cooper. See the article. He says that “If you’re listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you’re a bigger moron than they are.”

Well, later Cooper had to clarify his comments, but just by making noise, it was good press for an aging rocker to get a few more people to show up at his concerts.

And what about they lyrics of this guy? Look at the song, school’s out for the summer. It has a line, “School’s been blown to pieces.” What’s that supposed to mean? Was he calling the youth of America to rebel again school?

I think that the bottom line is that Music has always had a message. And to deny that we listen to music for the message, is to deny every generation of the meaning behind the music. Unlike Actors, who have the words written for them, Musicians write their own words, and they have a unique place among entertainers.

New technology… old problems. Everyone seems to agree that if you buy a CD, then you have the right to convert that to other playable media for your own personal enjoyment. But where do we as a society draw the line between stealing and the public domain.

As it has stood since the days of the reel to reel tape machine, you could record music right from the radio, and listen to it at your leisure. You didn’t have to buy the album or cassettee to have a copy of the song that you wanted. Fast forward to 2004 and we find people now able to trade those songs across thousands of miles without even knowing the person on the other end, for free.

The question is, if something is broadcasted over FREE media, then does it become part of the public domain?

The next question is, at what point do we agree that we need to preserve this audio and video history for the next generation?

Really, when was the last time you listened to the radio and heard music from the 50’s? You can’t even buy it at your local record shop or wal-mart. If you want a certain song, you might find it on a swap service (otherwise villified by the record industry as stealing). Yet, these songs are over 50 years old.

Think about the books that are in the public domain. The significant amount of work that has been made available online for you to read is immense, and growing every day. Check out, at the Gutenberg project

There needs to be a realistic expectation between the artists and the public, after all, we are the consumers of the product. While stories and the written word do become public domain after a certain amount of time, other types of art do not. Such as paintings and sculptures. Certainly reproductions are made all the time of famous art, at mere fractions of the value of the original masterpieces.

Yet, what good is hidden art? What good are hidden ideas? Would it be better to destroy the library at Alexandria merely because the books might be reproduced, where another person other than the author would make some money. The fact is that the knowledge, art, and entertainment could be preserved for generations.

I believe in balance. I think that we owe it to ourselves and the next generation to provide our art freely available to the next generation, it is our history, it is our legacy.