Thursday, April 30, 2009

re: Open letter to Repubs

So a guy I know online is trying to save the Republican party.

He's hoping to get a lot of views to a letter he has on his site (Progressive Republicans) asking for the parties leadership to look at it self and for Republicans to stop attacking each other.

I disagree with the later part. The people in the Republican party need to dish out their issues. If the party can't stand infighting then I think it's too weak to survive

if the party dies, I think sooner or later a new party will come and replace the Republican party (just as the Republicans replaced the Whigs)

But with out the infighting I don't think they will get to a point where the party can change it, because everyone will just follow lock step over the issues that the party already runs under. which are the same issues that the party is following to its down fall.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Better of Ted (funniest TV show on the air)

I'm surprised reading a few article that say the new ABC show Better of Ted is doing poorly in the ratings.

why am I shocked...because it is one of the funniest shows on TV.

I'm not sure why people haven't tuned into the show yet, maybe the ads for the show didn't draw people in. or maybe because it came on midseason many people are already locked in their TV watching patterns.

if you haven't checked out the show yet I ask you to try it out (it's on Wednesdays at 8:30 EST on ABC)

at the least you should watch the show for the comic scientist duo of Phil and Lem

or for the boss played by Portia De Rossi (of Alley McBeal and Arrested Development fame)

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Pontiac, MI may get high speed rail

recently there has been some news that the stimulus plan has money set aside that may go to a few high speed rail networks across the nation.

one of these hubs is in the Midwest, where a number of Midwestern link to Chicago. Now when I saw this on the news they said that one of the lines will link the Chi to the D (that's Detroit) but reading more detailed there will also be a high speed drop to Pontiac.



This is great news and hopefully the money will come to make this happen. Because I admit being bias, I like the ideal of a stop in Detroit, but hearing that there is one planned for Pontiac is even better.

Now with the news of a high speed rail line that will bring people in from all over the Midwest I also hope this pushes Michigan politicians to upgrade the rest of the state public transportation system (or you know actually have one outside of buses)

WARNING Fox news site has malware

I clicked on the foxnews.com to read a news article and I was redirected to a malware site.

and it seems that I am not the only person this has happened to.

no not at all

Friday, April 17, 2009

are we seeing the end of wii madness?

that what some people are saying due to the fact that last month, the PS3 out sold the Wii in Japan.

I don't know if I wouldn't put Wii in the grave because of this news. The Wii has been at the top for a long time (selling like gangbusters) and it makes since that sooner or later there would be some slow down.

Gamasutra has a post up about the fact that over half of the wii sales are for Nintendo's game and music games and because it's easy to port games between the the PS3 and 360 it best to make games for those system and not the Wii


and that is where I think the Wii's problems lie. It was a smart move to make a gaming system that people not hard core gamers can enjoy playing and kids. Heck it worked back in the day win the NES. The problem with those markets is they don't naturally buy as many games as the adult hardcore gamer and that the market that PS3/360 picked up and Wii didn't and with the bad economy the non hardcore gamer is less likely to spend money on games.

why? because the types of games many "hardcore gamers" want ended up on the other system.

The thing is the wii's problem isn't 100% Nintendo's fault. a big problem is that 3rd party publishers didn't make games for gamers for the Wii, many focused on the other systems and mostly made games for kids and such for the wii.


Now I'm not one of those that thinks Wii should just market it self to the hardcore gamer but I feel the system could do a better job of walking and chewing gum at the same time. If Big N doesn't want to change it's focus on the games it makes, fine. but it might be wise for them to point out what the system has for hardcore gamers, as well as try to push 3rd party developers to look at the wii when they make "gamer games"

Friday, March 20, 2009

I may have been to hard on my mayor

on my last post I talked about the fact that the city of Pontiac maybe taken over by the state (which has now happened)

I pointed out the fact that giving the city is expected to be $5 to $7 million debt next year. Which is bad but before the current Mayor took office the city had a about a $37.1 million budget debt

now I feel a little bad for the mayor, even thought the city is in bad shape, at least in terms of being in debt (thought there are other points I disagree with the mayor on) we are in better shape then we where a few years ago but the truth is he hasn't turned the city around enough to actually be in a good situation.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Gov. Granholm takes over the city of Pontiac

My hometown of Pontiac, MI has been going through financial troubles for a while now.

Well now it is seen to be so bad that Jennifer Granholm has declared the city a state of emergency and may appoint someone to manage the cities assets.

shocking, but honestly I doubt they can run things worst then the people in charge of the city already are.

The mayor of Pontiac says
“We weren’t aware we were in any special trouble,”


he also thinks the city will have a $5 to $7 million deficit next year.

Hey Mayor Philips I think that is a sign that the city is in trouble!

maybe having special attention from the governor could be a good thing for the city. as the state tries to turn it self around, maybe we will be seen as one of the key places needed for improvement.

Monday, February 23, 2009

I think scammers are trying use Obama's stimulus plan to trick people

I just got a phone call with a recorded message talking about a debt restructuring plan, but unlike other messages of this nature they are using the stimulus plan that was recently past as a hook, by saying that this restructuring plan is part of the stimulus package.

Monday, February 16, 2009

attack of the living dead social networking site: friendster

I had open a friendster account way back when that was the popular networking site, that I have used in ages.

but it seems like every other day I get an email saying someone wrote me a message or sent a friend request and I check it to see if it's someone I know/knew and it always spam.

what I wonder is does anyone actually still use friendster that isn't a spam bot zombie?

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Obama's inaugiration speech ushers in a new era

watching Obama give his inauguration speech it, is clear that we are entering an era of change.

Not only because of the fact that America has now sworn in it's first Black president, but the words Obama spoke show that he will run much differently form the presidents before him in the last few decades.

if his words ring true we will see an America that works with other nations instead of against.

an America that will push for the environment. a nation that will not only be green but responsible for the resources it takes form this earth.

No longer will we let our economy run wild without regulations.

No longer are we in an era where the people running our government seem to loath the office and responsibilities they hold and demand government be smaller.

no instead we will enter an era where government looks and see how well they are running, it not about small or big governments it's about governments that work.

This looks to truly be a great day for the nation

Thursday, January 15, 2009

local press goes faux gangsta?

I came across this interesting article talking about the reporting about gangs in the city of Pontiac.

or to be correct the post really talks about how the city doesn't have what it calls a true gang problem.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

get the ____ out of here 2008, Hello New Year!!!

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Happy New Year.

well 2008 was full of great surprise for the nation (wow a Black guy is the president)

and some personal set backs for myself and the nation (the economy tanking, rise in foreclosures and unemployment, etc)

hopefully 09 will turn out to be a better year for everyone

Saturday, November 15, 2008

hey Adobe lower your prices

I was thinking about buying Adobe CS4 design program but man at $1,300 the programs in that package cost way to much money for me.

even if I just but the programs I want/need I will still end up paying about that much money.

maybe adobe should think about lowering it's prices for poor artist.

at the very least have a short of rent to own choices. so artist can pay a little at a time. though my luck if you did this by the time I finish paying CS5 will be out

Friday, November 07, 2008

OMG it just hit me...Obama won

I know, I know delayed reaction and all.

but the truth is is watching Obama win Tuesday I was mixed with emotions. on one hand i was glad that he won. Not only because he is, will be the first Black president but because he is the first person I voted for and won the presidency and will be going to the white house.

that last bit is the important part because, the emotion I had was that I was a afraid we would face another 2000 like event and the the news casters would take back that win and say the other guy had. it.

But now it is hitting me, it really happened and no one found away to take it back.


Barack Obama is the 44th Prez of the U.S.

I was watching a few news reports talking about Obama and a tear came rolling down my eyes. that didn't happen to me on Tuesday night, I was close but still now waterworks.

I'm still a bit in a daze over all this.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

MI ballet 08

I stole the ideal from Michael Dietsch's blog to do a blog post talking about all the people and issues that are on my state's ballet this year.

I did my best to search for site that had information on the people running. (with some exceptions like office where everyone running is a shoe into win giving that they are running in areas where every running will get a seat)

Presidential
Barack Obama/Joe Biden for the Demoratic party

John Sidney McCain/Sarah palin 4 the Republicans

Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente 4 the Green Party

Chuck Baldwin/Darrel Castle 4 the U.S Taxpayers party

Bob Barr/Wayne A. Root for he Libertarian party

Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzales for the Natural Law party.



Congressional

United State Senator
Jack Hoogendyk Jr. (Republican)
Carl Levin (Democratic)
Harley G. Mikkelson (Green Party)
Michael N. Nikitin (U.S taxpayers)
Scotty Boman (libertarian)
Doug Dern (Natural Law)

Representative in Congress (9th District)
Joe Knollengberg (Republican)
Gary Peters (Democrat)
Douglas Campbell(Green)
Adam Goodman (Libertarian)
Jack Kevorkian (no party...holy crap Doctor Death is running for congress!!! of course no political party wants him)

Legislative
Representative in state legislature
Scott E. Sampeer (republican)
Tim Melton (Democratic)

State Board

Member of the state board of education (pick 2)
Scott Jenkins (Republican)
Richard Zelle (republican)
John Austin (Democratic)
Kathleen Straus (Democratic)
Dwain Raynolds III (Green)
Karen Adams (US Taxpayers)
Bill Hall (Libertarian)
Jeff A. Steinport (libertarian)

Regent of the U of M (pick 2...and go blue)
Susan Brown (Repub)
John G. LaFond (republican)
Laurence B. Deitch (Democrat)
Denise Illtch (Democratic)
Ellls Boal (Green)
Richard Ryskamp (U.S taxpayers)
Joe Sanger (U.S Taxpayers)
Eric L. Larson (libertarian)
Kerry L. Morgan (libertarian)

Trustee of Michigan State University (no more then 2)
Lisa Bourchard (Repub)
George Scott Romney (Republican)
Dianne Byrum (Democratic)
Diann Woodard (Democrat)
Therese Marie Storm (Green)
Robert Gale (U.S taxpayers)
Crystal Van Sickle (U.S Taxpayers)
David A. Brown (Libertartian)
Joseph Roesenquist (libertartian)

Governor of Wayne State University (2)
Torian J. Bridges (republican)
Danialle Karmanos (republican)
Paul Massaron (Democratic)
Gary S. Pollard (Democratic)
Margaret Guttshall (Green)
Rick Butkowski (U.S Taxpayers)
Terry Halnes (U.S Taxpayers)
Dan Kelzer (Libertarian)
Nicole Michalak (libertartian)

County

Country Executive
L. Brooks Patterson (Republican)
Brenda Lawrence (Democratic)

Sheriff
Michael J. Bouchard (Republican)
Jane Bourdreau (Democratic)

Clerk/Register of Deeds
Ruth Johnson (Republican)
Shella Smith (Democratic)

Treasurer
Pat Dohany (Republican)
Andy Meisner (Democratic)

Drain Commissioner
John P. McCulloch (Elephant party)
Brett Nicholson (Donkey party)

County COmmissioner 10 district
Karen L. Toth (Republican)
Mattle McKinney Hatchett (Democratic)

Judical ...or here come the judge

Justice of Supreme Court (1)
Robert W. Roddis
Cliff Taylor
Diane Marie Hathaway

Judge of Court of appeals 2nd district (pick 3....wait there are only 3 people running they must be happy about the fact that they are all going to win again)
Mark J. Cavanagh
E. Thomas Fitzgerald
Henry William Saad

Judge of Court of Appeals 2nd district (1)
Elizabeth L. Glelcher (only person running so we know that L can't stand for loser)

Judge of Circuit Court (5) is there a reason to care about this 5 people running and there 5 spots
James M. Alexander
Martha D. Anderson
Nanci Grant
Shallna D. Kumar
Rudy J. Nichois

Judge of Circuit Court 6th Circuit non-incumbents(2)
David Carl Anderson
Mary Ellen Brennan
Lisa Gorcyca
Thomas E. Kuhn

Judge of Circuit court 6th circuit incumbet
Leo Bowman

Judge of probate court non-incumbent
Mark Frankel
Daniel A. O'Brien

Judge of District court 50th district incumbent postition
Michael C. Martinez
Cynthia T. Walker

Judge of district court 50th district non-incumbent
Ronda Fowlkes Gross
Richard Terrell Taylor

Community College

Community college board of trustees members (2)
Timothy Terpening
Phillip J. Abraham
Shirley J. Bryant
Sandra L. Ritter
Carlyle Fielding Stewart

community college board of trustees member partial term ending in 2011
Debble Macon
Christopher P. Maloney
Thomas Patrick Sullivan
Sherry Cormier Kuhn

Proposals

Prop 1
Medical Marijuana.

Prop 2
should Michigan allow stem cell research?

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Why do marketers feel they most make every thing fun?

I was just listen to an ad on the radio for a computer repair place.

In the ad they had people saying how much they like the service. One of the people, an older sounding guy said that he watch them fix and was having a ball doing so.

now I have to ask how boning is this guys life (or how boring do the advertisers think our lives are) to think that watching your computer get fixed is fun.

and this isn't the only time I've seen/heard ads that try to make boring things (that we need or need done) sound fun.

instead of making things sound fun why not just tell how good your product/service is.

Friday, September 26, 2008

McCain is using his age well during the debates

watching the debates right now and I can't help but notice that even thought people thought that maybe because of the age differences between Obama and McCain, Obama would have an advantage because he is younger and healthier looking (like what happened in the JFK vs Nixon debates)

but I have to hand McCain at least a point for trying play up his age by basically saying Obama doesn't understand blah blah blah.

of course Obama troughs out facts showing that he clearly knows what he is talking about.

but still I think McCain stratagy may play will with older voters, since who feel like they are dealing with know it all whippersnappers.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Obama needs change and a few dollar bills as well!!!

I have decide to take a active inactive role in helping Obama became the next President of the united states of America by being one of his fundraise.

I set a small goal of $200. this is the first time I have done anything like this so I wanted to set a small bar. If I meet it I'll do it again and set the bar higher.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

wow I'm getting old

I noticed a few weeks ago that I have grey hairs in my beard.

today my brother noticed them. but it wasn't like he noticed them when he was standing near me...no he spoted them when he was standing on the other side of the living room.