Archive for July, 2005
Friday, July 29th, 2005
Roanoke Times, 7/27/05, Pg A 9: Jewish extremists call for death of Prime Minister Sharon. They want to disrupt the Gaza pullout. Extremists did assassinate Prime Minister Rabin in 1995.
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The Jewish religious extremists in Israel have proved themselves to be very dangerous. The connection to groups in the USA is not clear.
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Within the USA, Meir Kahane's JDL has been in the news as an activist organization and had significant visibility for their paramilitary training camp in the Catskill mountains.
Ref: The Times Herald-Record, June, 28, 1998, Sullivan Co., Middletown, NY
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http://www.adl.org/extremism/jdl_chron.asp#top
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Friday, July 29th, 2005
Roanoke Times, 7/27/05, Pg A 12: Senate votes 98 to 0 to allow Boy Scouts to utilize government property, the same as other youth organizations.
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Roanoke Times, 7/27/05, Pg Va 5: Senate lets Scouts use military bases.
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The Senate has finally stood-up to the ACLU and the homosexual activists. These groups have discriminated against the Boy Scouts because they have resisted having "openly activist" gays as scout leaders and their oath includes God as a key entity.
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Prior items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2005/06/diocese-to-pay-victims.html
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Friday, July 29th, 2005
The cable companies, according to a Wired article, have decided to add wireless services to their current mix of wired offerings, which include TV, Internet access, and voice telephony.
It makes sense, and the cable companies are more likely to get it right than companies like Verizon, which are betting on hybrid systems like EVDO to deliver data to cellphones.
But I'm skeptical about how fast this "new" concept will move. The cable company vision of a very capable PDA/phone/TV thingie is where things are going, but to sell them, you have to have a compelling mix of services and content AND a wireless delivery system that covers whole markets.
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Friday, July 29th, 2005
In a widely reported AP report, NASA set new IP TV records with the launch of the space shuttle. Almost a half a million people watched via a Webcast, which is much higher than the record AOL broke just a few weeks ago with the Live Aid concert.
It demonstrates two things. First, there is a strong and continuing interest in space, and it's encouraging that there is more interest in space than in aging rock stars. We'll avoid the very serious U.S. problem of not graduating enough scientists and engineers for the time being.
Second, it shows the continuing rapid advance of IP TV. Half a million viewers is more than many cable shows have at any given time, so the Internet is well positioned to displace the old Manufacturing Economy television distribution system.
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Friday, July 29th, 2005
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Friday, July 29th, 2005
IN 2006 SUPPORT STEM CELL RESEARCH
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(Ted Kennedy-One of the last Liberal Lions of the Senate)
Folks, as a Type I Juvenile Diabetic, embryonic stem cell research is very, very important to me. In addition to myself, my father, my mother, and my grandfather all have Type II Diabetes. My grandfather has lost both legs, and is also in the final stage of Alzheimer's. It's too late for him, but it's not too late for the millions of Americans who today suffer from Diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and countless other diseases and disorders which, at least at this point, have no cure. The Republican controlled Senate, with Bill Frist at the helm, is blocking a vote on H.R. 810, which would federally fund the research that is so needed.
At this crucial juncture, we need a man in the U.S. Senate who believes in stem cell research and who believes in the great things it can do. That man is Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. Senator Kennedy is running for his eighth full Senate term in 2006, and is a leader, along with the bipartisan group of powerhouse senators, including Senators Hatch, Feinstein, Specter, and Harkin, in the fight to fund stem cell research.
President Bush and his political echo chamber he calls an administration really, really dislikes Ted Kennedy, and would like nothing more than for him to have a difficult re-election. We need to help Senator Kennedy fight off the right-wing attack machine that will surely attack him with the same tired, worn-out, old attacks that have been hurled at him for forty years.
I plan to endorse several candidates on this site, and I've chosen Senator Kennedy to be the first I write about. On the right side of my webpage, you'll see contribution links to different political candidates. Please scroll to Senator Kennedy's name and be generous in your donation to his campaign. America needs him in the U.S. Senate another six years. I strongly endorse his candidacy.
COMING
I'll be writing about Creigh Deeds, Catherine Baker Knoll (shame on you, CBK), the TN Senate race, and Tim Kaine. Also, on August 3rd, Independent Gubernatorial candidate Russ Potts will be in Abingdon (and hopefully, Creigh Deeds might, too), and I'll be making my way up there just to meet him and encourage him to keep pointing out Jerry Kilgore's lunacies.
Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!
-Neal
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
Thirty four years ago, I had title to a big piece of these cliffs on the Bay of Fundy, between Port Lorne and Hampton, Nova Scotia. You can't really own something like this. You take care of it, and enjoy...
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
I am a big music fan. I found this on CMT and wanted to share it. The band is the Greencards.
Check out this video called "Time".Now thats good stuff going down there!.
I am reading "
In The Kingdom of Coal" by Dan Rottenberg.
Short review:
- From Publishers Weekly
"Coal," writes former Wall Street Journal reporter Rottenberg (Revolution on Wall Street), has been "the critical force driving the modern world for the past two centuries." Rottenberg tries, with varying success, to animate that history with a well-written account of two families tied together by the busts and booms of the coal industry as it evolved from an almost agricultural endeavor in the late 18th century into a highly mechanized but physically and financially dangerous modern corporate enterprise. One family, the Leisenrings, owned and operated major American mining companies for five generations. The second family, the Givenses, worked the mines of eastern Virginia for most of the 20th century. Rottenberg's background as a financial writer stands him in good stead as he skillfully traces the relationship between technical advances that made coal a more economically feasible source of energy and the infrastructure changes (canals and later railroads) that facilitated the movement of coal. His treatment of larger events the unionization of manufacturing industries, the Great Depression, WWII and the Vietnam War expands the book's reach to reflect factors that influenced all of American industry. Rottenberg's access to materials about the Leisenrings enlivens his discussion of the corporate side of the coal equation. His account of the Givens family, whose lifestyle and culture are not as well documented, is less engaging. Rottenberg is particularly good on the rise and fall of the United Mine Workers and its charismatic union icon John L. Lewis and his successor, Tony Boyle, who was convicted of the murder of union rival Jack Yablonski.
So far it is a good read. If you live in the Coalfields you should check it out!
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
This is old but it cracks me up!
Democratic National Convention Schedule
Boston, Massachusetts
6:00 PM - Opening Flag Burning Ceremony
6:05 PM - Pledge of Allegiance to the U.N.
6:15 PM - Secular Prayers by Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton
6:30 PM - Antiwar Concert by Barbara Streisand
6:40 PM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast
7:00 PM - Tribute to France
7:10 PM - Collect Offerings for al-Zawahri Defense Fund
7:25 PM - Tribute to Germany
7:45 PM - Antiwar Rally (Moderated by Michael Moore)
8:25 PM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast
8:30 PM - Terrorist Appeasement Workshop
9:00 PM - Roundtable Discussion of Taxes: "Calling for Higher Taxes on Others While You Pay None"
9:15 PM - Bill & Hillary Clinton Host a Seminar on "The Successful Selling of White House & Air Force One Mementos on eBay"
9:20 PM - Gay Marriage Ceremony (Both Male and Female Couples)
9:30 PM - * Intermission * Special Guest Soloist Jane Fonda
10:00 PM - Posting the Iraqi Colors by Sean Penn and Tim Robbins
10:10 PM - Reenactment of Kerry's Fake Medal Toss
10:20 PM - Howard Dean Screamfest 'Yeeearrrrrrrg!'
10:30 PM - Seminar: "The Boy Scouts and Other Paramilitary threats to National Security"
10:40 PM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast
10:45 PM - Abortion Demonstration (NARAL)
11:00 PM - Multiple Gay Marriage Ceremony (Threesomes, Mixed and Same-Sex)
11:15 PM - 'Maximizing Welfare' Workshop
11:30 PM - 'Free Saddam' Pep Rally
11:50 PM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast
12:00 AM - Kerry-Edwards 2004 Sealed With A Kiss
12:01 AM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast
12:02 AM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
The incumbent telecom providers have been flooding the public arena with relentlessly negative (and often very misleading) information about public broadband projects.
The American Public Power Association (APPA) interviewed the managers of two municipal utilities to get their perspective on communities getting into cable television and broadband services. It's an eyeopening article that provides a lot of information you don't usually get to hear.
One interesting bit of information: one of the cities has two Fortune 500 company headquarters, and only one cable route out of the community. If that cable was cut with a backhoe, the company would come to a dead stop for as long as the cable was damaged. When the telecom company which owned the cable was asked if they planned to provide an alternate cable route into the community, they said, "No."
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
I'm doing some work these days that requires me to be in downtown Alexandria on a fairly regular basis. As I was walking back to my car, I turned and snapped this shot of Henry Street where it crosses King...
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
It's been pretty hot here in the Washington area since I came up a couple of days ago. In fact according to the Weather Underground History for the Dulles area, the temperature was still over ninety degrees Fahrenheit at 8...
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
No big post tonight. I just got home, I'm tired, and I'm going to bed. But first...
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(One of the game's legends--Frank Robinson)
The Nationals lost...again. Frank Robinson is a wonderful manager and deserves to manage a World Series team, but, at the rate they're going, it may have to be 2006. The Nationals lost their second game to the Braves tonight, 4-3. There's always tomorrow!
OH GOD, IT'S THE APOCOLYPSE
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(I told them not to mess around with human cloning. They just wouldn't listen...)
I was surfing around the Wikipedia website, when I stumbled on this picture. Once Dr. Phil gets his own Muppet (called "Dr. Feel"), I know things are going down hill.
AFTER OUR COMMERCIAL BREAK...
I promise I'll get to the TN Senate, Deeds v. McDonnell, and other stuff soon.
Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!
-Neal
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the
Delta Blues In the middle of the pouring rain
W.C. Handy - won?t you look down over me
Yeah I got a first class ticket
But I'm as blue as a girl can be
Then I'm walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just hovered
'round his tomb
But there's a pretty little thing
Waiting for the King Down in the Jungle Room
[Chorus]
They've got catfish on the table
They've got gospel in the air
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven't got a prayer
But boy you've got a prayer in Memphis
Now Gabriel plays piano
Every Friday at the Hollywood
And they brought me down to see him
And they asked me if I would - Do a little number
And I sang with all my might
And he said - Tell me are you a Christian child?
And I said Man I am tonight
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the
Delta Blues In the middle of the pouring rain
W.C. Handy - won?t you look down over me
Yeah I got a first class ticket
But I'm as blue as a girl can be
Then I'm walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just hovered
'round his tomb
But there's a pretty little thing
Waiting for the King Down in the Jungle Room
[Chorus]
They've got catfish on the table
They've got gospel in the air
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven't got a prayer
But boy you've got a prayer in Memphis
Now Gabriel plays piano
Every Friday at the Hollywood
And they brought me down to see him
And they asked me if I would - Do a little number
And I sang with all my might
And he said - Tell me are you a Christian child?
And I said Man I am tonight
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here
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Thursday, July 28th, 2005
So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here
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Wednesday, July 27th, 2005
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Wednesday, July 27th, 2005
Well it's out on the street now at most clubs around the world, and our bet is that 54 has been universally well-received. The music really makes this release - there's something in here for everyone. As predicted, the warm-up plays really well with the class, setting the tone for a fast-paced and fun workout. We found many of the tracks to be as tough as expected - squats, chest, biceps, shoulders - all make for impressive workouts. Back and Hamstrings was a pleasant surprise - only two sets of clean & presses means you can really perfect that form. Of course, the biceps and shoulders tracks join our all-time favorites lists.
Surprisingly, the class didn't seem quite as enamored with the lunge track as we were - guess you gotta really love the 70's sound to be so taken with that one. The abs track played much better on the floor than I expected - so even though I still prefer the Steve Miller original to this one for general listening, I have to admit that this was definitely a good pick after all. Finally, as much as we love the cooldown song, we've found it's just a bit short on the holds - there's just wasn't quite enough music there for the choreography team to work with.
At the end of the class, though, we've had many folks say this is one of their favorite releases - and that goes for us too!
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