The one thing I enjoy when there is a long holiday weekend is the time I get to spend reading books. Visiting the Blanchard's in Skaneateles, New York further forces you to read books since their lake-side home doesn't have a television. I bought a book several months ago titled Unholy Alliance - Radical Islam and the American Left, that intrigued me when I saw it in the bookstore, but I never seemed to find time to read it.
I don't claim to know all the political answers or who is more right - the Left or the Right. I would venture to say that there is fault both on the Extreme Left and the Extreme Right. But what really intrigued me about this book was that the author, David Horowitz, is a lifelong civil rights activist and one of the founders of the New Left movement in the 1960s. So how is it that someone that had such deep-seated roots in liberal and Left-leaning causes would write a book condemning the Left and associating the Left as allies of Islamic terrorists? What caused David to turn from his Left allies and take a much more conservative approach when it came to the War on Terror? That's what intigued me when I read the book's jacket cover. Indeed this book is not written by an extreme right-winger novelist by any stretch of the imagination, so I couldn't just lump this as some sort of extreme right-wing propoganda trash. I had to buy this book and I was not disappointed.
So why would Leftists make common cause with extremists within a religion that are diametrically opposed to everything the Left stands for? (civil rights, homosexuality, democracy, women's rights, etc.) David Horowitz explains that it is quite logical given one of the extreme Left's principles: America is the biggest evil and anything or anyone opposed to America is good.
The first part of the book is a history of 9/11 through the end of major combat operations in Iraq and the Left's actions during this time. David cites a few examples of the extreme Left, but one that stuck in my mind was Anthropology Professor Nicholas De Genova of Columbia University when he said that he hoped for "a million Mogadishus." (in Iraq) Specifically he said, "Peace is subversive, because peace anticipates a very different world than the one in which we live--a world where the U.S. would have no place." De Genova continued: "The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military. I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus. U.S. patriotism is inseparable from imperial warfare and white supremacy."
The second part of the book is a history of the American and international Left and the Left's love for communism and their evolution into what Horowitz calls Neo-Communists or Neocoms. He explains that the original American communists believed in the Soviet Union with the same religous fervor that many people believe in God. Americans who spied for the Soviet Union didn't see themselves as traitors to America, but rather loyalists to a commom cause for a utopian society for humanity. When the Soviet Union fell, they still carried their flawed belief system in a socialist America and instead focused their attention on attacking the American system at every turn.
Part three explains why the Left has made unspoken alliances with Islam, Even though Islam doesn't share the Left's belief system, Horowitz explains that they are but a small enemy as compared to the American capitalist system and they they will do anything to bring about a revolution that brings down the American system.
So why is the Left allying itself with radical Islam? Horowitz says that the Neocoms still believe in Marx's dictum that "religion is the opiate of the masses." According to the book, once private property is abolished (the root of the "class" system), the need for religion will vanish, and Islamic radicals will stop being Islamic and radical. The only thing standing in the way of the revolution is the United States of America.
Unholy Alliance - Radical Islam and the American Left is absolutely chilling in its exploration of the depths to which the extreme Left will sink in its attacks on America. It is truly sad that the once great Democratic Party, of which I used to consider myself part of, has been hijacked by the extreme Left. For the record, I voted for Clinton twice, Gore over George W. Bush, and lastly George W. Bush over Kerry. So that's 3 Democratic votes to just one Republican vote.
In summary, David Horowitz has done a billiant job of analyzing the history of the Left and how they have evolved from supporting communism to using the power of the media to spread their propoganda.
What happened to the progressive moderate Democrats, like John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and others? Clinton was more moderate than the current crop of Democratic leadership, i.e. Howard Dean, Senator John Kerry, Senator Ted Kennedy, Sen. Barbara Boxer, and Sen. Charles Schummer and a lot of the reason is that extreme Left such as MoveOn.org and others have raised millions of dollars to help fund far left-leaning candidates such as Howard Dean.
I don't believe President Bush has done everything perfectly but if you were to listen to Democratic leadership President Bush has done everything wrong. That is just lunacy and pure propoganda designed for political gain. Unwarranted attacks on the office of the Presidency no matter which party is in power designed for mere political gain stinks to high heaven and I hope this plan backfires come election time. The extreme Left is pushing me further and further to the right of center. Please Democrats, I implore you... save me from becoming an extreme right-winger before it's too late!
Recently in Personal and Humor Category
For Labor Day Weekend I spent time with my wife's godfather, Ken Blanchard, on one of the Finger Lakes in Skaneateles, New York. Many people know Ken Blanchard as the NY Times best-selling author/co-author of
One of my favorite Ken "words of wisdom" is when he told me about "passing the ball in conversations". Essentially what this means is when someone is telling you a story don't "steal the ball" by changing the topic ever so slightly by relating it to a story in your life.
Here's an example:
John: I was at a Yankees game yesterday and there was this really drunk 300lb Red Sox fan that started punching a guy and his wife. I stepped in to try and break it up and the guy hit me in the head. <pauses for Sue to reply>
Sue: <steals the ball> Yeah I don't like Yankee Stadium. It's way too rowdy for me. I was there last year and I had a beer fall on my head. It's also a pain in the butt to get out of there. It took me forever to get home. I do like the hot dogs at the Stadium though. Do you know what brand they are?
Instead of Sue asking John if he was OK or what happened next in the story, did the police arrest the guy etc., she instead tried to relate one of her life experiences. She stole the ball. Now don't get me wrong, relating your own similar life experience is perfectly fine, but only after the person telling the story "passes the ball" to you. You can tell when someone passes the ball when there is a moment of silence on the conversation or if in this example John asked her a question such as "So can you believe what happened to me?" Then the ball has been passed.
It's actually a form of selfishness when you steal the ball to apply your own "spin" without first exhausting the person's story. For what ever reason people in some cultures seem to do better at passing the pass rather than stealing it. I leave it to you to ponder which cultures are more adept at passing the ball.
I know a few people in my personal life that are notorious ball stealers. You know who you are and I know you are reading this!
If people spent more time listening and asking questions of the other person this world would be a lot friendlier.
Thanks Ken for the insights and I look forward to more nuggets of wisdom next year!
I saw an article with a cool astrological chart displaying a few heavenly bodies in close proximity (conjunction) with one another. Specifically, Jupiter, Venus, and the moon will align.
Now for a brief astronomy lesson culled from Google searches and my prophetic analysis:
Jupiter - symbolizes power, expansion, kings, increase, preservation.
Venus - symbolizes the feminine - the power of love, relating and consensus; the principles of diplomacy.
Moon - symbolizes the changing of tides and our emotions. Actually, the #1 Google search result for "moon symbolizes" talks about how Islam is "symbolized by the moon".
So I will be on my astrologer cap now and interpret these "signs" to mean one of the following possibile prophecies:
1) Islamic terrorists (Moon) in Iraq will put on their peace caps (Venus) and see that the only true way to gain power (Jupiter) is to participate in the Iraqi democracy and stop blowing up innocent Iraqi civilians.
Analysis: Not likely, but it would be great if this were indeed true.
2) Anti-war peace activists (Venus), including Cindy Sheehan, will have a change of heart (Moon) and see that their leader (Jupiter), President Bush was absolutely right to deal with Islamic (Moon) terrorists in Iraq instead of here at home.
Analysis: Not in this lifetime. I won't debate the merits of the Iraq war, intelligence failures by several intelligence agencies that said Saddam had WMDs, etc. Suffice to say those that were against the war to begin with will never change their minds. (ditto for those that supported the war to begin with)
3) This astrology stuff is all hogwash. I'm wasting my time blogging this, I'm wasting your time reading this, and I'll probably burn in Hell for preaching about something that is frowned upon in the Bible. Well, at least you know about the cool planetary conjunction tonight!
Hope God has a sense of humor, this blog post was in jest ya know. You know I was only kidding, right God?
Anyway, see the astronomical chart below.
3)
Duchess Restaurants, one of my favorite "slightly above" fast-food restaurants with several locations in Connecticut, has betrayed me! They had the 2nd best-tasting French Fries to McDonalds fries and now they have done pulled a "Burger King" and changed their French Fry formula to those nasty dry, crunchy fries with the textured coating that I hate. I've already banned Burger King french fries since they taste so bad.
WHY! Why have you done this to me Duchess? I have been a loyal customer for 20 years. Bring back the greasy, wet, smooth textured, crunchy on the outside / moist potato on the inside french fries, that I have come to know and love.
It is with great joy and excitement that I can announce that my wife and I are going to have our first baby. My wife is only 2 months pregnant, so she isn't due until April, but both of us are already doing extensive research. Besides reading baby books such as: What to Expect When You are Expecting, Birthing from Within, The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, and What to Expect the First Year, we've also started our product research and product comparison as well. The Graco brand keeps coming up wherever I go, though Eddie Bauer is trying to get in on the baby act - saw some Eddie Bauer strollers in Babys R Us.
I know they say it's bad luck to buy baby products so early on, but we just had to buy this really nice baby cradle from Once Upon a Child that retails for $120, but we got it for $60.0. We've got our eye on a used crib that that retails for $600 (the store employee called it the "Mercedes of cribs") but they're selling it for $210. Never thought I was much of a bargain hunter, but hunting for baby bargains is fun!
You'll just have to forgive me if you start seeing me review baby products in my blog, including cradles, cribs, car seats, and Graco strollers.
Rich Tehrani's War on Terror by Nerds caught my eye where Rich referenced a blog post by Isen.blog which referenced Sun Ray Blog (the source of this War on Terror UNIX joke).
You have to be a UNIX geek to get this, but if you are, then this is pretty funny.
Here's a sample:
$ cd
$ ls
bin Taliban
$ rm Taliban
rm: Taliban is a directory
$ cd Taliban
$ ls
soldiers
$ rm soldiers
$ cd ..
$ rmdir Taliban
rmdir: directory "Taliban": Directory not empty
$ cd Taliban
$ ls -a
. .. .insurgents
$ chown -R USA .*
Even funnier than this is Sun Ray Blog's full "translation" for the non-UNIX geeks along with a full set of commands that you should check out.
So you think you're a VoIP fan, do ya? Well, you got nothing on Kancharla, who not only provides hosted VoIP termination, but they're such big fans of VoIP that several of the cars in their corporate parking lot have license plates with VoIP in them. Check out the photos I captured when I visited them down in Huntsville, Alabama:
I was actually thinking I might put a vanity plate on my Dodge Viper that says "Got VoIP" but that would probably just confuse the next officer that pulls me over for not speeding and whose only knowledge of VoIP is the Vonage commercials.
In any event, I should tell you what Kancharla does. They provide end-to-end VoIP solutions for Service Providers including ISPs, MSOs, and CLECs. Their [Tone]IP service is an integrated solution which including product development/bundling, network/engineering design & implementation, sales/marketing support, billing, and OSS. They have several POPs across the nation, including their main HQ down in Alabama and also provide 3500+ rate centers in the USA, Canada, and Mexico to give you a large selection of DID phone numbers.
Their solution is SIP-based and using their platform service providers can deploy services such as Hosted PBX (IP Centrex), Trunk Replacement (Integrated T1/POTS), and Residential (CLASS 5) very quickly. According to Kancharla it can "be done in under 30 days with very little capital. This allows service providers to take advantage of the demand for hosted VoIP solutions today and to create a more loyal customer base with increasing revenues and margins." They also told me that they support e911 in most of their rate centers. One example company using Kancharla's VoIP platform is Knology, which offers a hosted PBX solution branded as Knology Matrix based on Kancharla's [Tone]IP.
They seem to have a very good hosted VoIP solution and unlike some of their competitors in the hosted VoIP space who seem to be on a buying/merging/shopping spree, Kancharla espoused to me their conservative roots and desire to grow steadily while keeping their customers happy - rather than try and make a big buck via some mega-VoIP merger. Kudos to them for putting their customers first!
Ok, maybe the title of my blog post is a bit exaggerated. Anthony Graffeo, a TMC co-worker and I were in a business trip (hence no blogging for past couplr of days) when we got off of Research Turnpike in Huntsville, Alabama and used our "trusty" AVIS paper map to determine we had to make a right turn. Unfortunately, the AVIS map didn't take into account the off ramp which circles you in such as way that it changes the orientation. In any event, we drove for about a mile when when all of a sudden we were going through what appeared to be a toll booth. When we got closer, a uniformed policeman asked Anthony (the driver) "Pass please?". I thought he could tell that we were driving a rental car, so I handed him our AVIS rental car paperwork. He said "No, you need a military base pass. Please pull over to the shoulder."
A second officer then asked Anthony for his license which he promptly wrote down on a sheet of paper on a clipboard. Anthony asked, "What did we do?" and the officer explained "You're in a restricted area."
Great...
"You've entered the Huntsville NASA Marshal Space Flight Center and Redstone Arsenal".
"This sounds pretty serious" I thought to myself, "Gitmo here I come!".
There were no warning signs, no turn abouts to avoid entering the base - nothing. I showed the officer our "trusty" AVIS map with a highlighted yellow line showing how we were trying to get to Days Inn. He then processed to give us directions, which was a positive sign, but I still wondered if Anthony was going to get a ticket. He told us they were going to keep Anthony's license and return it on the opposite side of the road to ensure he doesn't go on the base. The turn around was 1/4 mile towards the base, but there was nothing stopping us from continuing towards the base.
Me pondering, "So if I was Al-Qaida with a fake ID I could simple give my fake ID over and get access to the base?"
Of course, the guy holding the licenses knows it shouldn't take longer than 3-5 minutes for cars to pick up their license after turning around 1/4 of a mile up the road, so I suppose they could sound the alert if a long period of time elapses. For all I know, there's a second checkpoint as well.
Moral of the story?
Rent a car with Hertz NeverLost. Unfortunately, the Alabama Hertz car rental in the airport didn't have any cars with NeverLost. We asked...
Why is it that no other car rental company offers a GPS system? Hertz offered this system like what - 10 years ago? How is it that none of their competitors have copied them yet? Many people would be willing to pay an extra $10/day.to have a stress-free driving experience.
I think it may be time to buy a TomTom Go portable GPS device to take on trips or just take my iPaq which runs Destinator1 GPS software on it. (though the GPS Y-connector has been a bit flaky causing the iPaq to not charge when pluggied into my cigarette lighter. <sigh> Sounds like it might be time to spend $500-$700 for a new portable GPS device.
According to Instapundit, you can no longer "share" your online Wall Street Journal subscription with your coworkers, friends, and family. They detect concurrent logons and block them.
So WSJ, what are you trying to say? Does this also mean I can't hand out my WSJ newspaper to my co-workers? Are you going to prevent "pass around copies" of your newspaper too? Do you realize your circulation numbers are much higher due to copies passed around (known as "pass along" in the publishing world)? Therefore, you can charge more money to your advertisers.
So why not simply detect the concurrent logons and count each concurrent logon as a "unique" subscriber, which will "boost" your online circ numbers. Then the WSJ can charge your advertisers more money, thus making you happy, and you can allow the "tradition" of sharing an electronic form of a newspaper with people you know.
You can even limit it to 5-10 concurrent logons or something to prevent people from just posting their ID and password on the web.
I got pulled over in the Viper today for not speeding. Yep, you read that right, I wasn't speeding or at least it was some "Twilight Zone phantom speeding" since the officer seemed to think I was speeding.
Here's what happened. I was travelling on a dirt gravel road... yes, I know, I know... what am I doing driving a Viper on a dirt gravel road? But it's the fastest way to work.
Anyway, so I approach a 4-way intersection (4 stop signs) and I'm at the bottom part of the 4 way (+) headed straight through the intersection after I stop. It's a dangerous intersection since there are bushes on both sides that make the dirt road an almost invisible side road. The cars on either side of the intersection don't always see this road, so they don't always stop. They look straight ahead and to the opposite side where I am headed, don't see another car on either of the two other sides and just go. I've almost been hit three times due to drivers that don't see me and assume it's their turn to go through the intersection.
So anyway, I've learned to never assume the drivers see me even if they do stop. If it's my turn to go, I usually accelerate a bit harder than most other intersections to make sure I make it through this death trap. When I say accelerate a little harder, I mean go from 0-25MPH in like a second or second in a half. Even accelerating this much, the RPMs are not that high on the car at 25mph in first gear, so I doubt the "noise" level of the car was loud enough to make it sound like I was travelling faster than I should. (often cops will pull you over if it "sounds" like you are speeding.)
The speed limit on the road is 25MPH and there is a notorious speed trap just 1/5th of a mile ahead, so I know not to speed on this road. It was just one car to my left and my car, with my car at the intersection first, so I went first through it doing my normal amount of acceleration at this intersection. As a natural habit I always check my rear view mirror 3-5 seconds after going through any intersection. There was a police cruiser right on my bumper.
"Where the heck did he come from?" I pondered since there were no side streets, he wasn't behind me on the dirt road, he wasn't to my left since a normal compact car was at the stop, and I didn't see any car to my right when I was just at the intersection. I figured out later that he was indeed to my right, but not quite at the intersection yet. He apparently saw an exotic red sports car go through the intersection and decided to catch up - very quickly I might add. He must have blown the stop sign making a right-hand turn in order to be on my bumper so quickly.
So I see the police cruiser in my rear view mirror and as my heart races, I check my speedometer and it reads 30mph and I'm only in 2nd gear. "Phew!" I thought to myself, "I'm only 5MPH over the limit, he's not going to pull me over for that."
"Boy I thought to myself. Good thing I know they often have a speed trap 1/5th of a mile ahead or I may actually speed on this road."
I won't mention the town by name, since with my luck, they'll find this post and look for my car in the future, but I was pulled over previously by this same town for no apparent reason.
So anyway, the officer follows me for about 1/2 a mile and then puts his lights on. "Here we go," I thought, "pulling my over just because of the car. Unbelievable."
The young (~22yrs old) male officer approaches the car and says in most polite voice I have ever heard "May I have you license and registration, please?" Most officers are "all business" and ask for your license and registration in a very serious voice, but not this time.
Was that joy in his voice, was he grinning?
I hand him my license and registration and then he asks to see my insurance card.
"Ok, I just want to be sure you are current," he says, again in a very polite voice.
At this point I theorized just from his demeanor that he wasn't going to write me a speeding ticket.
A second police cruiser drives by the scene on this not-so-travelled back road. He must have called for backup in case I ran or more likely he wanted to show his fellow officer his "daily kill".
But this just confirmed my suspicion that he was just pulling me over for sport and not wanting to write me a ticket.
He then comments, "The reason why I pulled you over is you went very fast through that intersection. You were going at pretty good clip, I'd say around 40MPH" with this broad giddy smile that he just couldn't contain.
Honestly, he looked like a kid at Christmas. It was almost as if he didn't believe what he was saying, but had to come up with some reason to pull me over.
I replied, "Well, that's a blind intersection from the dirt road, so I do accelerate a little fast through it since I've almost been hit a few times, but I wasn't going faster than 30MPH".
He then changed the subject on me and asked "So where you headed?"
Me: Norwalk
Officer: Where do you live?
Me: Brookfield
Officer: And where do you work?
Me: TMC
Officer: What's that?
Me: Technology Marketing Corporation.
Officer: Where's that?
Me: Do you know where Swanky Franks is?
Officer: Yes, right on the Post Road.
Me: Well we're right behind it off of West Cedar.
Officer: And what do you do for a living? <again with this broad smile>
Ok, at this point I can tell he can barely contain himself from his curiosity. Why the heck does he need to know where I work or what I do for a living? It appeared he was hoping I was someone famous or some celebrity that he could tell his fellow officers. Obviously, I am not famous or a celebrity... well maybe somewhat in the VoIP industry... Ego check, Tom, ego check....
Me: I review Voice over IP products.
Officer: Voice over IP? What's that?
Me: <sigh in my head> You know those annoying Vonage commercials?
Officer: Yeah yeah!!! I do!
Me: Well, that's what I do.
Officer: Do you travel this road every day?
Me: Yes.
Officer: Well, just to let you know, we are sent out here almost every day to make sure people don't speed in the 25MPH zone.
Me: Yes, I know. I see your speedtraps on this road on a regular basis, so I never speed on this road.
Officer: Do you have any problems with your license?
Me: No.
Officer: Ok, well I'm not going to write you a ticket. I'm just going to give you a warning. But let me check your license and then you can be on your way.
While I was happy I was let off with just a warning, I was a bit perturbed I was pulled over in the first place.
A few minutes later he hands me my license and registration and says "Ok, here you go. Just take it easy." or something to that effect. I was too annoyed at this point to remember exactly what he said - I just wanted to get going since I was now running late.
Honestly, I would have preferred if he just was straight with me. If he wanted to see the car, I would have been happy to pop the hood and show him the engine and talk about the car's performance numbers, answer his questions, etc. He could have simply pulled me over, walked up and said "Don't worry, I'm not going to write you a ticket. I'm just a fan of the Dodge Viper and was wondering if I could take a closer look at it."
I'd rather that than have my heart in my chest for 5 minutes before he tells me he's going to give me a warning.
I think I'll skip my morning coffee caffeine fix - my heart rate and blood pressure already had their morning jolt...