November 5th, 2009
Featured Post
My New Bike
August 21st, 2009 . by Bill . Comments
After a great deal of hemming and hawing I bought a new mountain bike. It's a Santa Cruz Superlight with a bunch of XTR components. XTR, I guess, translates to "top of the line" and is what racers use. Buy getting this bike I've removed all excuses for poor riding other than my skills. The question that remains is will it matter?
November 5th, 2009
November 5th, 2009
October 29th, 2009
Categorized under: Del.icio.us Links
Links o’ The Day 2009-10-29
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Awesome looking tool for quickly getting and installing all the apps you need to get your system configured.
October 28th, 2009
Categorized under: Del.icio.us Links
Links o’ The Day 2009-10-28
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A way to get kids interested in programming without them having to actually do any programming. Instead they click pieces together to build their own games. pretty cool stuff.
October 23rd, 2009
Categorized under: Del.icio.us Links
Links o’ The Day 2009-10-23
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Track your resume online for free. It's a nifty little tool for seeing where your resume, globally, is getting the most views.
October 22nd, 2009
Categorized under: Del.icio.us Links
Links o’ The Day 2009-10-22
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Audiobooks, ebooks, mp3s, and more all available for free download.
October 21st, 2009
Categorized under: Commentary
Freedom of Speech – No Exceptions
Ok, there are some common exceptions to our beloved Freedom of Speech such as the “fire in a crowded movie theater” example but, in general, Freedom of Speech means you can speak your mind without fear of repercussions from the government; regardless of the topic. That one freedom is the cornerstone upon which the remainder of our freedoms stand. I don’t care which of the rights you pick that are spelled out in the constitution, without the first amendment none of the others would still exist.
When President Bush (W) was in office I had to speak out against the efforts his administration made to curtail free-speech with such acts as “free speech zones”. I had hoped that things would improve, in regards to our civil liberties, when President Obama took office but a disturbing activity took place recently that leaves me very concerned. The Obama administration, at the UN, has sided with a variety of muslim nations on the ironically named U.N. Human Rights Council to make an exception for freedom of speech for any “negative racial and religious stereotyping.” Let me be clear, this resolution DOES NOT bring any laws into being which restrict speech – however it certainly gives nations that support suppressing speech ammunition to back up their restrictions.
President Obama had better make it perfectly clear that we, as a nation, do not condone suppression of speech regardless of the religious or ethnic topic being discussed. If he doesn’t then, even without passing a law, he is implicitly supporting other countries suppression of basic human rights and that just isn’t something we, the people, should be doing. Here are some additional takes on this, largely unreported, resolution.
- AP Story
- Reason.com Editorial
- Des Moines Register Editorial
- The Weekly Standard (perhaps the most extreme interpretation)
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About Me
I am a Software Engineer, a Son, a Proud Father,a Happy Husband, an American, a Shit Talker, an Avid Reader, and much more