Categories
Uncategorized

Election Day, 6am Update

A video blog. Looks crowded at the polling stations, people, get the hell out there and vote your asses off!  Plus, don’t forget about the state ballot initiative to allow veterans to get a few extra points on their civil service applications.  As it stands now, only injured vets get those added points, and only if they’re getting benefits from a specific agency.  The ballot initiative seeks to widen the program to all veterans, which seems only fair.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDilufitgkk[/youtube]

Keep your browser logged in here today, as I’ll be blogging from the Rochester for Obama headquarters on St. Paul St. during the morning and early afternoon hours.  Then, tonight, check out the live blogging event happening with myself, Rottenchester from the Fighting 29th and Exile on Erickson St. from The Albany Project.  It’s all happening right here on DFE, plus the other two will be on CW-16 and WHAM-13 this evening as well, live blogging the whole time.  Bitchin, eh?

Happy New Year!!! DFE vBlog for 12/29/06

Well, most of us have made it through another year. However, for those we have lost this week and last, I have decided to dedicate this vBlog to their memory. I know that, for a lot of people, the loss of a sea lion doesn’t seem like too much of a big deal, but for those of us who regularly visit the zoo, the animals there start to become familiar enough to be considered friends. Certainly for my wife, who worked at the Seneca Park Zoo, the loss was particularly difficult. This is also the third loss for the zoo this year, and I suppose there are many among the park’s employees and supporters that are happy to see this year pass by.So, my tributes to lost friends starts with Ariel the sea lion from Seneca Park Zoo. Moving on from there, I share my own personal impressions of the 38th President of our United States, Gerald Ford. I hardly knew ye. Literally.

Next up is James Brown, who I am very-much going to miss. It’s a shame that I’ve had at least two opportunities to see the man play, and missed out on both of them. Life is fleeting.

Click here to view the blog!

I promised to add some photos of Ariel to this post, so see below for those:

this blog, so see below for those.

Yeah! Three Cheers for Henry Rollins!

Don’t expect anything the kiddies can watch, folks.  This ain’t yo mama’s blog.  But if you’re ready for a turn at the adult swim, check out Henry Rollins laying it out for ya nice and simple:

YouTube – Henry Rollins “America is under attack.”

Henry Rollins tells it like it is. Fuck the Neo-cons and there destruction of America.

Yeah, that’s good stuff.

Technorati Tags: , ,

powered by performancing firefox

vBlog for December 8th, 2006

This one’s a shortie! Getting close to the holidays, and I guess I’m getting lazy!

The DragonFlyEye.Net Blog ? Litvinenko’s Poisoning Pinpointed

It appears that Scotland Yard believes it has pinpointed the moment of Litvinenko’s poisoning, which did indeed occur at the hotel with his buddy Lugovoi. Does this mean a double-cross or a convenient moment for some other attacker?: Scotland Yard ascertains route of Litvinenko?s poisoner – Politics – REGNUM

The DragonFlyEye.Net Blog ? Dude, Just Slow Down!

Well, the D&C needs to sell papers, and so they’re diplomatic. But the winter weather was most certainly not “the cause” of the accidents. It’s the drivers, and the drivers really aught to be ashamed. As long as I live, I don’t know if I’ll ever fully understand this. You gotta figure more than half the people in these accidents have lived in Rochester or the surrounding areas all their lives; statistics alone bare this out. How can so many people be so completely inept at winter driving? I remember living in Sodus, the first heavy snow fall of the season would always bring with it a slew of SUV’s stuck on the side of 104 in Webster.

Technorati Tags: , , ,

powered by performancing firefox

vBlog for 12/1/06

Democrat & Chronicle: Essays

On Oct. 27, I was waiting for a flight with three friends at the Greater Rochester International Airport. As we talked and laughed, we watched airport personnel unloading luggage from a plane. And we were surprised to see a soldier in uniform standing by the airplane looking things over, and watching the luggage belt that was loaded with baggage. Since I have served in the Army Reserves for 21 years, my friends asked me why I thought he was standing there. I did not need to answer because as I looked down, a box with the American flag draped over it came down the belt. The lone waiting soldier stood at attention saluting the fallen soldier.

The DragonFlyEye.Net Blog ? Northwest: We Complied With All Regulations

This document does not specifically state how the “firing party” is to arrive at the funeral, of course, but with the body seems like a sensible choice. Meanwhile, I may be mangling the interpretation of Joe Spector’s words, but NW seems to be suggesting that there was perhaps more than one. Note in the originally quoted text, Joe ~ paraphrasing NW’s statement ~ only says “a military escort.” Again I wonder what constitutes a military escort these days or ever. Certainly, they cannot mean to suggest that this woman and three of her company managed to miss a second, third, or. . . ninth soldier in the procession?

Whilst awaiting our table at Carrabbas this evening (you should go. It’s good food.), my wife asked a good question, too, which is how do other bodies of non-military dead get transported? If a man dies in California and gets buried in New York, how does the body get transported?

Well, the answer doesn’t necessarily make the picture any clearer, but apparently moving dead bodies on commercial passenger planes is acceptible and presumably common. However, the confusion is in the details

YouTube – Baker Hamilton Iraq Study Group Leaks – CAP’s Joe Cirincione

Joe Cirincione of the Center for American Progress weighs reports in the New York Times that seem to leak some of the findings of the Baker Hamilton Iraq Study Group Report. For more on Strategic Redeployment, the Center’s plan for Iraq and the region please see: http://www.americanprogress…

Think Progress ? Bush Kneecaps Iraq Study Group: There Will Be No ?Graceful Exit From Iraq?

oday, in a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Bush sought to dismiss the commission?s recommendations before they have been officially released. Bush said, ?I know there?s a lot of speculation that these reports in Washington mean there?s going to be some kind of graceful exit out of Iraq. We?re going to stay in Iraq to get the job done.? Watch it:

My Way News – New Rules Make Firms Track E-Mails, IMs

The change makes it more important for companies to know what electronic information they have and where. Under the new rules, an information technology employee who routinely copies over a backup computer tape could be committing the equivalent of “virtual shredding,” said Alvin F. Lindsay, a partner at Hogan & Hartson LLP and expert on technology and litigation.

GAIDAR?S APPARENT POISONING FUELS CONSPIRACY THEORIES – Eurasia Daily Monitor

While the British authorities have not publicly named any suspects in the Litvinenko poisoning, Kommersant on November 30 quoted Andrei Lugovoi, the former Russia security service officer who met with Litvinenko in London on November 1, the day Litvinenko fell ill, as confirming that he flew back to Moscow on November 3 on one of the grounded British Airways jets aboard which traces of polonium-210 were found. Lugovoi has denied any involvement in Litvinenko?s poisoning. Earlier, Lugovoi told the Moscow correspondent of a British newspaper that he thought he was being set up ?as the fall guy? but that he could not understand who was doing it or why (Telegraph, November 24). Kommersant reported on December 1 that Lugovoi, who was officer in the KGB?s 9th Directorate in the late 1980s, was transferred in 1992 to the Main Guard Directorate (GUO), responsible for protecting top officials. In 1992-93, he was deputy head of the unit protecting then prime minister Yegor Gaidar. From 1997-2001, Lugovoi was head of security for ORT, the national television channel then controlled by Boris Berezovsky, and was accused in 2001 of organizing an attempted escape from prison of Nikolai Glushkov, a Berezovsky associate jailed for alleged large-scale embezzlement from Aeroflot. Lugovoi spent 14 months in prison. He has since pursued a successful business career.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , ,

powered by performancing firefox

vBlog: Ballots and Swindlers

For the first time in many months, a vBlog for the week of November 17th, 2006.

Wired News: Did Florida Foul Another Ballot?

The machines, critics say, may have lost more than 18,000 votes cast in Sarasota County last week for a congressional seat that Republican candidate Vern Buchanan seized by a margin of fewer than 400 votes.

That’s because 18,382 ballots recorded no vote for either Buchanan or his Democratic opponent, Christine Jennings, in the 13th Congressional District — a House seat that previously belonged to Katherine Harris, the former Florida secretary of state who played a pivotal role in the 2000 presidential recount.

I’m Still Here (Harpers.org)

Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006. From combatant-status review tribunals held over the past two years for prisoners at Guant?namo Bay. More than 5,000 pages of transcripts were released in March by the Defense Department in response to a lawsuit brought by the Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. Originally from Harper’s Magazine, May 2006. Sources

Let’s look at the allegations and then you will have the opportunity to respond to each.

Okay. . . .

The Atomic Swindlers, Kickin’ it in the Studio

A few of the songs fans may know from the live performances have made their way onto the album, including Lotus Ghost and Into the Strange. I’m really pleased to see that It’s Over is making the cut, apparently. I don’t think I’ve heard this but once, at their last Milestones performance. It’s a great anthemic peice with a lot of that great Ziggy Stardust sound you expect to hear from the Swindlers.

The DragonFlyEye.Net Blog ? vBlog: The Atomic Swindlers at the East End Fest

Rather than do my usual vBlog thing, I decided in this case to let the video speak for itself, though not literally: the sound out of the little condenser mic on the camera was reprehensible. So, I took the liberty of using one of the tunes the Atomic Swindlers have previously offered their fans as a free download as the soundtrack for this video. And so, without further ado:

Technorati Tags: , ,

powered by performancing firefox

vBlog: The Atomic Swindlers at the East End Fest

The Atomic Swindlers got the chance to liven up what has been a Rochester tradition for years, and is slowly becoming a Rochester embarrasment: the East End Festival. The East End Festival used to be filled to the brim with interesting people, great food and great original music. Now, they charge two bucks to walk on the street during the festival, which takes up exactly half the East Avenue that it used to and features nothing but cover bands. In fact, I haven’t been to an East End Festival in years, primarily I think because any chance that I might need to endure The Skycoasters is generally too great a risk to my mental well-being.

However, this time it was worth the risk (and even the entirely silly two bucks) to go to the Fest, despite the looming storm clouds. For the first time in years, a band I actually dig was playing: the Atomic Swindlers. And also in spite of a somewhat lame crowd caught completely off guard by original thoughts coming from an East End Fest stage (Dude, where’s Uncle Plum?), the Swindlers put on a killer show.

Wegmans: Food You Can Feel Good About?

Compassionate Consumers at the Pittsford WegmansvBlog for Monday, 05/22/06, discussing the Sunday protest at the Pittsford Wegmans against the cruel and unhealthy conditions of the chickens in Wegman’s Wayne County egg farm.

Hastert: The Middle Class Doesn’t Count!!

Sometimes, the Republicans are thier own worst enemies.  Given the state of the Dems these days, we should be thankful.  I have always observed that if you give the Republicans a rope they will happily hang themselves, and even in the current climate, they’ve done more than enough to earn a rope rash.  One has to wonder how a politician even makes a statement like this in public ~ much less on the floor of the House of Representatives ~ given the current political climate:

Think Progress ? Hastert: ?If You Earn $40,000 a Year and Have a Family of Two Children, You Don?t Pay Any Taxes?

During a late session last night, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) made a stunning claim on the House floor: Well, folks, if you earn $40,000 a year and have a family of two children, you don?t pay any taxes. So you probably, if you don?t pay any taxes, you are not going to get a very big tax cut.

Now, even if he was absolutely spot-on right about this (he’s not), this is the kind of statement that is just killer with the middle classs. After all, what is it that the Republicans constantly use as a wedge with the middle class? Why, the fact that they’re being taxed too much, that’s what.  Oops.  I guess Dennie just let the cat out of the bag on that one!  Turns out, the middle class doesn’t pay any taxes at all! 

It would be more accurate to say that the middle class doesn’t pay any taxes that Dennie Hastert cares about.  Hence, Dennie says, “let them eat cake!”

I’ve taken the liberty of throwing the video of this little dustup into a vBlog window:
Click here to watch Dennie Hastert make an ass out of himself

powered by performancing firefox

vBlog: Eye of Newt

vBlog for 05/15/06, discussing Newt Gingrich’s comments on the warrantless wiretapping by the NSA on Meet the Press, the militarization of our nation’s borders for political gain, and my continuing research into Ethanol production and oil independence.

If you are viewing this post from the main page, please see full article below the fold for Link Digest:

vBlog: Britany’s New Bump, Bird Flu, Kathrine Harris

vBlog entry for 05/10/06, discussing the bird-flu movie on ABC and the supposedly impending epidemic; Britney’s new bump; Microsoft’s bid for a mobile market share; phishing at PayPal again; and finally, no love for Kathrine Harris.

vBlog: Blaine Drain

vBlog for 05/09/06 on David Blaine and CNN, jounalists and Ahmadinejad’s Letter to Bush, and the growing crisis in Darfur. See below for link to my vBlog entry and the related links.