The Pete's blog/

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Orignal From: ThePete.Cam

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Orignal From: ThePete.Cam

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Orignal From: ThePete.Cam

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Orignal From: My Happy New Year Utter

With the first batch of primaries just two days away, it's time for us smart people to really consider what's going on in Iowa. Don't consider yourself a smart person? Read anyway and see if you find yourself feeling smarter by the end.

First, let's note a few things:

1) Both parties have no clear leader, this time around. Some days Hillary's ahead of Obama, other days Obama is ahead of Hillary with Edwards, equally sometimes, mentioned as the sleeper hit. The same goes for the GOPers--only worse. Could be Huckabee, could be Romney, or Rudy or McCain or... you get the idea. It's very undecided at this late date and it'll stay that way until November--long after the primaries are done. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

2) Flashback to the 2000 election: Bush and Gore were neck and neck. No clear winner could be predicted. Flashback to the 2004 election: same thing--Bush and Kerry were tight--the race was unpredictable (despite John Zogby saying Kerry was going to win the White House).

3) The only candidates that offer a substantially different message, like Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, have been marginalized in the press and in debates. This is why they're not mentioned as being in the running despite the grassroots support both candidates have. Google Dennis Kucinich or Ron Paul to see what I mean.

4) There have been and still are a lot of problems with electronic ballot boxes. They're both easily hackable and unreliable. Hell, any kind of counting mechanism can be fixed to deliver the wrong numbers--sometimes it can even happen by accident.

1+2+3+4=another election featuring results that we can't trust.

If any of the black sheep candidates were given a real voice in the press (or were even allowed to take part in every debate) people might decide to go with candidates who actually promise to do things differently than the "mainstreamers," like Hillary and Huckabee, who promise the same old crap. See, if those outsiders get a lot of press, when an election is fixed, it will be obvious since they might get a landslide win. Fixing an election like that would be too stupid.

Marginalize the guys that actually might make a difference, present milquetoast candidates that no one likes and people will spread their votes around evenly, allowing the folks who own the ballot machines to effectively decide who will win. A nudge here, a nudge there, and whomever you want to win in an election so clearly up in the air. It seems like exciting TV to us, but is really a recipe for the wrong guy or gal getting into office.

Am I saying there's some cabal of guys that decide who wins American elections?

I'm honestly not sure. I do see that there could be a cabal and based on idiot-boy Bush "winning" twice by the narrowest of margins seems like solid evidence. A case could also be made for Bush "winning" twice by accident--stranger things have happened.

Of course, the media has more to gain by everything continuing as it is. They're owned by guys who want to expand their empire and get even richer. So, they hand candidates wins and said winners allow the media to grow even larger. Look at what's happened since 2000. Fewer media companies owning more and more and more.

It all seems like a big circle jerk.

So, what should we do? I'm thinking we should all let our representatives and senators know that we don't like this system. We need real voting--paper ballots where if we don't check the right box with a pencil it's our fault, not the fault of a hanging chad or a faulty or fixed computer. Sure, you can still stuff paper ballot boxes, but it's a lot harder to do than with computers. There are a thousand different ways computers can be hacked and a thousand more ways they can simply be faulty. How many times has your computer crashed on you? Do you really want to trust a computer like yours to the fate of America, and really the world?

Check out senate.gov and house.gov to find out who your representatives in Washington are and tell them what you think. It's your democracy, folks. Use it or lose, right?

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Orignal From: PRIMARIES A FIELD DAY FOR FIXED ELECTION-WATCHING

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Orignal From: OBAMA'S FIRST, HILLARY'S THIRD, BUT EDWARDS?

Pandagon :: New AFA hyperventilating Action Alert hawks DVD on ‘homo invasion’ of Arkansas town :: January :: 2008

The good bit of this post is the stuff on the DVD warning that "They're Coming to Your Town."  I LOVE it when Christian extremists believe that gays are the ones with the agenda when Christians have a manual (the Bible) and weekly propaganda-reinforcement classes (Church services and Sunday School for the kids!).  Who's *really* got the agenda, tough guy?

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Orignal From: Pandagon :: New AFA hyperventilating Action Alert hawks DVD on ‘homo invasion’ of Arkansas town :: January :: 2008

@Fricka Thanks! I'm getting there!! I think your XO T-shirts arrive today--I'm so excited I just might shower before putting one on! :D

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Orignal From: @Fricka Thanks! I'm getting th...

There must be violence against women - Yemen Times by Maged Thabet Al-Kholidy

YOU HEAR THAT WOMEN??  A male, Muslim writer for YemenTimes.com says there MUST be violence toward women!! 

SWEET!  I can't wait until my wife gets home from the supermarket!! 

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Orignal From: There must be violence against women by Maged Thabet Al-Kholidy

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Orignal From: Letterman Explains the Strike

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Orignal From: ThePete.Cam

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Orignal From: First Trip Out

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Orignal From: Waiting for Battlestar Galactica

OK, so here's the deal. I have no budget. So, I can't blog about stuff I see first hand at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (check out more about CES 2008 at CESWeb.org). During shows like CES or any other time of the year, I blog about the stuff that I care the most about. I'll be following the other gadget blogs and I'll post here only on the stuff I think is really worth it. So much of what is churned out every year is just the same old crap. Faster, slicker, bigger, smaller, whatever--it's all the same. Very rarely do we see anything that truly innovates. Some good examples:

1) Nintendo's Wii console gaming system: It's changed the way video games are played and showed that how you play a game is just as important as the games themselves (if not more so).

2) OLPC XO laptop computer: This thing showed us that you can exploit a market without exploiting it. OLPC charges $200 per laptop to governments and NGOs and that's just how much it costs to make. OLPC is a non-profit, so we get an innovative laptop while NO ONE makes a profit, which is innovative in itself.

3) UMPCs: Ultra-Mobile PCs are (almost) full-powered computers that you take with you. I feel that being able to pick up your desktop computer, stick it in your pocket and take it with you is a real innovation. However, they've been around for a while, so I'll only blog about ones that really do something differently.

I may also blog on the overhype, too. It's hard to resist slamming an overhyped Apple product. After all, the iPhone is not what Jesus would have used. When I come across a phone I think the son of God would have used, you can bet I'll blog on it here. In the meantime, I'll just point and laugh at all the suckers who put up with no free VoIP calls, no video recording and no cut and paste (I STILL can't believe the iPhone can't do this!!).

So, there ya go. If you just want to read about the steady stream of the same old thing coming out of electronics companies around the world, hit the other tech blogs, not TheTech.ThePete.Com. If you want to read about what I think is truly innovative and bad-ass, stop by here.

And hopefully the tags will work by then :(

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Orignal From: ThePete's CES Coverage

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Orignal From: My New Wallpaper

OK, so here's the deal. I have no budget. So, I can't blog about stuff I see first hand at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (check out more about CES 2008 at CESWeb.org). During shows like CES or any other time of the year, I blog about the stuff that I care the most about. I'll be following the other gadget blogs and I'll post here only on the stuff I think is really worth it. So much of what is churned out every year is just the same old crap. Faster, slicker, bigger, smaller, whatever--it's all the same. Very rarely do we see anything that truly innovates. Some good examples:

1) Nintendo's Wii console gaming system: It's changed the way video games are played and showed that how you play a game is just as important as the games themselves (if not more so).

2) OLPC XO laptop computer: This thing showed us that you can exploit a market without exploiting it. OLPC charges $200 per laptop to governments and NGOs and that's just how much it costs to make. OLPC is a non-profit, so we get an innovative laptop while NO ONE makes a profit, which is innovative in itself.

3) UMPCs: Ultra-Mobile PCs are (almost) full-powered computers that you take with you. I feel that being able to pick up your desktop computer, stick it in your pocket and take it with you is a real innovation. However, they've been around for a while, so I'll only blog about ones that really do something differently.

I may also blog on the overhype, too. It's hard to resist slamming an overhyped Apple product. After all, the iPhone is not what Jesus would have used. When I come across a phone I think the son of God would have used, you can bet I'll blog on it here. In the meantime, I'll just point and laugh at all the suckers who put up with no free VoIP calls, no video recording and no cut and paste (I STILL can't believe the iPhone can't do this!!).

So, there ya go. If you just want to read about the steady stream of the same old thing coming out of electronics companies around the world, hit the other tech blogs, not TheTech.ThePete.Com. If you want to read about what I think is truly innovative and bad-ass, stop by here.

And hopefully the tags will work by then :(

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Orignal From: How ThePete Will Cover CES 2008

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Orignal From: At The Post Office Checkin' Ma PO Box

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Orignal From: ThePete.Cam

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Orignal From: Second XO Screencap

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Orignal From: XO Screencap 3