Archive for October, 2008

John McCain Doesn’t Want You to Read This Blog

Friday, October 31st, 2008

John McCain doesn’t want you to read this blog, or any other blog that’s political. OK, that’s maybe a bit hyperbolic; but it’s not too far from the truth. McCain shared top billing on the campaign finance reform law, portions of which were struck down by the Supreme Court. Some portions of this law, IIRC, would have required bloggers to comply with regulations that would have made it impractical to simply log in to a site like this and type whatever you want. That struck at the very heart of free speech.

Then, there is the whole flag burning ammendment. A bigger waste of time, and a greater attack against speech has not been seen in years. Guess who has his name on it?

At some point, early in this election, I thought perhaps the phrase, “It’s the Constitutions, stupid” might work its way into the general fray. Alas, no. There have been other issues on people’s minds. Long before he was even nominated, however, these issues were foremost in my mind. The Constitution is the foundation of the United States. The president takes an oath to defend it! How anyone can take seriously a candidate who would attack it is beyond me. It could be argued that McCain is just falling in line with his party’s general lack of respect for the values that made America great.

So, this Tuesday, vote Obama. There. I said that. That’s free speech, Mr. McCain. Read it and weep.

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Energy

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

Every time I go through a job-change cycle, there is always some “realization”. The last time, it was the realization that I couldn’t start a company on my own. I just don’t have the personality profile of a CEO. The result of that realization was me pairing with somebody who DID have the profile of CEO, and it launched the last 5 years of my career cycle.

Now, during this phase of jobless soul-searching, I’ve been focused on how I’d like to solve one of society’s biggest problem: The Energy Problem.

Part of the realization came when I saw a piece about Escape from Berkeley on the nightly news, on the Friday just before they took off on their first event.

I was so psyched. I wanted to be a part of it. I half considered dropping everything and following them. Then I realized that me trailing them in my petrolium burning Honda would be a bit self-defeating.

I also realized that if something like that was going to be my contribution to the problem, I would have already known it was happening. I would have known about it before all the other regular Joes watching the six o’clock news.

I started to get really bummed out that I had nothing to contribute to this problem. I know nothing about how to build a car. I’m not mechanical. I’m just a software guy.

Well, just recently I was contacted by somebody I had met quite some time ago, who is working on something energy related. There is software involved. Actually, software is a big part of it. There is nothing formal yet, and even when there is, it will probably be “stealth mode” for a while. Yep, that’s right. Startup again. Real startup. Hardcore. Pre-payroll.

If it really gels, you won’t see me writing on this blog very much. You won’t see me doing much of anything, except the essentials like “one day of rest per week”, and holidays with the family. So, this could be it–the next phase! Exciting times may be here again.

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Where Neither Moth Nor Rust Doth Corrupt

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

Who isn’t affected by the financial crisis? The man who has no posessions. Somewhere, there are people living apart from Wall Street, with no money in the bank. Somewhere in a jungle, or on an island, natives gather coconuts and fish. Life goes on.

Of course, I’m not a native. I’m a participant in this thing they call “the economy”. It’s hard not to get down about it. Some people try to do something about it. You’ve got people literally running out and buying gold and “squirrleing it away” in their safes or under the mattresses and shit like that. Of course, somebody could break into their house and steal it. Some people answer that with “I’ll buy guns and ammo”. You know, the easiest way to get shot is to carry a gun. Then, not only will they take your gold, they’ll take your life too.

So, with the economy on the skids, and me not wanting to sell out at a bottom, what am I buying? What can I buy that can’t be stolen. What can I buy that won’t make me a target?

When I hit publish on this piece, maybe I’ll climb into the car and head to the coast again like I do sometimes. One time last week I did that, and it was sunny. There I was gliding up the Highway, with the hills on my right and that Pacific on my left. The Sun shining off that water and it was real gold that nobody owns or controls. And I was reminded of that other bit of scripture, about the beautiful river that flows from the throne of God. Except it wasn’t a river, it was a whole ocean. God’s gift to man. There for the taking; but without posession, trade, or conflict.

And they can take all my stocks, bonds, cash and physical posessions and they can even kill me–but the sea breeze and the golden sunlight shine in my mind forever. Where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.

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