Smittie

News Cruise

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This whole business of naming anything and everything after corporations is really kind of odd. Now, we have a town in Texas that is changing its name in exchange for free satellite TV service for a decade. On the face of it, that seems innocuous enough. I mean, who cares what the name of the … Read more

What’s Not Going Well?

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I had an interesting conversation with an old friend today. In the course of this discussion a recurring theme came up. “The ‘war’ in Iraq is not going well?” I have read, heard and seen this a lot. I have to wonder, how do we know? How should it be going? What is it that … Read more

I Voted

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I voted yesterday. I participated in the process by which this great country is run. I’m suppose to be happy and proud that I participated and I guess I am. However, I have to confess some frustration as well. California faced a special election this year. The ballot held a number of propositions but in … Read more

Whence comes intelligent discussion?

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During a recent visit to Washington State on the Navy’s dime I had the opportunity to visit an old friend. I used to work for him when I was at Microsoft. We remained friends after I left some six years ago now. I always enjoy his company because we can talk about every thing under … Read more

How long?

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Wow! It’s almost a month since I last blogged. It was definitely easier to blog often when I was overseas. Not sure why. I suppose a big part of it is that while I was overseas I felt like someone might be interested in what I was thinking, feeling, and doing. Now, I feel like … Read more

Rita Relief Effort

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I have been hanging out in Texas now for a couple of weeks. On September 30 I headed down to Beaumont, Texas to help with Rita Relief Effort. I was sent by Great Good Global Support Services in support of Katrina Response Initiative. Once in Beaumont I spend most of my time working for SomebodyCares.org. … Read more

Captain Fishback, I salute you

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The United States military would do well with a lot more officers like US Army Captain Fishback. This article tells the abbreviated version of his efforts to do the right thing. Officers who back and support the enlisted personnel who serve under them is rarer than it should be. aloha

Welcome to Central Texas

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My psychological make up is that of a first responder. I find it very difficult to do nothing when a disaster has occurred. I want to go and help. I want to be part of the effort to rescue those affected and clean up the mess. I prefer the chaos in the moment of and … Read more

Apple vs the music industry

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So, the battle of words between Apple and the music industry has begun (article is here). In my opinion, Steve Jobs is right. The music publishers are greedy. Bronfman’s logic doesn’t hold water. In the current pricing scheme on iTunes Music Store more popular songs generate more income by the fact that they are downloaded … Read more

Stepford Wives (1975)

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The Stepford Wives Interesting movie. Not all that good in my opinion but thought provoking. There are probably going to be spoilers here so if that bothers you you may want to come back after you’ve seen the movie. The movie is about a town called Stepford which is supposedly in Connecticut. Mapquest says there … Read more