Sander's Blog

Meet Baya! (Bay-uh)

HDArf!
Originally uploaded by sanderk

Baya is our new German Shorthaired Pointer. She was rescued from the Skagit Valley Humane Society and is the sweetest dog you ever did meet!

SlingPlayer for iPhone?

Looks like Best Buy took SlingMedia's word and published their weekly
ad with the promise that you could watch your Sling content on your
iPhone. The catch, however, is that the SlingPlayer app for iPhone
has yet to be approved by Apple. Better clear it up quick or BestBuy
is going to have even more complaints on their hands, something I'm
not sure they can afford at this point (see: ridiculous prices).

Change comes to America... or 30th Ave

We got a new car in preparation for our dog which doesn't exist yet. For the first time in my life I'm driving an SUV and looking at all the sedan owners the way that I imagine people used to look at me.

This comes just before construction is set to begin on our new house! I've already had to make so many decisions and we haven't even broken ground yet. I can only imagine how challenging it will be throughout the process, but the end result is what keeps me motivated. Having our own place will really be special... Me, Matt, cat, cat and dog. Yikes!

Creating an ISO image from a folder in Mac OSX

It is really simple in Mac OS, using the hdiutil command.  For example, you
have a folder named WINDOWS7_EN_DVD on your Desktop, and hope to create
a ISO image file for the folder so you can install it on a virtual machine, etc.

1. Open terminal window
2. Change the current folder to user's desktop, for example user is "Apple"
the type cd Users/Apple/Desktop
3. Type following command:
hdiutil makehybrid -o windows7.iso WINDOWS7_EN_DVD

A new ISO image "windows7" will be created on your desktop. You
may access to the ISO image as a CD/DVD device in Mac OS later.

America is back.

I could write book after book on how I feel today and what these last
several years have been like. Today the entire world community is
welcoming us back to the team.

All I can think right now is how great it feels to be liked again.

I VOTED TODAY

And you should too.

I Am Not a Muslim...

...but would it matter if I were?

Today I received an email that was supposed to be a joke. It said, in a nutshell, that because it is a sin for Muslim men to see any woman naked that is not his wife, doing so requires them to commit suicide. Therefore, it continued, all patriotic American women were to go out collectively this Saturday and take off all their clothes in an effort to "weed out" the Muslim terrorists in their neighborhood. All patriotic men, in turn, were to position themselves in lawn chairs in front of their house to prove they are not Muslims, and to demonstrate they think its okay to see nude women other than their wife, and to show support for all American women. Since Islam also does not approve of alcohol, a cold 6-pack at your side will be further proof of your anti-Muslim sentiment.

YUCK. The email went on, but I didn't think it was funny. Yeah, I get the joke. Haha, what a funny picture.... all the women going out naked to burn the eyes and souls of the evil-doers.... beer makes you American... You'll have to excuse me if I want a little more intellect in my humor.

If you ever receive an email like this, respond to the person and make your distaste for this kind of hatred clear. Even if it's easier to just delete the message and brush it off, remind them of this:

TERRORISM is the act of making innocent people feel unsafe, uncomfortable or unwelcome in their own homes.

Confusing the millions of wonderful, loving and faithful Muslim citizens that live all around you with the very few radical extremists that were behind terrorist actions is doing yourself and your country a great dishonor. For myself, I will not allow the word "patriot" to be bogarted by prejudiced, bigoted, fear-mongering zealots.

PATRIOTISM is the act of standing up for the values that your country was founded upon. All people being created equal, the freedoms of speech and religion, the separation of church and state, the pursuit of happiness... and many more.

Xenophobia, lying, racism... these are not on the list.

If you respect those with whom you disagree, you are a patriot.

If you tell your kids that the sky is the limit, you are a patriot.

If you are with the person that you love, you are a patriot.

IF YOU VOTE, you are a super-responsible patriot! :-)

If you ever find yourself spreading hate, you've failed. The good news is, it is never too late to start spreading Love! Love is like the new detergents that require only a teaspoon to wash an entire load of dirty laundry! AND... it's free and never goes out of stock.

I'm sending this message out today because I feel I need to help cancel out some of the damage that was done by the nasty email I received. I'm sending this to people that I love who are all so very different from me, for which I thank God every day.

That is my only thought for now.

हम सब जुड़े हुए हैं (We Are All Connected)

Sander

Electoral Map Prediction

If I had to make a conservative guess today, based largely off the results from the 2004 election and current polls/trends, still acting cautiously in cases like Ohio and Florida (which will probably be stolen,) AND including my largely optimistic view of the state of racism in our country, this is what I would say: (Comments are welcome)

Barack Obama - 288
John McCain - 250

HOWEVER, if McCain keeps screwing things up and running from the issues, I think Barack can sweep this thing. My landslide prediction goes as follows:

Barack Obama - 318
John McCain - 220

Shock Doctrine THIS

Yesterday I wrote about the danger of rushing into this $700 Billion plan without thinking it over thoroughly. It's been fairly well discussed in progressive media that we are witnessing textbook "Shock Doctrine" tactics when the Bush administration effectively threatens the American people to pass a proposal or else face certain destruction. It's exactly what they did after September 11th, and it's what they've been doing for 35 years during any time of political or economic crisis.

I am not shocked by their actions. In fact... if anything shocks me it's the fact that apparently we have learned something since 9/11 and are actually sticking up for ourselves. I applaud the US Senate (even several Republicans) for calling this out for what it is. A black hole bailout for Wall Street CEOs (see: Secretary of Treasury Hank Paulson). With the sheer magnitude of this expenditure, this bill should be at least 100 pages long and include several provisions.

There is no reason why this bailout paperwork should be shorter than my lease.

I called my two senators' offices this morning and left messages (the phones are jammed) letting them know that I support them never signing this bill if it doesn't get fixed.

#1) Call (202) 224-3121
#2) Ask for your Senator by name and they transfer you to their office
#3) One of their little peoples answers the phone and all they want to know is your opinion (I don't support this bailout plan as it currently exists) and what your 5-digit zipcode is (for their tallying) It's really easy, helps them directly inform the Senators of their constituents' trends, and only takes a minute.

How Can You Say Nothing and then Repeat It? Palin Perfects.

It's no surprise by now that Senator John McCain chose Sarah Palin exclusively, disrespectfully, and foolishly for her gender and her gender alone. Crys of sexism can now take a backseat to my correctness, because she has had several weeks to disprove what all of us were already thinking, and she has completely botched it.

For weeks, day after day, Sarah Palin has said absolutely nothing. And then repeated it.

These are the things that Sarah Palin has said on the campaign trail in every single city she has visited:

-I told Congress "Thanks but no thanks" on the Bridge to Nowhere (1)
-I sold the governor's plane on eBay (2)
-I'm a pitbull that wears lipstick (3)
-I went up against the Good Ol' Boys network in Alaska
-I took a voluntary paycut (4)

(1) Since revealed that she was a strong supporter of the plan until it became wildly unpopular and was deemed unfeasible. But she continues to say this line.

(2) Plane not sold on eBay. Sold through private broker at a loss to the state.

(3) References to lipstick by anybody but herself will be violently lashed out upon.

(4) As with most Republicans, a paycut actually means a decrease in an increase. Her pay went from $65,000 to $64,000, and then three months later shot up to $68,000. It should be noted that as a Governor making less than $70,000/year, Barack Obama's tax plan would benefit her more than McCain's.

So, next time you want to relax, just turn on the extremely limited access to Sarah Palin's interviews and enjoy the white noise that is her position on any subject.