All posts by Jack

What an Idea!

I heard on NPR this morning that Starbucks is implementing Media Bars. What an idea! Go in and select a bunch of songs online and burn a CD. It is such a natural for a place that has broadband Internet connections already in place. It takes 4 minutes or so to burn a CD. I imagine it would take longer to select the songs to burn. And you can listen to the songs before buying them.

I was just thinking that if you wanted to make a travelling music CD it would be so easy. I hope that they are using .WAV files and not mp3 or lower compression files. Music videos can be next.

Of course it is Starbucks, which means it stinks to high heaven of COFFEE. I have accidently wandered into one or two, following Elaine around, and quickly leave before I become physically ill from the malodorous smell. But, it is still a wonderful idea.

Questions for the Candidates

How do you and your party interpret “a more perfect Union”?

How do you and your party interpret “establish Justice”?

How do you and your party interpret “insure Domestic Tranquility”?

How do you and your party interpret “provide for the common defence”?

How do you and your party interpret “promote the general Welfare”?

How do you and your party interpret “the Blessings of Liberty”?

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Cons for Bush

The election is coming up on us and I am reviewing the candidates: First, consider George Bush.

As the incumbent he has one strike against him. Never re-elect an incumbant to any office unless everything is the way you want it. If things aren’t the way you want it, then your incumbent is contributing to the problem.

Second, he doesn’t seem to realize what the oath of office he took in 2001 was about. “To defend the constitution of the United States”

Third, he invaded a sovereign nation without a declaration of war.

Fourth, he supposedly represents the US in front of the community of nations. I am not happy with the way he represents the US in this forum. He and his administration seem to have gone out of their way to insult long-time friends and allies.

Fifth, he seems determined to impose his religiouus beliefs on me and my fellow citizens. I look at his faith-based initiatives with more than a little trepidation. I see giving religious groups government money as requiring government oversight of religious activities and that is well down the slippery slope.

Sixth, he won’t admit that his adminstration made a mistake invading Iraq. He has said that he would do the same thing all over even if the intelligence indicated that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction. No WMD, no Declaration of War, no mistakes. Sorry, doesn’t work for me.

Seventh, he is a Republican president with a Republican-controlled Congresss and he doesn’t seem to have any control of his party. Why aren’t they agressively pursuing the Republican platform. Cut back all the government programs and bureaus, get rid of all regulations on Corporate America, take us back to those laissez-faire days of the 1800s.

GW continues to go adventuring with the military. I wonder where they will go next. I would like to see the Congress do its duty and declare war on somebody or some country.