Land Ownership on the Moon

Have you ever wanted to live on the moon or an asteroid? You may get your chance in the not too distant future if you have the money. The Boston Globe has the story. They may start selling property for the moon and other celestial bodies with some stipulations. It is possible that it will end up being like the land rushes in Oklahoma.

I know that I have always wanted to live on the moon. I have ever since the I first saw the drawings of the "Moonbase" in Weekly Reader in the late 70's. If I ever win the lottery I will be able to tell people "I am moving to the moon" (if I can get my wife to buy in).

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Senator McCain on SNL News

SNL News has traditionally used real politicians in extremely funny segments. Senator's McCain's appearance last night on SNL was a riot. It was tearing up laughing. I hope you enjoy.



These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

New Shower

This week my family had a new shower, tub, and shower walls put in our main bathroom. Our house has 1 and a half bathrooms. So we were without a shower for a couple of days. But it is finished and it looks marvelous. Our previous shower walls had tiles loose and water issues. It is now 100% better.

We had a local expert in tile, shower, and floor install it for us. His name is Scott Ball. If you are in need of this kind of work, contact me by my e-mail account and I will be glad to give you Scott's phone number. Unfortunately he is does not have a website to point you to.

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Update Blogroll for Local Blogs

I spent some time this afternoon updating and removing dead blog links. If you have a local blog that I missed, please let me know and I will add you.

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Missouri Voter ID Amendment goes no where

A couple of years ago, the Missouri Legislator passed a Voter ID law. This law required individuals to show appropriate photo ID when they went to vote to prove who they are. This law was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court. Currently all you need a Voter Id piece of paper that has no photo to vote.

I have several previous posts how dead people (zombies) are voting because no Photo ID is required. Two years ago, Missouri had thousands of people registered to vote that either did not qualify or were dead. New York and Tennessee had a voter fraud reported with zombies.

Because of a favorable decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in the Indiana Voter ID case, the members of the Missouri Legislature proposed a Missouri Constitutional Amendment for a Voter ID requirement. I am very much in favor of a Voter ID law but I did not support the Constitutional Amendment for it. I do not feel like this warrants the level of an amendment to the Missouri Constitution.

I believe the Legislature should have written a law again with considerations for people that can not afford an ID. There should be concessions for ways to get the needed papers to get the ID (such as Birth Certificates and Marriage Licenses) without it costing. This way everyone can have an ID that meets the requirements to vote.

The New York Times is reporting this as victory for "voters’ rights". I view this as a victory for the Missouri Constitution, because the Constitution is not more cluttered with items that should be laws and not amendments. I however do not view this as a victory for "voters’ rights". No voter has the right to vote from the grave even if they are un-dead.

It would be nice if the Democrats and Republicans could learn to compromise on this. There has to be a way to ensure that everyone that qualifies to vote is able to vote hassle free and at the same time protect the votes of the living by ensuring as little fraud as possible. I hate when my vote (since I am alive) is offset by some dead guy's vote.

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Dissenting opinions from California's Supreme Court

In case anyone is interested,here is a link to the California State Supreme Court ruling about gay marriage. I do not agree with the majority decision but I was not asked. Below is a couple of quotes from the dissenting minority opinions of the court. These opinions make a lot of sense to me. Before bashing me for agreeing with the minority view, please read the complete desenting opinions in the link.

Judge Baxter's opinion is highlighted in this quote.

"I cannot join this exercise in legal jujitsu, by which the Legislature’s own weight is used against it to create a constitutional right from whole cloth, defeat the People’s will, and invalidate a statute otherwise immune from legislative interference.…The majority has violated these principles. It simply does not have the right to erase, then recast, the age-old definition of marriage, as virtually all societies have understood it, in order to satisfy its own contemporary notions of equality and justice." (Court Page 134)

Here is a portion of what Judge Corrigan wrote about this case.

"In my view, Californians should allow our gay and lesbian neighbors to call their unions marriages. But I, and this court, must acknowledge that a majority of Californians hold a different view, and have explicitly said so by their vote. This court can overrule a vote of the people only if the Constitution compels us to do so. Here, the Constitution does not." (Court Page 154)

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

California Supreme Court overrules state laws opposing of gay marriage

According to ABC News, California had two laws on their books opposing gay marriage that were overturned today by the California State Supreme Court. California also has a law giving same sex couples all of the rights of married couples as domestic partnerships.

I am in favor of states rights. If a state wants to allow gay marriage, that is up to them (as long as our state does not have to recognize it). Representatives of the citizens of that state should determine this. But the courts have come in again and overturned the will of the people. In 2000, this California law opposing gay marriage passed by the voters with flying colors of 63%-37%.

The real interesting item with this decision was that same sex couples had all the rights of married couples except they could not call it a marriage. I thought the whole issue was rights. It does not sound like the case with the California decision.

This could bite the Democrats in the butt in November. It definitely gives ammunition to the Republicans about the kind of judges they would appoint. Not many people want the appearance of the courts legislating from the bench. Senator Obama does support a full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, that was signed into law by President Clinton. With that repeal, states might have to recognize other states' marriages, which currently they do not with DOMA.

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

I am a Dorky Nerd King

One of my friends, Greg, sent me a link to Nerd Tests. He told me take Nerd Test 2.0 because he thought I might appreciate it. I took both Test 1 and Test 2.0. On test 1, I did not even rank as a Nerd. This test is fairly basic and is more tradition nerd oriented. Test 2.0 is more inclusive of geeky activities. I have known for most of my life that I fit the description of geek very well. I am not smart enough to be a true nerd. According to this test, I am a "Dorky Nerd King". Well there we go. I now have a title. It should not surprise any of my regular readers that I scored highest in the Sci-Fi/Literature. You can see all the scores below.




These have been a few simple thoughts of my Dorky Nerd King mind.

American Gladiators is back again

Earlier this year, NBC brought back American Gladiators. I loved this show back in the 80's and still love it today. It is a fun, wacky, sudeosport where regular people compete against steroid induced Gladiators. There is cheese extreme in this show which adds to the appeal.

They completed Season One of the New American Gladiators during the writer's strike. Now it is back for Season Two a few months later. I have admit that I viewed both hours of the season premiere on Monday Night. My seven year old daughter was also ingrossed into it. Please don't report me to Family Services.

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Breaking Rocks in the Hot Sun ...

On Tuesday I join with a group from work and volunteered my time for Habitat for Humanity. On the right is the home we worked on. My job for most the day was digging and filling holes. This home is an environmental home. It is equipted with solar panels, water barrels, and water gardens.

My subgroup of guys dug the water gardens all day long. A water garden is a 3 foot deep hole. You put mesh netting in the bottom of the hole then add a foot of gravel followed by another mesh net and a foot of top soil. The purpose of the foot deep water garden to pool the water run off some it will save top soil. It should allow it to soak into the earth more slowing.

Digging a three foot deep hole is never fun. In the Ozarks, it is even less enjoyable. After a few inches, we hit rocks continually. I felt like Mario in Donkey Kong while swinging the pick axe. We had to wheel barrel the "bad" dirt and rock out so we could fill it with gravel and "good" dirt.

The other part of the group spent most of the day painting trim inside the house. They must have bonded over the paint fumes because they decided it would be a good idea to paint (with house paint) the back of their volunteer shirts. They painted their names (or nicknames) and a random number. I personally thought it was a bit whacked. Later these paint huffing (not literally) co-workers decided that the hard working water garden diggers also needed their shirts painted. The other guys acted as sheep and allowed their shirts to be painted. I kindly declined from participating the shirt painting.

Declining from joining in led to instant peer pressure. I was not going to be like "everyone else". All of a sudden I am not a team player because I refused to have a number assigned to me and my name painted on my shirt. I had thought breaking my back by digging holes was being a team player.

Peer pressure does not really work on me that way. Trying to pressure me into something usually makes me more resistant to it. If I teach my daughter not to give into peer pressure, then should not I also not give in myself? Anyone that knows me will not be surprised by my refusal to join in for the sake of joining.

Anyway back to the volunteering. I had a good time volunteering my time for a noble cause. I was very sore yesterday and am still sore and in pain today. My back, hands, feet, and most muscles are aching as I type. I guess that happens when a desk jockey has to put in manual labor.

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Trying to steal more than just stuff

Here is another weird and wacky story. Reuters is reporting a very bizarre robbery in Kuala Lumpur. A thief was robbing a house and found the husband asleep on the couch. He stripped and laid in the bed next to the wife of the man. The 36 year old wife was sound asleep when the criminal snuggled up to her. The thief gave himself way when he spoke to her. When the wife found him out, the robber jumped out of the window with all the stuff he stole from this family. It is unreported if he stole a kiss or more from the wife.

These are a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Robin Sparkles vidoes

How I Met Your Mother's Robin Sparkle videos for your enjoyment.





These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Happy 902nd post

I usually posted something fun every 100 posts but I missed it this time. Instead of posting it on my 900th post, I am posting this on the 902nd post. Here is a great comedy routine on cake by one of my favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan.



These have been a few celebratory thoughts of my complex mind.

Happy Birthday Bryan!

Bryan at Dad's On a Rant Again turned 40 years old today. Happy Birthday Bryan! He is posting once again. Please stop by his blog and wish him a Happy Birthday.

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Keep your day job Tony

Tony Romo, the quarterback of my beloved Dallas Cowboys, led the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley Field during yesterday's Cubs game. I am not ashamed to admit that I am a Tony Romo fan. I think he is very funny off the field along with being a really good on the field leader. I may be the only Cowboy fan that does not mind his relationship with Jessica Simpson. But I have to admit that Tony can not sing. See for yourself below. He does have a lot of guts to try to sing in front of Millions of viewers on WGN. I sure would not try it.




These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

It is the Gas Pump Stupid!

The Republicans continue to be very pleased with the in-fighting of the two Democratic Presidential Candidates. Normally this would give the Republicans a huge edge coming in November. Often these kinds of nasty and mean spirited primaries would doom the surviving candidate. But this year the Republicans have their own problems.

The Republicans are faced with several problems that are difficult to overcome. Firstly, the President has a 30% approval rating. Senator McCain will need to continue to distance himself from President Bush without isolating Present Bush's supporters. Even if Senator McCain can convince most voters that he is no President Bush, it is very difficult for people to vote for the party that this President is associated with.

The war in Iraq is very unpopular. I have many strong Republicans friends that hate this war. Senator McCain is committed to keeping a high level of troops in Iraq until the job is finished. Both Democratic candidates are in favor of removing troops much more rapidly than Senator McCain.

The economy is in a downturn. There are disagreements on how bad the economy really is. Many of the economic indictors appear to contradict each other. But most people accept that this economy is not strong at this moment. Remember the phrase President Clinton's campaign coined in 1992: It is the Economy Stupid! This still applies.

The vicious fighting of the Democrats might balance out these three issues except there is another issue that will lead the Democrats to a mammoth victory in November if the Republicans do not act quickly. Gas prices are escalating out of control at light speed. Prices are around $3.50 per gallon of regular unleaded in Springfield, MO. This is over double the price at the pump when President Bush took office in 2001. These prices not only are hitting us at the pump, but the cost of groceries and other durable goods are sky rocking to compensate for the cost to deliver these items. Truck drivers are paying over $4.00 a gallon for diesel fuel.

The insanity at the pump needs to stop and reverse course. I am a firm believer that less government is better government. But I am screaming for the Federal Government step in and to do something to help this situation. I feel like I am being mugged every time I stop to fill up my economy car.

If the Republicans don't act quickly, Senator McCain will not lose the election on his own merits but rather the price at the pump will lose the election for him. I can foresee many conservatives voting with their pocketbooks at the pump instead of their core values if prices stay the same or continue to escalate. After all, "It is the Gas Pump Stupid."

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Happy Mother's Day

I want to wish everyone that is a mother "A Happy Mother's Day". I especially want to wish my Mom and my Wife to have a spectacular Mother's Day.

Long Weekend in KC

I will be leaving for Kansas City early tomorrow morning. My baby sister (31 years old) is receiving a Master's Degree in Social Work this weekend. She already has a Masters in Fashion Merchandise. I am extremely proud of her. I am heading up tomorrow with my mother, middle sister, and nephew for the Hooding. My wife and daughter will be joining us on Friday for the Graduation Ceremony. It should be a fun weekend.

Because of the time with family and away from home, my posting will be limited if not no existent over the next few days.

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Senator Clinton states she is in the race for the long haul

Senator Clinton won the primary in Indiana last night by a small margin. She was beaten badly in North Carolina by Senator Obama. You would think that winning one and losing one would be alright. But North Carolina had a lot more delegates available. She lost a lot of ground by losing North Carolina. It appears that one of the biggest things that she lost was momentum.

According to many of the talking heads on the news networks, Senator Clinton can not win the major of the votes or the delegates for the nomination. She can wait around and see if Senator Obama severely stumbles. If he does, then she might be able to convince enough Super-Delegates to back her.

Senator Clinton reinforced today that she is in this race for the long haul. She does not plan on giving up until it is definite that Senator Obama has won. This is the same strategy that Governor Huckabee used in his race against Senator McCain. It did not fair that well with Governor Huckabee.

Senator Clinton is entitled to stay in the race if she would like. The Republicans would prefer for her to stay in the race to continue to damage Senator Obama and to use more of his money. There is many of my Democrat friends would like to see her bow out graciously.

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.

Local Blog- Tessa's Rambings

As I was watching KY3 News tonight, Tessa was highlighted in a story about saving money at the store. She has a local blog: Tessa Rambings, which is all about saving money and being frugal. Check it out. I added her to my blog roll.

These have been a few simple thoughts of my complex mind.