Missing a loved one...

I have issues!

Geez Koda! Tell us something we don't know.

Just over a year ago, actually exactly a year from this past Monday, I acquired my race bike. She's been good to me, allowing me to complete almost 1000 miles of racing and training, and aside from couple of flats, she's given me no problems at all.

She sleeps inside, since lately bikes have been going missing from garages and since she's worth about 4 times what my car is worth, it's probably best. Until last Saturday, I hadn't been on her since November last year, but since she's always right next to my computer, I don't think a day goes by that I don't get to run my fingers across her carbon fiber frame, admire her smooth lines, and fall in love with her all over again.

Part of the deal when I bought her, was that she got free maintenance for a year. With the year being up, I took her in for a quick tune up on Monday, just to make sure everything was good and that she's ready for what will likely be a very long and grueling tri-season.

I'm picking her up today after I go see the dentist... I CAN'T WAIT!!!

For those new to the blog, here are some pics from the day after I bought her. I'll have to get some new ones as well, since she now has Rastafarian colored grip tape on the aero bars, a Garmin mount and a couple of other new tweaks.

I believe the technical term for the following is bike-porn!

Caution!

This is pretty funny...



But please be careful before you watch the following. Especially be careful not to drink anything right before or during the time it's on. After the quantity of water I just sprayed all over my keyboard and monitor, I'm wondering if I may be in danger of electrocution... Oh and thanks to Deidre of Money in the Raw for the find.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Unusual Suspect

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

Senator Buttars is Right Though....

Senator Buttars should never have been voted back in as a Utah Legislator. Unfortunately in a state where many consider voting anything other than Republican to be a sin in the eyes of God, people like him get voted back in, purely because people are too ignorant or afraid of voting for someone else.

Last year, Mr. Buttar's referred to a specific bill he didn't like as being a "Black Baby" of a bill, causing a large outcry from the NAACP and more recently he has compared gays to Islamic terrorists and claimed they are the greatest threat to America. [See video below]

He's right, but not in the way you might think...

You see the thing is that the America, Mr. Buttars and people like him have created is one where fear rules. People like Mr. Buttars remain in power because they have convinced the population that they can defend us from evil people, like homosexuals, Muslims and other groups.

Whether or not you consider homosexuality a sin is kind of irrelevant here. The way I see it, people like Mr. Buttars paint groups of people with a very broad brush and then incite hatred and fear towards them. If homosexuality becomes more accepted in our society, those who have previously been afraid of them, and repulsed by their horrible sinful natures may actually learn that they are good people, just like you and me. Just because there may be differences in how we each choose to live our lives, doesn't mean we can't get on together and respect each other.

Yes, America as we know it may come to an end if homosexuals get equal rights, but it would end an era of hatred and bigotry and usher in a new era of respect and cooperation. At least, that's how I see it.

Fair and Balanced Approach

In light of my new desire to try and not sweat things of little or no consequence, I have decided to try a slightly different approach with this blog. In the past few months and years, I've found that my religious and political leanings have changed.

Religiously, I have become less concerned with outward appearances and rigid following of a specific dogma, and politically I gone from being an extreme right wing conservative type to floundering around in the pool of liberalism and left wing thinking (mixed in with some libertarian ideals - it's kind of a mess!)

I had an experience this weekend however that I may share more about as time progresses, but for now, I would just like to introduce a new guest whom I will allow to blog on occasion and hopefully balance out my views.

He has asked that I keep his real identity undisclosed, for reasons which will soon become apparent, and so he shall be writing and appearing as "Mack the Imam".

As soon as I can figure out how to get his login attached, hopefully he can share some of his opinions and ideas. He's not exactly a computer genius, and it's something which I haven't done before, but I'm thinking that between the two of us, we can figure it out.

Ladies and Gentleman! Let me introduce to you our newest blogger and hopefully the catalyst in a new error of fair and balanced opinions... Mack the Imam!

It's about bloody time!!

Letting Go

I should be working, but I had an epiphany of sorts, and if I don't write these things down, all to often they end up leaving and I forget the initial feeling, and in this case it's best that I remember this...

I found a new blog last week 'The Liberal Mormon that Could'. I probably spent almost 3 hours that first day reading through her stuff. She's a little younger than me, by a couple of years, but has many of the same questions and thoughts about Mormonism that I have - only she is far more eloquent in conveying those thoughts than I am. This morning she had a new blog entry posted, entitled 'Last Post'.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I'm likely going to butcher this, but if I could summarize her thoughts. Actually, let me just quote her, in identifying the problem... "the Church and my disaffection with it has become too central to my life. It dominates conversation and has shoved every other interesting part about me out." It's not that she hates the Church and wants to bring it down, but at the same time, she's not 100% committed to it either.

Anytime you are involved in something like the LDS Church, and you start to see things you don't like, you walk a fine line.

In the Matrix, there is a quote by Morpheus that I really like. After Neo has been pulled from the Matrix, Morpheus offers him a choice.

This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.

Four or Five years ago, when I started to see that things weren't what I thought they were, I had the same choice. I could ignore what I had found and plunge myself back into the blind obedience and faithful devotion that had been my life for the preceeding twenty something years, or I could take the red pill.

I chose the red pill. When faced with a choice, I prefer to take the option that opens up further options, rather than one which limits me. So it is with the Red Pill. I'm facing some new options...

1. I can stay within the organization and try and effect the changes I think need to happen.


2. I can leave the organization and effect change from the outside

I've been trying option 1 over 2. I worry that 2 would cause me to be labeled and apostate and shunned by community, neighbors and family, which ironically has pretty much happened as I have tried option 1. My worry with 2 as well is that I would degenerate into a bitter man, sworn to destroy anything good in the world - much of this is due to being consistently told by the organization that this is what would become of me, should I choose to leave.

After reading the comments in the 'Last Post', I realize I have another option...

Why waste my time with an organization that treats me like crap? It has a lot of good, but all to often that gets twisted and perverted to help corrupt men get what they want.

I realized this morning that I have far too much going on in my life to worry about this kind of thing.

I have 5 absolutely incredible children. I work far too many hours in order to support them, and they could really do with more of my time - rather than me spending it trying to change the culture in an organization that quite frankly, is what it is, and isn't likely to change.

I have an incredible wife who could really use more of my time and support as well.

I live in a great place with many outdoor opportunities, many of which I could share with my wife and children.

There is a whole lot more available for me to experience, and significant opportunities to make a difference in the world, that doesn't involve me being involved in trying to affect change in a corrupt organization.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not going to allow something stupid and relatively insignificant to consume my time.

As a kid I remember being told that Satan would only have as much power over me as I would let him have, and so it is with this. I have allowed something to consume my life, when it really doesn't deserve my time or attention.

Some of you may also be aware of some personal challenges I have faced recently as well. To those who have shared their love and support, I am profoundly grateful. It's another aspect of my life, I've come to realize is not worth my time or attention.

I have far too much good to do, noble responsibilities to take care of and wonderfulness to experience to waste my time with stuff which in the grand scheme of things is of little or no consequence.

Sinners!!

I found a cool quote today, and a made a couple of changes to the layout of the blog...

First, the quote. (I found it here. This is by a guy called Hugh Nibley. He was one of the high up muckety mucks in the LDS Church a while back. I believe he passed away 4 years ago.

"The worst sinners, according to Jesus, are not the harlots and publicans, but the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress and grooming, their careful observance of all the rules, their precious concern for status symbols, their strict legality, their pious patriotism... the haircut becomes the test of virtue in a world where Satan deceives and rules by appearances."

I've shared criticism and praise for the LDS Church on this blog. I believe it is based on a number of true principles, but I also believe part of it has become corrupt and a culture has developed which seems to be at odds with what the religion should be standing for. In the last 2 congregations which I've been involved in, immense attention has been paid to dress and grooming standards. I myself am currently sporting a full beard, for personal reasons, but also to annoy the Pharisaical leadership amongst whom I find myself living!

I've also made some changes to the blog... On the right are links to "Just Good Stuff". Blogs which I read daily, or try to at least, and whose content I find informative and amusing.

Below that are links which existed before but which I have now categorized and will continue to add to. I like political view points by people who have taken the time to think them through, and formed their own opinion. Even if I don't agree, I like to see the other side of the coin, as it were.

Below those are some religious links. Most of these are humorous sites, poking a little fun at the idiosyncrasies of LDS Culture. The more fundamentalist types tend to miss the point of these blogs. If you're not LDS, some of the content may not make a lot of sense, but then again some of it is hilarious no matter what your religious view point. On the other hand, if you're a religous zealot, who support Prop 8 because you were supposed to and would find my facial hair offensive, you probably want to steer clear of these. You have been warned.

Communication...

So Mrs. Koda and I have been going to marriage counseling. Now I know what you might be thinking, but that's not why! A friend of mine is working on a degree which deals with marriage counseling and needed a couple to volunteer to undergo some sessions.

It was actually an excellent experience, and one that I would highly recommend to any couple, no matter how good you think you have it. After the first session I was just blown away by how good I really have it, and how well my wife and I communicate.

Apparently for a marriage or any relationship to be successful you need to have a ratio of at or above 4 positive comments to every 1 negative comments. One of the exercises was to figure out what our ratio was... We're not really sure. We think it may be up around 40:1, but the 1 negative we had during the week was actually more of a positive, or at least it turned out that way after it was brought up.

I bring this up because I've had other interactions lately which have not been so positive. Here are some things I've learned over the years about communication and relationships.

• If you look for and expect the worst in the other person, you'll find it. Even if it isn't really there, you'll still find it.


• If someone disagrees with you, it's OK. It doesn't mean they hate you, despise you, or think less of you in any way. Actually I almost prefer talking with someone who differs in opinion. It gives me more of a chance to learn and grow.


• If for any reason you have a disagreement with someone, trying to discuss it using the "You Suck, you're awful, you are the worst person in the world because in the past you did, A, B and C, now lets talk" method is generally not the best approach to resolve problems.


• It's OK to make mistakes. We all make them everyday - Me probably more than most. You can either learn from them, or dwell on them. Denying that such mistakes ever happened though, doesn't mean they didn't happen, and is more just an indicator of your true character.

World Medley

I thought the following was really cool and then it got even better as the song progressed. About halfway in, a group from Umlazi, South Africa joins it. I spent 6 months of my life in Umlazi when I was 20 - amazing place, amazing people and good memories.



Thanks to Ard Matthews for the find!!

Just how bad the Democrats spend...

With work commitments, illness and other things, I've been slack of late, and I'm afraid this will just be a quick one.

You know what hacks me off?

First, Conservative Radio Commentators. For years we've been hearing about how the horrible partisan Democrats won't support the president, but yet since Obama took office they've become the very people they were complaining about. It's one thing to disagree with policies, but it's quite another to be a blatant hypocrite.

Second, I'm sick of hearing (from many of the same hypocrites) about how great Ronald Reagan was, how great his financial policies were, and then on how awful President Obama's policies are. It was only recently that I learned that the current federal policy of borrowing money to balance the budget is something for which Mr. Reagan appears to have been the trendsetter. After viewing the following site though, I'm even more testy. I need to verify the facts some more, but it looks like this guy knows what he's talking about - Check it out here.

Sure he's not perfect, but I'm still proud to call Mr. Obama my president.

On behalf of the Jackasses in Washington...

I would like to issue an apology to the rest of the world on behalf of the jackasses currently seated in positions of authority within the United States Government. You're not going to get an apology from them, but perhaps if I can share some information, maybe we can elect some people with even just the smallest measure of integrity next election.

First just a statement about my leanings... I used to lean very far right and support the Republican party. The problem is that the Republican party has it's own little agenda, and is filled with what I can only described as corrupt scumbags.

Since seeing the problems with the so-called conservatives, I've been leaning more left. I don't like socialism, but if it's a choice between socialized services and living under a fascist regime, I'll take the socialists everytime.

My opinion now is that both parties have some good principles and representatives who honestly want to do the right thing. They are the minority unfortunately.

I am currently registered Libertarian, but I'm still trying to figure out where the balance of power lies between a representative government and individual freedoms. So with that said. I'm not beholden to one party or the other, and based on the players in this story, I would suspect most people would agree.

First, the following video is an excerpt from 60 minutes last Sunday. It's an investigation into the reason why the oil prices went sky high last year. It's a little long, so perhaps below that, I will provide a summary from my personal understanding, and then I would like to address something called the Enron Loophole.


Watch CBS Videos Online

OK, so to summarize what I understood the problem to be... The commodities market was established to help regulate prices and assist farmers with determining the price of their crops. Later oil and other items were added to this. All worked as it should until some of the large investment banks got involved in this, and started trading oil futures. My initial reaction was that this would obviously increase the price, but it sounded reasonably fair. Just like stocks, people would trade the futures and as such they increased in value.

The problem is though... Many of the institutions which were trading these futures, were also dabbling in the energy market itself, and while they claim the business entities were separate, my response is a sarcastic, "SURE THEY WERE!!!"

It doesn't matter how you look at this, the whole thing really stinks. It would appear that many of the investment banks who were heavy into oil futures were also recipients of federal bail out money. Then when you look at those behind the Enron Loophole it stinks even more.

The Enron loophole is a piece of legislation which as far as I can tell was drafted by Enron Lobbyists working Senator Phil Gramm from Texas. My understanding is that it allowed Enron to engage in secret trading which was not subject to Federal Regulation.

A few things don't add up here... First, the Government loves to control stuff, so the question has to be asked, Why would the government willingly relinquish control on something like this?

Secondly, Senator Gramm's wife had previously held the position of Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair, and when she left that position in 1993, secured herself a seat on the board of Directors at Enron. A position which she held until Enron collapsed.

So I guess we can figure out a couple of reason why Senator Gramm was pushing for it, and I would suspect that much in the way of political contributions were made to other politicians to help sway their votes. Back in the old days, this kind of things used to be called bribery and corruption.

Now you would think that being from Texas and a Republican, all this would have happened on GW's watch, but I was surprised to learn that it was actually former President Clinton who signed the bill into law.

President Elect Obama spoke about repealing this law during his campaign, and in June of last year, Senator Carl Levin introduced legislation to repeal it. It passed and was then vetoed by President George W. Bush. Following that, the House and Senate both over-rode the veto, and I believe it was late September when the Enron Loophole was finally closed. Ironically, that was when prices of Gasoline started to drop like a rock.

Stephen Colbert has his tip of the hat / wag of the finger segment, and I would like to kind of emulate that here...

A tip of my hat to President Elect Obama and Senator Levin for getting this legislation removed.

And a kick to the groin and a flaming paper bag of poo on the doorsteps of:
Senator Phil Gramm
Former President Bill Clinton
and
President George W. Bush

To the rest of the world, I'm sorry these assholes were elected, and for the state of your economies. Hopefully we'll exercise better judgment in future elections.

insertCell populates cells in reverse order with IE

WARNING: This is a departure from my usual content. I ran into a nasty little bug this afternoon while coding, and since it's not documented anywhere, I figured I would document it here.

SEVERE GEEK ALERT: Do not read unless you're a computer geek. You have been warned...

I have been using a javascript function to dynamically populate a row in an html table.

The basic formula was to create a new row to the table, and then to create 5 new cells, using:

row.insertCell(x) where x is the number of the cell.

So I had:

cell1 = row.insertCell(0);
cell2 = row.insertCell(1);
cell3 = row.insertCell(2);
...

And I would also assign contents to each cell.

Problem was in IE, the cells would be displayed in the order 0, 4, 3, 2, 1 but in Firefox it was 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 as expected.

What I ended up doing to resolve the problem was to create a set of cell elements like:

var cell0 = document.createElement('td');
var cell1 = document.createElement('td');
var cell2 = document.createElement('td');
....

adding all the contents to each cell, and then once the were all populated, appending them as childElements to the Row element.

row.appendChild(cell0);
row.appendChild(cell1);
row.appendChild(cell2);
...

Wonderfulness

I realize that over the past year or so, I haven't perhaps been the biggest advocate of the LDS Church, and yesterday I was reminded of everything I have come to despise about this particular religion. The arrogance, the pride, the self-righteousness, the hypocrisy and the intolerance for ones fellow man.

But the thing is, that isn't what the religion is about, nor what it was ever intended to be about. If it was, I would have left a long time ago. Perhaps if I may share a few of the wonderful principles taught by the LDS Church.

The Church preaches the Gospel of Christ. The Gospel of Christ is about love, pure and simple. And not just any love, the pure love of Christ, an unconditional love for ones self and ones fellow men. The story of Christ is of a man who when confronted by a situation where a woman was caught in adultery, prevented her accusers from stoning her and encouraged her to continue on her way, leaving her mistakes behind her. It's about the love to allow people to make mistakes, but leave them behind them. It's that love that means even if we don't agree, it doesn't make a difference to how we feel about them. It is a love without condition. A perfect love.

My dear in-laws have such love. Their son-in-law (and that would be me), may not be the perfect Mormon boy that they may have wished to marry their daughter, but they recognize that I try really hard, and while they may not always agree, they still offer unconditional love for me.

The Church preaches the consideration of the poor and afflicted. The welfare services for the Church are often among the first to respond, and members of the Church are encouraged to help out in their communities. Some view this only as a step to convince other to join the Church, but I suspect they may be a rather small minority who have merely missed the point.

The Church teaches of the divine nature of the soul and the quest for truth. I can think of no greater knowledge than the fact that I have an eternal nature, that this earth is merely a step in my existence, and that I have the freedom and opportunity to seek for truth. I am eternally indebted to many who read this blog, and other who have questioned my reasoning and offered opposing view points. It is never an easy thing to accept that I may be wrong, but your non-judgmental spirits encourage me to explore places where I may be. Specifically D. Sirmize, Frank Stahelli and the very respectful Protestant Minister I met while a missionary. There are many others as well, some LDS, some not, but all good and respectful people.

The Church teaches that we are all brothers and sisters. A huge family with the responsibility to care for each other, regardless of race, creed, nationality or sex. I am privileged to be related to so many wonderful and incredible people.

I recognize too that these wonderful principles and ideals are not limited to the LDS Church, but they exist in many religions and in many who do not believe in a religion, but still recognize that there is good in mankind.

The LDS Church is a wonderful institution, its just a pity that some view that wonderfulness as an opportunity to manipulate and control others.

Suckage

Today sucked. You don't need to know why, just know that you could take you most sucky day of all time, and I think mine could give it a good run for it's money.

I have a good friend who informed me one that the phrase "To Suck" actually came from the phrase, "To Suck Dick"

My friends... Today really, really, really SUCKED DICK!!

My apologies to all who may have found that offensive - but it really was that bad.

Baby Fighting Ring Tax Breaks...

There is something which fundamentally disturbs me, every time I hear about war breaking out. This past weekend Israel launched a full scale military offensive into Gaza. Before sharing my opinion on this, perhaps I should just make a few key points.

• Rockets were being launched from Gaza into Israel, which needs to be stopped. Nobody, Jew, Muslim, Christian or whatever should have to live under that kind of fear.


• I don't claim to understand even a part of the problems in the Middle East. My basic understanding is that the Jews claim God promised them the land and the Arabs claim the same thing. By applying simple logic, one of them has to be wrong. I would submit both are. Israel isn't exactly a beautiful tropical island paradise. If either side had any brains they'd give the area up and establish a 'Promised Land' in Hawaii or Tahiti or some place that a lot nicer.


• The Jews have been through a lot. The Holocaust was a terrible thing. But at the same time, there comes a point, when you have to quit using past as an excuse for entitlements. Time to move on people!

Oops, that probably contained more opinion than it should have. But with that said, I learned something else interesting this week...

Did you know that Israel is one of the largest recipients of foreign aid from the US? Perhaps you did. Perhaps I've been naive. I've always been under the impression that Israel was a the only country in the Middle East with a solid economy. A nation which was truly making something out of themselves. It would appear that they are just another leech on the US economy, living the high life at the expense of the US Tax Payer.

While I don't condone the rocket attacks, I do feel very bad for the Palestinians. From what I understand they're kind of the red headed step child of the Arab Nations, and have been forced to live along side the spoiled rotten child of the US. It's gotta suck, and probably a huge motivating factor for those who pursue a career in terrorism. Not that I'm saying it's right, but it is understandable.

Amidst this sea of gloom and despair, The Daily Show returned on Monday, and added a little more to my view of things. Unfortunately the key quote I wanted to reference is in the last 15 seconds, but the rest of it is good as well. Among my favorite quotes from this video is "Do you know anything?" and the Baby Fighting Ring comments. The segment which follows on Baby New Year was excellent as well.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Strip Maul

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

I think the comment about the mentally disturbed person is excellent. Although mentally disturbed is probably not how I would categorize the Palestinians - more just victims of unfortunate circumstance.

Just a bad situation for all involved.

Woman's Underwear?

One of my favorite quotes from Shrek 2 is:

"Are you wearing woman's underwear?"

"I most certainly am not"

"You most certainly am are!"

Anyway, my youngest son reminded me of this tonight. We had hamburgers for dinner, barbequed outside in sub-zero temperatures. The wife and I were eating at the table while the young monkey was sitting on a stool by the island. He had been trying, unsuccessfully I may add, to put more ketchup on his plate.

Minutes later, his usual mischevious grin had faded and he appeared to be crying.

"Are you trying to cut yourself more onion?", I enquired.

"No!" came the solid reply.

The crying appeared to get more intense.

"Are you playing with the onion?" - Sometimes they think they're smarter than you, if you don't nail down the specific activity involved.

"No!", came as solid a reply as the first time, but this time, with a little doubt slipping in.

At this point he raised his hands to wipe his eyes, still firmly grasping half a rather strong onion.

We laughed.

Hopefully the lesson has been learned.

Lustening?

I think one of my new years resolutions will be to become a more regular blogger...

Christmas was good this year. In the wake of the failed business deal, I was able to shut my computer down on Christmas eve and not boot it up again until the morning of the 27th. I expected more withdrawal symptoms, but I think I've gotten to the point, where I actually hate my computer in recent weeks, so it was more of a relief.

Before I begin this main part of this posting, let me apologize to all of my readers of the more feminine persuasion. I mean no disrespect and if I am being entirely objective, she does have an excellent voice and a great deal of performing talent, not limited to her dancing and stage presence.

One of the last gifts I opened in Christmas Day was a CD. Good Girl Gone Bad : Reloaded by Rihanna. First of all a huge hats off to the wife for being secure enough to purchase me a CD by a woman about whom I have been very vocal in my opinion that is SMOKIN' HOT. I'm not typically a R&B type guy, but she is that good!

I'm listening to it right now, or is it lusting....

OK, enough of that.

On other fronts... My pirate friend has not been around recently, not sure if it's because he is off for the holiday break, or if the patch was only temporary and now he's back to normal, in which state I may not be able to recognize him.

Perhaps inspired by the pirate man, this years New Years Eve in the Koda household will likely feature a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon. I'm thinking of putting together a Dr. Seuss marathon for the kids, perhaps starting with The Grinch, then the Cat in the Hat and finally Horton Hears a Who - hopefully at which point they will all have fallen asleep in various spots around the family room.

Anonymity, the Closet and Money

It's been a pretty stressful couple of weeks. Hence the some what sketchy blogging all around. I have a side business and as part of that I got into a partnership with someone a year or 2 back. Based on my calculations the deal could have allowed me to gross 1/2 million over the next 3 years. I'm guessing my business partner realized this too, used it to bring a few of his buddies into the mix, and on Sunday was gracious enough to offer me $15,000 in shares (Of course only if the company gets sold). Needless to say I didn't take the news well. We're no longer in business together. It's actually quite a liberating feeling. I think I could probably get a decent law suit pulled together, but that's not the way I like to do things. I figure I spent 2 years building the man an incredible web application, so why couldn't I take the same application, improve on it, and market it myself (With 100% equity, that's not a bad deal!)

On other matters, I'm not ready to come out of the closet. Despite my fervent support of Gay Marriage it's not that closet. Nor is it the broom closet, although I have taken quite an interest in pagan worship practices in recent months. Its the closet of exactly who I am inside, and I'm still confused about that myself.

On that same note, I really appreciate the anonymity of the blogosphere. It gives me a place to vent, to explore my feelings and to bounce ideas off friends.

In checking my logs on my other blog earlier today, I realized that that anonymity may have been in danger recently. I'm hoping not, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. If you are a regular reader of the Koda Think Tank, please send me an email, so I can send you an official invite to read it. I'll keep any email addresses strictly in confidence and delete them as soon as the process is complete.

Click here to email me

I hate to do this, but I think it is the best course of action for all involved.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Arrrrrrrrrr Matey!

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I've run into a moral dilemma twice in the past week, and I thought I might see if anyone had any insights into how to handle this situation.

I believe it is the same gentleman in both cases, but once on Tuesday and then this morning as I passed through a doorway, I have been confronted by a man with an eye patch. And not just any eye patch, but nice big black, piratey looking eye patch. The man himself if probably in his late twenties or early thirties, and has been dressed reasonably well both times.

So here's the dilemma... Could he be doing it as a joke and by my not making a comment about it, am I offending him? Or if I lost my self control and said something like "Aye, ye scurvey ridden yellow dog" would he be offended?

I just don't know quite how to handle myself around the man...

Did I get the scoop?

I'm not sure who got it out first, although I read it on the website for a local news outlet, so probably neither of us. Read yesterday's post and compare it with the "Worst Person in the World" segment on Keith Olberman's show yesterday.

Happy Holidays!

I know this is early, but I'd like to wish a very Happy Holidays to all my readers. And by that I mean, if you - in no particular order:

Celebrate Christmas, then a very Merry Christmas to you.

Celebrate Kwanza, then a very Merry Kwanza to you.

Celebrate Hannakuh, then the most Happiest of Hannakuh's to you and yours.

Celebrate Solstice, the a most Splendid Solstice. Thanks for the heads up Morgan!

Celebrate Yule, then a Happy Yule to you and all of yours!!

I mean no disrespect by saying Happy Holidays, and I don't mean to take away from anyone's personal celebrations of the Season.

Now if you're some uptight senator in Utah, who should not be in office, but because dumb people cast straight party votes because they don't think God wants them to think, then it may offend you.

So much so in fact that you may opt to waste everyone's time and pass a resolution encouraging me to say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays.

Newsflash senator Buttars... This country wasn't founded on Christianity. It was founded on religious freedom. George Washington wasn't a Christian, and nor were many other of the founding fathers. That doesn't mean they were trying to offend you, they just had different views on life.

So Happy Holidays to all my readers, and an especially big "Happy Holidays" to you senator Buttars. I'm hopeful that under your tree this year, you may find some implement to help you get your head out of your rear end.

Blind Thanksgiving

I had a great Thanksgiving, thanks for asking! We had my brother-in-law and his family come and stay with us for a couple of days. A couple of their kids are older, so at anyone time we have 6 adults in the house, and then 7 rugrats running around. It made for an interesting weekend.

I really like that side of my extended family. They're real, they're logical, and they've seen enough crap that they don't just take stuff for granted. They don't necessarily agree with me on politics and religion, so I didn't bring it up, but I would have expected a decent discussion had I done so.

The actual Thanksgiving meal was pretty good. I took the approach of not eating too much, and not only did I leave feeling comfortable and satisfied, I also managed to lose a pound or two over the course of the weekend.

Something at the meal did bug me though, so if I may vent for a second...

Another member of the extended fam came over to our table (there were a lot of tables) to chat. He brought up the shambles that the economy was in, rightfully blaming the government, but then proceeded to start getting upset with Mr Obama's plans as president. Apparently Mr. Obama has spoken about pulling our troops out of foreign deployments, and redeploying them within the United States. This family member is just one of a number of people who I have heard complaining about this, including Glenn Beck. Generally the argument is about paying for these deployments.

I don't claim to know all the facts, and if you know more about this than I do, please correct me. But let me just share how I am seeing this situation.

First, we have troops deployed in countries which we have no business deploying troops in. Seriously, how long has Germany been free from the Nazi's and how long has the Cold War been over?

Next, we have troops deployed in Iraq. They should never have been deployed in the first place, and I would argue that there is a better way to honor our military men and women than sending them over to risk their lives in the desert. I admire their courage to fulfill their missions, despite the fact that I disagree with the mission. The argument has been that even though we shouldn't have gone in, we need to fix the mess we made. Iraq has asked us to leave - I think it's time.

Next I live near Hill Air-force base in Utah. There is a huge amount of fear that this base may end up being closed in the future, and if so, the huge negative impact it will have on the Utah economy, particularly in the area I live.

Finally, the US economy is in the crapper.

So lets put those things all together. We have troops overseas in places they don't need to be. They are stationed at bases which are likely a huge source of income for the local economies around where they are. We're funding those bases and thereby funding the local economies of these foreign nations. Can you see the problem?

If we bring those troops back to the US, and deploy them at a national level, wouldn't that only help the economy?

I think there are a lot of valid reasons why people could be concerned about the Obama presidency. Many of those concerns are just fears of the unknown. But from where I sit, whining about the man wanting to bring troops home and spend the military budget inside the US economy, really isn't something worth complaining about. I would think anyone with half a brain would want to support something like that.

Of course I could be wrong, and I welcome your opposing view points.

Milk and Honies

OK - I promised I would back off the political stuff, so here goes with an attempt back to normal posting, or at least as normal as the Urban Koda can be...

First, a little update on what I've been up to. Basically just working my rear end off, but I took a break yesterday to hang the Christmas lights (at least those that weren't left up from last year). In the process of which I succumbed to the nasty flu which has been ravishing my kids this past week. I did get the lights all done with the exception of a couple of tree which I need to finish wrapping. I'll post pictures next week when I get it finished up.

This morning at 4am, as I was dealing with the tail end of it, I decided to go ahead and go for my last triathlon of the season. It wasn't a big deal, just a short distance "Sprint" triathlon at the local university. It was reversed, so I didn't have to bike in my wet clothes, but it was still pretty damn cold. I got done in just over an hour, not my best time ever, but I think it's in the top three. Not bad after not eating for almost 2 days and being pretty dehydrated.

Second, I've been thinking a lot recently about trying to make a difference in the world. I've been reading a number of articles about athletes and others who are using their various hobbies and occupations to help improve the life of others. I have some ideas I'm working on, but I came across a new song, by an artist I like which I though my reader(s) might enjoy. I may share more of this artist in the future since a) I really like his stuff and b) he's trying to make a difference as well.

It's a question of Love...

I just posted this on my FaceBook page. The video at the bottom touched me in a manner which I haven't felt in a while, and which I have missed. I beleive it to be the Spirit of God manifesting truth to me, others may view it differently, but however you see it, the feelings it inspires, leave me in no doubt where I need to stand on the issue.

I have some pretty strong opinions on Politics, Freedom and Religion. Generally I don't like to impose these on others, although I do share them elsewhere online from time to time. Recently however I have felt impressed with the need to share a little of these opinions here, on my facebook page. Responses have been mixed, ranging from peaceful and enthusiastic agreement to peaceful and vigorous disagreement.

I don't share this opinion as an attack on anyone else's beliefs or rights, but simply because I feel that I need to make my voice heard, rather than sitting by in silence and in so doing giving the impression that I support those with whom I associate or have associated in the past.

This morning during religious services, I was told that my current opinion places me in direct opposition to the Church with which I attend. A Church which claims to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ and yet fails to live it fully. I don't believe that Christ ever taught that we should accept and embrace sin, however that sin is defined. Rather as in the example given in the New Testament of the woman who had been caught in adultery and was about to be stoned, he set a great example. At no point did he claim to embrace her choices, nor inflict injury upon her because of them Rather he protected her right to live, and allowed her to continue on her way. While the scriptures aren't specific, I like to think that perhaps he offered a kind embrace, some gentle words of encouragement, that she could overcome challenges which she faced and then the freedom to continue on her way.

I don't begin to claim that I understand any of the reasons behind those that live a lifestyle different from my own. For many, I am positive that it is not a choice they have consciously made. Whatever the reason, these people are fellow children of God, fellow brothers and sisters, fellow humans who seek only the same rights as I do for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

As I listened to the message of pride, hate and intolerance in Church this morning, I was filled with an uneasy feeling that what I was hearing was wrong. It was not the Spirit of the God whom I worship. I've been struggling a little since that time, however in watching a video this afternoon on the blog of a good friend of mine, I felt a spirit that contained love, peace, happiness, and has helped me to believe that there is still good in the world.

Like I said, I don't mean to offend any who may read this. I'm not attacking your beliefs or asking you to accept mine. As the heading on the blog I copied this from included - I believe from the video clip itself...

It's a question of love for one another and human beings and for people who want to solidify that love in permanence and commitment.

Lies, Deceit and Vicious Attacks

My Hell People!!

Well perhaps I should catch everyone up... Proposition 8 passed by a very narrow margin on Tuesday. In a campaign which was dominated by mistruths and fear mongering on both sides, the people spoke and proponents won, thus depriving homosexual couples the right to be married. I don't agree with it, but first, I'm not living in California, and sometimes things turn out like the way you would rather they didn't.

Those supporting the measures are understandably upset because the Utah based LDS Church got involved, and have now begun staging protests at LDS Places of worship. LDS leaders are now saying that they think both sides should have conducted themselves with civility and honesty - which would probably have been better said many months ago, when they sent letters to all their congregations in surrounding states, encouraging members to get involved whereever possible. Many members have since resorting to email campaigns which have been full of untruths and misdirection of the issues. The Church itself and members of it, donated 77% of the money to support the passage of Proposition 8. I think you already know my opinion on the fact that this was a waste of money that could have been far better spent elsewhere.

Last night a protest was held in Salt Lake City at the temple which despite early reports that only a few showed up, ended up numbering in the thousands. My understanding is that the protesters conducted themselves civility and that there weren't even any arrests. But, the story was filled with quotes of Church leaders talking about being unfairly targeted, and that it's not right that their houses of worship be the target of protests... "We were just exercising our democratic rights...."

People... YOU SENT LETTERS TO YOUR HOUSES OF WORSHIP ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO GET INVOLVED. These people weren't from California - It was a Californian issue, not a Utah, Idaho, Nevada or whichever state you tried to involve issue. People have a democratic right to protest your involvement, and I think it's very legitimate too.

Politics is a dirty business and when you throw your hat in the ring, you should expect to get some mud on it. Don't step outside the bounds of your religion and get involved in politics, and then complain that you're just a Church and shouldn't be targetted.

On other news, a Christlike member of my family decided to attack me on my Facebook page yesterday because I posted the 10 reasons why Gay Marriage is Bad. On another blog, someone who wished to remain Anonymous attacked me as well, and when then when I got to the heart of his argument told me that I was giving unintelligent answers and had the Philosophy of Satan in the marrow of my bones. I must admit, that I loved that last comment!

I'm not sure Christ is too excited about you invoking his name and then resorting to fear and lying to promote your agenda. The LDS Church also said that the protests are unfair, because the support of Prop 8 wasn't targetted against any group... WHAT?!?! You supported it because it would define marriage as only between a man and a woman, and the entire reason was to prevent Gay Marriage. It's as bad as your statement saying that this isn't anying against Gay People - WHAT?!?!

OK, so that's the last of my rantings about this on this blog. I hope to return to humorous anecdotes and obvious observations soon. Thanks for your patience with me!

10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage Is Bad

Regrettably, Proposition 8 was successfully passed in California over this week. The campaign on both sides was filled with fear, mistruths and misrepresentations, that did no favors to either side.

To help transition from my commentary on social and political issues back to something lighter, I found this excellent list on The Gurli Life!

10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage Is Bad

1. Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Election Day!

I voted for the first time this morning, since becoming a naturalized citizen earlier this year. I've been a little undecided up until this point, but if you must know, my final vote went for Mr. Barrack Obama. My remaining votes for my congressional delegate and for various state and local races was split between the Democratic Party and the Libertarian Party - And just for the record, my vote for Governor of Utah went to the Democrats, not the complete and utter nut job put up by the Libertarians - Seriously now - WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING!?!?

I feel like I voted for candidates that had my best interests at the heart of their campaigns. My vote for Mr. Obama was not because he is a black man, but because he is an excellent speaker, will likely help improve the international opinion of the US (Not that it matters what other's think, but I would like to be proud to be an American and not have to qualify it with an "inspite of the warmongering moron in the White House.") and because he appears to have the best intentions. I am doubtful that he will deliver on his promises, but I think the odds are better that he will than Mr. McCain will.

As a final note and somewhat different topic - unless you live in California - This disturbed me last night... I make a very sizable donation to the Mormon Church every year as part of my membership. One reason I do this is to keep current on the 'pass' that gives me entrance to the Temples. Part of those requirements also require me to "swear allegiance" to Church leaders, both local and over the entire Church. Based on events in my personal life over the past year involving light bulbs, and stands taken by the Church, including but not limited to Proposition 8 in California, I don't feel like I can honestly answer that question in the affirmative. Which comes back to the donation I make. Maybe you should watch this excerpt from The Daily Show last night first...



$25 million dollars, mostly from members of the LDS Church and from what I understand from the Church itself (Although I could be wrong on this). Do you know how much that could by for the poor and needy? It bothers me that a Church which at one time was persecuted because their form of marriage was considered wrong would back something like this. I was also forwarded a transcript from a talk given by one of the very high up leaders of the Church, where he iterated multiple times what a good financial position the Church is in, as though that should somehow help strengthen member's faith.

This problem isn't just limited to the LDS Church, but many other Churchs as well, especially the Catholic Church with the riches and treasures stored at the Vatican which I have heard many describe as 'OBSCENE'. It makes you wonder if the whole purpose for a Church is mainly to enrich those at the head. Actually, I think anyone would have a really hard time convincing me that is indeed, not the case.

So in light of the millions of dollars donated to support discrimination, and the untold weath of an organization that claims to follow the example of Christ, yet fails to actually follow his example, my 10% donation this year may be finding it's way into the coffers of the local Children's Hospital, Remote Area Medical or some other Organization that actually does something to help people, rather than just talking about it.

Equations

I'm going to apologize up front. After neglecting this blog for over a week, the next week will likely be very political. I generally keep the politics and religion on my other blog and this post will involve both, but I believe that it is important enough to bring up here.

This is about Proposition 8, a ballot initiative to amend the Constitution for California which Californians will be voting on next week.

Proposition 8 is a response to a court ruling allowing same sex marriage, and seeks to make a Constitutional amendment prohibiting such unions.

I am pro gay marriage and hence opposed to proposition 8. That said, I don't vote in California, but since the dominant church in Utah saw fit to support this initiative financially, as well as 'call' its members to oppose it, I think I am well within my rights, and probably obligated to share my opinion.

The thing is that the argument is not being presented honestly by the proponents of it.

I believe the equation is:

Gay Marriage = Equals rights for all who enter into committed relationships

By equal rights I mean tax breaks, hospital visitation, heath care confidentiality, death benefits and all of that.

It is however being presented as:

Gay Marriage = Public homosexual orgies
Gay Marriage = Your children will be forced to enter into Same Sex Marriages
Gay Marriage = Your Church will be forced to accept Gay Marriage.

On the last thing, if you rent out your Church or building for marriage and are profiting from it, haven't you cheapened the marriage institution any way?

LDS Churches are able to be used free for weddings, but honestly, what gay couple would want to make their marriage official in the building of a Church which opening campaigned and supported against them doing it, and even it a Church were to be used for a Same Sex marriage, how would that in anyway desecrate the building. It's not like the ceremony will consist of anything other than two people committing themselves to each other. If they have a problem with this, then they can make a good start by removing the "All Welcome" phrase off their buildings, or qualify it with something like "who accept our view of how things should be."

LDS Temples require special approval to enter, and this is currently outside the reach of all but the most devoted members. If non-members can't get married inside, then why would a court force them to allow same sex marriage - it just makes no sense. In foreign countries where LDS Temple marriages are not recognized as legally binding, couple perform a civil ceremony first to satify the law, and then have a spiritual ceremony performed inside the temple. It doesn't demean the value of the marriage, and what young lady wouldn't enjoy getting married twice?!

In summary, the entire argument for Prop 8, is based purely on irrational fear and intolerance. That's my opinion and you are free to disagree - just try and make sense when you do so! I had a somewhat ignorant and pious individual tell me on another blog, that if it came down to a religious argument he would crush me in seconds. It was his only response for me to ask him to justify his position on Gay Marriage without bringing religion into it. The problem is that I guarantee you, he and I worship very different Gods, therefore he has no foundation on which to base any argument he might raise in that arena. So don't try the "My God says homosexuality is evil" approach with me, unless you can demonstrate without any doubt that there is a God, and that you and I worship the same one.

What I did over the weekend...

When we moved into our new home a year or so back, one of the things we really liked was a good size willow tree in the back yard. It was big enough to provide some shade, and block the sun from the windows in the late afternoon, and still had many years of good solid growth ahead of it.

About 6 months ago, we had a wind storm come through that broke a major branch off. Well, not so much broke, and ripped. It was still attached, so with some heaving and tugging, rope and duct tape, we were able to get it back together and all seemed fine.

That was when I started noticing the smell. Mostly when it got hot, but towards the end it was all the time. It smelled like rotting vegetables, and on closer inspection of the tree, I could see a couple of spots which didn't appear to be doing so well.

Last Sunday we had a snow storm. It didn't stick around long, due to the higher temperatures, but due the the temperatures, the snow was very wet and heavy. We looked out late Sunday Morning to discover that the tree had split 3 ways and had completely come down.

On Saturday I borrowed a chain saw, and got to play lumberjack for the day. I'm pleased to report that the tree is gone, we have enough firewood for 2 or 3 and the back yard is looking much larger than before. On the negative side of things, I am in serious pain. My hamstrings are tight, my forearms hurt and my back aches.

Two for Twenty Two

I realize that this will mean absolutely nothing to my American blogging buddies, but a couple of my readers from 'down under' might get a kick out of this.

Last Saturday was the IronMan World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Unfortunately it wasn't televised in the US, so I had to watch it on the computer all day... Fortunately the big screen in the bedroom is hooked up to a computer, so aside from a low quality picture and occasional internet blips, it turned out OK.

The race ended up being won by Craig Alexander, an Aussie, and the ladies race was won by Chrissie Wellington from the UK, who absolutely killed the remainder of the field despite getting a flat on the bike section.

Commentary was provided by a team of past winners and professional triathletes, and while the were all good, the great standout was Greg Welch, and Australian with a tremendous sense of humor. While his commentary (Like the video below) was no doubt wasted on most Americans, it reminded me how much I miss that type of humor.

I'm whole again!

I had my stitches removed from my head yesterday - at least those that I hadn't already managed to remove by picking at them.

As the nurse was cutting them out, another nurse came in and made a comment about how long the cut was. "You should have seen what came out of that!" the other nurse said. Apparently my lump has attained celebrity status as the doctors office. I guess it earned it, by my not doing anything about it for the past 8 or so years.

The good news is that it was only a cerbacious cyst - an oil gland that got plugged up, and kept producing oil, even though it had no where to get rid of it. That also means there is not cancer or anything associated with it.

So for the first time in almost a decade I have a smooth (smoothish) scalp! Woohoo!

Ten years of Tolerance...

Ten years ago today, my beautiful wife and I were married. Since then we have welcomed 5 rugrats into our family, moved a number of times, and changed careers a couple of times too. I've gained 50 pounds, lost 30 and turned into an over achieving, exercise obsessed triathlete with aspirations on becoming an IronMan and accomplishing other crazy feats of endurance.

Through out all of that, my dear Ann has supported me and stayed by my side.

I have to be the luckiest guy in the world!

Thanks Babe! I love ya!

Lump sat alone in a boggy marsh...

Alright folks I know I promised this yesterday, but the problem with vacations is that you need one after you catch up from the time your took for vacation...

I did put together my race report for the marathon, over on my fitness blog. That posting is here, you should know that there are references to bowel movements, and public urination, but as I have come to find out, that is all part of living an active lifestyle!

So yesterday I went to the facial surgeon to see about getting a lump removed from my head. If you're curious, here is my head . About half way up on the side is a small scar. I got knocked over when I was 12 and ended up hitting a rock (It explains a lot). The wound got all infected, and I initially thought that perhaps a small stone had somehow been left inside. The lump itself is closer to the top of my head. I first found it about 8 years ago. It took me 5 or 6 years to ask my doctor about it, and then another 2 or 3 to actually get around to having it removed.

I was given the option of being put out entirely for the procedure, along with that option also came a charge of $380, instead of $25 for a local anesthetic. How bad could it be?

The wait was long, but I finally got called back and given a seat. Then the doc came in to shoot up my head. I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. It felt like the guy pierced my skin, and then stuck the thing in another 2 or 3 inches. The nurse remarked that she had never seen anyone smile while getting a shot in the head. By #2 I wasn't smiling, and by #3 and #4, I was pretty close to wanting to cry. Still it was only 10 sec's of discomfort, and it's not like being put out is totally without discomfort either.

15 minutes later I was pretty numbed up and they started 'the procedure'. It's called a subcutaneous cyst. Basically the oil gland to one of my hairs got blocked way back when and so it could secrete any oil, of course being a dumb oil gland it doesn't realize this and just keeps producing more. I think it reached a point a while back where it just couldn't secrete any more, so it just sat there being annoying.

I think the surgeon just made an incision and then fished around a little to get it out. At one point I looked up and saw it and was a little surprised at it's size. Then he cleaned the whole out and sutured it up.

Once all was said and done, I got some prescriptions, a dab of Neosporon on it, and off I went, but not before taking a picture of my lump - prior to it being sent to the lab. For the squeamish reader, I apologize.

It looks a little bigger that it was just because of the angle it's being held at, but it's a about the size, shape and color of a really big butter bean - I can't vouch for it's taste however.

I was offered a prescription for Lortab, but I declined. I'm not a fan of how it makes me feel, and I can just as easily take a couple of ibuprofen. Perhaps that is why I'm not so stiff from my little running adventure this weekend.

So now my head looks like this . The gooey stuff is the neosporon. It doesn't hurt much, and if you feel around, there is a slight dent in the skin. It's going to look good once I get the sutures out.

In case you were concerned...

I am still alive, although the fact was debatable yesterday and Sunday...

On Saturday I ran my first marathon in Saint George, Utah - about 2 hours north of Las Vegas. It was wet, windy and generally pretty damn cold. I finished up in 4 hours, 13 minutes and some second in change. Overall I averaged 9:40 per mile or 6:00 per kilometer.

Having just arrived home from the trip I have much to do, although I think you can reasonably expect a decent blog post from me tomorrow - either before or after I get a lump removed from my head!!

I have an Hypothesis

This was something that worked it's way into my head overnight. It's just an idea, or hypothesis, so I would like to propose it and see if anyone has any additional insight, particularly some of my more opionated readers like D. Sirmize...

OK, so I went to sleep watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I think I've already mentioned that it's my favorite news show, and it's pretty sad that it comes from a Comedy network... Anyway, last nights guest was Bill Clinton. I can honestly say that I haven't really seen much of the man, since I kicked my Rush Limbaugh/Sean Hannity addiction, so it was nice to watch, without thinking what a rotten, lying SOB he was - because that definitely wasn't the man I saw last night.

I thought he was well spoken, didn't resort to any mudslinging, despite Stewart giving him ample opportunity and I think he showed a great deal of understanding at the current economic situation. Something he said got me thinking though... He talked about how after the IT bubble burst, there was all this money that needed to go somewhere, and in 2001 people started investing in Real Estate, and that would appear to be the catalyst that got everything start for all that is happening now. He proffered the idea that had the money been invested into alternative energy sources and that kind of thing, the long term effect would likely have been remarkably different.

So here is my thinking...

Could it be that the greatness of America comes from an attitude of seeking out new frontiers, thinking outside the box and challenging ourselves? I think about the space program, the arms race during World War 2, even the Revolutionary war. These are all things which helped define this country and have aided in her greatness.

I'm not a proponent of the Global Warming Crisis, but I do thing we have a responsibility to take care of the environment, and alternative fuel sources do make sense to investigate.

Could it be that rather than America taking the next step after the dot com boom, and looking for a newer and more exciting challenge, we got lazy, and decided to rest on our laurels? I'm not saying that investing in Real Estate isn't a good thing, but it is not exactly cutting edge.

Could it be that the problem with the Bush Administration involving the current crisis, isn't a lack of oversight, or governmental control, but rather a lack of visionary leadership, and what has been missing is a leader who will stand and inspire us to reach outside ourselves and achieve something better.

I think this is a separate issue from the war on terror and other things associated with this administration.

Please feel free to comment and share your opinions on this idea - Thanks!

The way I see it...

Let me start by saying, I definitely do not know enough about what is going on, but from my limited undestanding here is what seems to be happening...

A bunch on lending institutions made the dumb and quite frankly idiotic decision to lend money to people who had no business borrowing it. The people who borrowed the money were idiots as well, probably overcome by greed and a sense of entitlement. Shockingly enough, these people couldn't make their payments - I know, it boggles the mind how anyone could have seen this happen.

In a free market system, the banks would have gone belly up, and those that borrowed the money should have been screwed. And while I wouldn't wish that on anyone, it's how the free market stops both sides from making stupid decisions again.

Fortunately for these people we don't live with the Free Market system. Contrary to what the Republicans have said in the past, their economic plans are not about a "Free Market System". So to prevent the free market system from running it's natural course, the government steps in with bail outs. I know Mr. Bush said they weren't bail outs, but lets be honest here - Integrity isn't exactly his strongest character trait.

So the government bails out the banks, and from what I understand, some of the banks used this money to make more loans - WHAT?!?!?

Our economy is in the crapper - it's not because the free markey system has failed, it's because we have failed to allow the free market to take care of people with questionable lending tactics. Meanwhile, those of us who purchased a home we could afford, kept our credit scores high, so we could be considered borrowers of acceptable risk, and make our payments on time, just got the middle finger from our government. Thanks guys!

The way I see it, government is going to take our money and spend it however they see fit. Unless of course, we can get a libertarian government in place, or one that holds to the consitution and doesn't seek to feed and expand itself, but I can't see that happening. So the question we are left with when deciding on who to vote for in this election, comes down to who do you want to waste your money.

I think the Republicans will continue to waste the money on wars, helping out their buddies in the large corporations and growing the size and control of government over the American people.

I think the Democrats will spend the money on social welfare and similar entitlement programs, not limited to healthcare and other such things. I think they will also focus on growing the size and control of the government as well.

So do you want your money spent on killing people and making rich men richer, or on creating a welfare state and denying people the opportunity to better themselves, by making them more comfortable to simply suck from the teet of big government. And truth be told, the second may not actually be as bad as the Republicans (themselves closet socialists) would have us believe.

At the end of the day, I think I'd far rather my money was spent on welfare programs than killing people, which is what I think it comes down to. Besides, at the rate things are going, I may be able to benefit more from the social welfare programs in the future.

I would like to vote for a third party this election, either Libertarian or Constitutional, but at the same time, what if my vote only helps push the majority of votes towards a lying warmonger and his clueless running mate. Either way, I think I'm going to get screwed, just like I have been with the economy.

Metaphors

Do you ever look back on your life and feel like you're living a metaphor, or at the least, someone else's life?

Last night I had an experience that when it concluded I turned to my wife, and remarked. I have become George Costanza!

I then examined my life back for a few days and tried to categorize my life. For what it's worth...

Friday - All work and no play make Jack (or Koda) a dull boy.
Friday Night - You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. (I do appreciate the help though, for those involved :-) )

Saturday - 20 Miles is a hell of a long way (No metaphor, I just realized this after running it.)
Saturday Afternoon - The best things in life are free

Sunday - Eat, drink and be merry, or something about the best things in life being food and good company.

Monday - I like surprises - especially when they are completely unexpected. Also, if your horse doesn't drink when you lead it to water, at least it's at the waterhole when it gets thirsty, so you can score the whole thing a win in the long run.

And that, is what my life was like for the past few days.

Nooooooooooo!

One of the first bloggers I connected with was Morgan the Dancing Mouse. I'll admit that I haven't been visiting her blog as often in recent days, due to a ton of work, but I swear I read all the posts I've missed when I do go on there.

This morning to my utter shock and dismay, I discovered that I am apparently not one of the privileged view who gets to view her blog.

MORGAN MOUSE!! WHAT CAN I DO TO JOIN THE CLUB?

Of course I guess, there's always a chance that people like me, might be the reason why she's locked it down... Hmmmmmmmmmm....

I've got it!!

This weekend was a good one for me figuring stuff out. And I got to me The Gatsby, and his clan which was cool as well. I think it all came about because I finally got caught up on sleep. Well, until the alarm went off at 4am this morning.

The first big figuring out stuff thing happened on Friday. I get Mr. Glenn Becks' daily newsletter. I used to get it because I liked the comedy and I was generally working when his show was on, so I couldn't listen. Lately I haven't been enjoying it though, and quite often it just irks me. I've been trying to figure out why, and this weekend I GOT IT!!!

It's not that Mr Beck is not honest, nor that I object to him sharing his opinion. The thing that has been bugging me, is the pettiness of the partisan debate. Mr Beck is a Conservative Republican, and as such wholly supports that view. I can't fault him for because I used to be the same way. What bugs me is just the weak arguments put forth as to why people shouldn't vote for Mr Obama. It's not just Mr. Beck though, it seems that anyone with a firm belief in either of the major parties suffers from this bias and tendency towards childish arguing.

Some other things I figured out:

• I am now confident in my ability to run the St George marathon next month, courtesy of Saturdays excellent 18 mile run.


• I think I'm going to vote for Mr Obama. I'm pretty sure he's not going to be able to come through on most of what he's promising, but I'd rather aim for the stars and miss that aim for the dung heap and hit it - and as far as I can tell, Mr McCain is the dung heap (See! I'm as childish as the rest!!)


• I figured out some religious stuff too, but I'll post that elsewhere, later in the day

STOP THE PRESS!!!!!

In the teaser for the news on Fox last night, they alluded to the fact that some historic event had happened at the Democratic Convention. My initial thought was "Wow! Maybe Hillary has actually managed to somehow get herself nominated, because that would be historic breaking news.

Headline in the newspaper today reads... Historic Nomination - WOW!!! What could it be?

The great revelation... Obama got the democratic nomination... HOLY CRAP!! When did that whole turn around happen? I mean for months we've been thinking it was going to be someone else, and then all of a sudden BAM! Obama steps in and takes it.

Perhaps the news stories could have been - Bill Clinton does a complete about face and gives a ringing endorsement to the guy he was tearing down a few weeks back, or Hillary manages to get herself on the news by call for an end to voting and suggesting that they just go ahead and nominate Mr. Obama.

Anyway, I'm glad that is all over, and despite my comments above, I am glad that Mr. Obama has the nomination. My beef isn't with him, it's with the morons at the news stations and how they convey news. It's no longer about information, its about marketing and spinning the stories the right way.

The nomination is historic, in that Mr. Obama is the first black man to be elected to run for president. I think it says a lot for the United States that this is possible, but at the same time I think it also shows we have a long way to go. Mr. Obama wasn't nominated because he's black. He was nominated because he is the best candidate. He is a well spoken man who comes across as genuine, sincere and while I have no doubt that he can play politics with the best of them, I get a sense from what I've seen that he sincerely wants to do what is in the best interests of the country, despite the fact that he and I may differ on how to achieve that.

Making a big deal about Mr. Obama being the first black nominee almost seems to diminish what he has achieved.

Now I find myself torn... I have shared before that there is no way in hell I would ever consider voting for Mr. McCain. Despite my political views being very conservative leaning. The Republican party has shown that it is entirely self serving, and a party of liars and war mongers, and Mr. McCain fits right in with them.

I would like to vote for Mr. Bob Barr, but despite the fact that he and I agree on many levels, and that he is closest to my personal political leanings, he just lacks the presence to be our President. I have to think the Libertarians can do better that Mr. Barr, despite the fact that I think he's a good man. Jessie Ventura - what happened to the rumors you were going to run? That would have been freaking awesome!!

Mr. Obama and I are polar opposites politically, but I'm almost leaning towards voting for him. In a time when our international image has been trashed and our economy is in the crapper anyway, I think we need a fresh perspective. I've remarked numerous time to colleagues that I would much rather have a democrat in office that was upfront about raising taxes and increasing social welfare type government programs, than a republican who pretends to oppose those things, but does them anyway.

My million dollar idea, should Hillary have gotten the nomination were T-Shirts for "Republicans for Hillary - At least we'll know up front that we're going to get screwed"

Random Thought

So I'm at the gym tonight, and we had the TV tuned to the Alternative Music station. Sometimes they play well know stuff, and sometimes its stuff we've never heard before.

3rd song on tonight was by a group called 'The Virgins'. It was a group of guys.

How do you come up with a name like that? And then I'm thinking... What if they are virgins, but then due to increase popularity one or more members of the group happen to leave the virgin club... Could they still call themselves The Virgins?

I guess it could always be "The virgins and the 2 that got lucky"

Hmmmmmm....

I've made it!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen! It has taken at least 6 long months, but I am finally on the EQ reactivation radar, and I suspect there is a good chance I may be on an actual physical list somewhere of "People to Reactivate".

Perhaps some background here is needed... In the LDS Church, there is great concern to be had when a person appears to be on their way out of the flock. In a way it's like the experiment I've heard you can do with crabs. Please note that I have never tried, so P.E.T.A. please don't send complaints, stage an Urban Koda boycott or anything... Anyway, apparently if you put a bunch of crabs in a bucket, they'll fight horribly, but if one crab tries to climb out, they will all work together to drag him back in.

You may recall that about 6 months ago, the infamous light bulb incident occurred. It was in the men's meeting following the incident that the leader of the congregation courageously stood his ground and made an example out of me. Well-timed on his part, since I wasn't there at the time and he was then able to call me later and gave me his version of what happened. I think he was trying desperately to make himself not look like a complete asshole in front of the congregation, but wanted to keep things good between him and I. Dude! Being dishonest is not the way to go about that kind of thing! He probably should have told everyone not to discuss it with me either, since someone else called to explain what had actually happened, and that just pissed me off further.

Some weeks after that I decided it was time to do the Christian thing and 'turn the other cheek'. Although the un-Christian idea of just mooning the lot of them did cross my mind as well!!

So I went back to try and get back into the EQ groove as it were. The topic for the lesson was Anger. In my humble opinion, I think it's a good topic, and one I think everyone could improve in, myself included. Anger is the loss of emotional control, and then the channeling of fear and rage at another person. Nothing good can come of it. The lesson ended with a discussion on how to show righteous anger towards our spouses and kids. WHAT THE HELL?!?

I haven't been back to that class since then. I teach a bunch of teenagers in the time period before, and while I love it, sometimes it's nice to have some peace and quiet when that class is over. For the last 6 months, I've been taking one of my younger kids and coming home for the hour. It gives me some one on one time with the kid, lets me get some things done around the house, and quite often I'll get a head start on lunch as well.

So last night as I was trying to get dressed to head to the gym, and trying unsuccessfully to get my kids in bed and asleep before I left, there was a knock at the door. Two of the leaders of the mens group to which I belong stood there. I probably should have invited them in, but I didn't. Anyway, they brought up that there is a softball game tonight and they wanted to invite me to it. I asked what time, and one of them started to say something about them announcing it in the meeting on Sunday (I was actually at Walmart at the time :-) ) and then he started mumbling and trailed off. Let me just say that I actually really like the two guys who stopped by. They're nice guys and good neighbors, they've just got something tweaked in their brains that makes them duty bound to want to save my soul. It's actually the same with the congregational leader who made the example out of me... Great guy, fantastic neighbor, but as a Bishop I could not have less respect for him.

Anyway, so I've decided not to go... I don't do team sports for a start. It's not that I haven't tried, it just not my cup of tea. On top of that I generally only get home from work at 7pm, and that's when the game starts. So in order to show to them that I want to be a good Mormon, I need to give up the 1 hour a day I spend with my kids, and then also skip my gym workout as well. Sorry guys, ain't going to happen!!

Actually thinking back to the crab in the bucket. I think I got out of the bucket a while ago, when no-one was paying attention. It feels remarkably good, and there is not way in hell I'm getting back in!

The Candidate that really does care about you...

Why America is great... And not so great...

Last night I witnessed one of the most amazing and inspiring events in recent history. The event was the Olympic final for the mens 4x100M freestyle relays. Prior to the race, one of the French competitors had made some comments about being at the Olympics to smash the Americans. I can't do the event justice, so please click here to see the video. You may have to download a plugin, but trust me, it's worth it. I watched it at 11pm last night, the rest of the family was asleep. I ended up yelling and screaming... Perhaps not quite as much as young Michael Phelps, but there wasn't quite as much on the line for me.

Truly, truly inspiring.

I'm glad that happened because earlier in the night NBC's Bob Costa interviewed George Bush, the current US president. One question in particular stood out. Mr. Costa asked about the contrast between the problems in America, and the position of the Chinese, moving more on to the international stage. Mr Bush began his reply by emphatically stating that there are no problems in America...

OK, so the fact that the amount of money I spend on gas has doubled (and I now take the train to work), my grocery bill has doubled as have all my utility bills and yet my income has increase only 6% in the last year, which is a nice number, except when compared with a tanking economy, and horrible inflation.

Pardon me Mr Bush, but you're an asshole, and burying your head in the sand and denying the problems, doesn't mean they aren't there, and wait a second, isn't it your party that is trying to paint Mr. Obama as the overly optimistic elitist snob?

It brings to mind a rhyme from my youth... Twinkle Twinkle little star, what you say is what you are!

And by that I mean, that you, Mr. Bush, and Mr. McCain, and the rest of you fascist scum eating pieces of crap are a bunch of elitist snobs who should be thrown out like the pieces of garbage you are.

OK - feeling a little better - best go watch that video again to remind myself what the true spirit of America is all about.

Things I'd rather not think about...

I've touched before on the practice of taking care of #2 at work. Just as a refresher, I prefer not to, and I assume neither do most other normal people. We'll exclude those who proudly stride into the restrooms with the newspaper under one arm.

There are times however when you just have to take care of things. Now when you take care of things, you kind of shut out the idea of how many other people have been there before you, however...

Nothing is more disconcerting that passing a co-worker as you enter the restroom, and then settling down onto the seat and realizing it's nice and warm. I mean I know I'm not the only person that uses the restroom, but I'd just rather not think about it...

Does this make me a freak?

ROTF LMAO!!

For the internet newbies... that is...

Right on the floor, Laughing My Ass off!

And this would be why...

Let's start with the original ad...



Nice move Mr. McCain, especially after the Hilton's supported your campaign with a nice donation.

But I thought Paris' response was priceless:

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Not a bad policy!!

Proving my point...

I heard about this newspaper article last week, but suspected that it might be something which had been taken out of context. What I'd heard was that people where questioning whether Barack Obama is too fit to be President... The problem being that people can't relate to someone who is fit and healthy.

I found the newspaper article in the Washington Post this morning. It's here

I think it just adds to my last posting about advertisers now targeting the morbidly obese.

Of course the other explanation could be that this is an underhanded move by the McCain campaign. It was interesting that McCain gave his actual weight while Obama seemed to brush it off, and it also included the reasons why poor McCain can't lift weights. I'm sorry that the man was a POW in vietnam, but it doesn't qualify you to lead the nation.

Either way, whether the story was genuinely reporting that people don't want a healthy president, or if it is a sneeky move by Mr. McCain, or both. It still disgusts me.