Quotes from previous months.

01/04/2008

So recently, there has been a trend to earlier and earlier campaigning; the often termed "perpetual" campaign. Indeed, even in orientation sessions in the House of Represeantitives, the statement is made that "if you haven't already started fund raising for your re-election, you're behind." With this sort of attitude, when do they actually get work done? The professional politician has got to go.

The current Presidential campaign began formally LITTERALLY the day after the last general election and has been going on for over a year. It is now January, a full 11 months from the general election and we're already having Presidential primary elections with states wanting to move them further and further ahead. Well, I have news for all of you in Iowa and New Hampshire and all the other Eastern states: YOU DON'T SPEAK FOR ME!

I want to put an end to this insanity by proposing the following legislation:

Primary elections for congressional and presidential elections shall be held by all states and territories on the first Tuesday in August. This primary election shall be conducted solely by secret ballot with the outcome determined purely by popular vote.

It shall be prohibited for a candidate to formally declare intent, raise funds, campaign, advertise their compaign by signage, print or broadcast media, or any other form prior to March 15th of that election year. These restrictions shall also apply to all individuals and organizations seeking promote a candidate or act on their behalf.

This allows a 5 month buildup to the primary election. Since campaigns can and do take a while to get off the ground, this allows plenty of time for the candidates to establish an even playing field. For those who survive the primary election, this allows a full 8 months of compainging before the general election. This is plenty of time to get their message across. (And I question wether even this is too long.)

The American people are actually tired of listening to political adds, I know many people who refused to even pay attention during 2007 because it was just TOO MUCH. It's time for this insanity to end. If this is a proposal that you agree with, forward it on to your congressman. Require change, DEMAND it.

During the last presidential election year, I did not even particupate in my state's primary election because by that time, there was no point. Anyone who even attempted to oppose President Bush had dropped out by the time it came around and there simply wasn't anyone left to vote for, despite the fact that I wanted someone -- ANYONE-- to run against him and was most certainly not alone in that sentiment. Such was also the case during the previous election. By the time it got around to my state, the decision had basically already been made and my voice was not heard. THIS IS NOT FAIR! It says that the oppinions of the people in my state in determining who is eligible to run for the highest office in the land DO NOT MATTER! Well, I have news for you all... You may find that those who live in this state know far more about what this state needs and who can best provide that than those who live in the Northeast. Lets put an end to the madness.

The honor of a man is increased or diminished only by his own actions.
Honor can never be affected by the deeds of another.

During the Napoleonic Wars, it is thought that upwards of 6 million soldiers died. (Just soldiers)
Based on the ledgers retained by England, it is estimated that the cost to her alone for each soldier who died in the field was at least 50 pounds sterling.
This does not account for the expenditures by the other nations involved in this series of conflicts.
In tribute to two of the heroes of that era, Pitt and Wellington, England spent a sizeable sum to erect statues of these two men.

To all this, Victor Hugo replies,

It is a fine thing to have heroes, but it is an expensive luxury.
Poets cost less.

Words to consider in this age of conflict and despotism.

It is not a crime to be in this country illegally!

-- Clueless protester outside the Arizona State Capital after the 2006 state of the state address which emphasized combatting illegal immigration.

In honor of Rosa Parks who died this past week, let us not forget that one person CAN make a difference. This noble woman by being in the right place at the right time and willing to stand up for what she thought was right effectively became the catalyst for the entire civil rights movement.

Do not ever think that what you do will not matter.

(referencing moral and social issues)
You cannot expect your children to be better than you are unless you are trying to be better than you've been.

-- Wayne E. Bouchard

The world is heavy with suffering, but on Saturday mornings there are cartoons.

-- Jay Scott, The Daily Whale for July 27, 2005

There is no situation in the human condition that cannot be solved though a properly sized, shaped, packed, placed, timed, and detonated charge of high explosive!

-- The U. S. Army

If there's one thing in this life that everyone can use, it's another friend.

-- Wayne E. Bouchard

In this time of war, we wish to acknowledge all the soldiers who are currently engaged in activities in Iraq. I think perhaps nothing brings to the forefront the contemplation of one's own mortality more readily than combat. No one can tell when their time will come, when they may be struck down. There are those that fear this more than the enemy. Yet death is the one certainty to war. Who will be lost? We cannot tell. Is the cause just? Myself, I do not know. Yet this I do know; the men and women who are fighting in this campaign are soldiers and that means something.

They should represent the best of us, the very flower of American youth. So long as they comport themselves propperly as soldiers, we, the citizens of this country, have a solemn obligation to support them fully, in eve ry thought, in every action, in every deed. Whatever the oppinion of the decisions of the politicians, the soldiers deserve our highest respect and honor as they are asked to put their lives in danger.

And to them, as they come face to face with their own mortality, I leave this me ssage from David O. McKay:

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Wayne E Bouchard

-- Gordon B. Hinkley

If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

-- J. Danforth Quayle

Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe, or we aren't. Both possibilities are equally frightening.

-- Aruthur C. Clark

I have bandwidth, therefore I am.

--Anon.

I've learned that wherever I go, the world's worst drivers have followed me there.

-- Lanae Smith

I think this quote from Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Big Country" pretty much sums up computer technology at the end of the 20th century. I believe that Bill would allow us this "fair use" of his words.

  "For a long time it puzzled me how something so expensive, so leading
  edge, could be so useless, and then it occurred to me that a computer is a
  stupid machine with the ability to do incredibly smart things, while
  computer programmers are smart people with the ability to do incredibly
  stupid things. They are, in short, a perfect match."

- Matt Groening

All software sucks. Period. Everybody is considered a jerk by somebody. The sun rises, the sun sets, the Sun crashes, lusers are larted, BOFHs get drunk. It is the way of things.

-- Steve Conley (alt.sysadmin.recovery)

Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.

- Calvin and Hobbes

You know you're in trouble when, in the middle of signing the contract for your new car, you read in the fine print: ``Some assembly required; battery not included.''

If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization.

When uncertain, when in doubt
Run in circles, scream and shout.

Success sometimes has to be measured by the teaspoon..

Trouteman's Second Programming Postulate: "Profanity is the one language all programmers know best."

Any part, bolt, nut, or screw, when dropped, will roll under the exact geographic center of the automobile....
...unless there is a drain.

A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you really don't need it.

-- Bob Hope

The world is full of idiots and they all seem to work for the telephone company.

Take what little pain you get gratefully.. because theres always more where that came from.

Programming today is a race between software engineers trying to write bigger and better idiot proof programs and the universe to create bigger and better idiots. So far the universe is winning.

The enemy of my enemy is US West.

The customer is always right, until he tries to say something.

The problems are the same, the words just have more syllables.

Sean Donelan on telecommunications carriers.