I recently took advantage of Blizzard’s factional change option and switched to Alliance.

The transition was fairly smooth.

What I dont like, however, was that I lost quite a number of achievements related to the Argent tournament faction which apparently is lost in the transition.

Similarly, the wrath gate experience is lost..

I can understand from a technical perspective how this works, but still - thats weeks of work gone. Unless, of course, I were to switch back to Horde and would get those achievements and reputation back.

Finally, I would add that I am encouraged by the forthcoming patch 3.3 - or release of Ice Crown Citadel. The content looks incredible.

More later.

I couldnt help but repost this after seeing it on National Review Online. There are a lot of good quotes in in a monologue scene out of Dragnet regarding our nation. I cant help but wonder how many people dont know how good we have it and are willing to trade our freedom and liberty for a bureaucrat’s reassurance of security.

Many times it helps when we look to history when trying to understand the present. This can be applied to the current “health insurance reform” debate.

Democrats and socialist then were trying to pass much of what is being attempted now, but in a more mild form.

The principles and dangers which Reagan espouses in the speech still ring true.

The ultimate question is not how to help reach people who do not have health insurance. It is a question of freedom and whether or not the government can or cannot control our lives.

People know this. The writers of the bill know this.

To that extent the larger question which remains to be seen is whether or not people, without a leader, can withstand whither coordinated counter attacks by Democrats and their allies. Similarly, what how far will the Obama administration and its counter parts in the Senate and House of representatives go to consecrate the law into stone.

Of course, the glimmer of hope is that people engaging themselves in the process and reminding there representatives of their wishes to hold on to freedom. This echo of Reagan’s call for civil involvement during the debate then rings true now.

Part is working on my church’s website which is mostly done.. but still needs some additions.

Other parts are a few projects I cant talk about right now.

A third part is just plain life - so stand by.

In either case the one thing I do want to note is an exceptional piece posted by Chad Livengood. It is a stinging research piece which pins Missouri Governor Jay Nixon for knowing about the E. coli condition before he acknowledged it.

Why is this important? Besides the fact that Nixon could be caught in a lie, this is a serious safety hazard which people could become seriously ill over. If an elected official knows about this, should they not speak about it as soon as possible to ensure the safety?

In either case, read the entire piece and judge for your self.

Nixon could simply have opted to stay in state. Instead he decided to visit our men and women serving abroad in time of war. This was the right thing to do and hope to see more of it.

It should be noted that Nixon’s non notification to Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder that he was leaving the country into a war zone was both repugnant and stupid. At least Nixon didnt find his “soul mate,” eh?

This video explains the direction President Obama and Democrats are taking concerning our national debt. It should be noted that this does not include proposals such as providing universal health care or a second stimulus bill.

Going through the various posts, thoughts and speculations I would say Charles Krauthammer comes the closest to how I feel things panned out. There isn’t some lurking in the shadows scandal as Democrats and some Republicans want to believe.

The decision, I think, was a personal choice. How so? Simple, ask your self to name another politician who has been so savagely attacked for so long a period for so few reasons from both in and outside their party.

Now add the fact she is a mother with growing kids, one who isn’t quite yet a toddler.

I am not saying I agree with her reasons given, but I am going to guess that it was a personal decision. Like Karen Hughes who gave up the DC rat race and returned home to Texas, Palin could be hunkering down to be with family.

Of course the problem remains is this: The model gives political opponents of people like Palin a model to use and repeat on whom ever they wish to destroy next. Lets be clear, there will be a next time unless something changes.

Lastly, I wanted to note that Palin represents a large swath of our society which apparently does not warrant enough importantance to be heard from.

The swath I speak of are those of us who mostly reside in what those in DC call “fly over country.”

You know, the place where most Americans care about our neighbors with out the government peering over our shoulders and simply happy to be left alone. We work hard for what we own, that includes our kids, and fear God almighty.

To be blunt, we are very frustrated, and when told by talking heads and President Obama himself that our opinions do not matter it only makes matters worse. That includes many within the GOP who turn a deaf ear to us and our simple dreams of freedom and individual liberty because of political expediency and fad turned law of the month.

While not perfect, Palin connected to us because she is one of us. She knows what its like to raise kids and deal with every day life and work hard to get where she is. The values and faith she dares to express in any little way touches our hearts because we are there too.

I would not be intellectually honest if I failed to note Palin is not the person who resonates here. Mike Huckabee also fit the bill for many of these people early in the 2008 campaign.

Both were skewered and trashed. Both were discredited and joked about in upper political circles and lied about, even with the ranks of the GOP.

Guess what, we take notice. We ain’t as dumb as what you think.

Whether I agree with Palin and Huckabee’s politics is not the point. They inspire us and give us a voice which, to be frank, is being crowded out in all the day in and day out hype.

We saw what happened to Huckabee and now we see the same thing happening to Palin, except on a much grander scale.

While I may disagree with her resignation, I cannot disagree with the principle of her decision. We all have families which should come first. People here in fly over country know that. We will honor that, even if we had not planned on voting for her for president, given the opportunity.

However, Palin’s resignation removes a huge voice and point of inspiration of millions of voters who already feel rejected by a political process which currently repudiates them simply for simply living in a way our founding fathers envisioned.

I know this, I talk to these people every day. It is real.

Where we go from here, I am not sure.

I will be, with any luck, far away from the keyboard over the next couple of days.

I did want to wish everyone a happy fourth and to remind people that we broke from the British for freedom and liberty.

I pray that people remember the roots of our great nation.

At first I thought people might have been too hard on Sanford who came out of hiding of sorts to admit his affair with a woman from Argentina. It seemed on the surface the man was truly making amends and was honest to God sorry for what he did.

At that point, when someone is honestly repentant then we as Christians (and I hope society) would give the man and his family space to reconcile.

More to the point, though, his seeking forgiveness should be judged in its own merits versus his actions in office.

Let me be clear, he was my choice for a 2012 presidential run because of his response to keeping the government limited both is scope and reach.

However, it is clear that I do not think the guy is capable of handling the responsibilities necessary for the office.

While his political philosophy is impeccable, it has become apparent that his misuse of state resources and manner of which he cheated on his wife gives me reason to think other wise.

Should he resign? I will leave that to the people of South Carolina.

In the end, however, we need to remember the human tragedy in all this. We all experience our own “long fall to Earth” from time to time. It is part of the human experience.

How we deal with such events and who we turn to is equally important.

I hope Sanford is sincere in his statements regarding God and rebuilding his family.

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