Connetion Reflections

Elections

2007-08-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

2008 is gearing up to be one of the most interesting elections I can remember. I'm curious to see what comes of the Democratic party through all of this - it's probably the first time in decades where they have the opportunity to "redefine" themselves as a party, and I believe that gives them great opportunity. A few core values says pretty much all most people care to know about a political party, but some of the underlying forces at work are far more interesting to me.

The way I see it (at least from this distant vantage point,) the Democrats are in a similar place that Newt Gingrich and his followers were in 15 or so years ago - reeling from defeat, little sense of self, and a vastly divided party. Oftentimes, that's a perfect recipe for success - as long as you can find someone to take you in the right direction. The Democratic party has been at least as vastly divided (if not more) the past seven or eight years, something that has obviously shown in recent election years. They're struggling to maintain control of the Senate, taking blows to their reputation in the House (who ever said Congresspeople were supposed to hold up to their word?) and have only really had a single thing to cling to as an identity - not Republican.

I'm not going to go into my own opinions of what should happen, but I can definitely say that I'm very interested in seeing how the next year and a half play out on Capitol Hill. Change is good, and I think there will be a healthy dose of that no matter what the outcome. Time to throw in some popcorn, snag a slurpee and watch the show.

Internet Laws

2007-08-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

For the vast wealth of time people spend roaming the internet, one would thing the laws would have caught up by now. Congress, the White House and Big Business (no, this is not going to turn into a socialist rant) have been forcing internet industry into the shape of the traditional meat-world since it's rise to popularity in the 90's, something akin to chopping a little more of your kid's legs off every time he grows.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not advocating an internet without safeguards or regulations (although I'm also not particularly opposed to it, either.) However, taking a step back and finding us immersed in the aftereffects of this, with underhanded corporations fronting phony grassroots movements like this (and ridiculous cartoons like this,) is just plain embarrassing (I know all of that is old news, but I just stumbled across it again and it seems to spark the same nerves as it did at its conception.) No more self-respecting is the music industry, the movie industry, publishing houses, old-school media networks and dozens of other fields that - and here's the sad part to me - stand to make a whole lot of money and make a whole lot more friends if they just took the time to rebuild portions of their business models to suit the virtual terrain.

The internet is a great place to make money - that much had already been established a few trillion times over by the turn of the millennium. However, just like when setting up shop for the first time in a foreign country - you'll probably have to walk around the block a few times, see how things work first, and oh, I don't know, convert some of your money into the local currency. I think, as long as you had something worthwhile for sale (and perhaps therein lies some of the fear,) it wouldn't be that hard to adapt. Diving into legal battles and leaning on the weak shoulders of Congress is just pathetic.

Home sweet home(r)

2007-08-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

The day has finally come and gone - Barry Bonds is officially at the top of his class. Of course not everyone will agree with that blanket statement, but I've never been one to seek (or even to be fond of) universal agreement. I for one happen to be a Giants fan, so I'm sure it's obvious where I stand. There was no celebrating to be had (as I have very few friends who share my allegiances,) but it was nonetheless a great moment in baseball history.

And, from the perspective of my team (48-63 record,) it's definitely the high point of the season.

Powered by Wesson

2007-08-07T07:32:00.001-07:00

Inching along the Tacoma Narrows the other day, I spotted a Ford F-350 sporting a stylistically oozing decal indicating that the diesel truck was "Powered by Veggie Oil." Although I've been as aware as the next person about the recent biofuel craze, it just so happened that I recently read a blurb in Wired (my source of all pop tech) that detailed the process required to convert a diesel vehicle into a vegetable oil powered green machine.

Of course, "green machine" may be a bit of a misnomer here - there's nothing about burning vegetable oil that is pollution- or emission-free. It won't give you better gas mileage in many cases, either. The basic premise is the reduction of dependency on the oil industry, and of course it couldn't hurt that it's ok to use oil that you've already deep-fried your dinner in (the best type of recycling is reuse, after all.)

Interestingly enough, pretty much any diesel vehicle can be converted at home for between $500 and $1000, something I definitely didn't know. With the Jetta - one of the more popular veggie converts - I could easily see the appeal, but after passing the truck on the freeway in stop-and-go traffic, I began wondering just how much bacon grease you would have to save up before it really became worth it for something as monolithic as an F-350.

Since I will probably never own a truck that big, I may never know.