Dependable Erection

Democrats

DependableErection@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:40:04 PST

Meh.

We busted our asses between 04 and 08 to get a solid Democratic majority in the NC Congressional delegation.

I hope Larry Kissell remembers how much money he raised for his two campaigns from progressives all across the state when he tries to figure out how to replace it in his re-election campaign next year.

And don't get me started on Democrats who voted for the Stupak "Women are second-class citizens" amendment. Fuck Heath Shuler and Bobby Etheridge.

A couple more words about Troika

DependableErection@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:50:16 PST

D-Town Brass!

Holy moley are these guys amazing. Brecker Brothers meet Sun Ra with a side of Liquid Liquid. Catch 'em now before they move to Hollywood to be the house band for some hipster talk show in the next 12 months.

Two words about Troika

DependableErection@gmail.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:57:08 PST

Pink Flag!

Deep thought

DependableErection@gmail.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:49:13 PST

Greedily is the ugliest word in the English language.

Troika!

DependableErection@gmail.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:08:24 PST

Durham's homegrown music festival, Troika, returns for its annual celebration of local music this weekend. Things kick off with a free show at 7 pm at Durham Central Park on Thursday, featuring The Beast, and Megafaun. From there, things expand to venues all across the city for the 3 nights. Festival passes are 20 bucks for access to all shows, or you can go for a single night for 8 bucks. There are also free early shows at West End Wine Bar (my daughter's band Tea & Tempests is playing there Friday night at 7 pm) and late at Bull McCabe's. Click on the link in the sidebar for a full schedule and info on how to pick up your pass and support Durham musicians.

Melissa Thomas of 307 Knox records will be joining me and Kevin on Shooting the Bull tomorrow night, 7:30pm on WXDU, 88.7 FM. Tune in, and you may be able to score a festival pass for free.

Election returns

DependableErection@gmail.com — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:47:24 PST

Two years ago, Kevin, Michael, and i were in Alivia's, liveblogging a very exciting municipal election night. Mayor Bill Bell beat back a very strong challenge from former Councilman Thomas Stith, who had received a lot of backing from national right-wing groups; and the at-large race for Council went down to the wire, with just a couple of hundred votes separating Farad Ali and David Harris.

This year?

Not so much. So, with 0% of the vote tallied, and exactly 0 precincts reporting, i'm calling the election for all 4 incumbents.

Have a good night.

Lévi-Strauss

DependableErection@gmail.com — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:51:19 PST

I had no idea he was still among us until today.

Election pondering

DependableErection@gmail.com — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:55:32 PST

Municipal primary turnout in previous 7 elections:
Date Offices Registered Voted Percentage turnout

10/10/95 Mayor, City Council 92,265 14,272 15.4%
10/7/97 Mayor, City Council 115,326 15,843 13.0%
10/5/99 Mayor/Council 124,740 20,400 16%
10/9/01 Mayor & Council 127,858 15,387 12.03%
10/7/03 Mayor/Council 104,384 16,993 16.28%
10/11/2005 Mayor/Council 118,376 13,103 11.06%
10/09/2007 Durham City Council at Large 121,026 12,875 10.64%

This year's numbers:
10/06/2009 Council Ward I and II 139,980 6,097 4.36%

Couple of things to keep in mind. 2001 and 2005 were Ward primary elections; 2003 and 2007 were at-large primaries. I can't recall which of the ward seats were primaried in previous elections, outside of 2001 when my neighborhood association president finished 2nd in the primary ahead of incumbent Jackie Wagstaff. So it may not be a true apples to apples comparison. Also, that 139,980 registered voter number looks pretty good compared to two years ago, up almost 19,000 voters, or just over 15%.

Unfortunately, that's also down almost 40,000, or about 22%, from last year's number.

Since 1995, general election turnout in off years has increased from the primary turnout by anywhere from 40% to about 100%. Even if this year we end up at the high end of the scale, we're still looking at less than 10% turnout, or about 13,000 voters in the entire city making decisions about our leadership.

Hope you're one of them.

Potholes

DependableErection@gmail.com — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:19:19 PST

Following up on yesterday's brief note about road paving and elections, i received an email from a friend yesterday entitled "Canadian speed control device."

While i doubt that's what's represented in the pictures (note the "Feels Like Pioneer Suspension" text overlaid on the photos), i think they would do the job of getting people to slow the fuck down on our neighborhood streets.

UPDATE: As i suspected.

Go vote

DependableErection@gmail.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:37:46 PST

If you want to bitch about shit in Durham, the least you can do is cast a ballot.

Election Day

DependableErection@gmail.com — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:08:09 PST

When i was a kid, my dad used to point out to me just how many road paving projects were started (and completed!) in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

Good to know that some things never change.

Coulda

DependableErection@gmail.com — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:32:48 PST

I could have been sitting in a jury room in the Federal Courthouse in Winston-Salem today, waiting to see if i was going to be spending a bit of time on a panel. Got a call last week, though, informing me that "the court session for which I was summonsed" had ended without the need for empaneling a jury.

I guess that's good news, for my employer, at least.

Wonder if it had anything to do with this?

(Warning - the comments may make your head explode)

Our house

DependableErection@gmail.com — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:33:06 PST

It's a very fine house.

From Space.com

Dr. Axel Mellinger of Central Michigan University gets the credit for assembling this montage of the Milky Way.

Should have just bought the damn land

DependableErection@gmail.com — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:39:13 PDT

Unsurprisingly, the ruling that the petition presented by opponents of the 751 Assemblage development in south Durham was invalid, has been challenged. Petitioners claimed that their documented represented more than 20% of the property owners involved; the county originally ruled that it did not. At stake was a Board of County Commissioners vote allowing for a redrawing of the boundaries of Jordan Lake.

Had the petition been declared valid, a supermajority of Commissioners would have been required to approve the new boundaries. According to news reports, County Manager Mike Ruffin is claiming that even if the petition is ultimately upheld, it won't affect the already taken vote, unless a court rules it invalid. Others seem to think that the vote will be automatically rendered invalid if the petition is ultimately upheld.

What a waste of time and resources this is all turning out to be, and as far as i'm concerned the blame sits squarely on the shoulders of former Planning Department Director Frank Duke. Everyone seems to agree that Duke overstepped his authority by agreeing to accept the new boundaries, as drawn by a survey paid for by the developer, in a unilateral move before he packed up and headed to Virginia Beach. All the legal maneuvering and shenanigans since then stem from that decision.

The burden, of course, is going to be on the petitioners to come up with the money to keep the process going. The developers, who stand to turn their $18 million investment into a whole lot more than that should they ever actually build this thing, will have no money problems.

All of which reinforces the point i made a couple of weeks ago. The only sure way to fight unwanted development is to own the land yourself. The government's vested interest is not in parkland or undeveloped property. I'm somewhat agnostic on this development myself; i don't really see a high density development out in the middle of nowhere in a county with no regional transit system as doing a whole lot of good, especially when it comes to creating jobs that might be filled by low income residents who probably lack the transportation necessary to get to them in the first place. On the other hand, more low density suburbia is the last thing we need next to Jordan lake. So consider me a casual observer of the process.

One thing i'll say, though. I'm much more likely to donate money for an effort to actually acquire the land than i am for continued legal challenges.

WTF is up with this headline?

DependableErection@gmail.com — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:15:48 PDT

Obama girls' vaccine: Favoritism or good example?

I'm not even going to read the article. I mean, he's the fucking president. He's got some things on his mind more important than worrying about whether his kids are going to catch swine flu.

Did the AP run one single article in 8 years asking whether or not Bush's kids got favorable treatment for anything? Or was it just accepted that they would because they came from America's royal family?

Dear Senator Hagan

DependableErection@gmail.com — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:04:39 PDT

You have correctly identified the problem. Why are you so afraid to implement the solution?

Premiums for employer-provided coverage have doubled in the past nine years, growing three times faster than wages. Health insurance costs for self-employed workers, many of whom own small businesses, have risen 74 percent since 2001. On our current trajectory, health care premiums for the average family will rise to nearly $25,000 by the year 2016. North Carolinians are struggling to afford health insurance coverage, and one in five North Carolinians has no health insurance. Our nation's unprecedented economic crisis has made it even more difficult for working families to manage medical costs while making ends meet. Without a doubt, our health care system is in dire need of repair.

. . .

In order to ensure that the Community Health Insurance Option competes on a level playing field, I insisted that it meet federal and state solvency requirements, that payment rates be negotiated, rather than tied to Medicare as some suggested, and that doctors and hospitals be free to choose whether to participate.

You see, for Kay Hagan, the important thing is that the playing field be level for the insurance companies that have been fucking us over for the past 20 years. Not that all Americans have equal access to high quality health care, but that the insurance companies, who along with Major League Baseball enjoy exemption from US anti-trust laws, not be forced to compete with a large insurance pool managed by the government in a not-for-profit fashion.

Thank you Senator Hagan for so clearly stating your priorities.

While I support the Community Health Insurance Option as a backstop insurance option for individuals who do not otherwise have access to affordable coverage, some have suggested alternative plans that may acheive the same goals. In particular, there has been a lot of discussion regarding establishment of non-profit health insurance co-ops or withholding the establishment of a public option unless health insurance costs meet specified reduction targets. I believe these ideas deserve full consideration as possible solutions.

What the fuck does that even mean? Withholding the establishment of a public option unless health insurance costs meet specified reduction targets? In a year where Social Security has announced no cost-of-living increases, NC BCBS has already announced an 11% rate increase. I'll be hearing from my insurance carrier at work within the next 3 weeks how much my premiums will be increasing next year. I can't imagine it'll be less than 10%, and possibly another 20%. I've been at my current job 13 years. When i started, all of my premiums were included in my benefits, and i only had to pay to cover my kids. Was about 100 bucks a month. My current premiums, for myself only, are $160/month, or just under $2k a year. Figure at least another 25 bucks a month this go 'round. Health insurance is a license to print money for the insurers. Kay Hagan sees no reason to change this arrangement. And she's a Democrat. One of 60 in the Senate.

Again, thank you for contacting my office. It is truly an honor to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate, and I hope you will not hesitate to contact me in the future should you have any further questions or concerns.

Well, if you don't start, you know, representing, you won't be having this opportunity after your first time expires.

9 1/2 weeks

DependableErection@gmail.com — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:17:22 PDT

Until Durham County's ordinance against dog tethering takes effect.

In theory, this year has been an "educational" year in which the county has been informing its resident dog owners about the upcoming changes in the law. Beginning January 1 through June 30, dog owners who keep their dogs tethered while unattended will receive warning citations from the county Animal Control Department. July 1 will see those citations start to carry financial penalties.

Orange County's warning period for a similar law actually begins in November of this year, and runs through May, after which violations will be punishable by a fine.

I'm not holding my breath that the serial dog abusers who keep renting the house behind mine will ever receive a citation, but maybe, just maybe, their dogs will get lucky and get to spend a little time not tied up. I have a hunch that the complaint i file on January 1 will be the first received by the AC Department.

D-Link

DependableErection@gmail.com — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:04:07 PDT

So, now that the bulk of the renovation projects are finished, i sat down tonight to install the new 802.11n wireless router that i bought last month.

The first box i bought was a PoS from a company called TrendNET. Spec'd out nice, and i bought the router and 3 USB wireless N adapters to go with it. One of the adapters was DOA, the other two worked sporadically, and the router could not use DHCP properly, and constantly assigned IP addresses out of the specified range. It went back to the vendor after 3 days.

I bought the D-Link cause i've been using an 802.11g router from them for the past 3 years, and it's been flawless.

First problem was that the D-Link adapters didn't run on Macs. So they went back.

Then, the software for the router was bad on the supplied CD. No quality control whatsoever. When you download the corrected software from the D-Link site, you also get another version of the corrupted software as well, in addition to a version that works. Install problems occur when the router acts as though it's rebooting to apply the changes in settings you've just made, though it really isn't. So you've got to manually reboot the router to get those changes to take effect. Once i figured all that out, getting all the computers in the house to connect to the internet was fairly straightforward.

Here's the deal, though.

I bought this device because it comes with "SharePort" software which allows you to "Share a USB printer or storage device on your network."

That's what i need. It's called network attached storage. I want a single hard drive with all of my music in one central location that can feed iTunes on the 3 computers that are hooked up to speakers for listening anywhere in the house. Network attached storage. The copy on the box reads "With SharePort technology you can connect a USB printer or storage device to your router and allow users to access them from anywhere on the network. Conveniently turn your existing USB printers and storage devices into network devices for everyone to share."

What a surprise to discover that only one computer at a time can actually "share" a device using "SharePort." Seriously. I must have read a hundred pages of documentation, reviews, and hype about this device before i bought it without encountering that limitation written down anywhere.

Why bother?

Probably too late to return this sucker for a full refund, since i bought it 6 weeks ago, and just got around to installing it tonight.

Now, i will say that i've been listening to streaming music for the past 2 hours running through my computer from the hard drive upstairs. So it works, and does that much pretty well. But that one connection at a time limitation is a deal breaker.

And it should have been mentioned somewhere.

UPDATE: D-Link tech support confirms the one user at a time limitation with the SharePort software.

Linksys tech support says their competing products offer multiple simultaneous connections to attached USB drives.

Guess what i'll be doing today?

Blue Cross Blue Shield

DependableErection@gmail.com — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:37:16 PDT

Those fucks.

Looks like they're spamming their mailing list with pre-printed, pre-paid postcards (hey, it's not a bad technique. I've used it before) to Senator Kay Hagan, urging her to oppose meaningful health care reform. There's some suspicion that if they are indeed using their customer base as a mailing list, they're in violation of some law or other. But they run the risk, as the NCGOP did the other day, of giving the other side a means of getting their message across.

>Here's Mrs. D's response to BCBS:

Did you get one of these? How did you respond?

First family

DependableErection@gmail.com — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:01:19 PDT

Official White House portrait of America's first family. Pat Buchanan must be gagging.

Whatever it takes

DependableErection@gmail.com — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:31:18 PDT

TPM has this story about State Senator Phil Berger (R- Guilford) delivering a wheelbarrow of surveys to Gov. Perdue's office today. The surveys were supposed to represent pro-GOP views, but it looks like Senator Berger got his bad self punk'd.

Loved this question:
"Do you support sending the North Carolina National Guard to help secure our southern border?"

Actually, yes. Anything to keep those South Carolinians where they belong. As the saying goes, too small for a republic, too big for an insane asylum.

Rutting season

DependableErection@gmail.com — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:01:52 PDT

Awfully glad it's not my job to clean up the road kill on I-85 this week.

Yikes.

At last

DependableErection@gmail.com — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:29:33 PDT

Someone figured out a way to shut Steve Phillips up.

Although, as i recall, ESPN fired Harold Reynolds on the spot when a staffer accused him of sexual harassment a few years ago (a charge which Reynolds continues to deny.) Phillips is merely suspended, which isn't much of a big deal as ESPN is pretty much done with baseball except for highlight shows until April.

The scary thing? Omar Minaya is making Phillips' tenure as the Mets GM look like the golden age.

UPDATE: He's gone.

Chase scene

DependableErection@gmail.com — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:29:53 PDT

Some folks on my neighborhood listserv witnessed what appeared to be a high speed chase through a school zone yesterday afternoon. At least one person is adamant that the pursuing vehicle was a Durham PD cruiser. DPD says they weren't involved, their guidelines prohibit chases through school zones, it was probably one of the other law enforcement agencies operating in town.

Anybody else see this? Mid-afternoon pickup time at Club Blvd. school?

Congratulations, it's a deck

DependableErection@gmail.com — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:09:12 PDT

One project mostly completed, one more to finish up.