Sunday, August 29, 2004

Moooooon


Moooooon, originally uploaded by watts4u2.

Shine your ever-lovin light on me

Moons with Photoshop

Moons with Photoshop

Jerry Falwell Responds to watts4u2 blog

WorldNetDaily: The GOP is not a church

The week after I posted this:
"I miss Reagan, and it angers me that some Republicans see W as the "new
Reagan". George W ain't no Ronnie, folks. Sure, he's firm, determined and
won't he back down. It's just that he was wrong to push this war, wrong in
the planning for the aftermath, wrong not to listen to the right advisors,
and wrong if he thinks the $400 Billion spent on this war could not have
done much more for our safety had we used it here in America"

Jerry Falwell writes:
"At this moment in time, I would say that conservative people of faith are as energized behind President Bush as we have been behind any president in history. President Bush – like Ronald Reagan – has won our hearts because of his moral clarity, his unswerving integrity and his desire to intrepidly defend our nation against militant terrorists who seek to destroy us. (Fighting a "sensitive" battle against terrorism just doesn't seem plausible.) "

How can Falwell justify this war when the reasons given for going to war have proven false? And why the backhanded jab about "sensitive"? Certainly Jesus would have prefered we treat prisoners at Abu Grabe with sensitivity, in fact, that was at the core of Jesus' teachings, no? Turn the other cheek? The only way it makes sense for Jerry Falwell to defend this war is blind allegiance to the Republican Party and/or he wishes for the Christians and Muslims to battle it out in a race to armageddon.

Reagan was right. He hastened the end of the Cold War, got the economy moving, and gave us optimism.
W is a failure. Led us into unjust war, gave tax breaks mostly for the wealthiest while running the largest debts ever, and he plays on fear. I think he's a normal, good hearted person doing what he thinks is right. But he's not right. He's wrong.

Reagan came into office with unemployment, interest rates and inflation all over 10%. Just imagine! By the time he left office, all were well under control and communism was all but finished in Europe.

W inherited a budget surplus and with 9/11 was given the opportunity to unite the world in a common goal to stop terrorism. Instead, he launches a vandetta against his Daddy's arch-rival, while his puppeteer and his cronies rake in the profits from running the war. At least when Reagan made a mistake, it was a heartfelt (yet misguided) effort to save hostages, not a Bible-toting crusade against anyone who could be considered a terrorist. Like Ted Kennedy?

Ah, thanks Jerry, it's good to know you still push my buttons.

Saturday, August 28, 2004

Moon Zoom

Gonna try to post some moon photos I took and played around with in Photoshop.
You know who the man on the moon is?
John Fogerty. He's singing "The Midnight Special".
Now you know.

Friday, August 27, 2004

Watts on the Clie


Watts on the Clie, originally uploaded by watts4u2.

Updated when warranted, "Watts on the Clie" highlights tunes running on my MP3 player. You'll notice a major shift from the premiere edition of "Watts on the Clie" (check the archives). These tunes are mostly classics sprinkled with some lesser known yet almost just as great tunes.

Prescription Drug Commercials

There is no need to advertise prescription medicines. There have been studies that show the ads increase the number of people who go to see the doctor, and they insist that is a good thing, but I'm not so sure.
For instance, one company is now running an ad for the product "Singulair". It's hard to tell what the drug is for by watching the ad, but all the kids at camp sure are enjoing it. At the beginning of the TV spot, there is a bus dropping the kids off at camp. If you look closely you can see the name of the camp on the front of the bus:
"Camp Watchatakin"
(What-ya-takin')
When I went to summer camp (I went to a lot of camps), I can only recall two kids out of hundreds that went to see the nurse for pills daily. One was an epileptic and the other was hyperactive. I wonder what percentage of kids are taking pills daily now? Is there a line out the nurse's door at lunch, kids waiting for their next pill to halt the sniffles or calm them?
I argue that the drug ads on TV are propping up big profit-makers for the drug industry, and a lot of these prescriptions are unnecessary, and the government is happy to go along with it. I am not against drug companies making a profit, but isn't medicine a higher calling? The ads are what I call "comfort drugs", they give you a hug, make grow hair, enlarge your manhood or whatever. Pills that are useful and have a place, but they're not life-saving medicines, they're kinda like add-ons. When the add-ons are the profit makers, where is the incentive to make cures for debilitating or life threatening diseases? Where is the incentive for a cure...if the goal is profit, then drug companies would benefit from making drugs that you have to continue taking for life rather than drugs that you take once and are cured forever. Where is the profit in that?
I have read (but cannot source) that drug companies spend more on advertising than research. That is completely out of whack, and a disgrace to our culture.
I think it's time we take a hard look at the health care system as a whole, and get the best minds together to come up with solutions. Hillary couldn't do it, as a politician she was doomed to fail from the start, this is a fight that needs to be led by doctors and lawyers (ug!)....the private sector needs to take the lead. Health care costs are spiraling upward and it's having a dramatic effect on the economy for average people who pay for health insurance. If the private sector can't police itself better, and provide health care at a reasonable price for all Americans, it's probably in part due to the natural influence of capitalism in the drug marketplace. Maybe the government does need to take a bigger role in policing the health care system.
A easy place to start would be more restrictions on advertising prescription drugs to the public. Could we require drug companies to spend at least 10X more on research than advertising? Could we allow drug companies to run ads that don't mention the product at all, only list symptoms and tell consumers to ask their doctor about drugs? Or are we doomed to have our kids come home from camp asking "Daddy, I want to take pills like Sally, and Jill, and Jimmy, and Alice and....."
Camp Watchatakin. Ug!

Why?

Why?

Clouds in the Moonlight

Clouds in the Moonlight

Thursday, August 26, 2004

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Morning in Wilmington, now with Swift Vets

Anna Grace is with me today, as Tracey is off to work. She woke up happy and we're off to a good start. Today we are going to the Children's Clinic to get her records together for daycare that starts next week. I know she will really mature quickly playing with other kids more and I want to savor what "little baby" there is left in her. Contemplating a beach run with her today, it is another "U2 song" day out there and if the beach happens, I'll be sure to post some pictures.
Been loving posting pictures to the blog through the Clie. The memory stick compatibility with the Sony camera is just the bomb.
Time to read the news. Amazing how the Republicans have been able to turn Kerry's Vietnam record against him. Um, let's just stack Bush and Kerry's military service records to gether and see who wins? The real media tried to avoid the Swift Vet story's conflicting details because it is, essentially, meaningless.
I wish McCain would press Bush on this issue...this gives him an excuse to change his endorsement to Kerry, whom I am sure McCain respects more than Bush, even if he won't admit it. Yet.

Grace Face with surf background

Grace Face with surf background

Hey Shadow!

Hey Shadow!

Running for the Surf

Running for the Surf

Monday, August 23, 2004

Bzzzt...testing one, two

Having some problems blogging by e-mail, first the text layout was out of wack and now a post is missing altogether. Repeated here for your reading pleasure:

Caught more armyworms eating the Bermuda today, stepped on a wasp and it stung me good. It's been a long time since I was last stung by a bee and let me tell ya, it hurts!
After the sting wore off, it was time for revenge. Spread Bug Killer over the yard to get rid of the armyworms, they seem to attract wasps as well as kill the grass. Lovely.
Flickr still seems to be on the blink for the blog copy by e-mail, but we'll make due.
Turned on the sprinklers to activate the insecticide, time to watch some burnin' worms, yeah!

Wasp Stung!

Wasp Stung!

Addressing the W Issue

I realize that I have probably been too harsh on George W with the pictures
an articles in my previous posts, but I felt the need to lay out some info
before my opinion is registered here. I don't blame him for the 7 minutes,
the National Guard Service or whatever, and I don't think he's evil. I
think he's a strong leader who is willing to make tough decisions and stand
by them.
I came of age in the 80's, a fan of Reagan, despite my dual allegiance to
Bono. I admire W's father and I was surprised that Big George lost to
Clinton in '92. I voted for Perot in that election, and I maintain, like
Ralph Nader and thousands of other people of sound mind, that the two-party
system we have is partly at fault for all of our government's failures. Not
to say that the people in government are bad, I do not think that is the
case, it is the system that has failed us.
At first, I did not understand George W's desire to rush to war with Iraq,
and now in retrospect, I still don't understand it. But there was a
"meantime" when I believed that Bush's plan would play out and maybe it
would be worth the cost in lives and dollars. I was optimistic that our
reasons for going to war were legitimate, and once the war was inevitable, I
looked for the hope in the situation. I looked to politicians I admire,
like Colin Powell, John Edwards, John McCain, John Kerry and I felt the
imminent danger of the weapons they and everyone else "knew" Iraq had. I
looked to Tom Friedman, who I respect a great deal on MidEast issues, and
like him I was hoping that it would be possible to transform Iraq into a
model for the rest of the Arab world. I hoped we would march in and find
the WMDs all over the place (with French & Russian fingerprints). I hoped
that informants would help us track down terrorists who were working with
Saddam. I hoped we could uncover all the dirt and show the world we were
right! I don't like being fooled, and I feel we were at the minimum misled.
Ah, but war is never an easy thing, and that is why great caution and
deliberation must take place before a "pre-emptive" war is launched. Even
if this war had been justified, certainly Congress should have had to
declare war. I mean, this was offensive.... This is a clear violation of
the Constitution. Not George W's fault, but he took advantage of Congress
with his open-ended war on terror resolution.
Getting around declaring war is even worse than George W's first assault on
the Constitution in the election of 2000. While not his fault (blame
usually goes to his handlers), it is outrageous that the Supreme Court
decided the election....in a 5-4 decision no less! The Constitution clearly
spells out the process if no candidates get enough electoral votes, which is
what I believe should have happened. Florida's votes should have been
discarded and Congress should have elected the President. George W would
probably still be president.....it just shows that Congress has given away
too many of its powers, in this case to the Supreme Court, in the "war"
case, to the president.
I think the Iraq War is Bush's War. I don't think anyone in the world would
deny that to be true. I am sure he staked his presidency on the war when he
launched it, and he would have gladly said so. Maybe he did? Now that we
know a) no WMD b) no new terror link info and c) no dancing in the
streets....now that we know the reasons given for going to war were false,
we are bound as patriots to hold George W accountable. It's simple
geometry, really.
I will be voting for John Kerry without hesitation. Did Florida change me?
Hell no, and I will vote for third-party candidates again.
I just think it is too important to hold this president accountable for his
war....important for our world image, our Constitution, our national debt
and our civil liberties.
Can't we go back and nominate McCain for 2000? Ah, you right wing nuts!
He'd a made a great one.
I miss Reagan, and it angers me that some Republicans see W as the "new
Reagan". George W ain't no Ronnie, folks. Sure, he's firm, determined and
won't he back down. It's just that he was wrong to push this war, wrong in
the planning for the aftermath, wrong not to listen to the right advisors,
and wrong if he thinks the $400 Billion spent on this war could not have
done much more for our safety had we used it here in America for things like
border security, Immigration Services, CIA agents to infiltrate al-Quaida,
fixing the electrical grid, etc.
This is the time for all good me to come to the aid of their COUNTRY, and
vote. It's time for regime change here at home.

Pillows & Politics

It looks like I may need some more pillows or something to get the most out
of the new keyboard while I'm in bed. I did manage to find the perfect
board to put it on though, so I'm at least half way to being able to pull
this off from the sack. Instead of reading, I can be writing, creating.
I'm having a hard time with my Bush assessment....I've delayed blogging it
because it's all been said by so many others, so many times. Tim Noah from
Slate wrote an article that summed up many of my views on the war, I'm glad
I'm not alone. I'll post that Bush Assessment soon.
Been reading InstaPundit since I discovered it a while back....what is up
with all the Swift Vet talk? Can't we give them both a pass until say 1990
and go from there? Wouldn't that favor Bush? I think we can just look back
at their records over the past 3 years and see what needs to be done.

Saturday, August 21, 2004

The Future of watts4u2 blog

Starts today. Flickr is uploading my pictures to Blogger OK from their site, but as for the e-mail, the text for the blog has gone missing. I'll use this opportunity to make some adjustments to watts4u2 blog.

After working with this thing for a bit, mostly uploading pictures and linking to some interesting articles, I have decided to really delve into it.
Well, folks, here we go. I have just taken hold of the newest gadget that will amplify the use of my Clie PDA. It's a keyboard....so now instead of just ingesting from the PDA, I can reverse the flow and get information flowing out of this thing. Right now I am mostly concerned with seeing how this thing works, and so far I am fairly impressed. This is just about as nice as any laptop keyboard I've seen. See the picture below from an earlier post.

It's Raining Again

It's Raining Again

Eatmore Casserole

Eatmore Casserole

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Charley's Gone

Hurricane Charley came through and it was a bit more than we expected. Florida took the brunt, but we had a stronger wind than expected....good thing it didn't last long!
This shot is the red sky at sunset after Charley came through.
I re-listened to U2's "Under A Blood Red Sky" recently, and it's still great (if incomplete), and it also shows how far U2 have come since being "the next big thing".

Bonnie Blows

Remnants from Hurricane Bonnie skirted us by before Hurricane Charley came through. Bonnie spawned a tornado that killed three and caused lots of damage in Rocky Point, not too far from us.

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Intelligence Czar

After the 911 commission recommended it, "President Bush is reportedly moving quickly on the recommendation to create his own version of an "intelligence czar."...

Mary Pitt puts it even more starkly.

"But, wait! This concept of having one person to whom all law enforcement and security departments of the government report in detail on the state of the security and needs of the nation does ring a distant bell... It seems that, at some point in our history, we had such a person," she writes.

"If we strain our memories, we could remember such a person, who considered all this information in a studied manner and, with the welfare of the nation in mind, made serious, wise, and well-thought proposals for legislation to implement the safety and continuation of the Union....Now I remember. We called him the president."

From an aricle titled "Shooting Mosquitos on the Titanic" Two mosquito posts in one week, hmmmm

Proud of that one....


Check out this site for lots of funny Bush pictures....great spoof site:
Yooha! News

Monday, August 09, 2004

Salman-Boner

Salman Rushdie has come out in favor of porn.


There may be more to this than a just laugh, read this article and see for yourself.

Saddamcastrosquito

Sunday, August 08, 2004

War-Cost


Hey, this war is getting expensive! (Op-Chart from NY Times)
Just look at what we could have been doing to protect ourselves from the real threat of terrorism with all that money. You know, you throw together a billion here and a billion there....pretty soon you're talking real money!

Saturday, August 07, 2004

Trans Am


Trans Am, originally uploaded by watts4u2.

My talented cousin Nathan Means of the band Trans Am wrote this article for Punk Voter.

Thursday, August 05, 2004

I cannot tell a lie


I cannot tell a lie, originally uploaded by watts4u2.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we," Bush said.

They knew...

Despite the whitewash, we now know that the Bush administration was warned before the war that its Iraq claims were weak.

Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Bono Sings for Buffett


Bono Buffet, originally uploaded by watts4u2.

(older photo)
Bono sang at Susan Buffett's funeral in Omaha, Nebraska.
Another day in the life of Bono...
Read about it here

And a more interesting article from Omaha

Monday, August 02, 2004

Watts on the Clie

Now playing:
Dolly Parton- Train, Train
Rolling Stones- She Was Hot
Dick Dale- The Victor
Fleetwood Mac- Forever
James Gang- You're Gonna Need Me
REM- There She Goes Again
Sam & Dave- Soul Man
Screaming Lord Sutch- Would You Believe
Led Zeppelin- Royal Orleans
Carlo- Ghost Man
Squeeze- Black Coffee in Bed
Pink Floyd- The Gold It's in the...
REM- Bandwagon
Etta James- Tell Mama

Cool photo


17 Bypass Construction, originally uploaded by watts4u2.

Work is underway on the 17 Bypass/I-440. We live near the upper-righthand side of this photo from the Wilmington Star News.

Painted-Bunting


Painted-Bunting, originally uploaded by watts4u2.

I saw one of these on Bald Head Island recently....