What is Al Gore up to?

The Shame Of Al Gore

This guy wants to be President again. I used to like Al Gore a little. Now, I think he has gone off the deep end. Surely, he understands that we are involved with a war on terror, whether or not you agree with Iraq or not.

Say it Ain't So--Will Apple Adopt Windoze?

Here is an article that local Mac guru Michael Petruna sent my way that speculates in a very well laid out fashion that Steve Jobs and Co is laying the groundwork to get out of the OS business. Could it be possible that our beloved Mac CEO is only interested in building cool machines and cool music players, and really wants to get out of the operating system (os) business that put mac on the map? Goodness Almighty, let's hope not. That's what makes us love the Mac. They're so easy to use and THERE ARE NO VIRUSES that we can catch. Mike says not to worry, but the article points out some very interesting facts, such as their inability to see a spike in sales of hardware since the IPOD phenomena (and what a phenomenon it is) , and the fact that the total market penetration of the MAC os is still only 5%. Would Jobs take on Michael Dell?

Quote from the article:
Apple has always said it was a hardware company, not a software company. Now with the cash cow iPod line, it can afford to drop expensive OS development and just make jazzy, high-margin Windows computers to finally get beyond that five-percent market share and compete directly with Dell, HP, and the stodgy Chinese makers.

Winter Weather Moving South of Nashville

Here is the latest post from the National Weather Service Forecast Discussion Group:
Maybe we'll get something out of this system, but it's still a tough call.


MUCH COLDER AIRMASS FROM MONTANA (1056 MB HI) WILL SPILL INTO
MID STATE FRI INTO SAT. MEANWHILE...STALLED FRONT OVER GULF COAST
STATES COMBINED WITH DENSE COLD AIR WILL PROVIDE OVERRUNNING
SCENARIO LATE FRI NITE AND SAT. MODELS HAVE BEEN GETTING CONSISTENTLY
COLDER (AS SUSPECTED) AND AM MORE CONFIDENT FORECASTING WINTRY
TYPE PRECIP FOR FRI NITE AND SAT...ESPECIALLY N. GFS MORE GUNG-HO
WITH QPF AMOUNTS FRI NITE...BUT THIS LOOKS SUSPECT. SAT LOOKS LIKE
A LIGHT SNOW EVENT FOR MOST PART...MAYBE AN INCH OR 2.

AS FOR TEMPS...DID NOT STRAY MUCH FROM MAV NUMBERS.

.LONG TERM...
AND IT DOESNT END THERE. AN INVERTED TROF STARTS TO TAKE SHAPE
ACROSS CWA SUN AND SUN NITE. CONSIDERING COLD AIR IN PLACE HAS NOT
HAD MUCH OF A CHANCE TO MODIFY...AND TO COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT
WITH SURROUNDING OFFICES...WILL TREND TOWARD A MORE WINTRY
FORECAST FOR THESE PERIODS...BUT STILL KEEP THE 50% POPS.

It all sounds good for us winter weather fans, but the good stuff is going to be south of here. Monday may be our best chance. Stay tuned.

Democrats and Republicans/What a Blur

That's right. There's not much difference any more. Both parties like to spend money. A lot of money. Republicans no longer stand for conservatively fiscal principals. They're right there with the Democrats proposing and passing HUGE federal spending initiatives such as the presciption benefit for seniors, the agriculture subsidy bill of a couple of years ago, and the no child left behind act just to name a few. Read this story to find out what some politicians are thinking about 2008.

Apple Geek Udpate

MacBook Pros Starting To Ship, With Faster Chips


Well, Mac fans, better late than never, after a 6 week delay, they are on the way. I'll wait to hear from the folks that really put these things to the test to see how the new chips are performing. When it comes to this kind of stuff, I'm a follower, not a leader.

It's about time

France steps up rhetoric on Iran


We can't be the only dog in this hunt. Maybe this will be the issue that brings our countries back together on the same American-European front.

Iran has the second largest reserves of oil in the world. They have 30% unemployment. Their economy is a disaster. Why would they spend billions of dollars on nuclear energy when clearly, they don't need it? They are up to no good, plain and simple.

Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan Airport, Etc.

I flew into Reagan National today. What a great tribute to the nation's 40th president.. Flying into Reagan airport is a real treat, because you fly right over the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Mall at the White House, and you can see the Pentagon, and Georgetown University. Lots of sights to behold.

I could not help but think about Reagan's influence on my life and this country. He was such a positive influence on my life--having been President at a time when the country had been in a major negative funk. Everyone was pretty much convinced that Japan was going to be the next economic superpower, we were fighting with Iran over the hostages, inflation was at 21%, and I was just at the age where I was paying attention to all of these things. All I wanted to do was to be a small businessman, get out of college and get on with life. This is no BS--Reagan gave me the confidence to go out into the world and to have faith in America. No other President in my lifetime has come close to reaching out and touching me personally with his speeches, dialect, policies, or personality. I hereby salute Ronald Wilson Reagan.

I was Downtown Rotary President on February 11th 2004 when ole' Ronnie moved into the great unknown, and left us here on earth for his journey to Heaven. There were about 300 people at Rotary that day, and I had the task of paying tribute to Reagan, and announcing his death, and holding a moment of silence. I pretty much choked up but got through it okay. He was just simply an inspiration and for some reason, and to this day, I don't really know why I feel so strongly about the man.

Reagan single handedly pulled the country out of the doldrums through his unique blend of wisdom, humor, and leadership with principles. Incredible. And I felt like I knew him, and only met the guy once in a long line of thousands of supporters. Take Care Ronnie. I miss you.

You Be the Judge--Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's is arguably one of the worst diseases known to mankind, as the disease just totally robs someone of their life long personality and reduces them to mental mush. It scares me more than cancer. Recently, I ran across these 2 articles. Which one do you suppose is more accurate?


Education Reduces Alzheimer's Effects

Or this one

Alzheimer's disease progresses more rapidly in highly educated people


Here is key quote from the second article:

"A key question remains whether these effects are truly due to years of schooling or due to other factors related to education, such as wealth, occupation or lifestyle".

The "face" of Alzheimer's for me will always be Ronald Reagan. It pained me to watch his decline and I'll never ever forget that letter he wrote to the country before he slipped away to his ranch. Here it is--

I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.
Upon learning this news, Nancy and I had to decide whether as private citizens we would keep this a private matter or whether we would make this news known in a public way.

In the past, Nancy suffered from breast cancer and I had my cancer surgeries. We found through our open disclosures we were able to raise public awareness. We were happy that as a result many more people underwent testing.

They were treated in early stages and we were able to return to normal, healthy lives.

So now, we feel it is important to share it with you. In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it.

At the moment I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done. I will continue to share life's journey with my beloved Nancy and my family. I plan to enjoy the great outdoors and stay in touch with my friends and supporters.

Unfortunately, as Alzheimer's disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience. When the time comes, I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage.

In closing let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your president. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.

I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.

Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.

Sincerely, Ronald Reagan

Reader Alert--BLOG Light plus Writer's Block

Now that I have updated the comments section (see below) I find myself traveling the next couple of days and so, I'l be away from the laptop for a while--good timing, huh? That's probably a good thing, because I've been a little challenged lately with figuring out interesting stuff to post. Truthfully, I've been forcing it lately. That's not good. It has to come naturally. I think they call this a writer's block. I'm in one right now. It just hasn't been hitting me lately. it could be the winter funk. I'll work it out--stay tuned.

Reader Alert--Comment Section Updated

Thanks to my brother, Peter, I have updated the comments section to allow people to more freely post comments, without the hassle of seemingly having to sign up for your own blog, amongst other things. Now, the hassle is gone, and it's easy to post comments on this blog. Not that I am expecting any. Just thought you would want to know dear readers.

How did the Media get this way?

Now, the media is upset with the Bush administration for not telling them about the Cheney hunting accident in a more timely manner.

There could probably be an entire branch of the media that could look "behind" each and every story coming from Washington to fill up an entire web site or newspaper. I mean, instead of running "first run stories", or instead of making the "headlines", they could start a publication or internet site and just run the "story behind the story", or question every facet of every "first run" story.

Here are some examples of articles we are missing:

1. More coverage on how Cheney's press people came to the decision about how and when to release details of the hunting accident, and who was involved with the strategy. Focus more on the precise time line of events-

2. More coverage on the quails in south Texas, their breeding grounds, and their mating habits-

3. Get a local hunting angle by interviewing a local guide. Compare and contrast prices of buckshot in south Texas with other areas of the country. Show graphs and charts depicting the sales data relative to the time of year, and the different hunting seasons.

4. Research other Vice Presidents and their respective hunting interests. Discuss which Vice President became President and show which ones were hunters and which ones were not hunters. Play the hunting angle but extend into fishing. Before guns, determine research into trapping to cover the 19th century Vice Presidents as well.

5. Interview other people who have hunted at the Armstrong Ranch in South Texas. Get a tour of the ranch. Re-create the hunting accident with artistic intepretations. Do a time line and determine how many quails were killed during this hunt. Find out what happened to the quails. Work in a Dan Quayle angle.

And so, here we are in 2005 media coverage!

Sharks

Peter Benchley died, the author of Jaws, which was made into a movie three or four times. Here is a quote from his daughter:

"Spielberg certainly made the most superb movie; Peter was very pleased," Wendy Benchley told The Associated Press.

"But Peter kept telling people the book was fiction, it was a novel, and that he no more took responsibility for the fear of sharks than Mario Puzo took responsibility for the Mafia."

Okay, I blame it on Spielberg then.. By the way, I'm sorry Mr. Benchley passed away.

Here is another article from today, Shark frenzy closes Australian Beaches:

Blame it on human instinct, or blame it on the glorious great white shark from Jaws? Richard Dreyfus was never the same after that movie anyway.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this--other than, it was interesting seeing both of these articles in the same news day, a mere few posts apart on most major news wires.

I hope they had a "bug" in the room

They don't mention it in this article, but one would think that Sheriff Daren Hall and company would have some sort of listening device planted in the room when allowing Perry March to meet with his father at the county jail. Or, am I giving our local law enforcement officials too much credit? It would be easy to "rip-em" here, so let's see what develops.

Exit Wound for Team USA--Michelle Kwan

Michelle Kwan has always had a competitive spirit, an incredible smile, and wonderful grace on the ice. Add to her list of descriptive talents---maturity beyond her years. She has always been one of my favorite women athletes. Here is what she had to say about pulling the plug on her final attempt to compete in the 2006 Olympics:

"I've learned it's not about gold," she continued. "It's about the spirit of it. I have no regrets. I tried my hardest and if I don't win gold, it's OK. I've had a great career. I've been lucky. This is a sport and it is beautiful."

For Kwan, the ultimate dream will never come true. She'll never win Olympic gold, but her impact on the sport will last forever. Good bye and farewell to a great, great lady who ironically, has achieved so much more than Olympic Gold in her short life. She has achieved maturity beyond her years, a maturity about which most professional athletes have no clue.

Winter Bummer Land

Looks like a surge of warm air pushed up into Middle Tennessee right after sunset on Friday, which raised the surface temps from 33 degrees to 36 degrees. We were looking great around 5 pm and then POOF, all the early snow turned to rain and snow mix. Par for the course for Nashville. It's about 11 pm on Friday, and all we have is a wet, nasty, mix of rain and some snow. We had all snow at 5:30 pm. We have digressed snow fans. Once again, we were on the border, and the border turned to the "dark side". We were bracing for a fabulous concentration of a winter wonder land, and well, we ended up with a winter bummer land.

I'm jumping on the bandwagon

...HEAVY SNOW WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 AM
CST SATURDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A HEAVY SNOW
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 AM CST
SATURDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

Best Part of Bredesen's Budget

You read it here first--check out this appropriation:

$23 million for renovation of UT-Knoxville’s Ayers Hall

Thank you Governor. This building was a rat hole when I was up there in the early 80's. It looks nice from the road, but up close, it's in desperate need of updating and repair. I hope the legislature passes this part of the budget.

Their Day Is Coming

Zillow is aimed at generating profit from advertising and is not intended to put real estate agents out of work by letting home shoppers and sellers do their own research, according to Barton.

This quote was taken from an article about the new web site, Zillow.com
which launched this week. It's a new web site aimed towards the residential real estate market.

What they are trying to do is to create a site that gives people an idea of what a particular home is worth in markets all across the country.

The title of this post is--"their day is coming". That is in reference to real estate agents and the entire process of consumers paying 6% of the purchase price of a home to real estate agents, which, as the reader should know, is split 3% and 3% to the buying and selling agent.

Here is my question--Why is the commission still 6% when home prices have quintupled in the past 10 years? Has the work load of the real estate quintupled? Doubtful. It could be argued that their work load has decreased because of the internet. Oh sure, the advertising costs have increased for the agents to run a print ad in the newspaper---probably from $100 to $300, but the prices of homes have absolutely skyrocketed, so the commission of 6% is completely whacko in my opinion.

I do think the point of Zillow is to slowly erode the "worth" of real estate agents, and I do think there will be more sites in the future that chip away at the "tools" that previously were only known to agents. This will result in real estate agents, at the minimum, to decrease their commission rates to consumers.

Slowly but surely, consumers see the non commission based competitors creeping up--Red Rocket Realty is the only one that comes to mind right now. Most consumers can buy and/or sell a house now with the help of the internet.

Much in the same way discount brokers have taken over the buying and selling of equities in the stock market, I predict the same will happen in real estate in the next 10 years.

Just as full service stock brokers still have a place in the world of stock market trading, there will always be a place for full service real estate brokers as well. But, there is going to be a major shake out one day , and Zillow.com is just the beginning.

This is not original thinking, as I'm sure you've been exposed to this thought before. Why hasn't this happened sooner, might be the best "topic" to be posted.

Not Too Fast--on the Snow

With temps in the 40's on Friday afternoon, I have a hard time believing Nashville will see much snow.

Special Weather Statement from the National Weather Service:
AFTER A VERY WARM JANUARY...FEBRUARY IS TURNING OUT TO BE MUCH MORE WINTER-LIKE. A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE GULF COAST AND MOVE NORTHEAST FRIDAY. THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL...UP TO 4 INCHES OR MORE...OVER THE MID STATE FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY.

Now, read this post from Jason, at nashvillewx.com, the news 2 weather blog:

For Nashville and points south, I think our surface temperatures will be stubborn and have a tough time falling below the freezing mark before midnight. Bear in mind, it can be above freezing and still snow (like Wednesday evening) but it's tough for the snow to stick when temperatures are in the middle 30s. In the higher elevations north and east of town, the change to snow should occur more quickly...and I expect slightly higher accumulations in those areas as a result. For the snow lovers, I do think just about everyone sees snow by early Saturday morning. My gut tells me that 4" is probably too high for Nashville, but possible in the higher elevations. For Music City and points south...at this point in time...let's shoot for around an inch or two, and see what happens over the next 24 hours.

Makes Total Sense to Me

QALAT, Afghanistan - Police killed four people Wednesday as Afghans enraged over drawings of the Prophet Muhammad marched on a U.S. military base in a volatile southern province, directing their anger not against Europe but America.

The U.S. base was targeted because the United States "is the leader of Europe and the leading infidel in the world," said Sher Mohammed, a 40-year-old farmer who suffered a gunshot wound while taking part in the demonstration in the city of Qalat.