Author Archives: Michael C. McGreevy

Live Blog – ABC News/Yahoo News Republican Debate in New Hampshire

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It’s certainly been an interesting week. I’m honestly shocked that Santorum has suddenly risen to such a prominent spot in the race for the Republican nomination. I mean, from my perspective? The guy is a joke as a candidate. When you look at his petulant behavior during the earlier debates it’s pretty clear that, unless he went through a major personality change, Obama would shred him in a debate during the general election. His views on “family values” and homosexuality range from laughable to offensive, to the point where I think there’s very little chance he win enough votes from moderates and independents to actually win the election. The only real hope he’d have is that a whole slew of people would just stay home instead of choosing between him and Obama.

That said, I think his moment in the spotlight is going to be fleeting.

I really hope that Huntsman is able to make a splash in South Carolina and continue his campaign. I like Huntsman. I don’t agree with his politics in many ways, but he’s not a jackass. I can’t say that about the rest of the contenders.

I also hope that Gingrich decimates Romney. That will be fun.

Commentary is starting, so here we go…

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And so it goes…

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2011 is a few hours away from ending, and like twenty bazillion other people in the world I’m reflecting back on the previous year. For some reason I’ve decided that you, my faithful readers, may be interested in this.

I don’t know why.

Probably because I’m an egomaniac.

Yeah, that’s it.

So anyway…

Went back to school this year. That was pretty damn cool, even if I did have to go to an out of state school because the University of South Florida is run by a bunch of chode monkeys who wouldn’t even acknowledge me when I tried to appeal the fact that they rejected my application. Funny, that. One of the things they tell you when you go to a two-year college here in Florida is that if you graduate with your Associates degree you are guaranteed admission into any of the public four-year universities in the state. Turns out that simply isn’t true. Like, at all. In any case, I’ve been attending the University of Maryland University College and I’m doing quite well there. My grade point average is 3.65 and I’m on track to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science in the Summer of 2014.

Work is…work? My company spent a lot of money installing SharePoint 2010 and I spent much of my time this year learning new skills to help me program in and administer that software. Part of my training involved a two week trip that included New York and Las Vegas. It was pretty cool, but shockingly enough after two weeks of intense training even “exotic” locations like Las Vegas get old and you start to yearn for home. Not to mention the amount of weight I put on while I was out there.

Oh, yeah. Health wise? This year sucked donkey balls. I managed to stay off the cigarettes (it’s been about 13 months now), but beyond that it’s been almost nothing but disappointment and setbacks. I was diagnosed with gout and as a result I gave up eating meat back in May. You’d think that being a vegetarian would be good for the waist line, but I’ve struggled mightily ever since. I think part of it has to do with the sheer amount of carbohydrates that go into your body when you aren’t eating animal flesh. Who knows? What I DO know is that I am, yet again, back up over 280 pounds. I haven’t weighed this much since we got back from the Goth Cruise, and I’m up 40 pounds from where I was just a few years ago. The gout episode completely derailed my running routine, and I’m still not fully back into it yet. Most of my clothes aren’t fitting properly, I have low energy, and my self-respect is pretty much in the shitter as a result. The last few weeks have been a bit better in that regard, but I’ve still got a long way to go before I start to feel comfortable in my skin again.

Krystalle and I celebrated our 8th anniversary back in July. Jareth turned 21. Alex turned 16. Kimmy split from her husband. My kids are getting older and I have my best friend at my side. That’s pretty awesome.

Theatrically? Did two shows. Should have done four but two of them were canceled (three, technically, but the second wouldn’t have gone up until January). I had my first ever theatrical role, and I had the privilege of, yet again, being the first actor to play a role in an original production. That would have happened twice this year, as I was supposed to be in a musical where the part I was playing was written specifically for me, but that fell through.

Celebrated my 10th season with Jobsite…but ironically haven’t been cast in anything yet for said season. Still one show up in the air, though.

Managed to whip the finances into pretty decent shape for a while there but the last few months have reversed a bit of that. I pulled a major remodeling surprise on Alex while he was out of town for Thanksgiving, and as glad as I am that I did the work the investment was considerable. It seriously needed to be done, though. That room was a health hazard, and that wasn’t ENTIRELY his fault.

All in all it was a good year. It wasn’t a great year, but it wasn’t a bad year. It was very busy. At times it was hard, and on many occasions the one thing I wanted more than anything else was sleep.

That’s still the case, really.

Happy New Year, my friends.

 

How To Survive A Raptor Apocalypse

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I mentioned on Twitter and Facebook that I had selected a “silly” topic for my final project in the Advanced Technical Writing class I am taking at the University of Maryland University College. Several of you said that you’d like to read it, so here in all of its glory is “How To Survive A Raptor Apocalypse”.

P.S. At the end of the post I’ve uploaded a video of the PowerPoint presentation I made to accompany the paper.

Big thanks to my buddy Ned for giving it the once-over with this Technical Writing mojo!

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INTRODUCTION

In 1993, Steven Spielberg amazed the world with his blockbuster film Jurassic Park. The movie, based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, was a cautionary tale about the potentially horrible consequences that could result from attempting to clone dinosaurs in the modern world. While many audiences were thrilled by the movie, they all went home from the theater that night safe in the knowledge that it was entirely fictional, and that nobody could actually clone dinosaurs.

They were wrong.

A team of Russian and Japanese scientists has announced plans to clone a wooly mammoth sometime in 2012. By combining the DNA of an elephant with marrow cells from a thigh bone of a deceased mammoth, the researchers believe they can re-create an animal that has not walked the planet in more than 10,000 years (Poeter).  When Jurassic Park was released back in 1993 it was impossible to imagine that science would ever be able to actually re-create the fictional experiments that were portrayed in that film, but not even 20 years has passed since then and mankind is playing with fire by reaching back thousands of years to defy the laws of Natural Selection and raise a species from the dead. If these scientists are successful, it’s only a matter of time before they reach even further back in time to satisfy their mad desires to see dinosaurs walking the Earth again.

When they do, it will be a sad day for us all.

If you wish to survive the inevitable dinosaur apocalypse, the time to prepare is NOW. If you wait until the creatures have broken free from their mad creators it will be too late. This guide will help you prepare yourself and your home for the horrible day when science trumps logic and we are thrust head first into a war with a vicious and deadly foe.

Raptors.

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Live Blog – FOX News Republican Debate from Iowa

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No time for flowery introductions on this one due to a late start. Let the live blog begin!

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Live Blog – ABC Debate from Drake University

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Here we go again! I swear, it seems like there’s a whole bunch of debates this cycle. Is that normal, or am I just noticing it now that I’m paying attention. I know there aren’t this many Presidential debates once it’s down to the main candidates.

So yeah, should be interesting tonight. Gingrich is currently in the lead, so anyone who thinks they have a chance to win should be gunning for him. Those who can only hope to get a Vice Presidential nod at best will probably be backing him up. He made some really poor comments yesterday about Palestine, so I’m betting that’s going to come up at some point during the debate.

Perry? Oh, Rick. You released what was one of the most offensive things I’ve seen yet this election season. The internet turned around and crucified you for it, but it remains to be seen whether or not it will help you with the Republican base. While it may do so, I can’t believe it would be possible to win a general election after saying something like that.

Santorum. You actually said that science should get out of politics. I…I have nothing but scorn for you, sir.

Huntsman has agreed to a Lincoln/Douglas style debate with Gingrich that’s going to take place in a few days. I’m not sure what his motivation there is other than, perhaps, sucking up to the front runner. He has to know he’s not going to get the nod at this point, so maybe he’s hoping for a VP nod.

Romney…Umm…He’s been kinda boring and quiet lately. Bachmann has too. I think Romney is probably counting on the fact that his numbers haven’t really fluctuated much and I don’t imagine we’ll see much out of the ordinary for him. He’s going to stay the course and let the media wear down Newt (if Newt doesn’t do it to himself). I also suspect we’re not going to see much “new” from Ron Paul for similar reasons. If Gingrich and Romney both self-destruct he’s sitting pretty.

BEER FOR THE EVENING – This is, of course, the most important part of the debate. I’ll be enjoying a Cigar City Brewery Maduro Brown Ale. I will. alas, probably only be enjoying one as I have to leave to pick up the boy as soon as the debate is over.

And with that all being said it’s time for me to get set up in the living room. I’m going to disable the Twitter to Facebook feed for now because, frankly, there’s no point leaving it up. It’s going to break in a few minutes anyway.

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Live Blog – Republican National Convention Media Walk-Through

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So I’ve actually made it into this thing.  At the current time I’m sitting on the lower deck of the St. Petersburg Times Forum waiting for the presentation to begin. I’m surrounded by media representatives. Bloggers. Journalists. Newscasters. I haven’t seen anyone I recognize yet as far as media personalities are concerned, and I really don’t suspect that at this particular event that I will. I’ve heard mention of Politico.com so far, and there is a large group from NBC sitting right in front of me.

For a moment when I first arrived I really wondered if I was actually going to be let into the door. They asked for my credentials, and I had to tell two different people I was registered as an independent blogger. When I mentioned that I had per-registered, though, they whisked me right through. I have an official badge with my name and web site on it and everything.

Lord, that makes me sound like an utter and complete rube, doesn’t it?

Tampa seems to be going all out to make a nice presentation. We were all given swag bags that have various items from sports teams and other organizations in the area.  Bright House networks is on hand offering information on their internet access packages, so that causes me to wonder if there will be free wi-fi during the event itself. I may want to be safe and get myself a cellular modem just in case.

I’ll take pictures of all the various swag I’m picking up later. I’m feeling out-of-place enough without whipping the camera out during this thing.

The event itself should be starting shortly, so I’m going to finalize this post and make the rest of my updates via the live blog feature. I’ve recently updated the plugin so my individual tweets aren’t going to be linking back to this page any more. Check back here if you want to see non-truncated updates.

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Live Blog – CNBC Republican Debate at Oakland University

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Should be interesting to see how things go down this time. In particular, I’m curious as to whether or not the sexual misconduct allegations against Cain come up. Romney mentioned something recently about these things being “very serious,” so I’m wondering if he’s going to use them as an opportunity to come out on the offensive.

On a personal note, I have to get the boy from school at 9 and cook dinner while I’m watching this, so coverage is going to be a bit on the spotty side. Sorry about that, folks.

Let’s do it.

Shortest. Live. Blog. Ever.

Apparently CNBC decided they weren’t going to stream the debate.

Jerks.

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Follow The Money Trail

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Image courtesy of Raquel Baranow via flickr

Joe Scarborough recently wrote a piece in which he pointed out, rightly so, that Barack Obama received more donations “from Wall Street” than “any politician in American history.”

Joe is being deceptive.

Goldman Sachs, as a corporate entity, has donated nearly 6.5 times more money to Mitt Romney than Barack Obama. Romney has received $290,750 so far during the 2011-2012 election season. Obama has received $44,750 (just slightly more than the $43,000 they have given to Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican here in Florida).

Goldman Sachs employees, however, contributed significantly to Obama’s 2008 campaign. As a matter of fact they were the second largest contributor. This is a VERY important distinction. I quote from the page I just linked to at OpenSecrets.org:

This table lists the top donors to this candidate in the 2008 election cycle. The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organization’s PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals’ immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

In other words, the rank-and-file support the Democrats. The corporate entity itself supports the Republicans.

Where is the disconnect? Seems pretty typical to me.

Sexy Halloween History

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I have a real problem with revisionist history and perceptual reality. Namely, I take issue with the whole “things were better back when I was a kid” statement. Our parents said it, and their parents said it, and despite the fact that we grew up swearing we wouldn’t say it members of my generation are saying it now, too. This commonly crops up when we talk about the fact that the “streets were safer” back when we were kids. They weren’t. In fact, the violent crime rate has been steadily dropping over the last 20 years. What’s different now from 1991 is that we didn’t have such a huge proliferation of information at the time. In this modern 24 hour news cycle era we sit glued in front of our tiny glowing screens eagerly lapping up the latest gory news. We analyze it over and over again and rail about the injustice of humanity.

We obsess.

The reason I’m thinking about this so much today is because of the number of complaints I’ve seen about “sexy” costumes, as if this were some kind of new phenomenon. I will admit that some of the “sexy” costume subject matter is a bit much (sexy Little Orphan Annie? Really??), but to say that the “sexy” costume is a recent phenomenon is to ignore history.

To prove my point I have used the magic of the internet to take a trip back in time to find some examples of “classic” sexy costumes…Come with me children, as we explore the sultry side of Halloween Past…

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A Hair’s Breadth Away From Mob Rule

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The names of the jurors in the Casey Anthony trial were released today.

I feel sorry for these people. They did their civic duty, they followed the law the way it was explained to them, and they came to a verdict that several of them have stated they did not feel was accurate. The “problem” is that they weren’t supposed to follow their feelings. They were supposed to follow the law.

You know what the scariest thing about all of this is? Check out the quote below from one of the jurors.

“If I knew then what I know now, I might not have been so honest,” Ford said after the trial. “I didn’t know the whole world was watching and that everyone had their mind made up on what the verdict was. I didn’t understand the magnitude of it.”

What she’s essentially saying, if I’m reading this correctly, is that if she had known the verdict was going to piss so many people off she’d have voted differently.

What a terrifying statement to make.

I’m going to be honest, folks. I believe that Casey Anthony had something to do with the death of her child and that she tried to cover it up after. I also believe that it was most likely an accident, and that the reason she got off is because they prosecution tried for a harsher conviction than the crime itself warranted.

That being said…The behavior of the mob in this particular case is far more disturbing to me. Nancy Grace and her army of self-righteous, judgmental, back-seat jurors are a pitchfork and a torch away from the angry peasants of yesteryear. Sad to see that some things never change.