Swap Blog

Smantix over at Six Meat Buffet has a great post today about how Bush has abandoned the Ukraine’s pro-West revolution. Full Post Here

Smantix is dead on that Bush is not Reagan, but hey Reagan is once in a generation. Bush needs to be judged against other comparable presidents, or at least someone that will not be going down as a legend. Personally I would love to see Bush have a stronger pro Democracy and Pro West agenda in both the former Soviet bloc and in the far East. I have long been a proponent of taking care of nations that take care of you. I do not understand the idea of supporting tin pot dictators and questionable alliances when strong partners are available. I also understand that the enemy of your enemy is your friend, but that is even more reason to be a supporter of the Pro west / pro Democracy movements throughout the globe. Freedom when experienced is not something that a people will give up, or at least not without a fight. The human soul yearns to be free of the bounds of government and restraint and desires to live out it’s life in the form it desires, not due to the orders of others. So, could Bush do better YES, will he MAYBE, but he is doing better then Clinton because at least he has a foreign policy that does not involve the bimbo factor of the nation.

After a very long break, Dave Foulk is back to his blog and that is good for all of us that love his stuff. Dave’s first post back deals with the “War on Christmas” this year. Dave contends, and I would completely agree, that the war was already fought and won by Christ via his life, his death, and his rebirth. In the end, the war against Christ is but a paper tiger as Dave says. Dave goes on to make the point about how obvious this is to all that really look into the facts -

I am not the best Christian witness, nor a Bible scholar. But even, as the song says “a wretch like me” realizes that the war on Christmas is a paper tiger. The war is over. Christ won the war, not with His birth, but with his sacrifice.

Dave’s full Post Here

Intel after 37 years is changing their logo - full story here  The new logo will still be blue with a white background and is basically the same with only small changes.  The INTEL Inside motto will be dropped and will become LEAP AHEAD.   The move is suppose to help INTEL show consumers that they do more then just PC chips.

Well all I can say is good luck, but I am still buying AMD.  The leap ahead motto sounds like something that would be used to market kids toys, not chips, but hey that is just me.  The fact that INTEL is suppose to spend 2.5 billion marketing the new logo only makes me wonder if the real winners here are not the ad agencies and publications / broadcasters INTEL will spend their ad money with.  The end user themselves really does not care if a INTEL chip is in their fridge, their car, their music player, etc.  In their computer some care, but again the motto change is suppose to show that INTEL does more then computer chips, but outside of the PC business no one cares what chips are in their electronics.  In your stereo do you care if it is a Samsung or Intel chips, not me, I just want the stuff to work and sound good.   I think that 2.5 billion could be used for more R & D and let the new logo just settle in without a lot of extra attention, but again that is just me.

The wife and I took the furry kids out for a day at the park and then a trip to the pet store yesterday. The trip to the pet store usually takes us over an hour due to everyone wanting to pet our dogs, talk to us about them, etc. I guess 500 lbs of well behaved dog is not a common thing. Anyway, while doing this we ran into a couple that just got their first dog, a very small one, and we talked to them extensively.

Long and short at the end of the conversation we are really worried about the dogs future. Why you ask, well the wife seems to think the dog is a fashion item as she always talked about how dirty her hands got when she held it, etc. It is dog, it is not a surgical center people. Dogs shed, they have dirty paws, and they lick you at times. Why none of this occurred to her before buying the dog blew my mind. As for the husband, well everything was about price and time. How much is dog food, how much is flea medicine, how much is crate, how long does it take to feed them, how much time does it take to get them to go out? Those are all valid questions, and ones that should be ask, but they should be ask BEFORE buying the dog. If you are not willing / able to spend the money and time it takes to care for the animal then do not get it.

Simply people, be it a dog or a cat or a rat or a reptile, think it through and really know what you are willing and able to do BEFORE buying the pet. It is not far to the animal, and it is not fair to you either if you do not think it all through. Animals will have accidents, they will be dirty, and there are cost associated with having them.

As much as they are pets, and they are, they also become part of the family and they should be treated like more then accessories or problems. Think before you buy or adopt.

I am a big user of Bug Me Not, but it seems to not be functioning at times now.  Is this just true on my systems, due to recent virus software / firewall changes, or is Bug Me Not just not working like it use too.   SOmeone post me and tell me what they know, if they know anything.

Pink Kitty has a post today about the 12 days of Christmas on Ebay (post here)
She links to a post at Banterist where they break it down day by day and it is REALLY FUNNY!! Check the full Tweleve days out here
My favorite is Day 11 -

Day 11
L@@K!!! PIPERS PIPING L@@K!!!

These guys have GOT TO GO because the angry lawyer in 4G is threatening to get me evicted. They are MEGA talented and can really get your lords jumping and ladies dancing - which is great unless you have hardwood floors. Please, BID!

It being the end of the year more and more list and a predictions for next year are coming out.   We have yet to decide if we are going to put our list up or not, time will tell.  Considering how few people seemed to notice our list of grievance for Festivus we are sure that our visitors really want to see anymore of our lists.  Anyway, Michael Silence of No Silence Here has his prediction and opinions on the future of blogging up and  many are commenting on.   Full Post Here

Like Michael I think that the number of blogs will continue to increase, but those that are serious about will wane a bit.   As any blogger knows, it is a time consuming activity and after the initial joy and newness wears off many people allow their blogs to wane / die.  That does not mean you have to blog everyday to be serious about it, but a serious blogger is consistently adding content, tweaking or messing with their blog.   I could easily go a week or so without blogging if I wanted / had too, but I do not think I could make it two weeks as there is just too many things I want to talk about.

Michael’s prediction that more and more blogs will be one stop shops for particular topics or subjects is probably right, which means that blogs like ours will continue to be upper medium in size as we will never be id’d with one topic enough to be considered a authoritative voice about any one topic.

As for more and more co-blogging, well I think Michael is dead on right about that. Personally I would love to see this blog have multiple regular bloggers adding content where a wider diversity of topics and ideas could be discussed.  Time will tell about that though, time will tell.

David Price from Espresso Roast just completed a trip to / tour of the Gulf Coast.  He shares his trip via coverage on his blog here. His coverage, including pictures, is just amazing.  It is not that the images on TV were not amazing, but to see more pictures, so many months later, and personal reflections just brings it all home again.  Be sure to continue to pray for the Gulf Coast, and continue to work to help those in need.  Just because it is not on the news, or on the front page, does not mean that everything and everyone is ok.

Six Meat Buffet, via a Smantix post, takes a look at the reaction in Atlanta, and Georgia in general, to a new state law requiring photo ID’s to vote. Apparrently this is being viewed a Jim Crowe-equse, and some even went to the streets to fight it. Like Smantix, I find it odd that such a law is so offensive when we have 10 year olds making money and ID’s on their computers. We really should take steps to be sure that adult, LIVING people are voting and only voting ONCE.

There are things worth fighting for and against out there, but this seems to be one that should not be fought over AT ALL. Fair elections help EVERYONE, regardless of party and such. The fact that some are saying that this law, and this type of law in general, are throw backs to the Klan is just crazy. I am always, have always been, ANTI KLAN. Personally, I think the Klan needs to go the way of buggy whips and DISAPPEAR, but to even try to tie the Klan to stuff like this makes real Klan activites look more minor, and that is just sad. Using the Klan charge in this case is just over the line. Full Story at Six Meat Buffet Here

My hope would be that someday some one care more about VOTING then they do about VOTING RIGHTS!!!  The fact that 10% or less vote in local elections and a president election only brings out 35 or 40% is just sad.   If this makes people vote, i.e. they care enough to get involved, then I am all for people being frustrated.  I just think this is a stupid reason to riot as no one is reducing rights here, just try to be s