Last day of Black History Month 2006

Today is the end of black history month 2006. Personally, I on the side of the camp that supports ending the traditional monthly focus in turn for incorporating black history with American history. If you want to learn black history go to the library, buy a book, or surf the internet. Two good books - Up from Slavery; Fire in a Canebrake: The Last Mass Lynching in America. I'm sure that you will learn more from your own reading than by watching a 30 second black history factoid on tv. Below is today's King 5 TV black history month factoid.

On February 28, Michael Jackson won eight grammys for his 1983 album Thriller. Thriller became the biggest selling album of all-time, selling 60 million albums worldwide. Michael was the first black artist to break down the the white walls of MTV and find stardom and in the process raised the bar for music videos as an art form.

Wayback Machine

I consider myself a expert user of the internet but for some reason I had never heard of a company called the Internet Archive. Internet Archive specializes in archiving websites and has a tool that allow you to view these archived pages -- Wayback Machine. Archived websites go back as far as 1996 and the company claims to have over 50 billion web pages archived. You can use the Wayback Machine to go back in time, I used it to view my first website and my friends websites (apparently blogs aren't archived). If the website pages weren't indexed correctly with a website was created they may not have been archived but for most sites there is at least some text. Don't expect miracles from the wayback machine, the website is slow (you may have to visit the site later if you get the "page cannot be displayed error"). Using the Wayback Machine is very straightforward: visit the website and type in the website you would like to view. You will be shown the search results for your particular website, categorized by year. The dates in the bottom row indicate when a snapshot was taken from the website (homepage only).

Find reasonable rent in Seattle

A University of Washington student wrote a page that summaries her research on how to find reasonable rent in Seattle. The student (Christina Wissink) suggests that the most important factors that influence price of 2 bedroom apartments in Seattle are distance from downtown and the percentage of renters in the neighborhood. You can view here paper here. Christina highlights the thousands of dollars a year one can save by not living in downtown-- in light of this research should I move? I'm not sure at this point. If you know of a website that lists Seattle neighborhoods by percentage of home ownership please forward the web address.

Does anyone want to share a cabin?

Preacher stirs up emotions at South Georgia College

Below is a news clip from my hometown paper in Douglas, GA. I'm really surprised that this was actually a top headline in a rural south GA town. I wonder if the newspaper editors are liberal.

DOUGLAS GA---Donnie Morris, a traveling preacher who hails from Wrightsville, caused quite a ruckus on the campus of South Georgia College this week as he preached against homosexuality, fornication, wearing tight clothes, listening to rock music and a host of other things he considers sinful. Morris set up shop between the student union and the library Wednesday around noon and began preaching. Over two hours later, he was still at it. A crowd of about 30 mostly irate students surrounded him as he spoke. "You don't have to wear revealing clothes, not even in the summer. I can wear pants and long sleeves and be cooler than you in your short shorts and cut off shirts," said Morris. His comments spawned questions, protests, and, in some cases, downright anger from the crowd. "I don't know what Bible you're reading," said one. "I thought God was love. What you're saying isn't love," said another. Campus police stood by, just in case. But nothing out of the way took place. After he wrapped up, Morris said he preaches what is called controversial evangelism. "It's a different kind of ministry. People get mad but the message ultimately raises awareness. My goal is to see people get saved," said Morris. "I preach against homosexuality, fornication, drunkenness, rock and roll, and that makes the college kids mad. I also preach against once saved, always saved, and that makes the Baptists mad. People come to me and scream and holler, but it gets them thinking.


I wonder what scriptures he uses to backup rock and roll as a sin?

Downtown Seattle

photo courtesy of soggydan

Polluted air in my neighborhood

Working in downtown Seattle, I have boasted about also living downtown. Well today, the Seattle Times has published a story highlighting a study of air quality by census blocks. It turns out that the most unhealthy air in Washington state is found in neighborhoods near ports in Western Washington. My work and home is less than a mile from the ninth busiest port in the country, the Port of Seattle. The study defines unhealthy air as air quality that contains high levels of 78 cancer causing air pollutants described by EPA. Downtown Seattle is in the top 1 percent of all census tracts nationwide for cancer-causing air pollution levels. The risk-- King County, the location of Seattle, is ranked in the top 2 percent of counties nationwide for cancer risk from air pollution assuming that people live their entire lives in one location and live until 70 years. Nonetheless, I'm not worried because the life expectancy of a black male born in 1995 is 64.8 years. I was born some two decades earlier so my life expectancy is considerably less. Reports show that it takes about 20 years of exposure to see signs of lung damage. So likely I won't live long enough to worry about this risk. To review your risk of dying at your current age visit this CDC page. You can read about Lung Cancer at the American Lung Cancer Association website-- there office is located one block from my apartment.. they have some really good information in their office.

Who do you trust?

The pending sale of six US ports is the latest news that has both sides of the aisle arguing and Bush critics talking smack. The argument is that selling the ports to a foreign company (Dubai Ports World) that happens to be located in the Middle East puts the US at risk. First of all we all need to understand that selling the ports to Dubai Ports World won't really change anything except who profits and who sign the checks. The security of the ports will remain under the oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, regardless of who runs the ports. Bush says that the government has reviewed the sale and concluded that it is not a threat to national security.

Among the lawmakers from both parties threatening to hold up the deal is Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Senator Frist's caution makes me wonder if there's a need for a more thorough review of this deal. Personally I don't think that Bush would put himself on the line after what the media did to him after 9-11, Harrient Myers, and Katrina. What do you think?

Alito's first day on the job

Today, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito spent his first day on the bench . Although he made many errors including giving time to a white house lawyer after time had expired he was reported to seem comfortable with the job. You can read more about his first day here.

Other events in the supreme court today including a ruling involving a church that uses a hallucinogenic tea containing an illegal drug to help members connect with God. The court upheld the right of members to use the illegal drug over arguments by Justice Department lawyers stating that the use of the tea violates federal law. A win for religious freedom?

Karaoke, anyone

Pictures from Amy's Bike Trip - Gulf Coast

Amy is biking across America. She's now in the deep South in the area of the Gulf Coast. She reports that people are overcoming hardship and rebuilding their communities. Below are her latest pictures from the journey --I can almost feel that golden sun shining on my face.

Sunset along the Alabama Coast

Gulf Coast Rebuilding in Mississippi

Sandy beach along Florida's panhandle

A symbolic display of heritage and pride (or slavery?)

Amy's experience with southerners has been one of amazement; she's been staying in the homes of strangers or camping in their yards rather than renting a hotel room each night. She says that she trusts southerners more so than people from other regions. I guess she's maybe right since about 50% of the world's serial killers are reported to have lived a part of their life within a 200 mile radius of Seattle. Amy if you see someone from Seattle -- run!!

The Ground Hog was RIGHT!!

When the ground hog saw his shadow two weeks ago, people around here laughed. At the time of his forecasted 6 more weeks of winter, Seattle was building a strike of days above normal temperatures. Today was our 59th straight day of temperatures about normal and the streak will end tomorrow with everyone noticing. One word describes the week's end forecast-

COLD

NOAA Weather forecasters are saying Friday and Saturday could be the coldest days in more than seven years in Seattle. The NOAA forecast low for downtown Seattle is 17 degrees. The KING5 forecast as seen above is a little more conservative with forecasted lows in the 20s. Nonetheless temperatures on Thursday and Friday may not get above freezing all day long.

The long range forecast for Seattle is for highs in the low to mid 40s after this weekend. The average highs this time of year are usually in the low 50s. So we could actually be making our way towards below normal temperature through mid-March which would match the Ground Hogs forecast. I'll be sure to have my camera with me... who know what will happen with the cold weather--

NOAA Forecast for Downtown Seattle: (I actually have a friend that writes these)

February 15, 2006 15:30:20 PST

• Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the 20s. North wind around 10 mph shifting to the southeast after midnight.
• Thursday: Partly cloudy with a chance of flurries. Windy. Highs in the upper 30s to mid 40s. Northeast wind 20 to 30 mph.
• Thursday night: Partly cloudy. Windy. Lows 10 to 20. North wind 20 to 30 mph.
• Friday: Mostly sunny. Breezy. Highs in the mid 20s to mid 30s. Northeast wind 15 to 20 mph.
• Friday night: Mostly clear. Lows 15 to 20. Northeast wind 15 to 20 mph.
• Saturday and Saturday night: Mostly clear. Highs in the 30s. Lows 15 to 22.
• Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highs near 40.Sunday night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid to upper 20s.
• Presidents day and Monday night: Mostly clear. Highs in the upper 30s to mid 40s. Lows in the mid 20s to lower 30s.

Bush pushes health savings accounts

Today Bush talked about reforming health care in America. This come on the heals of the new federal reserve chairman saying that the rising cost of health care is something that congress should address. I wondered if the new reserve chairman and Bush are working together.

Most of us have fexible spending accounts which allow you to set aside money, tax-free, for use to pay for service not covered by your health plan or to cover your deductible. Money left in fexible spending accounts is forfeited if you don't use it at years end.

The health saving accounts allows you to invest your money for current and future medical expenses and have the money grow tax free! The down side of health saving accounts is that they're only available for policies with high deductibles and you have to purchase the policy at a bank rather than signup through work. Bank of America charges $50 to set up a health savings account and they charge about $40 a year to maintain the account.

Nonetheless if you a single healthy male such as myself, you have the opporunity to build quite the health care nest egg with a health savings account-- the good thing about being single and a male is that you don't go to the doctor all that often. The health savings account allows me to simply pull money out tax free rather than put money into an account in which I probably won't use. And if I never get sick then I would have tons of money to live it up in my golden years (living in a plush retirement home in downtown Seattle will be the new way to retire).

What's for dinner - Whale Shrimp

These are the biggest shrimp I've ever seen! I call them "whale shrimp" because of their size. Shrimp being one of my favorite foods I knew that I had to have them when I saw them in Safeway. The guy behind the meat counter said that a serving size was about two shrimp so I got three which cost me $6.

I really didn't do anything fancy as far as cooking them... I just threw them in a pan with a little oil, water, and garlic seasoning.

Eating them was a little strange, just because they were so big and meaty. One of the shrimp was so thick in circumference that I couldn't literally stick it into my mouth to eat it. I had to use a knife to cut it into pieces. This made me wonder how in the world could this shrimp support its weight when it was alive.

Last Holiday

I went to see Last Holiday starring Queen Latifah and LL Cool J. It's worth seeing. I won't give too many details about the movie except to say that it is good despite the predictable story line, and having LL Cool J in a movie didn't never hurt it too badly. Latifah's character is diagnosed with a brain disease and is given three weeks to live. After keeping a diary of "possibilities" all of her life, she realizes that she has been waiting for life to come to her instead of seizing it. So after the her diagnosis, she cashes in bonds and heads to Europe for a stay at a lavish hotel. She partakes in courageous activities including snowboarding and base jumping. The underlying message suggests taking advantage of life's adventures, and not to wait around for life to happen...make it happen.

Baby Jade

Today, I got my first photo of baby Jade while she was attending her first church service. You can see more pictures of the Schoepflin baby at a website maintained by the grandmother.

Lunch with the Mike 1 and Mike 2

Mike 1 sports blonde hair and Mike 2 sports green/blue hair. When there hair is the same color you'd think that they were brothers.

Wake Up Call

So, I'm 6 weeks into my "12 week challenge" and a quick look at numbers reveals a lack of measurable change for the better. I wouldn't say that the challenge has been a daily struggle. In fact the lack of a struggle is likely the reason for the lack of progress. The physics of weight loss is that exercise and eating patterns tigger a change of the body. My combination of the two hasn't triggered any weight loss so I guessing that I must change one or both of these variables to see results. The next logical phase of this is to lower the calorie intake to <2000 per day and increase exercise activity to a daily routine that's consistent. Six weeks from now we'll see if this has been fruitful.

You too can become a Republican

This is a funny website that guides you on why and how to tranformation from a Democratic to a Republican. http://www.thefrown.com/player.php?/frowners/becomerepublican (warning this website could offend those who are not light at heart)

Bush reveals 2007 Budget Cuts

A couple of days ago Bush said that his administration plans to cut the budget deficit in half while reducing taxes over the course of 5 years. Today, he revealed more details about how he was going to do this. Surprisingly on the list was eliminating Project Gear Up, thereby saving $300 million. This program may sound familiar because I mentioned it a few weeks ago in a post concerning boys falling farther behind girls in education. With the specific mentioning of elimination funding for the program in a speech, I guess that answers the question if Bush thought it was a good idea. The idea of making small cuts in the overall budget, such as eliminating Project Gear Up, is that all these small saving will add up to savings of almost $200 billion overtime-- this is similar to turning off the water while brushing your teeth.. all these small cuts really add up quickly in the long-run. Frankly, I will have to say Bush is really on a roll... he is has also proposed to cut $200 million from oil company subsidies. You can view the budget deals at the OMB website.

Uptown Expresso in Belltown

possibly the same guy as on the cup!

Jennifer at the Grammy's

WOW> Jennifer Nettles not only attends the Grammy's but she performed her song "Something more" and presented an award on stage. Unfortunately, her band "Sugarland" didn't win the catergory all-genre best new artist-- John Legend won the award.

Jennifer steps in front of the cameras

(keeping with tradition, her band choose to wear jeans for there performance)

Getting more than 15 mins of fame

It seems that all of a sudden a lot of people and I mean a lot of people from my small rural town in South Georgia (Douglas) are all of a sudden becoming famous. Jennifer Nettles was all over music scene and broadcast tv last fall performing with her band Sugarland, which was nominated for a music industry award (including a Grammy); the group performed at several award shows including the Country Music Tv Awards show. And then there was Jamie Newton, another country boy from my home town. He was on Survivor Guatemala last fall. He didn't win the challenge but he made it far in the competition. Next in line to appear in the spotlight is Renata Smith. She's scheduled to be a model for Amazon.com. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what this means but she's scheduled to do a photo shots in London this month. We should start to see her photo at the Amazon website in the coming months.

Week 5 fitness test

Today's results:

Distance 6.08 miles
Time: 1:10:39
Avg Speed 5.2 mph
Ascent 5.0
Descent 5.0
Flat 5.7

Avg Heart rate: 165bpm
low 101
high 198

Follow this link if you would like to see where I jog. At the site you can simulate my actual jog this morning: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=12023&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=444954

Got a new camera, Sony T-5

I went with sony’s T5 digital camera because of its size and 2.5 inch LCD viewfinder. The camera weighs less than 5 ounces, so you better hold onto it with the wrist strap. From my last camera I knew that I wanted a camera with a faster startup time and a quicker shutter lag. The T5 startup time is 1.5 seconds from the power-on thereby allowing me to take those unposed pontaneous photo shots. The shutter lag, the time between depressing the shutter and capturing the image, is 1/10 second.

I really didn't want to buy it from Best Buy but it was the only store with it in stock. Many of you may not know this but Best Buy is a corporation that discriminates. Several discrimination suits have been filed with the company and they basically harass minority customers when entering and leaving the store. Not being a "Barry" I was aware that the store associates would be all over me.. so I immediately played to the sterotype by asking what's on sale, questioned about using promotions, and informed him that I would be using reward zone coupon. After he helped me select a camera he insisted that I buy the accessories including the warranty because the camera may need repair due to humidity or if I "bumped it against the counter". After hearing that simply bumping it could break the lens I questioned if I should choose another camera; he suggested that there's no need to be concerned about this just buy the warranty.

Intertubing at Snoqualmie Pass

Here are some pictures from our intertubing trip on what was to be the windest day in Seattle in over 10 years. Leaving Seattle that morning with sporatic power outages all over town we weren't sure what we'd find in the mountains. Surprising when we got there the winds were actually calm....

Ground Hog sees his shadow - More Winter on the Way

HAPPY GROUND HOG DAY

I guess we'll have 6 more weeks of winter

How to protect your identity

I've been told that having a blog is dangerous because someone can take my information for this site making me a victim of identity theft. The government claims that the primary techniques used to obtain someone identity is through stealing mail, rummaging through garage, and stealing personal information in computer databases.

The top three recommendations to prevent ID theft:

1. Freeze your credit. So no one can open any forms of credit in your name.
2. Check your credit annually
3. Minimize the use of mail for sending or receiving information with your name. Mail letters only at the post office. Install a lock on your mailbox.

Below I've outlined some additional ways to protect your personal information.

1. Only carry your credit card in your wallet when you plan to use it that day. Only carry an ATM card if it is secure. Never carry your SSN in your wallet.

2. What's on your checks? Do you have your SSN, driver’s license number, address, or even your full name? If so you’re in danger of having your identity stolen. On my checks I only have my initials, "JG".

3. Add a security number to your credit cards and your bank account. Often they ask for your mother's maiden name... instead ask to have a password added to your account.

You can find additional information about protecting your ID at the Identify Theft Resource Center.

Shameful mistake along MLK

Creating the light rail along MLK is a mess. Utilities are being relocated, orange barrels and markers are everywhere, streets are blocks, construction vehicles and workers are basically on your side street leading to your house, in your front yard, back yard and knocking on your door to explain why they need to shutoff your water for an hour. I've been doing stormwater monitoring along MLK for the last couple of months and I have personally seen the frustration of the residents some have even come up to me to complain. There's no way I would be able to live in the neighborhood with this level of massive redevelopment.

Today, Sound Transit, the agency building the light rail, torn down a wall along MLK that has been going up for some two months. Why, because of a construction error. For the local resident that's basically two months of traffic delays all for nothing, and two more months to rebuild the wall.

Seattle too snooty for football

Despite the "12th Man" flag planted atop the Space Needle, just 14 percent of people in Seattle identify themselves as strong NFL fans, according to Scarborough Research, a New York-based firm that conducts detailed surveys of consumer behavior.

The fan base is double that — 28 percent — in South King County. On the Eastside and in Pierce County, 21 percent follow the NFL and Seahawks. In Snohomish County, 16 percent.

If you think the numbers lie, consider this: None of the team's 19 official Sea Hawkers booster clubs meets in Seattle.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002770903_hawkfans30m.html