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Barack Obama: A “Made Man”

I still don’t know who I’m going to vote for in November.  At one time I fully supported Obama.  I’m not so sure I do anymore.  I watched the CNN special Barack Obama Revealed last night and came away with even less certainty about Barack than felt before.  The most glaring message I got out of the whole show was how Barack is essentially a “made man” by his friends in the Illinois state senate, specifically his endorsement by Senate President Emil Jones.  It seems to me that Barack needed to learn how to grease his elbows and these guys taught him how to do it.  One good speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2003  and BANG – a Presidential nominee is born.  One who had 129 “Present” votes during his time in the Illinois Senate.  And no track record to speak of during one term in the US Senate.

I get the impression that a whole lot of “Obamamania” is based upon the fact that many, many people are turned off by the Republican party thanks to good ‘ol Dubya and Cheney.  They’re ready to take anybody that represents a change from the status quo.  But I haven’t been convinced that McCain is a carbon copy of Bush.  In the past and today McCain appears to be a Republican I can settle for.  He’s a moderate.  Now if he goes out and gets himself a hyper-religeous, bible beating, Neocon for a running mate to satisfy the “base” of the Republican party then I’ll have to settle for the lesser of two evils and go with Obama.  I will not sway in my position that nothing mixes worse than religeon and politics, not even oil and water.

There is one aspect of McCain winning the Presidency that I’ve not heard a lot of talk about.  That is the fact that if he wins and the Democrats pick up two or three more seats in Congress we can expect at least four more years of deadlocked legislation.  Nothing will be passed because bills will be shot own and vetoed at a record pace.  I’m relatively conviced this is not what we need right now.  I would like to see a working Congress as opposed to one that is permanently on vacation. 

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Hedingham golf course sucks. Period.

So I paid $40 to play 18 holes at Hedingham golf course in Raleigh yesterday.  It was the absolute worst course I have ever played on.  Other courses in the area that are in the same price range make this course look like the field in the back of my house.  It was litterally hard to tell the fairways from someones back yard.  They were full of crabgrass and the greens were full of holes and flattened weeds that looked like they had been smashed flat with a mower.  And big burn marks that looked like a cart had peeled out from the greens and left huge skid marks.  This is not a lie: there was a Dandylion growing on a green.

It was so bad we only played 9 holes and told them we wanted our money back.  They refused and gave us a rain check that we promptly threw away.  Everyone knows a course has to be bad to keep our crew from playing.  On the 8th hole we came across one of the greenskeeping staff sitting next to the tee box in a small greens truck.  He procedeeded to hand roll himself a cigarrette (it appeared to be a real, tobacco cigarette) and then talk on his cell phone at full volume as we tee’d off.  At most reputable courses this would get him fired based on a complaint, but not Headingham.  At one point my ball even landed in a man made hole in the middle of a fairway.  The kind of hole a kid digs in his back yard.  Why would anyone play this course when Wil-Mar is right down the road for the same price?

Avoid this “golf course” and save your money.  It hardly even qualifies as a course because it’s mostly a bunch of undefined fairways in the back yards of townhouses.  I feel bad for those who bought actual houses surrounding the “Hedingham Golf and Athletic Club”.   That’s nothing to be proud of right now.  It’s the worst course conditions in the area and should only cost a fraction of what other courses cost to play.  But it doesn’t.

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How I play exclusive golf courses for free.

I can now officially say I have played the top three golf courses in the Raleigh, NC area: Northridge, Prestonwood and now the Carolina Country Club.  The beautiful thing is I only had to pay at one of them.  How is this possible you ask?  It’s who you know.  And since I don’t know any rich doctors, lawyers or local politicians I rely on the greens keeping staff.  My people are the ones the rich have labeled the “working class”.  I had the chance to hit a 28,000 sq. foot house with a golf ball but I didn’t.  Hows’ that for “conservative”?

Daryl now has a job at the CCC.  I am not talking about the Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg SC.  I’m talking about the one hidden inside the beltline off Glenwood Ave. in Raleigh.  The Carolina Country Club is still not racially integrated and to my understanding blacks are still prohibited from playing there.  Very sad.  This factor alone is keeping me from rating it the best place I have ever played.  It is definitely one of the nicest courses I have ever played, right in line with Prestonwood and Winton Country Club in the mountains of Virginia.

One of the coolest things about the CCC is that I may be getting to play there as much as twice a month for free if Daryl has his way.  This will be AWESOME if it becomes reality.  I dunno, Daryl likes to play golf and the only thing better than playing at a course like this is playing on it for free.  Look at me – I can’t afford a new car but I’m playing golf at clubs with $50,000 membership initiation fees and $125 guest fees.  Amy, I now have an obligation to play more golf and get better so I can live up to the honor.  Even if it is at my home stompin’ grounds, the good ‘ol Wendell Country Club or Wil-Mar golf.

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Bank Fees: Another Fee Tactic

I’ve just been made aware of a new tactic being used by banks to generate fees.  I thought Bank of America was the absolute worst for engineering mechanisms to maximize overdraft fees.  It seems that WaMu (Washington Mutual) now holds this honor above BOA with a process that is simply evil at it’s core.  They will display a deposit in the accounts “Available Balance” but will then charge overdraft fees on any transactions that occur before the deposit actually moves to a posted status.  They have set this period between “pending” and “posted” at 24 hours.

So here’s how it works: You get a direct payroll deposit at midnight.  WaMu will show this deposit in your “Available Balance” on-line and through any other available inquiry method.  So you have the money to spend correct?  Wrong.  If you spend any money that exceeds the funds available prior to this deposit you will be charged an overdraft fee for each negative transaction.  WaMu explains this through their process of posting all debits before deposits.  But wait.  WaMu displayed the funds as available?  Doesn’t matter.  The funds aren’t actually available to be used until the deposit moves into “posted” status 24 hours after they’ve displayed the funds as available.

Let’s face it.   We’re getting way past the point where the bank is mostly a liability for consumers in todays economy.  These fee tactics and irresponsible lending practices have undermined faith in the banking system for a large segment of Americans.  In fact the number stands at about 36% according to the banking industry itself so we can consider that the most conservative estimate.  It’s actually probably more like 50% and growing.  The banks explain all of this through the repeated proclamation that they are a business intending to make money like any other.  So run, don’t walk to your local credit union and make it known to the banks that if their business is taking our money for nothing then we don’t want their product.

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Undecided…

I am personally undecided who I will vote for now. My personal opinion is irrelevant in my prediction. It should be John McCain who wins this election (provided that he lives that long). Why?

The American public could gradually lose it’s fascination with Obama. His “rock star” persona can fade. Not that it matters. What may ultimately lead Obama down the path to defeat is his position on oil. I’m a registered Democrat (in case you haven’t guessed) and I do believe big business and the banks are out of control and unchecked so I feel there needs to be more government oversight, I despise the situation in Iraq, and I don’t think the Republicans have a plan for a health care system that’s going to do anything but make the rich even richer. So why am I considering a vote for McCain?

Because he supports drilling in the US for oil. While I care about the environment I really despise hyper-tree-huggers. These are the environmentalists who will sacrifice our nations welfare and economy to save another damn species of snail. I know a lot of other Democrats who fall into the category of Independent by default in this election. Hell, let’s face it I might as well change my registration to Independent because I don’t fully support either party’s position on a number of issues.

  1. I want immigration laws enforced – not reformed. Neither candidate is supporting this position to the upset of the Republican party because I’m certain most conservatives want a candidate with a stronger stance on this issue.
  2. I want to drill for oil in America. Obama and the Democrats have made it clear they care nothing about saving our future by attacking the energy problems on all fronts including drilling at home.
  3. I want NAFTA repealed. Again, nothing either party has proclaimed interest in.
  4. I support the withdraw of troops in Iraq using a responsible time table. More Dems support this than Republicans.
  5. I believe we need comprehensive health care reform. From the top down including an attack on the rising cost of health care services. John McCain wants to put the hospital corporations in check but he’s also running the risk of angering big business supporters who believe hospitals and drug manufacturers, as corporations, should be free to profit as much as they like even if the cost is the lives of patients. This is actually an easy fix: price caps. Universal insurance coverage, a Democratic idea, is nothing but a windfall for health insurance companies. Neither side has even mentioned government price caps which would limit hospital corporation profitability but naturally drive down the price of insurance.
  6. I want to pay fair taxes. This is more of a Republican idea but only really benefits the rich and corporations under their model of tax breaks. Democrats will give no one a break here.

Basically I don’t fully support either party and choosing one side or the other is like choosing which foot to be shot in. I don’t want to be shot in either foot.

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The Triangle Town Center “Riot”

As many people know Amy and I once lived in a house off of Louisburg Rd. behind Triangle Town Center.   It’s where we lived when Connor was born.  We moved out of the area specifically because it was going down hill.  The location became full of dumb little thugs.  In fact a house on our street was converted to a rental and the equivalent of a gang moved in.  They called themselves a “riding club” as the sped in and out of the neighborhood on their crotch rockets all day and night.

Needless to say I got the hell outta Dodge.  It was only a matter of time before the thug culture proliferating in the area moved towards the mall.  Crapital Blvd. has always been notorious for these African American bike gangs striking fear into anyone wanting to stop for gas as they congregate by the dozens and enjoy the fact that they’ve staked their turf.  That’s right, I called them out as black bike gangs.  There is no use burying our head and imagining that this is anything less than a racial and cultural issue.

Some of the the dumb little thugs got outta control last Saturday night and 15 to 20 of them got in a fight in Triangle Town Center causing the mall to be closed an hour early.  According to reports approx. 200 little thug bumpers ran crazy in the mall.  The media labeled it a “riot”.  While it was far from a riot it was definitely a wake up call.  A call that may never be heeded.  You see the fact that this entire problem was caused by black kids flashing gang signs has been disputed by members of the black community.  They denounce the fact that there is any mention of race in the problem.

Let me be straight:  In the office next to me is one of the coolest women I know.  Her name is Jackie and she is in charge of accounts payable at our company.  And she’s a black woman from Durham.  She’s great.  And she agrees with me on many points I will make here including the fact that if the black community works harder at dispelling the notion that this was not a black on black thug issue verses trying to solve the root of the problem it will never go away.

Many people on WRAL’s GOLO forum are screaming about lack of parenting, supervision and anything they can find to displace the responsibility of this event away from the kids who did the fighting.  I can tell you first hand that only people with a completely unrealistic and idealistic view of the world believe that all parents can and should have control of their kids at all times.  Sorry Ozzy and Harriet, the world just doesn’t work that way.

The core of the problem is that these black kids have an unrealistic sense of entitlement.  And they now feel the only way to acquire what they’re entitled to is through their own.  What do I mean by this?  I mean through their peers and their attitude.  They drop out of school, realize their never going to be an NBA star so they figure what the hell, Tupac and 50 cent got famous, watch me.  And this is the lifestyle, and the culture, they make a conscious decision to live in.  And the black community at large shuns any criticism, internal or external, of this culture.

If a black man dares speak up about the trajedy of black youth today he will be labeled a traitor by everyone all the way up to the NAACP.  If a white person says “black kids today have a problem” they are an automatic racist.  Never mind the statistics: 50% of black students will drop out of high school verses approx. 22% of all other races combined. Less than 10% of “gang” members are white.  It’s probably below 5% in an area like Raleigh.  So when blacks deny that the problem primarily exists among blacks it is only adding fuel to the fire.  They are percieved to be accepted and supported by their own.

It’s time to end dumb thuggery regardless of skin color or socio-economic status.  If the problem just happens to be among black kids well then, they are the ones going to jail or boot camp.  Trying legitimize this gun toting, violent lifestyle by labeling it “Hip Hop” or any other name only gives it the merit required to draw future generations into it’s downward cycle.  Here’s a news flash: hating cops is not cool.  And if you or anyone you associate with share an anti-law enforcement attitude it’s because you’ve got something immoral or illegal to hide.  Making excuses for a dumb-ass thug is almost as bad as being one.

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Brightstar Communications in Raleigh, NC

Here’s a customer service story for you.  I just had to send this email to the CFO of Trimaco regarding an emergency service call I had to place with Brightstar Communications yesterday regarding a down fax line:

Drew,

Yesterday I contacted Brightstar Communications regarding our down fax line.  I was told to open a ticket through their on-line form which I did.  I was informed a tech would call me shortly to schedule a time for the repair.  I never received a call.  My follow up with Brightstar revealed that the ticket had been assigned to Tim Beach (Beech?).  I never received any communication from Tim Beech.  This morning I had to call and had to insist to speak with him.  It was apparently a big problem that I actually speak to the guy assigned to the call.

When I asked Tim why no contacted us to schedule a service time he went off explaining some big job they were all on at a hotel or something.  In a somewhat irritated tone, I admit, asked why someone didn’t communicate this to us because the service call was entered as an emergency.  He got irritated and hung up the phone.

I will be finding another vendor to handle this and any future problems with the phone system.  I know several with very good service records including Network South and Atcom.  I will not be conducting business with Brightstar Communications unless specifically directed to do so.  In over 13 years of phone system management and administration I have never seen such poor service or communication from a vendor and will quickly communicate this experience with everyone I know in the industry.

And I didn’t even get to wish him a happy 4th of July.  Mike Seibert, the owner of Brightstar, is listed as the Communications vendor and consultant for “The Business Clinic” in Raleigh which consists of “groups of local professional service firms experienced in offering and implementing fundamental business solutions for small and mid-size businesses.”  This is important because during the coarse of this saga Mike and his staff repeatedly implied the Trimaco was not big enough to warrent emergency service from Brightstar.  Never mind that Trimaco is several times the size of Brightstar with an annual revenue that dwarfs Mike’s.

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Back with a new look .

The conversion from Time Warner to AT&T DSL is complete.  It took a little more time than I anticipated because I didn’t realize their are no phone lines in my office where this server sits.  So the server’s on a wireless network adapter now and seems to be going strong – static IP and all.  I’m still hosting the DNS with No-IP.com because they’re paid for the remainder of the year.

The world’s focus is on the US economy now and so is mine. My rants in the coming months will focus primarily on this topic.  I won’t be watching my language because let’s face it, we’re screwed.  We’ve got job losses, banks are struggling because of loans that can’t be paid back, house values plummetting almost everywhere and gas prices that are through the roof.  Put $1000 under the mattress and get ready to ride out a depression that makes Grandpa’s look like fun.

The talk show pundits make it sound like it’s going to be alright.  The market is “correcting itself” they say.  I laugh at you sirs.  Please do your part to keep hope alive.  As soon as gas hits between $5 and $6 a gallon and the trucking strikes begin you better have food in the house because I hear there’s only 3 days worth on any grocery stores shelves at any time.  Gentelmen, start your gardens.

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WRAL – Man accused in slaying over kid’s baseball bat accident

A guy shot another man dead in front of both their children.  And there are many gun advocates who argue the gun played no role.  The aging “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” argument.  This made me mad.  So this was my final post in a WRAL GOLO forum thread.  Please argue against this logic:

I would not be in support of stricter gun control if we could insure that all firearms that are manufactured fell into the hands of responsible citizens. Unfortunately this is not the case. The supply chain from the manufacturer to the end user / owner cannot be insured. It is now easier for a criminal to buy a stolen gun than it is for a law abiding citizen to buy a legal gun. But the stolen gun had to come from somewhere and it was undoubtedly from a “responsible” citizen. Or a corrupt gun dealer.

More criminals walk armed than there are law abiding citizens who want to. Therefore we are left with little choice but to enforce stricter controls and regulations upon the responsibility of firearm possession. In fact, it’s almost time to hold those criminally negligent who fail to protect a firearm from theft using every available proven resource. Currently even those with a history of mental illness can legally buy a gun. And the NRA argues that’s the way it should be.

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Site Went Down – All appologies.

One of the pitfalls of hosting my own blog is trying to keep Time Warner at bay.  They got me and the site went down for a while as they haggled me about using Dynamic DNS for hosting public services against my consumer grade contract.  So I took an outage during negotiations to avoid paying over $200 a month for a Road Runner Business Class account.  time Warner didn’t budge so I took the site down for a while.

My AT&T DSL was installed Friday and I’ll be buying a modem later this week.  They were the same price and they gave me a static IP Address (no more Dynimic DNS hosting required).   I get 3MB down and 768K up.  That’s better upstream than I usually get with cable.  There maybe another site outage whileI work to get the new serviceon-line and my DNS changed over.  Sorry in advance.

In other news – Tiger may lose the 2008 US Open in a minute.  Yay!

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