E.J. Svoboda

I found a nice random quote plugin for wordpress.  Not exactly what I want for myself but I can make it work.

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I have some periodic reminders that I like to come up and have been using Outlook to prompt me on a periodic basis.  What I’m really looking for is a piece of software that will randomly email me from a database of quotes.  I have yet to find anything like that and am tempted to do something like it in php since it really wouldn’t be that hard.  I mean it is a step above “hello world” and while I hardly consider myself to be a programmer I can make found snippets of code do what I want.

Another project for the project list I suppose.

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I signed up for the GTD Connect monthly subscription.  I’m going to try it for three months and see how it goes.  It looks like they are regularly adding content and I’m very impressed with the archived podcasts and other content.

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My wife prodded me yesterday to go through some boxes in the storage closet.  My assigned task was to go through my various cassettes.  Truth be told I had forgotten that I ever owned them.  For the last couple of years I’ve used the Rhapsody.com service and as a result I rarely buy a CD unless it is by a local artist or a small label artist.  As a result, I was able to put into the donation pile two or three hundred cassettes and I recycled a number of old recorded tapes including some I had made in the mid-1980’s.  I’m sure those would have left a lot of residue on the tape player that I still have in our entertainment cabinet!

The upshot of the process was that I now have more room for wine or who knows what else.  The downside is that I had just stopped by goodwill in the morning with a bag of stuff.  Now I have many more bags of stuff to drop off.

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I picked up my second wallet from http://all-ett.com/ last week as the first one was starting to get a hole worn in one of the corners.  I love the design of this product.

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I generally try to avoid discussing politics directly but I thought I would cover this topic.  It seems that the attack on Obama has been that he hasn’t accomplished anything.  As someone from Illinois I happen to know differently (hey I read the Chicago Tribune everyday!).  For those of you without a Political Science degree let me be clear: junior Senator’s typically do not introduce nor sponsor much in the way of legislation.  Obama is an exception to that as illustrated below.  It should also be noted that the Democrats did not gain a majority in the Senate until 2006.  Obama was elected in 2004.

The manner in which the Senate does business and the rules of the Senate are too complex for a single blog entry.  Suffice it to say that if someone wants to get something through the Senate of any consequence it generally takes 60 votes to do it since Senator’s have the right to use unlimited floor time.  Sometimes this strategy is referred to as a filibuster.  In years past it was used sparingly against only a few pieces of legislation.  Since 2006 the practice is being used at an all time high by the minority party in the Senate.

On to Obama’s record:

From Helenann’s Diary:

I went to the Congressional Record (www.thomas.gov) and did a search for bills sponsored or co-sponsored by Senator Obama in his three short years in the US Senate.  I searched the 109th and 110th Congresses which cover the years 2005-2007.

In a nut shell I found:

Senator Obama has sponsored or co-sponsored 570 bills in the 109th and 110th Congress.

Senator Obama has sponsored or co-sponsored 15 bills that have become LAW since he joined the Senate in 2005.

Senator Obama has also introduced amendments to 50 bills, of which 16 were adopted by the Senate.

His record is in fact quite impressive for a junior Senator from Illinois.

Below I summarize Senator Obama’s legislative record in the US Senate.

First I list the bills he sponsored that have become law.

Next I summarize the bills that he has sponsored or cosponsored since he became a US Senator in 2005.

I have only included major pieces of legislation and have not summarized continuing resolutions or naming post offices, for example.

His record suggests several priorities and the bills he supports address many of our most pressing problems.

Most of his legislative effort has been in the area of Energy Efficiency and Climate Change (25 bills), health care (21 bills) and public health (20 bills), consumer protection/labor (14 bills), the needs of Veterans and the Armed Forces (13 bills), Congressional Ethics and Accountability (12 bills), Foreign Policy (10 bills) Voting and Elections (9 bills), Education (7 bills), Hurricane Katrina Relief (6), the Environment (5 bills), Homeland Security (4 bills), and discrimination (4 bills).

Of the 15 bills Senator Obama sponsored or co-sponsored in 2005-7 that became law:

Two addressed foreign policy:
Promote relief, security and democracy in the Congo (2125)
Develop democratic institutions in areas under Palestinian control (2370).

Three addressed public health:
Improve mine safety (2803)
Increased breast cancer funding (597)
Reduce preterm delivery and complications, reduce infant mortality (707).

Two addressed openness and accountability in government:
Strengthening the Freedom of Information Act (2488)
Full disclosure of all entities receiving federal funds (2590)

Two addressed national security
Extend Terrorist Risk Insurance (467)
Amend the Patriot Act (2167)

One addressed the needs of the Armed Forces
Wave passport fees to visit graves, attend memorials/funerals of veterans abroad (1184).

Of the 570 bills Senator Obama introduced into the Senate during the 109th and 110th Congress  (Senate Bill numbers are in parentheses), they can be summarized as follows:

25 addressed Energy Efficiency and Climate Change
Suspend royalty relief for oil and gas (115)
Reduce dependence on oil; use of alternative energy sources (133)
Increase fuel economy standards for cars (767, 768)
Auto industry incentives for fuel efficient vehicles (1151)
Reduce green house gas emissions (1324)
Establish at NSF a climate change education program (1389)
Increase renewable content of gasoline (2202)
Energy emergency relief for small businesses and farms (269)
Strategic gasoline and fuel reserves (1794)
Alternative diesel standards (3554)
Coal to liquid fuel promotion (3623)
Renewable diesel standards (1920)
Reducing global warming pollution from vehicles (2555)
Fuel security and consumer choice (1994, 2025)
Alternative energy refueling system (2614)
Climate change education (1389)
Low income energy assistance (2405)
Oil savings targets (339)
Fuel economy reform (3694)
Plug-in electric drive vehicles (1617)
Nuclear release notice (2348)
Passenger rail investment (294)
Energy relief for low income families (2405)

21 addressed Health Care
Drug re-importation (334)
Health information technology (1262, 1418)
Discount drug prices (2347)
Health care associated infections (2278)
Hospital quality report cards (692, 1824)
Medical error disclosure and compensation (1784)
Emergency medical care and response (1873)
Stem cell research (5)
Medical Malpractice insurance (1525)
Health centers renewal (901, 3771)
Children’s health insurance (401)
Home health care (2061)
Medicare independent living (2103)
Microbicides for HIV/AIDS (823)
Ovarian cancer biomarker research (2569)
Gynological cancers (1172)
Access to personalized medicine through use of human genome (976)
Paralysis research and care (1183)

20 addressed Public Health:
Violence against women (1197)
Biodefense and pandemic preparedness and response (1821, 1880)
Viral influenza control (969)
End homelessness (1518)
Reduce STDs/unintended pregnancy (1790)
Smoking prevention and tobacco control (625)
Minority health improvement and disparity elimination (4024)
Nutrition and physical education in schools (2066)
Health impact assessments (1067, 2506)
Healthy communities (1068)
Combat methamphetamines (2071)
Paid sick leave (910)
Prohibit mercury sales (833, 1818)
Prohibit sale of lead products (1306, 2132)
Lead exposure in children (1811, 2132)

14 address Consumer Protection/Labor
Stop unfair labor practices (842)
Fair minimum wage (2, 1062, 2725, 3829)
Internet freedom (2917)
Credit card safety (2411)
Media ownership (2332)
Protecting taxpayer privacy (2484)
Working family child assistance (218)
Habeus Corpus Restoration (185)
Bankruptcy protection for employees and retirees (2092)
FAA fair labor management dispute resolution (2201)
Working families flexibility (2419).

13 addressed the Needs of Veterans and the Armed Forces:
Improve Benefits (117)
Suicide prevention (479)
Needs of homeless veterans (1180)
Homes for veterans (1084)
GI Bill enhancement (43)
Military job protection
Dignity in care for wounded vets (713)
Housing assistance for low income veterans (1084)
Military children in public schools (2151)
Military eye injury research and care (1999)
Research physical/mental health needs from Iraq War (1271)
Proper administration of discharge for personality disorder (1817, 1885)
Security of personal data of veterans (3592)

12 addressed Congressional Ethics and Accountability
Lobbying and ethics reform (230)
Stop fraud (2280)
Legislative transparency and accountability (525)
Open government (2180, 2488)
Restoring fiscal discipline (10)
Transparency and integrity in earmarks (2261)
Accountability of conference committee deliberations and reports (2179)
Federal funding accountability and transparency (2590)
Accountability and oversight for private security functions under Federal
contract (674)
Accountability for contractors and personnel under federal contracts
(2147) Resctrictions awarding government contracts (2519)

10 addressed Foreign Policy:
Iraq war de-escalation (313)
US policy for Iraq (433),
Divestiture from Iran (1430)
Sudan divestment authorization (831)
Millennium Development Goals (2433)
Multilateral debt relief (1320)
Development bank reform (1129)
Nuclear nonproliferation (3131,977,2224).

9 address Voting/Elections
Prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections (453)
Voter access to polls and services in Federal elections (737)
Voter intimidation and deceptive practices (1975)
Senate campaign disclosure parity (185)
Require reporting for bundled campaign contributions (2030)
Election jamming prevention (4102)
Campaign disclosure parity (223)
Presidential funding (2412)
Integrity of electronic voting systems (1487)

11 addressed Education
Increase access of low income African Americans to higher education (1513)
Establish teaching residency programs (1574)
Increase early intervention services (2111)
Middle school curriculum improvements (2227)
Public database of scholarships, fellowships and financial aid (2428)
Summer learning programs (116)
TANF financial education promotion (924)
Higher education (1642)
Build capacity at community colleges (379)
Campus law enforcement in emergencies (1228)
Support for teachers (2060).

6 addressed Hurrican Katrina
Hurricane Katrina recovery (2319)
Emergency relief (1637)
Bankruptcy relief and community protection (1647)
Working family tax relief (2257)
Fair wages for recovery workers (1749)
Gulf coast infrastructure redevelopment (1836)

5 addressed the Environment
Drinking water security (218, 1426)
Water resources development (728)
Waste water treatment (1995)
Combat illegal logging (1930)
Spent nuclear fuel tracking and Acountability (1194)
Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act (Introduced in Senate)[S.726.IS ]

4 addressed Discrimination
Claims for  civil class action based on discrimination (1989)
Domestic partnership benefits (2521)
Unresolved civil rights crimes (535)
Equality or two parent families (2286)

4 addressed Homeland Security
Judicial review of FISA orders (2369)
National emergency family locator (1630)
Amend US Patriot Act (2167)
Chemical security and safety (2486)

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If you have to print a document try printing it as far from your desk as you can so that you have to take a bit of a walk around the office.  First, you need the exercise.  Second, you’ll be visible to some different folks outside of your department.  Third, you’ll have a chance to clear your head so that when you sit back down you’ll be able to work for another block of time.

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I’m getting tired of the negative attempts that politicians use to defeat their opponents.  That’s why today I have come up with a new approach to deal with the issue.  For every such attempt I am donating money to the candidate who’s being attacked.  During this primary season I am looking for a campaign of ideas not a campaign of destruction.

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Beta versus VHS.  NFL versus USFL.  USB versus Firewire.  Blue-ray versus HD DVD.

It looks like blue ray is going to be the winner by default with word that Toshiba is looking to end its HD DVD effort.  A number of major retailers and movie rental sites have picked blue ray so it’s probably a matter of time before HD DVD goes the way of Betamax.

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Harry Chapin died young but had the great line “I’ve got this problem with my aging I no longer can ignore”.  Here’s the full verse from “There only was one choice”:

Well just today I had my birthday — I made it thirty-four
Mere mortal, not immortal, not star-crossed anymore
I’ve got this problem with my aging I no longer can ignore
A tame and toothless tabby can’t produce a lion’s roar

Now most people don’t believe someone at 34 is at the end of their life.  Maybe Chapin had some strange insight into his own mortality because he died at 39.

As I listen to music I am always mindful of the lyrics.  I remember listening to the band Live when they first came out and one of my friends commented how they were such a great band and I told him that they were an angry youth band and that I could only think of a couple of those types of bands that went on to do something with the rest of their career – The Who and U2.  For some reason (probably hormones in men), most male writers seem to be more prolific in their 20’s than in the rest of their career.  Most song writers talk about how song writing gets harder with age.  The words just don’t come to them as quickly anymore.

The other thing that occurs to me while listening to the lyrics of more introspective songs is the age of the writer when then created the song.  It’s interesting to delve into the human condition and it is especially interesting to compare the remembered feelings from a certain time in ones life with the kinds of things that people write about in song.  I especially enjoy writers who don’t just write love songs.  Their songs tend to be more biting and sarcastic but the great ones are normally tinged with a bit of heart.  I always find it amusing how many song writers say that their favorite song writer is Randy Newman.  Newman has written very few commercial songs in his career but he’s managed to write a lot of really great songs.

So the problem with aging is that I relate to more of my favorite song writers and I sometimes see a potential future.  You can see the process of aging unfold in song and sometimes that’s not pleasant as you’d rather not always know what is coming down the road.  But aging is all around you.  You can see your parents age before your eyes.  I still think of my parents as being in their mid 30’s in my minds eye.  The reality is that they’re 60 plus and I’m almost 40.  I also don’t think of myself as the age that I am.  In my mind I am still somewhere between 25 and 30.  There’s an inherent disconnect in my perception of time and the reality of it.  A couple of summers ago at the end of a bike ride my mind said “get out of the seat and push up the hill” but my body was screaming “stop riding the bike and walk!”.  I compromised and kept my butt in the seat and rode up the hill.  Another disconnect.

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