Well, I'm off..

I'm just finishing up packing for my trip to Peru. I'll be leaving for the airport in about an hour. I will have limited to no access to email or the internet while I am gone.

I will be taking tons of pictures, and will post a link to an online gallery when I return.

It will be interesting to see the election coverage (if any) in another country. (I've already mailed my absentee ballot)

Where do you draw the line?

The line I'm referring to is the line between news and advertising.

I understand that it's the responsibility of the news media to report on important events, but where do you draw the line between broadcasting news, and free advertisement?

I'm specifically referring to a paid advertisement that will be on national television tonight. I won't go into more detail, because I'm not in the business of giving free plugs to people who I disagree with.

It's been all over the news all day that there will be this paid infomercial on TV tonight, less than 1 week from election day.

There was even an article on ESPN.com last week about it, since it would be preempting the World Series (assuming a game 6 would be needed, or in case weather permitting, they finish the last 3 innings of game 5). The article talked about how Major League Baseball agreed to postpone the first pitch to accommodate the advertisement. They also said they would be willing to do the same thing, should John McCain decide to do the same thing.

I think that every time a news room reports on this show, they should bill the Obama campaign for ad time. It's not their responsibility to drive viewers, it is the Obama campaigns job to let people to know about it.. and radio commercials aren't free.

Early voting?

Despite what you have heard, Election Day is not 4 November, 2008.

In fact, Election Day is not a day at all. In at least 34 states, Election Day stretches for as much as 2 weeks.

Why is that? How is it fair?

I think that everyone voting in the same race should have the same procedure. If a village or city wants to have a local election period run for more than a day, then they have that right, but in a Federal election, where the entire country will be voting, the election should be the same for each registered voter.

That means the same day, the same schedule (adjusted for time zones), and the same voting format.

In 2000, if the entire country used the voting machines that are used in NY, there would have been no confusion about 'dimpled' or 'hanging' chads in Florida or in any of the other venues that used punch cards for voting.

As archaic as these machines are, they are reliable, and the results are not subject to interpretation.

Getting back to early voting..

I understand that there are circumstances that prevent someone from voting on the appointed day; I myself, will be out of the country on Election Day. There are contingencies made for such situations. It's called absentee balloting. In Monroe County, NY, it requires an application to be sent to the county board of elections in sufficient time. The ballot is mailed to the voter.

Having face to face open poles for as many as 2 weeks opens the way for untold voter fraud.

The more we stray from the foundation that the Founding Fathers laid out for us, the farther we slide towards socialism, and it is a slippery slope.

Happy Halloween!

Article II, Sec i

"No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."

This is taken from the United States Constitution. It is the requirements established by our Founding Fathers for anyone aspiring to the role of President of the United States.

Recently, there has been a movement on the Internet trying to establish that one of the candidates meets only 2 of the 3 requirements.

One such website is http://www.obamacrimes.com/. Philip J. Berg esq, a lawyer (a Democrat) from Pennsylvania has brought a lawsuit against the Obama campaign to force him to disclose documents to verify his eligibility, especially verification of the location of his birth. A video was produced of him (the lawyer) explaining his action, which can be seen here, as well as several other Youtube videos.

Those of you who know me, know that there is nothing that can be said that would convince me to vote for Obama, but it has nothing to do with this alleged disqualification.

There are many reasons to vote against this Socialist. A long shot that he may not be a 'Natural born citizen' shouldn't be one of them.

Things may have been done in the name of The DNC that could be considered as less than ethical, but do you think that they would risk something as potentially devastating as this? In the information age where no secret is safe, how do you think they planned on keeping this quite?

The only logical explanation, is that it is a baseless claim.

Help me understand...

Why do we care what the rest of the world thinks about us?

Why are we so willing to abandon the morals and principles that this country was established with, just to be accepted by a bunch of 3rd world countries?

Remember back to when we were kids.. what did your mom tell you about the other kids? Don't give into peer pressure, just to be liked. Everyone has heard the "if all your friends were jumping off a bridge" line.

If they don't like you for who you are, than they aren't worth having as friends.

It was sage advice on the playground, it is sage advice for international policy.

That's not to say we should go around bullying others, but we need to hold fast to our heritage, our principles, the things that made this country the greatest nation in the world.

Some would say I'm being imperialistic by saying that, but let's look at the facts. How many other nations have as big of an illegal immigration problem as the United States?

How many other countries donate even a fraction of a percent of the humanitarian aid as the United States?

The world is familiar with the term "American Dream", but when's the last time someone mentioned the 'Russian Dream' or even the 'British Dream'?

It's time to stop kowtowing to the poles in Europe and the rest of the world, and let us pick our own leadership. Why would someone in a foreign nation favor one candidate over another? It's because they are thinking in their own best interest, not in the best interest of those of the nation electing him.

We need to remember why we fought the Revolutionary War over 200 years ago.