31 Oct 07 Max Blumenthal visits Value Voters Summit

LINK to video @ Huffingtonpost.com

Max Blumenthal really is one of the ballsiest and brazen political commentators out there. The fact that he consistently goes into the lion’s den of ultra-right-wingers and calls them out on their shit makes him a badass.

“Value Voters” are the biggest hypocrites out there.

Thanks again Max, you are a service to us all.

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Tags: max blumenthal, video

31 Oct 07 Mos def-initely.

This is definately definatly definetly definitely one of the best websites.

Tags: random

31 Oct 07 Goulet!

Entertainer and well-coiffed baritone Robert Goulet died Tuesday. As a tribute to the man’s great career, I present…Goulet!

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Tags: obit, video

30 Oct 07 More on my plate.

So I am officially blogging for the Orlando Sentinel.

OK, so it’s their neighborhood blog for the UCF area. Hey, it’s still the Sentinel and it’s still pretty cool. So yeah, watch for more words on stuff from me, the eternal blabber-master.

I’m looking to start fires.

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Tags: internets, journalism, random

30 Oct 07 I love the Better Business Bureau

I’m in the market for a new camera. I plan on going the high-road and getting a digital-SLR, notable a Canon Digital Rebel XT (not the XTi, I don’t need that much camera.)

In searching and comparing prices I found this site that has killer deals on the camera, lenses and packaged kits that contain all sorts of goodies. Always of the “too good to be true” suspicion I checked out their policy page. It is mired in legalese and snake-oil salesman double-speak that instantly raises red flags to the smart shopper.

Then again, they’re prices are hundreds lower than Amazon.com and Beachcamera.com (another well-known camera site.) So I plod on hoping I can get my camera for cheaper.

One stop at the BBB website and it turned up this:

Nature of Business

Complaints to the Bureau indicate that this company has a pattern of misleading and deceptive business practices. A majority of consumers report that this firm advertises low cost and new merchandise on its website but receive damaged or refurbished merchandise. In addition consumers are charged shipping insurance fees which change and raise the price of the item. Complaints also indicate that this firm uses high pressures sales tactics when consumers call customer service. Consumers report being pressured to make additional purchases along with their original orders, and if they decline and cancel their orders they are charged an arbitrary cancellation fee. Furthermore, consumers allege customer service representatives gave false shipping dates and tracking numbers.
Customer Experience

Based on BBB files, this business has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau, because there is a pattern of complaints, and the business has not corrected the underlying reason for the complaints.

The company’s size, volume of business, and number of transactions may have a bearing on the number of complaints received by the BBB. The number of complaints filed against a company may not be as important as the type of complaints, and how the company handled them. The BBB generally does not pass judgment on the validity of complaints filed.

I love the internets!

Sorry fotoconnection, you’re not getting my loot! Back to the great search, though I think I will stick with reliable old Amazon.com.

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Tags: internets, random, technology

29 Oct 07 28 years later…

It is a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14.

Twenty-eight is the second perfect number. As a perfect number, it is related to the Mersenne prime 7, since 22(23 - 1) = 28. The next perfect number is 496, the previous being 6.

Twenty-eight is a harmonic divisor number, a happy number, a triangular number, a hexagonal number,and a centered nonagonal number. Twenty-eight is the sum of the first five prime numbers, and the sum of the totient function for the first nine integers.

It appears in the Padovan sequence, preceded by the terms 12, 16, 21 (it is the sum of the first two of these).

It is also a Keith number, because it recurs in a Fibonacci-like sequence started from its base 10 digits: 2, 8, 10, 18, 28…

Twenty-eight is the third positive integer with a prime factorization of the form 22q where q is an odd prime.

Twenty-eight is the ninth and last number in early Indian magic square of order 3.

There are twenty-eight convex uniform honeycombs.

The atomic number of nickel.

Oh, and it is also how old I am today. Birthdays are weird.

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Tags: personal, random

26 Oct 07 Don’t wake Cheney!

When Parker Brothers decides to revive Don’t Wake Daddy, this should be the new version. The trick is to have a meeting on important matters of government service without waking ‘The Cheney,’ lest you be peppered in the face with buckshot and water-boarded.

While the president was briefing the cabinet on the wildfires, VP Cheney was caught “meditating.” Right.

Well gee, it seems Cheney likes to meditate a lot.

April 21, 2006

May 12, 2006

July 14, 2007

Crooks & Liars has some video.

Wow, there’s really no excuse for that. I know he is old man and all and being apologetically mean has got to me exhausting, but come on dude, save it for naptime.

Speaking of Dick Cheney, Frontline’s Cheney’s Law is an excellent primer on the long and illustrious career of our most powerful vice-president. It really digs deep. Watch it and be afraid.

Oh I can’t wait for January 2009.

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25 Oct 07 Group calls for concealed weapons.

New article up.

This is the third story I got above the fold (not counting the lead story), so I’m stoked about that. Also, I’m particularly proud of this story for two reasons:

1. My turn-around time on this was one day. I received the assignment mid-afternoon on Tuesday and had the story filed by 4PM the next day.

2. I had to flex some journalistic muscle to get the story. After I was assigned the story I contacted sources, set up interviews and did other research. This was Tuesday. On Wednesday our editor-in-chief ran this opinion piece criticizing the group.

After reading it my two main sources decided, minutes before my interview, that they didn’t want to talk because they thought we would cast them in a negative light. Not wanting to give up I played damage control, massaged their egos a bit and assured them it would be an objective article.

They agreed, mission accomplished. Interviews in, wrote the story and filed it before deadline.

So yeah, I really felt like a journalist on this one.

Tomorrow I am interviewing Z Magazine founder Michael Albert. I can’t wait.

EDIT: After reading some stories on the same topic there are some mistakes I made with this story. Nothing ethically, but just journalism-wise. There are details I should have included in hindsight, such as some gun violence statistics, an example of concealed carry working somewhere (Utah) and the experience Culotta and Pollitt have with guns. Oh well, live and learn.

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Tags: article, journalism

24 Oct 07 Articles on deck and other miscellany.

I just dropped an article on the SCCC and guns on campus. It should hit the stands on Friday, which of course I will vainly post as well.

Friday I have the privilege of sitting down and doing an interview with ZNet co-editor, Z Magazine founder, activist and writer Michael Albert. Albert is in town for the Oct. 27th anti-war rally and will be speaking to students at UCF on a number of progressive issues. I have to admit that I will be a little starstruck as I used to read Z Magazine on a regular basis and still check out the website once in a while. I must maintain my journalistic integrity however and leave my bias at the door.

Oh, and I most likely have a spring internship at the Lakeland Ledger, a 65,000 circulation daily in Lakeland, FL. Even better this may lead to a summer internship at the Wilmington Star-News in Wilmington, NC, the paper I eventually want to work at. Both are New York Times papers so connections will be made. None of this is in stone yet though, but my fingers are crossed.

Look ma, I’m really doing it! Things are very awesome right now, bring on the news.

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Tags: articles, journalism, random

23 Oct 07 Fear of flying.

I don’t really have a fear of flying, in fact I love it, but these landings are ridiculous and I hope I never have to experience something like this. These two airports were runners-up on Foreign Policy’s world’s worst airports list.

Kai Tak International Airport (Hong Kong) - Closed in 1998

Princess Juliana International Airport (St. Maarten)

Yeah, no thanks.

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Tags: random, video

23 Oct 07 The weight of words

Soused curmudgeon and gifted writer Christopher Hitchens, reflects in the new Vanity Fair, on something that no writer or journalist ever wants to face. Having volunteered for Iraq, Mark Daily was killed in January by an I.E.D. While reading a story about Daily in the LA Times, Hitchens came across these words:

“Somewhere along the way, he changed his mind. His family says there was no epiphany. Writings by author and columnist Christopher Hitchens on the moral case for war deeply influenced him … “

Daily enlisted in the military as a direct result of Mr. Hitchens’ articles and words. That’s heavy shit. Regardless of what you might think of Hitchens, his reflections in this article reveal him to be undoubtedly human.

Being an aspiring journalist myself, this is something that no professional would ever like to experience. In front of Hitchens was clear, direct evidence that his rousing support for the war and his own words, led directly to the death of a young man in Iraq.

It’s an interesting read and brings up a lot of issues concerning journalistic ethics and responsibility. Should Hitchens feel anything at all? Maybe, maybe not.

How would you deal with this situation?

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Tags: article, journalism

23 Oct 07 Dumbledore pride - that didn’t take long

Well, that didn’t take long.

T-shirts from dumbledorepride.com. This definitely gets “most ridiculous news item of the day” two days in a row.

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Tags: internets, media

22 Oct 07 Media hits a new low.

Outing gives Potter passages new meaning

So Dumbledore is gay, after-the-fact. The series is done, why does it matter now that his character is gay? Is this really news? Hmmm, this wouldn’t have anything to do with the Harry Potter box-set going on sale last week? Nothing like a front-page story to drum up sales figures.

I’m very annoyed that this was on the front of every newspaper I looked at today, even our college paper. This is a non-story that is a totally transparent marketing ploy.

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Tags: faux news, journalism

21 Oct 07 Mike Gravel visits UCF

New Article:

Pres. hopeful speaks to students

This was an interesting story to do, Mike Gravel was a pretty wild guy. He won’t win of course, but it was nice that he took the time to speak and his candor and honesty were refreshing to see in a politician.

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Tags: article, journalism

19 Oct 07 Mike Gravel at UCF

I just got to cover my first political/presidential event. Presidential candidate Mike Gravel spoke at UCF today to around 125 students. He was candid, open and well, he was Mike Gravel. I was hoping to speak to him privately but his handlers ushered him off quickly due to other obligations.

I’m writing the story and it should run on Monday.

It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Hopefully a republican candidate will come to UCF, I want to see one of them in such an intimate setting.

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Tags: Campaign 2008, journalism