Like Mother, Like Son

The Real, Real John McCain

Now, replace "Somalia" with "Iraq." Even better, even in 1993, McCain was against "artificial withdrawal dates." Yes. He is consistent. Instead...he just wants the troops home NOW!!!!

Yea, John. Nation-building is a big mistake? Hypocritical jackass.

The Real John McCain

Replace the word "Haiti" with "Iraq." You jackass.

Too Cute For Words :-)

Just a quick pic of Cedric in an outfit our friends Jenny and John got him. Awww, how cute. :-)

So peaceful. I wish I could sleep like this at work some day. Zzzzzzzzzz....

Is MSNBC Divorced From Reality?

From time to time, MSNBC runs surveys to see "if you are keeping up with the news." In this week's survey, they have the most disturbing, heartless question:

2. The case of Virginia Tech mass-killer Cho Seung-Hui took a bizarre turn when a "manifesto" of disturbing writings and images by him turned up in the mailroom of NBC. The package was sent by overnight delivery between Cho’s two killing sprees. What delivery service did he use?

OMG. 32 people are killed, and they are testing you on whether Cho used FedEx, UPS, or USPS? Holy god. I know that the news has been replaced by tabloid -- but that's disturbing.

EVite.com and Pulling Teeth

Well, I know I have at least one blog groupie who will agree with me on this.

EVite is seemingly the de-facto standard for pulling together a party or gathering. However, perhaps not everyone agrees. It's amazing how hard it is to get simple Yes/No answers out of people for an event. Don't they know that you need to get an idea what the party size will be? Gahhhh?!?!?

So, we're having a little DDR/Wii get-together on May 5th. A Cinco de Mayo party if you will. :-) Still waiting on a bunch of responses. Maybe they will respond by May 4th. ;-) And as an added bonus, my sister might actually be in town at that time!

...

Today, we had our infant massage class. Yes, for the first time, Cedric was around for a class. ;-) The fun part of the day was when we went to see our childbirth class teacher, with whom we had four 3-hour classes. (Plus, a 3-hour CPR class.) She was so excited to meet Cedric and find out all the details of Michele's labor. Aww, we miss her. ;-)

Perfect sports day as well. Nets win first playoff game, Mets beat the Braves, and Yanks lose to Red Sox and are ready to be swept tomorrow. Life is beautiful!

My Thoughts On The 2008 Race

It's amazing we're already in full swing with the 2008 Presidential race. It's long been announced that my home city of Denver will host the Democratic National Convention (DNC). Rep. Mark Udall (D-CD2) has announced he will run for Colorado Senate -- one of the biggest battles for a Senate seat you will find in the country come next year. And the race for the Presidency has a sizable group of candidates from both sides of the aisle.

Before I talk about each one, let's make something clear, if it isn't already. I'm a proud Democrat. Not only that, but I am disgusted with the people who are running this country -- namely, the Bush Administration. Never have we seen such a group of war mongers, greedy bastards, oil execs, and downright liars. Not to mention the illiterate bastard that supposedly runs the country. So of course, I'm going to favor a Democratic candidate in 2008. As will the country, quite honestly.

And now that being said, do know this about me. I'm fair and honest. I'm not just going to rail or rewards someone based on their party. I am not a party zealot, I am simply a Democrat because I believe that is what's best for this country.

I mean -- to quote a bumper sticker I've seen: "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention!"

So, here's my rundown of the top 6 Democratic and Republican candidates for 2008 in no particular order:

Hillary Clinton - The biggest name in the race. Self-proclaimed Republicans love to hate her and say all sorts of vile things about her, but here's a little game you can play: When someone you know says "Oh, I hate Hillary!", ask them why they do. 9 times out of 10 they will say something to the effect of "Oh, I don't know, she just rubs me the wrong way." At this point I usually say, "Probably because you're a mysoginist," just to piss them off.

Hillary isn't a bad candidate. She's very much in the center. I like her social views, but am a little concerned with her views on war. I'd be happy to see her in there, especially representing the first female President. But, she's my 3rd choice.

John McCain - My father-in-law's favorite topic leading up the 2008 announcements was how well John McCain would do as "the perfect middle candidate."

Boy was he fucking wrong. :-)

John McCain has led a horrible campaign, and his allegiance to Bush's policy was never a mystery to most of us who paid attention. Nowadays, he is married to Bush. He is Bush. In fact, he is tying his whole campaign to the "troop surge" in Iraq. A few weeks ago he went on a rant about how safe it was to "walk the streets of Iraq" -- too bad we have the puis of him walking the streets.

With a bulletproof vest on.

And 100 Army soldiers surrounding him. (After they'd spent hours clearing the area in advance.)

And a group of Apache helicopters flying overhead for additional protection.

Yesterday, he was caught singing "Bomb Iran". Yeah, go ask the soldiers' families how funny they think it is that as soon as they get home from years of Iraq warfare that McCain would love to send them right into Iran.

Go ask the country what they think. 4 more years of Bush?

No fucking way. McCain is done.

John Edwards - After losing the nomination in 2004 to John Kerry, then becoming his running mate, Edwards is back in a Presidential run. This time, he has a lot of experience to work off of, and he's a very good candidate -- in fact, the anti-Iraq War Edwards is a favorite of the net community.

Edwards has a great distinction in this race. He is the most Christian candidate and also the most liberal candidate. The Focus on the Family psychos will flip over this comment, but it's true. The reason is that, for years, the Republican noise machine has tried to smear the Democratic Party as godless. Well, it's ridiculous. So get over it. We're not.

Complicating some matters in this cycle, John Edwards's wife was diagnosed with cancer again. This time, it's incurable -- though treatable. Elizabeth Edwards is also the best First Lady candidate. She's a great and authentic human being.

Rudy Giuliani - Ask a New Yorker what they think of the former NYC mayor and you will most likely hear bad things. Rudy has literally incited a race riot against the former mayor, David Dinkins. He's "Clintonized" the mayor's mansion with his trists -- and now he'll run for President. How can he?

Well, ask anyone else who Rudy Giuliani is and you'll hear something to the effect of "Saves us on 9/11!" Well, that's an overstatement, but the Giuliani still has positive associations for people on 9/11. And looking at the polls, he is far outpacing the other two Republican candidates. So he has a good chance of winning the nomination.

His strengths also are nearly identical to his weaknesses. His best strengths are that he's a liberal Republican. He is pro-choice and even supports publicly funded abortions. His weaknesses? He is pro-choice and even supports publicly funded abortions.

it will be very interesting to see what the votes are in the south for Rudy. In addition to the above, he's also been seen on TV dressed in drag (for a performance, not his own accord) and the holier-than-thou Southern Baptists will probably think his liberal views blasphemous.

Mitt Romney - The top Republican fund-raiser in Q1/07 and former Governor of Massachusetts. And a shocking amount as well, in the 20 millions. He is the sole Mormon candidate, and if you care about that sort of thing you probably realize his chances are small of winning. Apparently, Christians don't agree with Mormons. I stay out of it, and I don't much care about religious affiliation.

I think Mitt is the best candidate the Republicans have. His poll numbers are terrible, though. Perhaps it is the religious war going on within the Republican Party. Perhaps it is his affiliation with Massachusetts that riles a base that has been trained to hate that "gay lovin'" state.

Mot agree that all the money in the world may not raise his name recognition enough to contend. It's too bad, he could probably be a pretty good President.

Barak Obama - I save Barak for last because he is MY CHOICE for President of the United States. :-) Barak is the ULTIMATE candidate because he is the most mediating, compromising politician we have today. Here's why:

• He is one of the most religious candidates running, a real Christian. But he doesn't throw it in your face or try to control you with it.
  
• He speaks not of red states or blue states, but of the United States. he is not polarizing in any way.
  
• He has risen from poverty. He has risen from losing his father. He has risen to be a successful businessman.
  
• He has youth on his side, he's only in his 40's.
  
• He is the most inspirational candidate who can help us rise from this dark period in our nation's history (9/11, Iraq War, various White House scandals...)
  

He is against this Iraq War, and has been against it, from the beginning. He is also pro-choice. He will have my vote.

June 5th!

Yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe yippe! Finally announced!! Marilyn Manson's new album, "Eat Me, Drink Me" will be released on June 5th!

You can hear a song off the album, If I Was Your Vampire, on his MySpace site here.

WAHOOOO!!!

More info on the official Marilyn Manson Web site.

Update: Sad news to hear that Manson and his wife, burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese, have divorced. :-/ She was kinda cute.

Yo Cedric, How You Roll?

Glenn and Danielle got Cedric this cute and customized little onesie. :-) We felt bad though, he had it on for all of 20 minutes before he pooped on it! ;-) It's fine, though...it will live to roll again! (Cedric managed to make his way through 4 outfits yesterday...)

Cedric's Aunt Pam got him this one. This also didn't last long. The pee machine sent it to the laundry rather quickly as well!

Goodbye Al Wilson

In an offseason which has seen us lose Darrent Williams in a senseless murder, now the Broncos lose my favorite player. :-(

Al Wilson has been released after 8 years with the team. He is my favorite Bronco. Unfortunately, his salary and neck problems are forcing Mike Shannahan to say goodbye. :-( Due to the injury, he may even retire.

Al, here's my little shrine to you. You're the ultimate football player. Tough. Mean. Classy. And when it was time to go, you scheduled a press conference for no other reason then to say goodbye to the fans that love you.

Here Come Those Devils Again!

Another year, another Stanley Cup run...the Devils are back at it tonight. And in the first game of the playoff run, the Devils win it 5-3. 15 wins to go!

Martin wants 4!

Cedric and Mommy

Cedric at 3 weeks and 2 days:

Cedric As You Knew You'd See Eventually ;-)

Look at that Cedric dance -- he's a natural! (Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!)

Cedric AA'd "Spee Over Beethoven" soon afterwards...

Cedric with his parents at Clement Park. :-)

Best Daily Kos Diary Ever: "I Finally Snapped"

This is a must read if you want to understand what it is we're fighting for in this country.

Random Acts of Kindness

So, yesterday, I went to H&R Block, for the first time, to get some information on how to file my estimated taxes. This is different from the normal yearly filings -- which I'd already done myself.

I walk in and meet a woman named Janet who will be helping me. She helps me with the 1040-ES form and actually has some questions herself about it which she researches. She prints off vouchers, forms, and instructions for me. She reassures me how to get them done. We spent 45 minutes going over it.

Done, we get up and meander to the front. I literally have my wallet out, but she's making no overture to ring me up. Finally, at a lull in conversation, I ask, "Do I pay here?"

She shakes her hand at me and says, "No, no, you're fine..." The woman charged me nothing. I asked if she was sure and she said, "Oh, I had nothing else to do." Perplexing, but I thanked her immensely. :-)

...

Having said that, my checkbook is under assault by the federal government! I owe taxes, estimated taxes, car registration costs, and then I don't even want to know what the hospital bill will be for Cedric. It'll be good times for a couple months til we get the ship righted again -- but I know we're not alone in the burst of costs attributable to a new child.

It's all worth it after all. :-)

Getting Tomcat 6 and JSF 1.2 Working

I've spent a lot of time trying to get a stable Tomcat/JSF 1.2 environment running. In some cases, even if it looks like it works, the ELResolver is broken and you will figure that out eventually. :-)

The first thing JSF vets will need to note is that the JSF 1.2 RI libraries indeed DO NOT NEED the Apache commons libaries all your books tell you it needs. Indeed, this was true of JSF 1.1. Not JSF 1.2. The library has been folded in to the JSF 1.2 IMPL library, so rest assured. (As it pertains to the Sun RI version anyway -- download them here)

Another common error is:

"javax.servlet.ServletException: javax/servlet/jsp/tagext/JspIdConsumer"

This suggests you are having JSP issues in Tomcat 5 -- a result of JSF 1.2 requiring JSP 2.1 support -- bad news. It won't work. So far, only GlassFish and Tomcat 6 will work for you (see below). However, you have one useful option: use Facelets. If you don't need JSP, you won't hit the JSP 2.1 requirement.

Next, if you are indeed having ELResolver issues in Tomcat 6 -- a result of the move to Unified EL in JSF 1.2 -- there is a simple fix to this. Open up your tomcat/conf/web.xml file and add the following within the <web-app&rt; tags.


<context-param>
<param-name>com.sun.faces.expressionFactory</param-name>
<param-value>org.apache.el.ExpressionFactoryImpl</param-value>
</context-param>


Your installation should be working now. Now, all you need to do is install your web app. Keep in mind that the only libraries you should need to provide with it are:

• jsf-api.jar
  
• jsf-impl.jar
  
• jstl.jar
  
• standard.jar
  

When compiling, you will also need to add one other file to your classpath (but do not package it as it's already included in Tomcat):

• tomcat/lib/el-api.jar
  

OK I jinxed them...

Dang.

Freakin' Sweet!

I haven't had much time to post about the new baseball season, but I have to here. The Mets are FRICKIN DOMINATING. Here are the numbers:

* They are 4-0.
* All their wins have come on the road.
* They spoiled the Cardinals home opener, winning 6-1.
* They spoiled the Braves home opener, winning 11-1...worst opening loss in Brave history.
* They have outscored their opponents 31-3.
* They are the 3rd team in MLB history to start a season with 4 wins, not allowing more than 1 run in any game.
* Reyes tripled twice today.
* They have not committed a single error.

Complete and utter dominance. Great week! Let's Go Mets!!!!!

Rapture In Venice Official!

For a long time, I have done software development under the guide of my unofficial company name, Rapture In Venice. Well, as of yesterday, for the first time, it's not only an official trade name registered in Colorado, but it's a Web site. :-)

See Rapture In Venice!

Actually, this is the SECOND time I have purchased the domain. The first time I bought it, I did nothing with it. (And got ripped off on the price, too!)

How do ya like the logo? Just something I messed around with. I like it.