February 12, 2009 by RBuffordTJ.

Which of these will actually “Stimulate” the economy?

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– $100 million for the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program

– $200 million to the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Program

– $300 million for “Violence Against Women Prevention and Prosecution Programs”

– $900 million for the IRS for the “Limitation on Administrative Expenses”

– $1 million for the Railroad Retirement Board for administrative costs

– $2 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Act

– $50 million for Health and Human Services to carry out injury prevention programs

– $1.1 billion for studies on the effectiveness of different medical treatments — $200 million to upgrade labs and facilities for the Department of Agriculture “to improve workplace safety and mission-area efficiencies”

– $10 million for urban canal inspection

– $16 billion to pay for student financial aid

– $1 billion to pay for the U.S. Census

– $600 million to pay for a fuel-efficient federal auto fleet

– $650 million for the Digital Converter Box Program to help the constantly delayed transition from analog television

– $485 million to the Forest Service for “hazardous fuels reduction and hazard mitigation activities in areas at high risk of catastrophic wildfire”

– Up to $1 billion for “summer activities” for youths as old as 24

– $40 million for the occupational research agenda

– $3 billion for the Centers for Disease Control wellness programs and vaccinations

– $410 million for Indian health facilities

– $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstrations

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It seems my hopes for our new President to lead us in a positive direction are being torn to bits.
Bufford

Posted in Technology, Gas Prices, Decision 2008, Sanctity of Life, Workers Unions, Global Warming, Politics, Coherent Thoughts, Other, RBuffordTJ, Current Events | Print | 4 Comments »

June 5, 2008 by Jeremy.

Netflix is dead if it listens to Wall Street. I am totally with cnet on this one. I think Netflix is wise in looking to the future. Digital distribution is coming and its coming sooner than you think. Think of all the XBOX 360 owners and PS3 owners that have the opportunity to download movies and television shows that they want to watch right on their respective consoles.

These people are already being trained to use the digital distribution process and its not even mainstream yet. So Netflix is wise in getting an install base for their system as early as possible.

The biggest problem with what they’re doing is PC users can do the same thing without the $99 unit price. I can download and watch all of the movies that will be available to this system right on my PC right now. So all I have to do is plug my PC into the back of my Sony Bravia and enjoy the same thing without paying the $99. So Netflix will need to drop that price down a bit or offer the hardware for free with a membership contract for a certain time length kind of like a cell phone plan.

So maybe some of my more tech readers can fill in what I’ve missed or offer a better thought to the process but the way I see it Netflix is ahead of the game and this move will pay off in the future.

Posted in Technology, Jeremy, Coherent Thoughts | Print | 3 Comments »

April 9, 2008 by Ian.

It’s not often that I see something in the news that makes me think that a liberal (possibly communist company like Google does the right thing. Fortunately (I think), this is a good for us, bad for you example. For quite some time, Google ads have generated a ton of money for their company by placing advertisements next to the items that are searched for. For instance, if you were to go to Google.com and search for “fish tank” you’ll likely get something like this:

It’s based on your location by your IP address and they can find regional and specific things for what you’re searching for. It’s a great idea and it works very well. You can give people what they are looking for and, for a fee, you can make sure that your paid sponsors are able to keep their content on top. This is how it works for them throughout the world on each of their many varied servers. See how it works in the UK?

Unfortunately, Google doesn’t really stick to that practice when it comes to things that they have problems with. Abortion, for example. What happens when you want to put a notice up about support for those who have had abortions or for people who are in trouble and seeking help? Apparently, if you’re in the UK, you’re screwed! Google is now getting sued in by a non-profit Christian group in the UK because they refused to place their ads, using the same process detailed above, next to the results on the word “abortion”. The Daily Mail is carrying this story and it looks like a standard “you’re not giving me what I want so I’m going to sue you” case but on further investigation there’s a lot more behind this.

The Christian Institute, a “non-denominational Christian charity”, wanted to pay Google so that whenever the word “abortion” was typed into the popular search engine, its link would appear on the side of the screen.The link would have read: “UK abortion law - news and views on abortion from the Christian Institute. www.christian.org.uk.”

But Google refused the advert because it said it had a policy of declining sites which mixed the issue of abortion with religious views.

Its Dublin-based advertising team replied: “At this time, Google policy does not permit the advertisement of websites that contain ‘abortion and religion-related content’.”

Google does, however, accept adverts for abortion clinics, secular pro-abortion sites and secularist sites which attack religion.

~ Daily Mail :: Emphasis mine

That’s when I decided to see what they meant by “Google does, however, accept adverts for abortion clinics, secular pro-abortion sites and secularist sites which attack religion” so did a little digging and here’s what I came up with:

Googling “Abortion” in the US I get the following:

It’s fair and balanced; one site to help those who are searching and the other is an abomination from hell.

Now, in the UK:

… huh? A provider, a financier, and a link to feed your lust? Remember, these aren’t RANDOM - you have to PAY for each item you are searched under. Someone actually PAID MONEY to have their company show up for CASH LOANS when you’re looking for ABORTIONS! Worse is the sick freak who thought people were looking to get off on abortions. What kind of people live in the UK?

Next, I thought I’d give it a go at searching “religion”. Here it is in the good old US of A:

This actually warms my heart. I didn’t think I’d see this at all. All in all I’m very pleased!

Here’s the result for the UK:

Y’all are off my “visit” list. Seriously. Buy “religion”? “Scientology”? To quote great preacher on a completely unrelated topic, “Are you kidding me?”

After reading this, there are a couple things that come to mind. First is that, as Christians we know that we are only promised persecution and troubles if are sold out to Christ and that our gain comes in the life to come but the other thing that I think about is that the UK is often leading us by only a short scale in public policy. If this passes as acceptable for them, how long before it passes here? Are we only one bill away? If Google won’t post the picture, I will. Here you go, Christian Institute and keep fighting the good fight!

God bless America. Not as a song title or an idea but as a real command. God has given a lot for us thus far, why can’t we acknowledge that and turn back to Him?

Posted in Technology, Ian, Religion, Pointless Lawsuits, Coherent Thoughts, Politics | Print | 5 Comments »

March 20, 2008 by Jeremy.

I have to admit that I am. My wife did a great thing for me last Christmas and bought me an awesome HD DVD Player. I told her that I probably would have waited to see which format won but that it was no big deal.

I was trying to use my common sense!

I really thought the war would last a little longer but, as I’m sure you know, it did not.

The other unfortunate thing for me is that she did not buy it from Best Buy.

Best Buy $50 gift cards for HD DVD suckers

This is Best Buy using some great common sense. They know that all of these people that have and HD DVD are going to go Blu-Ray seeing as how they are pre-inclined to grab new gadgets and have the top of the line anyway.  So Best Buy is going to give them some free money in hopes that all of the those Blu-Ray players will come from Best Buy.

That’s some good common sense, let’s see how it works for them on the bottom line…

So were you and HD DVD Sucker?

Posted in Technology, Entertainment, Jeremy, Coherent Thoughts | Print | No Comments »