Geek Soap Box

I stayed away from opining on the entire Shirley Sherrod/Andrew Breitbart fiasco because it felt like a convoluted mess where all sides emerged tainted by association with it — the Obama Administration, the NAACP, the right-wing blogosphere, and the mainstream media alike.  Well, that and because I am extremely lazy and unmotivated to blog more [...]

Hi, my name is Ted. If you are reading this Web site, you probably already know me. If not, or even if you do, allow me to reintroduce myself. Like I said, my name is Ted, and I am a member of the working poor. You don’t hear a lot about us in the mainstream [...]

“I, [name], do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God.” It’s a simple and elegant turn of phrase, actually, and succinctly sums up the essence [...]

There is perhaps no greater sign of impending demise in a nation than the pragmatic acceptance of the mantra “good enough.”  Rome met its end soon after its citizens stopped building great roads and aqueducts and instead focused on childish entertainment and sport, and it is a worrisome observation that the United States, poisoned by [...]

Blog Maverick: Tax the Hell Out of Wall Street and Give It to Main Street It should always be the natural reaction of any lover of freedom and liberty to be inclined towards opposing any new proposed tax, especially those proffered in the name of the public good.  This blog post from Mark Cuban, though, [...]

Every so often, we the people are reminded of our civic responsibilities in this great society of ours and are called to serve a greater duty, a symbol of our individual, inalienable liberty. I speak, of course, of being called to jury duty. Nothing says democracy like spending a day or two sitting in a [...]

While on vacation this past week, I happened to become involved in conversation with an individual of, shall we say, a different political persuasion.  Now, this is rarely a big deal for me; growing up and living my entire life in a supermajority left-leaning region, I know how and when to pick my fights and [...]

The story of Joseph Stack is a tragedy, of an extremely confused and disturbed man who sought to terrorize innocent civilians and employees of the government in the interests of his own sick, twisted agenda.  It’s also, paradoxically, a tale of incredible fortune and serendipity. Unfortunately, it also seems to be an opportunity for partisans [...]

Not content with twice-weekly multi-state Mega Millions, Lotto, Take 5, Win 4, Daily Numbers, Sweet Millions, Pick 10, and Quick Draw, New York State is now offering PowerBall — the original multi-million, newsmaking jackpot bonanza — as well as part of its standard lottery offerings. I guess this has to be expected in the wake [...]

I could see the smoke from miles away on the Whitestone Expressway, a thick acrid black shroud of destruction tearing its way through a commercial strip in my hometown Jackson Heights.  In the aftermath, it would turn out to be a  four-alarm fire of questionable (or at least “unknown”) cause and all storefronts on the [...]

Arriving soon, courtesy of the municipal government of the City of New York: the “official” NYC condom, in a special limited designer edition! After assessing hundreds of possible package designs for a special limited-edition NYC Condom, a panel of judges has selected five finalists. The Health Department has received nearly 600 entries since December 15, [...]

First things first: I owe a tremendous amount of money in unsecured credit card debt.  This total has accumulated incrementally over the years, across any number of individual cards and carriers, and is the result of questionable spending and poor bill management.  This situation is completely my fault; I acknowledge and accept responsibility for such, [...]

Let’s face it, our lives are pretty decent, and for that we should consider ourselves blessed.  We in the United States and other nations of the “West” are not torn apart by political strife, genocide, or cataclysmic natural disasters.  For the most part, we all are able to wake up each morning, safe and sound, [...]

Hey, can you do me a favor?  Can you remind me just which American political party is the one that’s always portrayed in the media and during debates as the one filled with horrible, filthy racists and elitests?  I don’t see any Republicans making the news lately for absolutely beyond-the-pale outrageous statements aimed towards President [...]

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution clearly states: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be [...]

In the interest of full disclosure, “House, MD” could be my favorite television show of all time.  The combination of pithy, sarcastic humor, witty banter, and grave seriousness match my own twisted personality nearly perfectly, and I can easily watch each episode time and again, one after another, without even remotely suffering from boredom or [...]

With so-called comprehensive healthcare reform all but passed in the United States Senate, it seems certain that our nation will soon nationalize a major segment of our economy and place it under strict, socialist government control.  I will spare you for now a thorough discussion on the merits and demerits of such a system, aside [...]

When historians compile a list of New York’s greatest leaders one day, it seems unlikely that our current accidental occupant of the governor’s mansion, will find his name etched into inclusion.  Despite his near blindness, alleged infidelities and drug abuse, David Paterson built himself a steady if unspectacular life as a career politician in one [...]

Fresh off the humiliating election of woefully over-matched President Barack Hussein Obama — accompanied by nearly filibuster-proof majorities for the Democrats in both houses of Congress — this year’s Election Day turns our focus to more local, personal roots, as several notable contests are underway in both the Empire and Garden states.  These campaigns, though, [...]

If you ever wanted a clearer picture of the perils of one-party ideological rule in a jurisdiction, look no further than the continued reign and candidacy of New York’s own Napoleonic Mayor, Mike Bloomberg. Mayor Mike, as he likes to be called, was a lifelong Democrat until political expediency (avoiding a crowded primary battle) saw [...]

(A post in which I “mash-up” my two favorite topics: politics and association management…and in the interest of full disclosure, this is NOT about anything happening at my own association, just one of those random things that can come only to me while reading a wide array of blogs related to both news and my [...]

I’m a few days behind on my news, but that really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that has ever read this site with any regularity.  Anyway, I wanted to make a comment on a certain meme that went around Twitter and Facebook this week; a little sweet-sounding, simple, and very effective slogan promoting healthcare [...]

We live in a world unlike any other witnessed before by human civilization.  Unparallelled prosperity (current recessions notwithstanding) and access to information have left us with the entire world at our figurative fingertips.  No piece of knowledge is beyond a Google or Bing click away, and news from the farthest corners of the planet feel [...]

This past weekend, I flew back from a brief four-day respite in Miami’s wonderful South Beach, and found myself constantly staring at an advertisement for a company called Carbonfund in my JetBlue’s 37 channels of DirectTV display. Something was just “off” about this message, I kept telling myself, not even factoring in the post-modern hypocritical [...]

Browsing through the usual chatter on Twitter this AM, I was struck by random speculation and questions everyone has related to what is currently happening in Iran, and how/if the United States should respond. Let’s start with the Middle Eastern nation itself: while I have not yet seen Jimmy Carter personally step forward and endorse [...]