Restoration versus Preservation

I'm no expert in historic preservation but something is bothering me about Abe Lincoln's neighborhood.
Does historic preservation include restoring a structure to its original detail? or is there a difference between preservation and restoration?

Hey, it might be alright to preserve something by encasing it in Vinyl, I don't know much about the integrity of vinyl.

With restoration I imagine one would need to restore every detail of an original structure's architecture. This must be the difference between preservation and restoration.

Photoshop Phumble

If you're thinking about importing a 3D object into Photoshop CS4 so you can make a quick animated GIF file, you might reconsider. When I created a new frame and manipulated the binoculars, the binoculars angle updated in all of the frames of the sequence instead of changing slightly frame by frame. The x/y position is referenced by the animation panel, but not pitch, yaw, or rotation.


I modeled the binoculars in Lightwave and exported them as an .OBJ file. No texture or transparency data survived the transfer.

Political Correctness and the language of marginalization.

Once again a local radio host has fallen back on the old gripe that some people try to get attention by riding in on the coattails of someone else who was the subject of a politically incorrect remark.

He calls them “wimps” and a few other choice words. This topic was started because ESPN broadcaster Bob Griese was suspended a week for a remark he made about NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya.

[ http://www.mercedsunstar.com/236/story/1135242.html ]

The point this local radio talk show host was attempting to make is people are either too darn sensitive to these remarks or some people take the opportunity to exaggerate the situation in order to draw attention to their organization that sustains itself financially on the belief of victimhood and martyrdom.

When you make fun of someone because they chose to affiliate with a certain political party, chose to dress a certain way, chose to behave in a manner they could have chosen not to, then it is okay to make fun of them, such as people who are powerful but use it destructively, bigots, misogynists, chauvinists and predators.

When you make fun of someone because they were raised in a culture that is closed or distant to such a degree that he or she is unaware of how different they are from yourself and perhaps are content in their society, then you are out of line.

When you make fun of someone because they have certain physical traits they can’t change, or are from another country and speak a different language, then you are the one who fits into the category of people it is okay to mock.

The whole point of political correctness is to stop the perpetual behavior of marginalization. The biggest culprit of social division and marginalization is the history lesson.

We are led to believe that we must learn history so that it does not repeat, but what does repeat through history is fear and guilt, directly along the lines of race. Race is an arbitrary product from the minds of imperialists.

The word “race” is from the bygone era before the human genome project. Those who continue to use the language of marginalization are capitalizing on hate or martyrdom.

Priority Care on MacArthur

I was scraping old stickers of the back of my car today when my hand slipped. I drove a razor blade into the knuckle of my fifth digit on my right hand. You know, the pinky finger.

It was a deep cut, so I drove out to Priority Care because I thought it might need stitches. Luckily, they only used Dermabond adhesive, splinted my finger and gave me a Tetanus shot.

I had to pay out of pocket because I'm unemployed and have no insurance. The visit cost me $335.00

Do you accept that? I think it's a little excessive, but the alternative is to go home and wait for the infection and tetanus to set in. Then I would probably go to the emergency room and have my rotten finger amputated among the myriad of other expensive treatments needed to save my life.

My emergency room bill, had I decided to postpone the Priority Care treatment, would cause me to declare bankruptcy.

If I was earning $10 per hour at a part-time job with no insurance, I would have to work 33.5 hours, plus time to cover taxes and other deductions, just to pay for this one visit.

I consider myself lucky to have the money available, but soon it will all be gone.

Sub-Woofer Woes

Sound Violations are one of many ordinances that might be considered a solution for waning revenue from sales and income taxes, despite calls by the public for cuts in government salaries.

Like I said before.

Wall Street is making money hand over fist based entirely on the illusion of recovery.[AFP]

My August 4, 2009 post laid out this false recovery in diagram form. Basically, companies are reporting record profits not only due to the influx of stimulus cash, but also by shedding all but the very few necessary jobs, enough to run a skeleton crew until Christmas Eve.

Remember Enron, the Worldcom Bankruptcy, or the Health South scandal?

You can't look back on this and not see that Christmas 2009 will be the worst in history, and then your 401(k) will evaporate into a flurry of snow flakes in January 2010.

The Slow Pace of Government.

Way back in December of 2007 ABC ran a story about a woman who was gang-raped while working in Baghdad.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/halliburton-employee-jamie-leigh-jones-testifies-senate-rape/story?id=8775641 

Senator Al Franken was motivated to present an amendment in response to this incident.

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 111^th Congress - 1^st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Amendment (Franken Amdt. No. 2588 )
Vote Number:	308	Vote Date:	October 6, 2009, 04:37 PM
Required For Majority:	1/2	Vote Result:	Amendment Agreed to
Amendment Number:	S.Amdt. 2588 to H.R. 3326 (Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010)
Statement of Purpose:	To prohibit the use of funds for any Federal contract with Halliburton Company, KBR, Inc., any of their subsidiaries or affiliates, or any other contracting party if such contractor or a subcontractor at any tier under such contract requires that employees or independent contractors sign mandatory arbitration clauses regarding certain claims.

Vote Counts:	YEAs	68
	NAYs	30
	Not Voting	2

Grouped By Vote Position

YEAs ---68
Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Bennett (R-UT) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Burris (D-IL) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN) Gillibrand (D-NY)	Grassley (R-IA) Hagan (D-NC) Harkin (D-IA) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kaufman (D-DE) Kerry (D-MA) Kirk (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) LeMieux (R-FL) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) Lugar (R-IN) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR)	Mikulski (D-MD) Murkowski (R-AK) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Snowe (R-ME) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (D-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---30
Alexander (R-TN) Barrasso (R-WY) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Corker (R-TN)	Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Graham (R-SC) Gregg (R-NH) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE)	Kyl (R-AZ) McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Wicker (R-MS)

Not Voting - 2
Byrd (D-WV)	Specter (D-PA)	Source: Senate.gov

 Those who voted against this amendment have a serious problem. Are they pro-rape?

Driving at D'Arcy's

As we were pulling out of D'Arcy's parking lot one windy dark evening, we drove passed a car that was ready to back out. The car's engine was running and the reverse lights were on. The car was in reverse and starting to move.

Out of the darkness some children ran and opened the car door to get in. There was a small boy and girl trying to get into a car that was in reverse gear.

Drivers please! Before putting your vehicles in gear, make sure everyone is already in and buckled up.

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Propriety at the Gas Pump

I was at the Shell gas station up by Dixie Trucker’s Home yesterday and there was a serious human failure happening. There were four or five double-sided pumps. Every pump was occupied with a vehicle, but that wasn’t the problem.

Only about three of the pumps were actually in use. There were two vehicles sitting at pumps, either empty or with just a waiting passenger. It’s understandable that some people prefer paying with cash so they must leave their vehicle to go pay. If they tried to move their car out of the way they might alarm someone into thinking they were about to just “pump-and-dash.”

Then something happened that irked me. A woman approached one of the cars sitting at a pump, but she didn’t have just her keys and a receipt in her hand, she had a foot-long sandwich from the next door Subway restaurant. Instead of moving the car to one of the many empty parking spots in front of the building, she decided she would save herself some time and go get a sandwich.

Oh, that’s not all. She then got into her car which was still sitting at the pump, and proceeded to eat her sandwich, without a second thought about the other people waiting for a pump.

Meanwhile, I was finally able to pull up to another pump where a man had just finished filling plastic gas containers. He was driving a pickup with a large trailer that would not fit well next to the pump. At least he had the decency to keep his larger vehicle and trailer from blocking the access.

But, it was not only the woman who lacked the courtesy to move her car out of the way between the time she paid for their gas and going to eat lunch or browse the convenience store. There were at least two other people who failed to grasp the basic details of the situation, and it takes all genders, classes and races.

Some people assume a right of personal property to where ever they park their car. Wrong. Its okay to leave your car to go pay for the gas, but you better be right back to move your car to a parking spot if you’re going to stay and eat lunch at the restaurant next door.