Yes, I let a headline infuriate me.

In an attempt to wriggle out of the Senate-seat-for-sale scandal hanging over Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois governor's supporters have sunk to a new low by attempting to frame his appointment in racial terms. Blagojevich's announcement of Roland Burris as his appointee while the governor is being investigated for related corruption is enough of an affront to common decency. But for congressman Bobby Rush to suggest that the Burris' appointment should not be blocked because Burris is black is appalling to me:

"I will ask you to not hang and lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer."

"Let me just remind you that there presently is no African-American in the U.S. Senate. I don't think that anyone — any U.S. senator who's sitting in the Senate right now — wants to go on record to deny one African-American for being seated in the U.S. Senate."

If I was a U.S. Senator, I would consider it to be my privilege and duty to block such a seating. I would be proud to have this on my record, not because of the color of Burris' skin, but because it simply is the right thing to do. When news of scandal first broke around Blagojevich, it was generally agreed that anyone that he appointed would have a cloud of suspicion over him or her. Mister Rush, the pigment possessed by that nominee should not change this.

I know nothing of Burris and his record, nor whether he would actually make a good Senator. But if he had a sense of decency, he would have turned down the offer and made himself available as a candidate to be appointed in a manner separated from the scandal.

In the year 2008, I reject the idea that certain political offices should be reserved for an individual because of race. Misters Blagojevich and Rush, you ought to be ashamed for attempting to "play the race card" as a smokescreen to distract us from the governor's own integrity issues. Finally, attempting to paint opponents as a lynch mob is misleading and profoundly disrespectful to those who actually lost their lives in real lynchings.

I'd prefer for my blog posts not to stray too often into politics, but this just seems like an egregious case of "not getting it." It made me mad enough to stay up this late and vent. . . .

Merry Christmas!

I think I've found a great use for my budding medal collection!

CurrentlyVince wishes everyone a Merry Christmas. May we be blessed with the gift of redemption from those things that weigh heavily on our hearts.

10 megapixels, 4 miles, one finger on the shutter button

I logged four miles during the muggy midday. To help make the time seem to pass quicker, I decided to bring my digital camera along and take snapshots of some of the reasons I moved here.








"Inconvenient" cannot be a reason for me to not exercise anymore.

Is that cinnamon in my polvoron?

I do like my polveron, but I had never considered them really as a holiday-season treat -- until I found this recipe for a Spanish version that adds cinnamon to the dough.

Yum!

Tech Thursday Tidbits

• Remember the bruhaha that Microsoft stirred up when they introduced Product Activation with Windows XP? And how it would make life difficult for people that liked to upgrade PC components? Well, more than six years after installation (and plenty of hardware swaps), I swapped in a new network adapter into my trusty Shuttle XPC SS51G, and that finally awakened the "activation police" in the the OS. After failing to connnect online to the activation server a couple of times, I finally figured out that I needed to disable my third-party software firewall long enough to let the system check in and affirm that I am not a pirate.
• There's something peculiar about my new Philips LCD television: When exposed to the LCD screen of a Lenovo ThinkPad T60, the TV powers on. There must be some pattern glowing on the laptop display that the TV is interpreting as an "on" signal. I discovered this by accident when I placed the laptop on a counter, powered it up, and suddenly heard the theme song for That's So Raven unexpectedly start playing behind my back.
  
• I have only performed 14 out of the 50 Skills Every Geek Should Have according to Maximum PC. It sucks to be obsolete.
  

Have we met before?

<---- These adjacent Facebook ads are proof that women are pretty much all alike.

Watts in your wallet?

During the fall political campaign, energy policy was on the lips of just about every candidate for national office. Everyone seems to agree that we need a better one in the United States. While the politicians hammer out the details, I thought I'd share some of my recent activities on a personal level. I'd like to think these will make a positive contribution by reducing the energy I consume on a day-to-day basis:

• The biggest change I've made was making the decision about where to move (within the Houston area). Proximity to workplace was at the top of my must-have list. Frankly, I don't really enjoy commuting around Houston. Saving money is a nice bonus and the results here are already quite tangible. My formerly twice-weekly visits to the gas pump have been cut in half and I've hardly used my EZ TAG. That's about a hundred fewer dollars per month that isn't going to the pockets of the oil companies or the Harris County Toll Road Authority.
• The "competition" in electric providers in Houston has been an utter failure in bringing lower costs to consumers. When I established electric service here last month, though, I did attempt to vote with my wallet by choosing a plan with a provider that would pledge to use the money to generate power with "clean" sources like wind. The price-per-kilowatt is somewhat higher than the lowest rates available, and the benefits aren't directly tangible, so I think this might be more of a hopeful decision than anything.
• I have LCD televisions, which consume less electricity while operating than old-school CRTs. But I couldn't help but notice that they feel warm even when "off." This is due to the fact that they aren't really off but in standby, waiting for a remote signal to light up. Many devices consume electricity even when they're in standby and not performing a useful function. I needed a couple of new surge protectors anyway, so I went with Belkin "Conserve" which makes it really easy to truly switch off power from a distance.
• I needed a clothes washer, and opted for a more efficient front-loader. Moneywise this is an iffy proposition, as the price delta over the more familiar top-loader is pretty big and won't be narrowed for years.
• I installed compact fluorescent bulbs. When I moved in, the "Hollywood" fixture in the bathroom was loaded with 60-watt incandescent bulbs. A four-pack of 9-watt bulbs -- which have equivalent output to 40-watt incandescents -- are about six dollars at The Home Depot. My rough math suggests that these will pay for themselves in about a year.

Happy holidays to all and I'll close this post by mentioning that my Christmas tree is illuminated with LEDs. Once again, this is probably a decision that won't see a "payback" for years, but at least the investment has been made.

Now I'd like to see the adjustments in my energy demand get met on the other side with adjustments in the energy supply. We've been waiting for fundamental changes in this area since the first crisis with OPEC in the 1970s, however, so I'm certainly not holding my breath on this.