After a year-and-a-half, the Brock Log is retired.

No worries, though, my writing and photography continues. At Bloviations, I will continue to fill the internets with my thoughts and at Photography, I’ll post photographs.

Stay tuned to the BrockNet, folks. I’m sure 2008 will bring surprises.

In a post today at Under the Dome (a service of the Raleigh News and Observer) Ryan Teague Beckwith pointed out what he thought was the political overstatement of the day:

He quoted BlueNC and NC Politico writer (and friend of mine) Betsy Muse:

“If you live in North Carolina and your home isn’t under a rock, you know that Dan Besse is a Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor.

And then attempted to hit her with the N&O’s “big stick”:

Dome believes that rock is known as the sun.

Unfortunately, Beckwith pointed out his failure (as a writer and representative of the N&O). Along the way, though, he pointed out a failure by our own Jacksonville Daily News.

If Dan Besse isn’t publicly known as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, whose failing is it? The news organizations, of course. A candidate can only do so much. He (or she) can only buy so much ad space. It is the newspapers, television news agencies, and political parties job duty to report on candidates for election.

The Jacksonville Daily News website has one mention of Dan Besse and it’s an opinion piece from the Freedom Communications, Inc. flak in Raleigh, Barry Smith. The same opinion piece is also the only mention of State Senator Walter Dalton, Canton-Mayor Pat Smathers, and former Easley-administration official Hampton Dellinger.

Come on, Daily Newsers. Can’t you do better than that? You’ve finally realized there’s a Congressional race brewing, how about covering the other ballot items?

And, hey, since we’re on the topic of covering politics, why don’t you have a politics web-log?  I know a guy that’d be interested in writing it.

The Jacksonville Daily News has finally recognized that the Third Congressional District (NC-03) race is going to be interesting to watch in an article that describes some of the differences between current Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr. and his rivals (Republican [and Onslow County Commissioner] Joe McLaughlin and Democrat Marshall Adame). Craig Weber wasn’t mentioned in the article, but since his email “announcement” in November, he hasn’t been heard from and hasn’t updated his website, my guess is he flamed out.

The article, written by Jennifer Hlad, focuses on the key differences between McLaughlin, Adame, and Jones, Jr.

For McLaughlin, it’s a matter of Jones, Jr. not supporting President Bush and not being conservative enough, especially on the support for the continuing occupation of Iraq.

“On virtually every major national security vote on the War on Terror in the last year, he’s voted with the liberals,” McLaughlin said. “The man we sent to Washington in (1995) is no longer the conservative member (he was).”

Several issues separate Adame from Jones, Jr. and McLaughlin.

On Iraq, Adame is quoted:

“There is chaos in Iraq today, and there will be chaos when we leave. But until we leave, the beginning of the end of the chaos cannot start,”

“But I believe our combat troops need to come out,” he said. “We do owe something to the Iraqis, but we owe more to our own people. The best way to support the combat troops is to bring them home.”

Proving he’s no one-trick phony, he said:

“To get elected on one issue like Iraq, or any other issue, would be a little bit dishonest,”

And Adame has the right stances on the other issues. McLaughlin only claims to be an “authentic conservative” with no real policy positions (except to support President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and the Republican Party).

The article is quite good, and you should give it a read. And the reader-posted comments are quite entertaining.

Apparently the anti-McLaughlin group is more outspoken the supporters. And, just for a bonus, there’s a fellow that claims several of the separate anti-McLaughlin posters are the same person using separate names. I wonder if the Jacksonville Daily News crack tech-team can trace the IP addresses from those comments?

A few days ago, I had dinner at the local International House of Pancakes in Jacksonville and saw that in January 2008 the restaurant’s going smoke-free.

I may be there, on that fateful day. It may be, friends and neighbors, the biggest thing to ever happen in Jacksonville.

Oh it’s true.

Fred has gone dark in Iowa.

With not enough cash to buy ads, he’s doing all the free media he can on his bus tour.   But it’s a remarkable indicator of just how topsy-turvy the GOP race has been that the man once viewed as the party’s savior cannot even afford to buy TV time in the final days before Iowa.

If Ol’ Fred Thompson is expected to be the savior of the Republican Party, somebody ought to let him know…And maybe send him the script.

Dude, really? They closed the message board of xmas?

WTF?

The BrockLog’s comments are broken. I’m working with the Provider to find a solution and shall report back as soon as possible.

In the meantime, if you have a comment, please email me at thomas(AT)brocknet(DOT)net. I’ll add them to the posts.

Thanks!

Ms. Steinfeld recently did a review of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, so I thought I would write about Love Liza.

Be warned, for a full review, there must be spoilers. Meet you after the jump!

Read The Full Story…

Yesterday, while getting my hairs cut, my barber made a wise statement:

I dunno who we’ll get to be president, but as long as he ain’t like George Bush, we’ll be alright.

Indeed.

Last evening I had the opportunity to eat at the Jacksonville Olive Garden (also referred to as “The biggest thing to happen in Jacksonville“).

There was a brief 45-minute wait (in chilly [but mostly fresh] air because the interior waiting area is next to the smoke-filled bar) for seating (for 3 in the non-smoking section). While walking to our booth, I noticed several clean and empty seats.

The wait-staff was pleasant enough and quickly our drinks were ordered and delivered and we were munching on the complimentary salad (very good) and breadsticks (a bit on the cool side, and thus not-so-yummy).

It took about 20 minutes for our meals to be delivered after ordering.

I had the Venetian Apricot Chicken with broccoli and asparagus. Unfortunately, this is where the meal went south. Quickly.

I’ll start with the chicken: It was dry and tough, which, along with the charred grill-marks, lead me to believe that it had perhaps been cooked too long.

The vegetables were also over-cooked. The broccoli tasted like the asparagus (boiled together, maybe?) and both were mushy and a dull green color.

The highlight of the evening was the apricot sauce. It was sweet (but not too sweet for the chicken) and smooth.

I found the recipe for the Venetian Apricot Chick at CopyKat.com and may try my own hand at the dish. There will be a few alterations, though, like perhaps baking the chicken with the apricot sauce as a glaze with a bit of sauce reserved for dipping.

After all this; I must give the Jacksonville Olive Garden the BrockNet Seal of Disapproval and I doubt that I’ll be back.