My NaPhoPoMo NaPhotoPoMo idea seems to have gathered some wings.

As a result of Ms. Steinfeld’s support, Erin, Eden, Trisha, and Ron have all agreed to participate.

I’ve set up a Ning network for this deal. It’s called NaPhotoPoMo, and if you haven’t been invited, come join in the fun.

  Have you heard of Oreo Cakesters?

They’re similar to Oreo cookies, except the cream is sandwiched between cake instead of crunchy cookies.

They’re also very very good. The cakey part was moist and the creamy part was…well, creamy.  The best part, though, is that the cookies cakesters weren’t too chocolatey.

So good, in fact, they’ve earned the BrockNet Seal of Approval. Get used to seeing the Seal, by the way, you’ll be seeing it again.

It’s ironic, to say the least, that the last NaBloPoMO post will include Jacksonville traffic commentary as did my first NaBloPoMo post.

Last night I was traveling down Jacksonville’s Western Blvd from Lejeune Blvd (Hwy 24) heading towards Marine Blvd (Hwy 17) at approximately 5 miles an hour over the speed limit (50 mph in a 45 mph zone). A car merged directly in front of me from the middle lane. By directly, I mean that I had to apply strong force to my brakes in order to keep from rear-ending this guy. I honked (several times) and figured this particular ass-hat had gotten the message. Apparently not, because he then cut-off the car in the lane to my right. Which happened to be a City of Jacksonville Police cruiser.

It’s not unreasonable to think that the City of Jacksonville Police cruiser was being driven by a City of Jacksonville Police Officer, which could also be confirmed by looking through the windows. What is unreasonable is that the City of Jacksonville Police Officer watched two incidents of reckless driving and possibly a speeding violation and didn’t do a damned thing.

It’s nice to know that the City of Jacksonville Police Department is keeping us safe as we drive through town.

And…I’m spent. Happy NaBloPoMo!

I don’t often talk about my professional life, but here is today’s sad tale.

Since my office has moved into the new and improved Russell Marine and Family Service Center, I’ve had the small pleasure of walking to the door surrounded by a lush green lawn. The leaves of grass were easily 8-10 inches long and were a beautiful, bright green. It’s a rare sight in Eastern NC and even more rare in November.

But, thanks to contracted lawn maintenance people, that small boost to my morning has been ripped away.

See the evidence in the photo.

What was once a fresh, green, leafy lawn of wonderful grass is now a muddy swath of hay.

For shame, contracted lawn maintenance people, for shame for taking away one of my fewest and simplest pleasures, for shame.

I wonder how the southern folks that think Fred Thompson is the second coming of the Great Southern President will feel about this.

“I know that everybody who hangs the flag up in their room like that is not racist,” said Thompson, who has played up his southern roots while campaigning in South Carolina. “I also know that for a great many Americans it’s a symbol of racism.”

But Thompson added that, “as far as a public place is concerned, I am glad that people have made the decision not to display it as a prominent flag, symbolic of something, at a state capitol.”

Ol’ Freddie, then, agrees that the Confederate Flag (a symbol of, for all intents and purposes, a sovereign foreign nation) should not be flown on government grounds, unless, as he said:

“As a part of a group of flags or something of that nature, you know, honoring various service people at different times in different parts of the country, I think that’s different,”

And I mostly agree with him. But, that doesn’t bid well for his chances in South Carolina or Georgia.

I’m also curious how Thompson’s negative campaign ad, which aired during the debate, will affect things for him. It certainly is not a classy move.

Here’s another example of religion causing death.

A few hours after a Mount Vernon judge ruled that a 14-year-old Jehovah’s Witness sick with leukemia had the right to refuse a blood transfusion, even though that refusal might kill him, the boy died in a Seattle hospital.

It’s also an example of a child’s guardian letting faith in a false truth kill someone else’s child.

However, his birth parents, Lindberg Sr. and Rachel Wherry, who do not have custody and flew from Boise, Idaho, to be at the hearing, believed their son should have had the transfusion and suggested he had been unduly influenced by his legal guardian, his aunt Dianna Mincin, who is also a Jehovah’s Witness.

It’s a despicable shame and it’s an unforgivable sin.

In other, less tragic religious news, longtime 700 Club leader, Pat Robertson says yoga is from the devil. Or something. He likes stretching though…

Keep limber!

The Republican Party in Virginia is requiring voters who request the GOP ballot in next year’s General Election to swear an oath that they will vote for the Republican nominee for President.

I can honestly say that I’m not surprised that the Republican Party in VA did this, though, I am shocked that the State Board of Elections approved the measure.

And, yes, I’m aware that the Democratic Party attempted to do the same thing during 2004. Remember, though, that request was dropped prior to election day.

Will the Republicans drop their request for a loyalty oath?

Who wants to start a new internet phenomenon? In the Na __ __ Mo meme, I suggest National Photograph Posting Month. For the month of December February(? What’s good for you?), I will post a new and never-before-seen photo taken (wait for it) that very same day.

Who’s in?

Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?

Interesting news on the local nutjob message boards front…

The folks at “The Best of Eastern NC” have locked their board to make it private. In a message viewable by guests, the board’s moderator, Sherlock Holmes, says:

We have decided to no longer allow “Guests” to view our forum. This decision was made because we intend to keep our board discussions on our board where they belong, and not aired on other websites.
Please join to be able to access all we have to offer.

Speaking from experience, locking down your message forum isn’t really the best way to attract users.

Of course, this forum seems to only have a few active users and there’s not much activity, so maybe the idea is to block off the embarrassingly small number of users and posts from the public view.

It seems Apple’s OSX Leopard is having all kinds of problems.

Ed Bott says that some upgraders are experiencing unexpected errors and crashes and ValleyWag says Apple’s iCal application is deleting all appointments from some users, which wouldn’t be that bad, except that

I want to thank everyone on Jacksonville’s Lejeune Blvd (Highway 24) for attending my karaoke show this morning. I was possessed by The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night and was overcome with the compulsion to sing along.

Just be glad you couldn’t hear me.

December is right around the corner and signifies changes in local governments.

The Onslow County Board of Commissioners will be electing a new Chairman and Vice-Chairman on Monday and the City of Jacksonville will be receiving its almost entirely new City Council, as well as the new Mayor on Tuesday.

At the end of the day, though, it’ll be business as usual for the two bickering government bodies.

And, just so I don’t end the day on a bummer note, this may be the most well-reasoned, well-thought out solution to one of America’s biggest issues (that gets no airtime): Child support.

Has anyone noticed something different about the iTunes podcast store? When perusing the podcast section by category, I end up in a very unsexy list-like interface. Completely not cool. There’s no extra information on the podcasts, just the basic information (title, artist, genre, etc.).

It’s making it quite complicated to shop for new and exciting podcasts, that’s for certain.

Somebody at the local nutjob message board has been sending offensive private messages to the female users.

Remember the controversy surrounding Onslow County Commissioner Delma Collins’ 2006 failed campaign for Clerk of Superior Court?

The North Carolina State Board of Elections has released its findings regarding Commissioner Collins. In a letter dated November 5th, the Board noted that Collins accepted business contributions (in-kind contributions from Donald Keith Branch of Allstate Insurance and Michael Lazzara (Yes, the City Councilman)), paid cash for advertisement purchases, and submitted campaign finance reports late. All of which are violations of campaign finance regulations.

The letter also suggets that Collins submitted information that could not be corroborated:

You stated that the Onslow County Board of Elections instructed you to file a final report after the elections in the event that you exceeded the threshold. You also stated that Ed Brown, candidate for sheriff, received the same instructions. Neither Mr. Brown nor the Onslow County Board of Elections corroborated your statements.

The letter also directs Collins to re-open his campaign committee, pay a fee of $1,288.72, file an amended report to include all receipts and expenses, and providing a sworn statement describing the source of funds used to purchase advertising from the Jacksonville Daily News.

They’re well-earned, but not excessive, punishments.

I wonder, though, if the letter was signed November 5th, when the Jacksonville Daily News is going to get around to reporting the news?

It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving and there’s all kinds of interesting stuff going on in the world…

Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) is expected to resign before the end of the year.

It’s a 4-year-too-soon exit for Lott and it makes him the 6th Republican Senator to announce a resignation or retirement.

The Jacksonville Daily News wants local government to stay out of the opinion-generating business. In today’s editorial, the paper says:

It is understandably tempting to use such a pervasive, one-sided forum to push government initiatives as an unqualified good thing for the people, but that’s not government’s purpose nor should it be G-10’s.

The editorial board of the Jacksonville Daily News opines that the City of Jacksonville and Onslow County governments are using the local government network to push an agenda and “put the best possible face on government spending, tax increases and political lapses of judgment.”

Clearly, the Jacksonville Daily News feels that they have the monopoly on opinion-generating in Onslow County and don’t want the local governments infringing on their market.

My response to the Daily News is this: Why are you afraid of the government putting their own “embroidery” on their programs? Why shouldn’t the government use their resources to advertise programs? Why shouldn’t the government balance your reporting? If they left it to your paper and staff, the public’s opinion would be misinformed, poorly developed, and one-sided.

Don’t be afraid, Jacksonville Daily News, a little competition is good for the soul.

Shadow, resident of the local nutjob message board, has noticed my blog post detailing ENC’s competition.

He says:

Someone is calling this “the local nutjob message board with heavy handed & uneven moderating! It’s not the Doc!
He also refers to Doc’s board “The Best of ENC,” another nutjob site!
He is happy to monitor all this nutjobby whackiness!
He mentions a third site, but not worth mentioning.
Glad he hasn’t found Jactionville.com
It’s the guy with his own blog and not your Shadow using these naughty words!

Oh, worry not, Shadow, I know of the Jactionville.com forums. They’re quite dead, I think, and not worth mentioning.

By the way, I didn’t think my words were “naughty.” I think they’re quite appropriate.

Animal adds:

I am a local nut job and proud of it!

Indeed. Indeed.

It’s being reported that Emeril “BAM!” Lagasse is out at the Food Network. December 11th will be the final taping of Emeril Live.

The GOP is low on cash (mostly as a result of Senator Elizabeth Dole’s 2006 failure as NRSC chairperson) and are seeking out independently wealthy candidates.

That sort of tactic makes you wonder if these Republican candidates would serve the poorer Americans best…Or, instead, look out for their wallets and the bank accounts of their friends.

So, how’re you?

It’s November, soon to be December. and that means that the Autumn weather is causing our trees to shift from their standard green to colorful reds, yellows, oranges, and browns. Some trees are more beautiful in their Fall coats than their Summer ensembles.

Expect more Fall photos. I’m hoping to find a way to photograph the great looking red Bradford Pear Trees planted along Highway 24 in front of Camp Lejeune. The trees are beautiful this time of year and it’d be a shame not to capture them.

See you on Monday.

It’s the day after the day after Thanksgiving and you know what that means: The Jacksonville Daily News‘ annual article on the line of customers outside Jacksonville’s Best Buy. Yes, friends and neighbors, folks come from miles and miles around to get in line and wait for the Black Friday sales and the Daily News feeds our need to mock these people. In public. Ain’t it great?

From the article:

Brett Rooney and his wife Janet of Jacksonville were first in line to get in the door, waiting since 11 a.m. Thursday. They didn’t mind camping out to purchase laptop computers for their children’s Christmas gifts, even if that meant having Thanksgiving dinner a little early.

Dude. How crazy is that? It’s stupid crazy for sure. There’s no way I’d wait in line for 17ish hours to buy something. That, friends and neighbors is a sign of mental illness. Especially when it gets in the way of standard Turkey Day stuffin’ the face and tryptophan-induced comas.

But, fear not. Apparently, the Rooney’s weren’t first in line at 11am. Oh no. They were third in line at 11am. The first folks arrived at 9:30am. The Daily News screwed that pooch, eh? Fortunately, Tim Harvey, the real first-in-line fool, corrected the article in a comment (which is posted below because comments critical of the Jacksonville Daily News often…uh…disappear from their site).

Harvey said:

Inaccurate information on who was first in line at Best Buy. The Rooneys were third in line. Tim Harvey was first customer in line who arrived at nine thirty and Uriel was second there. If your going to write an article please be accurate. Thank you for your time, GOD Bless!

Good on Tim for correcting the record. Shame on Tim for being in a parking lot line at 9:30am. Do people really have nothing better to do with their time?

Then again, if Eastern NC is full of folks that can accidentally buy a notebook computer they don’t need, maybe it’s better they do spend their time in line. It may well be safer for us all.

Speaking of Freedom ENC Communications…

It seems that some folks at the local nutjob message boards have grown tiresome of the heavy-handed and uneven moderating there and have created the “Best of ENC” forums.

Put those two with the Triangle Free Forum (a not-so-local nutjob message board) and there’s plenty of nutjobby whackiness for me to monitor.

It’s good to be in Eastern NC…

Have you seen Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore??

I just did, using Netflix’s Instant Viewing system. Here’s a hint for Firefox users: Get the IE Tab add-on. That way, you don’t have to give up your Firefox to watch the movies.

You should. It’s a powerful look inside a real Congressional campaign in 2004. The campaign covered was Jeff Smith’s Democratic Primary for MO-03.

And that made something in the tiny recesses in the back of head click: What is it about states’ third Congressional Districts that makes them so messed up? Ms. Steinfeld’s Third District is a cluster of Democrats wrangling over each other to challenge Congressman Phil English and my own Third District looks more and more like a clown car every day. Toss onto those, MO’s Third where a guy that apparently did nothing won the Primary and is sitting in Washington, D.C. today…

Is there something in the water? Sheesh.

Not much going on, so I’ll just say “Happy Thanksgiving” and enjoy your Thursday.

Courtesy your local neighborhood Wikipedia:

• Twenty-one is a Fibonacci number, a Harshad number, a Motzkin number, a triangular number and an octagonal number, as well as a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 3 and 7.
• 21 is the fifth discrete bi-prime and the second in the (3.q) family. With 22 it forms the second discrete bi-prime pair. 21 has an aliquot sum of 11 though it is the second composite number found in the 11-aliquot tree with. 18 is the first such member as well having as 21 as its aliquot sum 21 is the first number to be the aliquot sum of three numbers 18,51,91
• 21 appears in the Padovan sequence, preceded by the terms 9, 12, 16 (it is the sum of the first two of these).
• The sum of divisors for the integers 1 through 5 is 21.
• 21 is a repdigit in base 4 (111).
• 21 is the smallest number of differently sized squares needed to square the square.

My letter was printed in today’s Jacksonville Daily News. Unfortunately, their website hasn’t been updated, so I can’t provide linkage.

Unfortunately, it’s too late. The Jones County Board of Commissioners has voted to table a resolution to oppose the site located near the Jones-Onslow Border.

While the Onslow Board of Commissioners hold court with eyes and ears covered, the battle is raging against an OLF. Their absence, and lack of leadership, will allow the U.S. Navy to steamroll Jones County. With a population of less than 11,000 people and a median income just barely above the poverty line, who will stand up for those people?

Certainly not Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr. Certainly not Senators Elizabeth Dole or Richard Burr. And most certainly not the Onslow County Board of Commissioners.

Even a 6-year old boy has done more than the Onslow County Board of Commissioners to fight the U.S. Navy’s plan. Joseph Dickerson wrote a letter to the Elizabeth City Daily Advance.

My name is Joseph Cole Dickerson, and I am 6 years old. I like all the animals and stuff here. I don’t want the Navy outlying landing field. The animals will not like an OLF. Some of my teachers would have to move. I would not like that. I hope people will help keep it from coming.

The Onslow County Board of Commissioners could take a lesson from young Mr. Dickerson. Unfortunately, and pathetically, they won’t.

There is some grumbling on the local nutjob message board about healthcare in Jacksonville. The writer specifically had bad things to say about Med Care facility on Hwy 17/Marine Blvd.

Says joaniecol:

What I want to know is how when a patient, who is already not feeling well, ask how long they anticipate a wait to be and be told about 45-1 hour wait - - - ask to pay for their copay up front - - only then to be stuck waiting for 2 hrs and 40 minutes before even being brought into a room. Then, another 40 minutes before a “doctor” comes in to see you - spends no more then 8 minutes with you - and then it takes another 20 minutes for “documentation” for discharge to be given.

Four hours is a really long time to be waiting for treatment…I’d guess that even the Onslow Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Room would be able to provide services in that period.

Unfortunately, Jacksonville does not have very many (if any) good general practitioner doctors. The problem is that very few private practice doctors can accept Tricare (the payer for military dependents) and stay in business. This creates a vacuum for the franchise medical offices, such as Med Care to swoop in and prey on the citizens.

It’s a sad state of affairs, but as long as there are free-market fundamentalists (such as the John Locke Foundation and the Club for Growth) out there, it’s the way it’ll be.

It’s a shame and a sham that will continue until the U.S. moves to a single-payer health-care system.

Did you realize I’ve pass 2,500 posts on this blog? Me either. Holy crap. It’s no wonder I’m running out of material…

Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday!