There never was a summer vacation that I recall that ended while it is still August, but my son is expected at school tomorrow, August 31, 2009.

I know it’s only one day, but it is still August. 
I know there is the Swine Flu Thing, but it is still August.

It just doesn’t seem right. To me.  My son seems to care less. 

He is actually looking forward to going back to school.

What has happened to kids today???

Back in the day we would have organized committees, tacked signs to sticks, prepared safe houses and decided what to do if the police came. Now, they get on the bus, plug in their iPods, put on a happy face and go to school.

But, it’s still August!!!
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To all the fellow fathers out there, think not of today as your day.  It is the day for your children, your family, to show their love for you by doing things they feel you would like. 

It matters little whether any of these things are to  your liking.  You must show appreciation for the spirit in which they are given. Do this and you will be a good father.

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We’ve been trying to define each of the Famous Grazing blogs, to have a separate identity or purpose for each one.

Belltowernews.com has its place as the anchor blog.  We gave Grazing Press= a place to discuss news.  Other Grazing was designed to be the index for all of the blogs.  We were and I guess still are concerned for the future of of Live Journal as a blog host, so it was decided to start spreading the content around all of the blogs with the hope at least one would survive.

A general post was published this morning regarding the ‘thing’ with Leo and Mike Arrington but I felt I needed a place where I could say a little more or at least point to the ongoing conversation without editorializing or promoting rancor.

The conversation seems to be going on full tilt in both camps.

<<-- This is a copy of the Friendfeed conversation where, as of this moment, there are 1182 comments, nope, make that 1184.

Each of the contributors probably follows Leos Friendfeed comments.

From another point of view is the conversation going on at TechCrunch.

There the conversation has, as of this moment, 255 comments. As with any list of people who leave remarks, some are just so much noise.  If you take a few moments to sift through them you will find both Leo and Mike being castigated and supported by their interlocking fanbase.

Everyone at Famous Grazing certainly follow the information coming from the TWiT franchise and we read all that the TechCrunch aggregator produces.

There have been times with both, besides this one, where I have been disappointed.

At TechCrunch it was when they decided to get political during the campaign.  With Leo it was when he came close to calling the geek saint Cali Lewis  stupid for expressing her opinion.

To err is human.  To comment on it is the web.

Now let’s get back to worrying about Korea and the Middle East.

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During the 1920’s, the nation had a choice between Herbert Hoover and Al Smith.  Mr. Smith was a charismatic go-to Governor, a man of the people and well loved in his own surroundings.

He was also Catholic.

It is generally believed by historians that he lost the election based on this one condition.  Until John Kennedy, this could be called the Al Smith Effect, meaning Catholics should not bother running for President.

Now we have the Bradley Effect.  That is what is believed to have stopped Mayor Bradley from winning the Governor’s office in California.
 
Will this effect the results this coming Tuesday?  Yes.  The question is will it overwhelm the chances of Senator Obama from winning?  I hope to god, no.

This is not an endorsement for either candidate.  It is a plea irrelevance not be a factor when each and every voter makes that final mark, flick, tick, twist or whatever other action that will be called a vote.

VOTE!

People can be found in the weirdest places.   I was looking for something about acoustic waves for my son when Amber MacArthur’s name flashed by my eyes.

It was in an article found it, of all places, a web page called Guitar Wave.  It promotes itself with the phrase: A place for guitar enthusiasts with emphasis on equipment and tutorials

I am a large fan of Amber. 

First seeing her along with the guru of gurus Leo Laporte on Screen Savers, I’ve watched her share her love of all things computer - right up to her present incarnation on commandN.
Each week I try to comment in the episode’s page.

Expect nothing profound in our comments.  The episode before this found us commenting on the dog-tag style earrings.   It also took us a while to get use to the low-key style of Will Pate, her current co-host.  Before him was Mikey. 

If you went out of your way to find a personality polar opposite of Mike Lazazzera, you must find Will.

I hope you come to commandN in a less oblique way than a search for information on sound waves, but when you do get there, expect yourself to start looking at older episode for no other reason than to watch the few weeks where her hair went native.  This careful warning before you go there, it’s addictive.

When I was traveling in the South, I found the number of broacast religious services amazing.
I thought, being from The North, since Bishop Sheen stopped broadcasting from Boston,
we were fairly preaching free.

Then I watched West Wing on NBC this week and then Startrek: Enterprise on SciFi.
Both were, in their storyline, preaching about the general political atmosphere and
current government by fiat in vogue in the United States. This can be expected on West Wing. It is, after all, a show about politics.

But does ST:E really need to go that far?
Why not?

It has always been the writer's way of expressing their opinions through their work.
More power to them. I don't have to agree with their message to applaud that here they can broadcast it.

This is in contrast to Iran where it is reported elsewhere that
several bloggers have been arrested for doing the very same thing
in a more open fashion; in a more open forum.

They can arrest as many people as they want,
but as long as the internet is open and free of government interference,
people will come here and express their hearts out.

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