Welcome to the Race

January 9, 2008 at 3:24 pm (Political Discussion) (, , , , , , , , )

Recently I have been listening to OPB, the local public radio station here in Vancouver and paying very close attention to the political races. Specifically between Obama and Clinton, as they are the two whom interest me the most. Now, I am a self professed Obama fan, no doubt about it and those who know me can vouch for the fact that I severely dislike Clinton.

Previous to this moment, I could never quite figure out exactly why. There just seemed to be an air about her that I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy. While I was scrolling about, attempting to bring some life to my dying blog, I found a news blog by CNN which “reports” that;

“CNN’s Sasha Johnson reports that when televisions broadcast Barack Obama’s comments on the Iraq war, midway through his election night speech, some Hillary Clinton supporters at her campaign headquarters began to boo.”

Now, some of the comments in response to this “report” of dubious intention, I agree with absolutely. How in the world could you consider this news worthy? This feels much the same to me as saying, “This morning I brushed my teeth!”. I thought, “I hardly need to know this,”and as I was just about to close the window and go on to something else I had a revelation. I know why I don’t like Hillary.

Shes the Republicans Democrat. Atleast the way things were reported by various GOP owned and backed news media reports and the way she goes about collecting funding seem to lend itself to this philosophy. I sat down and did a little research, using one of the most useful tools; Wikipedia.

Upon looking up both Obama’s and Clinton’s name at Wikipedia, I attempted to keep an open mind about these subjects, however it can be difficult. Nevertheless, I attempted.

Hillary is known for her idealistic health plans and solid debating ability.

Obama is known for his heartfelt and empowered speeches and his everyman attitude.

On a whole, all of these are wonderful qualities, in a nominee and a President. However, Clinton seems to lack the for site to avoid pitfalls, such as refusing to return money which had even a shadow of a doubt attached to it (refer to Wikipedia, under the Norman Hsu Affair). She was told and warned that this money was wrongfully obtained, however she still refused to give up anything until everything came out.

Said this way, it doesn’t seem so wrong, however if I was a person of political or legal authority and I told someone that money was wrongful obtained, even if it was only the slightest chance, I would expect those funds would have been frozen and the person in charge would demand an investigation into the money’s source, returning all funds the instant it was discovered there was an issue. In this instance, someone even came forward and said that they had attempted to warn the Clinton administration ahead of time. Still, it took a few months before the Clinton administration would finally relent and return it “in light of recent events”. (For full insight into this and MANY other fiscal transgressions and inconsistencies, take a look at the wikipedia page linked above).

In short, Hillary seems to have gained the Republican ability to just ‘come up’ with money and try desperately to hold on to it.

Obama is an amazing step away from this. Having kept his record clean and seeming to always be ready with a response upon any action of his in the past. He won’t stonewall or talk sideways. If I ever have the pleasure of meeting of him, I am sure that his demeanor would be that of a solid individual with a steady handshake and unshakable resolve. He isn’t running for arch-royal-holymoses-I-am-so-better-than-you, as some of our more recent president(s) seem to believe the position is titled. He is running for the President of the United States of America. A position in which, I believe, he will listen to the individual and care for the needs of the many, all at once. We need a change. I want to be proud again, to look up at the flag and feel a slight mist in the eye. Obama is my choice.

Yes we can

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Swords and Armor! CLANG

January 9, 2008 at 1:45 pm (Books, Fantasy and Science-Fiction) (, , , , , )

As you may or may not have noticed (my two avid readers) I am a lover of all things Fantasy and some things Science Fiction. Recently, in my pursuit of riches and glory I stumbled across Payperpost.com, a website dedicated to helping the currency disinclined of the world make some money by sitting and typing away. In surfing through the various companies looking to advertise through my blog, I found Heavenly Sword. While not necessarily fulfilling the Science Fiction of my day to day life, it has never the less pleased the Fantasy that I so crave.

However! Nothing is worth doing unless you have something to compare it against (Enter Museum Replicas). SO PREPARE YOURSELF ! The duel will commence thusly!

Round 1.

Expense

Its Sharp, but will I need it to fight back my creditors?

In comparing two items of like fantastical and/or historical reference. My choices were the Crusader Sword as sold by Museum Replicas and the Sword of Richard the Lionheart. NOW! You there! Stop what you are doing! I don’t want any emails or posts telling me just how different these are. I know how different they are. There is just no good comparison between the two websites. The Crusader Sword is 41” overall and the other is 43 and 1/4”, so it will have to do. The cheapest price between the two is obvious to belong to Heavenlyswords.com for their Richard the Lionheart blade, which tallied in at $85.48. The Crusader Sword as shown by Museumreplicas.com totaled in at $185.00, a significant price jump.

Round one to Heavenly Swords. Next up!

Round 2.

Credentials

(He jerks a thumb over his shoulder) “No ticket.

I will make this part short and sweet. No credentials? No buy. At least thats my philosophy. And in this part, I think that Museum Replicas takes the cake. They offer the manufacturers name right there on the page with the sword! You can’t go wrong there! They even send you a Certificate. I like Certificates, they make things official, this way I know what I am buying is made by someone who has some idea what sword making is all about (unlike myself, I just like sharp things).

As for Heavenly Swords, they don’t seem to want to show you who made the sword much less give you a Certificate of Authenticity! I mean.. jeez. I want a bit more than a reciept, this is a purchase I may pass down to my children some day! (Unless they have depth perception problems, in which case foam will have to do).

That leaves only one thing to do! Tally up one for Museum Replicas.

The score? 1 and 1!

Round 3. Website speed and ease of use.

Click CLICK BO…. woah. Man.. this could take a while.

Okay so I will have to judge preemptively and say that both sites seem a bit dodgy in this arena. Museum Replicas lets you hold your cursor over certain subjects and they cascade down, for ease of navigation. However the cascading parts are transparent and because of this are barely legible.

Heavenly Swords seems to have slow server issues, however it could be just a bad day for them. Both sites lack good search feature, both being slow and hardly ever taking you where you need to go (even if you know a crusader sword is there typing in crusader sword is liable to help much unless you have the secret hand shake.)

Final score? You be the judge. If you are looking for a good wall mounted piece for over the fire place at a great price, check out Heavenly Swords. If, on the other hand, you are a hardcore SCA‘er, you might be more obliged to check out Museum Replicas for their standard of quality; A word to the wise though! It comes with a price tag.

NEXT UP!

VISTA versus LEOPARD

The legendary battle of the Titans rages on and frankly, I doubt any really gives a damn. They both suck! How’d you like them apples (and pcs)?

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Brandon Sanderson is going to finish the Wheel of time!

January 9, 2008 at 10:35 am (Books)

So it has come to my attention that Brandon Sanderson, author of the Elantris Portal, will be taking over for the legendary Robert Jordan, whom recently passed from a rare blood disease, by writing “A Memory of Light” the final chapter in the Wheel of Time. This was announced on December 14th of 2007 officially, by Harriet, Jordan’s wife.

While I am very excited to read how Mr. Sanderson plans upon finishing the epic Wheel of Time series, I am also slightly apprehensive. Jordan brought a world into view that few could possibly imagine without his words to give it that breath of life. He was passion incarnate in his writing and filled his characters with a certain zeal, as if they stood by his shoulder and whispered their story to him. I simply hope that Brandon is up to the task of writing in this style and I will wait to see how he intends to emulate this world of Jordan’s and finish off, the Wheel of time.

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