I received an email today, addressed to our son Alex, from the owner of the fantasy football site that is hosting our family league this season. Apparently, he has been chosen as one of 20 finalists for “Best Team Name”! How fun!
His team is The Determinators. If you go to this link, you can select his team name from the list and click submit. Right now he’s in second place (it’s early, but apparently other people besides his family are voting for him) 😉
The top five vote-getters will receive an NFL mini-helmet of their choice. (He’d love that!) And, it’s just fun.
Oh, I neglected to mention… not only does he apparently have the coolest team name in our league of eight teams… he’s also leading it, and currently undefeated!!!. (But, he’s playing my team this week, so… better watch out!) 🙂
So, if you have a moment, please click the link and vote for Alex. Thanks!
I know that might sound funny, if you know anything about CDBaby.com… “Of COURSE they sell music… that’s what they DO!!”
But, my point is: They really do.
I was on their site today checking up on our account with them and not only is their site just magnificent in its usability (and now it’s design, too!) I was also able to see very easily what we have sold, what’s in stock, and THAT we have sold more music via CDBaby (and their digital distribution of our music) maybe even than through our own website!
Check out the stats in that graphic… $111 Million sent to artists (that wasn’t all to us…) 😉 That’s pretty cool. And their service is pretty top-notch still, considering the number of artists they are helping now. They really do good work.
So if you are an artist, definitely check them out. Very worth every penny you spend (and it’s really not many pennies!) If you just like music, check it out, too. Lots of great stuff on their site. We found a band we really like there, the Stewart-Mayfield Project. Tons and tons more.
The Bills take on the Patriots in the first game of the Monday Night Football double-header tonight. The Bills had a lackluster preseason (that’s putting it nicely) and thus many Bills fans have given up on the team before they have even played a down!
I, of course, being a BIG Bills Fan have not, and spelled out some of the reasons why in an article I published today at my BleacherReport.com page. The title? Just Who Are The 2009 Buffalo Bills Anyway?
We’ll find out tonight, I think. I’m hoping they’re the really fun, high-scoring team they could be. I’m neither optimistic nor pessimistic about that… mostly curious.
And excited that Bills football is here!
Go Bills!
(And if you’re a fellow Bills fan, or even just an NFL fan, do click the link to the Bleacher Report article. Don’t make me post it twice…) 😉
I mentioned in my previous post that one of my “qualities” is that I can truly give people the benefit of the doubt. I presume the best of intentions from everyone (perhaps because I know my heart, and I only have the best of intentions for everyone I know – and don’t know – around me) and that extends even to people whom I disagree with.
Like our current president, Barack Obama.
I really don’t agree with anything he is doing or wants to do with our government, but if you have time to listen to what he says (and, if you actually do listen to what he says) in the full version of the speech I mentioned previously, perhaps you’ll agree with me that perhaps Obama shouldn’t be in the office of President, but would be more suited as an “activist” or whatever you want to call such a person? Someone like Martin Luther King, Jr… who did not hold any political office, but was superb at championing the rights of people who were not being treated equally, as our Declaration of Independence declares that we do.
If you listen to his words… he’s right. America can be changed (for the good) from the ground up. There’s the key. And perhaps even he has missed it. (Which is one reason why I still have some reluctance to believe what he says…) The key is from the ground up. As president, he is trying to affect change from the top down. Making government policies to mobilize the citizenry to “community service” is more coercive than culture changing. Sure, good things may happen, but people aren’t responding to the “call to service” … they are responding the the authority of the government.
I really don’t think that funding such endeavors with people’s tax money (money that is required to be given) will ultimately affect the change he wants. (Also, I know that we do not HAVE the money he is wanting to invest in these programs. National debt is off-the-charts ridiculous, and the deficit (expenses vs income) is equally ridiculous, even though we the people are also ridiculously overtaxed in every way.)
I believe Barack Obama could be (maybe is?) a great leader of people from the ground up. But perhaps he would be more effective in doing that in a non-governmental role? He may get that chance in 2012 … I don’t think he’ll disappear from the public scene any time soon. Maybe if someone else were to take his place as president, he could affect the change in thinking that he seems to want to bring to America – a more involved, others-oriented way of doing life.
That would not be a bad thing. Let’s just not have the government mandate it.
I’ve heard this audio clip a few times, so I looked it up and found this YouTube clip. What is he talking about? Seriously? Isn’t our military the most well-funded in the world? First, where will he get the money to equal or best that funding for a “civilian national security force” (there are some sources given in the volokh.com link below), and, second… what in the world is that most-well-funded-security-force-in-the-world for? Why not just bolster military funding?
To me… this is a very troubling sound clip. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, so perhaps the wording he chose was just, well, poorly chosen. From what I’ve found, he does just want to get people more involved in community service. But why call it a “national security force”? Again, it’s still troubling… but here are some more links for you to research for yourself.
UPDATE: After listening to the full-length speech below, it definitely does give more context. One thing is for sure about Barack Obama… he can definitely deliver a prepared speech. In context, in summary, his desire is to motivate each citizen of our country to give their time to helping other people, doing things that serve the community. Those two lines from the video above are a very poor choice of words (at least). I still do not agree with most of what the president has done (ridiculous “stimulus” package using money that doesn’t exist, managing/interfering with private industry (auto industry), and a tax-funded health care system – which is now apparently “on hold“) but I would say in the context of this one political speech, Obama’s remarks are less cause for concern.
While listening to an episode of MacBreak Weekly, one of their frequent tangents took them to a service offered by a bank that I hadn’t ever heard of: deposit from home.
As a self-employed web design guy, I often get payments in the form of checks. The craziest thing in the world to me is that in this electronic age, I have to wait up to four or five days after I deposit those checks to received the funds for them. Really? That’s the best you can do?
Clients also pay me via PayPal, which is cool because the funds are instantly available via PayPal’s debit card option. I appreciate that, but there are limitations and fees that make some instant access to my money, well, bothersome. Why can’t I just have my money?
Well this bank, USAA, offers a service called Deposit@Home that allows you to scan checks, submit them with your deposit via the website, and… here’s the kicker… the funds are available to you instantly! Really! Isn’t that how it should be?
Needless to say, I am intrigued. I will be looking into this bank’s services for that feature alone. Fantastic.
In other news… the amazing little internet telephony app Skype could be in serious trouble. With a court date set for June 2010 according to this article, there is a good possibility that there may be no Skype after that date.
There appear to be questions as to who owns what. Hopefully they can be resolved in the courts or before the two parties get there. I like Skype…
An interesting overview of various forms of government throughout history, focusing on what our nation’s founders created and what we have today.
A woman asked Benjamin Franklin what the writers of the constitution had given them to which he responded, “A republic, Ma’am, if you can keep it.” Current events may suggest that we are losing (or perhaps have already lost?) that form of government. Watch the video and see what you think.
Link credit goes to my dad, who is often passing along such videos and other web links. 🙂
If you are new to the GregsHead.net scene, you may not have seen/heard/noticed that if you are a regular Amazon.com shopper, with a simple click of any Amazon link here, you can get what you are looking for, AND help to support the free-to-you service of this weblog. It’s a fantastic “win-win”! 🙂
I received an email from Amazon today reminding me that they have gift cards, and I thought I’d pass that reminder along to you. Amazon literally has everything under the sun. I’m pretty sure that’s not an exaggeration. And they often have the best prices. So a gift card lets your beloved recipient get 1) whatever they want and 2) more of it … in whatever amount you’d like to give them. You can choose to send an email code (redeemable immediately, or delivered on a specific day and time) or print out a certificate and mail it or deliver it to them in person. Very cool.
So, if you’re looking for a gift to give someone… Amazon Gift Cards are a pretty cool option! (And we thank you for you clicks!)
(NOTE: you can always click through the banners at the top of the page, or the search box at the top of the right sidebar column. Every bit is appreciated!)
Radio/TV talk show host, Glenn Beck, posted a list of the (currently) 32 czars that have been collected from “media reports from reputable sources that have identified the official in question as a czar.” It’s a fascinating list that I hope to read in more detail later today.
The reason I am posting it is that I am still so confused by two things. First, why is Obama hiring these people to lead various departments and task forces and such… don’t we elect people to do that? How can he use taxpayer money (some of these czars’ salaries are listed in the page linked above) to pay these people that only report to him, not to the American people? Where are the checks and balances?
Second… why would anyone want to use the word “CZAR“??? Only has negative connotations in my head! (Even crazier… read the “American” portion of that wikipedia link… these are not our first “czars”.)
So, check out the list and, well, pass it along. We are still “we the people”.
I received an email today, addressed to our son Alex, from the owner of the fantasy football site that is hosting our family league this season. Apparently, he has been chosen as one of 20 finalists for “Best Team Name”! How fun!
