Select Networking

The conservative movement has borrowed from the progressive and communist ideologies.  Gary North makes a strong case for further reform in the conservative movement to get back to the ideas of liberty and limited government.  Well worth the read!

Communism for Conservatives by Gary North

Logos Bible Software is giving away
thousands of dollars of prizes to celebrate the launch of Logos Bible Software 4 Mac on October 1. Prizes include an iMac, a MacBook Pro, an iPad, an iPod Touch, and more than 100 other prizes!

They’re also having a special limited-time sale on their Mac and PC base packages and upgrades. Check it out!

CNN has reported that the U.N. is putting the brakes on funding wind farms in China under a carbon credit scheme that has all the appearances of a scam.

With the knowledge that scientists have been cooking the books and that carbon credits are nothing but a giant Ponzi scheme, one wonders how long the charade can last.  Politicians are lining up at the trough.  In the West, they have to leave the government to really make the big bucks, which is where we see Al Gore.  Theft through taxes was not enough for these guys.  So there is collusion between the West, the East and countries in between.  A new way to get money away from the people and into the pockets of dictators and corrupt regimes.  If you’re like China, you can get huge sums of money to ensure that you go along with any other climate change talks.

Don’t believe that a lot of money is involved, then take a look at this:

China has earned 153m carbon credits, worth more than $1bn and making up almost half of the total issued under the UN-run programme in the past five years, according to a Financial Times analysis. The credits are currently trading at about $10-$15 each.

Will anything be agreed in Copenhagen next year?  Follow the money and it will tell you that economic disaster will be the result…and yes, the politicians are already bought and paid for…stories like this will be buried within a couple of weeks.

Word 2007 has been driving me mad!  Since getting a Vista machine and installing Office 2007 on it, I’ve generally had a good time.  I actually like Vista and believe that the problems have been way overblown.  But…the problem that was driving me crazy was that I couldn’t open a Word document through a web browser or through Windows Explorer or off the desktop without first having Word open!

Word would launch just fine…but the document could not be found by Windows…or so the message said.  I though perhaps it was because Works shipped with the computer and was still installed.  Removed it and the problem was still there.  I read a post that said that it was probably caused by plug-ins.  Removed them all and the problem continued.

I finally ran across a great blog that had the solution!  A few minutes working with the registry and all was fixed.  I can now launch Word and have the document open up without having to click on it a second time.  This fix was for the z-order of open windows, but resolves the problem that I was experiencing, perhaps it will help you if you have the same problem.

The blog shows how to disable the DDE keys in Word for both .doc and .docx and inserts the “%1” parameter for the file to open.  A hearty thanks to Rafael for posting this on his blog!  Here are the links:

Taming Microsoft Word 2007’s File Associations and Document Windows, Part One

Taming Microsoft Word 2007’s File Associations and Document Windows, Part Two

The Washington Examiner has an article that has been linked from Drudge about the D.C. Police Chief calling iPhone users ‘cowardly’ for monitoring speed traps.
One would think that slowing speeders down would be a good thing, but no…it’s now cowardly to slow down.  Speed limits are big money for a lot of communities.  It’s not safety first in those areas.  It’s no surprise, when it comes time for a raise they can always state that it is really “revenue-neutral” and not really taking more money from the tax payers.  Speed traps are just another way of taking hard earned money away from the people.  Anything that keeps that money in the pockets of those who have earned it should be applauded.  The fact that speeders are slowing down is a side benefit of this iPhone app…not something that is cowardly or unjust.  D.C. really needs a new police chief.

There are a couple of apps, one of them is Trapster.  People report the locations of cameras and traps so that other users will slow down and avoid a ticket.  This is social networking at its finest where others are influencing the behavior of their online friends…to follow the rules and slow down.  Sad to see that law enforcement is against that.

There’s some talk over Amazon shutting down its affiliate program in North Carolina.  North Carolina is trying to find ways to increase revenue and have decided to try to go after online merchants.  In Amazon’s case, NC says it has a presence in the state due to the number of affiliates that it has in the state.

What’s a company to do?  Amazon did the right thing in protecting its customers.  NC did the wrong thing in trying to steal more money from its citizens.  It’s not surprising to see what some of the states will do to create more revenue.  They should set priorities, cut spending and eliminate programs instead.

June 19th marks the emancipation of slaves in Texas.  Liberty is something to be protected and this is a great day to think about the state of liberty in our country.
James Aalan Bernsen has written a short article about the history of Juneteenth at the Texas Republic News. 

Finally, belatedly, but justly, freedom came to all Texans on Juneteenth. As history has proven time and time again, the truth failed to live up to the ideal, but nonetheless, the biggest step had been taken.

Paul Crowe has a great article at The Kneeslider in which he discusses how the government would like you to help purchase a motorcycle for your neighbor.  He’s able to summarize what’s going on very succinctly:

Frederic Bastiat once said, “Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.” Unfortunately, we are now living in this fictitious world, or at least, many people are trying to make it come true.

Thanks to Dustin for sending me the link.

In a move that should not surprise anyone, a well-known Republican Senator has requested Congress to look at reimposing a national speed limit.
He didn’t cite any Constitutional reasoning for his request, just that he would like to see Americans cut fuel consumption and that Congress should have the power to force whatever it wants on the people.
One wonders what the country is coming to when the party of Reagan starts talking this way. Perhaps the States should stop pretending that they have power and just cede all territory and power to the central government. They seem to know what’s best and the Republicans and Democrats are comrades in strengthening that power.

This article in the New York Times should give us pause for thought. If the story is true, our government is about to enter into an arrangement with Europe that will give them access to our private information.
It is only fair to give them the same information that we request, but one wonders if it is a wise move and if we know all the ramifications.
Our government, who wishes to have more private data from Europe, is the same government who lost laptops with Social Security numbers on them. The same government who cannot keep its mouth shut concerning who works at the CIA, who is “a person of interest” in an anthrax investigation, and the list goes on and on of abuses to privacy from the local level all the way to the federal level.
Perhaps people have nothing to hide and they grant their neighbors, extended families, and friends access to their bank accounts, credit card statements, email, and personal buying habits. I would suggest that you should trust this group of people more and allow them easier access to information than the government.
I don’t trust very many people with personal data and don’t trust the government with any personal data.