The coming Voice over IP wars.

Voice over IP is essentially when one can use the Internet with their phone service. Why would someone want to do this? Well, for starters POTS and residential phone service has lots of taxes and surcharges, and is more expensive overall. VOIP is much cheaper and easier to manage.

This leads us to Vonage, a new startup VOIP company. Vonage is being pressured to sell itself. I really hope they do not, as the world has enough goliath telecom companies, and I think they are positioned quite nicely to grow and become one on their own.

MCI & Verizon are becoming one. SBC purchasing AT&T does not help competition.

Consolidation is bad for consumers, and when does it become an anti trust issue? Seeing Microsoft and their desktop Operating System monopoly reminds me our government really doesn't mind such things.

You may now NOT kiss the bride

Remind your friends never to get married in India, as its indecent to kiss one's spouse at your wedding.

Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

There is more to the season than Hurricanes

While we continue to make progress with the blackmailing Kim Il Sung, very little attention is being paid to the continuing progress Iran is making towards being a Nuclear Power.

There is no doubt at all that Iran is in breach of its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The problem we have is Russia, China, and others simply do not care, as they don't view Iran as a threat, and have no ties to peace in the Middle East.

Katrina is a tragedy, but Iran handing nukes to terrorist groups is 100 times more dangerous and something that is not getting enough attention.

The heat is on!

Go Tribe!!!

Toda Raba, Simon

Goodbye, Mr Wiesenthal, at the young age of 89.

What guy would fight changing this law?

Not quite modest, but hey, if it works in Europe....I personally wouldn't mind, but the zealouts might freak!

Profootballtalk props

I must say Profootballtalk.com has quickly become one of my favorite sites for the merging of humor and simple common sense analysis of the daily events in the NFL.

Hopefully they won't follow the path of so many other good sites and change what they do well in order to grow.

One comment they have which is interesting is in regards to Coach Mike Tice, whom I believe is a good coach, but has been struggling this season. PFT thinks he should be canned, and will be if he goes 0-4. I personally believe coaching turnover mid season is foolish, and that sort of change will probably torpedo a potential playoff teams chances.

The problem with the Vikings are solely on the shoulders of Dante Culpepper. He played horribly last week, and was even worse this week against a Cinci D that hardly inspires fear around the league. If you turn the ball over, you lose. Period. In week one and two the Vikes have been a turnover machine, and are their own worst enemies.

Perhaps Tice should consider showing Culpepper to the bench, and bringing in Brad Johnson. He doesn't give you the firepower, but he doesn't have happy feet and knows how to hold on to the rock.

The same old North Korean song and dance

North Korean agreed on Monday to stop developing Nukes and to allow inspectors general (I now subscribe to the ever evolving methodology of Bush speak!) in. Of course North Korea received cash and an agreement that we wouldn't go Saddam on them.

However, didn't Bubba send the peanut farmer to accomplish this same thing in the 90s, with the result being similar to trying to negotiate actual peace with the PLO?

So, like when President Clinton succeeded in the 90s, we have a nice signed piece of paper to assure us that Kim Il-Sung won't develop nukes.

Why do I feel nothing has really been accomplished?

Ohio taxes going up, pork also rises

Following an interesting post from Instapundit, I investigated how Ohio is doing spending wise. Well, according to a CAGW report we have $3.5 billion in Pork spending!

Source is here

This includes:

$2.14 million by the Department of Agriculture to provide research and marketing to local wine makers.

$250,000 by the Cultural Facilities Commission on a museum of rock music and memorabilia.

$200,030 from the Board of Regents to the Canadian Studies Center at Bowling Green State University.

A good day for Ohio in the NFL!

Both the Bengals and Browns paste a nice big W and answer many questions.

Now, if we could only get OSU to stick with one QB, things would be grand!

This is another strange year in the NFL, where it's hard to determine how things will turn out. The Bengals appear very strong. The Ravens who were touted as a probable Super Bowl team appear old and tired. Pittsburgh seems strong, but it'll be interesting to see how they'll do against a dangerous New England team that was outplayed in Carolina and behind the 8 ball for home field advantage.

Peyton Manning is playing anemic. Trent Dilfer is playing strong. Who'd a thunk?

The only thing I know for sure is Minnesota is most certainly not a better team without Randy Moss.

Ohio considering privatizing workers comp

Ohio is one of only five states that completely controls workers compensation. Given everyone else has privatized this, and it's a simple fact that doing so is much cheaper this is way, way overdue.

Nice to see after 200+ years, some branches of Ohio government are finally learning competition tends to make things cheaper, better, and more efficient.

Not making Ohio safer, at all

My state friends ovr at Buckeye Firearms Association have a pleading title on their site that states they are "Making a difference, by making Ohio safer...."

Wow, lets take a look at this closer, shall we? Nationwide there are over 200,000 gun related accidents a year. There are over 30,000 gun fatalities per year. That's a lot of people who aren't very safe, I think.

But we NEED them for defense! These guns keep us safe!

Wrong.

The simple fact is a gunowner is 12 times more likely to kill a family member than an intruder.

I guess our friends should consider changing their title to reflect they in truth promote a much less safe Ohio.

Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association Open letter

Being a gamer, I am following the A.B. 1179 but not closely. It is supposed to ensure that kids do not get adult games. I personally do not have a problem with it, but below is the very interesting counter attack to A.B. 1179. Below is the retailers response.

I doubt the Governator will veto it, but he has surprised me in the past.

Re: Veto Request for A.B. 1179

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

The Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) is the non-profit trade organization representing the leading retailers of computer and video game products in the United States. IEMA member companies collectively account for almost 75% of the $10 billion annual games business in the U.S. The IEMA, and the retailers we represent in the State of California, respectfully urge you to veto A.B. 1179.

IEMA members take the issue of retailer enforcement of policies inhibiting the sale or rental of "Mature" rated games to minors very seriously; however, we do not believe that legislation is the answer. The IEMA believes that A.B. 1179 is unnecessary, as retailers are firmly committed to voluntarily enforcing and promoting the video game rating system. Second, legislation cannot and will not replace the ultimate role and responsibility of parents in their duty to raise their children, and this bill usurps the rights of parents by restricting minors' access to certain games, even if parents have approved them for their child. Further, federal courts have consistently recognized that video games are constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the restrictions in this bill impermissibly run afoul of that protection. Finally, the bill provides no meaningful standards to assist in determining whether games would fall within the legislation's purview.

What's wrong with science?

I've noticed this article from the Guardian is getting a lot of attention from bloggers and papers. It essentially puts science on a pedestal and blames the big, bad media for overhyping and stupefying scientific issues.

However, the media are there to sell their stories, and accuracy has never been very important. It is a bit ironic for The Guardian, the bastion of media bias and unfair reporting, to complain about the lack of honesty in regards to any type of reporting.

Academia and Science are a bit different than mainstream America in that their work is not black and white. We'll have to forgive them if they make molehills into mountains or try to push one sided viewpoints to support things that are dodgy at best. It's tough work guessing about so many things and making it look scientific!

The Battle of Ohio - NFL Week 1

Kickoff weekend in the NFL! What better way to start then Ohio versus Ohio.

As an Ohio guy, and one who has lived in Cincinnati, but now resides near Cleveland it was fun watching our teams battle each other.

Cincinnati is a great example of a team that has been built from the ground up and is getting better each year as it continues to mold itself in the image Marv Lewis envisions. The Cinci offense was rolling, but there was cause for concern about a few boneheaded Carson Palmer plays. The turnovers need to be fixed.

Cleveland had a few flashes of brilliance, but otherwise was mired in mediocrity. Their schemes were good, and Droughns especially looked good but they were overmatched.

The Browns are clearly a rebuilding team, especially on D where Palmer and Rudi Johnson had their way, and probably could've tagged 40+ on them if not for turnovers.

The Bengals still cannot stop the run and that must be addressed if they want to be better than a .500 ballclub at the end of the year.

The good news for Romeo Crennel is the other newbee coaches around the league are already winning, so if he can scheme well enough and figure out how to get a mediocre defense to step it up, the Browns can win some games this year.

Battle of Ohio Round one to the Bengals!

Ohio helps after Katrina

The aftermath of Katrina and New Orleans cascades through Ohio

People throughout Ohio face the problems of relatives and friends looking for help and shelter following their losses from Katrina, as well as those working to help rescue and support the city after the devastation

In Toledo, Terri Dandridge has 18 people living in her 3 bedroom, 1 bath house, including her ex husband from New Orleans, who apparently won’t be providing child support

Schools around Dayton have enrolled children and expect many more, from military families coming to Wright Pat Air Force Base.

Also, Wright Pat Airmen were among the rescuers in New Orleans, and airlifted over 100 medical people from New Orleans to Nashville. The rescuers included 445th Airlift Wing and nine critical-care specialists from the 88th Medical Group

In Sycamore Township, Floyd Willians has taken in 28 relatives whom have lost everything and are currently living in his three bedroom house. Nearby, Mike and Darlene Rutledge have 10 additional family members currently staying in their two bedroom apartm

Over three hundred Ohio National Guardsmen of the 1st Battalion of the 148th Infantry  from Cleveland have been working this week to help ease the suffering in New Orleans, by aiding in the evacuation and helping to feed the remaining people.

Katrina's Aftermath

Watching the devastation in the wake of Katrina was brutal. Watching the political fingerpointing and blame game, leaves me to believe partisan politics is alive and well, regardless of the catastrope or setting.

I've watched numerous interviews all condemning the war in Iraq and the shortfall of Guardsmen in the US as the cause for the lack of quick response to the hurricane

A great response to this has been posted here.

So is the war in Iraq causing troop shortfalls for hurricane relief in New Orleans?

In a word, no. This from NRO

A look at the numbers should dispel that notion. Take the Army for example. There are 1,012,000 soldiers on active duty, in the Reserves, or in the National Guard. Of them, 261,000 are deployed overseas in 120 countries. Iraq accounts for 103,000 soldiers, or 10.2 percent of the Army.

That’s all? Yes, 10.2 percent. That datum is significant in itself, a good one to keep handy the next time someone talks about how our forces are stretched too thin, our troops are at the breaking point, and so forth. If you add in Afghanistan (15,000) and the support troops in Kuwait (10,000) you still only have 12.6 percent.

So where are the rest? 751,000 (74.2 percent) are in the U.S. About half are active duty, and half Guard and Reserve. The Guard is the real issue of course — the Left wants you to believe that the country has been denuded of its citizen soldiers, and that Louisiana has suffered inordinately because Guardsmen and women who would have been available to be mobilized by the state to stop looting and aid in reconstruction are instead risking their lives in Iraq.

Now, I believe Chertoff and Michael Brown do need to explain why the response was what it was, but it's a shame that the media is spending so much of their time allowing a few fringe people to play the blame game, versus looking at the reality of the situation, and the fact we should be coming together to repair after a devastating natural disaster.