No Posts Today

Just a heads up there won't be any posting today.  Overtime schedule can make things a little too difficult to balance...

I'd rather put things down than break them trying to juggle.

Probably back tomorrow, or Sunday at the latest.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaack

So.  It's been...quite some time now.  I've quite honestly not had a lot to say, and not a lot of time to say it in.

But maybe, just maybe, it's time to try again.  Because things are...troubling.  Too many people screaming, not enough people thinking.  Thinking's my strong suit--I probably do too much of that.

So I should share some of these thoughts, release-valve style.  Because when one keeps thoughts bottled up too long, they tend to take on a life of their own.

And that's how we end up with random acts of violence.

So sit back, and join the non-existent crowds already enjoying these random acts of ranting (which, I think we can all agree, are far better than violence).

The Problem with Being a Left-Leaning Centrist...

...is that I don't count.

It's not just that interesting rabble, the Tea Party, claiming to be speaking for me and dismissing my opinions as "socialist ravings" when I dissent.  Tho that's the most troublesome, because their "Take no prisoners and poison the wells" approach to politics has EVERYONE terrified.

It's also the fact that I'm too right-wing for the liberal side of the coin.  I'm in favor of slimming down the government, and balancing the budget, and not regulating EVERYTHING.

So.  That leaves me totally unimportant when it comes to the polls that decide things in our 2 party system.

It's sort of sad that one of the few people I know, who actually keeps up on issues and news, has no real voice in today's government.  What to do about this?

Not sure yet.  But something.

Temporary Set Back

So, with the advent of yet another job change, and the latest attempt at earning a college degree, I've found I need to temporary shut down the blog.  Sorry folks :-(  I do have every intention to begin again, once I manage to carve out some more time in my schedule.  Stay tuned for updates!

There's Supposed to be a Post Today...

...but it's the first week of classes.  I didn't do a very good job transitioning, so I'm behind in just about everything.  Including sleep, and feeding.  So bear with me, and tune in starting Sunday to get profiles on the Congressional race in our district!

I've Been Gone...

...but now I'm back.

We've got a serious election coming up in a couple months, one that will decide what direction the country moves in from here on out. So I think it's about time I start looking at issues and candidates a lil harder...and while I'm doing that I might just as well blog about it. Might make life a little easier for all of you, no?

So stay tuned...watch this space on Thursdays for my new posts!

I Lied...

Holiday schedules and work schedules were too much for me this week too, so all I have to say is have a Happy New Year and we'll be back at it soon as possible :-)

Thanks for tuning in this past year, we've had quite a few hits more than I expected!

A Happy Round of Holidays, Whatever Your Flavor

So the Senate finally passes it's health care bill...tho one could argue that might not have been the best outcome after certain Senators decided to gut and mangle it. Is the passing of this bill a Christmas miracle, or a Christmas nightmare?

Only time will tell. Right now, we get to see what happens when the House and Senate sit down to reconcile their two versions...versions that are about as different as they could get.

As for me, I apologize for the unannounced break...but posting will resume on schedule, Tuesday and Thursday, starting next week. Where we'll see what we can do about getting up to speed on this mess that healthcare reform has become.

A happy Boxing Day to all of you!

What My Blog Is All About

Recently there's been some drama as an indirect result of what I do here...and in the course of said drama, it became clear to me my object might not be as clear to the readers as it is to me.

My goal with this blog is to provide information. I strive to keep things fairly balanced, in that I present both sides (as with my post on the casino amendment in recent weeks, for instance). I do this by reading what one side says, then summarizing it on this blog with links. Then, I do the same with the argument against the issue.

Do I put in editorial comments now and then with these summaries? Yes. Yes I do, especially when I feel passionately on a subject. I'm not claiming to be completely unbiased or that I'm presenting a white-washed, edited-by-my-boss product. However, I try to do my best to keep them from clouding the position summary.

After I've done the informational segment, I generally go into detail what I feel on the topic and why. That's just my opinion...I usually work in a line to the effect of "That's my take, now go read up on it yourself." I don't think I've ever presented my little soap box messages as the truth on a subject, nor have I posted ONLY my opinion and passed it off as information.

It's pretty simple. A lot of people do what I do...and really, the professional services do it better (which is why I link to them all the time). But what a lot of the professional news companies can't do so well is present issues with a local perspective, from a living room that probably isn't much different than yours.

That's what this blog is all about.

Post on the Health Care Bill in the House Coming...

I promise. It'll be up by this afternoon.

Election 2009 Lists

I had hoped to start posting election stuff this week...but it's just not gonna happen. Honestly, I won't have much to offer this time around...but with a little luck, I can start priming my pump so you'll be able to find some good stuff for the 2010 elections, when we've got some national offices up for grabs.

At any rate, start watching this space on Tuesday for a list of races and candidates across the county!

Silence is Golden...

...but not on a blog, typically.

In today's installment, I offer a prologue to my return to blogging!

A new election season is coming up, and I've done nothing in the way of informing anyone (including myself) about it. And there's been some fun stuff in state and national news that I've let slip by unremarked (Ohio budget crisis, anyone? Healthcare reform? A rather bizarre Nobel Peace Prize?)

I'm gonna start being better at this whole regularity thing. If anyone knows of a "blogger's Metamucil," let me know. 'cause I know from past experiences I'm gonna need the help!

Watch this space, Tuesdays and Thursdays, for informative updates.

Swine Flu

ok, I suck. I'm trying to gather details and put a story together on this...but it's hard, ok? lol

Tune back in later tonight or tomorrow and I'll have it.

Technology FAIL

So, I updated here on Monday morning, from work. Via my phone. Or, so I thought.

In reality, I just sent the update to a long-inactive personal blog. I love it when I set up preferences correctly.

At any rate, apologies. Profuse ones. But now I must go and write tomorrow's post...so bear with me.

I Should Have an Update...

...but I spent the weekend breaking up with my girlfriend. So...yeah, no blogging got done, sorry.

However, I think I'll be back up to speed by Wednesday's posting time, so bear with me.

Thanks for checking in.

So I Goofed

Thursday and Friday...my arm was in no shape to type. I wasn't up to it, bluntly put. So...yeah. That's what happened. My apologies. This upcoming week shall be better, no least of all because there's a special election/primary coming up!

New Format?

I don't know about a new format, but I am trying to take things in a different direction. I've had one vision in my head about this blog for the past four months or so, and it hasn't been easy to do for a lot of reasons. Mostly because I'm not that interested in what the vision was...go figure that one.

So now, instead of having some bizarre mix of civics, non-politics, and semi news that I write up on a weekly basis I'll be trying to take a more spontaneous, opinionated approach. We'll see how that works...maybe it'll keep my interest a little better, and by extrapolation YOUR interest. Since that's kinda the part that matters.

Thanks for checking in!

Vacation

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of posts the past two weeks.

I'm currently on vacation, visiting family in Colorado. That meant no time for posting this past weekend.

The weekend before, when I should have been creating filler material? I was off travelling, visiting a friend of mine who's going to be vanishing off to sea for nine months.

So...poor planning means I've let you blog readers down. But on the plus side, I think my priorities aren't TOO much outta whack.

Thanks for the patience, and regular posting will resume next week!---John

...back at it again?

So in the process of getting a second job, it took quite a while to get the hang of time management. It took even longer to realize that sometimes, it's not enough to manage your time...sometimes, you have to manage your schedule.

Add those realizations to the sheer task of trying to report on the election...even in a casual way...I became beyond overwhelmed, and shut down.

So if anyone is still reading this, my apologies. I've got a few ideas for a more interactive blog, and hope you'll come along for the ride as I try to keep up on world events as well as national, state, and local politics!

Thanks for the patience, kids.

I also want to apologize to the annonymous commentor who kept trying to share information, but had their comments get caught in my moderation filter/double shift timewarp. I've since changed the settings so that all comments will get through the first time you try and post.

...though that doesn't mean I won't delete them after the fact if you get out of hand ;-)

Power Outages and Such

So the plan was the take Monday and finish up the posts for the week...but thanks to the windstorms and subsequent power outages, that did not happen.

My apologies for the week of silence...I hope not one was put out very much.

In other news, I've picked up a second job. I went into greater detail on my coffee blog, "In Search of the Right Blend" over here, but suffice it to say a couple-nights-a-week job has started to spiral into a 1/2 to 3/4 time gig. This means much less time to dedicate to blogging.

I'm scaling back operations to posting only twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Otherwise, there shouldn't be any changes (except for maybe improved quality with fewer posts to put out each week...I'll let you judge that).

Thanks for the eyeballs, folks, and I hope you don't find the time wasted!