I vehemently opposed Barrack Obama and shudder to think what the country will look like if the GOP doesn’t get their act together and defeat him in November. I recognize that Obama’s policies that shut down oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and squashing the Keystone Pipeline (so that his buddy Warren Buffett could profit) have contributed to more than doubling the average national price per gallon since he took office.

So I chuckled a little when I saw Matt Margolis‘ resharing of a friend’s Facebook photo:

The day Barack Obama took office gas was $1.86/gallon

100% true. Or, as they say in philosophy, a “fact”. As I write this, the current national average price for one gallon of unleaded gasoline in the United States is $3.72/gallon, which represents a 100% increase since January 20, 2009. In an election year, this would be a great truth to tout if you’re running against the president:

(Terrible ad, by the way, not because of the facts or juxtaposing Obama’s “singing while America burns” innuendo, but because ultimately it’s ineffective and bland.)

Here is the chart as the GOP would have you read it:

Average National Gas Prices Since Obama Took Office (Source: Bloomberg)

But I did a little digging… look at the graph if you include the previous two years of the Bush presidency:

Average National Gas Prices Since 2007 (Source: Bloomberg)

Or, if you’d like a more infographic-y, partisan look at things:

Average National Gas Prices Since 2007 (Source: Bloomberg) (Shading: Me)

You’ll notice that in July of 2008, gas prices peaked at $4.11, 15 cents a gallon higher than the peak under Barrack Obama and 39 cents more per gallon than today’s rate. You’ll also notice that immediately after that, on July 14, 2008, after President Bush lifted the offshore drilling ban, gas prices plummeted to the $1.86 aforementioned the day he left office. Otherwise, prices had trended upward steadily throughout his administration.

Although you begin to see prices trend upward almost immediately upon Obama’s taking the oath of office, you’ll notice the sharp increase at the May, 2008 mark. That’s when his administration placed a moratorium on all offshore drilling in the wake of the British Petroleum oil spill immediately prior. But, take out the dip in late 2008 and you have two surprisingly similar graphs.

I’ve never really been a fan of Dubya or his father, as I’ve always considered them to be RINOs, and not-at-all as Conservative as they might claim to be, and I certainly don’t want Obama to be re-elected, but selectively using data like this is disingenuous and unnecessarily partisan.

President Obama’s policies (as opposed to his speeches and positions, of which there are many and most people don’t believe) have weakened the dollar, emboldened and appeased Arab countries and squashed all attempts to decrease our country’s dependence on OPEC country’s oil, all of which have lead to ever increasing prices at the pump. It’s even been speculated that the national average price per gallon could go as high as $6/gallon!

Speaker Newt Gringrich (whom Margolis supports) gave an excellent point-by-point rebuttal to President Obama’s recent speech on energy policy to the California Republican Party:

The above is an excellent rebuttal, the terrible, echoing audio notwithstanding, and I can fully support the Republican’s “all of the above” plan.

The original developers of the personality inventory were Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers. They began creating the indicator during World War II, believing that a knowledge of personality preferences would help women who were entering the industrial workforce for the first time to identify the sort of war-time jobs where they would be “most comfortable and effective”. The initial questionnaire grew into the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which was first published in 1962. The MBTI focuses on normal populations and emphasizes the value of naturally occurring differences.

I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment again in October, 2010, and the results, shown below, indicate that my MBTI type is ESTJ, which stands for Extroverted, Thinking, Sensing and Judging.

Where I focus my attention: Extroversion

People who prefer Extroversion tend to focus their attention on the outer world of people and things.

The way I take in information: Sensing

People who prefer Sensing tend to take in information through the five sense and focus on the here and now.

The way I make decisions: Thinking

People who prefer Thinking tend to make decisions based primarily on logic and on objective analysis of cause and effect.

How I deal with the outer world: Judging

People who prefer Judging tend to like a planned and organized approach to life and prefer to have things settled.

ESTJ  Description

• Decisive, clear and assertive
• Logical, analytical and objectively critical
• Adept at organizing projects, procedures and people
• Likely to value competence, efficiency and results
• Likely to prefer proven systems and procedures
• Focused on the present, applying relevant past experience to deal with problems
• Usually seen by others as conscientious, dependable, decisive, outspoken and self-confident

I’d say that pretty well describes me, would you agree?

• Romney: Typical politician – Has no core convictions. Will say or do anything to get elected, rich enough to think he can buy the election. That said, I predict he’ll win the nomination after the South Carolina primary is a few weeks.
• Gingrich: Consummate legislator with too much personal baggage and a history of condescension and self-interest. Then again, everyone says he’s mellowed as he’s gotten older.
• Ron Paul: Right on fiscal policy and illegal immigration, totally wrong on everything else.
• Santorum: Knee-jerk reactionary. Religious crusader. Hot-headed.
• Bachmann: Social conservative. I hate social conservatives. (Well I don’t hate them, per se, I just don’t want them to ever hold office.)
• Perry: George W. Bush, Jr.
• Huntsman: Who?
• Roemer: My state’s former governor. Ran as a Democrat, then changed to a Republican while in office. As Louisiana politicians go, I’ve seen much worse. Doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in Hell.

I’m hearing this morning that Santorum is surging and may even possibly win or come in second to Romney in Iowa. I shudder to think what would happen to this country if he were ever elected president. In the past, I’ve said that I’ll vote for a wet cardboard box if it won the GOP nomination this year, and I would, but it Santorum is nominated, I may just stay home November 4th or write in Reagan’s corpse on the ballot.

Ron Paul is never going to win the nomination. Let’s face it. The Tea Party is against him. The Republican “establishment” is against him. The Religious Right is against him. Jews are against him. Liberals love him. Muslims love him. Pro-abortion feminists don’t hate him. His foreign policy views are antithetical. Let’s face it – He’s not a Republican! He’s a Libertarian! Let him run as a Libertarian and throw the election to Obama.

Santorum is probably surging because Romney’s attacks on Gingrich worked, and Santorum is the new anti-Romney. Most Republicans are evangelical Christians, and Romney is a Mormon, and they can’t stand that. That’s the plain, ugly, unvarnished truth.

Me? Of the current field, I’d settle for Gingrich or Romney. Warts and all, either one of them would be better than Obama. If either one wins in November, put Paul in charge of the Federal Reserve and Bachmann in charge of the Internal Revenue Service.

As for the general election, I see Romney being nominated, and winning against Obama in a two-way fight. If Paul continues to run, after Romney wins the nomination, I see four more years of Obama in the White House.

God, am I going to have to move out of the country?

Susan brought “Allie” up to work with her, contained in a large cardboard box with a towel over the top, along with some food and water, and placed it alongside her desk, to take care of it while she worked. This was when Alexander and I first met.

A few days later, we had to change the name from “Allie” to “Alexander” when it became clear the kitten was a boy-cat. A few days after that, and I was taking Alexander home to meet Samantha, and I was wary of how, or even if, they would hit it off.

It turns out I needn’t have worried. Although the veterinarian suggested it might take a few days of smelling each other underneath the door, by the next morning Alexander was cuddling up to his new surrogate mother.

Alex was always a climber. When he was still a small kitten, he would lunge and latch his claws into my jeans (or underwear), scurry up the back of my t-shirt and stand, triumphantly, on my shoulders or sometimes, on the very top of my head. Soon, he was climbing up kitchen counters, dressers, the top shelves of closets, on top of the refrigerator… When I bought a carpet-covered climbing tree that braced itself against the eight foot-tall ceiling, he would scurry up and down it like you and I open doors.

Alex also liked to hide in dark places. One day, again while still a kitten, I came home and was unable to find him. Imagine my shock when I realized he’d climbed up into the very back of my recliner! He continued to hide in that small space until he became too big to fit through the small flap at the bottom of the recliner that gave him access to the stuffing. Another time, I woke up to find he’d not only gotten under the covers with me, but he’d crawled down to the very bottom of the bed and curled up next to my feet. And just a few days ago, he’d wrapped himself in my quilts and blankets on the floor at the bottom of the bed.

Alex and I have always been cuddle-buddies. He would curl up next to my face, or underneath my arm, or between my legs, when we slept. As I’m a flip-flopper when I’m asleep, he would frequently grumble as I switched positions for yet another time.

But we loved each other… Once, I woke up to feel his raspy, tongue against my scalp, and I realized he was giving me a bath, as a sign of affection.

To those who didn’t know him, all this sounds like a sweet, pleasant cat, but Alex was often what I called a “little stinker!” When he was about 9 months old, I took him to the vet to be neutered, and they called me to come pick him up the next day, telling me, “We’re scared of him!”

Alex (and Sammie) have their full claws, and Alex could charge and hiss and spit like no other, even at the very last. Once, when my sister and a friend helped me move from one apartment to another, we’d moved all of the furniture and things out of the bedroom where the cats were, and when it was time to move the cats, Alex had to be covered in a blanket and hurled into the carrier, but not before severely scratching my sister. That night, he was given the nickname, “Psycho Cat”, and no one but myself was ever allowed in his territory.

He could also shed that beautiful, grey hair like no other cat I’ve seen. When I washed my clothes or sheets I’d frequently pull enough fur out of the lint filter to knit a new cat. Despite medicine and diet changes, he continued to periodically throw up hairballs that were as big as he was. So, when he started to throw up in the middle of the night a few nights ago, I wasn’t worried. When I’d come home from work and find him curled up in his bed in the back of the closet, I wasn’t worried. When I picked him up and cuddled with him one afternoon and he complained a little when I lifted him by his abdomen, I wasn’t really worried.

I should have been.

Feline Hepatic Lipidosis is a disease that affects previously overweight cats, (at his prime, Alex was a muscular 20+ pounds), where fats begin to build up in the cat’s liver, and the cat stops eating. Once they stop eating, their body begins to metabolize fat, just as we humans do. Our livers (and theirs) are not very efficient at processing fats, so eventually the liver fails. This is what happened to Alex. Had I noticed the signs and gotten him to the veterinarian sooner, he might have been saved, but it would have been costly, and knowing Alex the way I did, he wouldn’t have tolerated the treatment.

Alex would often let me pick him up and hold him against my chest for about 30 second to a minute before he’d strain to be let down. The last few days, he’d allowed me to hold him for several minutes without any push back, and I’d be the one to eventually want to end the hug. Today, he quietly stepped into the carrier that he’d normally hiss and spit and fight against with all of his might, and I carried him the short distance to see the doctor. He was visibly anxious, but he allowed me to stroke his face as we waited for Dr. Coker to enter the room. After discussing his condition, and watching Alex begin to fight to the bitter end, she asked me to step outside while they sedated and examined him.

Within minutes, Dr. Coker stepped outside and told me the prognosis. We stepped back inside the examination room and saw Alexander, eyes wide open, lain on his left side, laboring to breath and still wanting to fight these humans who he thought were hurting him, even though they wanted so much to help him. The doctor explained that it was time to put Alex to sleep, and we discussed how it’d be done, what we’d do with the body, etc.

When I’d left to go to the doctor, I was living with three senior cats, so I knew they’d all be passing in the next couple of years, and I’d attempted to prepare myself. Now, I have two.

When my father passed away, I was by his side, and I’d shed no tears then because he’d lingered on in pain for over five years. When my mother passed away two years ago, I was also by her side and shed no tears then because, again, we’d recognized that she’d come home to die and if anyone I’ve ever met was prepared to meet her Maker, it was my mom. Of course, I sobbed like a baby when I was at their funerals, but during the actual death I was able to contain myself.

But with Alex, when what the doctor was telling me began to really sink in, I used up what was left of the tissue papers were available in the exam room.

The doctor and her assistant left the room for a few minutes to allow Alex and I to say goodbye to one another. I draped him with my arms with his back to my chest, just like we did sometimes when we cuddled in sleep together, and I told him how much I loved him, how I knew he wouldn’t be in pain anymore, and I kissed him repeatedly behind his ears, just like he liked.

The doctor came back in, and had to sedate Alex once more, since the first shot was wearing off and he’d begun to struggle again. After it took affect, she shaved first his hind leg, then his front leg, looking for a vein. Poor Alex’s blood pressure was so weak, it took several tries before she was able to administer the drug.

And with that, he was gone.

I’ve been “owner” to four cats in my life thus far: Smokey was a Burmese cat that was brought home one afternoon by my mother after I’d been told by my father that I could not have a dog. As much as I’d loved Smokey, I’d not been given a choice as to his joining our family, and everyone knew he was really my mother’s cat, anyway.

Samantha was given to me by my former fiance’s youngest daughter because, after the breakup, she was concerned that I would be lonely. As much as I still love Sammie and as sweet of a gesture as that was, once again I had not been given a choice.

When I moved back into my childhood home to save on expenses and care for my mother as she began chemotherapy, I bonded with her cat P.C. (“Prince Charming”) and that simple fact gave my mother great pleasure to know that my kitty-cat “brother” and I had bonded so well. When Mom passed away, it was a given that I would continue to take good care of P.C., which I do to this day. But once again, he is not “my” cat and I had no choice in the matter.

Alex was my cat. I’ve known him practically his entire life. He was the cat that only I understood, and that only I knew. I chose to adopt him, and as much of a troublemaker that he was, I’m still absolutely heart-broken that he’s gone and that I won’t be able to love on him every day when I come home or wake up.

Alex was placed in a small, cardboard coffin and brought home. As the sun set, I dug a grave at the back of my property and buried him next to Smokey.

I know he is no longer in pain. I know my remaining cats can sense my loss. I know there is little else I could’ve done. I know that we all die eventually. I know that tonight is going to be one of the hardest nights I’ve experienced in a long time. And I know that I’ll always miss my sweet boy.

Well, here’s how I’d change things if I had absolute authority to do so:

1. Eliminate the 16th and 17th amendments to the Constitution.
2. Modify the 1st provision of the 14th to state that any child born to one or both parents who are already U.S. citizens or are in the process of becoming naturalized citizens are automatically citizens themselves.
3. Add a 28th amendment stating that Congress must submit a balanced budget each fiscal year.
4. Withdraw from the United Nations and require that they relocate their headquarters in the next 20 years.
5. Eliminate the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Energy, Labor, the EPA, the ATF and the IRS .
6. Allow campaign donations, donations to any political party, donations to any political action group or any special interest group or lobby, of any amount, provided that all donations come from their direct constituencies, (i.e. candidates for senator may only receive contributions from within their state, etc.) and all donations must be posted online for public viewing with 48 hours of receipt.
7. Candidates for office must provide independently-verified certification to demonstrate they meet the requirements of the office.
8. Every federal senator and representative could be paid no more than 500% of the average annual income of their respective constituencies.
9. Eliminate the minimum wage.
10. Build a fence along our Southern border, and have high punitive damages for any business who hires non-citizens or aliens without adequate work papers.
11. Eliminate the Federal Defense of Marriage Act.
12. Slowly decriminalize the use of currently illegal drugs, and highly regulate (and tax) their importation and sale. Also, make it a felony to perform some jobs (pilots, drivers, construction work, teachers, etc.) while under their influence.
13. Make the entire country Right-to-Work.
14. Make Card Check illegal.
15. Audit the Federal Reserve, then eliminate it.
16. Go back to the Gold Standard.
17. Create a national sales tax of 10%, which, by law, can go no higher, and waive it for rent, and basic food items (purchased from grocery stores, etc. Restaurant food sales would continue to be taxed.)
18. Either require so-called “czars” to undergo Senate approval or do away with them entirely.
19. Require recess appointments to undergo the nomination process as soon as the Senate reconvenes.
20. Eliminate the penny.
21. Three words: Line-Item Veto.
22. Dissolve and make illegal any unions of public employees.
23. Fully fund Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for anyone born before January 1, 2012, but raise the retirement age gradually to 75, while converting Social Security into a Treasury bond/mutal fund program for new enrollees.
24. Give all military personnel their full cost-of-living adjustment each year, instead of a percentage of the cost of living adjustment.
25. Eliminate baseline budgeting in favor of zero-based budgeting.
26. Eliminate Imminent Domain.
27. I’d like to see a way to make Internet taxation fair to online and brick-and-mortar retailers alike.
28. “Loser pays” tort reform.
29. End farm subsidies.
30. Vacate Roe v Wade, and turn the decision of abortions back to the states.
31. Create a branch of the military called National Security, and move the Coast Guard, TSA, INS, Border Security and Cyber Security into it.

I’ve been privileged to work as a C.I.A. (Counter Intelligence Agent, because I work behind a counter, providing assistance to clients in need of help with their computers and other devices) for the Geek Squad for a little over a month now. When I was first hired, I figured it would be just another job to pay the bills, but I’ve been pleased and excited to find that most Geek Squad Agents are quite fanatical at being highly competent and ethical in their work while providing great value to their clients. That kind of devotion to one’s work is extremely infectious, as you might imagine.

So, imagine my delight when I listened to Peters explain how Best Buy’s focus on customer experience, particularly through services like Geek Squad, allowed the company to survive in tough times when its main competitor, Circuit City, instead chose to focus on its bottom line, which ultimately lead it into bankruptcy.

WordPress and Ajax

A friend of mine that I first met when I organized WordCamp Dallas, Ronald Huereca, has written WordPress and Ajax, an e-book that provides a comprehensive view on using Ajax (a group of interrelated web development methods used on the client-side to create interactive web applications) with WordPress. It covers Ajax like you’ve never seen before.

The book contains three real-life examples that provide the rationale and logic behind coding decisions, the reasons for Ajax’s use, and the steps from inception to completion of the examples.