Michael's Blog

Shutting down my other sites

michael — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:47:00 GMT

After years of neglect, I am shutting down OnTheSoapbox.net and CustomCommunity.org

CustomCommunity.org is being shut down because it is no longer the focus of my business and has not been since I partnered with the guys at Four Roads over a year and a half ago. So if you are still looking for customization to Community Server, we are still at it, alive and well. Please visit us at http://4-roads.com

OnTheSoapbox.net never took off, at all, and with only one regular blogger besides myself, and no activity in the last six months, it became more of a hassle to manage than it was worth. Maybe someday, I'll redesign it and bring it back, but for now, it's going offline.

This site, remains, and while I have also been neglecting it, I will be trying to keep the updates a bit more regular. It's an exciting political time right now, and I have been far too quiet!

So a thanks to Leerz for keeping OnTheSoapbox active for a while, your contributions were much appreciated and enjoyed!

Mike Trefry

National Day of the Cowboy

michael — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:37:00 GMT

On February 13, 2008 Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz) introduced new legislation to the House to honor cowboys.

From American Progress Action's Progress Report:

Some bipartisan cooperation in Congress. Roll Call reports that both parties are "rallying to a common cause and introducing a bipartisan bill designating July 26, 2008, as 'National Day of the Cowboy.' The legislation, which Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) introduced Feb. 13, honors the 'pioneering men and women, known as cowboys.'" Giffords's spokesman noted, "Who can disagree about the importance of cowboys?"

Great! The Republicans and Democrats can agree on something! After all, "Who can disagree about the importance of cowboys?" right?

Well, I honestly don't know much about cowboys outside of what I've learned from American Westerns, but weren't cowboys somewhat instrumental in the the genocide of American Indians?

Aside from that, my biggest question, is WHY???

Doesn't Congress have more important things to be doing than creating a "National Day" of this or that? What about health care, the war in Iraq, keeping George Bush in check, ensuring there is no immunity for private companies who overstep the law, waht about investigating the literally THOUSANDS of instances of overeaching authority on the part of this administration?

Is this what we elect these people for?

I'm looking for a complete rollover of elected officials this fall. For all democrats out there, I urge you, if there is a democratic candidate up against a democratic incumbant, please for for the challenger. We need to send Congress a message. We are sick of this, We want things done, and if you can't do it, we'll find someone who can!!

Disclaimer: Of course there are exceptions. I'm not suggesting that you blindly vote just anybody new into office. If your representative is a good representative and is doing their best to fight for the people, or if the challenger is shady, vote your conscience.

Quit Smoking with Magnetic Therapy

michael — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:32:00 GMT

Those of you who know me, or have read some of the older posts in my blog, know that I am somewhat of a skeptic. I am also a recovering smoker. I still struggle with occassionally having a cigarette from time to time, but it has been almost almost 3 years since I have been a full time smoker.

In quiting I tried everything. Nocotine gum, patches, anti-anxiety medication, counseling, etc... The only thing that ever took the edge off for me, was the gum. The problem is that it's just trading one source for another, and hence, I still chew Nicorrette to this day. I can't seem to actualy cut back on both. It's one or the other.

The problem is that while my lungs feel better, Nicorrette is more expensive than cigarettes, and who knows what it will do to my mouth and gums over the long run!

So when I ran accross this advertisement in a local mailer, the title understandably puiqed my curiosity.

Quit Smoking! with ZeroSmoke.

The All-Natural Treatment System for Smoking Dependence Using Magnetic Therapy.

Hold up. Magnetic therapy? For smoking? I've heard of all sorts of crazy ideas with magnetic therapy, but this is the first I've heard of using it to assist in quiting smoking. I'm tempted to immediately dismiss it, but something draws me to continue reading, looking for an explanation to how this could possibly work.

You can do it! You can quite smoking in as little as 30 days with ZeroSmoke, the revolutionary natural treatment that uses two biomagnets to exert a magnetic field that helps reduce and inhibit the desire to smoke. Just place the pressure applying biomagnets on either side of the ear to activate the body's neurotransmitters and produce endorphins. It's that easy. There are no pills, no gums, no patches. Non-allergenic. One kit lasts a lifetime.

Only $39.95

Wow! That sure sounds impressive! But wait. What is a biomagnet? Is that any different than a regular magnet? It says that it exerts a magnetic field, but so do refrigerator magnets. Shouldn't a biomagnet exert a biomagnetic field? And just how does a magnetic field help you stop smoking? Oh yeah, it activates the body's neurotransmitters to produce endorphins.

Ok, so if we break it down, there are 4 basic premises that we are asked to accept here.

These biomagnets are special and worth $39.95.
Magnetic fields activate neurotransmitters. Or is it the pressure applied by the biomagnets? The do leave that possibility open. Perhaps this isn't magnetic therapy at all, but accupressure? Is it the pressure applied to the ear that activates the neurotransmitters, or the magnetic field, or is it a combination of the two?
Activated neurotransmitters produce endorphins.
Our body's endorphins help reduce dependency on smoking. - It doesn't exactly state this, but it must be surmised, because that is the end result of the biomagnets, and if the endorphins didn't help to reduce dependency on smoking, what would be the point?

Working backwards, let's examine each of these, because if the end result isn't sound, we can dismiss all claims leading up to it.

4. Our body's endorphins help to reduce smoking dependency.

Scientifically speaking endorphins are opiods, meaning they produce a morphine-like effect, to kill pain or induce a feeling of euphoria. In fact, this is the same process that occurs when you smoke. Smoking increases your brains release of endorphins, which is what causes the euphoric feeling a smoker gets when smoking for the first time, or after a long break from smoking.

So, I suppose I can accept the premise that if you can replace the endorphins released by smoking with endorphins released by some other activity or source, this would reduce cravings. As a matter of fact, there are many ways to release endorphins into your brain. Long distance running, sprinting, high risk activities, certain foods, even sex.

The problem is that an endorphin high is short lived and is in itself addictive. Smokers may be familiar with the post -meal smoke, the post-coital smoke, and having a smoke after a thrilling activity. This is simply to draw out the length of that endorphin high, just to make it last a little bit longer.

The bottom line, is that by replacing one endorphin promoting substance with another, you are not stopping the addiction, you are simply replacing one source with another. But the claim is that endorphins can reduce dependency on smoking, and while I cannot say that this is absolutely true, I will call the claim reasonable.

3. Activated neurotransmitters produce endorphins.

To evaluate this claim, it is important to understand exactly what a neurotransmitter is. A neurotransmitter is a chemical located and released in the brain that allows signals (impulses) to pass from one nerve cell to another. These impulses are passed from one neuron to the next by way of an Axon, which is a thin cellular structure acting almost as a wire to connect the two. At the end of this wire is the Axon Terminal which branches into several Synaptic Knobs, but the synaptic knobs don't actually connect to the neighboring neuron, so to pass the impulse on, it must do so chemically, by releasing the chemical neurotransmitters into the Synaptic Cleft (the space between the Synaptic Knob and the Synapse), which are picked up by receptors on the Synapses of the recieving nueron.

So in essence, a neurotransmitter is simply a chemical carrying information from one neuron to another.

A few neurotransmitters you may have heard of are seratonin, dopamine, and norpinepherine, but perhaps you didn't realize that endorphin is in itself a neurotransmitter.

So if endorphins are neurotransmitters what does it mean for a neurotransmitter to produce endorphins? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's a meaningless sentence constructed to sound scientific while containing absolutely no meaning whatsoever. This kind of language is commonplace in the world of psuedo-science and in itself makes this product suspect of scammery.

But let's move on ...

2. Magnetic fields activate neurotransmitters

This claim wasn't as clear as the others, so I'll try to be as fair as possible. Since the advertisement didn't directly state that it was the magnetic field that activated the neurotransmitters, and left it open to the possibility that it was the pressure created by the magnets, I'll cover both cases.

a. The effect of magnetism on the human brain is something that has been studied extensively, exhaustively, thouroughly. While it has yet to be determined if there is a level of magnetism that could effect the brain in any way, it is quite obvious that even high levels of magnetism have virtually NO effect. Consider an MRI machine. The magnetic field created by an MRI machine is intense. If any magnetic field could release endorphins in the brain, it would be the field created by an MRI. Yet there seems to be a definitely lack of people addicted to MRI. There is no research anywhere to suggest that magnetic fields have any influence on brain chemistry at all, much less the magnetic field output by such a tiny magnet as pictured in the advertisement. I think this can be safely dismissed.

b. But what about pressure? The advertisement implies that there is pressure caused by placing two magnets, one on either side of the ear. There are many similar products that have in the past made suggestions that acupressure point on the ear can help with weight loss and quiting smoking. One such product was the Acu-Stop 2000 which in 1995 was shut down by the FTC for making unsubstantiated claims and had to pay out $50,000 in refunds. The simple fact of the matter is that there is NO effect of acupressure on the ear to reduce any sort of cravings, whether they be appetite, or addiction.

So again it seems as if they are using scientific sounding terms that in reality mean nothing. The magnets aren't going to activate endorphin neurotransmitters, and the accupressure is highly suspect as well.

However, in keeping with the theme of releasing endorphins, there is one scenario in which I can imagine this product would work. If the pressure created by magnets was sufficiently strong to cause pain, it could quite possibly release endorphins.

But is that realy what you want? Why not carry around a thumbtack and poke yourself everytime you're craving a ciggarette?

1. These biomagnets are special and worth $39.95.

Lastly we tackle the implication that these magnets are any different from a refrigerator magnet. Of course they don't actually make that claim, but they use the term "biomagnet". If you are interested in what exactly a "biomagnet" is, you could refer to the Foundation for Magnetic Science which, I must warn you, while it contains the word "Science" in it's name, is nothing of the sort. This site is full of some of the most outrageous claims for magnetic therapy I have ever seen in my life. You really should read the disclaimer that they place at the bottom of the page. Sorry, I'm getting off topic here.

By definition biomgnetism is the magnetic field given off by all living beings. The field is small, very, very small, but it is there, and can be measured. So in essence, you are a biomagnet, I am a biomagnet, my dog is a bio magnet. But a magnet made of even rare-earth metals, is NOT a biomagnet.

In fact, many of these products claim to be "Rare-earth" biomagnets, giving them that sound of something special. This in fact simply refers to the magnets being made of Neodymium, a "rare earth metal" that dipite the name is not rare at all. It is present in microphones, speakers, headphones, guitars and computer hard drives, and yes even some refrigerator magnets. You can purchase these magnets from a science surplus store for about $2.95 each.

The bottom line is that this is just another one of those magnetic therapy products that is cashing in on the ignorance of the public. The use of scientific sounding words used in a definitively non-scientific context has been successfully employed against the public for centuries to sell any variety of snake oil.

Please, if you see a product that you think might help you with a particular ailment. Research it. If the cure contains a magnet and little else, you should be immediately skeptical.

CS Media Gallery

michael — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:30:00 GMT

Well, now that the Beta for CS 2008 is out, I can safely point out a feature that is remarkabley reminicent of a suggestion I gave nearly two years ago.

http://trefry.net/blogs/michael/archive/2006/07/13/649.aspx

I am of course referring to the new Media Gllery.

I would just like to point out the following quote from the above linked post:

My thought was that the File Gallery could be made to be so much more. Why limit it to just downloadable files? We could even do away with the photo gallery and just move the functionality into the File Gallery. Make it an all encompassing Media Gallery.

Hmmm... where is the Photo gallery now? Where is the File Gallery now? They are conspicuously missing. Replaced by something called Media Gallery.

I believe I may be owed some royalties or at least some credit!

Gotta love them Televangelists

michael — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:45:00 GMT

Whooeeeh! There was Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Paul Crouch, Ted Haggard, an now … Richard Roberts!

Richard Roberts son of Oral Roberts and current President of the Oral Roberts University is fighting a number of allegations regarding misuse of funds acquired through donations to the University, a number of which point to questions of impropriety on the part of the Missus.

Of course Mr. Roberts is denying all of these allegations, not necessarily because he didn’t do any of it, but because God told him to. I love that God can take time out of his busy schedule ignoring the prayers of sick little girls to give legal advice to corrupt televangelists.

Check out this list of allegations: (From AP news)

• A longtime maintenance employee was fired so that an underage male friend of Mrs. Roberts could have his position.
• Mrs. Roberts — who is a member of the board of regents and is referred to as ORU's "first lady" on the university's Web site — frequently had cell-phone bills of more than $800 per month, with hundreds of text messages sent between 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. to "underage males who had been provided phones at university expense."
• The university jet was used to take one daughter and several friends on a senior trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Bahamas. The $29,411 trip was billed to the ministry as an "evangelistic function of the president."
• Mrs. Roberts spent more than $39,000 at one Chico's clothing store alone in less than a year, and had other accounts in Texas and California. She also repeatedly said, "As long as I wear it once on TV, we can charge it off." The document cites inconsistencies in clothing purchases and actual usage on TV.
• Mrs. Roberts was given a white Lexus SUV and a red Mercedes convertible by ministry donors.
• University and ministry employees are regularly summoned to the Roberts' home to do the daughters' homework.
• The university and ministry maintain a stable of horses for exclusive use by the Roberts' children.
• The Roberts' home has been remodeled 11 times in the past 14 years.

Roberts said God told him: "We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate case or not. This lawsuit ... is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion."

Yep, God said that.

Quote of the Day

michael — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:43:00 GMT

It's been a very long time since I've done a Quote of the Day, so I thought I'd throw one out there for your contemplation.

I am driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did.
George W. Bush - August 2003

How does this make him any different from the "terrorists" that attack us because Allah commanded it?

Return to Blogging

michael — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:16:00 GMT

Well it’s coming up on a year since I wrote, and I feel pretty bad about that. My only excuse is that since I broke off from the corporate world to work on my own, I’ve been pretty busy.

It’s strange. While I thought that I would have more time to myself, the reality of it was, that my entire waking life was essentially dedicated to this work, which is really sad since I was only getting paid for a fraction of that time.

All that’s gotten somewhat better since I partnered up with 3 other guys to create a new company called 4-Roads, but I still spend a lot of time working and have little time for myself.

The strange part is that any time I’m not working (such as trying to write a blog post or do anything on my own time) I feel bad about it, like I SHOULD be working. It’s a strange dilemma that in many cases ends up with me sitting around intending to work, trying to work, but wishing I was doing something else, anything else, being anywhere else.

I’ve had one of those weeks. A complete inability to focus on working. So today rather than wasting the entire day away, I figured maybe I should actually do that something else and just get it out the way so maybe I can refocus on working.

Will it work? I don’t know. Maybe I’m just burnt out. Maybe I’m just tired of the rest of my interests taking a back seat. Maybe I need to get a corporate job again. I miss working, socializing, and communicating with people face to face. On the other hand I really like working in t-shirt, shorts and bare feet J

Anyway, I’m going to make a concerted effort to give a little more attention to this little corner of mine, just in case anyone is still paying attention.

Is anyone there? Anyone?

New Host (Yet Again!)

michael — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 22:22:00 GMT

My websites were down today for a few hours because of a recent move away from ASPnix to my own dedicated server hosted with CrystalTech.

I seem to have been doing this moving thing a lot over the last couple of years, but now that I've reached the pancea of dedicated hosting (and for a fairly reasonable price) I'm hoping to stay here for a good long time.

And with better control over my server and nobody to share it with, I'm hoping that stability will be better as well.

I'm also thinking of offering hosting on this server to some of my smaller clients who make due with shared hosting now, and may be interested in a smaller amount of sites sharing a single box.

Just an idea I'm still working on.

Get Out The Vote

michael — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 15:09:16 GMT

Today is the big day! I know it’s just mid-terms, but this is, I think, the most important mid-term election in my lifetime. It’s kind of exciting. (I know, elections, exciting?)

But here in Connecticut, we’ve got one the highest profile elections in the country. It’s an age old story: man challenges man, man beats man in primaries, sore loserman, runs off and registers as an independent where he takes the lead in the polls and may just win, even though the dumb-ass should have conceded his loss 3 months ago.

Well, not if I can help it.

If you haven’t voted yet, or you were not planning to vote, I urge you. Go out and vote. It’s one of our simplest civic duties, and the one time that we have a chance to say who we want running our government, and who we don’t want running our government.

For most in my area it’s quick and easy, but I’d wait in line for 6 hours to do it.

Just Do It!

Although, if you’re a republican it’s not required

Published with blogmailr

Double-Super-Secret Blog Posting

michael — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 02:34:00 GMT

A new tool to be released in the very near future is allowing me to make this post directly from my email. In this case Outlook.

Can you guess what it is?

Published with blogmailr

Who Killed the Electric Car?

michael — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 04:09:00 GMT

Not me!

After watching the movie, and being exposed, for the very first time, to the radical idea of converting a conventional car to an electric car, my girlfriend and I were inspired to give it a try.

So after researching a bit about how this might be done, I've found that there has been a LOT of electric conversions done by average people.

Check out this site http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/. These are regular cars (and other interesting vehicles built or converted to EVs (electric vehicles). I wanted one!

So when building and electric car, the first thing to consider is what you want out of it. Do you just want something to get you around town, something to haul the kids in.

Well, I've got two cars already, if you've seen my photos, you've seen the 88 BMW. I also have a 2002 Ford Explorer, which I drive as little as possible because it costs soooo much to fuel it, and also because as I become more and more environmentally conscious, I feel more and more guilty about driving it. But I'm really hesitant to get rid of it because there are times when it comes in really handy.

So my choice was convert one of my existing vehicles or start with a new one. Well, the Explorer is out, the vehicle is too heavy and would require too much power to move. The BMW is my baby and I really don't want to go down the road of converting it only to screw it up and be left with something undrivable.

For the same reasons that the Explorer was out, one of the considerations in building an EV is the weight of the car. Another thing to consider when you have as little knowledge or experience about EVs as I do, is learning from the experience of others.

With all those considerations, and the one most important consideration of all, style, I settled on the Porsche 914. It's light, it's been done before, and it looks damn good!

So without further ado, let me introduce you to my future EV.

YES! That is green! Ravena Green to be exact, a perfectly fitting color for a future "green" machine.

The project will most likely not kick off until spring time. Until then I've got to do a lot of reading and start collecting the parts and equipment necessary for the conversion.

Once the conversion begins I'll be documenting it step by step to let everyone who might be interested know how it's going.

Until then, I've got a pretty new fun toy to drive around

New Software for CommunityServer 2.1

michael — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 02:40:00 GMT

Ok, so I know I keep switching around where I'm officially hosting my downloads, but this is it, this is final, I SWEAR!

All my new stuff is now over at http://customcommunity.org which just so happens to be the web site for my new company Custom Community Systems, which specializes in ... you guessed it, services and software for Community Server.

So what's over there now? Good question, I'm glad I asked!

Custom Community Registration Addin for CS 2.1 and ASP.NET 2.0, most of you will know what this is.

And the same thing updated and fresh for CS 2.0, gotta keep it backward compatible, right?

Also, a little something to fix a problem with galleries when upgrading to CS 2.1. Ok, this is my fault (although not entirely), and only applicable if you were using Trefry.CS 2.0 to create your galleries.

And last, but certainly not least, a little something I'm very excited about, the Custom Community TinyMCE Speller (BETA). This little gem adds awesome spell checking capabilities to the TinyMCE editor now used by Community Server 2.1.

That's all for now, but there will be more in the near future, including some of those Modules that were packaged into Trefry.CS 2.0, but are now missing for 2.1.

Enjoy!

Blogging from Word 2007

michael — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 13:44:00 GMT

I just found out about this feature of Microsoft Word 2007 (beta 2), so I had to try it out.

For the most part you can ignore this post, if it works, you’ll know it’s a pretty cool feature. If it look like junk, you’ll know it still needs work

Resume of George W. Bush

michael — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 13:32:00 GMT

I recieved this by email from a co-worker and thought it was a wonderful run-down of our current president and his administration.

However, because I refuse to be part of the chain-mail problem, I won't forward this to every voter that I know. Instead I'll just place it here for your perusal.

Slight disclaimer, in case I get heat from some of you conservatives out there. I'll be the first to admit that a couple of the items below are trumped up. You can hardly blame the man for the immediate economic recession and job loss after his inauguration. It was a result of the .com bubble and the subsequent slide in the tech market. However, the continued economic troubles, are certainly a direct result of his failed policies.

Still, I'm posting this, knowing that it's 98% accurate. So please, read and enjoy, or rather, have a good long cry.

Resume

GEORGE W. BUSH 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20520

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

LAW ENFORCEMENT

I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine , in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

MILITARY

I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam

COLLEGE

I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE

I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry, including Enron CEO Ken Lay, I was elected governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS

I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union.

During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.

I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.

I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.

With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT

I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.

I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.

I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.

I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market.

In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.

I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her.

I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President. I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.

My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.

My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.

I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution.

More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip- offs in history.

I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.

I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.

I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.

I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.

I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law. I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S . "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).

I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.

I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.

I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families-in-wartime.

In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.
I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden [sic] to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.

All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review. I am a member of the Republican Party.

PLEASE CONSIDER MY EXPERIENCE WHEN VOTING IN THE 2006 MIDTERM ELECTIONS. PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERY VOTER YOU KNOW

Announcing Custom Community Systems

michael — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:34:00 GMT

I’ve posted a couple times about my wanting to take my part-time business full-time and the responses, while few, were encouraging.

Well, I’ve made the decision, I’ve given notice, there’s no turning back now. Starting September 1st, Custom Community Systems, LLC will be a live full-time business for me.

The decision essentially came down to me being unable to support the clients I have, due to lack of time. I’ve spent the last year building a client base that I fear I may start to slowly lose because of my inability to warp time and create a 32 hour day. I thought for sure that we’d have that technology by now, but alas, no such luck.

I hope that my current clients can bear this out with me, and I aim to provide the best quality work, and fast response for each and every one of you in the future.

In the coming 6 weeks, I’ll be building out my company web-site and collaborating with others to try and build out development teams where needed.

Thank you to those who have provided the encouragement I needed to take this step.