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Where Have I Been?
2008-03-21 02:12:00
Dear Friends and Readers:I sincerely apologize for my lack of blog posting, Tweeting, and social networking. I have been working around the clock towards an announcement that I will hopefully have for you on March 30th. If you have been paying any attention to my Twitter feed, you will know that I have made a couple of major changes in my life, which I think have worked out for the better. I am certainly a lot happier, and excited excited excited to unveil my masterpiece only 10 days from today.In the meantime, I think I owe it to all of my friends out there on the internets to at least mobile Twitter. I'm going to get better at that. My neglected blog and other outposts of my internet kingdom will hopefully be fully up and running again on March 30th, starting with a lengthy series of blog posts concerning my announcement.I hope you are as excited as I am for that day. In the meantime, I bid you well.Sincerely,Anthony Marenna

Supreme Court To Decide Whether Americans Can Keep And Bear Arms
2008-03-16 16:32:00
March 18th. That is the date when our Supreme Court will hear arguably the most important case in several decades. They will answer a fundamental question: What is the meaning of the Second Amendment?For the first time in 70 years, the U.S. Supreme Court will take on the question of whether individual Americans have the right to keep and bear arms or whether it a collective right of the people for service in a state militia. -Reuters (03/11/2008)The question will undoubtedly come about in the course of deciding a case brought about by the most restrictive gun control law in the country. Washington, DC currently bans private ownership of firearms, which has spurred an outraged citizenry to challenge this law in the highest court in the land. I can only hope that the ruling comes in favor of what the Constitution says rather than how it can possibly be construed as saying.
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Anonymous Wins Victory For Grassroots Organizations Everywhere
2008-03-14 11:57:00
Remember the anti-Church of Scientology group Anonymous ? Apparently they're still around, still going strong, and still making the Church so nervous that they've filed lawsuits against the members of the group in a Florida court. According to the St. Petersburg Times article by Peter Farley, the Scientologist hierarchy filed for an "injunction for protection against repeat violence." This legal filing was done in anticipation of an upcoming Anonymous protest against the Church of Scientology in Clearwater. It would have essentially barred protesters from coming within 500 feet of the building.This is completely outrageous and exactly what the protesters are complaining about in the first place. Here is an effort by the Church to suppress the ability of dissenters to legally and peacefully protest on public sidewalks and public property surrounding the Church. Instead, they are trying to legally force the protesters to stand almost 1/10 of a mile away from the building, where the p...
More About: Victory , Grassroots , Organizations , Wins

New Article On theREBUTTAL: Spitzer Bites The Dust
2008-03-12 14:18:00
I have just published a brand spanking new article on theREBUTTAL.Spitzer ?s bout of prostitution?itus occurred as the result of "transport[ing] someone between states for the purpose of prostitution." According to the interstate commerce clause in the Constitution in conjunction with the Mann Act of 1910, Spitzer?s act constitutes "human trafficking," a severe federal offense. READ MOREIt is far from my best piece of writing, but it helped me end this virtual radio silence that I've engaged in for the past two weeks or so. During that time, I've had issues in my personal life that have forced me to invest a ton of time towards resolving those problems. It's been a difficult time in that respect. Both my professional and social lives stand utterly neglected at the moment. I used this article on theREBUTTAL and my blog posts from the last couple of days to shake the rust off. I have meetings, workshops, and events until 9pm tonight, which will give me a great opportunity to get bac...
More About: Democrats , Article

A Signed Photo From President Bush
2008-03-11 11:50:00
As it turns out, I didn't forget about all of you. I have been working literally around the clock (I'm right now past the 48 hour mark) on one of the most important civic projects I have ever been a part of. I promise I will write about it as soon as I feel comfortable doing so.In the meantime, an awesome story. As you may recall, this past summer I had the opportunity to meet President Bush with my Nation friends from around the country. We all took an excellent photo with him in the Gold Room of the White House. That photo found its way on to the AP wires and into all of our photo albums. Yesterday, I found a big, fat envelope in my mailbox. It contained a really cool greeting card from President Bush with the embossed Presidential eagle emblem, along with the photo from last summer, blown up to 8x10, addressed to me by name, and hand signed by the President. I am stoked. Check them out! You can click the photos to enlarge them.It's going to be tough for the rest of the week, b...
More About: Photo , Signed

Judge In Wikilinks Case Backs Off
2008-03-07 21:56:00
Special thanks to friend and reader Jesse for tipping me off on this development. Be sure to check out his blog, "First, I Am Dad."As I reported in a previous post entitled "Censoring The Whistle-blowers," a California judge ordered that all traces of a whistle-blower website be removed from the internet. The site, Wikilinks, allows people to anonymously post corporate and government documents, and has been the sztarting point for numerous public controversies that have led to numerous investigations and court complaints.The latest report from the San Francisco Chronicle (March 1st) states that the U.S. District Judge in question, Jeffrey White, "changed his mind Friday, conceding his original ruling might not have been constitutional." As readers recall, the bank that initiated the complaint in White's court had been victim to a document released on Wikilinks that allegedly linked it to tax fraud and money laundering.The Chronicle reports that the Hearst Corporation, its own mothe...
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For The Last Time, What The Hell Is A Twitter?
2008-03-06 07:57:00
Since the inception of my blog in early November, I've been struggling to answer a question posted by reader Ceren L. on day 1. "What the hell is a Twitter ?" I found an excellent 2 minute video explaining Twitter on my friend Josh Reighley's blog, Fingertoe. Consider this a hat tip, Josh. The important thing to remember about Twitter is that it is not just a website for bloggers like Josh and I. It is a completely useful social networking tool used by everyone from campaigning politicians to the family gardener. Watch the video, then check out Twitter here. If you like it, sign up. Then stop by my page on Twitter to become a follower of my updates by clicking "Follow." Believe it or not, signing up to follow me helps promote my blog, so it is very much appreciated.
More About: Time , Hell

Some Everyday Heroes Return
2008-03-03 09:26:00
I spent the majority of last week trying to catch up. By the time Friday rolled around I was completely exhausted, demoralized, and still very much behind. So I stacked my papers into a neat pile, tossed them into my top drawer, shut down my laptop, threw that in my top drawer, locked the drawer, and threw away the key. I love working- I take a great deal of joy out of making a big to-do list and working down that list point by point, checking off my completed tasks all the while.Whenever I've felt overwhelmed and fatigued in the past, I have grinded out the remainder of the week and declared nonstop me time for the entirety of the coming weekend. It was no different these past two days. On Saturday during the day I got together with a friend and watched Monster for the first time in about four years or so. Having seen many of Charlize Theron's films, I was left in awe for a second time by her performance in Monster because I have a slight idea as to just how difficult it must hav...
More About: Heroes , Return

The Ray Gun: From Super Smash Bros. To The War Zone
2008-02-29 19:41:00
It's no longer just a programmer's dream used by mischievous kids and gamers to emerge victorious over player 2. It's a non-lethal control weapon used in war zones and riots around the world to gain the upper hand without loss of life. And according to this amazing CBS report, it works very well.I apologize for the video rampage of late. It's a very busy time.Digg this.
More About: Super , Zone , War Zone , Smash , Super Smash Bros

Is This What Amnesty Looks Like?
2008-02-28 18:22:00
Remember the amnesty bill last summer that created so much outrage? That was about the time that the polls saying that 70-80%+ of Americans opposed amnesty. It was a big, controversial media circus. Other than the fact that it allowed amnesty for illegal immigrants, I had no idea what the exact provisions were in this bill. They shocked me. Thanks to reader Joseph M. for sending in this video.
More About: Democrats , Amnesty

Improv Everywhere Strikes Again: Operation Starbucks
2008-02-26 21:45:00
I got a kick out of this one. It's not quite as good as the freeze operation at Grand Central Station, but still gave me a good laugh. Be sure to check out the Improv Everywhere website for more public comedy operations.
More About: Starbucks , Operation

Air Powered Cars. Not Even Kidding.
2008-02-25 23:25:00
Popular Mechanics reports that by 2010, America could be running on air powered cars. And get this: it looks like this could work for the average Joe.Who? Zero Pollution Motors, better known as ZPM. They're following on the heels of Tata Motors, which recently announced that it would begin producing air powered cars in India.How in the...? That's what I said. One of my friends asked if they were neutral transmission cars that would be pushed by the wind. It's a little more complicated than that. The simple way of putting it is that it works kind of like a hybrid, but without the electricity. It has a custom chamber that heats up the air. The energy from the heat turns pistons and generates the power needed to run the car. North of about 35 miles per hour, regular gasoline, biofuel, or ethanol works in conjunction with the air power. Pretty sweet.I bet it goes really slow, right? 95 miles per hour. Bring it on, Prius.Hah! It still uses gas. Just another trick, right? It doesn't l...
More About: Cars , Kidding

A Cool Snow Fort By The Kids Across The Street
2008-02-25 00:26:00
Starting at 8:30 am, the seven and nine year old kids across the street (referenced in yesterday's short essay republished), were out in force. Their objective: to create an epic snow fort. They worked all the way through noon, which was way more of a commitment than I could have made at that age.Today was a very mild day, which had the snow and ice outside melting pretty quickly. Consequently, I found myself jumping up from my work every ten minutes or so to look out the window, just to make sure the snow fort hadn't collapsed on any of my young neighbors. It did not. When the afternoon rolled around, this was their final product. It is way cooler than it looks in the pictures. It's a deep fort with several tunnels leading to the surface. Totally dangerous, but so awesome. Brings back memories of snow forts of old. Wish I'd snapped some pictures back in the day.frontrear
More About: Kids , Cool , The Kids , Street , Photographs

Clinton Taxes vs. Bush Taxes
2008-02-23 14:58:00
Thank you to reader Joan M. for sending me this interesting data. We've all heard about the "Bush tax cuts" constantly from the media. But what exactly are the differences between Bush taxes and Clinton taxes? The results really surprised me.Single making 30K Clinton tax $8,400 Bush tax $4,500 Single making 50K Clinton tax $14,000 Bush tax $12,500 Single making 75K Clinton tax $23,500 Bush tax $18,750 Married making 60K Clinton tax $16,800 Bush tax $9,000Married making 75K Clinton tax $21,000 Bush tax $18,750Married making 125K Clinton tax $38,750 Bush tax $31,250This information can be verified at the Tax Foundation website. By the way- I don't like either figure. I believe the income tax should be completely abolished. $0 sounds good to me.
More About: Taxes

Heavy Nostalgic Snowflakes
2008-02-22 17:54:00
In honor of the snowstorm that's slamming Connecticut at the moment, I am re-publishing an earlier piece of writing that I put together on a snowy morning several months ago. It is one of the best short essays I have written to date.---------------------------My nine year old self would be totally pumped if he were still around today. The snowfall that is happening right now here in Connecticut is what he might refer to as the perfect storm. Originally school was slated to be delayed, but given the sheer speed of the storm, they were forced to cancel school. In better times, little Anthony would have been up for school, watching News Channel 8 for the up-to-the-minute delays, throughly furious that he was so narrowly missing out on a snow day. I would have been totally consumed with the injustice of the situation. And then the delay would magically switch to a cancellation and all bedlam would break loose in my house.The coat closet would be ripped open, gloves, boots, snow pants, ...
More About: Heavy , Nostalgic

Moving Day For My Own Personal Zeus
2008-02-21 08:08:00
I was perusing the Washington, DC Metroblogging site when I came across a story of great interest from Tom Bridge. But first, the background.One of the highlights of my summer in and out DC was a trip to Hains Point in East Potomac Park, where for the first time I laid eyes on "The Awakening." It is a massive five piece sculpture that depicts a giant (who we dubbed Zeus ) trying desperately to break his way out of the ground, where he is hopelessly buried. Here are the pictures I took of "The Awakening" over the summer.So what's the big news? The statue was purchased privately for $750,000. The new owner decided to move this great work of art just outside of DC to National Harbor in Prince George County, Maryland, where it will continue to be available for public display. That decision produced these excellent pictures of moving day for "Zeus."I also found a great photo set of "The Awakening" by Flickr user wfyurasko.Thanks to ReadExpress for the great moving day photographs.
More About: Personal , Moving , Photographs

My Stunning Sunrise Hike
2008-02-20 15:00:00
This morning, I went over to Sleeping Giant State Park for a morning hike.My intent was to reach the peak by the 6:40 am sunrise. I got lost a couple of times in the freezing dark (not fun at all), and ended up making it to the peak 10 minutes late. I still got some great photos. I took a nice long hike afterwards, and as I thought I was approaching the park area again at about 7:45 am, I found myself off course again. After taking several long turns, my friend Hopelessly Lost started nagging at me to get out of this cold and into my car. So, I took an uphill trail so that I could get a survey of the land, and saw my parking lot a long way away and a long way down.I turned to my other shoulder where another good friend of mine, Common Sense, was telling me to try a few more trails. Funny how a person starts naming and talking to his emotions when lost and frustrated. "To hell with the trails, I'm heading STRAIGHT for the parking lot!" Hopelessly Lost gave me a pat on the back, and ...
More About: Stunning , Hike , Sunrise

Censoring The Whistle-blowers
2008-02-19 22:44:00
Hey, why not kick them off the internet too? According to yesterday's article by the BBC, a court in California just ruled that all traces of a website called Wikileaks be removed from the internet. The website was founded in 2006 as a means for whistle-blowers to "anonymously post government and corporate documents." It claims to have published more than 1.2 million. Though there seems to be clear potential for abuse, especially when it comes to the security of government documents, the site had equal potential as a positive watchdog endeavor. The circumstances surrounding the site's shutdown are especially dubious. The case was filed by Julius Baer, a Swiss banking group. Wikileaks recently posted several documents which "allegedly reveal that the bank was involved with money laundering and tax evasion." Wikilinks did not have an attorney present at the hearing, nor were they there themselves. The reason? Apparently they were only given a few hours notice. By e-mail. How outrage...
More About: Whistle , Censoring

The Attack Of Officer Rivieri
2008-02-17 19:24:00
I first found this video on Digg. It has acquired quite a bit of underground popularity and controversy on the internets. Take a look for yourself.At first, I found myself taking the side of the officer. He was right for reprimanding the boys for skating on a monument. The boy was unquestionably wrong for talking back to the cop. He was pretty rude. The line that the kid used about not having a father is a classic. I remember when I was his age, we used to deflect "your mom" jokes with a simple "dude, I don't have a mother." It was a funny joke at the time, but we'd never dream of using it on a police officer, let alone calling the officer "dude" at the same time. We just knew better.The officer was also right in saying that the kid's parents clearly don't discipline him enough. I tend to think that if he'd left it at that, he would have definitely been in the right, but when he wrestled the kid to the ground and shoved him to the ground for talking back, he unquestionably step...
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Amsterdam Proposes Underwater City
2008-02-16 15:14:00
I'm fascinated by the proposals for futuristic cities around the world. In my article about arcology, you saw pictures of proposed sky cities, including one that is actually in the works in Russia. This latest proposal comes from Amsterdam , where they plan on digging up a major canal, building shopping, parking, and leisure facilities down below. The plan is kind of wild- we'll see if it's approved. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures from the proposal.Read MoreDigg It
More About: City , Underwater

New Article Posted On theREBUTTAL
2008-02-15 14:19:00
In the craze that has been the last few weeks (for myself and the guys running theREBUTTAL), I have taken a back seat as far as my political writing has gone. I'm back in the swing of things now, and I just published a new article as a columnist for the Libertarian content on the site. Check out my most recent article, "Tax Discredit.""My main concern is that this is just a $168 billion bandage that will only cover our considerable economic wounds long enough for our congressmen to waste more time trying to figure out whether or not Roger Clemens took steroids a decade ago. Eventually the bandage will fall off, and the remedy that could have healed the wound will never have been developed. Though President Bush called the package a "booster shot," it has all the markings of a placebo." Read MoreIf you have not already, also be sure to take a spin around theREBUTTAL. My fellow columnists are nothing short of excellent, and you will enjoy all of the site's content.
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Noteworthy: House Republicans Walk Out On Democrats
2008-02-15 03:24:00
It was over the House 's no-vote on the Protect America surveillance act. The Democrats apparently were unwilling to even discuss the bill on the floor. Also not that President Bush has postponed his diplomatic trip to Africa until the bill has been passed. Here is a video of the House Republican leadership after the walkout.
More About: Republicans , Walk

How Americans Spend Their Money
2008-02-13 22:19:00
On the Diggs today I found some really cool graphs from New York Times about how Americans are spending their money these days. It separates the population into the lowest, middle, and highest fifth based on income and analyzes spending by category. There is a second graph that analyzes how long consumption trends take to catch on. For example: how long the VCR took to catch on vs. internet. It's a really cool study. Worth a look. Click on the graph to enlarge.DIGG THIS
More About: Money

Post-Potomac Primary Musings (Republicans)
2008-02-13 04:59:00
With two of my toss-up states on the line tonight, along with DC (which I predicted for McCain), the Senator from Arizona has swept all three. If I'd been forced to definitively predict Virginia and Maryland, I would have leaned towards Huckabee in Virginia and towards McCain in Maryland. The fact that McCain won by almost 50,000 votes in Virginia is somewhat telling as far as the rest of my predictions go. After Huckabee's close run in Washington state, I was ready to move a couple toss up states into Huckabee's prediction column. Because of the results in Virginia, I cannot do so. The numbers out of Virginia also cause me to doubt my placement of Wisconsin, Nebraska, and South Dakota in Huckabee's column, though I am not ready to call them toss-up states. Here is what I'm left with as far as post-Super Tuesday states go.POST SUPER TUESDAY STATES:Louisiana-47 delegates (Feb 9) Huckabee-HUCKABEE WINKansas-39 delegates (Feb 9) Huckabee-HUCKABEE WINWashington Caucus- 19 delegate...
More About: Republicans , Post , Musings , Primary , Potomac

Pre-Potomac Primary Musings (Republicans)
2008-02-12 05:33:00
Despite the pundits who claim that Mike Huckabee mathematically cannot win, I'm starting to think that John McCain is really in trouble. Over the weekend, Huckabee had some great victories. As I predicted, he won in Kansas and Louisiana. Kansas was a surprise to me in that he won a whopping 60% of the vote. On top of that, there was a contest in Washington state, where I earlier predicted that there was no chance whatsoever that Huck could win. I put it in McCain's column.As you read in the open letter I wrote to Washington's state Republican chairman, the election came down to only two hundred votes with only 87% counted. If Huckabee made it that close in liberal Washington state, I expect a shakeup for the Potomac Primaries in Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia. In my predictions for the rest of the states, I had labeled Virginia and Maryland as toss-up states, and DC as a win for McCain. Based on how the voting goes there tomorrow (and I'm no longer certain that my predict...
More About: Republicans , Musings , Primary

Be Very Wary Of The Tenth Of February
2008-02-11 05:30:00
As you remember from my Scientology Saga (see all articles labeled Scientology Saga here), today was the day when people from around the world gathered at Churches of Scientology to protest human rights violations, censorship of anti-Scientology views, and the constant litigation that the Church allegedly takes part in. Here is my scrapbook of todays Project Chanology protests from around the world.Church of Scientology: LondonChurch of Scientology: TorontoChurch of Scientology: SeattleChurch of Scientology: Los AngelesChurch of Scientology: BostonThe following videos made it to the top of the Digg headlines and have been viewed by hundreds of thousands today.The anniversary of Lisa McPherson's death (allegedly at the hands of Scientology) was marked with these huge protests around the globe. This is the second major promise that the Anonymous members of Project Chanology have followed through with since their huge effort to disable and remove hundreds of Scientology websites in we...
More About: February

An Open Letter To Luke Esser, Chairman of Washington's Republican Party
2008-02-10 18:30:00
Dear Mr. Esser:On the night of the Washington caucuses, I thought something was out of order when the counts were stopped, to be resumed the following morning. I have never seen anything like that in any of the states where I have contacts in the Republican organization. I thought it was lazy and that it begged for vote tampering. It was downright risky and irresponsible. When I heard the following morning that you had called the race for one of the candidates with only 87% of the vote counted (and a less than 200 vote difference between the first and second place candidates!) I was outraged and embarrassed. This is a humiliation to the Republican party and to the democratic process as a whole. It is a senseless and disgraceful public spectacle that has been created for the Republican party.As a proud unaffiliated voter, I respectfully demand that you finish the count so as to preserve the transparent process of voting before this situation further spirals out of control. You owe th...
More About: Party , Open , Letter , Republican Party

Clipped From The Newspaper With Pride
2008-02-09 11:41:00
Remember this mobile Twitter update from mid-December?amarenna I just gave my 9 yr. old neighbor the snow skate I used when I was 9. He was pumped-- it made my day. 12:02 PM December 13, 2007 from txt I think of the 9 year old neighbor that I was talking about in that update as something of a little brother. Whenever I can, I join him for some street hockey in front of my house, stop to talk to him, or otherwise try to serve as something of a role model. I see a younger version of myself in this neighbor. When I was his age, I used to love hanging out with the older kids. One of my fondest childhood memories was a street hockey game I played with some of the college kids that lived in my old neighborhood. That game stands out in my mind because one of the older kids lost control on his roller blades and went crashing into a stop sign, which fell to the ground with him, bending in half. I laughed along with the older kids, and remember really looking up to them. It was impor...
More About: Pride , Newspaper

Time And Tide Wait For No Man
2008-02-08 23:55:00
I came across a user on Flickr named Louis Dobson (username: acampm1) who takes stunning seascape photographs. I think this post best reflects a New Englander stuck in the misery of winter, and who is simply longing for the beautiful, balmy weather that might allow me to enjoy the breathtaking dawn til' dusk calm that makes beach life so pleasant.Check out the rest of acampm1's amazing seascape photographs by clicking here. Enjoy.
More About: Time , Photographs , Tide , Wait

I'm Literally Choking Back The Tears On This One
2008-02-08 05:22:00
I Dugg up this picture, which won first place in the Spot News category of the 2007 Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar. I am in such grief over this picture that I can hardly even type. I'm shaking uncontrollably.According to the website, this photograph is called "Last Touch." An Iraqi woman holds her six year old son, who died moments later. They were on their way home from registering the boy for his first year of school in September, 2007 when a team of insurgent gunmen randomly started firing at the family car.I don't care if you disagree with the reasons that Congress and the Bush Administration used for going to war in Iraq. I personally am disgusted with the poor tactics and the evident mismanagement that got us in the mess that we are only now beginning to clean up. But the fact of the matter was that Iraq was led by a cruel dictator who was committing genocide against a race of people in his country. Those of you who support intervention in Darfur should be overwhelmed with...
More About: Photographs , Back , Literally