TBWAIN - AKA Jeff Svare's Blog

The photo of Barack Obama in traditional Somali attire certainly has generated a lot of attention. I haven't heard anyone from the Obama camp say, "So what?" about it, so I guess they're trying to soak it for all it's worth, too. Popular opinion says it was leaked to the Drudge Report by Clinton staffers, trying to make Obama look bad. I don't know how they expect that to happen. Obama's father was Somali, so why can't he pay respect to his heritage by wearing these clothes? Since this plan, if true, seems to have failed, the Clinton camp is trying to do damage control by denying any involvement. The Reuters account, as published at Yahoo News on Friday, states: "Clinton's campaign denies authorizing the release of the controversial photo but says that, with 700 staffers, it could not be certain someone had not sent it out unofficially." Translated from politicalese into English, it says, "Of course we leaked it. We just won...

It is with great regret I report that Utah SB14 which would have prevented smoking in cars with children under five years of age, was killed in committee on the 18th of February. Stephen Sandstrom , a Republican from Orem, said this bill was "a slippery slope" that could lead to "telling parents of overweight kids they're not doing enough to prevent obesity." He may have been the same one I heard who said this legislation was "an invasion of privacy." Ten days later, the House passed HB140 which requires children under the age of 8 to be in booster seats. The reasoning, according to Tim Cosgrove , a Democrat from Murray, is that 34 children children between the ages of 5 and 8 died in crashes between 2002 and 2006. According to the National Cancer Institue , secondhand smoke can cause lung cancer, heart disease, ear infections, asthma, and SIDS . It can also increase the risk of breast cancer, nasal sinus cavity cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, leu...

In Cleveland on Tuesday for a candidate debate, Hillary Clinton whined, "Well, could I just point out that, in the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time? And I don't mind. You know, I'll be happy to field them, but I do find it curious." Her statement reminded me of an old saying, the first liar doesn't have a chance . Perhaps she was thinking the same thing.

If you are familiar with the BBC series, Yes, Minister , you may recall an episode entitled "The Challenge" where the Minister of Administrative Affairs, Jim Hacker , plans on implementing pre-set failure standards on local governments plans to determine if they are successes or failures. The criteria were to be described in the documentation for the plan so that everyone would know if something worked or not. I came across and interesting website today put up by the United States government called ExpectMore.gov . This website purports to show what government programs are " Performing " and " Not Performing ." I take it that there are some performance standards built-in to every government program that makes it possible to gauge if they are a success or failure. Programs that are "Performing" are rated as " Effective ," " Moderately effective ," or " Adequate ." Programs that are " Not Performing " are ...

When Senator Edward Kennedy announced his endorsement of Barack Obama he made the following statement: "With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion." Absolutely. We'll be turning to a brand new page of misrepresentation and distortion. Do politicians think we aren't paying attention? The Democrats accuse the Republicans of misrepresentation and distortion, and in return the Republicans accuse the Democrats of misrepresentation and distortion. This is nothing new. The fact is that everyone is so busy with misrepresentation and distortion that the truth is successfully obscured and we are given government statistics to accept as facts. All it does is rally the existing supporters, boost a few percentage points in undecided voters, and make it look like something is really going to happen, so that no one will have to do anything. And the universe continues to unfold just as it should.

... the candidates have taken to attacking the others in their party. It's really rather amusing, and would be even more so, if one of these people wouldn't end up being blamed for everything that's wrong in this country. That is, after all, why we elect a president, you know. The democrats still haven't signaled to Hillary Clinton that they don't want her. And why shouldn't they? She's probably the most polarizing candidate running. Mitt Romney is accused of flip-flopping, which is a negative way of saying "he changed his mind." Only a fool never changes his mind when confronted with evidence to the contrary. Unless of course, you can blame someone else for it. Hillary's qualifications are the stuff of legend: Whitewater, the gifts to the Rose Law Firm, the Chinese campaign contributions, grand jury subpoenas, Kenneth Star, the Lincoln Bedroom, Monica Lewinisky, her husband's impeachment, Gennifer Flowers, the failed campaign promise to...

On this Christmas, I thought I'd like to post one of my favorite passages by Charles Dickens. This is from Sketches by Boz , from the chapter entitled "A Christmas Dinner." Christmas time! That man must be a misanthrope indeed, in whose breast something like a jovial feeling is not roused — in whose mind some pleasant associations are not awakened — by the recurrence of Christmas. There are people who will tell you that Christmas is not to them what it used to be; that each succeeding Christmas has found some cherished hope, or happy prospect, of the year before, dimmed or passed away; that the present only serves to remind them of reduced circumstances and straitened incomes — of the feasts they once bestowed on hollow friends, and of the cold looks that meet them now, in adversity and misfortune. Never heed such dismal reminiscences. There are few men who have lived long enough in the world, who cannot call up such thoughts any day in the year. Then do not select the me...

We had a health fair at work today. All the usual stuff was there. People telling us soda is bad for you, fried food is bad for you, white flour is bad for you, sugar is bad for you, we're too fat, we're too thin, we don't get enough rest, we don't get enough exercise. All the usual stuff. Including lots of swag. Water bottles, pamphlets to tell you more about disease than you want to know, pens that don't work, candy (that seems rather out of place), useless stuff that people pay to get their business name on, and drawings to win stuff. There was a drawing to win a $300 mountain bike. I didn't win. But I did win a cool Ogio bag! It came in really handy for putting all my swag inside.

At ComiCon Leonard Nimoy made this comment on the script for the new Trek movie, "By the way I should mention this is a fabulous script...this is going to be a great movie. And I mean that, I don't say these things lightly. It is a wonderful script and great team putting it together." Boy, I'm really glad to know it's going to be a great movie. Where have I heard that before? Read the entire article here or the transcript here . They also released a new poster for the movie. You can see that at this link .

Thus spake J.K. Rowling on Wednesday, 18 July, whilst imploring Potter fans not to breach the secrecy surrounding Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows . At midnight on the 21st, all will be revealed, and we will all know it together. I have to admit it, I'm more than a little intrigued by this story. My kids have sucked me into the mythos, and I want to know what happens! But, I'm staying firm on my resolve to wait. Even though I work at a bookstore, and we all want to know, the seals on the boxes are intact! We've been wondering what's being depicted on the banner we have in the store. It shows Harry and Voldemort in some kind of area, being watched by hooded figures who may be Death Eaters. Harry is looking up with his left hand upraised, and Voldemort's arms are outstretched and he doesn't appear to be looking at Harry. We think we know what's going on. It's a Quidditch Death Match. Harry's hand is reaching up to grab the snitch and bring Vo...

Genealogy is a pursuit where you'll never know what you may turn up. Or the fascinating things that drop in your lap. Some people approach genealogy wanting to prove some old family legend. Some just are curious about how their family got to where it is. And others, well, some others want to see what they can get from someone. Once upon a time, not very long ago, a man came in to the Family History Library and wanted to trace the descendants of a European royal (any royal, pick one -- no kidding!) to see if he was a descendant. We explained it was easier to go backwards from your self and see where you connect up. He didn't like that answer, and I don't think he ever came back. Someone once said the easiest way to trace your family history is to run for office. There's a lot of truth in that old chestnut. So the other day I was glancing through the online Deseret News and noticed an article about Mitt Romney and his LDS roots. As I was reading the article, I cam...

In an interview with SciFi Wire the writers report the script is complete and they are in preproduction (which is such a nebulous term that I think it's meaningless), and are "still casting." Here's a great quote from the interview: '"Kirk is in the movie," he said. "Some kind of Kirk."' Maybe that's another term for "preproduction." When asked if this was a kickoff for a new series, Roberto Orci said "I'm sure CBS is thinking about that." Perry Mason Mode On: Objection! The witness is not capable of knowing what other parties are thinking. PMM Off Yeah. I'm stoked for this. Really. Can'tcha tell? Read the announcement at http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=42031

The RIAA's trained government attack dogs, the Copyright Royalty Board , has determined that Internet Radio Broadcasters must make increased royalty payments effective 15 May 2007, with the increase retroactive to 1 January 2006. This is action appears to be designed to force Internet broadcasters out of business, leaving only providers who sell DRM-encoded music at excessive prices. Estimates place the new rates at approximately $US 155/listener/year for Internet broadcasters compared to $US 25/listener/year for commercial radio stations. If you want to continue to have your listening options limited to mind-numbing top 40 with banal banter by talking heads, do nothing. If you want to let the RIAA know they've gone too far, go to SaveNetRadio.org .

No, this isn't another anti-DRM post. The Daleks have been voted the scariest villain on Doctor Who ! I'll confess that I had always thought the Cybermen were more interesting baddies than the Daleks. That was until I saw the Doomsday episode. I just loved the banter between the Daleks and Cybermen. The story can be found at Scifi.com .

On 16 April, the RIAA's happy group of yes-men determined not to rehear a plea from Internet Radio broadcasters regarding the proposed royalty payment structure. This means the new rate structure goes into effect on 15 May 2007, retroactive to 1 January 2006. Nothing short of legislative intervention will stop Internet music services from going silent on May 15th. Go to savenetradio.org and contact your elected representatives and ask them to take action. First they said I can only listen to music I've paid for on a single device. Now they are telling me I can't listen to music using the delivery mechanism I prefer.

And why do I? Simple. I don't like my computer telling me what I can or cannot do with something I have legally purchased. I've been trying--not very hard, but trying nonetheless--to record all my vinyl to mp3. And when I say vinyl I'm including the tape used on my cassettes and 8-tracks . I also have a fully functional Marantz Quadrophonic 8-track player on which to play my aforementioned 8-track tapes. So the other day I wanted to record my copy of Wishbone Ash 's Live Dates lp. But I can't find it. So I found my cassette of the album, plugged it into the tape deck I have connected to my PC and fired up Audacity and left the room. When I came back and checked the recording, all I had recorded was the loud squeal of a over-tensioned cassette. So now I have a lost lp, a junk cassette, and no Wishbone Ash to listen to. If I buy the CD, it'll cost me $19, which is almost the same as downloading it from Yahoo or Wal-mart. If I try the Russian site, Allof...

According to Sci Fi Wire, Doctor Who will be getting a fourth season . And another old villain will make his reappearance. Maybe the fourth season will also bring some new revelations on the Time War. Care for a jelly baby?

"The beauty of Daylight Saving Time is that it just makes everyone feel sunnier," Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass, quoted by Associated Press, 22 July 2005. He wouldn't have said that if he was at my house this morning. :-P I'm sorely tempted to make a comment about the absence of sunshine and the space between his ears.

TrekWeb posted an excerpt from an MTV interview with the screenwriters for ST XI. The TrekWeb article can be found here . Here's some highlights: "The challenge of the movie is to be 100 percent true to the fanbase but also to bring in a whole new group of people who've never seen 'Trek' before," Kurtzman said. >My comment: Isn't that what they've all said before? And how well did it work? Of course, this one just might do it. Maybe. Orci and Kurtzman also confirmed that the film is not in any way a prequel but a reimagining of the franchise. Whether that means a whole new look for Star Trek remains in question. "We're not going to start totally from scratch," Orci said. "We want it to feel like it's updated and of the now. That's actually the discussions we're having now: how to keep the look of the universe yet have it not look like nothing's new. It's tricky." >My comment: Reimagining is so cliche....

This is not for the faint of heart. Really. A Lego Sponge Bob at the American International Toy Fair. Photo from PCMag.com's Photo Blog. I needed this to remind me why I'm glad we got rid of the satellite dish.