The redesigned MB is nearly complete - just some finishing touches to complete. I'm looking to officially open the blog on September 23 - my blogaversary.
In the meantime, if you haven't done so already, please add the new blog to your feed and update your bookmarks or links to http://www.midnightbluesays.com
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Blog redesign is underway - stay tuned for updates on the progress of this redesign.What will be included in the new redesign:
- Migrating from Blogger to Wordpress platform - the URL will remain the same
- Twitter updates on my header
- 4 column, fluid design
- Space for a promoted video
- "Hot Topics" section where you can comment
- Recent posts area
- Recent comments area
- Easy links to my social media sites
- Ability to share posts on social media site
- More organized link list
What I'd like to know is what you, my dear readers, would like to see on the redesigned MidnightBlue. Leave your comments in the appropriate area.
A few weeks ago I posted the above photo to Flickr. It was taken at a recent healthcare forum in Philly and I titled it: "A Paid Protester - Note Who Sponsored the Sign". The title ruffled the feathers of a Philly photographer who left a series of comments on my Flickr account trying to disclaim the idea of a paid protester. When I steered him back to common sense with my replies, he lamely tried to paint my Sheepdogs as paid hacks. If I had a dime for every time that false accusation was laid down, I would be a paid hack - at their expense!Last week, PJTV's Steven Crowder went on a job interview with California's premier liberal activist organization - much like HCAN - where he found he would be paid handsomely for being a grass root activist (see photo above). That's not all he discovered, you have to watch the video to see what a professional astroturfing organization looks like:
Wow, being paid $33,000 clams to stand at a busy public space with a sign (see photo above). Not a bad gig at all, if it weren't disingenuous and hurtful to the public welfare. I wonder if Madame Speaker would like to recalibrate her statement regarding astroturf activists or will she just blame the CIA..again.
Being closely involved in a grassroot organization since 2007, I have seen first hand what a small group of determined, UNPAID individuals can do; indeed, it may be what saves this country.
Oh, I did capture a video of the woman pictured above - not sure I'd want her deciding healthcare benefits for this nation - especially since she does not know her data all that well:
David Bellavia, author of House to House, simply rocks this interview with Glen Beck regarding Obama's national civilian security force - Americorp:
Wow! What is with the goatee??
Project 2996 - 2,996 stories, 2,996 voices, 2,996 remembered:
On September 11, 2009 the participants of Project 2,996 will join in a massive blogburst. With enough participants I hope we can flood the blogosphere and the internet with the names faces and stories of the 2,996 people who were murdered for doing nothing more than living their daily lives.
Click HERE to learn more about the 2996 project and how you can participate.
I am deeply saddened to report the loss of fellow Flopping Aces contributor, Major Chris Galloway, he died suddenly on June 30th, 2009. A passionate patriot, Soldier and father - he will not be forgotten.A memorial to Chris can be found at Flopping Aces
Yeah, I digg him to!
Check out this discussion from Le Web 2008:
It is a classic discussion of European socalism and American capitalism. Brilliant video from a world class conference - Le Web. I just hope Loic and Michael have kissed and made up.
Check out this discussion from Le Web 2008:
It is a classic discussion of European socalism and American capitalism. Brilliant video from a world class conference - Le Web. I just hope Loic and Michael have kissed and made up.
Please snitch this blog post: flag@whitehouse.gov
Americans for Prosperity Policy Director Phil Kerpen responds to baseless allegations from Rachel Maddow that AFP grassroots efforts are not legitimate.
Michelle notes on her blog "You know you’ve won the argument when the ladies of the View are reduced to arguing how corrupt they are, and not whether.”
Kudos to Michelle for courageously stepping into that botox enhanced viper pit - otherwise known as "The View". Will we see Joy or Whoopie as guests on Sean Hannity's All American Panel? I suspect not.
It seems I've been a bit quiet on the blog as of late. This week has presented me with several challenges at one time.
I started off the week with a family member being hospitalized, repainting my master bedroom and commencing training for a charity 5K race - 1st Annual Lemon Run which benefits Alex's Lemonade Stand. This left precious little time for bloggery.
Whew! I'm getting tired typing all of this! Blogging will continue to be light until next week, in the meantime I want to share a few nuggets with you:
Conservative bloggers are dominating the Healthcare debate online according to Politicosphere.net:
If blogs are critical in the current battle for public opinon, then there may be real cause for concern: according to our sample of almost 2500 political sites and blogs, conservatives are winning hands down, with almost twice as many posts as the progressive side (4642 posts vs. 2785 in the past 15 days).
A fresh edition of Senate Doctors Debunking Obamacare. Again, where are the Dem physician-politicians support of this healthcare scheme?
Warriors Watch and A Hero's Welcome were profiled by Kathy Gandolfo for 6ABC:
I am proud to have worked with both organizations. It is interesting to note that those on the left who claim support for our troops by bringing them home are NEVER present to welcome soldier home.
Been busy this weekend - a family member underwent emergent triple bi-pass surgery, started repainting the master bedroom and begun training for a 5K charity run scheduled for September.
However, the world still turns and I've a few stories and videos I'd like to share with my readers.
Craptastic Klavan
Fast Eddie on Hannity pushing the stimulus coolaid, and giving no indication of permanent jobs being created by stimulus funds in Pennsylvania:
Take the Red Pill - Please!
Obamacare and a dose of chemically induced reality:
Oh, snap! What House Dems are saying about Obamacare - it ain't pretty! Check out the Whip Count report on "What Dems are Saying About Obamacare"
However, the world still turns and I've a few stories and videos I'd like to share with my readers.
Craptastic Klavan
Fast Eddie on Hannity pushing the stimulus coolaid, and giving no indication of permanent jobs being created by stimulus funds in Pennsylvania:
Take the Red Pill - Please!
Obamacare and a dose of chemically induced reality:
Last night, President Obama appeared to have taken the blue pill before his press conference. How else could he convince himself, the Congressional Budget Office's numbers notwithstanding, that his health care reform bill will not increase both health care costs and the federal deficit? How else can he continue to make the argument that a massive expansion of government spending on health care will solve rather than exacerbate the current problems?Congressman John Fleming has proposed a resolution asking for those legislators who vote for Obama's healthcare scheme to enroll in the program.
I have offered a resolution that will offer members of Congress an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is, and urge their colleagues who vote for legislation creating a government-run health care plan to lead by example and enroll themselves in the same public plan.You can view the names of the Reps that signed on to HR 615 HERE . Note - every cosponsor has one thing in common - an "R" after their name. Why is there not one Democrat, armed with the courage of their conviction, stepping up to support Obamacare in this manner? Their silence is damming, don't you think? Thank You Representative Joe Pitts - you make me proud to live in Pennsylvania.
Oh, snap! What House Dems are saying about Obamacare - it ain't pretty! Check out the Whip Count report on "What Dems are Saying About Obamacare"
John Hawkins of RWN posted his finding of a poll sent out to 260 ROC (Right-of-Center) bloggers. I found one interesting result:
63% of those polled believe Sarah Palin will be a viable candidate in 2012.
63% of those polled believe Sarah Palin will be a viable candidate in 2012.
Run, baby, Run!
Duane Lester author of All American Blogger requested an interview with me about blogging and new media. I had a great time talking with Duane! It was perfect timing as friends of mine have been requesting that I teach them how to get started in the online world.
Bill O'Reilly has a talent of grating on my last nerve, but his talking point memo for June 10th is something I can support 100%. Releasing the photos with out a proper context will inflame our enemies and U.S. soldiers will die. Every sane citizen understands this basic principle. Please contact Madame Speaker on this crucial issue, and tell her to not issue death warrants for U.S. soldiers.
Bill O'Reilly TPM:
There comes a time, ladies and gentlemen, when ideology can cause death. I am so tired of zealots, primarily on the left, putting their insane personal agendas above the safety of fellow Americans.
Do you think the brave soldiers and Marines operating in dangerous areas right this minute want grisly pictures all over Al Jazeera and the terror Web sites? So let's look out for our military, OK?
If you'd like to contact Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, here's the contact information that you'll need:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
http://speaker.house.gov/contact or http://www.speaker.gov/contact
If the web contact form doesn't work, use this email address:
AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-0100
Melissa Clouthier turns up the heat on RWN with a list of the 10 sexiest guys on the right. Mmm..it is good to right these days.
I've a few edits to Melissa's magnificent list. I'd bump the bad boy - Brooks Bayne - he's libertarian and won't let me follow him on Twitter. Your outta here!
I'd replace Brooks with a real man and real conservative: Sean Carpenter
One cannot get through the day with out a dose of Caleb Howe. The guy is a remarkable investigator and kindred soul. You must get to know him.
The SWCC guys should be at the the top any list - they are heroes and world class gentlemen. When they visited Philly last year I was able to interview them and go for a ride in their super fly Mark V.
Photos by the magnificent Neocon and SkyeDO NOT FORGET THE FRENCH! Well..actually Danish....Erik Svane of Non Pasaran!
Today I came across a tweet by TommyXtopher:
Will be off the grid for awhile dealing with the fact that I just got fired by PoliticsDaily.com
Yes, you read that correctly, an in-the-tank liberal media guy was fired. What is the world coming to?
In a recent article entitled "Bad Bunny" Tommy takes on the Playboy's vicious slam on conservative women. In response to the negative feedback generated by the article Playboy pulled the article. However, Caleb Howe captured screen shots - WARNING: NSFW! It is a good illustration of the new era of peace ushered in by the Obama administration.
Vile attacks on conservative women are commonplace in this new era. Going against the grain and attacking the authors of such an attack was enough to terminate his employment with AOL. While it is one thing to attack conservatives in with impunity, it is absolutely intolerable to go against another player in the Party. There is zero tolerance for dissent amongst Democrats and liberals - one strike and your out.
In an interview with NewsBusters, Tommy Christopher recounts his success as a writer for AOL:
As Christopher notes in the statement he released to NewsBusters he was a productive and successful writer for AOL. He is a well respected, widely read, and widely linked writer. His stories and opinions have been featured on Bill O'Reilly, Hot Air, Red State, The College Politico, The Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, and even NewsBusters. It seems highly unlikely that AOL fired him for lack of performance and it is important to note that nobody has claimed that as of now.
With all of this it seems that coincidental timing is an extremely hard sell for why Tommy Christopher was fired by AOL News today. It appears that Christopher was intent on covering a story which he found to be particularly important but that Aol News had "internally decided" was off limits.Has the fact that AOL's parent company, Time Warner, has a business relationship with Playboy may have affected their editorial decisions? After all Time Warner is a major national distributor of Playboy TV through their cable company.I have met Tommy personally and find I disagree with everything he says. To his credit, he has learned never to cross me and has personally apologized for his rude behavior during a past conversation. As much as I disagree with him, I agree that he has a right to speak his mind - even if I believe he has lost his :)
I was surprised to see he included me in one of his recent articles. Tommy is a good writer and liberal, he is bound to rebound from this debacle.
Top Conservative Women I Love To Love
Over the past few months, I've been busy test driving two camcorders; the Creative Lab Vado HD camcorder and the Pure Digital Flip Mino HD. Both are powerful, inexpensive tools for bloggers, journalists or anyone interested in stepping into HD video recording - especially parents.Released in 2008 by Pure Digital, the Flip Mino is the world smallest HD video recorder. The camera can record 720p high definition video for approximately one hour. It comes with 4 gigs of onboard memory. The image sensor is CMOS, with a frame rate of 30 fps. The camera has automatic white balance, automatic exposure control and dynamic exposure compensation and fixed focus lens.( To my photography friends you can equate that to a prime lens - more of less) A NTSC cable is included, and has joined the other NTSC cables I have collected over the years. There is also a port for an HDMI connection, but no cable is provided. The camera also comes with a velvety pouch for storage. The online Flip store allows for custom designs of its HD models. For a great example, check out Lord Matt's design.
The Vado HD marketed by Creative Labs provides 720p high definition video for two hours. The software allows the user to select a standard definition video setting as well. There are 8 gigs of memory onboard the camcorder, along with software to do basic video editing. A CMOS sensor shooting video at 30 fps. A wide angle lens and 2x digital zoom come standard. Like the Flip, I consider it to be a fixed lens as well. It comes with an HDMI cable and plastic protective cover, along with the unrestrained adulation of Chris Pirillo
Does this sound geek to you? This can seem a bit daunting if this tech is unfamiliar to you.
Let's briefly review some definitions:
HD or high definition simply means you can see more detail in your video compared with SD or standard definition video. This quality is measured in the number of pixels. The textbook definition of high definition video would have a pixel count of 1080 x 1444. Standard Definition pixels are typically 720 x 480. In essence, the more pixels you have to work with, the more detail is captured in your video. The Mino and Vado shoot at 720p which converted to pixels would be 1280 x 720. Not quite textbook High Definition, but it is real close.
CMOS stands for Complimentary Metal Oxide Sensor. This is where the light let in from your lens is converted into an electrical signal. A rather important component to your camera, it is where the rubber meets the road so to speak.
NTSC cable connects your video camera to you television in order for you to play the video direct from your camera to your TV. I've got a growing collection of these cables.
HDMI stand for High Definiton Multimedia Interface. On a single cable, it supports any type of TV or PC video format. This provided the best quality of video to your home entertainment system.
The Mino and Vado have an impressive 4 second power up time. 4 seconds can make the difference between capturing the scene or watching it pass by while your camcorder is reading its hard drive.
Memory storage is on board and so is the video editing software. With the flick of a USB connector you can download your videos, and the editing software is automatically installed. The software allows you to perform basic editing on your video - you can trim the video, add titles, losing credits and music if you so chose . Directly from the software you can upload your video to YouTube, AOL, MySpace, Photobucket and box.
Both have sleek controls and combined with automatic everything leads to near perfect idiot proofing of the camera. I mean that in a good way. This is a grab and go camcorder that you don't need to waste time fussing with numerous settings. This is a HD camcorder that you can put in your pocket, Hobo or your black hole of a tote bag and head out to a Tea Party or Birthday party.
It is not all sweetness and light with these camcorders. One hour battery life of the Flip Mino HD can throw a monkey wrench into your coverage of an event. In fact, I ran the battery down on the Flip smack in the middle of an interview. Not cool at all. The software is simple and basic, yet I've been unsuccessful at adding titles to my Flip videos. Every attempt to do so has crashed the program. To date, I've been unsuccessful in troubleshooting this annoying problem. The LCD is substantially larger with the Vado in comparison to Flip.
Both camcorders do NOT have lens covers. After pulling the camcorders out of my purse or LowePro slingback, I find the need to frequently clean off smudges before shooting video.
Both are roughly the same size and weight, both have a flippy USB connectors and tripod connections. If you want good video - get to know your inner tripod. This is important since both camcorders do not have image stabilization on board. Sudden movements produce nausea inducing video on both cameras.
For more advanced users, you can bypass the editing software and use your preferred video editing software with raw Flip videos. The Vado requires that you create a movie in .wmv format before using in another video editing system. This has been my experience using Sony Vegas 8 to edit video.
For such small camcorders, they really pack a great video punch! I've included video samples in this post to illustrate the quality of video produced by Flip Mino HD and Creative Vado HD.
FLIP MINO HD:
Screen capture:
CREATIVE VADO:
Screen Capture:
Side by side video comparison of the two camcorders - The Vado clip was shot in VGA and the Flip video was shot in 720p.
I will tell you it is tough to place one camera above the other as both have similar good points and manageable annoyances. If pushed, I'd place the Vado HD over the Flip Mino HD - just barely. It comes down to the more vibrant colors recorded on video and the software package - the Vado video editing software is slightly more robust than Flip Mino. Both pack a lot of tech into a small and inexpensive package, you would not go wrong with one or the other.
You can purchase a Flip Mino HD HERE
You can purchase a Creative Vado HD HERE
I've no conflict of interest to disclose. I've not received financial or material compensation from Creative Labs or Pure Digital in exchange for this review.
H/T: CNN
UPDATE: Breitbart goes where liberal bloggers fear to tread:
Michelle Malkin flashbacks the history of violence directed at recruiting centers.
Obama has no comment on the death of the soldier.
Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad -- a 24-year-old Little Rock resident formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe -- faces a first-degree murder charge and 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act, Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said. The terrorist counts stem from the shots fired at an occupied building.It seems the hyperventilating blogger has nothing to report. Where is moral condemnation of anti-recruiter organizations and their supporters? Neither does he have the cahones to question when the killer converted to Islam? The silence is deafening - so is the hypocrisy of the left.
UPDATE: Breitbart goes where liberal bloggers fear to tread:
Muhammad acted alone, the police chief said, and based on an interview with officers, the suspect "probably had political and religious motives for the attack." He lived in an apartment just 1.5 miles from the recruiting center. A search warrant had been obtained for the apartment
Obama has no comment on the death of the soldier.
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About Moi
Credentialed blogger of the 2008 Republican National Convention.
Credentialed blogger of the 2008 Pennsylvania Leadership Conference
Totally un-official blogger for CPAC 2008 & 2009
Contributing Author at PA WaterCooler
Contributing author at Flopping Aces
Contributing author at Right Wing News
Recovering Democrat - newly minted Republican
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