Hillary v. Obama

I'm getting really tired of this fight between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and the war of words being waged by their supporters on forums and boards. Most recently, there was the MLK remarks controversy. I know both of these guys want to win, of course, but they need to be careful, lest they endanger their chances in the general election. Someone's going to come out of this fight on top, and they have to do so intact enough to be able to get a majoroity of votes in November. Both Obama and Clinton need to keep in mind the possibility that they won't be the one that's chosen, and that they'd prefer their fellow party member as President than a Republican.

I started out as a Hillary supporter. But her campaign is pushing me towards Obama. I see the ignorance in posts on boards and forums, and more and more I see how he's right about the type of change that's needed.
A few facts:
1. Obama is not Muslim, has never practiced Islam and has always been Christian. Period. Anyone saying otherwise is lying.
2. Obama has put forward a health care plan and an economic plan as well as other policy plans. They're on his website and detailed. Anyone telling you he's just given speeches with no policy is lying.
3. I have not, at any time, seen Obama bring up race. Not once. Hillary brings up the fact that she's a woman every time her poll numbers slump.

Don't get me wrong, despite her shoddy campaigning, I still wouldn't mind Hill as prez. I look back very fondly on the Clinton years. It was a wonderful time in American history. The Bush years have been the darkest chapter in our nation's history that I've had the displeasure of living through. With Hillary, we'd get Bill again...plus she's strong on her own. She'd be great in office, and so would Obama.
In truth, if either of these two become president, we'll be doing pretty darn good. That's the truth. I hope whichever one wins they make the other a major player in their administration. Let's quit the played up devisiveness. Come November 8, if the Hillary supporters see Obama's name across from, say Romney's, do you think they're actually going to NOT vote for Obama? If Obama supporters see Hillary's name across from Thompson, do you really think they're going to NOT vote for Hillary?We've been blessed with two candidates who really, honestly, ain't that far apart on objectives for the country. Let's focus on their policy, both of which make those policies available on their websites, and quit the petty infighting. If we have EITHER of them as President, supporters from both camps will be cheering in the street come November. And after the primaries are over, they'll suddenly be on the same side. And so will their supporters.
Hillary OR Obama in 08 may not be an exciting, decisive slogan, but I think the majority of Clinton and Obama supporters feel that way at heart.

Cloverfield update w/ possible spoilers

Okay, been awhile since I talked about this and the movie comes out next month.
This post is loaded with potential spoilers, so be warned.Apparently, from the viral sites being run across the net, the Cloverfield Monster is completely original. It is a whale hybrid and may have a connection to "extremeophile" lifeforms that have been found living in extreme conditions on the bottom of the ocean floor.
The monster has been awakened by Tagruato, the parent company of Slusho. This likely happened at a site called the Chuai Station, located off the east coast in the atlantic. they were digging for something called "sea nectar" along with petroleum products. if you go to the interactive map, you'll notice that there's no E.U.R.R. for Chuai Station. Also, at other little hidden websites across the net, like one from a faux environmental group called T.I.D.O., you'll see little posts from people who have relatives on Chuai station that they can't contact. There's also a string of videos allegedly from a girl who's dating a guy from TIDO. She gets a package from him, thinking its a xmas gift. In it is evidence against Tagruato, but she doesn't understand. He warns of them having awakened something at Chuai Station. He also sent her a package that warns that it needs to be kept frozen. She tosses it to the side.
Now, here's the big reveal....I can't guarantee this, but I believe it to be authentic.
Here is the Cloverfield Monster!



Now, as we can see, it's a whale mutation. It also has monster louse that ride it, like on real whales. It's collosal, perhaps larger than Godzilla. If it's a deep-sea extremophile used to extreme pressure AND can surface without problems, then it's skin would have to be super tough, probably impervious to even small artillery at that size.
The louse are parasitical, and a separate species. If they bite you, it'd be very nasty, as they probably have some horrendous toxins and may even implant eggs.
You can see the horrible effects of being bitten by one here. Yikes.

We're still not sure why it's called Cloverfield, esp. since everyone was told that was just a working title. They could still change it later I supposed. Also, the monster leak could be meant to divert away from the real thing. I hope not. I think that monster looks freakin' awesome and is going to be horrific on the big screen, esp. when all you'll get are glimpses through hand-held cameras. But the louse are going to be the real horror.
The fact that this thing attacks after the drilling and some hints here and there, give the possibility that it is semi-intelligent. But that fits in with many, many people's beliefs of whale intelligence. And the first rule of monster sci-fi is "take a natural trait and run it to the extreme". This may be why Abrahms chose a whale mutant, so that it having uncanny intellect (if not true intelligence) is believable.
Scary-looking stuff. He wants this to be America's godzilla, but even less friendly and more frightening. I think, if that translates well to screen, he might succeed.

Can we put the 9/11 conspiracy to bed now?

I've occasionally encountered people who, for reasons I haven't really figured out yet, are convinced that there's some vast conspiracy behind the 9/11 attacks.
Today, Osama bin Laden ended all doubt. In his most recently-released tape, he took sole and full responsibility for the 9/11 attacks.
Sole responsibility.
Sole.
Responsibility.
He also took responsibility right after the attacks, but some people didn't listen. Then he released the actual tapes the hijackers made before the attacks declaring what they were going to do. But some people didn't listen.
I've heard people claim no plane hit the Pentagon. Well, I was working at Crystal City at the time and I saw it go in. Another reporter I know was blown back off the lawn by the impact as it went over head. So, a plane hit the pentagon. And it was a jetliner.
And I'm not honest when I say I don't know why people believe in the conspiracy theories. I know why. Bush.
All that's happened since seems to have been orchestrated to give a lot of power to one man, upsetting the checks and balances system of the country. Well, it may have benefited Bush, but in the last couple years we've seen how big a backlash such an attempt at a power grab in our country will cause. In truth, there's no conspiracy needed to explain what happened post-9/11, with the Patriot Act, and the embracing of Nazi Herman Goering's philosophy of control by the Right ("Voice or no voice, controlling the people is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are under attack, and then label the pacifists as unpatriotic.")
The answer as to how things seem to fall into place so smoothly for Bush was simple: Opportunism.
We know from Richard Baer and others who worked on counter-terrorism that from day one, the intention was to spin the attack into a war against Iraq. In all likelihood, they were going to try and pull us into this war anyway, but they didn't know how to do it.
Osama bin Laden gave them the reason they were looking for.
The irony, of course, and of no surprise to people who know a modicum of history, is that bin Laden's so-called attempt to "save" the Middle East from western influence has led to the largest bloom of western influence in the middle east since the Crusaders took Jerusalem.
By declaring himself the enemy and attacking when and how he did, he empowered his worst enemy to galactic proportions.
Apparently, Sun Tzu isn't translated into Arabic.

Hoping for my breakout

Maybe it's a silly hope, but I don't think so.
Lately I've been really putting in a lot of work on my writing. Last night I sat a bit and tried to make sense of all that I've been doing...and try to get a better feel of what, exactly, I'm hoping to achieve.
My primary project at the moment is a couple of short stories that I have been invited to submit for an Anthology novel based off the Rifts role-playing game. After that, I'm going to start pounding out a full-blown novel.
On top of that I've just submitted another game book to them, have one already in review that I need to do some rewriting on, and I'm cleaning up Dragon Diaries for submission to WOTC, which is looking for non-D&D contemporary fantasy novels this cycle.
In between all that I try to sandwich in plenty of quality time with my son and Rae....and some recreation as well.
Why?
I think I'm hoping for my breakout moment. I'm 34. I'd hoped to have been published as an author by now. Rae always laughs when I say that, reminding me I've been published thousands of times over more than the last decade as a reporter. It's true, my name's on a LOT of by-lines, and there's no lacking in my clip portfolio. But it's different from seeing your name on the spine of a book.
That's what I want. That's the hurdle I've not yet been able to clear.
When I was young and just starting out as a writer (after converting from my dreams of being a fighter pilot/astronaut...don't laugh, I actually had a seat at the naval academy waiting for me), I first wanted to be a reporter on a mainstream metropolitan city desk. I got that at the Detroit News, and even helped launch their Livingston County Bureau, which was a pretty good success.
It took awhile. I worked at two smaller papers over about four years after college to get that position (although I'd interned at the news throughout college, so I was kind of doing it then too).
Then, I wanted to work in D.C., on Capitol Hill. I got that. I got to rub elbows with the likes of Hillary Clinton, John McCain, etc. I got to bust a plan by Donald Rumsfeld to privatize the Army Corps of Engineers, got to travel the country. It was a good gig for a while, and almost all I was looking for. But I got bored, started to get itchy, and it started showing in my work. My vision had moved on.
I wrote a novel immediately after that, but I haven't been able to sell it yet. So, while waiting, I freelanced for a cigar magazine. I'd always wanted to freelance like that. It was good money, really easy work and the silliest, lightest hours you've ever seen (I worked about eight weeks worth in one year and made the same as when I worked full-time). But there were no benefits and it was feast or famine...and after hitting a long stretch of famine I went back to work.
The RPG book was another dream. Two are in pre-production. So that goal is just a matter of time.
But still, my Holy Grail, the published novel, is not quite here yet. It's the one thing, the only thing, that I haven't been able to put a check mark by. I'm bound and determined to do it.
I want my son to grow up having known of me being nothing but a novelist. Ultimately, it's what I'd like to do for the entirety of my living.
Some have suggested I do erotica, as that's what a lot of sci-fi writers do at the very beginning of their career (you'd be surprised..some very famous Hugo-winners wrote smut under an assumed name), but I haven't been enthusiastic about that idea.
So, I soldier on...putting in basically a double workday sometimes, as I come home from work to put in several hours of writing and research. I know rae gets tired of the only view of me being from peering over a computer screen, but she understands what drives me (though she laments my Type A personality).
I'm going to get there. There will come a day when that goal is in the "done" column, and I'm writing books regularly.
I wonder, however, what I'll target then. I've got at least three good ideas for some screenplays....

I really didn't know what hard was

You know, before I became a dad, there were days in my life that I thought were "hard." And in truth, some of them still were extremely difficult, but have dulled with time.
But it's a different kind of "hard" that I face every morning I go to work.
I have to leave beautiful rae and my infant son, Joseph, every morning, and not see them for the rest of the day. When I get home, I hold him for an hour, at most, while at the same time trying to stay connected with rae AND engaging in all the other little stuff I do (writing freelance on the side, posting on various sites, trying to "decompress" after work with some World of Warcraft, Jade Empire, or simply by watching "the word" on Colbert Report). On top of that, I try to help rae out where I can.
It's hard in a way that I'm not familiar with. Before, I worked from home because I just didn't want to be in an office. I think flourescent lighting and cubicles are bad for the human soul. And I liked doing a day's work in my robe and slippers.
Now, it's something else. I feel it's almost a necessity that I find a way to work from home on a permanent basis. The trick is finding that way. Freelance writing is really feast or famine, and that's fine and well if you're a bachelor and don't mind a couple weeks of ramen noodles one month and eating filet mignon the next. But Joseph needs diapers every day. And both he and rae (and I) need medical coverage.
So, for now, I kiss them both (repeatedly sometimes) and leave for work. I hope to change this in the near future.

I'm a dad

On September 23, 2007 at 6:21 a.m., I became a father. My son, Joseph Alessandro, arrived after 41 weeks of pregnancy, 23 hours at the hospital, 12 hours of active labor and a quick 10 minutes of actual pushing.
It was, in a word, amazing. I know, I know. Everyone who has had a child has said that. But, there's a reason. It's true.
I can't really describe much of the experience without sounding trite and...well, corny. The actual childbirth was part Discovery Channel documentary, part Family Channel drama and part episode of MASH. The event was all...miracle is such an overused word. Let's just say it was the most emotional, wondrous incident I've ever lived through.
Joseph and mommy are doing quite well. We got home only today in the afternoon. That was a lot longer in the hospital than we anticipated. There was nothing wrong, but it's Johns Hopkins policy to keep mother and child two nights. They are extremely cautious, health and safety conscious. It makes you feel very secure.
Joseph has a blend of our looks, though Rae thinks he looks more like me. He has what appear to be light brown eyes, but as a newborn, they could shift still. Personally, I think they're going to go hazel. He has long, dark, straight hair so far, and his skin tone is pretty close to that of his mom's.
He's absolutely adorable. So much so that hospital staff occasionally seemed to be caught by surprise. Rae thinks they're good at that by now and probably do that with all parents, but I think it was genuine.
So now we're home. He's feeding every hour and a half to two hours, which is wearing on mom, but she's holding up okay. But that leaves me to do, essentially, everything else. On top of that, I have a book deadline for Palladium at the end of the week. I have to get the last few items from my writing partner, merge it all together, edit and prep for send-off by Saturday. Fortunately, I have the week off. I have a feeling it will go all too quickly.
But I'm happy. Happy on a level I've never been before.
Even though it feels like the end of something, and that we've reached a destination, I know it's just the beginning. I look forward to the trip.

The Very Strange Confession of Walter G. Haut

Okay, here's one for the conspiracy theorists to crow about. Everyone is familiar with the Roswell Crash of 1947 and the claims of Ufologists that it was a downed UFO. Everyone's also familiar with the government's story that it was a weather balloon...then admitting there was a cover-up of...a weather balloon.
Well, a new wrinkle has been added to this story, one that strongly supports the "little green men" theory.
In 2002 the Roswell base public information officer from 1947, Walter G. Haut, signed a sealed affidavit to be released only after his death. In it, well...read for yourself. It's pretty damning. It's unlikely that he's lying. Deathbed confession from a respected soldier who was entrusted with public information distribution of (at that time) the only nuclear capable air wing in the United States of America? What's more, he never made mention of the bodies or craft in any previous discussions, being fairly tight-lipped on the incident.
Pretty much, the only defense skeptics have in this instance is to call him a liar. And who's going to buy that a deathbed confession from this guy, which in no way profits himself or his family, and fits perfectly with fulfilling his secrecy oaths, just decided to leave the world with a lie?
That's almost as wild as the idea of aliens. At least we know with all the stars in the galaxy and all the planets we're finding that alien life is extremely likely. The odds of this guy just arbitrarily leaving a lie behind as legacy are much lower.
Note that the affidavit was created in 2002, and Haut died in 2005. It was opened in 2006 and its existence became known just this year.

2002 SEALED AFFIDAVIT OF WALTER G. HAUT
DATE: December 26, 2002
WITNESS: Chris Xxxxxx
NOTARY: Beverlee Morgan

(1) My name is Walter G. Haut

(2) I was born on June 2, 1922

(3) My address is 1405 W. 7th Street, Roswell, NM 88203

(4) I am retired.

(5) In July, 1947, I was stationed at the Roswell Army Air Basein Roswell, New Mexico, serving as the base Public Information Officer. I had spent the 4th of July weekend (Saturday, the 5th,and Sunday, the 6th) at my private residence about 10 miles north of the base, which was located south of town.

(6) I was aware that someone had reported the remains of a downed vehicle by midmorning after my return to duty at the base on Monday, July 7. I was aware that Major Jesse A. Marcel, head of intelligence, was sent by the base commander, Col. William Blanchard, to investigate.

(7) By late in the afternoon that same day, I would learn that additional civilian reports came in regarding a second site just north of Roswell. I would spend the better part of the day attending to my regular duties hearing little if anything more.

(8) On Tuesday morning, July 8, I would attend the regularly scheduled staff meeting at 7:30 a.m. Besides Blanchard, Marcel;CIC [Counterintelligence Corp] Capt. Sheridan Cavitt; Col. JamesI. Hopkins, the operations officer; Lt. Col. Ulysses S. Nero,the supply officer; and from Carswell AAF in Fort Worth, Texas, Blanchard's boss, Brig. Gen. Roger Ramey and his chief of staff, Col. Thomas J. Dubose were also in attendance. The main topic of discussion was reported by Marcel and Cavitt regarding an extensive debris field in Lincoln County approx. 75 miles NW ofRoswell. A preliminary briefing was provided by Blanchard about the second site approx. 40 miles north of town. Samples ofwreckage were passed around the table. It was unlike any material I had or have ever seen in my life. Pieces which resembled metal foil, paper thin yet extremely strong, and pieces with unusual markings along their length were handled from man to man, each voicing their opinion. No one was able to identify the crash debris.

(9) One of the main concerns discussed at the meeting waswhether we should go public or not with the discovery. Gen.Ramey proposed a plan, which I believe originated from his bosses at the Pentagon. Attention needed to be diverted from the more important site north of town by acknowledging the other location. Too many civilians were already involved and the press already was informed. I was not completely informed how this would be accomplished.

(10) At approximately 9:30 a.m. Col. Blanchard phoned my office and dictated the press release of having in our possession a flying disc, coming from a ranch Northwest of Roswell, andMarcel flying the material to higher headquarters. I was to deliver the news release to radio stations KGFL and KSWS, and newspapers the Daily Record and the Morning Dispatch.

(11) By the time the news release hit the wire services, my office was inundated with phone calls from around the world. Messages stacked up on my desk, and rather than deal with the media concern, Col Blanchard suggested that I go home and "hideout."

(12) Before leaving the base, Col. Blanchard took me personally to Building 84 [AKA Hangar P-3], a B-29 hangar located on theeast side of the tarmac. Upon first approaching the building, I observed that it was under heavy guard both outside and inside. Once inside, I was permitted from a safe distance to first observe the object just recovered north of town. It was approx. 12 to 15 feet in length, not quite as wide, about 6 feet high,and more of an egg shape. Lighting was poor, but its surface did appear metallic. No windows, portholes, wings, tail section, or landing gear were visible.

(13) Also from a distance, I was able to see a couple of bodies under a canvas tarpaulin. Only the heads extended beyond the covering, and I was not able to make out any features. The heads did appear larger than normal and the contour of the canvas suggested the size of a 10 year old child. At a later date in Blanchard's office, he would extend his arm about 4 feet above the floor to indicate the height.

(14) I was informed of a temporary morgue set up to accommodate the recovered bodies.

(15) I was informed that the wreckage was not "hot"(radioactive).

(16) Upon his return from Fort Worth, Major Marcel described tome taking pieces of the wreckage to Gen. Ramey's office and after returning from a map room, finding the remains of a weather balloon and radar kite substituted while he was out of the room. Marcel was very upset over this situation. We would not discuss it again.

(17) I would be allowed to make at least one visit to one of the recovery sites during the military cleanup. I would return tothe base with some of the wreckage which I would display in my office.
(18) I was aware two separate teams would return to each site months later for periodic searches for any remaining evidence.

(19) I am convinced that what I personally observed was some type of craft and its crew from outer space.

(20) I have not been paid nor given anything of value to make this statement, and it is the truth to the best of my recollection.

Signed: Walter G. Haut
December 26, 2002
Signature witnessed by:Chris Xxxxxxx