Old Home Movie

I was home channel surfing when I came across this video on the Seattle Channel.

It was a home movie someone made of the 1925 City of Seattle Streets and Sewers department company picnic held on August 15, 1925.

I have an interest in old silent movies, and this one really grabbed me due to the insight into "normal" folks and life of this era (as opposed to what we see in the Hollywood movies of the time).

It's 31 minutes long, I watched the whole thing. I hope you enjoy it, too!

Post Pending Legislation Online!

[Sent this note to my Senators and Representative:]

Dear Congressman McDermott,

When President Obama was campaigning for office, he pledged to post all pending legislation on line. I am very disappointed that this pledge has not come to fruition. This article brought this issue to my attention: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Baucus-claims-its-too-difficult-to-put-health-care-bill-online-61246377.html

Please work to post all pending legislation online. We have a government Of the people, for the people, by the people. How can we have that if we don't know what our representatives are voting on?

Thank you,
Greg Moon
Seattle

September 12, 2009 D.C. Tea Party

I'm very proud to have attended what seems to have been the first "Tea Party" in Seattle on February 16, 2009.

The movement has continued pretty continuously since. Today, it seems at least 10s of thousands or perhaps 100s of thousands and maybe even up to a million mainly ORDINARY Americans have descended on Washington DC to show their disagreement with the Federal Government's HUGE deficits and new, increased spending.

This is a wonderful freedom we enjoy, the right to gather, protest, and speak, whatever the issue.

Update 11:22 AM
Crowd estimated to be 2,000,000!!

Update 9/14/2009 #1
Crowd estimates vary, still. Ranges from 200,000 to 2,000,000, most likely around 400,000.
Still, a HUGE crowd. If it had been for a different cause, say anti-war, it would have gotten a lot more coverage, I think.

Update 9/14/2009 #2
I'm a numbers and statistics geek. A seemingly smart person says 850,000


Photo by Mary Katherine Ham, via Instapundit.

Home From California

I had a great road trip to California! I stayed the first night in a motel in Yreka, CA. The next morning, I continued on to Cupertino to visit my good friends the Uminos. It was a brief visit, but it is always good to see them! I then drove the rest of the way to San Diego, I arrived around 10:00 PM at my Uncle Butch's.

On Sunday evening, I attended the 50th wedding anniversary of my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Maurice. It was a wonderful party at a nice Italian restaurant in San Diego.

The rest of my stay included fun, humorous and spirited discussions with Uncle Butch, visiting with Cousins Eric, Susan and Rhonda, visiting Uncle Dick and Aunt Joyce.

I stopped in Portland yesterday evening on the way home to see a very good old friend, Dennis. We had dinner and a drink together in Beaverton, OR. I got home last night after stopping to pick up my retriever Midas at my brother's in North Bend. I had a great time, but it's also good to be home!

I'll post some pics later.

"Funemployment" & Heading To California

My 4 month contract through Excell Data just finished yesterday. I worked with some very bright and funny folks at the job site at IOD. We wrote a lot of great VB.NET code, had a lot of laughs and yes, had a few vigorous political debates. Contracting life is funny- you go somewhere, meet some folks, write some code, then you're gone, and you don't know what's next. Strange, but fun.

The end of the project is at a good time, I've been invited to attend an important family event in Southern California on Sunday. I've decided to drive down (due to the last minute nature of the invite, and the high car-rental costs in So Cal).

I'll hang out down there for a week or so, visiting family and hopefully a few friends along the way. Kinda like a mini version of my grand USA trip last year!
-Greg

Health Care Debate

I had this exchange on an email thread I've been on since 2004 or so re: Nationalized Health Care:

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(My friend Larry said): the free market has proven that it cannot run health care.

(Me): You're kidding right? What we need is a FREER market. As it stands, 82% of all Americans have health coverage. I know of NOBODY who has ever gone untreated in this country (with one exception, and that guy was running from the law...). When I was between contracts last year, I CHOOSE NOT TO HAVE coverage for 7 months. Dumb? Maybe. But, a lot of college age kids and young adults CHOOSE not to get coverage. Not a tragedy.

Did I tell you about my friend Dave?

My friend Dave had virtually NO assets, and when he got sick with heart disease and cancer, the government covered him COMPLETELY. The government took care of ALL his hospital bills from 1999 until he died (AS WE ALL WILL) in 2003. The Government covered his housing for a couple years at the end, too. The worst part of the story was the horrific government bureaucracy he had to deal with. He HATED that part. He sank endless hours filling out paper work as he suffered horribly and was on the way to his grave.

I feel bad for Eric's story of the high cost of his ER visit. However, when I got in a car wreck, I had to pay $500 to repair the car. My body is a lot more important to me than my car- I'm willing to pay to keep it (my body) going.

That bottom line is: "What is important to you?" Upholding the constitution and it's guarantees of freedom or a bunch of free goodies?

I'll throw out the quote I've heard from leftist friends re: Bush's wiretapping program:

'Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither' - Benjamin Franklin

100 Year Annivesary of the Model T

Most of you know who know me, know that I love history. This little video was really fascinating to me, a brief history of the Model T (1909 to 1928). Almost 15 1/2 million were built! Consider the time, the early 20th century, and your realize that is a HUGE number!

Watch the Video Here!