has ron paul lost?

With disturbing glee, many of my progressive Democrat friends claim Ron Paul has 'lost' and that he should just drop out of the race to avoid embarrassment. What they don't realize is that they've missed what is easily the biggest untold story of the 2008 election, which is that a virtually unknown representative from Texas who is a poor speaker and has received minuscule media coverage (most of which has been condescending, dismissive, and negative) has managed to do the following:

1. Garner more than 1.1 million votes in primaries and caucuses, where significantly less than the dismal 50% of the potential voting population even bothers to vote in the general Presidential election.
2. Received more than 10% of the vote in 12 states, more than 15% of the vote in 7 states (4 of which were long after Super Tuesday), and more than 20% of the vote in 4 states (2 of which were long after Super Tuesday).
3. Written an astonishingly good book that is currently #5 on the New York Times Bestseller list (after debuting at #1 the first week of its release.

The major candidates is both parties fail to acknowledge a growing demographic of people that demand an end to American imperialism (we have military presences in over 100 countries!), a real commitment to restoring and preserving civil liberties no matter what's going on in the world or the dangers we face, and a government that stops interfering with our personal lives and has turned our economy into an unfair playing field, where our tax dollars are redirected to the big, powerful companies at the expense of prosperity (for all), innovation, and the health and well-being of our citizens.

Either major candidate would do well to pay attention to what the media has spent the last year ignoring. Get the Ron Paul supporters on your side and you'll win the election. If they're not on your side, they will NOT vote for you, because neither of the candidates represent the change that we need and represent the desires of a majority of Americans.

Here's what we will do instead:

1. Vote for Bob Barr
2. Vote for Ralph Nader
3. Write-in Ron Paul

If #1 and #2 sound completely bizarre to you, because they are so diametrically opposed on 'wedge' issues that no one actually cares about, you're missing the point. People want peace, prosperity, freedom, and a fair level-playing field for everyone. People have the guts and principles to stand up for what they believe in, despite being ridiculed, despite being falsely blamed for 'messing up' elections, and despite the most pessimistic accusation of 'wasting our votes'. To whoever loses the next election, it's your own fault, not the people that voted for people with integrity and character.

hire me for your iPhone apps company

I know there are a lot of cool, small companies out there working on kick-ass iPhone applications for the upcoming release of the iPhone 2.0 operating system. I would love to work for you (for pay or equity or equivalent, of course). I've written full-blown Cocoa applications (one of which had thousands of users), although QA is what I currently do. I have product ideas and startup capital, to boot.

Here is my resume.

I want to work for a small company and would like to remain in Mountain View, CA. I have lots of experience working with remote team members, so hopefully that wouldn't be a problem.

Cheers,

cricket

reggie and milo go outside for the first time

Since we don't have a proper fence around our yard yet, we bought harnesses and made some leashes for Milo and Reggie to go out and explore our yard, with mixed results. Reggie took everything in stride and explored the whole yard. Milo was terrified, but eventually calmed down enough to at least look around and smell some things.

First, some videos of Reggie with Eric walking him around on a leash:

• Reggie takes his first steps
  
• Reggie eating everything
  
• Reggie walking Eric on a leash
  
• Reggie rolls around
  

gas-powered mowers and leaf blowers

I'm a lifelong libertarian and believe in individual freedom, property rights, peace, and limited government. However, I strongly supported the California smoking ban because I believe that part of individual freedom is the freedom to breathe clean air and the freedom to actually go to a restaurant and not risk getting lung cancer someday. People sometimes have a hard time understanding that freedom doesn't mean freedom to disturb or cause harm to others. I think this clearly falls under the 'insure domestic tranquility' and 'promote the general welfare' of the Constitution (for those that might find contradiction between libertarianism and a government ban on smoking in restaurants).

I consider gasoline-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers to be in the same category. You are free to do what you want in the privacy of your own home, but I believe that freedom does not extend to projecting noise onto the property of others that is so loud that trying to have a conversation or even a private thought is not possible. It does not extend to polluting the air of someone else's property with gasoline fumes. It does not extend to filling someone else's backyard with dust that could impact their respiratory health.

And that's not even considering the environmental impact of these devices and the health effects on the people operating these devices.

Personally, I believe both gasoline-powered mowers and leaf blowers should be banned at every possible level of government. I think this is a perfect example of where government intervention can be possible in a way that protects the rights of people. The people that are 'harmed' are causing harm and should no longer be allowed to do so.

Anyone interested in helping make that happen, feel free to contact me.