No big news to anyone living from the New York Metro area to points west and south to Virginia, but its really snowing HARD in some areas as a type this.
DC is expecting 2.5 feet, the Jersey Shore close to 2 feet....and unofficially I measured the snow in the backyard here in Central NJ (about 7 miles from Staten Island, NY, 50 from Bucks County, PA)....we're at about seven inches and counting, with snow falling at a rate of two inches an hour, but it seems to be lessening slightly. Zero visibility, heavy snow, and 35mph winds all along the Jersey Shore- its officially a blizzard
Oddly, there's only been a trace in New York City, and are expecting only two inches or less.
The storm should be out of here by evening.
Time to THINK about digging out, Phase One. And start the Super Bowl party a day earlier.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Former 2008 GOP Presidential Candidate Tancredo Opens Tea Party Convention
Former Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Co) opened the first Tea Party Convention in Nashville with a slam against immigrants and the President of the United States.
He made the following statement at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center (from CNN.com)....
The former congressman from Colorado and 2008 Republican presidential candidate blasted President Obama, saying "people who could not even spell the word 'vote', or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House. His name is Barack Hussein Obama."
This isn't the first time this blog has spoken about the super patriotic Nativist Tancredo. Last year Tancredo stormed off the set while being a guest on MSNBC. Tancredo claimed to be insulted by DAILY KOS founder Markos Moulitsas on the show when Moulitsas mentioned that Tancredo asked for and received a draft deferrment during the Vietnam War. Tancredo was a Republican student activist who supported the war but did not serve because he told doctors he'd been treated for depression and received a "1-Y" draft deferment.
A few years ago Mr. Tancredo had this solution to ending the threat of terrorists attacks in the United States by Muslim extremists....bomb the Muslim Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina.
In the interest of full disclosure, I did serve in the military during the final two years of the Vietnam War. Also, I will tell you that while I served I did not see combat. That being said, I wouldn't mind Tom Tancredo and his draft deferment if he wasn't then, as he is now, such a pathetic hypocrite.
Another conservative Chicken Hawk, a cheerleader for others to risk their lives, kill or be killed....just as long as it isn't his sorry ass on the line.
With people like Mr. Tancredo, and the former Governor of Alaska as their shining stars, the Tea Bag Party are following the footsteps of another movement in American history.
The No-Nothings.
Jon Stewart "Into The Belly of The Beast"- He Appears On FOX NEWS With Bill O'Reilly
On HLN's Joy Behar Show Joy talks to panelists Lizz Winstead and Pete Dominick about The Daily Show's Jon Stewart's appearance on Fox News' "O'Reilly Factor" with host Bill O'Reilly.
A sample of Stewart's appearance with O'Reilly... JS-"You (O'Reilly) have become the voice of reason, which is like being the thinnest kid at FAT CAMP".
Bob Schieffer of CBS News Interviewed By WFAN's Mike Francesa
A couple of hours ago Mike Francesa of WFAN (New York) interviewed the host of Face The Nation, Bob Schieffer.
This was truly one of the more fascinating radio interviews I've ever heard. Mr. Schieffer was in Miami for CBS's Super Bowl coverage, and will be interviewing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Sunday along with play by play man Jim Nance.
When the talk came to Schieffer's career, it became spellbinding. Among the subjects he talked about were the nature of news media today, the toxic politics we live with now, his favorite public figures, his relationship with the late Walter Cronkite, and the first time he saw Lyndon Baines Johnson.But the most interesting topic of all had to do with the events of November 22, 1963- the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Its the story of the young print reporter, Bob Schieffer and a phone call he got that day from a woman.
I won't spoil the story for you....
Click here for the recorded audio of the interview.
Be sure to mute the music playlist located in the left hand margin.
Amazing stuff...this guy really has become kind of a national treasure.
Keith Olbermann's Special Comment; US Government For Sale (Jan 21, 2010)
Its better late than never to post and archive Keith Olbermann's special comment on the Supreme Court decision that allows corporations the same First Amendment rights as individuals.
The ruling got scant coverage from the far right media, and little from the center and the left.
But this decision and its probable aftermath shouldn't be confined to persons of any particular ideology- its going to affect all of us regardless.
I feel that liberal Ted Kennedy and conservative Dwight Eisenhower are looking down from above right now and shaking their heads- that "military industrial complex" that Ike, the architect of the Allies invasion of Europe warned us about in his Presidential Farewell Address- has become that much closer to becoming a dangerous reality.
And to the "Teabaggers" currently attending their convention in Nashville who vow to "take back" America from that "socialist" Barack Hussein Obama....more damage has been done to the future of American democracy by this Supreme Court ruling than they can fathom.
When the corporation and the government become one entity, in which those elected owe their position to those who put them there and they work for the corporation and not the people, we could have a version of what the Tea Party-ers are railing against....but it could be a virtual dictatorship by the right instead of the left.
Egyptian Goddess clogs up the CAFC
Like 'em or loath 'em, those plastic clogs keep IP lawyers in business. In International Seaway Trading Corp. v. Walgreens Corp., No. 2009-1237 (Fed. Cir. December 17, 2009), the issue was validity of three US Design Patents Nos. D529,263, D545,032 and D545,033, which were held to have been anticipated by an earlier patent U.S. Design Patent No. D517,789 (assigned to, yes, you've guessed it, Crocs Inc.). The registered designs looked much like the prior art, except for the pattern on the soles.The major issue on appeal was whether the first instance had been correct to apply the "ordinary observer" test (recently held by the CAFC in Egyptian Goddess to be applicable to infringement) to validity, as we have argued on this blog.
Pleasingly, the CAFC decided exactly that:
"In light of Supreme Court precedent and our precedent holding that the same tests must be applied to infringement and anticipation, and our holding in Egyptian Goddess that the ordinary observer test is the sole test for infringement, we now conclude that the ordinary observer test must logically be the sole test for anticipation as well. In doing so, we will prevent an inconsistency from developing between the infringement and anticipation analyses, and we will continue our well-established practice of maintaining identical tests for infringement and anticipation."
A secondary issue was whether the first instance had been correct to decide that
“the law requires a court to consider only those portions of the product that are visible during normal use, regardless of whether those portions are visible during the point of sale.”
The CAFC decided that they could not ignore the pattern on the soles, as this would not be visible in use. The CAFC held that this could not be ignored, as "use" included point of sale, at which the soles would be visible, and that previous case law requiring all features shown in a design patent to be considered was applicable. They therefore referred the case back for reconsideration of the effect of the difference in the soles on validity.
There was a minority partial dissent on one point from Judge Clevenger. He considered that the majority had created a rule allowing parts of the design to be ignored and allowing the district court on summary judgment to determine that "individual features of the design are insignificant from the point of view of the ordinary observer and should not be considered as part of the overall comparison."
We tend to think both sides have a point here. The issue isn't as simple as whether you should just allow or ignore features - a more sophisticated analysis would weight them, ignoring none but according less significance to some. So, for example, I have filed car designs which include a view of the underside of a car - but does anyone know or care what it looks like? (This is a rhetorical question, before all you car buffs reply!) Any thoughts from US readers?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Notes On Building Readership In The Blogesphere- Even Though Everything I Know Is Wrong
I'm happy to report that January has been the most successful month ever for this blog in terms of viewership. We actually averaged nearly 200 new readers per day for the month. I think its great that so many people have logged on here to read the articles, now approaching #900 since we first started publishing this blog in September 2008. Its been a steady but slow climb all these many months- and I've never had to resort to strong arm tactics to get you to read my stuff.
The picture above was a from a classic case of media manipulation from the early 1970's....January, 1973 be be more exact.
Back in those wild and woolly days the Vietnam War was winding down and Watergate was about to heat up, and a little old publication called National Lampoon was getting off the ground. It was becoming a favorite among the youth of America, but in the January '73 edition they pulled the ultimate act of audience coercion....either you fork over your 75 cents or they'd shoot the dog pictured above.
To be more exact, they never did say shoot....they said "kill".
Surprisingly, the editors made more than a few people squirm enough that they did buy a copy. But it wasn't enough....in the following edition of the "Poon" the editors announced they did shoot the dog, and tried to blame it on the people who just said "no" to their plea in the previous volume.
Now, did they really shoot a dog?
Probably not....but then again, nobody heard of PETA in those days. And we were only a few years removed from the Johnson presidency- old LBJ was a guy who used to pick up his beagles ( "Him" and "Her") by their ears.
Now, why am I telling you this ancient history?
Because I really don't feel like writing about politics today....and if I have to hear about the "Tea Bag Convention" or "Scott Brown" one more time I'll probably ask the guy in that picture if he still has the gun and will he use it on me next.
RELAX!!!!
Just kidding!!!!
Thanks for stopping by and reading this bit of lunacy.....BUT....
Try the DROP DOWN menu in the left hand column to find something of more substance....and I don't mean the kind of "substance" I was using everyday back when I was reading the National Lampoon.
That stuff they told you about "it" affecting your memory?
As we say in Jersey, "Itsa bunchacrap!!!".
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