Life Of Jason

Eli graduated from pre-school today.  What a smart kid.

Daddy loves you, Eli.

North Point Church is going to be sponsoring a gas ministry to the community. 

No, they’re not giving mounds of baked beans to various neighborhoods but rather they’re going to be underwriting the cost of some gas for Springfield area motorists.

The church is paying to lower the cost of gas to $2.42 a gallon for 52 minutes on Saturday only.  It happens starting at 10am at the Conoco at Chestnut Expressway and Benton Avenue in Springfield.

Now, why 52 minutes?  According to someone I spoke with at North Point, the church has a program revolving around 52 unforgettable experiences (one per week) and this is part of that program the church is doing with it’s members.   The reason it’s $2.42?  Acts 2:42 (ESV): “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”  So basically they’re just living out their faith in that people have a real burden on them with the high gas prices and they’re following the teachings of Christ to try and help with that burden.

There’s no limit to the amount of gas you can purchase but it is limited only to the vehicle in which you drive to the pump.  (No extra containers.)

It seems like Godwin’s Law is going to continue to grow.

In case you’re not familiar with “Godwin’s Law”: As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one. ” While that is generic to usenet discussions, it often comes up in many different political discussions on the internet via message boards and blog sites.  It also comes up on talk shows both radio and TV & in newspaper letters.

Over the last few years, a First Corollary of Godwin’s Law became readily apparent: “As a discussion of the Iraq War grows longer, the probability of a statement involving someone against the war being unpatriotic becomes one.”  You’ve seen it many times when Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or others who are strongly in the corner of President Bush ignore clear evidence that they cannot refute in a logical manner.  The common perception among most folks of all political stripes is that when someone invokes this first corrolary of Godwin’s Law they’ve lost the argument.

Now, we’re seeing a Second Corollary of Godwin’s Law and this time it’s affecting those on the other side of the political aisle.  It’s coming as a result of the debate about the requirements of a photo ID to vote.  This Second Corolary is this: “As a discussion of photo voter IDs grows longer, the probability of a statement involving someone in favor of it being a bigot is one.”  When someone who wants to continue to allow the status quo realizes they cannot refute the basic core issue…that a state issued voter ID will cut down on voter fraud…they will immediately start branding anyone who is in favor of the measure a bigot.

There is no way to validly refute the fact that a state or federal issued photo ID (driver’s license, passport or even just a state issued photo ID card) will be a huge deterrent to voter fraud and will help make sure that elections in America are fair.  I’m not talking about how people get the cards or any of the ancillary issues that people against the measure try to raise to block discussion of the core issue.  I’m talking about the basic fact that a valid, state or federal issued ID would be a deterrent to voter fraud.

It’s a shame we’ve become so partisan that we can’t even get agreement on that basic fact.

Agreeing on that point does nothing but say it’s a way to help make sure elections are fair and are not hijacked by any person or political party.  We should ALL want to have that in America (especially if you’re still up in arms about the 2000 Presidential election.)  It’s a simple point where we can say “yes, we agree this would make elections a much more fair process.  Now, how do we go about making sure every registered voter that is eligible and wants to vote can do so?”

That’s a debate that will rage wildly and both sides of the issue can bring valid points to the table.  There needs to be a relatively easy, clear path for someone to get a state issued photo ID without a cost to them if they are a registered voter.  With the age of electronics upon us, it could be a much easier process than opponents of this measure would like to admit…but it would incur cost that many on the right wouldn’t want to invest.

It’s simple…all you need to do is put a small photo unit at any location where someone could register to vote.  They bring any identification necessary as established by their states (birth certificate, social security card, etc.) and they fill out the forms.  A clerk takes the form and snaps a photo that they code to the information on the form and send it to the county clerk (or whomever handles it for that county) for processing.  The card is then mailed to the person at their home address.  It would be no different than the process right now except that a photo would be taken at the time of application.

I know some will say “well, X person can’t get to the county office or a post office or (pick location) to register with their photo.”  Then how would they get to the polls on election day?  Here’s a great opportunity for political parties or political activists to do more than talk or post on the internet.  Set up a hotline within your party where staffers will volunteer to drive people to get their photo voter ID.   Don’t require them to sign up for your party.  If you truly support the photo voter ID program within your organization (and I’m looking at you, Republicans) then this is the least that you could do.

Then, in that case, there is no cost at all to the person who wants to register to vote.

Now, some will say “well, what if they don’t have a birth certificate, etc.”  That’s not the problem of the state.  If we lost documents that we need for something we want to do, then we need to take personal responsibility to get it.  Again, in the age of electronics and the internet you should be able to get those documents sent to you without having to go out of the house and even pay if there is a charge for those services online.  However, I think because information can be transferred that readily, it could be very easily arranged that proof of birth or other items can be e-mailed or transferred to a voter registration facility at no charge.  The person does not get a copy of the information…rather it just goes to the registrar to say “yes, this person is who they say they are.”  Again, no cost to the person.

The key is there is no cost to the person who wants to register to vote: until that can be established, this law cannot be passed.

There are ways to accomplish this and most of the doomsayers that invoke the Second Corollary of Godwin’s Law realize it.  That’s why it’s easier to use slurs against your opposition instead of actually working to find a solution to the issue.  And, in today’s inflamed political environment, many of the users of the Second Corollary of Godwin also know that it can sometimes be a very effective way to end debate on the issue.

My hope is that the fringe voices on each side will be silenced by the majority of folks in the middle and we can find a way to make this a compromise situation that benefits all sides.  Again, you can’t debate that insuring our elections are more fair to all people is a bad thing for America.

From the press release from our friends at the Discovery Center:

“New for this year, DCS has the answer - summer workshops designed specifically for students entering grades 6-8. Topics include Forensics, Engineering, Space, and Ecology (with an emphasis on animal dissection). They’ll be having so much fun, they probably won’t notice they’re sharpening their math and science skills too!”

There is also an engineering class that’s just for girls!  No icky boys allowed.  :)  I love the idea of a forensics class…little CSIs running all over town.  Maybe they can find where I misplaced my grandpap’s watch. 

I love that place.  If Charlotte ever leaves there I’ll be the first in line to apply for their PR position because I can’t stop telling parents what a great resource the Discovery Center is for their children.

If you want to read more, click here to see the PDF flyer of the events.

Our lovely band of elected officials in Jefferson City have banded together to make a difference for the state.  Did they repeal the horrible Village Law?  Ran Rod Jetton out of town on a rail?  Nope!  They made the ice cream cone our state’s official dessert.

Forgive me if I don’t have a large amount of faith in the gang from Jefferson City right now.

Well, we have all the legal items lined up now with nine days to go…

And to answer an IM I received earlier today, yes, I know that one way flights to Tijuana are $635 through Priceline.com.

In case you didn’t know, the $51 fee in cash you have to pay for a license gets doled out as follows:

$15 Greene County General Revenue
$15 Children’s Trust Fund of Missouri
$10 Shelter Fund For Abused Women
$7  County Employees Retirement System
$4  User Fee

The only thing I find interesting is that $7 of that fee goes to the county retirement system.  It’s not that I have anything against employee retirement contributions per se but why marriage licenses and what other places are we having to contribute to the retirement of county employees?  But I digress…

And yes, I blotted out Amy’s age because while my couch is comfy I thought I shouldn’t be there from the start of the marriage.

I don’t pay a lot of attention to the rankings at BlogNetNews Missouri but today I wanted to conduct a little experiment based on the post I was making regarding President Bush’s daughter and how out of line it was for someone to use her daughter in another Iraq war rant.  That’s why I made it clear in the post that I wasn’t pro-Bush or pro-war.  I wanted to A) bring up the point but also B) see if I would solicit a bunch of knee-jerk reactions.  My regular commenters made their usual excellent remarks that were anything but knee-jerk.

However…since posting that particular blog entry has had a upturn of 500+ hits with a bulk coming from BlogNetNews Missouri.   Strangely, my rating there fell from over 8 to around 4.7 since it was posted.   Obviously, some people are deciding to give a 1 rating to a post that thinks the wedding of the daughter of a political leader shouldn’t be exploited for a political motive when the child of the candidate or the candidate is not using that wedding for political gain.

My gut reaction is that some of you hate President Bush so much that you have no qualms going after his children.  I also think you would likely have a fit should the same treatment be given to Chelsea Clinton or any of Obama’s children by Republicans.

So I’m putting out the challenge to the anonymous folks at BlogNetNews who voted a one for that.  What is your justification for thinking it’s perfectly acceptable to go after Jenna Bush who has done nothing to institute the policies of the Iraq war, continue those policies nor did anything with her wedding to make it a political issue?  If you think I’m so horribly wrong then please step up and present your case as to why it’s an acceptable thing to do.  Please, though, do address whether you would think it’s acceptable for the same thing to be done by Republicans to Senator Clinton or Senator Obama’s children if the same circumstance should arise.

I really want to see your logic on this.

It’s amazing how many things can come to mind to share when you go for a lunch walk.  Here’s a few things in no particular order:

First, I have to admit being surprised that I had five bucks stolen from me at the Park Central Branch Library today.  I know…you can have money stolen from you anywhere but it just seemed so out of place at the shiny, new downtown library that a thief would already be able to have cased the place enough to feel comfortable to ply his evil trade.   I have no idea who it was and, of course, no one saw anything.

If you need a haircut, I recommend the great folks at Moda Salon just off Campbell (although they’re moving to South Street next to South Avenue Pizza fairly soon.)

Their prices are very reasonable for salon treatment compared to the other downtown hair salons which in some places was almost twice what Moda was charging!  They take appointments although they will fit in “walk-ins” (pun intended) if they’re available.  (864-0200 if you’re interested and no, they didn’t give me anything for this other than a great haircut a few months back I paid to get.  It’s also not because they’ve cut the hair of a pitcher for the greatest baseball team in God’s creation.)

I saw the station van for Clear Channel owned ESPN 1400 parked in a residential neighborhood.  (I don’t listen to ESPN Radio since Dan Patrick hung up his ESPN microphone but I digress…)

That was one thing that always irritated me when I was in day to day radio.  You spent money for a van or other vehicle, pay for all kinds of graphics on it and then you sit it in the parking lot until you have someone pay you for a remote broadcast.  These things are giant rolling billboards that if you let a staffer drive them around during the day you’ll expose your logo and station to more people than you will in a month sitting in your parking lot (even the one on Glenstone near Sunshine.)

Take one less TV ad or billboard out of your ad campaign, use it for gas and get your intern to drive around in the van when they’re getting your lattes every morning.  It’s a great promotional tool!  Use it to the full!

Finally, I was walking along College Street, just a few blocks from downtown and the starkness of the street struck me in a new way:

Let me start by saying I have nothing against Commercial Street.  It’s just when I hear folks from Commercial Street talking about they should be considered a part of downtown I think of a place like this which is significantly closer to downtown than many parts of Commercial Street.  Where’s the economic revitalization package for this part of the downtown area?

There’s empty storefronts lining that side of the street pictured.  The homes on the other side are mostly for sale and in need of renovation for the most part.  This is a road that people will turn on to get straight downtown from Kansas Expressway…and it looks like they’re driving through a broken down and forgotten part of town.

That may not be the case…I’m just saying how it looks when I walk past it.  I see a snapshot of the economic troubles we all face and a Springfield that needs more than just a downtown square and new movie theatre.  Commercial Street doesn’t lead to downtown if you get on Commercial and drive straight through on it.   College Street leads right to downtown.  Wouldn’t it be better in terms of initial impression to have a vibrant streetscape and open businesses leading to downtown instead of boarded up buildings and signs of businesses long since gone?

I’m sure someone out there who’s into real estate or construction as a business can tell me why this part of town isn’t viable for revitalization but it seems to this simple Springfield resident that if we want to make downtown vibrant we need a strong corridor to downtown on streets that bring the people directly into it.

Oh…and I almost forgot…the Wellspring Cafe downtown (half a block west of the late, great O’Connell’s Deli) has closed down.  I’m sure the Urban Districts Alliance or Downtown Springfield Association will have stats to show me where I’m wrong but it sure feels sometimes like downtown’s a place where businesses are really closing up fast.  I just hope The Bakehouse stays open at least nine more days!  We had enough fun with our wedding’s florist going out of business last week!

Here’s a release from the city regarding the car park. I like the fact they “greened up” the parking lot. It’s a small way we can help the environment without too much excess cost.

The Heer’s Car Park opened today for free public use until the Hollywood Theaters complex opens this fall.

The 375-space Car Park will be open from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. for free parking. Motorists need to enter the Car Park from its Olive Street entrance because of the ongoing road closure on Campbell Avenue. Campbell is expected to re-open on June 20, weather permitting.

The $5,889,131 project is being funded by the Level Property Tax, the 1/8-cent Sales Tax for Transportation and special obligation bonds. The Car Park was designed by Esterly, Schneider & Associates and built by Carson-Mitchell Inc., both of Springfield.

Additional evening and weekend public parking is available on the newly reconstructed surface parking lot at the northeast corner of Campbell Avenue and Olive Street.

The lot is leased by the State of Missouri during the day, but is open to the public after 5 p.m. weekdays and on weekends. The free evening and weekend public use also will continue until the theaters open.

The 108-space surface lot was re-constructed to correct structural deficiencies. It uses “green” standards of design and technology with a pervious concrete surface, a bioswale for stormwater collection and wheel stops made of recycled plastic.

A formal ribbon-cutting will be planned for the new parking and streetscape improvements after Campbell Avenue re-opens.

Edit: I asked the folks at the city what would happen if a car was in the garage from 2-6am since that’s when it’s apparently closed and was told there will be warnings issued first and then tickets if necessary.

I saw a letter in today’s Springfield News-Leader where someone had to take President Bush’s daughter’s wedding and tie it into an anti-war tirade.

A message to that letter’s author and those who think there’s no problem with it:  give it a rest already.

I’m sick and tired of the people who are so blinded by their hatred for Bush or the Republicans or the war that they will take any situation and use to try and call attention to their political views.  Jenna Bush’s wedding, from all reports, wasn’t anywhere as lavish and extravagant as many Hollywood weddings and a far cry from the ones you see on the pages of bridal magazines.  It looks like it was tasteful, simple and most of all what the bride and groom wanted it to be.

It’s the same as thousands of American men, women and families this summer.  Probably hundreds of Americans on that day alone.   It’s a time for celebration that many families have and it’s something that should not be a subject for scorn or derision or used to slam the father of the bride.   To do so is classless, tacky and disgusting.

If you want to make your anti-war statements with shots at President Bush there are ample things that he has done as President where you can make your cases.   That was certainly done with President Clinton in Bosnia without someone having to write letters saying that Chelsea Clinton going to a junior prom reminded them of a girl in Bosnia who had her legs blown off by a US missile and couldn’t dance at her prom.  Most people you’re trying to convince to your side of the issue are going to consider using Jenna’s wedding the same as they would have done with my hypothetical example about Chelsea…it’s classless.

And before the inevitable “you’re bashing liberals” comments start, I’m not painting with sweeping strokes here.  I know many liberals who post here and write local Springfield blogs who would readily say Bush has made enough mistakes that you can criticize him without using his daughter’s wedding.   When I’m writing I’m referring to the people who think anything with President Bush’s family is fair game.

There are times where common sense and decency would say that you leave something that is non-political and within their family (like a wedding) is off-limits for use to promote a political agenda that has nothing to do with that event.  If she was speaking at a rally for the war in her wedding dress, then I could see the criticism.  As is, it looks like you’re gasping for airtime.  (Well, print space in this case.)

And, before the anti-war folks start their usual “you just love Bush” or “you love the war” responses that are standard operating procedure, I’m not a supporter of either one.  I just think enough is enough on the attacks on his family when they’re doing nothing that has to do with politics or the war.   While I feel for the soldier mentioned they also signed up for service and knew they might have to go into harm’s way.  Jenna Bush has no obligation to join a volunteer military; there is no draft she is avoiding; there is nothing wrong with her getting married on her family’s ranch…so there is no reason to use her wedding as an anti-war debate point.