The Linear Canvas
This journal is about the wrongs and rights of the world, as I see them.

The Linear Canvas

The Real McCain

May 31st, 2008 . by Alexander Fisher

I voted for John McCain in the 2000 Ohio Republican primary. I believed he had the answer. But the question might have really been, "Am I tired of all of the 24 hour Clinton bashing?". Even though I defected temporarily to the Republicans, I knew there was trouble coming if George Bush was nominated. I never gave it any thought that I was doing what so many Republicans did in 2008 during Rush Limbaugh’s "Operation Chaos". But I did believe in McCain, but I also feared W.

Had I done any research on John McCain, one thing I wouldn’t have been able to understand was McCain’s involvement with the 1990-ish Savings and Loan crisis’ infamous "Keating Five". I certainly could not have reconciled his involvement with the four Democratic senators, including John Glenn from Ohio, for their hand in covering up wrongdoing by these fat-cat criminals. If you dig a little deeper in the Savings and Loan crisis, you find Neil Bush, George’s older brother. It doesn’t surprise me that a Bush could be involved in such a disaster. But that’s not the John McCain I thought I was voting for.

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Return to Forever

May 31st, 2008 . by Alexander Fisher

I know why the hard rock crowd loved Return to Forever in the 1970’s. They were great musicians when that still counted. I am not sure you could have the "crossover" appeal now that they had then. I doubt if you could get Chick Corea to dance in a video.

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This was during a time when I was listening to jazz on the radio and buying jazz records.  Although I listened to modern jazz, I still was mainly a hard rock fan.  My interest in jazz was predominately jazz-rock fusion.  I had a few Stan Getz and Dave Brubeck albums, but I was more interested in fusion bands like Return to Forever, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, and Phil Collin’s Brand X.

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Randi Rhodes and Air America

May 23rd, 2008 . by Alexander Fisher

Randi Rhodes Over a month ago, Air America on-air personality Randi Rhodes, was suspended (she later quit), for calling Hillary Clinton “A F***ing Whore” during what she called “a standup comedy routine”, onstage (off-air) in San Francisco.  (see April 3, 2008 NY Times article)  I believe that Randi really thought that comment would be  funny, and to many people, it was. But I really wish Randi had not used such an explicit description of Mrs. Clinton, and I bet deep down, Randi  wishes she hadn’t either. That only gave the Clinton-ista’s and Air America a reason to silence an opposition opinion. I agree with Randi’s basic problems with Hillary, but calling her that was a little too harsh.

It is my suspicion that Randi Rhodes was shown the door because she did not “Toe the Line” established by her employer quite enough, whose preference might be Mrs. Clinton for president in 2008. As I said, I think the comments by Randi that caused all this to occur, were over-the-top. I do understand that she was acting as representative of Air America at this event. And no matter what she says, I understand the significance of that scenario. On the other hand, Randi was one of the more popular personalities on Air America and many of her listeners were very disappointed that Air America no longer carries her program.

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Cell Phone and Wireless Safety

May 22nd, 2008 . by Alexander Fisher

Got a Flip Phone Tumor?EMR (Electromagnetic Radiation) is a dangerous by-product of our wireless age. I have been a Radio Frequency (RF) Engineer for over fifteen years and have been exposed to microwave (MW) EMR on a fairly regular basis during that time. The same precautions that RF professionals take are also advisable for people who are exposed to EMR from consumer products.

EMR safety is an often ignored issue because of the ease of use that wireless products allow. But EMR is a lethal component of products like cell phones, wireless phones, blue tooth accessories, WiFi network hotspots, and wireless television broadcasting. Long term usage studies are beginning to show a cause and effect relationship to serious illnesses related to EMR exposure. European Union countries currently advise parents to not allow cell phone use by children and young adults, based on the heat generated by MW radiation from the phone’s antenna.

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Blog Meltdown

May 16th, 2008 . by Alexander Fisher

I had been having trouble with my blog software for quite awhile. I was using Movable Type v3.2 and it was working very well until last year. At that point I began noticing things beginning to mis-behave. Besides that, Movable Type v3.2 was having display problems with Microsoft Internet Explorer v7.

I started to upgrade to Movable Type v4 and had so much trouble that I installed WordPress v2.5.1 instead. I am having to restore my original posts one at a time because of the Movable Type meltdown. I am getting close to being done, but I have quite a few more posts to restore. I have some new blogging tools, including new voice recognition software, so when I do start writing again, I should be able to produce quite alot of material.