Acton Bloggy

Pleasant Surprise

2006-02-19T10:32:00.000-05:00

I regretfully haven't posted anything since September, and suddenly I find myself with time to review this blog again, and much to my surprise, I find positive responses to it.
Thanks to those who responded.

I could not figure out how to respond personally to the posters, thanking them for the feedback. Does anyone have the process down? If you'd share with me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I will strive to post at least once each weekend, and will try to include any helpful information I can come up with - tricks, solutions, whatever I run into that makes my life easier.

Penny Stock Investment

2006-02-19T10:30:00.000-05:00

Penny Stock Investment

Idea to Help Katrina Victims

2005-09-26T16:30:00.000-04:00

I know that a great many of my fellow Mainers want to help the victims of the devastation in the Gulf Coast area. Some may not have any resources to share, especially during a time when the rising gas prices are having the effect they're having on us now. I speak from first hand experience on this issue.

So I have an idea on how we can help, without bureaucracy, without grandstanding, without a need to take any credit or publicity from the effort.

When you shop, take all your recyclable containers which you may now drop at transfer stations, and just bring them with you to the grocery stores in Maine (and other container deposit states); collect the resulting moneys, then just send an equivalent check to redcross.org or salvationarmy.org.

Filibuster Bickering Getting To Be Too Much for Me

2005-05-19T13:06:00.000-04:00

It seems to me lately that every contest the Dems and Republicans get into is solely caused by the Dems' desire to block progress and due process, as if they're kids who didn't get their own way - "oh, I can't play with the ball, well there you go", as they stab an ice pick into it.

The filibuster contest now underway is a perfect example. A duly elected administration and legislature simply are trying to do their jobs by nominating, investigation the performance history of, and appointing judges. Instead of doing the right thing which is to do what has been done for over two hundred years now - voting on the nominations, certain Dems are blocking the process because it doesn't serve THEIR political interests. The hurdles they're throwing in the way of government business certainly are not protecting OUR interests - the people's interests, regardless of which side a citizen is on in this issue. This is because their insistence on undermining the process simply moves us toward a kind of government we founded our country on fighting against - the kind where the leaders make all the decisions based on their interests instead of acting within the established political framework. Yes it's the established political framework not to filibuster a nomination for a federal judge, because it has never been used for that purpose before. The filibuster was designed to be used when working on a legislative issue (as in, voting on a bill) not for other actions that come with the job such as appointments of officials.

Whether you agree with me on this subject or not, what is at stake here is yet another little piece of our freedom. With freedom comes responsibility - be a responsible citizen and spend five minutes to "cast your vote" with a note to your leaders in federal government, your senators and representatives. Five minutes to let them know how you want them to represent you - by 1) throwing hurdles into the process by insisting on filibustering duly nominated judicial candidates or by 2) letting the established process decide the outcome as is was designed to do.

What positive action has the Democratic party taken lately to effect any change? Why are they (seemingly) making it their business to spread poison, negativity, inaction? Instead of shooting down every Republican idea that comes along, every nomination, every administration's action, how about this - how about coming up with positive, constructive alternatives and having the guts to simply vote on the issues and actions?

Here's a helpful web address which lists all the state senators (the ones we need to do the voting on the pending judicial nominations) - http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=List+of+United+States+Senators&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1. Now what excuse do you have for not dropping them a note and letting your voice be heard?

Militias - Don't Think So

2005-03-27T09:39:00.000-05:00

"There is something so far-fetched and so extravagant in the idea
of danger to moderates from the militia that one is at a loss whether
to treat it with gravity or with raillery; whether to consider
it as a mere trial of skill, like the paradoxes of rhetoricians;
as a disingenuous artifice to instill prejudices at any price;
or as the serious." --Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 29

Thoughts about this from Stewie Mikkelson:

There's more room than should be in the way people refer to
"militias." In the common language today, militia refers not to the
sanctioned fighting forces of individual states, but to fringe groups
that clothe themselves in the garments of freedom and citizen justice while
using that righteous position to espouse radical, fundamentalist or extremist
positions. The disparity between the current, popular definition of
militia is analogous to the disparity in the current, popular usage of the word,
"jihad." Both words have become bastardizations of their former
selves - terms usurped by individuals and groups that have no right to use them.
The Hamilitonian definition of militia equals today's definition of
the National Guard. It's a fighting force that is state-regulated,
locally armed and trained, and used in times of emergency. It's not a blank
check for gun-owners to gather automatic weapons and massive, civilian weapons
caches to assist their resistance against over-reaching government.
It's certainly not a fundamental protection for small, unregulated groups to
gather arms and wait for an event they deem to be an emergency. My
favorite perversion of modern militias is that of the definition of the second
amendment. They always remember the "right to keep and bear arms" part,
but they never quite seem to notice the second and third words: "well
regulated."

By their own definition, today's self-defined militias fall into the
last of Hamilton's three categories, "the serious." These outland
extremists do nothing to serve the liberty of the nation, or even the
liberty of a state against the federal government. Their
ultra-conservatism proves as dangerous to the pursuit of social advancement and true
liberty as any extremist group. These groups - as any extremists groups are
(liberal or conservative)- are not only less tolerant of true freedom than any
one group has the right to be, but they're probably better armed, too.

A thought from a veteran:

Yes, I do have a thought about this. The groups who call themselves
militias today, are typical examples of folks with an agenda, usually an
antisocial one, who take a word originally perceived as a good thing and
use it to try (unsuccessfully) to make themselves look like a good
thing. Other examples: People's DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC of China, Union of
Soviet SOCIALIST REPUBLIC, DDR (Deutche DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC). Today's
militias are a mockery of what a militia used to be - a group of
citizens loosely formed to protect each other, their rights not to be
violated, their property taken away, etc. Instead, they aspire to do
just those things to others. They are populated by people who already
know deep down that they are not widely accepted in society, so they
gravitate toward others with the same affliction - the lack of the
common sense and intelligence to practice moderation or to have an open
mind. Therefore, today I am renouncing my membership in Sam's Club and
the American Automobile Association.

No More Terror for Schiavo

2005-03-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

Thank God the right thing is finally being done for Terry Schiavo - and her former husband. She will pass over peacefully, and the government will not have (in effect) turned her into any more of a political prisoner than they already have. They should really have stayed out of it in the first place, in other words, done the right thing. Maybe her consciousness will return in the next world and she'll have an awareness that both Mr. Schiavo and her parents were fighting over what to do because on both sides they loved her.

No Financial Information Compromised?

2005-03-09T18:38:00.000-05:00

In a news article following the recent compromise of ChoicePoint systems, MSNBC quotes an excerpt from a statement(re-quoted here) from LexisNexis about their recent computer hack incident:

The database that was compromised, called Accurint, sells reports for $4.50 each that include an individual’s Social Security number, past addresses, date of birth and voter registration information, including party affiliation.

"No credit history, medical records or financial information were accessed in the breach", LexisNexis parent company Reed Elsevier Group PLC said in a statement.

Well, I've got news for you, Reed Elsevier Group PLC: If the individuals' Social Security numbers were compromised, it's only a matter of time before some of their credit, medical or financial information can be breached as well. GMAB, as John Stossel of 20/20 would say.

GIVE ME A BREAK!

Employment Search Story

2005-02-21T12:06:00.000-05:00

A guy walks into the local welfare office, marches straight up to the counter and says, "Hi, you know, I just HATE drawing welfare. I'd really rather have a job."

The social worker behind the counter says, "Your timing is excellent. We just got a job opening from a very wealthy old man who wants a chauffeur/bodyguard for his nymphomaniac daughter. You'll have to drive around in his Mercedes, but he'll supply all of your clothes.

Because of the long hours, meals will be provided. You'll be expected to escort her on her overseas holiday trips. You'll have a two-bedroom apartment above the garage. The starting salary is $200,000 a year."

The guy says, "You're bullshitting me!"

The social worker says, "Yeah, well, you started it."

Military Resources

2005-02-11T13:12:00.000-05:00

I've lately been doing a lot of productive work though a web site called www.military.com. For any veterans (whether or not you're still active), or retirees out there, this is a powerful site. You can post resumes (this can also be done through my personal site, www.metrocast.net/~sclough/). I've already set up job search agents (I always scan the market, even when I'm happy in my current position, this is a safe bet in today's unstable job environment). I've added advertisers' affiliates logos to my web site (see the military.com affiliate program link on the home page). I've researched veteran's benefits and a lot more. Fellow vets, check this site out, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Its functionality and usefulness are top tier.

I've been living here in southern Maine for eight years now, so If anyone out there needs any information which can be more easily obtained by someone physically in the area, please don't hesitate to ask. I know who all the vendors are for different services for fifty miles in any direction, from Manchester, NH to Portland, ME and Portsmouth, NH. I know how the job market is, what major industries and services folks are employed at, and who all the major realtors are.

Dollars for Taking Surveys? Caveat Emptor!

2005-02-03T16:51:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note. I'm always goofing around looking at job announcements online, and many listings I produce with my searches include web sites where you are offered lists of sites from which you can get paid for taking surveys.

These portal sites usually want a fee of 25 to 35 bucks. You really don't need to pay any money for these lists. Simply type the words "online survey scams" into a Google Search field and read some of the results and you'll find links to sites where you don't pay to participate.

Even with access to these sites, don't expect to make much money unless you really work hard at it, possible as much as more than full time.

I hope this friendly piece of advice will save you some trouble and expense.

People of Service

2005-01-26T17:39:00.000-05:00

In this humble little berg of only a couple thousand people (more live here in the Summer), I have some darn good neighbors. When I became a "dot-com" orphan, my across-the-street neighbor got me a job driving big rigs. It enabled me not to even have an interruption in my weekly income stream. My next door neighbor, before we even moved into the house, noticed a storm door flapping in the breeze one day and came over and secured it. It needed more than just closing, he made a repair on it that saved it from being damaged. He wouldn't have known me that day if I sprung up out of a hole in the ground and stomped on his foot.

Another neighbor heard I pulled my back a couple years ago (I made a stupid move while working on my lawn tractor). He appeared in my back yard as soon as he noticed my grass getting a little shaggy, and simply started mowing away. My back lawn takes a good hour to mow and it's not flat, it's one of those kinds of lawns that is a bona fide workout to maintain. Just like me, this neighbor happens to be a retired Air Force noncommissioned officer, like me with a son who currently serves as a noncommissioned officer in the Air Force, like me having just a single child, that son. Fancy that!

Still another neighbor, who lives in the last house in Maine on my road before one crosses into New Hampshire, saw a "window-peeker" standing in my front yard one night, came and chased the guy away, then told me about it later. We know the guy, he's basically harmless, but he sometimes drinks a little too much and then walks around in people's yards, looking into their windows from fifty feet away from their houses. This is about the worst thing that ever happens in Acton, Maine.

One other family nearby is worth mentioning too. It's a husband and wife legislation team no less. I don't want to use their names without their permission on this blog, but "Percy" is our district state Senator, and his wife, our newly elected state rep. (Yeah, I know, you could look up who they are on the Web in five minutes. But then I wouldn't have to feel guilty about it). Anyway, they're the most down to earth people you can imagine. All of us neighbors have some amount of land (mine is probably the smallest piece at one acre) which lie adjacent to one another in the back woods behind our houses. "Mr. And Mrs. Percy", when they're not up at the state house legislating, are in their yard toiling in the flower gardens they put in along the road, or clearing standing dead wood in the woods out back - because they like the healthy work, it obviously is what they live for. "Mrs. Percy" was a teacher for many years. She comes from one most honored profession and could probably just chill now until old age, and yet instead she drives the two and a half hours to Augusta when the house is in session, at practically no pay, and keeps right on serving.

Which leads me to the reason I wrote this post this evening. I wanted to at least put some links out here to sites that direct one to municipal and state legislators for anyone considering moving to this area. I'll include below also some links to York County organizations, since Acton is part of York County, and York County, both on the shore, and inland, is the first county you encounter when you cross into Maine from New Hampshire, and is one of the most welcoming and relaxing places to visit in New England. Some links below:

http://janus.state.me.us/legis/ (all of the State Legislators of Vacationland, both parties)
http://www.co.york.me.us/ (official York County web site).
http://www.umext.maine.edu/counties/york.htm (our cooperative extension site)
http://www.cornish-maine.org/ (about Cornish, one of those lovely inland towns ya gotta see)
http://schooltree.org/ME-YORK.html (this one's all about the schools here)
http://www.foreclosurefreesearch.com/relay/search/ME/031 (well, I'll be jiggered, look at the all the property you could buy cheap in York County!)
http://www.bangornews.com/towns/county.cfm?ID=YORK (interested in business climate in York County? This one is a veritable plethora of demographic info for the potential entrepreneur).

My still-mending collarbone demands I get out of this chair and return to the prostrate position in the Lazy Boy, so hey, talk to ya soon.

The Title is Titles

2005-01-25T11:40:00.000-05:00

Did you notice how the last post was titled "Local and Regional Legislators", and then the subject matter turned out to be a piece about insurancer companies. That's what happens, bloggers, when a polly-blog like me tries to post a new comment, the connection is lost, then later returned, only to mix up the title of the lost input with the content of the next one. As Judge Joe Brown would say, "Don't make yo' move too soon!"

Regional and Local Legislators

2005-01-25T11:31:00.000-05:00

Here's a piece of comedy from my friend Stewie Mikkelson regarding insurance companies, and I quote:

"Insurance minions are made of phlegm and farts. It’s a long-protected industry secret. You can find references to it in the Da Vinci Code.

Speaking of insurance, I was reviewing my renter’s insurance policy and found that while I am covered in event of volcanic activity, should there be a war, civil war, rebellion, or revolution, I would not be covered for damages. Additionally, nuclear blast damage is not covered, as a blast – even if accidental – is considered a warlike act. Good to know USAA has their bases covered just in case. Of nuclear blast. For the studio audience, let me reiterate and make wild gestures to the guy working the sarcasm light: “I’m glad USAA has found it necessary to forecast their liability in case a nuclear device is detonated close enough to my home to damage it.”

*sigh*

It’s time to curl up like a frightened pillbug, watch Dr Strangelove again and drink myself brave. . . .where’s my binky. . .?

So now, I need to find nuke insurance for when all of my personal possessions need to be replaced due to the irremovable, me-shaped flash shadows covering them." END QUOTE!

I love that Stewie.

Insurance Companies

2005-01-25T11:10:00.000-05:00

The insurance company who insured the "other guy" involved in my recent accident have started their exasperatingly predictable wheels rolling with offers of half the real value of my destroyed car. What a vicious cycle the insurance business is. A few scumballs do their level best to extract windfalls from lawsuits about relatively minor hardships. So the insurance companies' automatic defense mechanism is to now try to demoralize every payee to make up for it, or perhaps deter the meek from approaching it this way. So I, who has really no interest in becoming rich from an accident that I walked away from (albeit with shortened breath, tender ribs, and a broken collarbone) has to fight with everything in me just to be treated fairly. Now my defense posture is aroused, and I'm thinking to myself "myself, you ought to just say "Frick" it and call an "ambulance chaser".

It gives me a sort of dichotomy of feelings about insurance itself, tort reform, insurance ethics, etc. If lawsuits were regulated to the point where there were very specific limits (in terms of monetary remedies) for specific hardships or injuries, then the people who really truly deserve large compensation would not receive it. Those who don't deserve it would still commonly receive payments for injuries trumped up by their attorneys.

My fingers are so close to that dial right now. I guess I'll just try to worry about my own case, fight for myself, and if the insurer on the other side refuses to cover my actual expenses incurred by this accident, then I'll call James P. Sirencall, Attorney at Law.

Links About Acton, Maine and Surrounding Area

2005-01-23T13:13:00.000-05:00

The previously promised area info and some related links for Acton, Maine:

http://mousamlake.org (a lot of good recreational info)

http://www.actonmaine.com (all about the town including all the bodies of water at which and in which one can "funnify")

http://www.hometownlocator.com/City/Acton-Maine.cfm (more info from the standpoint of a potential new resident)

http://www.ohwy.com/me/j/j0254559.htm (this one's about the elementary school - high schoolers but to nearby towns for school)

http://www.actonrec.org/ (devoted to all the organized recreation, especially youth sports, for the area)

There a lot of people in Acton who are served by New Hampshire communities nearby as well as Sanford, Springvale, Biddeford, and Alfred, Maine. NH communities close by include Milton Mills, Milton, Rochester, Dover, Somersworth, Union, and Ossipee, to name a few.

Since Acton is basically in the foothills of the White Mountains you can get to major ski areas within an hour and a half, in the White Mountains' Conway/North Conway recreational areas. All along the way, there are antique shops, restaurants, and businesses serving snowmobilers, skiiers, boaters and fisherman.

I've been on a half dozen great hikes from 2 hours on up to a full day in places like Mount Major, near Lake Winnipesaukee, Mount Chocorua, on the way up Route 16 toward Mount Washington, and on Mount Washington itself (my trek was the Tuckerman's Ravine Trail).

In the above mentioned village of Milton Mills by the western end of Acton, there are two general stores, one with gas pumps. On the other end (the eastern end of town) are the public safety and town administration facilities, the library, and the transfer station. Not far from this miniopolis (mini-metropolis?) are the Potting Shed restaurant with a campground across the road (Rt. 109) and a place where in the fall you can pick your own apples. The Potting Shed shares parking space with a gift shop and a shop devoted to kayaking too.

OK, you get the picture, when you come to the southern seacoast of Maine, ya gotta at least come west on 109 through Sanford and at least drive around Acton a little bit and check it out.

Stewie Mikkelson's view:

2005-01-23T11:53:00.000-05:00

The District that voted roughly 90% in favor of John Kerry for the presidency was "asked" to foot the bill for the Capitol Affair's $40M security costs in what some have described as a "stone-cold revenge rogering." In response, there have been numerous complaints about the financial burden placed upon the city by Inauguration Day's unprecedented security costs.

Quick to respond to criticism, representatives of the Republican Party reminded District inhabitants today that there would be many important benefits passed on to the city for hosting this year's events. Specifics weren’t immediately made available by the GOP, but some extra business was evident early on. By 6 a.m. of the 20th, visiting plutocrats, imagining the upcoming term's special interest cornucopia worked themselves into what can only be described as a massive, collective rager and had already lavished tens of thousands of dollars upon the working population of K Street and 17th Ave. One anonymous energy lobbyist told reporters that the excitement of the upcoming term has him ready to "give to the locals in a biiiiggg way."

As a result of the widespread, turgid glee amongst its chief market, Pfizer has issued warnings to its stockholders about a likely drop in Q1 profits.

Other local inhabitants, were concerned that the high-dollar Gala and hotel prices - sometimes ringing in at up to $300,000 for a meal and a night's stay - would do little to offset the day's cost and would hardly trickle into the local communities. These concerns were briefly placated by various Republican leaders' smirking offers of a number of federally-funded gatherings for the masses at points across the city. It was reported that at these gatherings there would be "lots of cake" which organizers would gladly "let them eat."

America's Role in the World

2005-01-21T13:02:00.000-05:00

At the MSNBC home page today, the voting question is "do you think it's America's job to spread freedom around the world?".

Here's how I responded in conjunction with my no vote:
--
The question is really too simple. If "spreading freedom" is done just for its own sake, then it's a misguided process.
Of course it needs to happen when it's done in conjunction with promoting, and especially protecting or defending our national interests. But if men have to die just because our leader decides it's time to spread freedom, then it wasted a lot of resources that could be expended to advance the interests, health, and welfare of many of our own people here at home.
--

I'm a conservative, but I think the reasons for going to war have to be very clear and with no hidden agendae, or it shouldn't happen. I would have been happier to see the over 100,000 military sent to Afghanistan to ensure we kill the real enemy first. I believe we could have taken out Saddam with a committed, long-term special forces effort.

Do I sound like a bleeding heart Democrat? Well, I'm not, I voted totally Republican in both of the last two elections, but as is usually the case, I was voting for the lesser of two evils both times. We need the strength of a President with convictions, but that trait can be too extreme sometimes. On the other hand, voting for a waffler like Kerry would not have been in my best interests or in my opinion in the best interests of the general public either. If you don't know what you're voting for, then it's like opening a checking account at the bank and saying to the banker "just put what you feel like putting in my account, and let me know what that number is". That's what Kerry wanted to do, talk about everything he believes in, then spend the hell out of our collective checking account whether he really had a mandate to do so or not.

I guess I got off track a little bit, didn't I? Well, to be fair, Kerry may or may not have done the same thing as Mr. Bush in response to 9/11, but the question about spreading freedom prompts me to put all my feelings about the last three and a half years' worth of our political atmosphere into a few thoughts, and get it off my bruised chest.

Inaugural Blog

2005-01-20T10:59:00.000-05:00

I'm Steve Clough, a regular Joe from Acton, Maine who just decided today to start a blog to allow anyone to post their thoughts about anything.

I intend to make this blog known to local residents and offer its use to them for the purpose of having a place to share information and ask questions about goings-on here in Acton, Maine, hence the name of the web address for this blog, which is http://actonupinmaine.blogspot.com.

I'm home today because on January 11, 2005 a driver fell asleep behind the wheel and smashed into me while I was on the way to work. My seat belt surely saved my life. But while it was saving me, it broke my left clavicle (collarbone). Since I drive a tractor-trailer rig for a living, I'll be out of work for a while. So I'll say something in all capital letters just this once, and one time only, then my caps key will never be locked again: WEAR YOUR SEAT BELTS, PLEASE, I IMPLORE YOU!