Jason O'Grady's Blog

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. It prohibits the federal legislature from making laws that establish religion (the “Establishment Clause”) or prohibit free exercise of religion (the “Free Exercise Clause”), laws that infringe the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to assemble peaceably, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

You may want to read up on it folks

If you haven’t yet seen Who Killed the Electric Car? – It’s a must rent. Here’s the synopsis from IMDB:

With gasoline prices approaching $4/gallon, fossil fuel shortages, unrest in oil producing regions around the globe and mainstream consumer adoption and adoption of the hybrid electric car (more than 140,000 Prius’ sold this year), this story couldn’t be more relevant or important. The foremost goal in making this movie is to educate and enlighten audiences with the story of this car, its place in history and in the larger story of our car culture and how it enables our continuing addiction to foreign oil. This is an important film with an important message that not only calls to task the officials who squelched the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate, but all of the other accomplices, government, the car companies, Big Oil, even Eco-darling Hydrogen as well as consumers, who turned their backs on the car and embrace embracing instead the SUV. Our documentary investigates the death and resurrection of the electric car, as well as the role of renewable energy and sustainable living in our country’s future; issues which affect everyone from progressive liberals to the neo-conservative right.

My friend Will just showed me this guy’s EV converted Jeep Cherokee. If you’re up to the challenge check out EVConvert.com and learn how to convert your car to electric!

Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA is my alma mater so this is a big deal (to me).

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) – December 9, 2006 – Bashir Mason scored 21 points and Frank Elegar added 14 points and 11 rebounds as Drexel beat Villanova for the first time, 81-76 Saturday night.

I find it offensive the PayPal displays these big honkin’ display ads after you’ve logged in but before you get to your account. You’ve got to wait for them to load, then click on the “no thanks” link (which they label “My Account.” I thought I was logging into “my account,” not “my advertisements.” I can see displaying productivity stopping ads if PayPal were a free service, but not for US$10 per month, thank you. Is anyone else pissed off by this?

I recently begun receiving emails from a sports/concert venue (Comcast/Spectacor) in Philadelphia despite not having signed up for any lists. When I read the bottom of a recent TicketMaster email it all came together. Notorious monopoly TicketMaster sold my address to Comcast because it says so in their privacy policy.

What a joke. The Attorney General needs to investigate this horrible monopoly and stop them before the ruin music forever.

I recommend boycotting TicketMaster and telling your friends to do the same. Purchase your tickets in person at the box office and do not give TicketMaster your email address!

From the bottom of their email:

Please note that you may still receive emails from those who provide events (e.g., venues, teams, artists, promoters and leagues) to whom Ticketmaster provides your email address as described in the Ticketmaster Privacy Policy.

From their egregious “privacy policy”

You agree that by using the Site you are expressly and affirmatively consenting to our use and disclosure of the information that you provide, and consenting to receive emails, as described below in this privacy policy…

If you do not opt out of receiving all promotional emails, then we may share your contact information if we believe it makes business sense. These third parties may communicate directly with you about their products and services.

If you’ve puchase tickets from TicketMaster, you need to log into their site right now and click on My Account > Manage My Alerts and uncheck everything. If you don’t you’re allowing TicketMaster to give your contact info almost anyone associated with an event (e.g., venues, teams, artists, promoters and leagues).

After something like two years on a Blogger account I’ve moved my personal blog over to WordPress running on my own domain. Imagine that.

Last year, on my birthday, I posted a blog entry about the significance of the date June 6, 2006. Anyone who’s a fan of horror movies knows that 6/6/6 is associated with the horror movie “The Omen” from 1976.

Twentieth Century Fox released a remake of the 1976 horror classic “The Omen 666” (2006) (trailer, IMBD) on June 6, 2006. In their marketing of the film Twentieth Century Fox posted “6/6/6″ billboards for the film everywhere.

My wife threw a bowling party in Philly for my birthday and I had some fun telling people that the billboards were for my party Kinda fun…

It should also be noted that 06 June 1944 is also known as D-Day comemmorating the Battle of Normandy during World War II. My grandfather was a seaman on a British ship that was present at the battle of Normandy so this date in history is near and dear to me.

The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between the German forces occupying Western Europe and the invading Allied forces as part of the larger conflict of World War II. Over sixty years later, the Normandy invasion, codenamed Operation Overlord, still remains the largest seaborne invasion in history, involving almost three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy in then German-occupied France.

The majority of the Allied forces were composed of American, British, Canadian, and French units. Other countries including Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Poland also took a major part.

The Normandy invasion began with overnight airborne paratrooper and glider landings, massive air attacks and naval bombardments, and an early morning amphibious assault on June 6, “D-Day”. The battle for Normandy continued for more than two months, with campaigns to establish, expand, and eventually break out of the Allied beachheads. It concluded with the liberation of Paris and the fall of the Falaise Pocket.

Update: For anyone who misinterpreted this post as something that it’s not, shame on you. Perhaps you should educate yourself on blogging before jumping to irrational conclusions. It’s embarrassing that you have to be so petty as to point to a innocuous, humorous blog post about my birthday in an attempt to discredit me. Keep reading guys…