Well, really I’ve been free to tell for a few weeks now, and many of you already know. Looks like Bex, Harry, Gimpysoft and I are moving to sunny Boca Raton, FL. I’ll be leaving the local telecom and going to work for Multiply, a social networking site. You can find me on there here, so feel free to sign on up and add me as a friend to keep track of my goings on down in Florida.
I’m no stranger to moving. I never spent more than six years in any one place before I graduated high school, and attended college in both Houston and Fayetteville, AR. However, at this point I’ve lived in Kansas City longer than anywhere I’ve previously lived, and feel a stronger connection to this town than anywhere else. I’m going to miss this town, and I’m going to miss all the people we’ve met. I’m sure we’ll make it back often.
Bex is not quite as used to moving as I, and she is having good days and bad days with respect to the move. (I think the days when she is looking forward to the move coincide with the days where the temperature is below 32°.) All in all though, we think it’s a good move for us and we’re both looking forward to it.
I have two weeks left at the telecom, and I’ll be spending nights and weekends until then finishing up my work on Fort Awesome. I think that Fort Awesome will go on the market around the time that we move, which should be March 20 or so. Anybody looking to buy a starter house? Anybody looking for part-time work helping me build out a bathroom? I pay in Boulevard and Waldo Pizza.
I haven’t had time to say much to say about The Wire this season. I gorged myself on the first seven episodes early in the season, then had an agonizingly long wait for episode eight. I watched eight and nine On Demand, and now found out today that the series finale won’t be put up On Demand, presumably to avoid spoilers. Arrrgh! Two weeks to wait?
In the meantime, I’ll be catching up on my The Wire reading. I was reading Wire blog Heaven and Here during season 4, but kind of avoided it this season. At least I can go back through it and catch up on their season 5 posts while I’m waiting for the finale.
I also recently found Marc Singer’s blog, where he’s doing an excellent deconstruction of the season so far. One more way to get my fix and kill the time between now and Sunday, March 9.
Sadly, after March 9 I don’t think there will be any way I can continue to justify my subscription to HBO. I’ll be back for David Simon’s Iraq War mini-series Generation Kill, but there’s not a lot else I feel like I need to keep the subscription for.
Dear Senator Jordan and members of the committee considering SB 595,
I am one of your constituents, and SB 595 recently came to my attention. SB 595 is a bill to ban the labeling of dairy products with respect to use of rGBH and rBST. I oppose this bill for several reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, I believe this is a straightforward freedom of speech issue. Dairy farmers should have the right to make factual claims about their products.
Secondly, bills like this smack of a blatant handout to large agribusiness. I realize we are in Kansas and agriculture is our largest industry, but so often agriculture policy is defended with appeals to the “family farmer”. SB 595 does nothing but work against the interests of small farmers. In order to compete with large agribusiness, small farmers must do what they can to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. SB 595 simply removes one way (via restriction of their constitutionally protected right to free speech) they can differentiate themselves.
I believe in free speech, and I believe in free markets. If a bill was proposed to require labeling of dairy products with respect to use of artificial hormones, I would oppose it as well. However, I fail to see how consumers in the state of Kansas will be helped by this bill. I believe that in order for markets to function properly, consumers access to information regarding the products they buy should not be restricted.
Please oppose SB 595.
Ryan Olson
Shawnee, KS 66216
I don’t buy in completely to the notion that genetically modified foods are de facto bad. However, when agribusiness has to resort to laws attempting to muzzle small farmers who want to differentiate themselves in the marketplace by using more natural farming practices, it makes my blood boil. If you agree, now would be the time to get in touch with your state senator and the members of the Agriculture committee currently considering this bill.
Full text of the bill [pdf]
Members of the Senate Agriculture committee:
R – Mark Taddiken – Chair taddiken@senate.state.ks.us (785) 296-7371
R – Roger C Pine – Vice Chair pine@senate.state.ks.us (785) 296-7372
D – Marci Francisco – Ranking Minority francisco@senate.state.ks.us (785) 296-7364
R – Stephen R Morris – Member morris@senate.state.ks.us (785) 296-2419
D – Janis K Lee – Member lee@senate.state.ks.us (785) 296-7366
R – Terry Bruce – Member bruce@senate.state.ks.us (785) 296-7300
R – Tim Huelskamp – Member huelskamp@senate.state.ks.us (785) 296-7359
R – Derek Schmidt – Member schmidt@senate.state.ks.us (785) 296-7374
R – Ralph Ostmeyer – Member ostmeyer@senate.state.ks.us (785) 296-7399
You can find your state senator here.
