The final blog of 2008

So far so good. This first year I have blogged about 267 times, meaning that with about 98 exceptions, I have had a daily discourse on the Internet. There were several times due to travel or other considerations (like a busy holiday season), where I was unable to get my blog submitted on time. For those times, I do apologize. So what have I learned thus far in my entry into the blogosphere (now almost a full year since my first tenuous steps)? I have learned that the connections between far-flung people can be quite strong through the blogging process. I have learned that more people are reading these entries than I would have believed initially. I have also learned that it is important to me to write intelligently and with purpose, because no one wants to read a trite, insincere blog. I have attempted to write in an ethical manner, but not necessarily in an objective way. The blogging process screams for subjectivity in much the same manner that a newspaper columnist cannot be impartial and stay valid for his readership. It is, after all, pretty much about crediblity. Can you truly believe the words I am writing? Do I make a compelling case for what I am advocating? If you disagree, can you see my point or would you think it necessary to respond to me via a comment? I have had an incredible number of good friends I have made through this first year, and I resolve to continue to do more of the same in 2009. I hope that I will be a source for information and, perhaps occasionally, for inspiration in the year to come. In the meantime, may all of you enjoy the most blessed of new year's celebrations and may the coming new year bring you continued good health and success in your endeavors. See you next year....

Tubbs Jones passes, a second lightning Bolt and Jewish bloggers

I learned right away of the importance of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones when I was living in Cleveland. A tireless fighter for her constituents, she was a true pioneer as both an African-American and a woman. Tubbs Jones was the first African-American woman to serve as a judge, a Cuyahoga County prosecutor of note and a five-term U.S. Representative elected to serve Ohio's 11th District since 1998. She was in fact the first African-American woman to represent Ohio in Congress.The tributes to Tubbs Jones have been pouring in from a poignant remembrance by Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz to a number of state and national figures since she passed away yesterday evening. Her passing, attributed to a brain aneurysm, has been termed "an incalculable loss" by fellow Clevelander and former mayor Dennis Kucinich. Tubbs Jones spoke before both the 2000 and 2004 Democratic National Conventions and was a co-chairman of the 2004 platform committee. Despite being quite close with Senator Barack Obama, she was Hillary Clinton's biggest advocate in Ohio. Tubbs Jones chaired the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (commonly referred to as theEthics Committee) and, as a member of the Ways and Means Committee, actively campaigned against the Iraqi war, tax cuts and changes in Social Security proposed by the Bush administration. Tubbs Jones won re-election in 2006 by over 83% of the electorate and was running unopposed. She was predeceased by her husband of 27 years, Mervyn Leroy Jones, Sr., and is survived by her son, Mervyn Leroy Jones II.
Lightning strikes again: Usaim Bolt was even more impressive than in his 100-meter dash when he rewrote the world record book again by besting Michael Johnson's gold shoe 200-meter race mark in 0:19:30. Frankly, I think he may be able to shave another one or two one-hundredths of a second off that mark. He is incredible and just another one of the reasons that I will miss the expanded Olympic coverage from NBC and affiliated stations that is fast winding down.
Meanwhile, the U.S. women's softball team, fresh from two hard-fought wins against Japan, lost the gold medal game against them today in what could be the last Olympic softball game. Softball, a women-only sport (men compete in baseball) made its Olympic debut in 1996 in Atlanta. It was voted off the 2012 Olympics program slated for London by a vote of the International Olympics Committee (IOC) in 2005 that was reaffirmed in 2006. Another vote to consider reinstituting the sport on the Olympics program is slated for next year. If it does not win approval from the IOC, softball will probably not return again.
Yesterday's first ever International Jewish Bloggers Convention streamed over the Internet live from Jerusalem had its problems with dropouts, picture loss and loss of audio. Nevertheless, I was captivated by the strength of the program, which included an opening address by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before a packed house of Jewish bloggers. The bloggers were all committed to promoting the concept of blogging and their blogs in particular. All in all it was very satisfying and allowed me to put a face on some of the major players in Jewish blogging in both Israel and North America. Kudos to Nefesh B'Nefesh for putting it on. Next year in Jerusalem? Who knows?

Blogging for ours

While there a number of suitable topics to cover this date including the horrible anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre, I was most drawn to a column today written by local Times-Picayune writer Chris Rose. Rose and I have met on a few occasions, but he has more or less operated outside of my circle of friends since he began writing his column in 2000. His 60 second interviews have always been pretty enjoyable fare and I've seen him as a legitimate voice of the people. Some years previous to Hurricane Katrina, he had appeared on several local stages including Le Chat Noir's "Galatoire's Monologues" "The A**hole Monologues,"and "I Love My Kid, But..." But Hurricane Katrina greatly affected Rose, like many of us. His "One Dead in Attic," a series of remembrances from the early days of recovery in New Orleans, was a powerful set of columns written around the storm and collectively published about a year after the storm. He detailed how he, his wife and their children were sent off to live afar in the days preceding and following the storm and the floods that resulted from the levee breaks. When he returned to work, his coverage of life on the streets in a neighborhood without power proved to be a window on the soul of what was then a soulless city. Rose's power of description hit home pretty hard, especially for lifelong residents of New Orleans like me who were forced to live in exile. It was only a year or so ago that Rose revealed to his readers that he had despaired so much that he had to seek medical treatment. He acknowledged that the stress of the slow recovery and its impact on him and his wife had placed great strain on their marriage. Today I read about Rose's description of Ashley Morris, a man who took him to task regularly in his daily blog and who, unbeknownst to Rose was his neighbor. Morris' blog titled the "Library Chronicles" criticized anything that seemed to be detrimental to the city in his estimation. Rose describes how he read Morris regularly to see what criticism he might be leveling at him. But he didn't realize that the criticism was coming from across his street. Morris wrote Rose to complain about Entergy gasline repairs that were destroying the old street name tiles built into the sidewalk corners. When Morris complained about "our corner," Rose wrote him back asking him what he meant by that phrase. It was then that Rose learned that the neighbor he used to think was a fine, upstanding guy was in fact this troublemaker from the blogospher. That was just a few weeks ago at the end of March. Despite a bit of trepidation on his part, Rose agreed to meet Morris when he returned to town. As fate woud have it, Morris never came back. He died on the road just a few days later in a hotel room, leaving behind a widow and three young children. A jazz funeral followed last week, but Rose's grudging admiration for a tireless champion of New Orleans culture is obvious. So too is Rose's talent for dealing with one of his online detractors whom he eventually took to his very large heart. For those who wish to read the entire column, go to:
http://blog.nola.com/chrisrose/2008/04/paying_respect_to_ashley_morri.html

Welcome to the Kosher Computing blog

Okay. So, here goes. I have been planning on my becoming a blogmeister or something similar last year when I went ahead and grabbed the domains for Kosher Computing. I figure it's about time that I start generating some ACII characters to go with my own somewhat distrubing character. What will the point of this be? Well, I'm not sure that there should be a point to it at all other than that, like Edison knew there was something in this tungsten that needed to be explored, I'm readily aware that I need to learn, listen, expose, and write about as many things as I can. Hopefully, there will be others who will hop on the hayride with me and enjoy. Kosher Computing is meant to be several things. It is intended to bring the technical side of computers and media into focus in a manner than can be appreciated by interested parties. It is intended to have a good dose of humor and probably a dash of color. It is meant to be a two-way street and not just a stream-of-consciousness blathering from yours truly. I hope to encourage others to post questions about a lot of different topics and to expand the scope of what I am capable of doing at present. Remember, the biggest anthill begins with a single grain of earth and a crazy plan.

Alan