This past weekend, we had a birthday party for Audrey… yep one year already. Her birthday is technically Aug. 25, but we celebrated early, because that worked out for all the adults who attended. The first birthday party is really for the adults, right.

When I was a child, I remember people saying that time goes by so quickly when you get older… and it’s true. I cannot believe it’s been a year since Audrey was born… So quick.

So here is the “So Sad” part… today was the first day of child care for Audrey. Amber and I dropped her off about 8:30 am to “Nana Linda” for her first full day of baby-sitting. “Nana Linda” watches about 4 other children all around Audrey’s age. She’s gonna have a blast.

Audrey is such a social little girl, she needs the interaction with other kids. I also need more time to work. So for three days a week, Audrey will be out of the house. No longer will she stand beside me or sit in my lap all day, every day… I will only get that benefit Mondays and Fridays.

I have to admit, I miss her being around already, just after one day. So sad.

Random House Pulls Novel on Islam, Fears Violence.

I saw that headline on the front page of the Drudge Report today, and it kind of annoyed me a little.

Basically the article talks about how Random House halted the publication of a book that “traces the life of A’isha (Prophet Mohammed’s child bride) from her engagement to Mohammed, when she was six, until the prophet’s death.” The reason? Fear of violence from Islamic groups.

Violence over a book? Yep. Remember back in 2006 when a Danish paper published cartoons of Mohammed, and 50 people were killed in riots and bombs. The article also points out Salman Rushdie’s 1988 book “The Satanic Verses,” and how he had to go into hiding from terrorists who were out to kill him. And who called for his death, Iran’s supreme Islamic leader… who also at that time ran the government.

It makes me think of the book “DaVinci Code,” and how it fictitiously claimed that Jesus was married and had children, and pretty much said that Christianity was a farce built on lies and corruption. Did any Christian riot, bomb or kill anyone? Not that I am aware of.

I could go into a rant about double standards, or how Christianity truly is a peaceful belief system, or how Islam promotes violence against anyone who goes against them. But all I will say is that next time you hear about Christians protesting or voicing complaint against something, think “At least they’re not killing people.” See Christians aren’t so bad after all.

A few weeks ago I was watching Headline News in the morning, when this commercial came on with some old guy who was an “oil man” talking about our current energy problem is something we can’t drill our of out of, and that he has a plan that will help our need for foreign oil. At the end was a website called www.pickensplan.com.

So who was that old guy? His name is T. Boone Pickens, and he is a Texas oil man who is planning for a future without oil.

So what is this great plan? Well it’s pretty simple really, Picken’s Plan wants to eliminate us from buying foreign oil, and utilize local and more renewable energy sources. Basically, he wants Amercia to be energy independent, with a mixture of renewable wind, solar and hydroelectric and non-renewable nuclear, coal and natural gas. The plan wants to focus heavily on emerging wind power technology. To quote from the website:

Studies from around the world show that the Great Plains States are home to the greatest wind energy potential in the world — by far.

The Department of Energy reports that 20% of America’s electricity can come from wind. North Dakota alone has the potential to provide power for more than a quarter of the country.

Today’s wind turbines stand up to 410 feet tall, with blades that stretch 148 feet in length. The blades collect the wind’s kinetic energy. In one year, a 3-megawatt wind turbine produces as much energy as 12,000 barrels of imported oil.

After reading the whole website, I figured that this is not some hippy, environmental, high cost dream that would never work in a real marketplace. No, “The Pickens Plan is a bridge to the future — a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives, and buy us time to develop even greater new technologies.”

A basic rundown of the plan is this: Build a “wind corridor” in the midwest, which would supply 20% (or more) of our electricity needs, implement more and better nuclear technology, solar thermal and solar panel energy, other renewable sources and coal. Shift the natural gas that we currently use in electricity production to automobile fuel. According to the California Energy Commission, critical greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas are 23% lower than diesel and 30% lower than gasoline. So it’s cleaner.

So on and so on.

What can you do? Well read “The Plan,” sign up and start letting your representatives know you are interested in The Picken’s Plan.

Enough Said.

Boston is tired of “Manny being Manny.”

Let Joe Torre deal with him.

In more baseball related news… I was checking the iTunes store recently, when I saw that iTunes now has software for the iPhone. Now I don’t have an iPhone, nor do I expect to get one anytime soon, but I thought I would check out what cool free software was available.

I noticed a program called iPhone Baseball, which is nothing but baseball stats on every team and player from 1871 to 1007. According to the description Baseball: Imagine all the historical baseball playor statistics immediately accessible on you iPhone or iPod Touch! Major League stats from 1871 to 2007 are included with no waiting for web access. Great for resolving arguments at the ballpark, at the bar or in front of the TV. Look for a player by team and year, search for player name or team or get career stats.

Here is a little video showing how it works.

Makes me wish I had an iPhone.