Blogger / Google is NOT letting me take my domain with me!

I've been trying to transfer my domain from Blogger's / Google's control into my own GoDaddy account (so it's only $7 per year as opposed to $10) but they've locked "private registration" and seems to have set up a no-transfer policy with my domain. In essence, it seems that they are holding *my* domain hostage which is a violation of ICANN policies.

Obviously with all the advertising and other revenue streams Google feels that it is important to hold these domains hostage.

Beware other blogger subscribers, they are probabaly doing this to you too.

I am working on alternative means of hosting my blog now because of this.

The New American Revolution

The 2008 presidential election has opened my eyes up to changes that are going to happen. No, I don’t mean the whole Barak vs. McCain thing; I’m talking about the whole political process.

In the past, when people are younger they are liberal but as they grow older they tend to grow conservative as they get older (this is how a lot of people are, not all, some are conservative form the beginning and others stay liberal their entire lives). We even see this with our elected, Republican (conservative) candidates tend to be older while Democrat (liberal) candidates tend to be younger (we’re seeing this exaggerated in our current election, if elected Barak would be the 5th youngest president ever and if elected, McCain would be the oldest president ever elected (ahead of Ronald Regan).

I’ve noticed that the largest demographic in the US (baby boomers) are also the most conservative; I don’t think many people would argue that point.

Over the next few elections, as the baby boomers start to stop voting and more younger people start to vote, we’re going to see a serious swing in how our elections are handled. People are getting tired of the same old stuff that we get every 2, 4, and 6 years from the people who supposedly represent us. Votes are going to become more in-tune with “today”. Today’s technology, today’s politics, today’s world. They’re asking questions where the older generations took things for granted. Generation X started all of this but we were labeled as “whiners” and “babies” who didn’t know what we want. Now, though “generation Y / the MTV generation” are becoming more and more noticeable in today’s political world.

I think a good example of what could happen is the “Velvet Revolution” in the former nation of Czechoslovakia. High school and college students staged peaceful protests and gained popularity with their nation. It took only weeks for their communist government to step down and make way for elections which held until the country peacefully sprint into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

No, I’m not saying split the US into two, but peaceful protests and demonstrations can get the attention of governments, small and large. Unfortunately, too many people in the US want to turn peaceful protests into violence. Very rarely do we have a large peaceful protest stay that way, there are always bad eggs out there who want to promote violence and use innocent protests to get their own agenda going (which always ends in police intervening and ending what was a peaceful protest).

I also see this accelerating if McCain is elected. Conservatives usually don’t protest and fight, liberals do. We will see these changes coming faster and when they come, most of us won’t know what happened.

What changes? I think by 2020 (yes, only 3 elections away, 2012, 2016, and 2020) we’re going to see a strong representation by non-traditional parties (Republican and Democrat). We’re also going to see the promotion of unity (just look at the “divided we fail” ads). Right now, I think the worst part of our government is the political parties. The fact that we have just two and you will rarely see people working together from different sides. As other options come up and gain in popularity, we’ll see more cooperation between the sites.

I also think we’re going to see more politicians listening to us and not just spewing out what we want to hear. In the beginning (2016 and on) we’re going to see a lot of short term senators and representatives. They tell us one thing and then do another, they won’t get voted back in. As they catch on that people won’t take the smoke screens and stretched truths, they’ll start to stick with their word and deliver with what they promised us.

We have the tools now, Web 2.0 (interactive web). Anyone with an internet connection can get a blog and write their own stories, rants, and agenda. More advanced people can get sites and forums up to promote communities. The younger generations are quite adept at these tools while the older generations are having a harder time adapting. Who knows, maybe this will be the medium where the new revolution happens. Not on the streets but on our computers in our blogs and forums.

Politicians, politics, and political supports are hypocits.

It’s quite interesting how politics can be as hypocritical as possible. It is OK for one candidate to do something but not OK for the other candidate to do the same thing (one is doing it because “he would be a good guy in office” and the other is doing it “because he wants the votes”.

Perfect example, recently both candidates (Barak Obama and John McCain) have said that now is the time to try to help people in the gulf coast in preparations for hurricane Gustav. Now is the time to make donations, help friends and family in need, communities to work together, and for “us to act like Americans”. It is a great thing for both candidates to day.

So why is it that a lot of people one minute would say “See, this is why Obama would be a great president, he’s being proactive about this” but then a few minutes later they’ll say “McCain is only doing this to look good and/or get votes” (and I’ve seen people say the same with the candidates reversed). So, it is OK for the candidate that you like to show this kind of support but not OK for the other?

People complain about their (the politician’s) inconsistencies but then come out with inconsistent statements like this. People, that is hypocritical. How dare people complain like this and moan about politicians’ inconsistencies when the complainers themselves are inconsistent in their support.

The reasoning? Political parties. Most people who debate politics are very biased towards their on party and their party’s agenda and ignore the other sides strengths. Personally, I hate political parties. I’d say get rid of them, we don’t need them. This political bickering is what slows down our progress (along with lawyers trying to find loopholes to exploit and/or close). Just imagine, people might actually have to research who they vote into office as opposed to voting strictly by R, D, and I / other.

Breed speciific legislation - a double edged sword.

I consider breed specific legislation a serious problem here in the US. It is a very sharp double-edged sword.

On one hand, legitimate and responsible breeders and owners are kept from owning the breed in question thus reducing the number of people trying to improve the breed. With the reduction of responsible owners and breeders you have a much higher percentage of irresponsible owners and breeders thus making a bad situation worse.

Now, this breed that is labeled as a bad breed will get nothing but bad press from the bad owners and breeders making it seem like there is need for stronger legislation against the breed.

And it spirals downward in that direction.

On the other side, instead of the bad part of the breeders and owners into this breed, they now get into other breeds making them a “bad breed” in the eyes of the people who write these laws.

Perfect example:

Pit bulls have a very bad reputation in the US. I don’t think anyone would argue this point. From what I’ve also seen, a majority of the pit bull owners and breeders are irresponsible (note: not all). Pit bulls are also the choice dogs for dog fighting.

So, states, counties, and cities are banning pit bulls making it harder for these people to own them and the few that do, are less likely to be responsible with their breedings and ownerships.

There are a lot of people now who can’t get this breed so they want to continue with their dog fighting and irresponsible ownership so what do they do? They get into another breed. Shepherds, bulldogs, Dobermans, rottweilers, and so on. Now, there is a more dominant bad element with these breeds. So what happens? The politicians start to make legislation against these breeds. I’m already seeing places ban shepherds (one of the most loyal breeds out there, if well bred, trained, and owned).

The solution? That’s easy. Stricter guidelines for breeders and certifications for dogs (allow dogs to be bred that meet a standard) and require all dog owners to go though at least one set of training classes with their dogs. Don’t discriminate, educate people on dogs, how they act, how they thing and so on.

People need to wake up and see that banning specific dog breeds is not the solution.