It’s now with incredulity that we see the rise of Rick Santorum – a man whose name is a synonym for the nasty mess you can get after anal sex – a soup of spunk/lube and shit if you will.

Poor Ricky is in a tizz because of this association, started by a disgruntled op ed writer after Mr S compared homosexuals to dog-fuckers.

I’ll be honest and say that this post is to add some links to the Santorum definition website so Google will keep it ranked highly while Mr Homophobia is allowed to hang himself in the primaries by opening his mouth.

Oh, and if you’re wishing to add to the good fight against these fuckwits, do a Google search for “Santorum” and click on the paid listings at the top of the results. This is for the real Mr S’s website, but he’ll be paying for every click through even though you should have no intention of giving him one cent. If you do have intention to give him money, please don’t be a douche.

Also, just because it snows a bit in New York City, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t global problems. You really don’t get the whole climate thing if you think that weather in one city in one state in half of one continent represents the planet. No, Earth is much bigger than America. I know, it’s hard to believe.

What really tops it off are the fanatical right wing bat shit religious nutjobs (and many not so nutjobby) who believe in god and that the bible is literally true…even though there is not one shred of evidence to prove the existence of god. Yet they think that climate science is more than a bit made up.

I therefore conclude that if you deny climate change you are an idiot. A complete fucking idiot.

As I’m currently ranked number one on Google for a search of “Fullerton Web Design”, I didn’t want to break what didn’t need fixing. I’ve therefore kept the one page minimalist design with the same content (a few tweaks to my prose here and there). Fingers crossed that Google doesn’t turn its nose up at me and knock me down, but that shouldn’t happen.

The main change is to the ‘our work’ section that has a new interface that looks rather snazzy. I played and played with jQuery to get it just right. Took me ages, but really pleased how it turned out.

My biggest flash of inspiration came today when I revised the logo. I wanted a simple ‘spot’ to identify with the name, but wasn’t too happy with the way my circles were aliasing when exported from either Fireworks or Illustrator. This could be due to user error, of course. Ahem.

So, while out shopping I suddenly had a flash of inspiration – what about CSS for the circle? Can that be done? Duh. Of course, using CSS3 and the ‘border-radius’ property. Add in a radial gradient to boot and I have my logo with purely CSS3 and HTML5. Sweet. Of course we still have an image as backup for the browsers that don’t do the new CSS3 wizardry (yes Internet Explorer < 9, I mean you.)

Anway, enjoy the new Shiny Spot Web Services and give us a call. We’ll do you a pretty awesome website. Promise.

Jennifer described Glenn as a “wacky Aussie.” He came round with some paperwork regarding the house sale. Him being from the colonies and me from the Mother Country, I felt an affinity for this brave soul making his way in this strange land. Well, we do share a queen I’ll have you know.

I didn’t see Glenn again for a number of years until I’d finally moved out to Fullerton. Jennifer and I went to the Fullerton Market that takes place on Thursday evening. Glenn has a stand there where he promotes his real estate. Since becoming reacquainted, I’ve helped Glenn with his website and we go out for drinkies now and then in Fullerton. We’ve also become friends with his wife Maggie and they even had us around for food and booze during this year’s Super Bowl.

As well as being an all round good guy, Glenn does know his real estate stuff as well – if you need to buy a house in Orange County or Fullerton, then Glenn Ritchie is the realtor of choice!

It’s nearing completion now, and when all the dust has settled I shall be writing some musings of our experiences with Jason Gonterman and his homeboys of Gonterman Construction.

Quite.

Except it’s bullshit. There is never one hint or irony that their 5 litre vehicle may be the problem for it costing a “small fortune” to fill. A gallon of gas in the USA is still less than HALF what it is in the UK. If, as is often claimed, the US economy will suffer if gas prices rise any further, then something REALLY needs to be done quick-sharp to reduce the country’s reliance on oil. Why? Because it ain’t gonna get any cheaper in the future. Rising gas prices are inevitable. Supply and demand, see. While China and India boom, they’re going to want more oil which in turn will increase the price on the open market. Get used to it, America. Free markets are what you’re all about, right?

I mentioned on Facebook that cheap gas wasn’t a birthright for Americans. An (American) family member commented they had seen (on Fox News, no doubt) Europeans protesting about the loss of their “non-birthright” public services too. I had to laugh. You can’t compare cheap gas to public services. I also had to laugh because in the UK, the welfare state WAS a birthright established after the Second World War. Its eroding and undermining since the late 1970s doesn’t detract from the fact the in the UK we have come to expect care from the cradle to the grave. Yes the world has changed and society become more complex. The management and delivery of services has also changed. At heart, though, the British public still cherish the idea of collective welfare; any government that undermined the NHS would be out on their ear.

So please do not compare protests about cutting of welfare to rising gas prices.

So, it’s time to write to Ed Royce, our representative in the House. This is what I wrote, short and sweet:

——-

Dear Representative Royce

I note that today the House of Representatives have voted to repeal President Obama’s healthcare bill.

I have a very simple question for you:

Why do you wish to prevent me from obtaining healthcare?

Regards

Peter Hobley

——

I don’t expect a reply, as he doesn’t reply to his constituents. Well, no us at least.

As President Obama struggles to do his job against the childish hostage-taking Republican Party, I felt compelled to let our representative, Ed Royce, know how we feel about some issues he refuses to support. I have a feeling this is going to become a regular occurrence as he will no doubt never cease to disappoint any decent thinking human being.

So below I present what I wrote to Rep. Royce. It’s about the Republican’s refusal to support those people who are sick and dying following exposure to toxins at Ground Zero following the terror attacks of 9/11/2001.

It’s funny how the party that used the attacks to further their own political ambitions and launch wars can’t be arsed to looked after the heroes of that horrific time.

Oh no, it’s not funny. It’s fucking disgraceful.

———–
Dec 10 2010

Dear Representative Royce

Earlier this year my wife, Jennifer Sullivan, contacted you asking why you had not supported the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. To date we have not received a reply from you.

I hear today that an amended version of the act has been filibusted in the Senate by Republicans. It is my understanding this is due to the Republican Party’s refusal to support any bills until President Obama extends tax cuts for all Americans – even those earning over $250,000 per year.

Refusal to assist those who put their own lives at risk on 9/11 is disgraceful. I urge you to encourage your Republican colleagues to put the interests of those with greatest need over millionaires and billionaires.

People who were exposed to all manner of toxic waste on and after 9/11/2001 are HEROES who should be looked after, not let down and left to die.

Regards

Peter Hobley

——–

Of course, I don’t actually expect a reply from Rep Royce. I didn’t get one when I wrote earlier about the refusal of the GOP to extend unemployment benefits until or that rich friends had their tax cuts extended.

Simply put it is such a beautiful area, and on the day we went the weather was perfect – bright and sunny with clear air due to the early November winds.

We stayed at the Hadsten House in Solvang – a rather pleasant hotel despite it having been converted from a bog-standard motel. From there we had arranged a day’s wine tasting with Mark Chumley of Silver Cloud Transportation Servicves. He picked us up as scheduled and we hit the wineries.

I’m not a wine man, preferring beers. However, I must admit wine tasting is actually pretty good fun. Ok, none of us are experts but we really enjoyed trying reds, whites and the differing styles of each grape type.

Mark took us to some great places and looked after us well – the minivan was clean, he supplied waters and even bought us lunch (included in the cost of his hire, of course).

All in all a pleasant day and highly recommended.

Contrast that with some of the not-so-well-off areas of Los Angeles where A New Way of Life Reentry Project does so much good work – led by the awesome Susan Burton. Susan has been to the edge and back before getting her life on track and dedicating herself to helping others going through what she has.

Recently, Susan’s hard work has been recognized by CNN who have shortlisted her for this year’s CNN Heroes award. I’m very excited and proud to have helped for such a good cause – go Susan!

Oh, and VOTE FOR SUSAN NOW!