Help me help 23.6 million people

I really should have posted this sooner, but school kicked my butt this semester, and this week I have been on crutches & crying thanks to a perfect storm of gout-inducing circumstances. OWW. So I actually sort of forgot about getting the word out...and that makes me a terrible human being to be sure, but…

...I’m here now, blegging for your assistance. On June 13th I’m riding the Tour de Cure, a charity bike ride to raise funds for the American Diabetes Association. I know, these charities have huge overhead, but diabetes doesn’t have a lot of directly-donatable charities, and more people are getting this - especially children. Did you know they no longer call Type 2 “adult-onset diabetes?” Because the largest growing segment that gets it? Kids. Kids are getting a disease that used to afflict mainly the elderly, then fat middle-aged people, and now, thanks to a combination of flat-out evil behavior from food companies and utter laziness coupled with a lack of effort on the parts of parents everywhere...kids are getting “adult onset” diabetes as early as 8 or 9 years old. Just imagine what that means, what you have to feed a child in order to create a disease state that shouldn’t happen to them for another 40 years.

Part of the effort to combat this trend is education (both parents and children), and that costs money, and that is where the American Diabetes Association can be useful. SO...go here: http://main.diabetes.org/goto/stark23x. Donate. Sponsor my (still fat but shrinking every day) ass to chug along the roads of North Haven, CT in support of helping not the fat middle-aged dude who eats nothing but King-Size Reese’s and KFC twice a day and can’t figure out why he’s 350 lbs. and his blood sugar is all over the road, but for the child of that parent who doesn’t know that what the kid is being given to eat is going to put them in the ground at an early age.

http://main.diabetes.org/goto/stark23x. Right now my class’s team is signed up for the 25K. I should tell you now, that is NOT a challenge for me.  However, if I raise $250, I will ride it twice, even if no one else from my team joins me. 50K is a bit of a challenge, but here’s the kicker. $500 and I’ll ride it three times. 75K will literally chap my ass, and I do mean literally. So if you despise me, here’s your chance to make me suffer. The more you give, the more pain I will be in on June 13th. :)

http://main.diabetes.org/goto/stark23x. 

It’s donatin’ time…

I’m afraid it’s that time again...time for a server drive. With Lee’s passing, the entire cost of the server is now on my shoulders, and times - as they are for everyone I’m sure - are tight.  Blogads are a thin trickle these days, not nearly enough to pay for the server.  And so I’m coming to all of you hat in hand.  If you find any value in any of the sites I host, please consider a small donation. Every penny will go directly to the cost of paying for the $250 a month this machine and the associated bandwidth costs me.

We host the following blogs:

Right Thinking
Right Thoughts
Made of Awesome
Wasting Time WIth Alex
Moorewatch
The Victorious Opposition

So if you are a fan of any of these sites, consider sending maybe the cost of a beer or two. The cost of a couple of beers, when multipled by a group of you, could keep us going for months. Unfortunately we only have Paypal as a donation solution, since Amazon closed their donation/payment program. Hopefully that’s okay for most people.

I wish there was a way to express to all of you how little I like doing this.  Some day I will either be rich or Supreme Ruler of the Universe and then I’ll host everyone’s websites for free. :)

Bad news about Lee

Please read this.  We’ve lost Lee. Please be respectful in the comments.

Why I have gone silent

A commenter recently bemoaned the lack of this site’s activity.  Well...I take much of the blame for that.  I have had the politics beaten out of me on *every* front long before the election.  This is NOT about Obama’s victory.  I gave up on my personal politics/oriented blog for the most part about 6 months ago.  This place sucked the joy out of me a year ago.  I cannot seem to find it again.  The fire that drives me to want to rail against the shit I see is still burning...but it’s a small coal, buried under a pile of ash.  I cannot imagine it will stay dormant forever, especially in an administration that will likely try to implement some of the things Mikey loves (to happen to other people), like stealing via outrageous taxes from anyone who works for more than a living wage and populist crap like bread and circuses.  Free money for all!  Tax the rich until there are no rich anymore, it’s only fair!  Mike will hide his wealth in all sorts of tax shelters, I’m sure, paying the bare minimum the government requires while advocating that all of you who make more than you need to pay your bills and buy his DVDs give up all disposable income to help those who make less.  He’s nothing if not consistently inconsistent.

See?  I still have a little fire in there.  Enough to make me mad on occasion.  :) Anyway, I apologize for the lack of activity.  If you feel like you have something you’d like to see on the front page, email me and we can talk about making you an author on the site.  if you are already an author...please feel free to post about anything Mikey brings up on his site.  I understand he’s been one unbearable prick lately.  :)

Ping!  Fundraiser reminder

First of all, thank you SO much to every person that has already donated to the server fund.  Some of you did it anonymously, and some of you let me know.  Either way is cool, but those of you who let me know who you are...I’m trying to figure out something cool with which I can thank you.  At the very least I will address each of you individually, as I have developed at least that much class over the years. Well...almost.

As I said the last time, if you think we’re worth a few bucks...please hit the tip jar.  It’s not an emergency, it’s just a bit of a rough patch and this server never gets cheaper.  It never gets more expensive, thankfully, but it never gets cheaper.

All we’re asking for is a small contribution.  Think of it like buying us a pizza...or a couple of microbrews.  Just a few bucks to get the monkey called Softlayer (our hosting provider) off our backs.

Use Amazon.Com

Use PayPal:

As always...you rock.

It’s fundraising time…

People, you have no idea how little I want to write this post.  I have been putting it off forever, but numbers are numbers, and numbers don’t lie.  My numbers are telling me that I need to once again ask for the support and generosity of the readers of the blogs on our server.

If you read anything by me, Lee, any of the guys at MOA, Moorewatch or Right-Thinking or anyone else we host, and you think we’re worth a few bucks...please hit the tip jar.  It’s not an emergency, no one is dying, no one is losing their house, although our house is part of it - our tax bill went up because our house is worth more, so our mortgage escrow is short and you homeowners know what that means!  Monkeys on backs.

All we’re asking for is a small contribution.  Think of it like buying us a pizza...or a couple of microbrews.  Just a few bucks to get the monkey called Softlayer (our hosting provider) off our backs.

You people are awesome, and have always treated us well.  I hope that every reader of this site knows I appreciate the years of posting, comments and general yacking we’ve all done.

Server issues

Hey peoples...we’ve been having mail server issues for a *long* time now...turns out it was Lee’s fault!  :) Someone was sending him *thousands* of spam emails a day.  Multiple thousands, with attachments.  For some reason trying to forward his Moorewatch address to his real one was creating massive mail queues that would eventually clog the server and eat all the CPU, forcing me to reboot and clear the queue as fast as I possibly could.  I deleted his Moorewatch mail account and the server just dumped 4500 messages on my account alone.

If you just got a shit-ton of emails from one of our sites...sorry!  It looks like the problem is, for the moment, solved.

A pattern emerges

Michael Moore’s Sicko came out on DVD this week, and let me tell you, my inbox has been like a minefield of stupid.  It’s amazing how little people think for themselves these days, or are willing to look up the simplest of details.

Let’s do an exercise.  Let’s say there was this film. 

It’s that time again…

I’ve been putting this off, for reasons that are obvious to anyone who is regular.  Unfortunately I’m getting a little thin in the financial area, so it’s time for a new server drive. 

Get ready…

I just approved 200 new commenters and damn near 3/4 of them were from European countries.  Prepare for the influx of the same stupid questions and comments as have been posted for the last 5 years…

Why?  Why do I do it?  ;)

Update from Lee Because, my friend, if we don’t fight the good fight who will?  Who will stand up to the lies, distortion, and creeping socialism that is ruining our Republic?  Our elected officials sure as hell aren’t doing their job.

Either that, or we’re a couple of fat bastards who spend too much time in front of a computer arguing with people for no reason other than we enjoy it.  I prefer to think of myself as a crusader for righteousness, but in reality you and I are both like that guy from the World of Warcraft episode of South Park with a little Comic Book Guy thrown in for good measure.

Virtual Brewski

Today is SysAdmin Day.  Take a moment to say thanks to the tireless JimK, who somehow manages to keep Right-Thinking, Right Thoughts, MOOREWATCH, and a few other sites up and running day in and day out.

If it wasn’t for Jim, you’d be stuck reading Power Line.

Why, Part III

As much as I agree with what Lee and Jim have posted below, there are two points I’d like to add.

First, as LeeArtmonkey said, we discuss Moore because he has provoked discussion on issues—gun control, Bush, healthcare.  And so, to some degree, we are exploiting that to show where he (and the far-Left ideals he reflects) are wrong, where they are mistaken, where they are lying. Many reviews of Moore’s movies say something along the lines of, “Well, he’s not 100% accurate, but at least he’s provoking a discussion.” Well, discussion does not mean one side get to fulminate unimpeded, no matter what McCain-Feingold says. We’re a part of this discussion.  Granted, we’re a bunch of guys drinking beers in the balcony, cracking jokes and tossing Molotov cocktails on stage. But that’s a discussion . . . of a kind.

The second reason, for me personally, is that Moore takes the thunder away from better, more responsible film-makers. Details below the break.

Question of the day - “Why?”

One common question I get from Moore supporters in virtually every email is “Why?” Why do we focus on Moore when there are so many larger ills in the world?  I’ll attempt to answer exactly that after the jump.

Site changes *UPDATED*

The HTML formatting buttons work again!  Thanks to Derek at Ellislab (the creators of ExpressionEngine, which powers the site) for finding the problem over the weekend.

As you may have noticed, some things have changed around here.  A slightly tweaked layout, I hope it makes things more readable.  The comments page has changed...I upgraded the back-end software and it broke the HTML button formatting.  Until I figure out why, or find a replacement plugin, I’ve changed it so that you MUST preview a comment before posting it.  I think this will not only help you figure out if you forgot to close a tag, but it will also force people to slow down and read what they wrote before hitting submit.

Also - big change here - you may edit your comments for up to three minutes after you’ve posted them.

Tomorrow I upgrade the forums.  And try to find out why the formatting buttons are so evil all of a sudden.

Hello, my name is….

Before I begin my tenure here, I believe some kind of introduction might be in order. My name is Donna Kenefick and I am the proud wife of Jim Kenefick, the maintainer and one of the founders of Moorewatch. At the moment, most of you only know me as “Jim’s sick wife” or as one of the beneficiaries of the now infamous “$12,000-Gate”, but over the coming weeks I hope to change all of that. Until about six weeks ago, about the only two things on my mind were giving love to my family and doing everything in my power to recover from some extremely devastating and serious medical problems - problems that have been plaguing me for over seven years now. Under circumstances such as these, becoming a writer or contributor to Moorewatch had never even entered my mind. However, now that my life and my health situation have been thrust so abruptly into a rather glaring spotlight thanks to Michael Moore’s new movie Sicko, I now feel as if I should use this opportunity to the best of my ability. As of now, I will be adding my voice to the talented writing pool here at Moorewatch, and I hope that you all will enjoy my contributions to the site.

But before I write word one on any subject, I have something extremely important to say. To Michael Moore… thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the generous gift you gave to my husband and me anonymously last year. The $12,000 you anonymously sent us paid for our health insurance premiums and gave us the financial breathing room to both deal with our debts and also relieve the ever mounting stress with which we struggled daily. Since we received that check I have silently thanked my anonymous “guardian angel” countless numbers of times, and it is good to now finally be able to have a real name to go with that title. Though you and I may not agree on many intellectual or political issues, I have always been and will always be thankful for your gracious gift. I hope that you will see any debates I may have with you or your work on this site to be mere intellectual criticisms that have no reflection whatsoever on my gratitude to you as an individual.

Finally, to those of you on this site who have send or posted well-wishes for me – thank you so very much for your infinite kindnesses and good will. I cannot express to you how much damage stress can do to someone dealing with severe health issues as I do, and knowing that so many of you have me in your thoughts and prayers helps alleviate much of the stress this all-to-strange situation has brought into my life. You have all been wonderful, and I thank you for all your support – past, present and future.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope to begin my contributions soon. :)

Hate Mail, the diehard Moore-on edition

So I got this Paypal donation today.

Dear James Kenefick,

This email confirms that you have received a payment of $0.02 USD from Jason Sykes ([email protected]).

View the details of this transaction online

Payment Details
Total Amount: $0.02 USD
Currency: U.S. Dollars
Transaction ID: 728447601XXXXXXXX
Quantity: 1
Item/Product Name: Moorewatch Donation
Item/Product Number: moorewatchdonation
Buyer: Jason Sykes
Message: I think you are a selfish asshole who doesn’t even have the good sense to know when you are beat. Michael Moore helped you and the way you repay him is keeping this rhetoric filled sorry excuse for a site up. You are a horrible person and may your wife die shamed of everything you have said and done. You do not represent my country America and what we want. You are jealous of someone that gets respect when they speak out for all people. I cant wait to be there opening day at the movies for sicko. Go fuck yourself!

I wonder if Moore ever once stopped to consider how things like this affect a person trying to recover from a seven-year-long illness?  He has to know that a large portion of his core fanbase is simply barking mad.  These people are spiteful, mentally unstable and angry at everything, just looking for someone to focus it on, and he intentionally put us in their crazy, somewhat verbally violent crosshairs.

As for the fans?  Moore himself seems - on some personal level - to actually care a little if my wife suffers.  Shit like this just brings on more stress and more worry, and the film hasn’t even opened yet.  Moore says that this gift was designed to help us.  Why are his fans trying to make her recovery that much harder?  On what plane of existence does that make sense?

Moore: “This guy sucks and he hates me, but his wife is sick and we should all pull together at a time like this.”

Moore fan: “Fuck that bitch!  I hope she dies because her husband writes words!  On the Internet!  DIE YOU WHORE!”

Pardon my French, English and Spanish, but what the cock is wrong with you fuckbaggy little dick smokes?

Read This First

Here because of the appearance of this site in Sicko?  Read this and this before commenting.  Also, please continue reading the rest of this post for important information before you comment here or send any email to any author on this site.

News roundup

Just a post to quickly round up all the straggling links, news stories, etc.

First up, the interview I did on CHQR AM 770 in Calgary Alberta Canada.  The show is The World Tonight with Rob Breakenridge.  I flubbed it a bit at the end, but I thought it went well.  The file is a 7.52MB mp3.

Next, an interview I did two weeks ago with Dave from Snarkbait, a great guy and someone who should blog more...he’s one of the people who truly understands the concept of liberty and small government.  We need more voices reminding us of what freedom and liberty really mean.

Lastly, another piece at Newsweek by Tony Dokoupil on the potential legal issues surrounding Moore’s Cuban visit.

NEWSWEEK has learned that Moore’s production company, Dog Eat Dog productions, credentialed the interviewees itself—in essence, knighting them as journalists—and then flew them from Miami to Cuba on a charter flight reserved for licensed travelers. Is that good enough? “Moore is not allowed to travel with companions unless they’re also licensed by the Treasury to travel to Cuba as journalists,” says David Cibrian, international trade attorney at Strasburger & Price. “ Journalists don’t bring people from elsewhere to interview in Cuba. People go to Cuba to interview Cubans.”

That’s true enough.  The article further mentions that Treasury says they have no record of issuing a license, but Miami customs officer Angel Marques says he would have been asked, charter flight trip or no.  Either Michael talked or bought his way onto a plane boat in Miami, or he got a license and the Treasury Department lost it.  On purpose or by incompetence.  Either explanation seems plausible.  No matter what, though, I am actually on Moore’s side here as far as the government investigation goes.  One, it would be a waste of taxpayer money.  Two, Moore has positioned this as a journalistic endeavor.  Let’s not let him off the hook for that by proving it wasn’t “journalism.”

We should hold him to the standard that he has now accepted: journalist.  He took the label for himself; we should hold his feet to that fire.

Wikipedia entry for Sicko

Anyone wanna take a stab at cleaning up the entry as it references this site (and me), and maybe adding this post as an external link/citation?  Somehow I think it would cause too much controversy if *I* tried to edit the page.

Hate Mail - the hypocrite-in-action edition

From: Loren Brent [email protected]
To: jimk.moorewatch

you fucking moron!  michael moore gave you 12,000 dollars to save your
wifes life… and you still find the need to bash him?!  dude get over
it!  hes telling the truth, like it is.. real.. sicko was an amazing
film and it told a great truth about our corrupt healthcare system in
america.. or lack there of!  stop being a stupid fuck and get off your
high horse.. you dont know shit!  ignorance is one thing, but you know
he gave you 12,000 dollars.. and yet you still feel the need to bash..
you fucking dipshit!!!  too bad your wife didnt die and your website
didnt go down.. asshole!

Right.  I’m the bad person here.  Clearly that is plain to see from this wonderful, well-written email.

Did some barking moonbat write somewhere that Moore saved my wife’s life or something?  That’s the common element the latest batch of recent nasty emails and drive-by commenters.  Where are these idiots coming from?  It has to be the same place, and whoever it is has got the facts all sorts of wrong.