Paul L McCord Jr

It is ironic that I come across a story on Independence Day about the police violating a photographer’s right to take pictures of a crime scene.  I ran across a story on the KWTV channel 9 web site where an Oklahoma City photographer happened to witness a high speed chase, resulting in a crash.  The photographer’s name is Chris Owens of Oklahoma City.  Chris pulled over and started taking pictures of the event and was approached by both the Oklahoma City police and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP).  The officers demand that he stop taking pictures and delete the ones he had already taken or they would take him to jail.  The story says that he eventually deleted them when the officer knocked his hat off and got in his face.  Chris tells KWTV reporter that he later downloaded some software that allowed him to recover the photos allowing them to finally be retrieved.  He filed a complaint with the police on this and demands an apology or he will sue the police.  You can watch the video here, courtesy of KWTV.

I have been on record in the past being critical of the media and their coverage of events for their slant but I must agree with them this time.  The police are a needed asset to a community and we would be an anarchist state without them.  This is an abuse of their authority though.  In the United States we have a right to photograph anything we like as long as we are not trespassing on their private property or violating national security.  Whether the police like this or not, we have a right to photograph them while they are on duty or off duty with or without their permission as long as we are on public property and not interrupting their crime scene.  Mr. Owens was outside the crime scene tape on a public side walk when he took these photos.  As much as I can understand the public’s irritation with someone placing a camera on them, this is not a crime.

We Americans not only have the right to photograph our public service agent in public but we have an obligation to do so.  I do not believe that all police are abusers of authority but without this ability to catch their actions with photography there would be no way to keep the abusers in check.  This right is spelled out in a .pdf file presented by attorney Bert P. Krages.  I did not just stumble upon this file, rather I kept a bookmark of a post from Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection blog back in January 2006.  Though we disagree on some issues, I must say Thomas makes a good point on this issue.

I love taking pictures though I hardly have time with attending the University of Oklahoma.  I do feel that we must protect this right to photography because human nature makes people of authority abuse their power at times and this keeps them in check.  I really hope that KWTV and other outlets keep this story in the news when the police do make their apology because people need to know they have the right to photograph police officers while on duty.  The media needs to nail this one home so that others will not be intimidated by the authority.  If this puts enough pressure on the Oklahoma City police, and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, they will be forced to educate their staff on the rights of photographers to take photographs of crime scenes.  If he stands his ground, the media will stay interested and this will be instrumental in the education of ordinary citizens.

It is hard to believe that it is the fourth of July (Independence Day).  This year is really going by fast.  I hope that everyone has a nice day and remember to recognize and be thankful for the freedoms we have.  Last night I had a good laugh when I posted this message on Twitter

“I miss the old days when you would hear thousands of fireworks going off on our own street. Now it is illegal.”

If you are familiar with Friendfeed, you know that your Twitter messages are displayed on Friendfeed.  Someone posted a response to my post that said…

"Stick it to the man! Light off a few bottle rockets and shake your fist!"

That was pretty funny and I got a kick out of that for sure.  Well it is true how I miss the freedom we had when I was younger to pop fireworks, or fire crackers as we use to call them.  I was watching a video that my dad made in 1976 when we were standing in the front yard on the second of July and it was amazing how many we could here going off all around us.  It was continuous noise with some people setting off entire packages of 1,000 black cats.  I do understand why they have made fireworks illegal with many homes burning down but I do miss the fun.  Society as a whole has become a little more malicious these days and house fires would probably be worse today.  It was fun though when we use to be able to get M80’s and blow things up.  I am not old enough to have been able to use the cherry bombs that my parents used.  I heard they were very powerful and could explode those thick vegetable cans.  My dad, now at 70, told me an experience where he set one off on his neighbor’s out house while he was in there and there were turds blown all on the house and peach trees. I can only imagine how funny that must have been. I can just see him running away from the house laughing so hard that he could barely breathe.  Anyway, although I understand the reasons for outlawing the use of fireworks in the city, I still miss the fun and wish my kids could experience the fun that I went through.

I told myself that I was going to sleep in this morning and I made it until 8:00 AM and that is as far as I could go.  I am a morning person and I just love waking up to see the sunrise.  I missed it this morning but it is still a beautiful morning before it gets too hot.  I have to get out there and mow the lawn soon because it is looking like it has not been very well maintained.  I hope you all have a wonderful fourth of July today and have a blast.  This one day we can forget about the problems in the world.  We can put aside our political differences and appreciate those military people that are protecting us today.

My wife and I just returned for a midnight walk through the neighborhood and it was really nice.  It is still 80 degrees and humid but no rain.  I just checked the National Weather Service at 12:08 AM on 4 July 2008 and found this map that shows we are in an "Air Quality Alert".

This is such a racket as far as I am concerned.  As you can see it shows Oklahoma County, which is where Oklahoma City is located with high pollution in the middle of the night when no one is driving around, on a holiday at that.  This is proof that our air quality is more based on weather than how much we drive our cars.  I have noticed a pattern with these alerts.  It seems that we always have them during the heat of the summer when we have no wind.  I think that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has too much power.  Every year that have these alert days we get threats that if we do not lower pollution that we will be penalized with highway funds.  I could see this logic if we were doing anything wrong.  There are less people driving at midnight on Independence Day than on many days when we do have traffic jams and do not have air quality alerts.

I am not an advocate of polluting or being poor stewards of our resources but I think some of these environmentalists are a little too zealous.  I think most people are opposed to polluting the environment but these alerts are being used to punish people for changes in the weather.  This is pretty amazing.  Maybe I just do not understand.

Man what a great 24 hours to live in Oklahoma City.  I have been waiting all day yesterday for the judge to give her ruling on whether the Supersonics would have to play their final two remaining years in Seattle before coming to Oklahoma City.  When I got home from work yesterday I checked the Seattle Times web site and read that the Oklahoman was reporting that a settlement was being worked out.  At 6:00 PM, when the verdict was supposed to be read, the local television stations were announcing that rumors were flying that the team had reached a settlement with the city of Seattle.  At 7:00 pm I was going between our local television station playing the Oklahoma City press conference and the Sports Animal radio station that was playing the Seattle press conference. 

Both sides were trying to make it sound like a great thing with Seattle saying that settling for money allows them to stay in the good graces of the NBA to get another NBA team in Seattle.  The Oklahoma City side was obviously happy with no explanation necessary.  The city of Seattle agreed to let the Supersonics team move to Oklahoma City this coming season for a cash payment of $45 million immediately and another $30 million after five years if Seattle has not been awarded another team.  This also included the condition that Seattle leaders must fund a new arena or completely renovate Key arena in Seattle by the end of 2009.  There was some comforting news to the city of Seattle by the commissioner of the NBA when he told them that they were still a world class NBA city and that after they get a new arena they would be notified of any new team, or a team willing to relocate.  Also at their press conference they had representatives for a group led by Steve Balmer of Microsoft that is willing to purchase a  new team for Seattle.

Part of the agreement yesterday is that the team name, colors, statistics, and records would remain in the city of Seattle and would be given to their new team when it is awarded.  I strongly believe it will before long.  The team will be given a new name and colors probably within a month because the new 2008 - 2009 schedule comes out August 1st.  I am so glad the name is going to change because I want the team to be known as Oklahoma City’s team.  I still hear people call the New Orleans Hornets the Charlotte Hornets.  A new name helps to eliminate the confusion.  I think this is a monumental time to live in Oklahoma City.  There are those that feel that giving millions of dollars to millionaires is unethical and the money should be spent on more important things.  These people, though well intentioned fail to see the value of having a professional team in your city.  In the long run the city makes far more money than it costs so these causes are actually easier to meet with the team than without them.

I truly feel for the fans in Seattle.  They have been faithful to their team for 41 years.  The fans are the one that lose in all this because they are unable to make any of the decisions that ultimately affect them.  They are lashing out at Oklahoma City via message boards and radio stations in Seattle right now and I completely understand their anger.  I do not take it personally even though they are calling us "hicks" and "thieves" because I can put myself in their place if the situation was the other way around.  I really hope they get another team very fast.  We just wanted a team and not necessarily Seattle’s team.  On the other hand, when the people in Seattle finally get over the shock and mourning I believe they will see where the blame ultimately should go and that is with the Seattle politicians.  The NBA owners prior to Clay Bennett have been complaining about a new arena long before our owners were involved.  When the previous owner sold the team to an ownership group comprised of all Oklahoma City citizens, that should have been a wake up call to the leaders up there.  Clay Bennett’s emails are completely irrelevant.  His intentions are completely irrelevant.  The one thing that could have fixed this issue from the very beginning is a new arena.  Whether Clay Bennett was deceptive or not, a new arena could have stopped him in his tracks.  If I were a Seattle citizen I would vote the politicians out of office this coming election.

Again, my blaming the Seattle leadership is not aimed at the fans up there but if you are really honest, that is where the blame needs to go.  I do not believe it deserves to belong to Howard Shultz either because the city leaders did not deliver for him either.  I really hope the leadership up their finally puts their pride aside and gets a new arena done immediately and a new team is awarded up their immediately.  As for my hometown, we are thrilled.  It is a wonderful time to be here.  Every television and radio station is talking about the good news.  I am very excited about the events of the last 24 hours and am hopeful the rest of the city enjoys this team as much as I will.

Romans 5:8

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

It is amazing how reading God’s word can put you in a good mood.  Telling other people about what God has done for you can make a bad day much better.  It is funny how it works but it is true.  One thing that really works good is to listen to praise music.  There is just something about praising God that puts you in a good mood as well.  I have found this is great when you are having a bad day.

This coming Friday is Independence Day in the United States and by far my favorite holiday of the year.  This is a day where you can just enjoy life and be with your friends and family.  So far Hallmark has not ruined it by making it a gift guilt holiday like Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentines Day.  I have nothing against giving a gift but when it becomes a duty then I do.  There are two commercials that I find particularly offensive.  One of them is the Hallmark commercial where they turn the card over to make sure it is a Hallmark.  The translation is that you are a cheap loser if you did not spring for the expensive name.  The other one that really angers me is the Lexus commercial where the loved one just hands their spouse a set of Lexus keys.  I do not know about you but if you have ever priced a Lexus, they are way over the top.  I cannot imagine spending $50,000+ without discussing it first with your spouse.  That is the perfect ingredient for a rocky marriage.  My point is that holidays have become a responsibility, a bill, a duty that is not fun any more.  I genuinely dread Christmas every year and that is tragic since it is supposed to represent the birth of Jesus. 

It is interesting to note how when the news or the commercials speak of gift giving, they use words like procrastination, or running out of  time. Why would someone procrastinate to do something they love to do?  The truth is that it is a burden that most people see as a duty.  So when someone gets you a gift for any of the holidays you can look at it as someone did their duty rather than cared enough for you to buy you something.  It is something similar to that dreaded mortgage payment.  Money is not the issue but rather the expectation that you must perform.  Heck if it was just the money it would be easy.  Just write the check and be on your way.  For those of you that think this is just a bah humbug poor attitude that I have, just remember that most suicides are done during Christmas.  This is not a coincidence because Christmas has become a duty and not an exciting event to look forward to.

The fourth of July is still fun because there are not duties that must be adhered to making it a day where you can still relax and enjoy life.  In our busy lives where everything must be scheduled, it is nice to have a day where you can go out and enjoy visiting with family and friends without the burden of having to play any games.  This is a day where you can enjoy the freedom we have and recognize the meaning of this day without it being corrupted by marketing.  I do love what Christmas stands for but I do not like the game.  Some people actually do like that stuff but I don’t and I know I am not the only one.  Most guys that I meet that are not afraid to be honest will tell you they see it as a duty as well.  I think that in the beginning it was nice and people wanted to do this but now that we have to listen to guilt commercials day in and day out, it is no fun anymore. 

When is the last time you played the Valentines game?  Did you enjoy it? Really?  Did you really enjoy waiting at the restaurant for two hours for a seat on a work night.  I bet if you were honest you would have to admit it was not a good time.  I spoke with the manager at the Texas Road House the day after and he said the Fire Marshal made them run people off because there were so many people in the building that exceeded the legal limit.  I love that place but have been there a number of times when it was not that busy and it still felt like we  were being smothered with the crowd.  I definitely would not want to be there then.  My point is that people put themselves through this because it is a duty. 

If you disagree with my opinion please send hate mail to plmccordj@yahoo.com or just post a response on the the blog.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Last night I was getting drowsy and was dozing on the couch when I decided it was time to go to bed.  We started hearing a lot of loud bangs outside when it hit us that it was the final Sunday before Independence Day.  Every year this church that is about 400 or 500 feet directly in front of our house puts on a fireworks show and we usually sit out on the front porch and watch it.  I recorded some of it and it was very enjoyable.  Once it was over, I came back in the house to lay down and I could not get to sleep for hours.  I only managed to get a couple hours of sleep last night so I am pretty drowsy this evening. 

This morning I went to work and had a very busy day until 2:30 when I had to go across base to a meeting at the base chapel about AFSO21.  This stands for Air Force Smart operations for the 21st century.  This is just a cheezy name they came up with because all the other fad quality initiatives were created by someone else.   They have sent me to school on so many of these over the years from Six Sigma, Lean, Total Quality Management (TQM), and the list goes on.  AFSO21 is an initiative spearheaded by the former and recently resigned Secretary of the Air Force General Moseley.  I am sure you remember he and the Air Force Chief of Staff being asked to resign after a few supply blunders sent nuclear pieces to foreign countries along with the Air Force flying live nuclear bombs across the continental U.S.  I do not blame the leaders, for these mistakes but that is what happened.

Back to AFSO21…  This is an initiative that attempts to eliminate waste using about 80% lean principals while the other 20% use Six Sigma, among other tools. It is not that I do not believe in eliminating waste but it is just that these philosophies come and go with no real follow through.  I guess they are determined to make it work this time since they have created an AFSO21 maturity tool to measure its implementation as well as add it to people’s performance appraisals.  The intent is not to create quotas with projects but that will be the end result.  It is hard to get everyone on board when they have not followed through in the past.  I will do my best to make it work but it is a huge challenge.   One of the first things to do in an AFSO21 system is for senior leaders to sit down and make and prioritize a list of key processes.  That is what today’s meeting was all about.  Next week we will get together again to prioritize the list among the various groups in the Wing.  Then we will do value stream maps (VSM) of current and future states after the waste has been removed.  This will be completed just around the time AFSO22, or eve 23 comes around… I am Just joking. 

Well I am new in my office, and am trying to learn my new job but it is hard when I have this duty in addition to.  Oh well I will do my best to make it work.  Well I am rambling so I better get this posted.

This week we celebrate our country’s independence on Friday July 4th and that will be a day off work.  I have decided that I am going to take off Thursday as well and make it a four day weekend.  That makes it a three day work week and I will take that.  Monday I will have to work a bit late but I can handle that for one day, especially on a three day work week.  This weekend was spent doing school work as most weekends are.  Man I will be so glad when I finish up next May.  For the last two years I have been going to school full time while I work full time.  I have had to virtually quit going to church until this is over because the weekends are the only time that I have to write my papers.  I will definitely start back to church full time when I get done with going to the University of Oklahoma next year.

If you add to this, I have a new job that is very technical though in an office environment that I am learning learning learning.  There is very little time to get anything done with all this.  I have decided when I graduate next year, we are going to start enjoying life and not continue this never ending quest to further our careers.  I love taking pictures and had taken more than 10,000 between 2005 and 2007.  I have not taken any in a long time and probably will not take very many until I graduate.  It is hard to get time to do that and get anything quality while you are busy all the time.  It is so easy to get so caught up in this career preparation that you forget the reason you have a career and that is to live.  Meanwhile life passes you by while you are focusing on a career.  I truly have the American dream. 

I have Jesus as my Lord, and I have a wonderful wife and two kids.  I have good health.I have a good job of prestige and benefits, and a home with cars.  What more could I ask for?  Sometimes it is easy to forget what we have and forget to be thankful for what we have.  I am truly blessed in every way.  When the world has gone mad, it is comforting to know that all I have is owed to God himself.

Things are going so much better than last year.  Even our health has been better allowing us to not take off work so much for illnesses.  Even our lawn is growing better.  Now that we took that tree out of the back yard that was growing into the power lines, the grass is growing to fill in the empty space that was shaded all the time.  It is a good life for sure.  Well I better get this posted so I can go visit with my wife for a while.

Today is a special day for amateur radio operators.  You may have heard them referred to as ham radio operators.  I have been a licensed ham radio operator since I was 17 years old in 1983.  Today being the last Saturday of the month of June makes this a day that many hams look forward to and it is called Field Day. Throughout the years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has justified allotting certain radio bands aside to the Amateur Radio Service for emergency communications.  The Amateur Radio Service is a group of frequencies that cover the entire radio frequency spectrum set aside so that ordinary citizens would be fully trained to perform radio communications in the event of an emergency. 

Each year on the last Saturday in June, hams from all over the world set up tents with generators, solar cells, batteries, and all sorts of remote  radio gear with their log books in hand.  They do a contest to see how many contacts they can get all over the world on different bands using primitive radio power and antennas.  This is what they call Field Day.  Literally thousands of ham radio operators do this world wide exchanging call signs, signal reports and locations (QTH) logging them in.  Contesting has never appealed to me so I usually sit this out but many enjoy this immensely.  Every band is filled with thousands of calls CQ contest CQ contest, or CQ Field Day.  This event usually makes the news at least here in Oklahoma City.  Here it is 10:51 PM and the bands are still filled with people as I type this.

The above image is my ham radio station that was taken a while back.  It is not in that configuration anymore but still looks similar to this.  Below is the antenna that I use to transmit from.  I have superimposed the text on there with Photoshop so you can see what each antenna is for.  If you are interested in ham radio let me know and I will get you information that you can use.

One thing that I love about ham radio is that there are so many different methods of communicating using computers, AM, FM, single sideband.  Since I love computers so much I often like to use my computer as a tool on ham radio.  I really love high frequency (HF) communications using the shortwave bands.  This is where your signal hits the invisible ionosphere and the signal bends back to the earth where people can hear your signal for hundreds and even thousands of miles.  Another interesting phenomenon is the stratospheric ducting.  This is when the atmosphere has an inversion, or a layer of warm air above the surface of the ground.  Both UHF, and VHF communications can speak hundreds of miles when this happens.  It usually happens at after sunset or before sunrise in my part of the country.  I always use the old back up, Skype to coordinate an available frequency so that I am not transmitting on top of someone.    I am hearing a guy in Seattle, Washington right now and he is coming in very strong.  If you ever try ham radio, you will likely be hooked.