a stroke of deLay

It’s on.   And I’m not talking about those trendy Southwest Airlines ads.

This is where the rubber meets the road.  The moment of truth.  As Iran spins wildly out of control on the brink of civil war we must all confront in ourselves where we stand.  No matter our creed, our color, our beliefs or moral inclinations, there is one thing that we must all agree on once more.

There are bad men in this world.  And one of them sits at the helm of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  But more so is the grand controller of all things Iran.  The Supreme Whatever His Face who is the real game changer.  The man who for some reason is going along with Mahmoud in accepting and okaying the blatant theft of an election.

Over the last four days it has become clear that no one has control of the people.  Between twitter, twitpic and various other means of social media the message has come clear from within Iran from her people.

Help us.  Please.

It is without question horrifying to watch the you tube footage, to view the pictures streaming in from various sources and to hear the screams, the cracks of weapons and the powerful voices screaming against a madman.  They are united in one voice.  They are mad as hell and they are not going to take it.

It is the revolution that has been long in coming.  For the last few years all the president of Iran has done is insult, spit and generally throw fits at western nations.  Intended to show the rest of the middle east that he is indeed a bad mother trucker it has had the reverse effect.  It has put his country into a corner, isolated them from those that might help them and generally offended the ones that could lend a hand.  North Korea is practicing the doppelganger game to near precision.

The students and thinkers of Iran are in a rage.  They have watched this election move so fast and blow past each and every rule designed to certify the results.  Reports of the madcap election madness came quick and fast.  Ballot boxes burned.  Election shenanigans that would have made Hugo Chavez proud pushed the final button. The straw that broke the camels back. The switch had been flipped.

The revolution we had hoped for is here. The power of the people is evident beyond anything we could of imagined. This renewed intense focus is powered by the ideological belief that change can happen and that if enough begins to boil a explosion can be had.

It is now up to those that can speak. It is now up to the media powerhouses that have fed us for so long to step up to the plate and begin to use that unique ability of broadcast to bring this moment before everyone’s eyes to finally see that indeed there are people inside of Iran.

They are willing. They are ready. They are moving.

Will we help? Will the President move on this? Will the rest of the western world do something, anything? Or will we watch as hundreds upon hundreds (and more unreported) die at the hands of hate filled power hungry dictators unable to see the good that can be had in this day and age?

It is in our hands now.

Will we answer the call for help?

Between the impending move, work stress, real life stress and everything else I’m going to step away from this blog until least July.  I have far too much going on to focus on keeping this thing updated for the next month.

See you in July!

For the longest time, I’ve had to struggle with the knowledge that I had no idea what had caused my stroke back in April of 2008. For the six days that I was in the hospital I was tested in every way imaginable (and a few more) to figure out what exactly had caused the malfunction within the brain inside my head. Over the last year I’ve tried to explain it away with the stress I had at my former job in the call center together with the unhealthy life I was living.

While I accepted this explanation I still felt there was something missing from the confounding puzzle. My aunt recently called me after discovering there was a connection between strokes and Sleep Apnea. She was recently diagnosed and multiple members of my extended family suffer from the affliction. With her motivation (and my mother’s insistence) I setup an appointment for a sleep study at a nearby hospital.

I won’t lie to you, I was increasingly curious as I read more into the correlation of why Sleep Apnea carries the risk of heart attacks and strokes. It would make sense. I often complain of being tired as the day is just getting started even if I get more then acceptable amounts of sleep. I’ve also had more and more bouts of insomnia over the years that it is starting to become an unbearable problem.

Read more…

Today I took on the California self destruction situation, talked about North Korea, ROTC, the Army and Obama’s response to North Korea. At the end the breaking news of the earthquake in Honduras broke. Pretty good show I think…

Well, you know it eventually had to happen. I’ve returned to doing my nightly/daily radio program on Blogtalkradio and I’m pretty sure this will end with me getting hate mail, stalked and then buried alive or some such insane premise. At least, that’s what the movies tell me.

Needless, I’m alive and well. Tonight’s show was about Proposition 8, President Barack Obama’s choice of Supreme Court nominee, where I stand with my Faith and prop 8 and why I am perfectly allowed to speak out against The President.

Oh yea. Let the hate mail commeth!

This video describes in words and images what I feel like this far along in my stoke.

That is all for now.

That’s how long it’s been since my stroke.

Today was the first day that I actually felt as if I had returned to myself pre-stroke.  It’s not been easy.  I have a schedule book (seen here) that I’m using to keep track of my day and my tasks.  My workout regimen has given me 12 less pounds since I began on March 25.  I feel better each day.  I can do more each day.  Without question, I’m doing much better than I was six months into the stroke.

I was able to do so much yesterday that for the first time, I felt as I had done my job and put everything I had into what i was doing. It was an odd moment where I realized this, but it felt as I had actually accomplished something beyond my regular day to day existence. I had made a difference in my life in so many smaller ways that suddenly the big picture was no longer cloudy but becoming clearer.

I start it all again today and hope to continue this upward climb.

Tally ho!

There are few movie franchises that inspire a following, much less a iconic reign within film making lore. To have found the power to create year after year something so powerful, so incredibly drawing to those that watch it, it is indeed a rare quality. James Bond recently went through a rebirth that was a punch to the cranium with Casino Royale and was then followed by a Bourne-esque Quantum of Solace that while thrilling, failed to inspire the very Bond it was trying to channel. James Bond it was, but to me it was still missing the key ingredients that when mixed with a dash of fire can bring about some great moments.

Star Wars failed completely in this when they returned to the story that brought us the impeccable trilogy that has inspired generations to watch over and over. The new prequel films were a joke punctured by terrible direction, horrifying script writing and then slapped about the face in the final chapter with an ending that made just about everyone roll their eyes and throw up a little in their mouths. Or in some cases, lose it all on the floor.

Which brings us to the perennial whipping boy that has shown us what happens when people in corporate positions forget the lore of the past and the greatness that came with Roddenberry’s creation. Star Trek has been in a tailspin of flames and debris careening around the hallways of Paramount. First it was the awkwardly uninspiring show Enterprise that made us all wonder why they had gone back when going forward had been a working formula. Then it was the waning viewership. The “Old Yeller” moment of truth came with the series finale wherein the good old trusty Bob Newhart mechanism is used. The bad math of the entire episode brought about a long silence in Star Trek media.

There are of course independent projects that have garnered the attention of The Original Series crew (Star Trek New Voyages for one) and there’s been rumblings of a “Bring Kirk Back” for years. Nothing solid had caught our pointy ears.

Until now.

Read more…

Wow.

It’s been on helluva trip.  One year ago on April 9th I had my stroke.  I went from everyday guy to stroke survivor in about twenty seconds.  It’s been a long journey this year both physically and mentally.  I won’t lie, I’ve had days where I nearly felt like cursing God for doing this to me.  Most days was quiet acceptance that this indeed would be with me for the rest of my life.

Struggling with a stroke for me has been a emotional and spiritual battle.  For me, my stroke wasn’t as physically disabling as most. My left side still responds slower and my leg likes to act up once in awhile. When I don’t take my medication on a regular basis my brain goes into wandering mode. My speech patterns were affected in small but irritating ways. All of these were struggles I have had to overcome.
Read more…

Second update 4/23/2009:

Got an email stating the obvious…yes indeed, the channel was back.  Name at the end was a new one, “John”.

Hi there,

Thanks for your email.

As requested I have reinstated your account. You should be able to login
again.

If you forgot your password, please click on this link to reset it:
http://www.youtube.com/forgot.php

Regards,

John
The YouTube Team

I then received an email with a survey about how this all went down.

And yes, I’m going to fill it out in full detail. Still no official response from youtube, nothing on their twitter, blog or anywhere else. Congratulations YouTube…you’ve failed, hard and fast.

If you need someone to advise you on how to respond to issues, concerns and troubles, ask Twitter. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Youtube loses to Twitter. How sad is that?

Pretty sad.

Update:

5awesomepeople is back. But it looks like others were hit. Mostly other 5awesome nerdfighter collaborative channels were apparently hit. Someone is alleged to have auto flagged them.

I’ve still had not had a response from my earlier email. The @youtube Twitter account has been silent all day. Nothing personal Youtube, but you botched it. Screwed the pooch. You jacked a part of your community. I’m annoyed that there have been no definitive answers since a large group was affected.

The fact that this is somehow allowed to happen without a reason/transparency is the most upsetting part. I know 5AwesomePeople isn’t a partner. We’ve not even crossed 115 subscribers. But we’re a collab channel with over 300 videos that has the involvement of seven people who care about it deeply. Trying to get in touch with Youtube was a pain in the arse in the first place.

Navigating the help site was not helpful. Getting the form letter email that told me basically, “You’re screwed, I won’t tell you why….oh and YOU CAN’T PLAY IN THE PLAYGROUND ANYMORE!” was very telling.

Youtube, I want an answer as to why this happened. I want to know how someone is able to level entire channels without nary an explanation.  So help me if you reference your TOS…

As a small voice in the crowd, I don’t expect a response. It doesn’t mean I’m going to shut up about it.

Irritatedly Yours,

Aaron

Earlier Today Before We Were reinstated…

I’m annoyed. I’m angered. I’m shocked. I’m a little peeved.

My collaborative channel with over 300 videos that’s been going for a year and a half has been permanently deleted due to what is described in the email below as “Community Guidelines”. Translated “5awesomePeople” is dead for the moment and YouTube zapped it without prior warning. Our account was in good standing, had only violated copyright on music once or twice that we immediately corrected. I repeat. Youtube, WHAT THE FRACK?!

Hi 5awesomepeople,

Thanks for your email. Your “5awesomepeople” account has been found to
have violated our Community Guidelines. Your account has now been
terminated. Please be aware that you are prohibited from accessing,
possessing or creating any other YouTube accounts.

YouTube staff review flagged videos 24 hours a day, seven days a week to
determine whether they violate our Community Guidelines. When a video or
account is brought to our attention we investigate and take action if
necessary.

We are unable to provide specific detail regarding your account suspension
or your video’s removal. For more information on our what we consider
inappropriate content or conduct while using YouTube, please visit our
Community Guidelines and Tips at
http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines and our Help Center article
at http://help.youtube.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=92486.

My response is below. Please YouTube, help me understand what is going on here.

Youtube Support,

This was a collab channel with over 300 videos. We had not had any
troubles aside form minor copyright issues, which we resolved. We
just started season 2. You’re telling me that you are unable to tell
me what caused a over two year old channel to be permanently deleted?
I need a better answer than this form letter of an email.

Please help me. This channel means so much to the seven of us and
over 100 subs. I know we’re not a partner or even that big. But this
feels like there is a misunderstanding of some kind.

Thank you,

Aaron DeLay