SPECIAL DISCLAIMER: What follows below is 100% my own opinion, though there are several facts contained in the text as well. Please also note, if you have no interest in reading things of a (somewhat) political nature (though there are no mentions of political affiliations, and instead, standard constitutional rights here in the United States), then there’s a chance you may not be interested in what follows.

That said, I do believe that the topic of “The New Media“, which is the primary focus of this post, represents technology quite well. From “affordable-to-the masses” professional quality audio and video equipment, to the web feeds in which provide subscription based access to this information for on-demand delivery directly to your desktop, there is a MASSIVE shift that has both taken place, and is continuing to take place in the way news is being gathered, reported, and accessed — all made possible via this wonderful “little” invention called XML.

To those of you behind both the original development of XML, the current and ongoing efforts at refinement, as well as the ongoing efforts to build and extend upon this wonderful technology… Thanks!

And to all of you… Thanks for reading!
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[Story Follows Below]

Armed and Ready in Downtown Salt Lake City

During my daily afternoon walk, I noticed what looked to be trouble brewing as a medium-sized police unit began to cluster across the street, unpacking backpacks, guns, and other obvious weapons of the trade.

As it turns out, after speaking with the officers (it was obvious they were not in any hurry, so it seemed safe to approach them to ask for more detail), they were simply in training.

Training for what? Not sure if it’s anything specific, but my guess is that it probably has something to do with this.

PLEASE NOTE: I am not anti-establishment, government, nor do I believe that bashing either at every given opportunity does a lick of good.

I do, however, believe in both Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press, something that we still (luckily) have as part of our rights here in the United States. And we have folks such as those pictured below to thank for this.

To each of you who have fought for, died for, and to those of you who continue to both protect, serve, and (if necessary) fight for these as well as the other core fundamental rights we as citizens of the United States have a tendency to take for granted,

Thank you!
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Please also note: While protection of the President is definitely one task that is required by this same general group of folks (though a different unit, more than likely) while it doesn’t always work out this way, protection of protestors (yet another right we are lucky to have here in the US) is one of the primary areas of both focus and concern.
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