Dear Readers:

It’s been a bit over five years since I began to blog and many of you have been with me since day one- to you especially, thank you so very much.

Of course when my blog first began on April 3, 2006 it was very different.  Blog after blog, as many as 5 or 6 a day, discussed a former American Idol contestant. Some days as many as 800 comments would be left from people who either loved or hated the subject, or simply just wanted to be involved in the conversation.

As fate would have it, a comment regarding politics was left on the blog and readers began giving their opinion.  This caused some heated debate and I immediately recognized that  I should be blogging about something I was really passionate about. That night,  I too began offering my opinions.  Some were shocked to learn that I was a gay conservative Republican.  Some considered that treachery while with others I earned their respect.

After two years of blogging about the former American Idol contestant, I began focusing my blogs on something I felt more passionate about; politics.  Ask anyone, I follow it religiously.  I read the news online, read magazines and newspapers, watch it on television, listen to it on the radio… I have a desire for wanting and needing to know what is going on in our country and around the world… so it would be natural for me to blog about it.

When I transitioned my blog over to politics some of my readers decided the subject matter wasn’t for them,  In fact, over the course of 6 months I lost 2/3 of my readers.  My readership stayed stagnant for about a year until I moved my blog from www.JohnPaulus.blogger.com to JohnPaulus.com.  Within  a month traffic to the blog slowly began to increase.

Over the course of the last few months visitors to the blog have doubled.  Readership and views are up to levels not seen since 2007.  May saw an increase of 238% and June is already on target to surpass May’s numbers.

As many of you will notice, I have changed the format of the blog.  If you’re like me you may not like a whole lot of change.  With anything it takes a week or so before you may recognize that you actually like it.

The change in the blog look and format hopes to solve two issue: a less confusing way to get to the comments,  and a quick way to peruse the last blogs posted. In the past, 3 or 4 blogs could be posted in a day and a reader wouldn’t realize it.

Some things you should be aware of; clicking of “John Paulus” at the top on any page will bring you back to the home page.  The calendar to the right provides an easy way to search for previous blogs.  For instance, if you were away Memorial Day weekend and wanted to read past blogs  you would click on the days on the calendar that you missed and those blogs will appear.

One of the issues that I know many of you have is with the ‘ECHO” commenting system.  It is one of those things I am looking into and open to suggestion.  Many have commented that they miss the feature that alerts a reader when new comments are being made- I miss it too.  Others would like a comment system that automatically updates without the need to refresh, but at the same time keeps the older comments at the top with the newer on the bottom.  ‘Livefyre’ offers a great comment system, however, as far as my research has found it doesn’t afford for the capability to pop out of the blog as Echo does.  I believe, like the ‘Disquis’ system, the comments are embedded in the blog.

If any of you have any ideas and or comments, I am willing to listen and make changes that will make coming to JohnPaulus.com more enjoyable.

Once again, thanks to all of you who read my blog and especially to those who have been on this journey with me from the very beginning.

Love,

John Paulus- World Renowned International Blogger

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Obama's motorcade in San Francisco

I’m on vacation and Obama is already the subject.  Our flight was delayed nearly 30 minutes as our airspace over San Francisco was shut down while Obama’s plane was preparing to take-off.  Obama was in town to raise money for the Democrats and his campaign.

While riding the cable car the cable car operator, who referred to us as tourist, asked us where we were from and my mother replied North Carolina.  His response was to ask when we were getting some Democrats in the state.  Of course my reply was immediate; whenever hunting season started again.  So the cable car ride from Union Square all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf all I did was hear about how great Obama was and how white people (the cable operator was Black) had to recognize that they could vote for the white part of Obama.  I made it clear that I could vote for Allen West or Condoleezza Rice.  This, of course, drew a gasp and I said, see, it is about a difference of ideology.

On my trip I have been able to read the news.  Some things of interest are the reports that gas could hit $6 a gallon and McDonalds was increasing food prices by 4-6%.  I know some of my liberals made a comment that if I’m able to afford a luxury BMW I shouldn’t complain about gas prices.  Well, I wasn’t complaining about gas prices for myself as I don’t pay  for gas to and from work, I was concerned about the poor and middle class who are struggling to pay their bills and having to pay and extra $100-$200 a month in gas.  I’m concerned that rising fuel prices will result in higher food cost.  I’m concerned that rising fuel prices will result in a rise of electricity cost.  Somehow Democrats and Liberals don’t believe these are concerns.

Obama, recognizing how the rise at the gas pump has deflated his approval rating, has decided to start another task force to investigate the rising cost of fuel and to see if there’s “possibility” of manipulation.  The key word is possibility.  It’s almost laughable.  In fact, it is laughable.  Oil is traded on the WORLD market so who is he going to investigate?  Exxon? Prices are going up, because of unrest in Libya, who he attacked for no legitimate reason.  Oil is going up because we can’t drill in areas that actually have oil.  Oil is going up because of there is more demand and less available supply.  Oil is going up because oil is traded in dollars and a weak dollar brought on by rapidly rising deficits causing Oil prices to go up.

Folks, this commission is nothing more than another bullshit move by Obama to try to blame oil companies for his messed up policies.  This man is a snake who slithers and attacks and then withdraws to the safety of his hole.  This man blames everyone else and everything else for his lack of leadership and his failed polices.  Each week, I am humbly able to declare another, “I told you so.”

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For those of you who have been reading my blogs over the past several years, bear with me as I once again share this story.  I was a young soldier serving at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts with the 10th Special Forces Group when President Clinton and the Congress were debating how to handle gays in the military. That debate found its way through the ranks- soldiers began talking amongst themselves on how they would handle working and living with a homosexual. As a closeted homosexual, I became uneasy.  After all, I was the only guy on my team who was never married and not dating anyone.  I felt as if everyone’s eyes were on me.  In order to draw attention away from myself, I was the most outspoken in opposition to allowing gays to serve.  I wrote letters to my Congressman and to my Senator explaining in detail why gays should not be allowed to serve.

The attacks by liberals on all these various groups are the same tactic I used to draw attention away from myself.  Let’s look at information compiled by ‘opensecrets.org’ on contributions given to Democrat Senate Majority Leader Reid.

In the graph above, nearly 25% of Harry Reid’s campaign contributions were from PAC’s, an astonishing $4.6 million dollars.  By comparison, Reid’s opponent, Sharron Angel, received just 2%.  Let’s look at the industries that are donating to Reid.

Lawyers, banks, real estate, lobbyists, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies… the very industries that Harry Reid professes to despise are the very groups that have been buying him.  Liberals like Reid often like to attack the “special interest”.  But who are these “special interest’?  Webster defines special interest as: a person or group seeking to influence legislative or government policy to further often narrowly defined interests.  Would it be wrong to define lawyers/law firms as special interest?  Was their group not influential in keeping ‘Tort Reform’ out of health-care legislation?

This graph further illustrates the source of Harry Reid’s campaign money by industry.  Clearly, lawyers & lobbyist are the largest contributors followed closely by the banking and insurance industry.

Remember, the next time a liberal like Reid points his finger at a Republican and claims they are beholden to special interest groups what he is really doing is trying to deflect attention from himself.

Later, we’ll delve into who is buying Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

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On our return flight from Seattle, the gentleman sitting to the left of me had a 15″ MacBook Pro.  I couldn’t help, but to glance over as he watched a movie during the flight.  The graphics were unbelievable and the seamlessness of the video was incredible.

All week, I couldn’t stop thinking about that computer.  I labored over whether or not it was worth spending the money on a laptop… after all, my 17″ HP is less than 2 years old and works great.  Temptation got the best of me and today I purchased the MacBook.

The computer is incredible fast…  I mean really fast.  And the tools… fantastic.  I’ll be able to quickly make and edit movies.  This should add to my blog.

It’s going to take me some time to get use to the Apple operating system versus that of a PC, but so far no problems adjusting.

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Well, I’m back from my vacation to Seattle, Washington.  I had a fabulous time.  The weather was great.  The city was fantastic.  And I learned a whole lot.

There is no doubt that Seattle is a liberal city.  Along the Public Market and the piers, people freely rolled up joints and smoked.  Signs could be seen stuck to poles advocating socialism and criticizing capitalism.  Gay men and women were on every block.  Protests against Israel and death to Jews were at main intersections.  Anti-colonialism activists passed out literature.  Small groups of Blacks railed against White domination and called for retribution…  But, despite all of that, it was a happy and fun city.

It is no exaggeration when I tell you that I walked nearly every inch of the city.  Every inch.  To my pleasant surprise, the city was extremely clean- I mean spotless.  Everywhere we walked the city was well maintained.  Ghettos?  We never so a ghetto.  I couldn’t even tell you if one existed.  And crime?  The entire time we were there only once did we hear any sirens and that was for an accident involving the water taxi.  Maybe I’m come away from Seattle with the misperception that it is a spotless and safe city with nearly zero crime.

If there  was one thing that disappointed, it was Seattle’s integration of Blacks and Hispanics.  As liberal a city as Seattle is you would have thought they would have done a better job of integrated with more Blacks and Hispanics- there are so few living there.  In fact, the few that we did see were hanging out at the bus and train stations or standing in line outside a Gospel Church with what looked to be other homeless people.  Maybe someone from Seattle can answer that question for me.

Anyway, I did love Seattle.  I’d consider moving there.  It definitely had the cleanliness and the lifestyle that suits me.  I don’t know if I could much handle not seeing the Sun more than 40% of the year, but the beauty of the city certainly helps make up for it.

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A Fourth of July video blog from John Paulus.

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I arrived back in North Carolina late last night, concluding my short vacation with my boyfriend.  We had a lot of fun in Atlantic City- who wouldn’t enjoy the thrill of gambling, the nightlife, the parties, the entertainment, walks along the Boardwalk, dining, drinking, etc.  We also enjoyed the various sights along Chesapeake Bay.

The very best part of my vacation, however, was visiting my father.  Spending time with him on Wednesday and Saturday was very special and the very simple thing of sitting down and enjoy a home-cooked meal was more meaningful and enjoyable than anything that I done on my trip.  Dad was in very good spirits with a very positive attitude.  He’s enjoying life- he’s living.  Yes, it’s apparent that he is not well and in pain, but he’s not allowing his cancer to prevent him from enjoying life.  I’m proud of my father.

Today, like most, my family in North Carolina will remember those men and women who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.  We will have our cookout with steaks, chicken, hamburger, hot dogs, etc., but remembering that we are celebrating the lives of those who have fallen.  I wish all of you a very happy Memorial Day weekend.

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So yesterday,  the boyfriend and I traveled along the East Coast, crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, on our way to my father’s home.  We arrived around 6:00 PM where my father had prepared us a delicious dinner of frog legs sautéed in butter, garlic, and parsley, baked potato with sour cream and butter, corn on the cob, and New York Strip steaks.  We drank, laughed, talked– really having an all around great time.

My boyfriend and I left my father’s around 11:00 PM and arrived in Atlantic City, NJ  around 1:30 AM.  We spent the rest of the morning hitting the slots, playing roulette, and shooting craps.  We had an early check in at our hotel… I won’t share what hotel we are staying at because the last thing I need are my readers ordering me extra towels.  On a side note, as we were driving my boyfriend began laughing, because the lady’s voice on my navigation said, “Quarter Turn” a few times.

We will be in Atlantic City until tomorrow and hope to see one of my dear readers; Summer.  The plan is to head back to my father’s to spend the rest of the afternoon with him before leaving and hitting our next destination.  Right now, we plan on sleeping for a few hours before hitting the spa.  I’ll keep you posted.

By the way, congratulations to Lee for winning American Idol although I thought Crystal should have won.

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Readers, today I start my vacation and I’m giving you the opportunity to pick a city or town for me to visit along the East Coast.  It can be any city or any town, East of the Mississippi.  I’ll choose the place from the city or towns suggested and I’ll visit.  I’ll post pictures of me there and then will let you pick my next destination… and then my next destination.  You’ll find the pictures of those places located on my Flicker account.

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I know it was just 9 months ago that I purchased my C240 Mercedes so your probably wondering what the picture of the BMW above is all about. Well, I love my Mercedes, but miss the roominess that my Lincoln had so I’ve been car shopping.  I’ve been looking into the Mercedes C300 and C350 and more or less decided that I would get one this week, but a friend of mine suggested I first test drive the BMW’s.  So, I did.

From the moment I sat in the seat of the BMW 528i and pressed the button to start the car, I knew I had fallen in love.  I felt as if I had landed in the cockpit of a 747- the BMW’s Computer gave me a system update with status of tire pressure, fuel, climate control data, navigation emerged asking me for my destination– but enough about the bells and whistles– how did the BMW 528i drive.  It didn’t.  It sailed.  It was the smoothest drive of any vehicle I’ve ever test drove.  Accelerating down the highway to 84 mph and the inside of the “cockpit” was quiet.  The comfort level was incredible.

I’ve been approved for the vehicle, but I’m still negotiating a price with the dealer.  We are about $1,000 off and I’m not budging.  I think the salesperson was a little shocked when I walked out of the dealership at 5:30 this afternoon and told him that he could call me Monday by 9:30am with a decision on the price.  Yes, as much as I love that car and as much as I wanted to drive it home today, I refuse to pay more than I think I should.  Is the car worth what they are asking- of course, but I also know what they purchased the car for and I countered with a fair price.  We shall see on Monday, but regardless the outcome, I think my next car just might be a BMW.

If you own a BMW, I’d really like to hear your thoughts, opinions, and experience.

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