I am CuTRis

As a volunteer park ranger in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, I've seen firsthand how a lot of diversity is generally good for the environment. In contrast, any group that overpopulates puts a strain on the ecosystem. Diversity in human populations is in my opinion, also a good thing. What isn't good is all of the bickering that goes on between certain groups. Human beings were originated from common ancestors, which is why our genetic material is so similar. Likely the nomadic way of life in the early days caused geographical separations between populations that resulted in genetic separations, which resulted in physical differences. Still, some of the great societies of the past were multi-racial. With the advances in travel and technology, it seems that racial blending will only continue to grow. That brings up an interesting question. Will the blending of the races actually reduce the diversity as the human population becomes multiracial? Perhaps, yet genetic...

In a wonderful deviation from what we might usually expect of international politics, the New York Philharmonic played a concert in Pyongyang, North Korea today. There were no soldiers, no guns and no politics. The orchestra played and was well received by those in attendance. The concert was televised live, which was rather unusual in the secretive confines of North Korea. It makes me wonder what would happen to the world if countries sent "invading" musicians instead of soldiers to settle disputes. With all of the international conflicts, I was given a bit of hope today. The people of North Korea shown on the TV news were not monsters, goose-stepping to some outdated communist war march. The musicians were not kicking in doors of people's houses in some remote village. They were all just people, drawn together by music and a long overdue cultural exchange. How fantastic is that?

The USS Lake Erie fired a missle at a failed US spy satellite Wednesday night. It scored a direct hit 153 miles above the Earth, at 22,000 miles-per-hour. That's why I say hey man, nice shot.

In case you missed last night's lunar eclipse, here is a picture I took. It was a spectacular full moon anyway, the eclipse was pretty awesome.

I once spoke to a friend who works in the psychology field. Both of us agreed with a recent article that surmised that nearly every human being probably suffers from some form of post-traumatic-stress. I recently spoke to one of my bosses whom I've known for a long time. He thought I seemed happier than I used to. I told him that it was mostly an attitude I'd gotten when things looked bad and those two eagles flew over my head and the wind whispered in their wings. Right about then, I decided that I was the luckiest man alive. Realistically, I had changed my entire life to chase a dream and try to find happiness. That action, however, brought me to where I am now –which is a much happier “place.” My band is recording some of our 150something original songs. It’s work. We can usually get one song down in an evening. Lately the recordings have been great. I think we’re learning how to manage everything in the process. Once I get a copyright on a CD’s worth (at least the ones I wr...

I needed a power supply for a laptop. It's under warranty. I looked up the warranty to be sure. I went on HP's website to setup a case, as I've done that before and it eliminates the language barrier. After going around in circles on the website, I finally broke down and called HP. After being questioned and transferred in circles, I finally got "John" from India to help me. I gave John the serial number, and I was then told the warranty had expired. I was also told it was a different model than I was calling about. Eventually, John figured out that the warranty is good for almost two more years. Then I was asked numerous questions about the problem, which is that the power supply doesn't work but an identical power supply does work. Eventually John decided to order me a new power supply. This took another ten minutes while I was on hold. Last week I had an onsite repair of a desktop. It took two trips each by two separate technicians and about 14 phone messag...

All one has to do, is look at the news headlines to ask himself are things more violent now than they used to be? The answer to that is difficult. We may think so, based on our concept of how things were a few decades ago, as portrayed on TV sitcoms. Yet is this an accurate picture? What about the "wild west?" Didn't people get shot and hanged in a lawless society? What about the racism, lynching and wars of our history? What about the Roman Coliseum and the atrocities performed there in the name of "entertainment?" What about bull-baiting, bear-baiting, dog fighting, cock fighting and bare knuckle brawls? Can we be sure things are more violent now? While there is a lot of preaching and pressure about kindness and tolerance, we live in a society where it seems that every few weeks some coward is in the news for shooting unarmed people in a public place. The local news in the Twin Cities recently had a story about a woman who beat a 4-year-old boy to death, while...

Cutris Breaks Sound Barrier February 8, 2008 UnAssociated Press A sonic boom was heard across the Minnesota River Valley early this morning, and from all accounts, it was due to presidential candidate, Cutris, breaking the sound barrier. Apparently Cutris had taken his bicycle out for an early morning ride, and decided to put it in high gear to see how fast he could go. "It was snowing at the time, which made it kind of hard," said Cutris to a reporter from CNN. "I just started peddling as fast as I could. Pretty soon I was going so fast that I lost control of the bike on the icy road and started sliding even faster!" Cutris eventually recovered control of the bicycle, but not before a sonic boom rang out in the early morning, signaling that he had exceeded the speed of sound. Asked if he would try to repeat the feat for the Guinness Book of World Records, Cutris said, "I don't think so. It was a little scary going that fast on my bike, even though it...

I have more than one job. One of them has expressed a "concern" about my blog. In the meantime, the coworker with a new baby has a blog about the baby and other coworkers are adding messages to it during work hours. This, apparently is acceptable. I have no problem with the baby blog, in fact it is a fantastic idea. I don't like the subjective nature of what is or is not acceptable. With no clear written policy (just vague policy), it allows someone to "play god" and decide what is O.K. and what isn't. How intrusive should this get? If in the course of my job I see that an administrator has church materials on a work computer should I report it? I hate that idea. People need a little bit of freedom. If the work is getting done, what is the problem?

My yogurt cup has a recyclable symbol on the bottom, but the person on TV says only plastic bottles with necks can be recycled. So who's not doing their job? I rinse them out and put them in the recycler. I'm not breaking down the process on my end.

Presidential candidate Cutris was asked about what he did on Super Tuesday, and if he had participated in the caucuses in his home state of Minnesota. "The caucus system," Cutris replied, "is setup to exclude third-party, or independent party candidates." It gives people a sense that they are actually choosing the presidential candidates, though out of the 300+ million people in the United States, they have the choice between 3 or 4 candidates within 2 parties. None of the candidates is particularly "average," in income or lifestyle. As far as what I did, I took care of personal business, including my laundry." Cutris continues to insist that he is running for president and has neither pulled out of the race, nor has he endorsed any other candidates.

The NY Giants upset the NE Patriots 17-14!

617-729-0931 Computer illegally called my cell phone to promote Republican Ron Paul. Cutris will never call you during his campaign!

A key Cutris campaign staffer was revealed today. Peach, or Peetch, is a key component in the Cutris campaign. Shown here with Cutris , Peach handles updates and UnAssociated Press releases during weekdays, when Cutris is working his regular job. Since Cutris has several jobs, Peach is an important part of this campaign. "He's a fine drummer too!" said Cutris , who has been in a band with Pete and Dave for over a decade.

Since the first mention of Kevin's shack , to the creation of Shack & Pasture Magazine , Cutris has always loved touring shacks all over the country. Here is a picture of Cutris in the doorway of a lovely stone shack from the 1800's. "It's a bit small and needs a little fixing up," said Cutris , "but it is still a nice shack, from an era when shacks were built with pride."

Not much was on TV last night, and my fiancée wanted to watch figure skating. It was pretty boring for me, on account of me being a man. I think maybe because there was no checking or puck and the guys talking about what was going on seemed like they had masculinity issues. I had no point of reference. I was pretty lost and bored. I did think the "triple-klutz" was pretty impressive though. It's a good thing she likes football too...

I have mixed feelings regarding the federal rebate program. As a way to "jump-start" the economy, I feel that it might cost us all money, since it will add to the national debt, and the American tax payers are ultimately responsible for paying that off. Will tax payers be required to claim the rebate as income on their 2008 tax returns? Of course it will be nice to receive a check, but instead of paying for a huge program to figure out who gets how much, and then cut checks for everyone, wouldn't a tax break be more financially responsible? Unemployment benefits are not going to be extended, and too many people are out of work. Thanks to Reaganomics, they also have to pay taxes on their unemployment benefits. Of course, as long as health coverage is the responsibility of employers, the job situation is likely to get worse. National health care could do a lot to stimulate more jobs, but it isn't likely to happen anytime soon. - Cutris

Cutris Under Attack January 25, 2008 UnAssociated Press As with any political campaign that is gaining strength, the Cutris campaign and it's primary mouthpiece, the i am cutis blog is under attack. Those who are worried about the campaign are trying to destroy Cutris' reputation and shutdown the blog. A publicist representing Cutris put a positive spin on it Thursday night. "This controversy, if brought out in the open could be exactly what this campaign needs," he said. "The public loves a good David vs. Goliath story, especially if they can relate to the people involved."

I want to thank those who have taken such an interest in my blog recently. It's nice to know that you take the time to see what I'm up to. This blog started out in 2005, as a way to showcase my writing. My new novel "Cottonwood" is finished, and I am currently trying to market it. Along the way, this blog has been teaching me valuable skills in webpage design. I'm not an HTML expert by any means, but this experience has certainly increased my knowledge significantly. I've also become aware that certain parties can use your blog against you if you aren't careful. I generally won't write anything that I would be embarrassed to have my parents read. I also "Sanitize," or change names and information to keep others anonymous. Still, despite being protected by the first amendment of the United States Constitution, blogging is a risky venture at times. Employers and others have a habit of finding things wrong with blogging. Just the same, there are...

This morning the temperature was -13 degrees Fahrenheit (-25 Celsius). I live just south of Minneapolis. Up in the northern part of the state it is closer to -30. People who don't live in cold climates don't understand how we "can stand it!" Personally, I have a hard time with extremely hot temperatures. Even if it might be "too cold" to go outside (on some winter days), in some places it is too hot to go outside in the summer. People in northern climates, such as Minnesota, enjoy winter sports like, skating, hockey, skiing, sledding, ice fishing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and my personal favorite, hiking. I lived for a short time in Providence, RI. Never before did I hear people complain about the weather so much as I did out east. An inch (2.54 centimeters) of snow crippled the city. The airport closed and citizens stocked up on bread and pasta. In Minnesota, after a foot of snow, we shovel out and go to work. Out east they think 20 degrees is cold. In th...