RANT: Gooferment seems to get special status

Saturday, April 14, 2007

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

WRITEN FROM POV OF THE STATIST SOCIALIST MEDIA

*** begin quote ***

Islamist insurgents and Somali clan militias in Mogadishu clash with government forces, Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers as casualties continue to mount months after the defeat of the Islamic Courts Union.

*** end quote ***

What is the “government” but yet another gang of thugs claiming the mantle of “authority” to rule over others? Who made them the anointed? The UN! Please don’t make me laugh. Another gang of bad folks claiming to be out betters.


TECH SERVICE: An unnamed service has a bug

Saturday, April 14, 2007

FROM AN EXCHANGE OF EMAILS WITH A DEVELOPER

***Begin Quote***

From: A DEVELOPER
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 10:49 PM
To: r @ reinke
Subject: RE: Where did my name go?

Try clearing your cache and cookies and then restarting your browser (I see “reinke” within the green badge and after “Profile:..”.

If that doesn’t work, please reply back.

*** and ***

vs: Still the same. Wanna try sacrificing some chickens next? ;-) Like I hadn’t tried that or seen at a different computer. Why does every PC support person insist on a cold reboot? BTW, since last night was my night to do “microsoft maintenance”, I was forced to do a cold restart. So, perhaps there’s some crud in a table somewhere on your side of the wire?

***End Quote***

If I have learned one thing in testing software (which I think is “fun”), it is don’t annoy users with obvious stuff that has no hope of solving the problem. Or, at least ask it, or propose it in a way that is “softer”. Remember I am unpaid help, or worse I’ve paid for this mistake. At least with “free software”, you haven’t paid to debug someone else’s code.

It’s like that nameless isp that always wants you to power cycle your setup when it’s obvious to the world that they have a dns problem.

About the only thing worse is having paid no support at all. Buying a product and getting no support like IBM, Nuance, Microsoft, and that ilk! (There’s special circle in hell for them.)

Sometimes it would be better to have no support than long phone queues, “dumb” people (Yeah, I know they are working from scripts!), or autobots that just fire back meaningless canned answers.

At least with the new web20s services, you can usually get to SOMEONE.

Argh!

The next round of email I included a screen shot where I MSPAINTed three big orange circles about the problem. (I’m getting pretty handy with that tactic!) That exchange ended with “we have a bug”! Yeah, DUH, you do! I think I said that. Double Argh.

I deliberately didn’t name the SERVICE since they are trying. Let’s give them some time to work before we award them a negative review. Fair is fair.


JOBSEARCH: find your digital dirt first

Saturday, April 14, 2007

FROM AN EMAIL EXCHANGE WITH A FELLOW ALUM

*** begin quote ***

>I googled my name and your website came up.

It’s always a good idea to google yourself to find the “digital dirt” that’s out there. I counsel out of work execs to do it and get out in front anything there. Even if it’s not “you”, it has to be addressed.

*** end quote ***

I even have search strings saved that post to special mail accounts that watch for the use of “my name”. How paranoid is that?


INTERESTING: Booking your own private library

Friday, April 13, 2007

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0406/p11s03-algn.html

Booking your own private library
For a modest annual fee, book lovers can enjoy memberships at such venerable sanctums as the Boston Athenaeum.
By Teresa Méndez | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

***Begin Quote***

The Boston Athenaeum, dating back to 1807, is the country’s largest such institution, with 600,000 volumes (in addition to more than 500 pieces of art) and 5,000 members. Stepping through its red leather doors at 10-1/2 Beacon Street is a little like falling down Alice’s rabbit hole. Within the 12-story structure, now in the throes of its 200th birthday party, lies an elegant hodgepodge – part library, part museum, part gallery. There is little delineation between where one part leaves off and the next begins: Paintings hang in every room, busts are nestled between bookshelves, and the books themselves – colorful, leatherbound – are works of art.

***End Quote***

Amazing. I didn’t know this. A non gooferment library!


RANT: Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock

Friday, April 13, 2007

http://www.kansascity.com/159/story/66339.html

Posted on Wed, Apr. 11, 2007
Imus isn’t the real bad guy
Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.
By JASON WHITLOCK
Columnist

*** begin quote ***

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.

*** end quote ***

Here’s a fellow who nails why the RU women should have taken the high road imho.


RANT: The Guv’s crash

Friday, April 13, 2007

Now, I don’t wish harm on anyone. And I pray for a speedy recovery … even if he is a socialist.

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070413/D8OFQRNG0.html

N.J. Governor Critical After SUV Crash
Apr 13, 12:19 PM (ET)
By GEOFF MULVIHILL

***Begin Quote***

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) – Gov. Jon S. Corzine was apparently not wearing his seat belt as required by law when his official SUV crashed into a guard rail, leaving the governor hospitalized in critical condition, a spokesman said Friday.

***End Quote***

I guess his security detail won’t get any doughnuts for a while.

What was he doing in Atlantic City?

Why was he going to the RU – Imus meeting? Did he think that these ladies couldn’t take care of one old washed up guy? Perhaps, he was going as the chief law enforcement officer to protect Imus from RU?

(I suspect it was a photo op!)

I wonder if he will give himself a 46$ ticket.

No one has said how fast anyone was going. Speed limit is probably 65. Take a lot of energy to throw an suv like that.

I’ve ranted before about the state and its minions on the roads before. This is just another example of it.

Now the Guv’s detail is usually two cars and bunch of troopers. And, the white truck disappeared like the fellow on the grassy knoll. Maybe they’d just prefer him to get away so there’s be no conflicting stories. Hard to believe a pick up truck could escape a trooper chase car.

Was their video in any of the cars? Maybe there was some careless and reckless going on unrelated to the mythical white truck.

Why do we have a governor anyway?

Now we will hear the drumbeat of why we need a Looney Tennent Guv. It’s not like we don’t have spare politicians running around with nothing to do. Maybe we could get mcGreasy and Wittless to combine as a caretaker office of “governors past”. At least we get something for the obscene pension they are collecting.

And what’s wrong with Cody doing double duty? It’s not like there are separation of powers issues. Just pass around the rubber stamps as usual.

Any way, I wish the Guv a speedy recovery. I have more questions about Karla-gate that he can refuse to answer.


TECH SERVICE: HIGHRISE a crm solution from 37signals

Friday, April 13, 2007

http://www.highrisehq.com/

Highrise

Your address book doesn’t do enough. Traditional CRM software tries to do too much. Highrise is the just-right solution.

***Begin Quote***

Your address book doesn’t do enough. Traditional CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software tries to do too much. That’s why we built Highrise. It’s the just-right, more thoughtful way to keep track of the people, conversations, and tasks that are the lifelines of your business.

***End Quote***

Well it ain’t cheap that’s for sure. Too steep for me.

I gave it a quick look and though that only VCFs in would be a problem.

But what do I know.


RANT: RU cuts 6 teams including fencing

Friday, April 13, 2007

Good thing the Guv is OOC (Out Of Commission).

This morning’s “news” reported that RU cut 6 teams including fencing. “outraged” students and parents were looking for “gooferment action” to prevent it.

Hey, guess what, RU is the “gooferment”.


RANT: Reading my spam comments

Friday, April 13, 2007

Pretty sad. But I read my spam comments on my blog. Sad, when the spammers are the nicest things I hear all day. :-) Clearly, “we” need a life and better system for securing the internet. Till then AKISMET does a very nice job of identifying the trash.


INTERESTING: The long sought fat gene

Friday, April 13, 2007

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk
/health/article1647517.ece

From The Times
April 13, 2007
‘Fat’ gene found by scientists

***Begin Quote***

A gene that contributes to obesity has been identified for the first time, promising to explain why some people easily put on weight while others with similar lifestyles stay slim.

***End Quote***

Ahh to misquote Shakespeare, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in ourselves, but in the genes”. Another double malted please!


INTERESTING: Today is Titanic Day

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Today is the day the Titanic sunk in 1912.

There has to be a leadership lesson in that.

Never proclaim anything as “unsinkable”?


TECH SOFTWARE: Process Tamer is available for free

Thursday, April 12, 2007

http://techsupportalert.com/issues/al_current.htm

Gizmo
Ian Richards

***Begin Quote***

6.1 A Free Utility That Stops Programs From Hogging Your PC

It was driving me mad. My laptop would sporadically run at 100% CPU utilization and lock up. It defied all attempts at analysis as the PC was seized and I couldn’t do anything. Only a hard reboot was possible, but on rebooting the problem was gone.

Eventually I solved it with a superb little utility called Process Tamer, written by “Mouser” over at Donation Coder. Process Tamer is a monitor that watches the CPU utilization of all running processes. Once the usage of a single process gets above a certain level (by default 70%) Process Tamer reduces the usage by lowering the process priority.

It’s a simple idea and Process Tamer implements it immaculately. With Process Tamer installed, the next time the problem occurred on my laptop it didn’t totally lock up but rather just ran very slowly. This allowed me to do a quick diagnosis. The problem turned out to be simple but non-obvious. Two programs, Diskeeper and X1, had been accidentally scheduled to start at the same time and were getting into an embrace of death. It was unexpected, as these two normally peacefully co-exist. Simply re-scheduling the programs to start at different times solved the problem.

I couldn’t have solved the problem as easily without Process Tamer. However Process Tamer has much broader application than just this kind of problem.

It’s a great tool for preventing any one program from hogging your processor. Every user has experienced the situation where their PC has been slowed down to the point of being unusable, by a background program such as a desktop search program, that starts and takes all the resources. Process Tamer will stop that from ever happening again.

For the same reason it can also help speed up your Windows Startup. Make sure though, that you enable Process Tamer to start automatically with Windows. By default it does not, but it’s easily changed from within the program’s options.

Yet another use for Process Tamer is intra-server load balancing. It’s near ideal for this task.
If you actually want a program to able to use all available resources, such as a digital editing program, you can set the program to be excluded from Process Tamer’s watchful eye.

I was so impressed with Process Tamer that I’ve permanently installed it on my laptop. It takes only around 6MB of memory space and its own CPU usage is so low I could barely measure it.

Process Tamer is available for free from the Donation Coder site. They use a novel licensing system: you have to register to get a free license key which allows you to download any number of programs on the site. This key lasts six months after which you must return to the site to download another free license key. After a year you are given a permanent license. Alternatively, you can make a once-up donation of any size and get a permanent key straight away. It’s a clever and ethical way to encourage users to recognize the work done by freeware authors and I support it fully. I donated generously and I hope you do too.
Donationware, Windows 2K, XP, 2.23MB

http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/proctamer/index.html

***End Quote***

Hmmm, may be useful to put in place.


INTERESTING: Brad Benson commercial slamming Rosie O’Donnell

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Did anyone hear the commercial this morning razzing Rosie for her 911 rant?


RANT: Nice to see the Duke players “get off”

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Now who’s going to repay their parents for the reported ~1M$ each paid for legal defense.

I’d assume the taxpayers of North Carolina have the deepest pockets.


MONEY: A YAHOO ANSWER I want to consolidate my debt?

Thursday, April 12, 2007

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;
_ylt=Ahza2ZJt4BzuwdD9FhFzxWLsy6IX?
qid=20070412044522AAFIP4t&show=7

http://tinyurl.com/3cl8bt

I want to consolidate my debt?

***Begin Quote***

I have great credit, but a little to much debt. I would like to consolidate my debt without hurting my credit to bad. I would like to be able to pay less than what I am paying now. Paying for many years does not bother me, some of us can only make it with payments on everything (that’s me, the world is to hard and expensive today). Does anyone know a good place to go with?

***End Quote***

Well, if I were you, I’d look around for a Credit Union. Almost all credit unions, at least the four that I have used extensively, had: (1) great rates; (2) an education program; (3) debt counseling — the non-rip off kind; (4) were honest with you; and (5) usually have your best interests at heart. In recent years, the membership requirements have been loosened. It’s now as exclusive as rainfall. The last one I joined, I had to deposit 25$ in my account as a “membership fee”. It paid interest, and I still don’t understand, but you have to “join”. Look around. I’m sure you can find one you can join. If all else fails, I can “adopt” you. :-)

You also have to change your thinking a little. Credit card debt is a “disaster”. You’re a slave to those payments. The interest rate is only part of the “cost”. Don’t be late or you’re socked with fees. They play games with when they “get their mail” and other dirty tricks. Finally, it affects your thinking and your future choices. You think it’s ok and you get in the habit. Next you know it’s juggundo godzilla size debt. And, you have to keep working at your current job because you “need to make your payments”. That precludes switching careers, taking time off, or just not having to remember to make a payment.

Disclaimer! I’m not “suzy orman”, don’t work on Wall Street anymore, and have not stayed in a Holiday Inn Express. But, I do blog about money from time to time. And, I’ve made a lot of mistakes with my own money. So I’ll claim “black ‘n’ blue” credentials from the University of Hard Knocks!

Hope this helps.
fjohn

*** in addition, an after thought ***

I probably could have stressed “thinking” first and “credit union” second. Consolidation, without improved thinking, will just lead to more debt. I probably should have referred to Dave Ramsey, who is the king of “i’m debt free”. That’s the other extreme.


TECHNOLOGY: NETWORK WORLD TOP DOG

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

email header

http://www.nwwbetopdog.com/

NETWORK WORLD TOP DOG

***Begin Quote***

The Network World Technology Opinion Panel is a group of technology professionals who evaluate, use and/or purchase technology-related products for the organizations they work for. Panel members represent a wide range of industries, company sizes and areas of expertise. This diversity allows us to gather information on a variety of technology topics from different perspectives.

***End Quote***

I don’t think I ever exposed the fact that I’ve been on this panel for a while. At least for two jobs worth! (Heck of a way to rekon time!)


TECH SOFTWARE: PGP not for me

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

http://www.pgp.com/

Rest Secured

***Begin Quote***

The PGP Encryption Platform delivers comprehensive enterprise data protection. Rest Secured.™

The PGP Encryption Platform enables organizations to address a broad range of business and regulatory data security and privacy requirements with solutions that are flexible, scalable, and easily deployed and managed from a single, unified management console.

PGP solutions allow enterprises to deploy gateway- and desktop-based encryption based on specific requirements for data security within the organization. PGP products can secure internal and external communications, data stored on servers, desktops, and laptops, and automated backups and data transfers.

***End Quote***

Yes, but … …

… … assuming you can get the trial software down from their web sites.

(I followed their instructions, kept getting “url not found” message using the url in their email, gave up yesterday. After replying to the email “ng”. No response.)

Came back to it and the software downloaded. Hey, making progress. (You think?)

Installed it. With the required reboot. (Argh!)

Then comes activation!

Like Microsoft, you have to activate it. It doesn’t. Says “no connect to the inet”. Right! No link to support. No options to appeal. And, nothing in the help that “helps” or identifies how to contact them.

So, if I have all these problems (again) when they are trying to SELL me their software, then what will be my experience after I start using it?

If I get my data secured with their software and it locks up, then what would I do?

Nah, not for me.


RANT: How Could I Live Without Filing Taxes … … pretty well!

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

http://www.centerforsmallgovernment.com/taxsong.html

“How Could I Live Without Filing Taxes?”
asks Carla Howell in song

*** begin quote ***

Carla Howell, sponsor of the 2002 Massachusetts ballot Initiative to End the Income tax, offers a suspiciously upbeat way to think about taxes with her song: How Could I Live Without Filing Taxes? – for you to listen to and use free of charge.

*** end quote ***

Ahh, my favorite strategy for dealing with the gooferment is make fun of them.

This is a real “laffer”. If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.

Here’s a two minute reminder that you are not your gooferment’s slave. You imprison yourself by your own thinking.

The worst part of “income taxes” is not the money they rob from you and the time that they steal, but it is the other uses of that time and money for your benefit.

Argh!


INTERESTING: Why Aren’t Managers Paid More?

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

http://www.agilemanagement.net/Articles/Weblog/
WhyArentManagersPaidMore.html

http://tinyurl.com/2qhpa4

Agile Management
BlogEntry
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Why Aren’t Managers Paid More?
David J. Anderson

***Begin Quote***

I feel that if we are to deliver on Davenport’s vision that good management will come from offering a premium for knowledge workers to make the leap to a new skill set then we must first start to value management skills more highly. In order to value management skills more highly, I believe that we must embrace Barry Boehm’s observation from 25 years ago – poor management can increase software costs more than any other factor. So far, we’re an industry in denial of this basic truth. Until we face our own brutal reality – that good management works and bad management hurts – then there is little hope for fixing the situation.

***End Quote***

Arghhh! (in the most professional blogger 2 blogger fashion)

I would assert that the paradigm is wrong.

[The comic book version for those who haven’t been Kinsey-like or -lite “management” consultants. (And, I don’t mean that disparagingly. Sometimes, I think. Think that the only way to communicate with “senior management” that really should be “senior leadership” is by comic books, or their consulting equivalent content-free power point slides.) Any way the comic book version is that if you’re in LA with a map of NYC, your paradigm is wrong. Paradigm is the five dollar word for your thinking about something. Anything. Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Look at the optical illusions. Once someone shows you how what you think could be something else, your thinking and perceptions change dramatically. So do you have the wrong map or the wrong city. Either way your wetware is the problem. Sorry, no cartoons.]

The whole “management” paradigm is wrong.

You can manage “disk space”, register receipts, fuel tanks, or any abstract or concrete thing. The minute you put people in the equation, the concept of “management” should go out the window. People need leadership first, last, and always.

Why is that consultants always replace “you should do x” with “we propose we do x”. They always seek to engage the Client or Customer with a shared struggle. It’s not a “me and you. It’s “us against the world”.

I have had “mangers” and I have had “leaders”. The difference was that if I was lead then I was self-motivated to do something. When I was managed, good-luck getting me to do great work. Compare “Yes, boss, I did my status report” with “Hey, Joe, take a look at this. I think we can reduce disk drive failures to near zero by lowering the temperature in the data center 5 degrees.”

No, I’d assert that “manager of knowledge workers” should be a position slated for nuking. Leaders command value commensurate with what their team creates. Always have. Always will.

How’s that saying go? “Without vision, the people perish.”

All too often, we have no leadership.


TECH SERVICE: A dynamic blogroll

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

http://feevy.com

A dynamic blogroll

***Begin Quote***

Replace static, boring blogrolls with dynamic content and transform your blog into a web portal for your network of friends

***End Quote***

Bzzzz! Can’t use javascript on the free version of wordpress. Is there a workaround? It’s a neat idea.

UPDATE 12APR07

One thing I love about the Web20 paradigm is that you actual hear back from real people. Try that with Nuance, IBM,  ScanSoft; Microsoft, Dell, or any big company. Here’s feevy’s response.FROM: Alexandre Girard
Re: [Feevy Problem] Signed on but get “down squirrel”

 We’re testing a sidebar widget to include your Feevy on free version of wordpress, we will tell you as soon as WordPress Team include it on their website admin.

Current workaround is to use RSS widget, and give it your Feevy RSS url:

http://www.feeyv.com/code/your_code/rss.xml

This will not display the proper Feevy, just an updated blogroll of your Feevy Feed.

Cheers,

Alex

Ain’t that terrific! Real people with a real solution in under a lifetime!


MONEY: Deploying a CD ladder isn’t easy

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Interesting, that the local bank where we are placing Frau’s ira cd ladder, has some special problems.

They have some lame offering schedule (i.e., 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 month terms).

snip121

[Obviously my feed back from the last visit fell on deaf ears. What a surprise. I’m shocked! A la Casablanca. A bank not listening. Maybe that’s my next career opportunity.]

Note: there is no 9 month offering. And the underlying interest rate is flat between 24 and 36.

Then, they have 9, 11, 13, and other “special offerings”.

snip122

So, it is very interesting to construct, or fill in, a ladder.

SNIP122A

So I was king, or at least running the bank, and you came in and asked for a ladder. I’d ask you what would make you happy. You want the 4 quarters over 5 years to all have an equal amount. POOF! That’s what I would offer. If you wanted them to all come due on the 13th of the month. Poof! That’s what I’d do. If you wanted them printed on pink paper. poof! (yeah it gets old!) That’s what I’d do.

I’d also rationalize my rates to give every longer duration a time premium preference. That’s no two time periods alike. (Hey, they are making big bucks off cds.) And, I’d offer automagic roll over. You just give me your money and I’ll take care of everything for you. AND, I’ll give you the best interest rate I can afford to pay.

And, if your account goes over the FDIC insurance cap, I’ll set up the overflow with my competitor down the street.

You just come to me and all your concerns will be addressed.


RANT: Press mischaracterizes Imus response

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04102007/news/nationalnews/
imus_gets_the_old_heave_ho_national
news_john_mazor_and_david_k__li.htm?page=2

I think you erred in your article.

Imus didn’t get the “heave ho”.

(I’ve gotten the “heave ho”. And, it felt like being fired and there was no “ho” in the heaving.)

Imus got a “time out” in the popular parlance.

And, even that was “delayed”.

Wonder what Nanny911 would say to that?


MONEY: The Federal Reserve Monopoly over Money

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst040907.htm

The Federal Reserve Monopoly over Money
April 9, 2007
Ron Paul
2008 Republican Presidential Candidate

***Begin Quote***

Recently I had the opportunity to question Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke when he appeared before the congressional Joint Economic committee. The topic that morning was the state of the American economy, and many of my colleagues raised questions about how the Fed might better “regulate” things to ease fears of an economic downturn. The tenor of my colleagues’ questions suggested that Mr. Bernanke’s job is nothing less than to run the U.S. economy, like some kind of Soviet central planner.

Certainly it’s true that Mr. Bernanke can drastically affect the economy at the drop of a hat, simply by making decisions about the money supply and interest rates. But why do members of Congress assume this is good? Why do we accept without objection that a small group of people on the Federal Reserve Board wields so much power over our economic well-being? Is centralized, monopoly control over our money even compatible with a supposedly free-market economy?

Few Americans give much thought to the Federal Reserve System or monetary policy in general. But even as they strive to earn a living, and hopefully save or invest for the future, Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank are working insidiously against them. Day by day, every dollar you have is being devalued.

The greatest threat facing America today is not terrorism, or foreign economic competition, or illegal immigration. The greatest threat facing America today is the disastrous fiscal policies of our own government, marked by shameless deficit spending and Federal Reserve currency devaluation. It is this one-two punch– Congress spending more than it can tax or borrow, and the Fed printing money to make up the difference– that threatens to impoverish us by further destroying the value of our dollars.

The Fed’s inflationary policies hurt older people the most. Older people generally rely on fixed incomes from pensions and Social Security, along with their savings. Inflation destroys the buying power of their fixed incomes, while low interest rates reduce any income from savings. So while Fed policies encourage younger people to overborrow because interest rates are so low, they also punish thrifty older people who saved for retirement.
The financial press sometimes criticizes Federal Reserve policy, but the validity of the fiat system itself is never challenged. Both political parties want the Fed to print more money, either to support social spending or military adventurism. Politicians want the printing presses to run faster and create more credit, so that the economy will be healed like magic- or so they believe.

Fiat dollars allow us to live beyond our means, but only for so long. History shows that when the destruction of monetary value becomes rampant, nearly everyone suffers and the economic and political structure becomes unstable. Spendthrift politicians may love a system that generates more and more money for their special interest projects, but the rest of us have good reason to be concerned about our monetary system and the future value of our dollars.

***End Quote***

Any doubt why I support his bid for the Presidency.


RANT: Obama trying out for “quarterback”; let’s meet the “coach” who’ll be calling the shots?

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash1.htm

LETTERMAN TO OBAMA: WILL HILLARY BE YOUR VP?
Mon Apr 09 2007 19:50:21 ET
To air Monday Night on CBS ‘LATE SHOW’:

*** begin quote ***

Obama: “You know, I think all the candidates are in to win and one of the things about the process is by the end of it, after having gone through all the debates and all the campaigning out in various states, people get a pretty good sense of who various candidates are and, but I think we’re all on the same team. We’re all Democrats. I think most of us want to see a healthcare system that provides coverage to everybody. Most of want to see an education system that gives opportunity to every kid. All of us think that we’ve got to start getting our troops out of Iraq, and so really what we’re doing is we’re trying out for quarterback…”

*** end quote ***

If he thinks he’s trying out for “quarterback”, then who is the “coach”? That’s the fellow we should be interviewing for the job as “president”.


RANT: Imus’ hateful words rebuked

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

http://www.wnbc.com/news/11602539/detail.html?dl=headlineclick

Rutgers Team To Weigh In On Imus Comments
Rutgers Press Conference Set For 11 A.M.
POSTED: 7:16 am EDT April 10, 2007

*** begin quote ***

Members of the Rutgers women’s basketball team and coach C. Vivian Stringer planned to offer their feelings Tuesday on the gathering storm.

*** end quote ***

When I first heard this bozo’s comment, I was shocked. I thought he was trying for ratings. And, he got them. Everyone is talking about him and his comments.

For my part, I never liked the “shock jock” genre. Hence, I give no of them any of my valuable attention.

For the RU women, as a season ticket holder, I remind them “sticks ‘n’ stones”. Gratuitous opinions don’t make me what I am or am not. As far as their image, that is their responsibility. As far as how Imus sees them, that’s his problem.

I see strong young women who are finding their way in a difficult world. As far as their hairdos, I wish I had jet black hair again. As far as their sexual orientation, habits, or propensities, that’s no one’s business but theirs.

The comments of a clown should be “rewarded” with social ostracism. If all the moral outrage was turning off his show, his ratings would administer the ultimate rebuke. For my part, since I don’t listen to him and don’t like him, I can’t participate in the “turn off”. I can tell anyone who admits to listening that his comments reflect badly on them. When you fill your mind with trash, what would you expect?

I think that the marketplace should administer a strong lesson to Imus, MSNBC, and CBS Radio. For our part, we should ignore all of them until they DEMONSTRATE a change of heart.

I urge the RU women to take the high road. I’d just ask “what could he have been watching as they busted their collective butts to accomplish something”. I certainly didn’t see what he sees. And, I’ve been to a lot more games than he has.


LIBERTY: DownsizeDCdotorg makes a good case for repealing the Patriot Act.

Monday, April 9, 2007

http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=66

2007-Apr-04
Repeal the Patriot Act

 

***Begin Quote***

Politicians excel at “the fine art of crisis creation.” Time and again they create policies that fail. Then they exploit those failures to grab more power, and then, almost inevitably, fail again.

It’s a vicious cycle and a cancerous death-spiral to our liberty.

9-11 and its aftermath provide a perfect example.

In truth, the federal government already had all the power and resources it needed to prevent the 9-11 attack. It knew who the terrorists were and what they were doing in advance, but Big Government still failed to protect us.

The follow-up was predictable. Government officials exploited their own failure to…

* Launch a fraudulent invasion of Iraq
* Erect a huge new bureaucracy in the form of the Department of Homeland Security
* Saddle the American people with the Patriot Act and the Real ID Act

Notice the pattern? Failure leads to new powers that lead to new failures…

* Iraq is a disaster
* The Department of Homeland Security is a mess
* The REAL ID Act is a nightmare
* And the Patriot Act is being abused

{Extraneous Deleted}

***End Quote***

SOOOOOOO, I took out my poison pen and added a blistering postscript.

***Begin Quote***

I am stunned to hear the FBI honcho admit that, even with the reduced requirements, the process is abused. I urge you to repeal the so called Patriot Act, as well as the Real Id, and “nuke” the Homeland Security organization. Pink slips for the leadership! With prejudice, they should all be “blacklisted” for other government jobs. Let them go live in the “real world” for a while. The labor can certainly seek other jobs, but the “leaders” that created this disaster are beyond reclamation. We have to send a message that there are penalties for incompetence and poor results. In this case, the results border on “criminal”. Clearly, this has been a disaster for liberty in the USA. Congress should get out the old “eraser on the ends of its collective pencils” and start repealing all the “stuff” done as a result of 9/11. It was a mistake and an over-reaction. No excuses. If you want my vote in the next election, then this is the single issue that will make me move the lever. If you can’t fix it by the next time I vote, then I’m going to vote for someone who can.

***End Quote***

Which I also forwarded to all the usual suspects!

One thing to remember is that poem “first they came for the Muslims, and I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t a Muslim”. I think it’s a comical (but dangerous) that we have a “homeland security”, which reminds me of Nazi Germany. All we need now are some Hollywood extras with snazzy black uniforms, heel clicking salutes, “vere isss your PAPERS!” and the comparison is complete.

Am I the only one who sees this a disaster of epic proportions?

I had the luxury of spending time with an old man who lost almost all of his family to the Nazi death camps. He was a Jewish intellectual — a specialist in international law. He saw what was coming. Every chance he had, he pushed someone out. While it was still loose, he was able to get his children out. His son was sent to England to learn “beer making” despite being a master chemist. His daughter went to learn to be an English Nanny despite being only fourteen. His wife went to England on a round trip ticket to visit the daughter and never went home. At the same time, he went on a business trip and never went back. His best friend shipped him some of his stuff and sold the rest. But, the friend could NOT get his family out. He waited too long. The friend’s wife was Jewish. Her, her family, and his children went to the camps. He dealt with it by committing suicide. You could not listen to these stories without being moved. When you would ask him how could it happen there, the answer was gradually in response to “threats”.

Any reason the hair on the back of my neck should NOT be standing up?

The Japanese Internment, “private” Census records used to round up “Japs”, The Northwood Document, The War on Drugs, The militarization of police, the Income Tax, the Inflation Tax, Ruby Ridge, Waco, Elian Gonzalez, Extraordinary Rendition, Gitmo, Jose Padilla, requiring passports in and out of our peaceful neighbors, eliminating Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, the Military Commissions Act, building a “Berlin Wall” on the Mexican Border, rounding up “illegals”?

Don’t forget the high taxes — the Income tax, the Inflation Tax, the Property Tax — that turn us into virtual slaves. The dead old white guys revolted over a 1% tax. Imagine what they’d say to us now?