MONEY: a lot of expensive “chickens” coming home … 5T$ from China!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

FROM AN EMAIL WITH LUDDITE

What you don’t the think that the youth of American understand that they are getting screwed royally by you old folks? Why would you think old folk wouldn’t want more of the same? It’s not like they are going to be around when “Rome” falls!

I’m firmly convinced the only way we avoid a lot of pain and misery is for Ron Paul to guide the country back to the Founder’s original intent.
Otherwise, I think the kids will see the TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) scenarios (i.e., high inflation caused by the world rejecting the American Dollar as it’s reserve currency; Social Security – Medicare – Medicaid – Drug “benefit” breaks the bank in social spending; the graying of America takes a lot of productive people out of the labor force; Oil becomes even more expensive when it’s priced in something other than dollars; the 5T$ in China come home to roost; and don’t forget about the National Debt.

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INTERESTING: chalked the entire constitution in front

Saturday, November 24, 2007

tiny

http://www.unrlibertarians.com/2007/11/ron-paul-sweeping-northern-nevada.html

Monday, November 19, 2007
Chalking the US Constitution

***Begin Quote***

Members of the Ron Paul Pack and the College Libertarians chalked the entire constitution in front of Lawlor in preparation for Ron Paul!
I admit, I had my doubts, but it turned out great, and we got many thousands of words out on the concrete! Check out the photos!
Pictures taken by: Kelly

***End Quote***

Wow, you have to see the pictures. Some people put in a ton of work!

Impressive!

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TECHNOLOGY: Spy Drones in Texas

Saturday, November 24, 2007

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/11/police-to-deplo.html

Police to Deploy Spy Drones in Texas
By Sharon Weinberger
November 23, 2007 | 10:41:58 AM

 

***Begin Quote***

An attempt by police in Texas to hold a secret test of spy drones was foiled by a local TV station, which tracked the unmanned aerial vehicles, forcing law enforcement officials to disclose some of their plans.

***and***

Montalvo told reporters the unmanned aircraft would be used for “mobility” or traffic issues, evacuations during storms, homeland security, search and rescue, and also “tactical.” She admitted that could include covert police actions and she said she was not ruling out someday using the drones for writing traffic tickets.

A large number of the officers at the test site were assigned to the department’s ticket-writing Radar Task Force. Capt. Tom Runyan insisted they were only there to provide “site security,” even though KPRC cameras spotted those officers heavily participating in the test flight.

***End Quote***

Here’s we have the next wave of “revenue generation”! What a bunch of “barbara streisand”.

When does the sheeple say “enough”?

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JOBSEARCH: “career plan” – 3

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Answer #3

***Begin Quote***

I think the answer lies in getting the right advice. Typically the gap between outlining a goal and achievement of said goal is tantamount to actualisation. The answer, in regards to your career – I would suggest – lies in finding a ‘good’ recruitment consultant and picking their brain. – ‘I am doing ‘x’ but want to be a Murex/Fidessa Programme Manager – How do I go about this?’ A good consultant will be able to offer the advice you need and put the plan into action. – And its ‘free’, how good is that?

Hope that helps.

***End Quote***

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PRODUCTIVITY: Is blogging like jounaling?

Saturday, November 24, 2007

http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=9758&cn=353

***Begin Quote***

Journaling can provide a good outlet for times when you need to vent but don’t have anyone to vent to. Journaling couldn’t be simpler. You simply write about your experience and emotion. Whatever you might say to a confidant, you can simply write down in a journal entry. In effect, the journal itself becomes your confidant.

***End Quote***

Maybe that’s what I’m doing here?

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JOBSEARCH: Networking f2f versus the many socnets

Friday, November 23, 2007

FROM AN EMAIL EXCHANGE WITH A FELLOW TURKEY

***Begin Quote***

I think I am networked out…you just sent me an invitation to Naymz yesterday which I accepted. How many of these sites can one use ? I know I have signed up for ecademy (sp ?), friendster, Linkedin, Ryze, and probably others. The only networking site I really use on a regular basis is Linkedin.

*** End Quote ***

HERE’S MY RESPONSE

*** begin quote ***

I agree, but personally I’m afraid that by not being on one that I’ll miss something.

I didn’t do ecademy because it’s too European flavored. And, they want money. Ryze was taken over by MLMers imho. I use LinkedIn on regular basis too.

Do you still have two ids?

I agree that f2f is better, but what’s a poor fat old introvert to do. I like the “social networking” genre because as Lucht preaches “the web of weak links” and the fact that they “social networks” are really always working.

I won’t condemn all of “social networking” as an activity trap just quite yet. Only because I don’t have a higher value replacement.

Doing networking a la Lucht style (f2f as you mention) is just too expensive in attention, time, and money. Sure f2f is better than socnet, but you can do a lot more socnet than f2f.

Are they equally productive?

I believe not.

But, I don’t know what the Expected Value comparison would look like.

If one could do 100 high quality f2fs, what would one expect? If one does 1000 high quality socnet contacts, what would one expect? Clearly, I can’t do 100 f2fs. But, I can juggle a 1000 socnets. The payoff is still uncertain.

As always, YMMV,
:-)
fjohn

*** end quote ***

The problem as I see it is that you have no way of estimating the roi. Networking by f2f or by socnet is completely different. I’m not even sure if it is fair to compare. Clearly, f2f has a higher cost. Clearly, socnet is “easier”; at least easier to a fat old ITSJ. As an old injineer, you’d have to design a very careful experiment before making conclusions. It’s a social science nightmare. So many variables, so few constants. Even one’s experiment could be contaminated by a worsening or even an improving economy. Argh! It makes my head hurt with just the thought.

IMHO, socnet is a different kind of “networking”. Potentially a precursor or auxiliary to “f2f networking”. It certainly does NOT map to Lucht’s structured networking paradigm “make appoint to sked 15 minutes, meet (five on hello / goodbye, five on what you want, five on what the target sees), extract two names, send ty, repeat until you find a job”.

I THINK imho “networking” is the process of creating (weak) ties with people, who when they hear of something that you’d be interested in, will take the time to contact you. The usual motivation is like “mutually assured destruction” (i.e., I’ll look for you and you look for me). Although, other motivations might be: common ties (i.e., same school), mutual friends (i.e., a common friend), shared interests (i.e., golf), or even a grandfalloon (i.e., a mythical common bond like vets about military service). In f2f, the motivation to cooperate is high because both halves have made an investment in the relationship. In socnet, the motivation is unclear because the focus in on the communication vehicle.

Have to think about this some more.

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LIBERTY: the greatest betrayal of our nation’s core founding principle

Friday, November 23, 2007

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/WalterEWilliams/2007/11/21/the_greatest_generation

The Greatest Generation
By Walter E. Williams
Wednesday, November 21, 2007

***Begin Quote***

The “greatest generation” is a term sometimes used in reference to those Americans who were raised during the Great Depression, fought in World War II, worked in farms and factories and sacrificed for the war effort while maintaining the home front. Following the war, these Americans, many of whom were born between the turn of the century and 1930, went on to produce a level of wealth and prosperity heretofore unknown to mankind.

There’s no question that this generation made an important contribution. Let’s look at what else that generation contributed that might qualify them for the generation that laid the foundation for the greatest betrayal of our nation’s core founding principle: limited federal government exercising only constitutionally enumerated powers.

***End Quote***

Williams correctly removes the “greatest generation” label from the “Depression / WW2” people. They really screwed up by letting the gooferment, who created the Great Depression with the Smoot Hawley Tariff, “save” them by the removal of the gold standard buried among all the “recovery programs”. That single event allowed the gooferment to grow exponentially, run up a debt, and effectively tax every dollar holder by inflation. At least. the French Kings had to shave the French Franc to pay for their excesses.

Short of a Ron Paul presidential victory, I don’t see how we get our liberty back. The American Republic ended with the War of Northern Aggression. It’s been downhill ever since.

One wonders what will touch off the the Third American Revolution?

And, just how bad it will be?

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FUN: Two Too Many Elves

Friday, November 23, 2007

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9565428332

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9566325289

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INTERESTING: remind the leading Democratic candidates of the opportunity costs of a wa

Friday, November 23, 2007

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20071120_ron_paul_does_the_math

Cheering for Ron Paul
Posted on Nov 20, 2007
By Robert Scheer

***Begin Quote***

That money could have paid for a lot of things we could have used here at home. As Rep. Paul points out, for what the Iraq war costs, we could present each family of four a check for $46,000—which exceeds the $43,000 median household income in his Texas district. He asks: “What about the impact of those costs on education, the very thing that so often helps to increase earnings? Forty-six thousand dollars would cover 90 percent of the tuition costs to attend a four-year public university in Texas for both children in that family of four. But, instead of sending kids to college, too often we’re sending them to Iraq, where the best news in a long time is they [the insurgents] aren’t killing our men and women as fast as they were last month.”

How damning that it takes a libertarian Republican to remind the leading Democratic candidates of the opportunity costs of a war that most Democrats in Congress voted for. But they don’t need to take Paul’s word for it; last week, the majority staff of the Joint Economic Committee in Congress came up with similarly startling estimates of the long-term costs of this war.

***End Quote***

It is interesting when one hears costs put into comprehensible terms. I can imagine how that mythical family of four feels when they hear that they could have invested in their children or paid for the “emperor’s new clothes” (i.e., we can have ‘peace in our time’, ‘make the world safe for democracy’, ‘turn back the yellow hordes’, or what ever the phrase is for the next war). Sigh!

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TECHNOLOGY: personal details of all families in the UK with a child under 16 have gone missing

Friday, November 23, 2007

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7103566.stm

UK’s families put on fraud alert
Alistair Darling
Two computer discs holding the personal details of all families in the UK with a child under 16 have gone missing.

***Begin Quote***

The Child Benefit data on them includes name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and, where relevant, bank details of 25 million people.

***End Quote***

OK, it’s the UK. But what makes you think that our politicians, komisars, and bureaucrats are any better? And, you feel comfortable with these bozos protecting you, holding more of your data, and being “stand up” people? What are you nuts? No, you’re just sheeple!

Argh!

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JOBSEARCH: “career plan” – 2

Friday, November 23, 2007

Answer #2

***Begin Quote***

liken the career path to a business plan. Business set up their goals for the next 18-24 months and end up changing them as they move along due a number of external factors that are out of their control.

Career pathing is so different for each company that there’s no “SDLC”. My recommendation is to look at your company’s goals and map those goals into your current job and your next job. Get with your manager and set those tasks on paper. Tie your bonus dollars that year toward successful achievement of those goals.

Then look at positions or departments and why a move would make sense for you. You may choose never to move up but rather to move across the organization leveraging your current skills to build new skills. There’s no silver bullet for career pathing, just try to plot a sensible path that is achievable and make modifications as you learn more. Good luck.

***End Quote***

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LINKEDINANSWERS: Opine on finding fellow grads

Friday, November 23, 2007

Barry Miller
Manager Alumni Career Programs and Services at Pace University
Using Linked In to Connect to fellow alumni
*** begin quote ***

I would like to connect with New York University alumni, even if I do not know them. Is it possible to do this within Linked IN?

*** end quote ***

I’d also warn about the “five strikes and your out” policy that LinkedIn has to discourage spammers.

I’d offer you the suggestion to set up your own alumni ezine in the form of a free blog (Mine is http://www.jasperjottings.com). Just keep recording everything you “hear” about NYUers there.

(I did more than that, but I’m not sure you want to invest that amount of time.)

I think it’s safer to draw people to you, and form a granfalloon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granfalloon) around NYU. It’ll take a little more work and a little more time, but eventually you will have people coming to you to tout their accomplishments.

To date, I’d say about half of my networking contacts come from that one granfalloon.

Of course, your mileage may vary! Hope this helps.
fjohn

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LINKEDIN: May I suggest that you might want to add more contacts to your LinkedIn profile?

Thursday, November 22, 2007

SHARED WITH ONE OF MY LINKEDIN CONTACTS

May I suggest that you might want to add more contacts to your LinkedIn profile?

LinkedIn is the “find” and “be found” site. But your profile has to be “real”. There are many suspicious profiles on LinkedIn. My taxonomy is: ghosts (abandoned), strawman (owned by a recruiter advertising a real someone and who will “toll booth” you to make contact), scarecrow (owned by a recruiter who will try to sell you a substitute), a zombie (an identity of potentially a real person setup by someone else for other purposes like expanding a contact list to look more popular), and an alter ego (a second profile to feature a different persona). One characteristic they all share is a single, or sparse, contact list. Your contact list is like that. If you’re not getting the results you want, that might be the reason.

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INTERESTING: grieving for US social welfare programs

Thursday, November 22, 2007

http://seekingalpha.com/article/54831-the-5-stages-of-grieving-over-the-u-s-dollar

***Begin Quote***

Finally, stage five, acceptance. The foreign currencies rise to sustainable levels versus the US dollar. Inflation and real economic activity decline in the foreign countries. They begin buying more goods and services from the US, and dollar claims are redeemed. Inflation and interest rates rise in the US, as we have to produce more to pay off the dollar reserves now being redeemed by foreigners. (Send us goods and it will pay off your debts! Amazing how the US got good terms on both sides of the transaction.”)

Well, maybe. It will take a while before all major trading parties in the world float/adjust their currencies to fair levels. At the time that happens, though, it will be obvious that the US is less important to the global economy. The relative value of all US assets will be a smaller proportion of global assets, though it will still likely be the largest share in the world. My view is this process to get to stage five will take no more than 10 years.

By that point, the hopelessness of Federal social insurance programs like Social Security and Medicare, plus underfunded Federal and state retirement plans, will force benefit reductions and tax increases on the US, and crimp borrowing capacity, unless they borrow in a currency other than dollars.

There are five stages of grieving for US social welfare programs as well, but I am afraid we are only in the first stage now, denial.

That is a topic for another day, and not one that I am excited to talk about.

***End Quote***

Happy tday! Enjoy it. The tough times are most certainly coming.

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TECH SERVICE: GOOGLE is a complicated beast!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Just when I think I am at the top of my game, I find out how little I really grok!

Take the mighty GOOGLE for instance. It too can be a little schizophrenic!

For the longest time, I thought I was the one going nuts. When I would post on fellow blogger’s blog hosted at BLOGGER, now a GOOGLE minion, I’d try to use one of my funny email addresses tied to reinkefaceslife dot com like “The Big Turkey” for Dave Opton’s blog about job search.

(You know how I try to partition my life despite Gandhi’s admonition and GTD’s paradigm. Maybe I am the schizophrenic?)

So for the longest time, I when I’d want to make a comment at Dave’s blog — something truly insightful or witty imho — I’d tap out my comment and then try to authenticate to BLOGGER using my GOOGLE account. But, I always had trouble and eventual would take one of the other options.

Had similar problems, at the South Brunswick blog where I wanted to be “a libertarian in 08824”.

But authenticating to and signing in to Blogger was always a hassle. And, I attributed to a hidden Google cookie.

Being the naturally insistent jerk that you all know and love, and like pet with a quirk you see on America’s Funniest Videos, I kept trying. I wonder how many hours I’ve wasted banging my fingers on the keyboard just trying?

SO for the South Brunswick blog, I came up with a workaround. Before I’d post at BLOGGER, I’d log on and off and on again to GMAIL with “a libertarian in 08824”. Then, having cleared the “mythical GOOGLE cookie”, I could go an make my comment and BLOGGER would find my old “a libertarian in 08824” GMAIL signon cookie from the other FIREFOX tab and all would work perfectly.

(Note that this workaround reinforces my belief in the magical GOOGLE cookie that prevented my from using the BLOOGER “use your GOOGLE account” authentication mechanism.)

So I thought I was pretty smart!

So, now, I want to comment and use “The Big Turkey @ Reinke Faces Life” account to comment on a different BLOGGER blog. (It was going to be a wonderfully insightful and funny comment about cannibalism on Thanksgiving being unacceptable to the the big fat old turkey hisself. I thought it would be funny.) But, I could NOT authenticate to BLOGGER. (and, for it to be funny, it had to come from “The Big Turkey”!) So I tried my magic workaround. Which, of course, when needed would NOT work.

Now, I am faced with evidence. (Always, an annoying fact of life!) TBT @ RFL is working for email purposes cause I can see it in outlook. I KNOW the passwords for sure because ROBOFORM keeps all my passwords precisely! I can NOT authenticate to BLOGGER to make my comment. I can NOT authenticate to GMAIL to use my working email. I can not authenticate to GOOGLEACCOUNTS even though … hmmm.

Eureka!

TBT @ RFL is a GOOGLEAPPSFORDOMAINS account!

Remember back when Google announced APPSFORDOMAINS? You could turn any domain into a fully functional one for free. (Hey I admit I’m cheap, but I also like to try everything.) So, I put RFL on GAFD!

BUT, that’s not the same as having a GOOGLE ACCOUNT!

Cute.

GOOGLE is the one that’s schizophrenic.

By way of a test I created “yet another blogger” at rfl dot com. And, proved you can sign in to GMAIL or GOOGLEACCOUNT with it, but you can logon on to GMAIL via the GAFD interface. (How’s that for confusing!) And, even stranger, using that id you can create a GOOGLEACCOUNT with it.

(Now I have to go create GOOGLE ACCOUNTS for those email addresses in RFL that are in GAFD!)

So the moral of the story, is GOOGLE has some split personalities.

And, keep poking at something and eventually all will be revealed.

(But does it have to take so long and make me look so dumb?)

Happy tday.
from the big fat old turkey hisself

Turkey illustration

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JOBSEARCH: “career plan” – 1

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Answer #1

***Begin Quote***

The best one is a combination of your own brain, a pencil and a piece of paper (back of an envelope if you’re a startup kind of guy). Simple is best.

***End Quote***

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TECH SOFTWARE: YAHOOMUSICJUKEBOX does an update when it wants too!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

It’s bad enough when a big giant takes over a software product. It’s bad enough when it insists it’s going to do stuff it’s way. It’s bad enough when it takes all the file associations for its own. But, today to listen to an MP3, it decides on doing a mandatory upgrade. No explanation; just goes off an does it. Never mind that I don’t have time for it now. Never mind that I may not necessarily want their “upgrade”. Never mind that it fires up YIM which I don’t want up. Argh! And, it wants a mandatory reboot. Double Argh!

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MONEY: Poker site lectures on the inflation tax!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

http://www.gambling911.com/Ron-Paul-111807.html

***Begin Quote***

This “inflation tax” is what is causing most of us to feel the economic pinch right now. Right now one main reason things are so tough on you financially is because the government is spending up to one trillion dollars a year on the military. Guess who is paying for that? Us. Guess when? Now and in the future when we will have to pay interest on even more loans the government took out. The government has no money of its own, it only gets what it takes from you and me. And they have been taking a lot of it. We just haven’t seen it directly coming out of our pockets in the form of taxes in our paycheck, but we sure feel it when it costs over fifty bucks to fill the tank, or milk is five bucks a gallon, or your cat food goes from 7.99 to 12.99 in three months. Right now the prices are rising because the value of the dollar is dropping.

***End Quote***

I’d say a lot of people are finally waking up to the fact that the “inflation tax” might be a bigger bite than any other single tax.

Bout time! It is.

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GOLDBUG: Gold is about to soar to new highs

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/WhyGoldsGoingStraightTo1000Dollars.aspx?page=1

Why gold’s going straight to $1,000

Gold is about to soar to new highs, and here are four compelling reasons why. Take a look at four gold-mining stocks that could make your portfolio gleam.
By Michael Brush

*** begin quote ***

Gold beat a hasty retreat after setting records by trading north of $840 an ounce earlier this month, but don’t be fooled.

It’s only taking a breather before it climbs past $1,000.

*** end quote ***

Clearly in an accumulation phase. It’s how the little guy takes profits and puts them on ice during turbulent economic times. Though out history, a few gold coins squirreled away meant the difference between disaster and survival.

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JOBSEARCH: “A Brand You World – 2007 Global Telesummit”

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

http://www.personalbrandingsummit.com/2007/11/recordings-now-.html

Recordings Now Available!

***Begin Quote***

Recordings of “A Brand You World – 2007 Global Telesummit” teleseminars are now available. Select the MP3 link to the left of each teleseminar to download the recording or listen online. You can also access the podcast with iTunes.

***End Quote***

a ton of great advice!

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LINKEDIN: new concept “Network Drafting”

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

“Network Drafting” as defined as noticing that someone you trust in your network connects to another person, and you attempt to connect as well. You’re drafting in the sense that you follow their lead to improve your situation – drafting the race car or bicyclist in front of you.

— Steve Glaiser, Product Quality Executive Management

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MONEY: “cant get ahead” … that’s wrong

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Friday, November 16, 2007
Early To Rise
The Internet’s Most Popular Wealth,
Health and Success E-Zine
Issue #2201

“It’s Just So Much Tougher for Kids These Days.”
By Michael Masterson

***Begin Quote***

That’s the view of Tamara Draut, who works for an agency that promotes government action and whose book, Strapped is subtitled “Why America’s 20- and 30- Somethings Can’t Get Ahead.”

I read the book because I was curious. Her assertion didn’t seem true.

Draut argues that escalating college costs, high rents, and a tough job environment have forced our young people into an endless cycle of borrowing. The result? A generation that simply can’t make it in today’s economy. She supports her argument with anecdotes. And she concludes her book with a short chapter urging governmental reforms and running credit card companies off campuses.

***and***

I tried to put everything I know about starting out and becoming successful – as an entrepreneur and as an employee – in Automatic Wealth for Grads… and Anyone Else Just Starting Out. If you get the book (and I hope you will), you’ll see that I put a heavy emphasis on what has worked for me:

Don’t fret about your problems. And don’t wait for the government to solve them. Create a personal plan for success and follow it.

***and***

This is probably not the kind of advice that Tamara Draut would like to hear, because it doesn’t do much to solve the “starting-out problem” on a global level. But I’d like to think it can help individual people – college grads and young people – become wealthy despite the challenges posed by our shaky economy.

***End Quote***

I think anyone, who looks to the gooferment for “helping” getting on track, is going to be sadly disappointed.

In my warped world view, when we help our fellow man, we are awarded certificates of appreciation (i.e., money). Help lot’s of people and get lots of certificates. These are really IOUs that promise to be redeemable at a future date for a like contribution.

[They should be aware of “inflation” aka gooferment counterfeiting. Running the printing press causes inflation and it is an unavoidable tax on money. At least, the old kings had to physically clip coins to steal from the people. Today, it’s a silent hidden tax.]

I see “children” of many chronological ages wasting their attention, time, money, and energy on frivolous things. Probably the biggest waste is attention. When I watch a college football game and they intro the players and identify their major, I’m stunned. Majors like “Sports management”, “Government Studies”, and “Peace” give me the greatest shock. At least if they say “undecided”, I have some hope.

No, as I have said before, I think the model for success in the future generation starts with: (1) ruthless financial discipline. And, maybe it should be shortened to just “ruthless self-discipline”.

In the days of an agricultural America, children grew up quickly. Chores and the harsh realities of life taught discipline. That has been lost. Today, children are allowed to be dilettantes. Unfortunately, there’s no national trust fund to keep them in the style they’ve been accustomed to.

So, I hope that all the young people can see their way clear of the “smoke” that people are blowing up their a…… in their collective eyes making them “blind” to the realities and possibilities of life. They have a lot less room for error than I did when I was a kind.

It’s a global world and their are a lot of hungry people who will eat their lunch unappologetically.

Sigh!

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INTERESTING: “Victim disarmament” applied to vets?

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2007/tle444-20071118-02.html

 

The River Rubicon
by L. Neil Smith
The Libertarian Enterprise

***Begin Quote***

Seven years ago—although thanks to the horrors of George Bush’s reign of state terrorism it seems vastly longer than that—the Waco Willy Clinton administration, ever fearful that Americans might be equipped for and capable of defending themselves from its predations, served up a list of 83,000 human sacrifices on the altar of victim disarmament.

“Victim disarmament” is the accurate term for “gun control”, as its principal purpose and effect is to render the act of self-defense impossible. Its visible effect on gun-grabbers in public debate is soul-satisfying.

Those 83,000 names belonged to military veterans suffering from disabilities like “post-traumatic stress disorder”, a phenomenon as old as war itself—it’s been called many different things: “shell shock”, “combat fatigue”—but which genuine science (as opposed to the primitive religion known as “psychology”) knows very little about. The names were added to the National Criminal Information System (NCIS) presumably so they would be red-flagged by a Brady background check and their owners could thereby be deprived, for highly dubious pseudomedical reasons, of their Constitutional right to buy or own firearms.

***End Quote***

Do you think perhaps that the congress critters might be a little afraid of having such a large segment of the population armed and unhappy? The fact that the gooferment has screwed over “the troops” in various wars has been well established. This war is no different. Leaving aside the media biases, which during the Clinton era swept “vet gets screwed” stories to the dust bin of history and now regales us with “vet gets screwed” stories on the front page because the White House is held by the “other team”, leave that aside, it’s an article of faith that the first casualty of war is truth. And, boy, do we have a lot of wars going, foreign and domestic. War on Drugs, which is really against our own people. War on Terror, (how does one make “war” on a “tactic”?) which covers anything the gooferment wants it to cover.

Sigh!

I’d say the experiment — as in the American Experiment with a republican form of government — is over. It failed. Shall we try anarchy?

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1 Comment | INTERESTING | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

JOBSEARCH: “career plan”?

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

A LINKEDIN QUESTION I POSED

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Does anyone ever have a “career plan”? What tools do you use to support that plan?

I’ve been counseling my “turkeys” ((i.e., out of work fat old white guys usually in the IT field; you know COBOL guys in the RUBY age) about having a written plan for what they want. Everyone has heard that urban legend about 97% of successful Harvard graduates had a written plan when they graduated. (Have to research that particular urbanity!) But I haven’t found any web tools that support developing a “career plan”. Not that I need one now. But for my fellow turkeys. There’s execunet (www.execunet.com) for executive job search. There’s jibberjobber (www.jibberjobber.com) for personal network management. But what helps plan the career? What is the “Microsoft Project” for turning a string of jobs into a career plan?

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Posted by reinkefj

TECH HARDWARE: Kindle is kindling

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071119/D8T114E00.html

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The Kindle device is shown in this photograph released by Amazon.com on Monday, Nov. 19, 2007. The $399 electronic book device will allow downloads of more than 90,000 book titles, blogs, magazines and newspapers.

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All I know is what I have read in the press.

$400!

Are you kidding me?

It should read the book to me, serve coffee, and do tricks.

Nahhh, I don’t think so.

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Leave a Comment » | HARDWARE | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

FUN: Gutenburg’s personal support

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ

rofl!

Leave a Comment » | FUN | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

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