QUOTE: The objection ofthe defense has been heard and overruled.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

http://www.subzin.com/s/Objection!+-+Overruled

A Few Good Men (1992)

*** begin quote ***

01:17:07 The defense strenuously objects and requests an 802 conference so that His Honor might have a chance to hear discussion before ruling.

01:17:15 The objection of the defense has been heard and overruled.

01:17:19 – Move to reconsider. – Your objection is noted.

01:17:22 The witness is an expert, and the court will hear his opinion!

*** end quote ***

For some reason, I like this quote. It’s not used frequently enough. Peole just repeat and repeat themselves. Argh!

# # # # #


RANT: MP4B, mp4b … why should you even care?

Saturday, July 10, 2010

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke-lebron-james-20100709,0,5931688.column

On an ESPN show, the King shows up a supportive community.
By Bill Plaschke
July 8, 2010 | 11:27 p.m

*** begin quote ***

If you are going to leave the team where you’ve spent all seven seasons, leave the area where you’ve spent all 25 years, doesn’t decorum dictate that you do it quietly, gently, gracefully? Given that this town hasn’t enjoyed a major sports championship in 46 years, and given that your departure could keep them from winning anything for many more years, don’t you think of them first? Did no part of last season’s $15.8-million salary mandate, you know, manners?

You want to leave this place where you are so beloved, fine. Leave it like a man. Issue a news release announcing your decision and thanking Cleveland for its support. Hold a local news conference with the Cleveland media to reiterate those thanks. Then, and only then, do you appear on a national ESPN show to talk about your decision.

But no, years of coddling have filled James with such narcissism that he no longer sees anyone but himself. While reaping financial rewards as this country’s most successful basketball prodigy, James has paid the price in a failure to develop integrity or character. Hey, if you can dunk on someone, why do you have to be sensitive to them?

*** end quote ***

MP4B = “Millionaires Playing For Billionaires”

This is “entertainment”.

It has nothing to do with humanity (i.e., think the USA 1980 Hockey team), the struggle to attain something (i.e., think the movie RUDY), overcome adversity (i.e., that fellow who without arms or legs swims the English Channel), or the nobility of sport (i.e., Little Leaguers line up to congratulate the winning team; Japanese baseball players salute the umpire, not revile him).

It’s all about the benjamins and extracting them from the booboisie. (1).

There’s something elegant about truly amateur sports. Before the money got into it, women’s college basketball was like that. Young women busting butt for its own sake.

There is no longer “nobility” in Sports. LeBron is just following in the footsteps of Tiger, Kobe, McGwire, Pete Rose, … right down to Marion Jones lying about steroids. Even children, Danny Almonte in Little League; a baseball scandal without the big buxs.

So why should I care?

# – # – #

(1) booboisie (boob’wa-ze) n. The class of the population composed of the stupid and gullible.

# # # # #


INITIALISMS: NUTS = non-negotiable, unalterable terms

Friday, July 9, 2010

http://www.lewrockwell.com/spl2/8-tools-change-your-life.html

8 Tools That Will Change Your Life: The Hold On to Your N.U.T.s Book Giveaway
by Wayne M. Levine

*** begin quote ***

Tool #3: Cooperate Without Compromising Your N.U.T.s

Men get angry and resentful when they agree to something that compromises who they are, what they stand for. Men who have developed their N.U.T.s – non-negotiable, unalterable terms, have no problem cooperating as long as they’re not asked to compromise what’s important, their non-negotiable, unalterable terms. Men who have not developed their N.U.T.s are likely to not cooperate at all because they live in constant fear of being compromised – they feel they must defend themselves. But when a man use this Tool, he can show up as the man he wants to be in his relationships at home, at work and in his community.

*** end quote ***

Great advice. Should have had it decades ago!

# # # # #


GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Arrest real criminals; not stupid people

Friday, July 9, 2010

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100708/NEWS01/7080348/-1/BUSINESS04/Cops-clip-Madrid-driver-in-mower-case

Cops clip Madrid driver in mower case
By REGINA ZILBERMINTS • rzilbermin@dmreg.com • July 8, 2010

*** begin quote ***

It may have been how Robert Grimstad was driving that caught people’s attention. He was all over the road. Or the fact it was after midnight and the 38-year-old didn’t have headlights on. Most likely, though, it was the fact he was riding a lawn mower down the highway.

*** end quote ***

Doesn’t this point out the absurdity of Gooferment “laws”?

(It’s also absurd to call what the Gooferment passes and seeks to enforce a “law”. Diktat! I like the German word better. An authoritative or dogmatic statement or decree. When I think of “law”, I think of the “Law of Gravity”. <Remembering Michael J. “Crocodile” Dundee saying to the mugger with a knife] “That’s not a knife.” [draws a very large Bowie knife] “This is a KNIFE.” ROFL> Yeah, “Law of Gravity” that’s a big hairy “you can’t break me” law. It says “GO ahead and try to break me. I dare you.” That’s a LAW!)

Any way, “drinking and driving” diktats started with the common sense idea that impair drivers are dangerous. But as usual, somewhere between common sense and effectiveness, the politicians and bureaucrats took a left turn. And, I use the word left accurately. It’s all about “feelings”. So, instead of insisting on a victim, they make up diktats where the Gooferment is the victim. If you have an accident and are found impaired, you lose a lot of stuff. If you injure some one, in addition you go to the “penalty box” for a long time. And, heaven forbid, you kill someone, you go to the isolation chamber for the rest of your life. None of this “sobriety checkpoints” and repeat offender “barbara streisand”. Penalties and sanctions with teeth.

Instead the police are arresting lawn mower drivers, argh!

Where’s the victim in this case?

# # # # #


FUN: Playing video poker in SSH for fun and “points”

Friday, July 9, 2010

OK, it’s dumb. Spending real money to “win” points redeemable for over-priced prizes. That being said, Frau and I compete. Loser buys lunch. And when the “kids”, some of whom are actually children, everyone can get a “prize”. Which makes Frau happier than the “kid”. And, since I want Frau happy, I burn a few brain cells to win points. Free lunch ain’t bad either as a motivator.

SO it’s five card draw poker with five wild cards.

Here’s the Paytable in “points”

Natural Royal 800
Five of Kind 500
Wild Royal 300
St Flush 150
Four of Kind 75
Full House 40
Flush 20
Straight 8
Trips spin a dumb wheel
Two pair 5
9’s or better 4

Spinner has values: 3 – 500 – 5 – 50 – 250 – 4 – 25 – 100 – 1000 – 10 – 5000 – 15

Today’s sample spinner results:

3 1
4 6
5 1
10 2
15 2
25 1
50 1
100 0
250 0
500 0
1000 0
5000 0

Hard to calculate the EV of the wheel but here’s a guess 157/14 = 11 points per spin

Need a poker probability table for 14 card suits a-2-…t-j-q-k-w

Need a strategy for the discard.

Have to beat Frau for the free lunch.

Help?

Argh!

# – # – #

Note: One has to consider the first ten cards of a random deck of 56 cards.

56C10?

Anyone have fifty six fingers?

# # # # #

13c1 13c1 13c1 13c1 13c1 13c1 13c1 13c1 13c1 13c1

13c1 ** 10

1 out of 56 = 0.0178571…

(56)**10 possible combinations to consider

56C10

Thinking about it. Five card poker with 4 wild cards and a draw. It’s only about the ten cards. There’s a decision. By enumeration.

56*55*54*53*52 == 51*50*49*48*47

56*55= 3 080
*54= 166 320
*53= 8 814 960
*52= 458 377 920
*51=
*50=
*49=
*48=
*47=

Clearly beyond enumeration. Outsource to India.

# # # # #


SOCIALISM:Exactly how is microcredit for capital formation consistent with socialism?

Friday, July 9, 2010

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N04171136.htm

RPT-FEATURE-Venezuela slum takes socialism beyond Chavez
06 Jul 2010 11:00:17 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Esteban Israel

*** begin quote ***

They are also turning their hands to urban agriculture and fish farming to feed locals, and say that the future communal bank will extend micro-credit to foster economic independence.

*** end quote ***

Why?

If these guys are socialists why do they need money. And, microcredit? That makes no sense. These guys are socialists. Credit is at the bedrock of capitalism. And, that’s their evil villain. Unfortunately, economics is as real as physics in terms of science. Scarcity is a sad fact of life. And, wishing it would go away is hopeless. And actually detrimental to making life better for everyone.

# # # # #


RANT: Janeane Garofalo, suitable for ostracism

Thursday, July 8, 2010

*** begin quote ***

Janeane Garofalo to take on ‘Criminal Minds’ role

Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 7:01 AM

Janeane Garofalo is considering a deal to join a CBS “Criminal Minds” crime drama spin-off. The actress-comedienne has starred iin “24,” though she’s most well know for her stand-up comedy and her roles in films such as “The Truth about Cats and Dogs.”

*** end quote ***

While everyone has First Amendment right, we have rights too.

She is such a loon. And, I have heard her make disgusting editorials.

So I am exercising my rights to shun her.

So should you!

# # # # #


SERVICE: LEGACY send out notifications after expirations

Thursday, July 8, 2010

>legacy sends notice of page going down AFTER it’s down

201007080903.jpg

And, of course, the conflicted message: “email us” just not by replying!

Great IT architecture change. I guess the purpose is to generate revenue by forcing people to sponsor guestbooks. If the guestbook was reasonably priced, then they might have a change. But in this case, they are “grave robbers” trying to increase their bottom line

This accentuates the need for micropayments. Imagine that reading an obit cost a penny, or some fraction there of. WIth 300M people, let’s say 10% read the obits. (Probably higher!) That 30M times 1¢ of a Million Bucks! That would more than pay for the site. Plus ads. Plus all the other stuff they sell.

It probably has to be Visa or Amex to do it. It’s got to have strong cryptology, and audit ability. But it could be a real winner for some credit card company.

It could be tied into single use credit card numbers that also would need strong cryptology and account ability.

Wonder when someone other than a fat old white guy injineer will realize it?

# # # # #


GOVEROTRAGEOUS: How do We, The People treat our vets

Thursday, July 8, 2010

http://www.sturgisjournal.com/opinions/columnists/x909196607/Bruce-Coulter-VA-acts-fast-when-it-feels-the-need

VA acts fast when it feels the need
By Bruce Coulter
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jul 07, 2010 @ 11:47 AM

*** begin quote ***

“Currently, the VA considers any reimbursement that compensates a veteran for his or her expenses due to accidents, theft or loss as income. Only reimbursements of expenses related to casualty loss are currently exempted from determination of income,” he wrote.

Under current law, if a veteran is injured in an accident or victimized by a theft and receives compensation to cover medical expenses, replacement cost of the items stolen, or for pain and suffering, he or she is subject to losing their pension.

“This means that the law effectively punishes veterans when they suffer from such an accident or theft,” Hastings said.

Despite the efforts of the veteran and Hastings, the VA has refused to reinstate the veteran’s pension.

To prevent a repeat of the VA’s idiocy (my words, not the congressman’s), Hastings introduced The Pension Protection Act of 2010, H.R. 4541 on Jan. 27. The bill would prohibit the VA from counting casualty windfall payments as income for the purposes of determining eligibility for the non-service connected pension benefit.

*** end quote ***

Gooferment!

Still haven’t heard anyone name a Gooferment that works (i.e., effectively accomplishes its mission, efficiently use the resources given it to accomplish an outstanding result, and cost-effectively at a cost that the folks can afford). We’ll leave aside the morality of stealing people’s wealth to do stuff that they didn’t agree to fund, don’t agree with, or don’t want to have anything to do with. Some “Land of the Free”. Free as long as you do what the plantation owners in the District of Corruption want you to do.

Argh!

Regardless about how you feel about any of the wars, these vets believed our sacred pledge. And, this is how we allow it to be redeemed in our name?

Argh squared!!

# # # # #


PLINKY: My Life, Ten Years From Now

Thursday, July 8, 2010

I hope I’m still blogging … probably from the home for old bloggers. With any luck, I’ll still be “advocating” for my “patient”.

Under the heading of “jumbo shrimp, the tooth fairy, and honest politicians” (i.e., things we wish for but don’t exist), I’d hope I had: won the lotto, seen the return to honest money, and Peace on Earth.


RANT: Support the troops; bring them home!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

http://original.antiwar.com/norby/2010/07/06/steele-speaks-the-truth/

Steele Speaks the Truth
by Chris Norby, July 07, 2010

Chris Norby is a freshman Republican state legislator from Orange County, Calif. He previously served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors and as mayor of Fullerton.

*** begin quote ***

“If he [Obama] is such a student of history, has he not understood the one thing you don’t do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? Everyone who has tried over a thousand years has failed, and there are reasons for that.” In restating this obvious historical fact, Republican Chairman Michael Steele has roused a chorus of neocon critics calling for his resignation.

Instead, they should heed the words of Douglas MacArthur, who warned another young president – John F. Kennedy – in 1961: “Anyone wanting to commit American ground forces to the mainland of Asia should have his head examined.”

*** end quote ***

BHO44 is no student of anything. Except maybe how to fool some of the people some of the time.

Afpak land war? Insane no matter what empire tries it and no matter which party runs it.

Ground forces should be at home. Right smack dab in the US of A.

Argh!

# # # # #


TECHNOLOGY: SPAM is preventable

Thursday, July 8, 2010

http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/26/internet-malware-security-technology-cio-network-spam.html

Digital Frontlines
We Can’t Get Rid Of Spam
Ed Sperling, 06.28.10, 06:00 AM EDT

*** begin quote ***

After nearly 15 years of filling inboxes with electronic garbage, the problem only seems to be getting worse.

Spam may well be one of those IT problems that never completely goes away, like rust on a ship. There are filters and services that can keep it to a manageable level, but even those don’t get rid of the problem entirely. Some of it still creeps through spam blockers, ultimately costing companies sizable amounts of money in terms of storage and employee productivity that is used to read it and delete it.

*** end quote ***

>We can’t get rid of spam

Sorry, but I disagree. And, with that type of attitude, we will never be rid of it.

Let’s start with the basic features of the internet.

IPv4 doesn’t FORCE full authentication. IPv6 moves us along. No one is really pushing IPv6.

The mail protocol has no real authentication.

Now on to the details. The Peering Points have no economic interest in stopping SPAM or creating a feedback mechanism. The ISPs have some half-hearted “committees” working on “solutions”. (Note, when one domain was cut off spam dropped dramatically, but it was reconnected. Someone’s pocket book get hit?)

BUT, any assumption that “it can’t cured” is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Like the “user’s chronological age” problem, (i.e., how does a website KNOW there’s a child at the other end of the wire), this solution to SPAM is TOTALLY within the ISP’s control.

(1) Implement a fully authenticate email protocol. (SMTP has served well for decades; time for a face lift.) Turn the smart folks loose on the problem.

(2) End free email service. “Stamps” for email sent and received are essentially micropayments for cryptographic keys.

(3) If the User gets spam, give them a feedback loop to get their money back. That gives the ISP the trail. (Wall Street and most businesses can handle “chargebacks”.) Get after the various ISPs and Websites with email, that pass spam, with a big club — additional expense!

(I have to laugh when I get spam on Yahoo that purports to originate FROM a Yahoo email address. Yahoo doesn’t even bother to parse it’s own email. If the email purports to have originated from within it’s own domain, why is it coming in from the outside. That should be an easy fix.)

(4) Implement a PKI infrastructure and than you know who sent it and can come down hard on that person. Why should email be like writing on a postcard? Could it be that there are economic advantages to allowing snooping?

The software vendor’s are not immune to criticism in this mess. They put out OS and Applications software that buggy and allows this mess to continue.

IMHO, this SHOULD BE a solved problem.

# # # # #


MONEY: Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Bail Out, Too Big to Exist

Thursday, July 8, 2010

http://www.cnbc.com/id/38102194

Banks Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Bail Out: Roubini
Published: Tuesday, 6 Jul 2010 | 8:26 AM ET
By: CNBC.com

*** begin quote ***

“Banks at this point are too big to fail, but also too big to be bailed, especially in Europe where the sovereigns are in trouble and therefore the ability to backstop the financial system is not there,” Roubini said

*** end quote ***

Too big too exist!

We need to update our thinking as evidenced by our “litanies”.

Repeat after me: “Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Bail Out, Too Big to Exist”!

Wonder what the fat cat executives will do when they lose their cushy jobs?

Bet it never comes to that.

That’s the flaw in “Too Big To Fail”. Let a few fail and those with vested interests will figure how how not to fail in the first place.

Argh!

# # # # #


GOLDBUG: Speculating about gold confiscation is asking the wrong question

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

http://www.silvermonthly.com/195/government-confiscation-gold-happened-beforecould-happen/

Government Confiscation of Gold: It Happened Before — Could It Happen Again?
by: J.D. Seagraves

*** begin quote ***

Although the U.S. dollar is constantly under pressure, the U.S. government continues to stockpile debt, and impossible-to-fulfill entitlement commitments loom on the horizon, the idea that the U.S. government would try to confiscate citizens’ gold today or anytime in the foreseeable future certainly seems spurious at best. After all, the government did so in the past in order to recalibrate the gold standard, which we have not been on since 1972.

However, our government has become increasingly bold in its refusal to be restrained by the Constitution, and following the return to limited government (at least in rhetoric) by the Reagan administration in the eighties, the Constitution has been all but ignored by subsequent administrations and congresses.

*** end quote ***

Sorry, but that is absolutely the wrong question.

Yes! With Gooferment debt as far as the eye can see. And “unfunded liabilities” that even scare politicians and bureaucrats abound. (Not for the reasons you think; they are worried how they are going to collect! Did you forget the three “laws” of policial behavior again? Remember the three “laws” of political motivation: (1) reward your friends; (2) punish your enemies; and (3) feather your own nest.)

So with this “crisis” looming, the popular tin foil hat worry is “gold confiscation”. Sorry, but that won’t help the politicians and bureaucrats through this crisis. Last time, it was easy and there was enough wealth that could be stolen to make it worth their while. This time, not as many people own gold, they don’t old anywhere near as much of it, those that do own gold also own guns, the population isn’t as docile and complaint as back then, and the We, The People are aroused and as irritable as a cranky tired child .

No, there will be no “FDR-style gold confiscation” because, pure and simple, it can’t give the politicians and bureaucrats enough wealth to pay their own pensions. Or, even allow them to buy enough votes to get reelected. That’s what the “crisis” is all about.

I think the correct question is “what WILL they seize that can end the crisis?”. That’s the question.

The only pot big enough is the 401k / IRA wealth save by Americans for their retirement and held by a small number of “custodians”. 13T$! Sticking there waiting to be stolen.

That will be their target.

Of course, it will have to be done: “to save the children”. In this case, it’ll be the “child-like investor” who will be deemed to need their “retirements” protected from the inability of Wall Street to be honest and to generate the returns necessary for a “safe and secure” retirement. And, of course, the “crisis”, the American version of the “Reichstag fire”, will be to “save Social Security, Medicare, and the Drug Benefit”. There have to be some “poor children” in there somewhere.

Think back when Bush supposedly wanted to “privatize” Social Security. (Like that was going to ever happen. It sent the message that “you victims have been getting screwed big time” and now were going to “allow you to be screwed a little less”. It said sotto voce that maybe you the individual didn’t need the wise old Gooferment to plan your retirement!) Remember how the politicians and bureaucrats screamed that the Stock Market was “unsafe”. (Yeah, like getting a negative 3 per cent return on your “Social Security” investment was safe. Or, that depending upon Gooferment not to change the rules on “Social Security” again. Remember it was never going to be taxable. It was never to be changed. It was the supposed “third rail” of politics. It was “retirement insurance”)

Get ready for a large dose of propaganda!

I suspect the argument will run concurrently along several lines: “Save Social Security for Future Generations”, “Save your Social Security from the Boomer shift”, “No Social Security for the Wealthy”, “IRAs and 401ks are not ‘safe’ in the Markets”, “It’s not fair to poor people who couldn’t save”, and “The Gooferment gave you a tax break so some or all of it is theirs”. Argh!

When the Gooferment first created IRAs in my early days, I didn’t go into one because I was concerned about them changing the rules on them. If we had blogs back then, I’d have ranted about them. Eventually my then accountant, (I’ve gone through several since then), convinced me to “take the tax deduction”. It meant I paid less taxes out of my own pocket and had this pot of money, that I couldn’t touch until I was old, over on the side. Eventually, I thought this was how they were going to get out of the Social Security “problem”. (Little did I know then!) But I was concerned then about taxablity. I suspected that they end the program at a “bad time” (i.e., for the Gooferment; when they needed the money), make it all taxable right there and then, and I’d be stuck for an even bigger bill. Argh!

SO! Short story, long! No gold confiscation. IRA / 401k confiscation.

It’s easy. Only have to “rob” a few thousand “custodians” who are mostly big banks and brokerages that are already under the Gooferment’s thumb.

It’s “enough”. 13T$ will allow the Gooferment to keep on spending.

It’s “politcally feasible”. Propagandize the Sheeple. Promise them “enhanced Social Security”. (With interest rates at below 1%, how much cash flow would you have to pay on 13T$? Think lie they are taking out fixed rate mortgage and you’re stuck with the paltry returns. No adjustments. Argh!)

That’s the question.

And so what are you going to do about it.

Sheeple!

# # # # #


PLINKY: That Special Book in My Life

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

My first novel. Five decades after it could have been written.

“CHURCH 10●19●62” 978-0-557-08387-9

Action, adventure, fiction, Cuban Missle Crisis, TEOTWAWKI, Alternative history, heroic, and I wrote it.

It’s what I wished had happened.

How’s that for sad?


POLITICAL: Too big to fail doesn’t appy to nations?

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

http://libertyslifeline.com/2010/06/28/the-regulators-are-dead-long-live-the-regulators/

The Regulators are Dead, Long Live the Regulators
Jun 28, 2010
2010 Election, Bailouts, Economy, Fiscal Crisis, Liberty, Obama, Politics, Taxes

*** begin quote ***

Senator Chris Dodd and Representative Barney Frank were at the heart of the financial debacle, claiming that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were in sound financial shape. Meanwhile Senator Dodd was getting a sweetheart mortgage from Countrywide as a “Friend of Angelo” Mozillo, the CEO of Countrywide. Now we are to believe that Senator Dodd and Representative Frank have ridden to the rescue and have crafted the solution we have all been waiting for, just don’t ask about Fannie and Freddie, they aren’t included in this master work.

*** end quote ***

“Too big to fail” means too big to permit to exist.

In the real world of nature, there’s a limit on growth and size. Bee colonies split. Poor people emigrate. You can only grow so big.

Common problem for publicly traded companies is they can’t grow at a rate sufficient to command a premium multiple in the stock market.

So the problem is yet unaddressed.

Some ideas might be an arbitrary limit on a company’s balance sheet. A “too big company” might be subject to tighter financial regulation, an insurance tax, or even an absolute limit.

Without the gooferment, in the real world, the huge enterprises couldn’t exist. Logistics don’t scale. Competitors emerge.

It’s sad!

# # # # #


RANT: The oil spill and “bigger fish to fry”

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575339650877298556.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_opinion

* OPINION
* JULY 2, 2010

Why Is the Gulf Cleanup So Slow?
There are obvious actions to speed things up, but the government oddly resists taking them.
By PAUL H. RUBIN

*** begin quote ***

As the oil spill continues and the cleanup lags, we must begin to ask difficult and uncomfortable questions. There does not seem to be much that anyone can do to stop the spill except dig a relief well, not due until August. But the cleanup is a different story. The press and Internet are full of straightforward suggestions for easy ways of improving the cleanup, but the federal government is resisting these remedies.

*** and ***

One possibility is sheer incompetence.

*** and ***

Another possibility is that the administration places a higher priority on interests other than

*** and ***

Finally there is the most pessimistic explanation—that the oil spill may be viewed as an opportunity, the way White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said back in February 2009, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”

*** end quote ***

Oh come on now, you couldn’t possibly believe that BHO44 wants to use the spill for political purposes?

I do!

Argh!

# # # # #


SERVICE: VERIZONWIRELESS BACKUPASSISTANT NOTRECOMMENDED

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

VERIZONWIRELESS BACKUPASSISTANT is supposed to backup my contacts from my cell phone.

The website has a last backup date of June 11, 2010; I changed some yesterday.

It’s NOT keeping a current backup.

Why?

For warned is fore armed!

# # # # #


HARWARE: Rebooted MCBA

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

(MCBA — Mick Bahhh! — Mac Book Air)

In the fast task switch ALT-TAB, Firefox was missing from the applications.

I decided to reboot McBa to get it straightened out.

Argh!

Shades of Windoze.

I left Windoze to be free of reboots and corrupt data.

# # # # #


GOVEROTRAGEOUS: The Gooferment doesn’t learn from history

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

http://opinion.financialpost.com/2010/06/25/lawrence-solomon-avertible-catastrophe/#ixzz0s9jeLCy7

Avertible catastrophe
Lawrence Solomon
June 25, 2010 – 9:06 pm
The BP oil-rig explosion. The U.S. turned down an offer of Dutch technology that might have reduced the spill’s impact.
How U.S. labour and ­environmental rules blocked Dutch spill-cleanup technology

*** begin quote ***

Then again, perhaps he should not be all that perplexed at the American tolerance for turning an accident into a catastrophe. When the Exxon Valdez oil tanker accident occurred off the coast of Alaska in 1989, a Dutch team with clean-up equipment flew in to Anchorage airport to offer their help. To their amazement, they were rebuffed and told to go home with their equipment. The Exxon Valdez became the biggest oil spill disaster in U.S. history — until the BP Gulf spill.

*** end quote ***

It just proves that the Gooferment is stupid!

And, we are just a dumb for believing their illusions and promises.

# # # # #


RANT: It’s always about the “something else”

Monday, July 5, 2010

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/106887-health-law-risks-turning-away-sick

Health law risks turning away sick
By Julian Pecquet – 07/01/10 07:13 PM ET

*** begin quote ***

The Obama administration has not ruled out turning sick people away from an insurance program created by the new healthcare law to provide coverage for the uninsured.

Critics of the $5 billion high-risk pool program insist it will run out of money before Jan. 1, 2014. That’s when the program sunsets and health plans can no longer discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.

*** and ***

“Along with that, we can work with the states to adjust their benefit structure, the deductibles, the co-pays, the overall plan structure to address some of those cost drivers, again to help the plan make it to 2014, when it will no longer be needed.”

In addition, Popper said, many people won’t be able to afford to participate in the program since premiums will range between about $140 and $900 a month, depending on applicants’ age and where they live. HHS estimates that at least 200,000 people will be in the program at any one time. To be eligible, applicants have to be citizens or nationals of the United States or be lawfully present; have a pre-existing medical condition; and have been uninsured for at least six months before applying for the high-risk pool plan.

*** and ***

If it looks like too many people are signing up — states will get monthly updates on how many people they can cover with the money they have left — there’s always the option of turning people down.

The bill “does give the secretary authority to limit enrollment in the plan … nationally or on a state-by-state basis,” Popper said. “So that is present, but at this point, we’re starting with no one in the plan as of today … so we don’t see that happening anytime soon.”

*** end quote ***

One giant criticism of BHO44 and his Obamacare is that it had muddled objectives. Was it about “health”, “health care”, “health care insurance”, or something else. Us, tin foil hats, believe it’s the “something else”.

By not being specific about their objectives, they don’t have to be specific about their results. We, The People have allowed our elected representatives to get away with this muddled thinking. And, as such, we once again find ourselves faced with a confused mess. Argh!

I believe this is all about “control”. By centralizing one seventh of the economy, the politicians and bureaucrats are in control of our lives. By controlling “health care” and “health care insurance”, they control us.

Remember the three “laws” of political motivation: (1) reward your friends; (2) punish your enemies; and (3) feather your own nest. Clearly, this wins on all three fronts.

By controlling “health care” and “health care insurance”, they create a voting block. Look what Social Security and Medicare has done to create a “senior citizen” voting block for the Democratic Party. Look at Florida. Created by Social Security. That’s the power to reward yor friends — the incumbent politicians. Never mind the endless opportunities for graft, corruption and outright theft for the .

By controlling “health care” and “health care insurance”, they have won a war with the Catholic Church and Right To Life groups over abortion. The “sacrament” of the modern liberal feminist, enshrined by Roe v Wade, will now be fully funded to the abhorrence of Right To Life taxpaying advocates. That’s punishing your enemy — the Religious Right.

By controlling “health care” and “health care insurance”, they have created endless bureaucratic positions. Of course, to be filled by “them”, their friends ‘n’ family, and their supporters. And, created countless opportunities for lobbyists to fill their pockets as they create loopholes, exceptions, and prohibitions. That’s feathering, with some pretty comfortable feathers.

Silly Taxpayer, you didn’t think this was about anything as trivial as helping sick people now did you?

By pulling the Sheeple’s own wool over the Sheeple’s eyes, they are able to sheer the Sheeple some more.

See if the objective was “health”, “health care”, or “health care insurance”, then it would be relatively easy and cheap to address the issue. For “health”, address the root cause of poor health — we have to make it a national priority to find out what that was. (I’d say “gooferment skrules”, but that’s another story.) If it was “health care”, then perhaps better records, uniform forms, or — shocked hush — eliminating medical licensing. If it is was “health care insurance” slash cost, then we could change the tax law to make everyone their own subchapter S copr and make cost of earning a living deductible to all. If it is was “health care insurance” slash cost, then the gooferment could just buy poor people health insurance as part of the federal health insurance system. (Whoopi Goldberg had it right: “What the hell! I just want what you <Congressmen> got. <for health insurance>. Way to nail the issue, Whoopster!)

See it’s always about something else!

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FUN: Took the bike out of the shed

Monday, July 5, 2010

The chain guard is either poorly installed, defective, or been mistreated. It rubbed the read tire. So I, like the fat old white guy injineer I am, bent it back into shape. When riding (Yes I did ride it.) it made a repetitive metal on metal sound. So, I took it back to the shop where I found it needed a little more bending. (Pretty sad that I could bend it with my bear hands. I remember when you needed “tools” to work on metal or bikes. Argh!)

Took a few pedals up and down the block

(OK, four to be exact!)

The seat needs lowering. And, I need to work on it. Argh!

When did fat, old, and out of shape catch up with me?

Argh!

It’s going to be a long rest of my life.

Argh squared!

It’s not hot here on the porch, but I’m hot and sweaty from just that little bit of effort.

I better get a helet for when I fall off this thing and break my skull.

My brain is OBVIOUSLY all I have going for me.

Argh cubed!

You can all stop snickering now. And go read my book. (I have “John” riding a bike effortlessly there. In my imagination!)

It’s all the equipment’s fault!

It’s all effortless long-distance high-speed pedaling … … in my dream world!

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JOBSEARCH: Form for free may be just the thing for thee

Monday, July 5, 2010

http://blogs.jobdig.com/wwds/2010/06/22/networking-tool-for-everyone-free

Networking Tool For Everyone (free)

Posted in June 22nd, 2010

*** begin quote ***

Instead, imagine that you have completed a BUILDING MY NETWORK form in advance of the meeting. The form lists the companies you are interested in, the contact people, the issues confronting the business and the department where you want to work. This way your contact has something to react to, and to refer to later.

*** end quote ***

Any free advise is good.

I like McKay66 and I like Lucht’s structured networking meeting.

But this is a good idea to have an ice breaker of targets.

If I have a gripe with it, it would be that in might get you down in the weeds BEFORE you’ve established what “field” you should be working in. Part of the structured networking is to listen to what the target has to say about your situation.

Sometimes that is something “strategic” that you never considered.

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GOLDBUG: Time to return to Constitutional money

Sunday, July 4, 2010

http://www.commodityonline.com/futures-trading/technical/Can-gold-be-valued-in-currency-or-is-itself-money-16935.html

Can gold be valued in currency or is itself money?
Published on June 21, 2010 14:45:00 IST

*** begin quote ***

My suggestion to Ron Paul and all those wanting to return to gold, is the best way to accomplish this is not by proclaiming your determination to replace the Federal Reserve Board with the gold standard, but to attack the legal tender laws of this country.

*** and ***

The key is to go after the governments monopoly on money. If broken, gold will find it’s way into the monetary system, as it is today, and reclaim it’s superior role as long as it is not prevented from doing so. Legal tender laws do just that. They prevent choice.

*** and ***

If governments fail to get their fiscal houses in order there is no telling what the future will bring. Gold offers some semblance of security. Among other things, it is a hedge against stupidity. Given the almost criminally reckless fiscal policies of government, who in his right mind would not want to protect himself. And if a currency crisis occurs, who would believe the promises of a new government paper currency in light of the broken promises of governments everywhere. Gold is not a promise that can be broken, and therein lies its present appeal.

*** and ***

To all the pundits that believe a gold standard is impractical, I suggest they look at the present fiat system and then judge it against the hundred years of monetary stability we enjoyed in years past under the gold standard. Then talk to me about which system is practical and which system is not.

*** end quote ***

The Dead Old White Guys had just experience the inflation of paper money. They saw first hand how it let the Gooferment buy more than it had without any check or balance.

By the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank —

(which: ain’t “federal”; it’s a private cartel of banks; ain’t a “reserve” of anything; it’s ious with the taxpayer being the ower; and ain’t a bank; it’s a price fixing machine that makes the bankers rich and the politicians with an unending supply of spendable “money”.)

— they have made the Dead Old White Guys’ worst nightmare true. Unchecked gooferment.

Argh!

Time to roll back “progress” and go back to gold.

As a check on gooferment spending. ANY gooferment!

How can we be “independent” without honest money?!

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RANT: The Gooferment continues to attack The First!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=167845

1ST AMENDMENT UNDER FIRE
Free speech restored at Liberty Bell display
Keeping order isn’t license ‘to deprive an individual of a constitutional right’
Posted: June 18, 2010 8:36 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh

*** begin quote ***

He also was ordered not to return to engage in “free-speech activities” without first getting permission from the park.

*** end quote ***

Doesn’t anyone find this “amusing”? Like the “free speech zones” at political conventions!

Sorry, but limits are “fire in a crowded theater” and that’s about it.

What other standard could there be that doesn’t gut the First Amendment?

Lysander Spooner was right! ①

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① “Inasmuch as the Constitution was never signed, nor agreed to, by anybody, as a contract, and therefore never bound anybody, and is now binding upon nobody; and is, moreover, such an one as no people can ever hereafter be expected to consent to, except as they may be forced to do so at the point of the bayonet, it is perhaps of no importance what its true legal meaning, as a contract, is. Nevertheless, the writer thinks it proper to say that, in his opinion, the Constitution is no such instrument as it has generally been assumed to be; but that by false interpretations, and naked usurpations, the government has been made in practice a very widely, and almost wholly, different thing from what the Constitution itself purports to authorize. He has heretofore written much, and could write much more, to prove that such is the truth. But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain – that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.” Lysander Spooner (1808-1887), No Treason (1870) http://praxeology.net/LS-NT-6.htm#no.6

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RANT: Why I Won’t Call It Independence Day Or Recite The Pledge Of Allegiance!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

WHY I WON’T CALL IT INDEPENDENCE DAY or RECITE THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE!

>Happy 4th of July!….

It’s supposedly Independence Day. Why don’t I feel very free?

① The Gooferment taking an obscene percentage of our income and wealth (it’s incalcuable with taxes and fees hidden everywhere). The only true measure of how much wealth we pay in taxes is to consolidate all the gooferment spending on and off the books. (Yes, they keep multiple sets of books!) It stunning when you add it all up. And “We, The People” pay it.

② The Gooferment has the largest prison population (by number and percentage) in the world. (Let’s free all non-violent drug offenders immediately and lower that number by half!)

③ The Gooferment has economically enslaved 52% the people (i.e., the 52/48 split between welfare / work) and has a huge number of gooferment “employees”.

④ The Gooferment has encumbered us and future Americans with an unrepayable national debt and crushing unfunded liabilities while continuing to “give” us “free” stuff (i.e., health care; porkulous; global warming relief) and wage undeclared wars (i.e., Afganistan, Iraq, Pakistan).

⑤ The Gooferment has re-instituted Prohibition. Instead of alcohol, it some other drugs. It has seized control of our bodies; determining what we can and can not put in them. Is not this the essence of freedom and liberty? Along the way, they have destroyed our cities with Drug Prevention, enabled a massive mafia of drug criminals — foreign and domestic, militarized our police, brought corruption to a massive scale, and killed all sorts of people almost at random.

⑥ The Gooferment has, and continues, to indoctrinate children in Gooferment Skrules. It inculcates the future voter into the cult of gooferment worship. It impoverishes us with its costs. And fulfills the Prussian model: cannon fodder for the army, workers for the factory, and useful idiots to be led by the elite. (Where do Presidents and the elite send their children? Not Gooferment Skrules!)

⑦ Since 1970, the dollar has lost 98% of it’s value. The Constitution says only gold and silver are money. The Federal Reserve System is a banker’s monopoly cartel that has allowed the Gooferment unlimited spending. It has created a “rubber yardstick” where money is concerned. All statistics are “inflation adjusted”; thus meaningless.

⑧ The income tax has been a disaster of special interest meddling. The death tax has destroyed more family farms and small business than can be counted. Corporate taxes bury taxes in both every day items and the capital cost of everything that makes stuff. We can’t even guesstimate what we pay in taxes.

⑨ Gooferment welfare has created four generations of “welfare farmers”. Entire families are trapped in the cycle of poverty and despair. Corporatism, or corporate welfare, has done the same thing to our once vibrant economic industries. Shipped overseas to make the elite wealthier. And the Gooferment has disabled America making it a ward of the State unable to do even daily tasks without assistence and direction from the elite.

⑩ The psuedo war on (some) drugs has, first and foremost, allowed the GOoferment to tell us what we can and can’t put in our own bodies. Isn’t this the very essence of freedom and personal liberty? In doing this, they have really hurt us with unintended consequences: empowered our foreign enemies with drug money; destroyed the inner cities and the minority communities with drugs; militarized the police to kill / maim us while trampling on our supposed rights; filled our prisons; killed our youth with bad drugs; AND driven it as a wedge issue between people (i.e., scared people don’t understand it’s about Gooferment control of one’s own body) and making them believe it can be stopped.

It’s hard for me to say “independence” with a straight face.

>I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE

The Pledge is un-American.

Written by an American Nazi who was a flag salesman.

To indoctrinate school children. (The whole American education system is designed to create dummies. Cannon fodder for the Army> Workers for the factories. Designed to be led by the Elite!)

It’s propaganda. Designed to delude people into nationalism.

We, The People don’t need to “pledge” anything.

And, certainly not “allegiance” to an out-of-control corrupt Socialist gooferment.

Remember: Gooferment is the meme that kills. Only Gooferment can commit genocide.

Argh!

So I’d be happy to sing Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”. Or, “America, The Beautiful” by Katharine Lee Bates – 1913. Or, even Amazing Grace by John Newton 1725-1807.

201007021724.jpg

Before I can, we have to:

  1. Return to Constitutional money of gold and silver;
  2. End the personal and corporate dole;
  3. Phase out gooferment public education;
  4. Stop the various wars — foreign, domestic, and especially drug;
  5. Repatriate the troops — bring them all home now;
  6. Downsize ALL the gooferments — federal, state, and local;
  7. Eliminate all taxes but tariffs and excise;
  8. Empty the prisons of non-violent offenders;
  9. End the death penalty immediately; AND
  10. Payoff the debt and unfunded liabilities.

Then we can truly call ourselves the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”.

Declaration of Independence
(Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776)

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. –Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, July 8, 1776

Until then … … …

… … … don’t talk to me about Independence!

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