Reinke Faces Life

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;
jsessionid=UXQ40JSPCWITXQFIQMFCFGGAVCB
QYIV0?xml=/news/2007/03/08/wmafia08.xml

http://tinyurl.com/399emv

Mafia boss had messages delivered by bus
By Malcolm Moore in Rome
Last Updated: 1:57am GMT 08/03/2007

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Investigators, including a team from the FBI, have spent the last eleven months deciphering his code. The investigation has led to dozens more arrests, as his crime syndicate was dismantled. Earlier this week, Vincenzo Piraneo, who drove a bus down the 189 road between Palermo and Agrigento, was arrested for allegedly helping Provenzano distribute his pizzini. A further 21 arrests were also made.

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Interesting that if one does cryptology right, then no arrests would have been possible.

One time pads, RSA, and cyclic substitution ciphers are virtually unbreakable. The British had to capture the Enigma to break it. The Americans broke the Japanese codes because of a breakdown in transmission security. The FBI broke the mad bomber’s rants because he left a worksheet around.

The amateur should look for the crystal box. How does it work and how do I know it’s secure. It doesn’t matter what the claim for a black box, you can NOT trust it.

How many of us have encrypted stuff and forgotten the key? I have.

Interesting problems.

>Subject: Win the Lottery?
>I see a NewJerseyite has one of the lottery winning
>tickets….hmmm….3 Tyne Court?

Drat, darn, heck … … no!

I even stayed up to watch the live drawing hopin’ it would help.

Interesting story. At least, I think it was interesting.

I spent an extra two buck yesterday on it.

Went to the local quick check (which was neither quick, nor did they give me a check), and paid my “tax” for lottery tixs.

(It really doesn’t qualify as a tax under my strict definition. It is avoidable. But, if you win, you’ll pay an obscene amount of “tax” so maybe it is. It is popularly described as a “tax on stupidity”. So I paid it willingly. But, in my own defense, I only pay when the jackpot is at “life changing” amounts.)

So when the disinterested person was playing on the machine’s keys, she spit out a two line ticket by accident in the midst of my tickets. She put it off to the side and gave me mine.

I quickly told her I wanted it.

I had visions of the tv news interviewing her as the sole winner of the grazillion dollar jackpot, saying “i made a mistake and this rude guy made me buy my mistake”.

:-(

So, I very politely but firmly “bought” the mistake.

When Frau checked the tix last night, I told her the only one she needed to check was that one. I was sure that the Comos was going to play a joke on me or teach me a very “interesting” lesson. It was a $2 ticket and it “won” $2.

How weird is that?

I know that if I hadn’t bought that mistake. It would have won.

Arghh!

http://www.language-learning-advisor.com/
language-learning-advisor-news.html

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Free FSI Language Courses is a site that is making available all of the old FSI language courses created by the US government. These courses are free for download (in pdf and mp3 formats) for anyone who wants them. A number of courses are currently up and in due time many others will be there as well.

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Could be a cheap way to learn a language.

I listened to some of the hour the other night about Oprah’s school for girls in South Africa. Impressive.

Not to the level of Gandhi or Mother Theresa, but impressive none the less.

I have no idea what it would be like to have such wealth as Oprah. It’s hers and I am sure she earned every dime of it. I would be loathe to criticize anyone whose path I have not traveled. My criticism is like a gnat on a horse. I’ll never accomplish what she has, amass the fortune she has, or be in the position to do something this grand. But blogging allows one the illusion that what one writes is somehow important.

And, there is no doubt that some, all, most of the girls featured have gotten the end of the proverbial stick that no one should have to pick up.

And, I do think she’s right. Education is the road out of poverty.

And, I do think that she’s a classic American liberal of the political left who thinks that she can change the world FOR other people rather than let them do it themselves. That seems egotistical in the extreme and to be condescendingly saying “you’re to weak and stupid to do it on your own”. But that’s “liberal left”. (As opposed to the Classical Liberals of the Enlightenment whose ideas spawned America and gave us the concepts of individual liberty and empowerment.)

OK, so here’s my critique.

Why not the inner city of Chicago?

Now I know she said that she couldn’t find the motivated kids. And, it has to be cheaper to do this in South Africa. And, it makes her a global celebrity. And, I don’t see how it can fail unless the teachers are closet perverts.

But my modest question is why not Chicago?

I’d tackle that by trying to show the poor, disadvantaged, and minority that it’s up to them. They have to grab their bootstraps and pull themselves out of their current mess. Gooferment can’t do it. The taxpayers can’t do it. Oprah can’t do it.

I’d attack the gooferment of the US, Illinois, and Chicago as being the root of all their problems. They have fooled them into thinking that there’s a “White Knight Prince Charming” that is going to ride in and save the day. Oprah could get away with telling them that “no one is coming”. Bill Cosby tried and got excoriated for it. Katrina and NOLA demonstrated it. Maybe she could pull it off?

She’s on the right track with her “education out of poverty”. I’d want her to dismantle the “publik skoolz” as a sham. An illusion that they give any real education. That they were anything more than training grounds for prisons.

If I was Oprah, I’d hit the economics, crime, and welfare. I’d have a new twenty year plan to zero taxes, close the “publik skoolz”, and end the dole. I’d stop prosecuting victimless crimes — drugs, prostitution, and gambling and really go after crimes involving force or fraud.

Would it be traumatic? Yes!

I don’t think it would take twenty years for Chicago to be the shining city.

My only concern would be what would we do with all the lying, pandering, corrupt politicians. Well, they do have Lake Michigan. I’m sure they won’t seek honest employment without a struggle.

And, when this was all done, the people could say “we did it ourselves”. That’s the Spirit of America.

SO to circle back on Oprah’s school, I think she solved an easier problem.

So why not Chicago?

And, after that why girls? We know that boys are getting a terrible shake in today’s skoolz.

The Socialists of the 1920’s wanted a system of creating an uneducated lower class that would be manageable, make good soldiers or factory workers, and capable of being led by their “betters”. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

So, Oprah, why not Chicago? And, why not boys?

http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/
cbarchive_20070227.html

Why Do Evangelicals Ignore Ron Paul?
by Chuck Baldwin
February 27, 2007

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Evangelical Christians are already beginning the process of selecting the Republican presidential candidate whom they can anoint as their successor to George W. Bush. Somehow, evangelicals have this deluded idea that President Bush is one of them. How they came to this delusion both fascinates and escapes me. Bush is anything but one of them. However, most evangelicals believe he is, and today it seems that illusion is greater than reality, anyway. Bush proves that more than anyone I have ever known.

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I have made a small contribution to the Ron Paul campaign and I hope he runs.

http://www.ronpaulexplore.com/

Take a look. Anyone who routinely votes “no” on a 414-1 basis gets my vote. (They don’t call him “doctor no” for nothing!)

http://elementaltruths.blogspot.com/2007/
03/sand-and-stone.html

http://tinyurl.com/ysyuko

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We must all strive to write our hurts in the sand and carve our blessings in stone.

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A great lesson!

Reading Professor Williams is always challenging to my thinking.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54464

Democracy: Enemy of liberty
Posted: February 28, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

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Clearly, we need government, and that means there must be collective decision-making.

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Having read Ludwig and Rothfarb, I’m not sure that if I agree with that as formulated.

Government imho only has one claim to a valid existence. It should be to protect us from violence, intimidation, and fraud.

There is an often cited Supreme Court decision (which I can’t remember) that says the government has no specific duty to protect, and can’t be held to account when it or its agents fail miserably. So, that wipes out its claim to legitimacy.

So, do we really need a government. We know we don’t need the gooferment.

Does their have to be an ultimate reservoir of force? Or, is that just an open invitation to corruption?

The free marketplace always clears supply and demand.

And, it does, when allowed to work, that job very efficiently, without “checkers”.

The quality movement has taught us that “checkers” are very expensive and introduce their own set of “errors”.

So, a market, that allows one to vote with their buying decisions or buying abstentions, would be the ultimate “voting mechanism”.

Thus, it is NOT “clearly” apparent to me that we need a government that can oppress us or be the gooferment.

I hope that Professor Williams can instruct me in the error of my thinking without requiring a tuition payment?

ALSO IN:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north511.html

Reflecting on 35 Years of Marriage
by Gary North

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If you have learned any other lessons, send them to me (at gary north –at– gary north dot com).

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Why that was one of my future publications! :-)

http://www.nichegeek.com/
10_unconventional_but_successful_online_homebusiness_ideas

Interesting idea, but fraught with ne’er do wells.

I have been getting a huge surge in readership. WordPress is telling me that I’m getting over a hundred a day readers and over 40 a day “feed-ings” (feed readers). I am truly humbled. Not all of them can be spammers and harvesters? I don’t have that many relatives who need to see if I have taken my meds.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/our_experts/article1362805.ece

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A generation of children brought up in Britain in the Thirties were regularly warned that if they didn’t go to bed on time, and instead stayed up all hours of the night as they did when on holiday in Italy and France, they would end up stunted. Any hope of us achieving the first rugby XV, or growing to a height that would enable us to find useful employment, would be forfeited. We had to eat up our good plain food and have 12 hours’ sleep even when aged 10 or 11, and ten hours during adolescence.

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So that’s what happened to me!

Using multiple platforms is a pia. It really requires thought about everything one does. That’s one advantage of web based applications. Unfortunately we based apps can change (i.e., disappear, morph into someone or something else, or change their operation) that make it not suitable for “production”. Web based apps can lock up your data as well. So to, multiple platforms may not be identical in the various dimensions (i.e., user, platform, application, data, or connectivity). It would seem useful to have each platform monitoring a unique email address. Anything found on one platform could then be transmitted to the others via those email addresses. It’s an insecure medium so encryption is important. And, since the ids should never be used outside the closed community, spam shouldn’t be an issue. Comments?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-ruleschanges&prov=ap&type=lgns

Scuffing baseball could lead to 10-game suspension for non-pitchers
February 16, 2007

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NEW YORK (AP) — A major league position player who scuffs or defaces a baseball would be ejected and receive an automatic 10-game suspension under changes approved Friday by the sport’s playing rules committee.

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I like baseball. Don’t know why. Not on tv. Not with distractions. But there are somethings I don’t like. Domes.

Or any game with umpires, referee, or judges. It just seems that the politics of human beings gets in the way of the sport. Was it a foul or wasn’t it. Who did what first. And, my particular favorite in bball, the second foul gets called.

I like games where it’s absolute like how far did you throw that caber. a caber is the big heavy Scottish stick that drunken Scotsmen and other celts throw around for fun. No ref. The contestants measure the divot the darn thing leaves. There are no arguments since it’s usually obvious to the naked eye just whose hole is where. That’s my kind of “referee – less” game!

In baseball, the umpire can really screw a player, manager, and team. The sport needs a feedback loop. I don’t know how to construct it. But, I’m tired of seeing games decided by “zebra ball”.

It’s amusing when the technology shows you the exact path of the ball and the umpire’s call doesn’t match the box. You can usually tell when the call is wrong because the TV folks don’t show the box on THOSE pitches. Only on the ones that confirm the umpire on a close call.

Sheesh, like I didn’t notice it was a bad call. It’s dishonest TV reporting.

And, you trust these guys to report news or entertain you?

1. Take responsibility for everything in your life.
2. Set long term goals and criteria for success.
3. Prioritize a to do list with the long term goals in mind.
4. Seek solutions that are beneficial for all involved parties.
5. Listen to others in order to understand their motivation.
6. When working as a group assign tasks according to a the strengths a person has demonstrated in the past.
7. Take care of yourself first, both physically and emotionally.

Upon discovering it this morning, I reverted to my old one. (I check it at least once a day. And, yes, I have an Outlook reminder to nag me about it.) I don’t like change. Change is not usually good. I know the Chinese proverb that “opportunity rides the dangerous winds of change”. But, I like my changes, like my challenges, to be small. Anyway, sorry if you couldn’t read the blog, that theme was for the younger eyes. Did anyone but the spammers notice? :-)

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How would you handle a conflict between a 20 year old client and a completely new client with significant potential, each needing their projects delivered at approximately the same time and each project requiring full-time attention?

{End Quote}

VW:

I think this is really easy.

By way of background, I was a one-man consulting firm twice for a total of seven years. Like the baker making bread, I was selling my time. When I “sold” my time, I was overjoyed. When I had time that went “unsold”, I would put it on the “day old bread shelf”. When it was that time, and I still hadn’t sold it, I unhappily “consumed” it myself. I would down the “most valuable use of my time list” (i.e., deliver value [earns money now], sell value [earns money in the future], develop my value proposition [make selling easier], see where there was future value [anticipate what will be valuable in the future], develop skills [get something to sell]).

You are presenting the opposite problem. An oversold condition. You’d really like to do both, but know you only have a limited number of loaves of bread … err … hours in the day. Like the airline who sells 110 tickets for 100 seats, you are going to have a lot of unhappy people. AND, you may damage your reputation.

Unfortunately, you have the “sultan’s bride” problem. On any individual offer you receive, you have to ask is this particular “maiden and dowry combination” the best I’m going to see. My “policy” was “bird in the hand is dinner, rent, and happiness”. I would accept the first firm offer that met my minimal acceptable conditions. If another came along, even if it was better, I was already “out of stock”. The only choice you have is to raise your rate. And, that’s fine tuning.

If I had a block of time sold and a better offer came along, I’d try to help find an alternative (… … and get a finder’s fee from both sides of the transaction) for the person. But, the first acceptance was binding. And, it was binding on both sides.

Just wanted to make sure it was working for Thursday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOq5yHDkQgY

I loved this video. It’s the little people speaking out. Think the gooferment will get the message?

What was the quote from the movie starring Kurt Douglas and written by Leon Urris?

http://www.systematicallyaligned.com/

Global consulting to create a framework for normalizing business requirements and technical constraints.

http://reinkefj.newsvine.com/

_news/2007/02/06/554919-dale-noyd-vietnam
-objector-dies-at-73-new-york-times?
threadId=74121&cmt=514707

http://tinyurl.com/25pqyd

Dale Noyd, Vietnam Objector, Dies at 73 – New York Times
News Type: Event — Seeded on Tue Feb 6, 2007 7:58 AM EST
Seeded by reinkefj

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Dale E. Noyd, who as a decorated Air Force captain and fighter pilot attracted worldwide attention in the 1960s as a conscientious objector who objected to only one war, the one in Vietnam, died Jan. 11 in Seattle.

{End Quote}

Interesting that while the Nuremberg defense (“I was just following orders”) was disallowed for Nazis, he was convicted for not following orders. An interesting paradox. I remember in Heinlein’s novel “Starship Troopers” that soldiers were never forced to do anything. And, unless there was something about “in the face of the enemy” or other factors, in his novel troopers were just sent on their way. Seems like the gooferment wants it both ways whenever it suits their mood. Gooferment is a terrible master. I wonder how much of his two divorces and his death are related to his ordeal.

WRITTEN TO A COLLEAGUE WHO WAS ASKING WHY HE INTERESTED IN OLD STUFF:

Yes, it’s important to keep in touch. Well, the reason is probably closure. I’m active in my high school and college alumni hobby. There comes a time later in life where we regret all the choices. Some people want to say FU to some people. Others want to say ThankYou, MissYou, or GoodbyeYou. It’s hard to understand. Probably some sort of biological clock wanting to tie up loose ends. You want to compare what you’ve done with others. If for no other reason than to say “I done good”, “gooder”, or “worse”.

A colleague at work got married and changed her name. But, then her email started bouncing. I would have thought that they have given her an alias to prevent disruption to her Customers.

Ahh, what do I know?

I would think that alias would be commonplace.

I’m always suggesting that they give you an alias based on your phone number so that in a conference call people don’t have to waste time spelling out long hard names.

But, then what do I know?

It was weird. I saw some groups with delays of days and some with none at all. So it wasn’t uniform. That’s what threw a curve at me. The unevenness for the failure. Interesting from a thinking perspective because I ASSUMED that the delay would be linear. Why I did that beats me? Guess I didn’t stop and think about it. Just breezed along in my assumption mobile. Fat, dumb, and happy. ;-)

Maybe I could create a small business out of making Yahoo and Google groups for people?

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2007/01/16/523257-french-wwi-veteran-dies-at-age-108

http://tinyurl.com/y25hgb

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PARIS — One of France’s last World War I veterans, Rene Riffaud, has died at age 108, leaving just three known French survivors of the 1914-18 conflict, the National Veterans Office said Tuesday. Riffaud died overnight Tuesday, said Marie-Georges Vingadassalon, a spokeswoman for the office. Of the three surviving World War I veterans, the oldest — Louis de Cazenave — is 109, according to the veterans’ office.

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What a unique experience has been lost. What could he have told us?