Reinke Faces Life

http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=Holocaust_Celebrity_AP

Wednesday, May 16, 2007
WARSAW, Poland (AP)HOLOCAUST HERO FACES
BELATED CELEBRITY
by MONIKA SCISLOWSKA
Associated Press Writer

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The attention tires Irena Sendler sometimes.

She never sought credit for smuggling 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto anyway. Not for risking execution to save other people’s children, or holding out under torture by the Nazis, or enduring decades as a nonperson under the communist regime that followed.

She once dismissed her wartime deeds as merely “the justification of my existence on this Earth, and not a title to glory.”

*** AND ***

Sender was arrested in a Gestapo night raid on her apartment on Oct 20, 1943. The Nazis took her to the dreaded Pawiak prison, which few left alive. She was tortured and says she still has scars on her body – but she refused to betray her team.

“I kept silent. I preferred to die than to reveal our activity,” she was quoted as saying in the one book about her, “Mother of the Children of the Holocaust: The Story of Irena Sendler” by Anna Mieszkowska.

The Polish resistance bribed a Gestapo officer. He put her name on a list of executed prisoners and let her go. She went into hiding under an assumed name but continued her activity.

*** AND ***

She was recognized in 1965 by Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust museum, as a so-called Righteous Among the Nations, but ignored at home.

***End Quote***

You have to admire the stones of the people who took these risks and did what they felt was right. I like that poker commercial where Jennifer Tilly puts a big set on the table. That’s for a game. This lady must have a super set to have done this for real. I don’t know if I could have, would have, dare to hide and save one child let alone 2.5k of them.

That’s stunning.

I am humbled by this woman and all those so honored. I will go to that museum when I retire in 2017 to pay my respects.

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070603/D8PHA8LG0.html

Democrats Hide Pet Projects From Voters
Jun 3, 7:20 AM (ET)
By ANDREW TAYLOR

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WASHINGTON (AP) – After promising unprecedented openness regarding Congress’ pork barrel practices, House Democrats are moving in the opposite direction as they draw up spending bills for the upcoming budget year.

Democrats are sidestepping rules approved their first day in power in January to clearly identify “earmarks” – lawmakers’ requests for specific projects and contracts for their states.

Rather than including specific pet projects, grants and contracts in legislation as it is being written, Democrats are following an order by the House Appropriations Committee chairman to keep the bills free of such earmarks until it is too late for critics to effectively challenge them.

Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., says those requests for dams, community grants and research contracts for favored universities or hospitals will be added to spending measures in the fall. That is when House and Senate negotiators assemble final bills.

Such requests total billions of dollars.

***End Quote***

And, this is “news”.

I have no use for either “party”.

(I really can’t decide what the right word to use is. It’s no “party” for The American People who are being robbed at gunpoint to pay for this “party”. Maybe the correct word is “gang of marauding thieves who forgot to leave” or “competitors to the Bloods and Crypts who make the B&C look like pikers” or “horde of human locusts that are eating our progeny’s birthright”. I guess I’ll just use the term “gang” as a giant negative.)

I have no use for the D-Gang or the R-Gang.

But it would be naive for anyone to expect that they will suddenly “get religion” and “change their stripes”.

Maybe we can change their stripes for them? To prison stripes!

Argh!

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http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/
arts_and_entertainment/books/book_extracts/
article1874664.ece

http://tinyurl.com/34antt

From The Sunday Times
June 3, 2007
Her other man
As Hillary Clinton emerges as frontrunner to be America’s next president, friends and former aides talk to her biographer about the tragedy that scarred her first years in the White House
Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein

***Begin Quote***

Foster’s suicide, the president later told friends, had “destroyed” Hillary. “I think she just bled deep inside,” a close friend of Foster observed. “I don’t think she ever really quite recovered from that.”

***End Quote***

I have no first hand knowledge, but, just looking from what we have been told about the Foster “suicide”, I’m not so sure that I buy into what might be just a “cover story”.

Interesting how dead people just seem to stack up around the Clintons. Interesting how Hilary is too smart for her own good. Interesting the hubris of what might be “good people” corrupted by the system.

Interesting but maybe gooferment is a mental disease?

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Well unfortunately the always exciting always interesting saga of “Frau Reinke Faces Life” played out another episode yesterday. (Note: Frau Reinke is my beloved wife of 36 years whose fashion sense makes me look less like a nerd and common sense keeps me from making more social blunders. Hey, I r an injineer.)

So when last we left “Frau Reinke Mystery Patient”, she was quietly living out her days dealing with a weakening heart, a ton of drugs, and finding happiness in her “kids” and a daily dose of drool. (AKA Days Of Our Lives).

We went to a routine appointment with Cardio Doc (a nice mild manner man who always wanted my advice on computers; like I have expertise). Routine EKG. Not overly happy, but he’s usually becomes dour when “his problem patient” walks in.

SO then he asks the fateful question “How are you feeling?” Where she ADMITTED “not to good”! (Stunning! Like if she was that fellow with the iron rod impailed in his head, she’d have said “fine, but I might have a headache now and then”.) He ran through the exercise of extracting her symptoms from her (which I as an ex First Aid guy “knew” were angina, but I don’t have the MD or DVM after my name where my opinions might have some weight with her.)

He said “Off to the ER”. She said “how about next week. it’ll get better”. He said “Ithinkyoushouldgo today”. “But they won’t do anything today” “idfeelbettertoday” (He starts to talk fast and quickly when he gets agitated.) She turns to me, “but you have to go to work this afternoon for that meeting”. My bright response “It’ll go on without me.” So she concedes to go to the ER. (I don’t think he believed her. Hey, she’s been his patient for several years.)

We went home to get some stuff. And, lunch. We both knew this would be an ordeal. If you weren’t sick going into the ER, the process would make you sick.

She walked thru the doors at about 1430; she was in her room in ICU at about 2130. And, she was an “expedited at-risk cardiac” patient. When I left, the ER was over flowing with sick people just waiting. (Desperately in need of some free market solutions.)

Argh, I can NOT describe a worse experience. Even the old NJDMV with its rude workers and day long waits wasn’t as bad. I guess because at the DMV it really wasn’t important. If any of the old AT&T M&Pers (Methods and Procedure folks) say this they would be horrified. Chaos. No Customer feedback loop, massive numbers of people waiting around, no visual themes. It may be “organized”, but it was bedlam and chaos.

Cardio doc popped up about 1800 and praised her for coming right in. He had the blood work and told her she had had another heart attack. (He was “normal” in his appearance.) Kidney doc came by. Only the diabetic doc phoned it in, and the orders were wrong (I don’t like that broad!)

So with Frau firmly ensconced in CCU North 07, I called it a day.

Mentally tired, I went home and counted my blessings that it was me that was the sick one. I firmly resolve with the help of the Intelligent Designer never to get stuck in that world as a patient. But, (thinking about employment opportunities), it might be fun to make it better. Unfortunately, it’ll never be better because it’s run by gooferment diktat. Sigh!

Note: My attentions may be diverted from the blog, email, or such as I tend to my higher priority problems. Actually, stuff might be better as I might focus my time better?

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FROM MLPF

>know when your autobiography comes out

With the cheap publishing available from Lulu, there’s no reason that people don’t have an ongoing autobiography. Update it, publish it, and use it as a job search aid?

:-)

But, it is “do-able”.

***

http://www.lulu.com

An interesting way to self publish anything. Maybe I’ll schedule an autobiography. Now we just need a ghost writer web20 application.

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FEEDBACK TO the free, and unequaled, wordpressdotcom

I am taking between gobs and gobs squared of spam comments daily for the past few days. I don’t understand exactly how they are doing it but “we” (i.e., you need to do something). I have “comments require approval” so nothing is getting thru. But “you” must be spending grazillions of cycles with this trash. Time for a challenge response system to ensure that there’s a human on the other side of the glass?

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RESPONSE FROM SUPPORT

Challenge systems stop commenters.
They also stop people who are visually impaired.
There is no solution.

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MY REJONDER

How about an option that require the commenter to be an authenticated “user” (i.e., setup an id, not necessarily a blog, with a unique uid – password, and a validated email. Seems like that’s pretty common. Or any of the other Open Id type systems?

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FROM THE MLPF FORUM

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>It has been brought to my attention, that the moderator of this forum

Guess some one didn’t get the memo that it’s a “moderated” forum. Having had my hand slapped a time or two, here and elsewhere, I don’t understand how it’s “unhealthy”? Guess we’ll never know what was meant. Can I get cancer from falling asleep reading posts? Or printing them out and leaving them on my lap? I know, I know, it’s causes Global Warming. To many moderated electrons causes friction.

Sorry, but it’s frustrating. Like slamming the door out of the room after you lose an argument with your spouse. But that’s redundant. “Argument with spouse” is identical to “losing”. But, you get the idea.

(I have now “slammed” the send button as a point of de-emphasis. You didn’t pay attention. I’ll do it again!)

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AND RECEIVED THIS

*** begin quote ***

NadineBlogs
29th May 11:25 pm

Hey there Fjohn, I had unsubscribed to MLPF, but was lured back to check the recent posts via web to find the very delightful “Goodbye MLPF” post reminiscent of “Goodbye Cruel World” and had a good laugh at your reply. You’re way too funny for the internet but I missed seeing your posts and thought to stop by and subscribe to your blog to get my fjohn fix ;) Hope all is well! Nadine

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TO WHICH I RESPONDED

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>29th May 11:25 pm
>Hey there Fjohn, I had unsubscribed to MLPF, but
>was lured back to check the recent posts

Typical womanly behavior slam the door on the way out, but has to “peek” to see if it had the desired effect. I thought you might look to see who and what reaction it had.

>find the very delightful “Goodbye MLPF” post
>reminiscent of “Goodbye Cruel World” and had a
>good laugh at your reply.

Now, maybe you’ll make the dramatic re-entrance, announcing “I’m back” because my adoring public needed me.”?

>You’re way too funny for the internet

My wife reminds me “you think you’re so funny?”.

>I missed seeing your posts and thought to stop by
>and subscribe to your blog to get my fjohn fix ;)

Well, you are easily entertained. I don’t cross post everything. Too lazy. But enjoy.

> Hope all is well! Nadine

As you can tell from my blog, I’m pumping out random bursts of energy. Your blog has been strangely silent. New job tough? Growing out of the narcissistic medium? Getting a real life. :-)

l8r,fjohn

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http://www.fox.com/house/

Has HOUSE jumped the shark? (Reference the end of Happy Days when Fonzie ski jumps a shark and after that the ratings tanked.) You only dump the supporting cast when the writers have no more good ideas for them?

If I was a writer, and I’m not. I’d try a metaphor like “House is actually running an honors class in diagnostics. Each year (season) the oldest “graduates” and “newbie” joins. Then the writers have a parade of fresh faces to insult, torture, and write about. It would feel like real life. You could have the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s be fun!

I found some very Libertarian themes in the show. It’s all about being correct. Political correctness be darned. Girls cause trouble. Stereo typing is a human aptitude. I’ll watch in the reruns for them.

One great line. She slowly wakes up and asks if she’s in Heaven. “No – this is New Jersey.” House replies. I’d have said “Hell”.

You’d think that the show would work in PSAs in the show itself. Take propaganda to a new level. The warning signs for diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. Admonishments about taking all your antibiotics or staying on your meds. Advice about mental illness and depression. The show COULD be an entertaining source of medical advice as opposed to yet another soap opera.

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FEEDBACK TO the free, and unequaled, wordpressdotcom

Interesting, I am seeing a slew of spam comments. But the post that they are supposedly commenting to is not showing any bump in traffic. Care to explain to the nut in the peanut gallery how that happens?

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Matt’s response: Spammers don’t visit blogs – they run scripts which do the dirty work – hence no stats.
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Argh!!

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FROM AN EMAIL FROM AN OLD FRIEND

***Begin Quote***

From: Old Friend (yes I have one!)
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007
To: John Reinke
Subject: It Is Better To Be Alone, Than In The Wrong Company

Anonymous from a friend, apparently from the internet…..but very interesting. Sounds like some of the advice from your blog!

It Is Better To Be Alone, Than In The Wrong Company

Tell me who your best friends are, and I will tell you who you are. If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl. But, if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights. “A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.” The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate – for the good and the bad.

The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity.

An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people. As you grow, your associates will change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don’t help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don’t increase you will eventually decrease you. Consider this:
— Never receive counsel from unproductive people.
–Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeed themselves are always the first to tell you how. Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person.
–Don’t follow anyone who’s not going anywhere. With some people you spend an evening: with others you invest it.
–Be careful where you stop to inquire for directions along the road of life.
–Wise is the person who fortifies his life with the right friendships.

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>If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl.

And, if you hang with a turkey, do you learn to gobble? :-)

>you become like those with whom you closely associate

Not sure I agree with that. I think it might be better to say, “You are what you think! Think you’re a “good guy”, and you’ll tend to become what you think you are. I’m thinking of Ronald Regan, who went from Bonzo movies to be President and his writings showed how he grew. I’m thinking John Wayne, from a bad Marine to a Heroic Icon. I’m think Gandhi, who went from being a venial little lawyer to a Great Emancipator. All have flaws. All had one thing in common, the belief in a big idea. Many of the self-help gurus preach about it. So is it “I’ll believe it when I see it” or “I’ll see it when I believe it”?

>Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream.

I’m thinking of the great Paul Scoefield line in Man For All Seasons. “Come along with us, if for nothing more than old times sake” with the response “And when you stand in front of your Maker and get to go to Paradise for following your conscience, and I am assigned to Hell for not following mine, will you come along … for old time’s sake?”.

No some times friends are neither “stretchers or chokers”.

>

Watch what you read form the net. You to could become a … … Libertarian! ;-)

fjohn

p.s., thanks for a great blog fodder. and, the idea that my blog could have some whizdumb!