RANT: Manage things;Lead people!

Friday, May 26, 2006

In my way of thinking, you manage things (e.g., budgets; computers; networks; projects) but you have to lead people (i.e., people are more like a mules with a mind of its own).

Things lend themselves well to being "managed". There are no hard feelings when you cut a budget. You can be totally analytical and blunt with "things".

People need to be lead. My first exposure to "leadership" was the mythical telephone lineman litho that was "required" in every Bell lobby anywhere. He was joined by the equally mythical board operator running her station as the flood waters rose. They  were inspiring. You were part of something that was huge and that made a difference in people's lives.  I learned that if you motivate someone, in their own mind, they will drive themselves harder than you ever can with a club. By the same token, you can have all the whip and clubs you want over people and you can't make them do squat if they don't want to. That mule is just a metaphor. If you want to have something really screwed up, just order people to do something. In a perverse sense of humor, they will do EXACTLY what you instruct and may the Intelligent Designer help you when they do. 

Just a pet peeve. I want to be "lead" not "managed". 


NBC News President: ‘Any Fool with a Laptop’ Can be a Journalist

Thursday, May 25, 2006

http://newsbusters.org/node/5533

***Begin Quote***

Steve Capus, president of NBC News, said, "In this age when any fool with a laptop can call themselves a journalist, I believe it is important to demonstrate to Americans what it means to be a true journalist."
***End Quote***

Gee, he forgot to mention the liberal bias that is required in order to be a "true journalist".


Hospital autopsies a dying science … … but maybe “we” need them?

Thursday, May 25, 2006

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B5CF8F14F%2D1E24%2D4BD1%2D9272%2D7C42AE101C24%7D&siteid=mktw&dist=nwhpf

VITAL SIGNS
Hospital autopsies a dying science
Private firms pick up slack as boomers seek answers; $3,500 postmortems
By Kristen Gerencher, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:09 PM ET May 24, 2006
***Begin Quote***

The limited kind is less expensive, starting at $700 at PathServe, he said. Lung-tissue samples can be outsourced to pulmonologists to test for asbestos while brain work-ups go to neuropathology experts who look for diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, he said."The next of kin are quite interested in if it's Alzheimer's or not and what kind of Alzheimer's," Karp said.

The Alzheimer's Association in Chicago doesn't take a position on autopsies, said Dr. Maria Carrillo, director of medical and scientific relations.
Diagnosis of the early-onset form of Alzheimer's disease is fairly clear-cut, and family members can have genetic tests to see if they have a particular mutation, she said.
But the sporadic form that typically occurs after 65 is often more mysterious, Carrillo said. In that case, would she want an autopsy if it were someone in her family? "If I could afford the expense I would be interested in a definitive diagnosis because sometimes you can gain some additional information in the slight chance it was misdiagnosed."
What's more, Alzheimer's patients who participate in clinical trials often can get beneficial treatment while they're living and an exam for the family after they die, she said. "Many studies will offer an autopsy upon death because they would like to know definitively what the person's diagnosis was." 
***End Quote***

Interesting. Just recently, I heard about a freind's wife being diagnoses with the Big A. Seems like to save a few bucks we are collectively getting dumb.

Sigh.  


RANT: Hey Governor Corzine … … still wanna hear about state cars an speeding? (continued) … …

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

… …. TOO BAD!

I really appreciate TWO state police cars, one behind the other, ten feet apart, yesterday whizzing by on I295 yesterday around 4PM. They went by sooo fast in the outside lane I couldn't even read their tags. I'm sure they were hustling to "protect and serve" someone. One of these days they are going to "surprise" some one into an accident. The fellow I saw "passed" almost dropped his cell phone!

AND then this moring that big state police suv, spa175a @ milepost 65 on i295 at 0706 edst, was "only" going by at about 80. Guess he was conserving gas for us serfs! 

So if you want to get the state budget under control, then why not ask your state police to slow down. After all if the lights aren't on, then why are they "speeding". Oh yeah, that's right. There are different rules for the slaves and the masters.


How about the concept of a “persistent draft” or form letter for blogging?

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

FEEDBACK FILED TO THE WORDPRESS GODS 

Let me start by saying. Great job. In using this, an idea comes to mind that would make it more useful to me. That's doesn't mean that it deserves great consideration, but you asked for ideas. I tend to blog on the same topic. My personal hot button is "state cars". For some reason, a commuting state employee in a car that I am paying for just drives my bp up to stroke level. Any way, how about having a "persistent draft". Basically a form, that the blogger can write into and publish to their blog. So for example, in Outlook, I have form emails. Basically I made a draft email and then copy and pasted it a bunch of times. So when I want to communicate in a constant style I can. So to when I blog about state cars, it would be easy to open up my "state car" draft, filling in the details, and press the BLOG button (publish). Instead of, as now, that draft being "gone", if I designated it a "persistent draft", the next blank for would be there, available for my next rant. FWIW, reinkefj facing life


a spurious battle against an abstract noun … “war on drugs”

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/floyd4.html

***Begin Quote***

The main engine of this mass incarceration has been the 35-year "war on drugs": a spurious battle against an abstract noun that provides an endless fount of profits, payoffs and power for the politically connected while only worsening the problem it purports to address – just like the "war on terror." The "war on drugs" has in fact been the most effective assault on an underclass since Stalin's campaign against the kulaks. 

***End Quote***

Well, I think we demonstrated the failure of yet another gummamint program.

Unless we don't understand that the "true purpose" of any gummamint program is to give more power to Father State and to get the serfs (what would you call people who have more than half of their earnings stolen by the ruling class?) to run to Mommy Government crying for "protection".

Interesting that the rate of addiction appears to be pretty consistent across human history. Interesting that we have given Father State our tacit approval to "discipline" ourselves. Like we couldn't decide what was in our own best interest. Clearly we didn't learn anything with the national experiment with Prohibition.

And, when it comes right down to destroying "drugs", the FDA has doen a fine job of making drugs expensive, unavailable, and dangerous. ("Dangerous" in that, unless the drug is SO SAFE as to be virtually worthless, it has zero chance of getting thru the regulatory process.) Like you and your doctor are too dumb to figure out what you need? And, the FDA has created a corporate protection welfare scheme that the big drug makers couldn't have created without the gummmint's help.

Note to self, when elected President: (1) End the unconstitutional wars (i.e., drugs, Iraq, Afghanistan, porn, etc. etc. etc. etc.); (2) Pardon all non-violent drug offenders; (3) Close the FDA; (4) Cut the Federal budget and taxes by the amount of the FDA; AND (5) Propose Constitutional Amendment forbidding Federalization of anything based on the mythical interpretation of the "commerce" or "general welfare" clauses.

Shouldn't the Federal Government restrict all of its "doings" to the fifty States? That's its constituents. Why should they interact with individual citizens? The Dead Old White Guys missed an opportunity to put another chain on the beast! Hard for them to imagine how stupid we could be. I can hear the conversation now "Tom (Jefferson), do you think we need to jot down that the Federal Government can't directly legislate to other than the fifty States? Nah, James (Madison), nobody would listen to them anyway. Like that restricting the general welfare clause you were talking about, we can save some ink because nobody would ever think of having everything run form New York (the original capitol)!" Yup, they must be stunned at what a mess we have made of it.


Make a rule. Go ahead I dare you. Now if these guys would apply it to the IRS!

Sunday, May 21, 2006

http://www.start.com.my/blog/maximizing-your-roi-at-pizza-hut/

***Begin Quote***

Interesting story on how a group of Taiwanese students got together and circumvented the "One salad" rule at pizza hut.
***End Quote***

The pizza at Pizza Hut ain't bad but the universally bad service means it is low on the list. I haven't been there in eons and never heard of the one trip rule. 

These fellows should show us how to do it to the IRS!

The casinos in Vegas and AC better hope that this doens't become popular with the Senior Citizen circuit. While not as good as this, they can do a fair imitation of it. It looks like their last meal or that the food was gonna run out.


Arghh another strange failure

Sunday, May 21, 2006

This morning at 0830 21MAY06, I took up luggable to find it a mess. Nothing that a reboot wouldn't cure, but investigation and restart took 30 minutes of my life thatI'll never get back and have nothing to show for it. I wish I'd have jotted my findings as I found them. But here's what remember. 

(1) RSSBANDIT was offline. YIM75 was offline and nothing would bring it back. Outlook was apparently OK. IE6 was "not responding". Every keystroke or mouse click took a long time to respond.
(2) Dyndns, MsnMsg, and Syncura were rproting OK.

(3) Google web accelerator was disconnected. (It does that a lot?)

(4) Outlook has a inbound email message at 647

I began killing things and eventually got to where I could restart. 

Hmm?

(A) This was different that when the WAP stop working.

(B) Google Web Accelerator is suspect.

(C) ISP can't be rulled out.

(D) IE6 running OWA to work was in the mix.

Argh squared! 


Iran inching closer to genocide.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

http://newsbusters.org/node/5436

***Begin Quote***

A number of Canadian news websites are reporting that the Iranian parliament passed a law this week requiring non-Muslims in the country to wear certain insignia identifying them as such (hat tip to Drudge). As reported by Canada’s National Post: “Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.” The article continued: “‘This is reminiscent of the Holocaust,’ said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. ‘Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis.’" 

***End Quote***

The nut in charge of Iran already denied the Holocaust . Anytime government starts to "identify" its people you have to think GENOCIDE! If one was in Iran, near Iran, or even know an Iranian, then you have to be concerned. I KNEW an elderly Jewish lawyer who escaped Germany when he saw the trend. He was unable to convince his best friends, his family elders, or his friends in his community. They were all wiped out. Some of his friends were Catholic, Christian, Agnostics, or Anything. When the genocide begins, it doesn't matter what you are. You're grist for the mill. Only government can kill in numbers that are worse than a natural disaster. Pop over to http://www.jpfo.org/faq.htm#faq14 and read Paul Harvey's list of atrocities. I'd expect Iran to be next on the list.


Only a old exGI could call the National Guard to the border what it is “political theater”!

Saturday, May 20, 2006

http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese281.html

Guarding the Border
by Charley Reese
***Begin Quote***

Using the National Guard for players in this political theater shows you that the president never thinks a moment about the plight of regular Americans. Young men and women join the National Guard willing to serve their country in an emergency. Our leaky borders are not an emergency. They've been leaking for the past decade. For six years, Bush has ignored this problem. The only emergency is the collapse of Bush's popularity and the Republican Party's fear that it might lose control of Congress this fall. 

*** AND *** 

But overseas personnel are just a drop in the bucket from which the president can draw his 6,000 men for the border. Excluding the National Guard and Reserves, he has 1.4 million full-time active-duty military personnel, and all of them not in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing housekeeping chores and running training missions at home and abroad. That's what armies do in peacetime. 

***End Quote***

Only a vet understands how the politicians abuse, overuse, misuse, and turn our military into props. That's on both sides of the duopoly — R and D — D or R — Blue or Red — Red or Blue. There's no difference! Bad polls? Rush the guard to the borders. Impeachment? Bomb an asprin factory. Everytime a Washington president needs to distract, disrupt, or mislead, they use the military to distract us. 

BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW! FROM EVERYWHERE! NO DELAYS! NO EXCUSES!
Everone is on their own.  We're not the world's policemen. We have our own problems.