RANT: Congress failed; good!

Saturday, August 16, 2014

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/08/the-six-tech-policy-problems-congress-failed-to-fix-this-year/?comments=1&post=27373075#comment-27373075

The six tech policy problems Congress failed to fix this year
On tech issues, the partisan divide isn’t so wide. Yet nothing happened.
by Joe Mullin – Aug 8 2014, 10:57am EDT

*** begin quote ***

One: Pass anti-troll patent reform

Two: Reform ECPA, and finally grant due process for e-mail privacy

Three: Reform our vague anti-hacking laws

Four: Bring out-of-control intel agencies to heel

Five: Do something on immigration

Six: Pass a strong, permanent “right to unlock” bill 

*** end quote ***

“Do Nothing” Congress and deadlock between House and Senate / President is “good”.

Look at what happens when the R’s get control, we get “Homeland Security” and the TSA.

Look at what happens when the D’s get their way: Sarbox, NIJA mortgages, and bailouts galore.

Even if the current situation is “un en dur able”, they can make it worse.

Argh!

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RANT: “Dollar Dominance” is important

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-06/russia-sanctions-accelerate-risk-to-dollar-dominance.html

Russia Sanctions Accelerate Risk to Dollar Dominance
By Rachel Evans Aug 6, 2014 11:51 AM ET

*** begin quote *** 

While no one’s suggesting the dollar will lose its status as the main currency of business any time soon, its dominance is ebbing. The greenback’s share of global reserves has already shrunk to under 61 percent from more than 72 percent in 2001. The drumbeat has only gotten louder since the financial crisis in 2008, an event that began in the U.S. when subprime-mortgage loans soured, and the largest emerging-market nations including Russia have vowed to conduct more business in their currencies.

*** end quote ***

The political powers that be don’t understand that this is reaching the tipping point. Once “we” lose “dollar dominance”, life will be much tougher. Think the Germans in the Wehrmar Republic. We know how that Republic fared. It’s all about a countries wealth and currency.

Argh!

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RANTING Robin Williams Requiescat In Pacem

Monday, August 11, 2014

If you are feeling depressed, there is help out there. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255.

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Robin Williams
Requiescat In Pacem

He made me laugh so many times.

Stunning that a man could be so “funny” and yet so crazy. I’m praying for his soul and the family. Maybe someday, science will uncover a cure.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robin-williams-dies-suspected-suicide-724724

Williams’ publicist Mara Buxbaum told The Hollywood Reporter: “Robin Williams passed away this morning. He has been battling severe depression of late. This is a tragic and sudden loss. The family respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time.”
His wife, Susan Schneider, said: “This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken. On behalf of Robin’s family, we are asking for privacy during our time of profound grief. As he is remembered, it is our hope the focus will not be on Robin’s death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.”

# – # – # – # – #  2014-Aug-11 @ 20:52

Wall Street Journal reports

Actor Robin Williams Dead, Authorities Say

Actor Robin Williams is believed to have died of suicide by asphyxiation, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said. He was found in his home in Tiburon, Calif., Monday and pronounced dead at 12:02 p.m. The Oscar-winning actor and comedian was known for “Dead Poets Society,” “Good Will Hunting,” “Mork & Mindy” and his stand-up career.

Mr. Williams was found dead in his home after a 911 call reported he was found unconscious and not breathing in his home. He was last seen alive at his home, where he lives with his wife, at 10 p.m. on Sunday, the sheriff’s department said.

# – # – # – # – #  2014-Aug-11 @ 21:16   

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RANT: Lois Lerner’s emails

Saturday, August 2, 2014

http://www.therightcurmudgeon.com/2014/07/six-questions-for-the-irs-about-lois-lerners-emails

*** begin quote ***

A professional IT trade group with significant expertise in IT best practices has six questions that need to be answered about Lois Lerner’s -and at least 20 other IRS employees – email.

  1. What happened to the IRS’s IT Asset Managers who appear to have disappeared at a key juncture?
     
  2. Where is the documentation proving that Lois Lerner’s hard drive was wiped or destroyed? 
     
  3. Were the drives destroyed by an outside vendor or firm? 
     
  4. What are the IRS’s specific policies and procedures on document retention when hard drives are damaged or destroyed?
     
  5. What is the disaster recovery policy at the IRS? 
     
  6. Where are Lois Lerner’s emails from her Blackberry device? Are those secure? What is on the enterprise server? 

*** end quote ***

I would add some other questions!

  • Where all the email SERVERS backed up? (The emails should be recoverable from all the POST OFFICES that transmitted the email.)
  • What about all the people who received her, or email from the other “unlucky” folks whose hard drives died? (I have emails in MY in box from folks.)
  • What about other non-government email accounts like GMAIL to avoid to disclosure.
  • What about the NSA email snooping program? (Surely they have everything!) 

Argh!

It’s all corrupt.

And the politicians and bureaucrats have no shame.

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RANT: Ukraine Deploying BUK Missiles In East

Monday, July 28, 2014

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/07/no_author/awkward-questions-for-us-ukraine/

Russia Says Has Photos Of Ukraine Deploying BUK Missiles In East, Radar Proof Of Warplanes In MH17 Vicinity
By Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
July 22, 2014

*** begin quote ***

7. Why was not completely closed to civilian aircraft airspace over the combat zone, especially because in this area there was no solid field of radar navigation?

*** end quote ***

Argh!

Another tin foil hat item.

I don’t think Putin or “the separatists” did it.

Cui Bono!

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RANT: Old credit card details?

Sunday, July 27, 2014

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/07/ars-editor-learns-feds-have-his-old-ip-addresses-full-credit-card-numbers/#p3

Ars editor learns feds have his old IP addresses, full credit card numbersFOIA request turns up 9 years of records, including plaintext credit card numbers.
by Cyrus Farivar – July 19 2014, 8:00am EDT

*** begin quote ***

I was most surprised to see my credit card details—full card number and expiration date—published unredacted and in the clear. Fortunately, that credit card number has long expired, but I was nonetheless appalled to see it out there. American Airlines, which had created that particular PNR in 2005, did not immediately respond to my request for comment on how or why such detailed personal information would show up here. (In other instances, the majority of the number was X’d out.)

*** end quote ***

We have no clue as to what the Gooferment is keeping on us.

Let alone why.

I think the “carry cost” (i.e., the dollar cost of the electrons in some data center somewhere) has arched the “trivial level”.

Not that if you were paying the bill would YOU think it was trivial, but to those folks, who say “not my money”, it’s trivial.

Argh!

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RANT: The USPS is out of Post Cards

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

2014-Jul-23

Yday, I made a trip to the PO to get some post cars.

Have none. Haven’t had any for months. Don’t know when they will get any.

Interesting.

No wonder they are broke.

Typical Gooferment agency — immoral, ineffective, and inefficient!

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RANT: Don’t ask me to pay!

Friday, July 11, 2014

http://keywestlou.com/fireworks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fireworks

FIREWORKS!
Posted on July 5, 2014 by keywestlou

*** begin quote ***

Beware. Contraception is back on the table. More government intrusion. Not from Congress this time. From the Supreme Court.

The case involves Wheaton College. Wheaton College has a lawsuit pending before the Supreme Court. Wheaton does not want to provide insurance for contraception coverage. As with the Little Sisters of the Poor case, they do not want even to sign/self-certify that they are opting out in providing the coverage. They feel doing so makes them complicit in contraceptive activity.

Wheaton will not be heard for some time. Wheaton therefore asked the Court for an injunction allowing them to get off the hook, so to speak. Sign nothing till the Supreme court decides, not be required in any sense in even recognizing contraception. In a 6-3 decision thursday, the six males of the Supreme Court granted the injunction. The three female members dissented.

The gauntlet has been thrown big time!

*** end quote ***

Sorry, Lew, but I think you have the issue wrong. 

Can someone — in a personal or corporate form — be FORCED to pay for something that they find “morally objectionable in part for all”?

Pro-lifers view the abortion / conception / mercy killing thru the same lens. Like the Nazi Death Camps.

As a pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian, I think Gooferment with its “monopoly” on force is the problem.

If pro-life OR pro-choice were “such a great idea”, then no force would be required.

Like carrying an umbrella in the rain so you stay dry. Just don’t ask me to pay for the umbrella.

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RANT: Traffic camera ticket

Saturday, July 5, 2014

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/07/03/manhattan-judge-sues-over-traffic-camera-ticket/

Manhattan Judge Sues Over Traffic Camera Ticket
July 3, 2014 8:46 PM

*** begin quote ***

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — A driver who just so happens to be a judge has filed a lawsuit against the City of New York for a traffic camera ticket he claimed was unjust.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Wright sued Wednesday in the same court. City attorneys said they would review the suit upon receiving it.

Wright said his family got a notice saying a camera caught his car being driven in a Manhattan bus lane last October.

*** end quote ***

Sorry, but it’s all about revenue.

Where is the Police Officer who stops the car and writes the ticket?

Where are the witnesses?

Argh!

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RANT: The “poor” Democrats

Saturday, July 5, 2014

http://nypost.com/2014/06/28/why-democrats-insist-on-lying-about-how-poor-they-are/

Why Democrats insist on lying about how ‘poor’ they are
By Kyle SmithJune 28, 2014 | 10:22am

*** begin quote ***

It’s all part of the increasingly delusional myth Democrats tell themselves that they are the tribunes of the middle class. In fact, their party is a strange two-headed beast — picture a Cerberus featuring the faces of Barbra Streisand and Lois Lerner.

The Dems are a coalition of ultra-rich cultural-elite donors on the one hand and government employees and their clients on the other. In 2012, President Obama carried those earning under $50,000 by a wide margin. But Romney easily bested him among those over that threshold.

*** and ***

Yet even for Democrats, the Clintons got rich in an exotic way. They accumulated something like $100 million not by building a business or inventing something or even writing some hit songs. Their entire fortune came from political celebrity. (Their daughter has even accumulated $15 million by being the offspring of political celebrities. Or did you think NBC News paid her $600,000 a year because of her obvious broadcasting ability?)

*** end quote ***

It’s all about power and control.

These folks aren’t “poor”. Nor are the interested in helping the poor. Maybe at one time, but Crony Capitalism is toxic.

And, the liberal media plays their “songs”.

“The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” –Margaret Thatcher

And, this is a symptom.

With a (French style) Revolution to come.

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