CLOUD: Buffer was hacked

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Hi there,

I wanted to get in touch to apologize for the awful experience we’ve caused many of you on your weekend. Buffer was hacked around 1 hour ago, and many of you may have experienced spam posts sent from you via Buffer. I can only understand how angry and disappointed you must be right now.

Not everyone who has signed up for Buffer has been affected, but you may want to check on your accounts. We’re working hard to fix this problem right now and we’re expecting to have everything back to normal shortly.

We’re posting continual updates on the Buffer Facebook page and the Buffer Twitter page to keep you in the loop on everything.

The best steps for you to take right now and important information for you:

Remove any postings from your Facebook page or Twitter page that look like spam
Keep an eye on Buffer’s Twitter page and Facebook page
Your Buffer passwords are not affected
No billing or payment information was affected or exposed
All Facebook posts sent via Buffer have been temporarily hidden and will reappear once we’ve resolved this situation
I am incredibly sorry this has happened and affected you and your company. We’re working around the clock right now to get this resolved and we’ll continue to post updates on Facebook and Twitter.

If you have any questions at all, please respond to this email. Understandably, a lot of people have emailed us, so we might take a short while to get back to everyone, but we will respond to every single email.

– Joel and the Buffer team

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Too bad. This is a very useful tool for posting on Facebook.

# – # – # – # – #  2013-Oct-26 @ 17:19  


HARDWARE: CFB on FOX on Channel 5 TV poor video quality

Saturday, October 26, 2013

CFB on FOX on Channel 5 TV

The picture quality “stinks”!

I see jitter and very poor video quality.

(Not that anyone cares!)

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RANT: Obamacare ain’t “insurance”!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/21/who-said-it-president-obama-or-an-infomercial/

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What a joke?

Billy Mays was more believable.

Consider the CONCEPT of insurance.

A bunch of people, who face the same risk, buy a “policy” that will pay if that event happens.

How is pre-existing coverage “insurance”?

I read somewhere that it’s like buying fire insurance after your house burns down!

Not even the Gooferment can refute economics!

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CLOUD: Cloud storage is not riskless

Friday, October 25, 2013

http://www.itworld.com/it-management/379660/how-boxcom-allowed-complete-stranger-delete-all-my-files

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Read this and tell me that the cloud is secure. Or that it should anchor your business model!

“Your” data? Don’t make me laff.

When things like POGOPLUG allow you to host your own cloud, WHY would you trust your data to an unpaid benefactor?

Even if you pay them, it’s no guarantee of permanency.

You have to take responsibility for your own “survival”!

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FUN: What a water bill

Thursday, October 24, 2013

It’s no secret to those who know me that I have “night terrors”.

(A special form of “mental illness” that makes one crazy in the middle of the night!)

Last night’s was so funny.

I dreamt I received a Water Bill from the shore house where they subtracted my address in VA (i.e., 1641) from the house address (i.e., 51) to compute my water and sewer used. My “fright” was I was at the office and couldn’t make anyone see the error.

It was really funny.

Not so funny about the “cold sweat” and changing everything at about 3AM.

But now I can laugh about it.

… maybe that bisll is in the mail?

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MONEY: Serious diversification

Thursday, October 24, 2013

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/10/robert-wenzel/get-your-money-out-of-the-banks-3/

IT IS TIME: Move Your Money Out of the US Banking System
By Robert Wenzel
Economic Policy Journal
October 19, 2013

*** begin quote ***

It is time for serious diversification. Depending upon the size of your assets, there are different things that should be done. But almost everyone should have some cash and gold coins stored outside the banking system. Those with significant assets should begin international diversification now, while it is still possible. I don’t consider any country completely safe from the clutches of the US government so international diversification, among many countries, is also called for: Switzerland and Hong Kong for starters, but also other countries that are not known as tax havens, the USG has their claws into these countries, be creative.

*** end quote ***

Time to store: water, beans, bullets, and bandaids … … not necessarily in that order.

Followed by bullion — nickels, silver, and gold.

Note: Not paper!

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FUN: Drink your pickle juice

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/yes-you-can-and-should-reuse-pickle-juice.html

Yes, You Can (And Should!) Reuse Pickle Juice
Katie Waldeck
October 19, 2013
3:15 pm

*** begin quote ***

Tossing out pickle juice is always a little sad — all that flavor, all that hard work down the drain! Sure, you can reuse pickle juice for your next pickling project, but there are plenty of other things to do with it, both edible and not! Packed with salt and vinegar, it’s no surprise that the stuff is great for recycling. Here are some ideas:

Cooking:

Flavor salad dressings and sauces. Use the pickle juice in lieu of vinegar in recipes.
Add it to mac and cheese!
Liven up soups.
Flavor bland veggies. Drizzle over some steamed or roasted veggies for a great flavor boost.
Lighter boiled potatoes. Add a generous dash of pickle juice to the the boiling water. The flavor works so well, you can skip all the fattening and unhealthy extras like sour cream, mayo, butter, and added salt.
Pickle-y cheese. Marinate soft white cheese in pickle juice for a great tangy appetizer.
Drink it! Try a pickletini. Seriously, it’s a real thing.

*** end quote ***

I do. Drink it that is. Maybe I like it because, like my LOVE of bacon, it served a need for a nutrient my body requires?

Maybe that’s the reason for my happy smiling disposition?

So many questions; so few answers.

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RANT: Canceling so-called “guaranteed issue” policies

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2013/October/21/cancellation-notices-health-insurance.aspx&strip=1

Thousands Of Consumers Get Insurance Cancellation Notices Due To Health Law Changes
By Anna Gorman and Julie Appleby
KHN Staff Writers
Oct 21, 2013

*** begin quote ***

Some Policies Targeted

Both Independence and Highmark are cancelling so-called “guaranteed issue” policies, which had been sold to customers who had pre-existing medical conditions when they signed up. Policyholders with regular policies because they did not have health problems will be given an option to extend their coverage through next year.

Consumer advocates say such cancellations raise concerns that companies may be targeting their most costly enrollees.

They may be “doing this as an opportunity to push their populations into the exchange and purge their systems” of policyholders they no longer want, said Jerry Flanagan, an attorney with the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog in California.

Insurers deny that, saying they are encouraging existing customers to re-enroll in their new plans.

“We continue to cover people with all types of health conditions,” saidHighmark spokeswoman Kristin Ash.

She said some policyholders who may have faced limited coverage for their medical conditions will get new plans with “richer benefits” and the policies “in most cases, will be at a lower rate.”

Paula Sunshine, vice president of marketing with Independence, said the insurer hopes the cancelled policyholders will “choose Blue when they decide on a new plan.”

 *** end quote ***

Wow, Big Insurance gets to dump their “losers” on the Taxpayers and get all the healthy youngsters FORCED to buy their over-priced products. What could be wrong with that?

Remind you of Wall Street!

Suckers!!!!

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RANT: google does evil!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

http://perezhilton.com/2013-10-19-taylor-swift-google-heart-sign-patent-stolen#sthash.Xgu7pUf9.dpbs

Taylor Swift Heart Sign Stolen! Patented By Google!
10/19/2013 6:01 AM ET | Filed under: Legal Matters • Tech Talk • Taylor Swift • GIFs

*** begin quote ***

Is Taylor Swift going to have to stop using her iconic heart hands?

Taylor has practically trademarked the lovely bit of sign language over the years, but Google decided to do her one better and patent it! For realz!

Google patented the “heart-hand gesture” for use with their new Google Glass technology, allowing people to use the sign to “like” things they see through the lenses.

*** end quote ***

Sorry, but how can Google “patent” something that is “prior art”?

Hope that I’m on the jury for that one!

They lose. (As well as all of the other stupid stuff that gets “patented”!!!)

Argh!

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CLOUD: Yahoo Mail Plus

Monday, October 21, 2013

Thanks for being a loyal Yahoo Mail Plus user!

We wanted to inform you about a few changes to Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Mail Plus.

Mail Plus will continue being ad free
Continue enjoying a clean inbox, without any graphical ads! All Yahoo Mail users will now be offered offline access with POP, mail forwarding, disposable address and extra filters for free.

Your rate won’t change
As a loyal user, you are locked in at your rate of $19.99 per year until you cancel the service. New users will pay $49.99 for Ad Free Mail. If you choose, you can cancel your Mail Plus service anytime at http://wallet.yahoo.com.

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Argh! Now I can struggle with keep it active or drop it.

I am getting a “bargain”!

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TINFOILHAT: The Girl in the stairs

Sunday, October 20, 2013

http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/girl-on-the-stairs-refutes-p-c-jfk-narrative/

WND EXCLUSIVE
‘Girl on the stairs’ refutes ‘P.C.’ JFK narrative
Remarkable testimony dismissed by Warren Commission, Bill O’Reilly

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/girl-on-the-stairs-refutes-p-c-jfk-narrative/#ukdycVmq3xK96TzM.99

*** begin quote ***

The Girl in the stairs

Victoria Elizabeth Adams, a 22-year-old employee of textbook publisher Scott Foresman watched the JFK motorcade from the fourth floor of the Texas School Book Depository as it passed by.

After seeing the fatal head shot, Adams and co-worker Sandra Styles ran to the stairwell and raced down the stairs to the first floor, determined to get out the back of the building to see what they could find in the railroad yard behind the fence on the grassy knoll.

The key aspect of her testimony was that the stairway Adams took was the same stairway Lee Harvey Oswald would have had to have taken to get from the sixth floor to the lunchroom, where he was found by Baker and Truly.

Yet, Adams testified she saw and heard nobody else on the stairs at that time. She estimated the time between hearing the shots and leaving the window to head for the stairway was between 15 and 20 seconds. She estimated it took less than a minute to run down the stairs from the fourth floor to the first floor.

The problem was that Adams did not see Oswald passing her on the stairs; see testified she did not hear anyone else on the stairs when she was running down.

Investigative reporter Barry Ernest describes in his book “The Girl on the Stairs” his 35-year search to find and interview Victoria Adams.

When he finally found her in 2002, Adams repeated for him her story in person. She explained how various government officials, including the Dallas Police Department, had harassed her over her testimony.

She produced for Ernest a 1964 letter her attorney had written to L. Lee Rankin, the chief counsel for the Warren Commission, complaining that someone had made changes in her deposition, altering her meaning.

She explained to Ernest that she left Dallas after the assassination because she was seeking to disappear.

“Remember, though, I was a very young woman at the time (22 years old) and believed in my government,” she told Ernest. “Because of the strange circumstances and discounting of my statements, my multiple questioning by various government agencies and the Warren Commission’s conclusions, I lost my starry-eyed beliefs in the integrity of our government. And I was scared, too. I was a young lady alone with no family or friend support at the time.”

Reviewing with Ernest her testimony as published in the Warren Commission volumes, Adams insisted her testimony had been altered.

“The freight elevator had not moved, and I did not see anyone on the stairs,” she insisted to Ernest.

When Ernest asked her why the Warren Commission never called Sandra Styles to testify, Adams speculated, “Looking backwards I think they didn’t want to corroborate any evidence.”

Yet, the record is clear. There is no photograph showing Lee Harvey Oswald on the sixth floor during the JFK shooting, and there is no testimony from anyone who worked in the building to suggest that he was there either.

The Warren Commission dismissed Victoria Adams, saying she must have come down the stairs later than she estimated – enough later that Oswald had already passed by.

But absent the strained explanation, the evidence points to the conclusion that Oswald was in the lunchroom of the Texas School Book Depository when JFK was assassinated, not on the sixth floor in the “sniper’s nest” where the Warren Commission insisted he had to have been.

*** end quote ***

Sorry, but repeating the Warren Commission fabrication, is not what I would expect from O’Reilly.

This is a national disgrace.

I wonder if short of the Pearly Gates will we ever know the truth.

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HARDWARE: Crony Capitalist Microsoft subtly restrains trade

Saturday, October 19, 2013

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-linux-basemosaic-ubuntu-parity,24519.html

Nvidia Removed Linux Driver Feature Due to Windows
By Kevin ParrishOCTOBER 3, 2013 1:28 PM – Source: Softpedia 
The reason seems a little contradictory.

*** begin quote ***

Softpedia points to a Nvidia Developer Zone forum post revealing that the company has removed a specific Linux feature as of the v310 drivers due to the Windows platform. A BaseMosaic user on Ubuntu 12.04 noticed a change in the number of displays that can be used simultaneously after upgrading from the v295 drivers to v310.

*** and ***

Yet in v295, the Ubuntu user was able to get four monitors up and running. So why was BaseMosaic altered to support only three monitors instead? Nvidia explains. “For feature parity between Windows and Linux we set BaseMosaic to 3 screens,” said “Sandpit” of Nvidia’s Linux team.

What’s interesting here is that Nvidia’s proprietary Windows driver has features not found in the Linux drivers, but the company will remove specific Linux-only features for “parity.” The comment indicates that the three-screen limit has nothing to do with a degradation of quality when using four screens, but a possible Microsoft request/demand.

Nvidia’s driver documentation states that BaseMosaic can be used to extend a single X screen transparently across all of the available display outputs on each GPU.

“This is like SLI Mosaic mode except that it does not require a video bridge connected to the graphics cards,” the notes read. “Due to this Base Mosaic does not guarantee there will be no tearing between the display boundaries. Base Mosaic is supported on all the configurations supported by SLI Mosaic Mode. It is also supported on Quadro FX 380, Quadro FX 580 and all G80 or higher non-mobile NVS cards.”

It will be interesting to see if Nvidia returns four-monitor support back to its Linux drivers, given that the reason for removing the feature seems a little contradictory.

*** end quote ***

Yeah, dumbing down the free market competitor is fair. But don’t do the something equivalent to the big guy.

Nvidia is taking a gamble.

Hope they pay for that decision.

Personally, I have placed them on my “Toshiba” list. Technology I will never buy. (Toshiba sold the US Navy sub quiet propeller design to Red China.) 

Like my “Jane Fonda” list, I have a very LONG memory.

Hope you all do too!

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POLITICAL: Sarvis for VA guv

Friday, October 18, 2013

NewImage

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RANT: “Phony” ceremonies

Friday, October 18, 2013

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/11/pentagons-stunning-admission-govt-has-held-phony-ceremonies-to-honor-fallen-u-s-soldiers-for-years/

GOVERNMENT
PENTAGON’S STUNNING ADMISSION: GOV’T HAS HELD ‘PHONY’ CEREMONIES TO HONOR FALLEN U.S. SOLDIERS FOR YEARS
Oct. 11, 2013 11:03am Billy Hallowell

*** begin quote ***

The Pentagon has admitted that dramatic repatriation ceremonies held at a Hawaii base have been fabricated to make it appear as though flag-draped coffins holding the remains of fallen U.S. soldiers were arriving that very day from old battlefields, NBC News reported.

In reality, the remains had already been sitting in American labs for months. The planes were also defunct and non-operational, so the notion that they carried the bodies back to the U.S. is an impossibility.

*** end quote ***

they sure fooled me. And I am <past tense synonym for urine output> off!

sorry, but I think the Congressman from the district, the Senator, and the President should be there when the remains return.

if that means “no golf” that day, then “tough <synonym for excrement>”!

Argh!

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RANT: My “concerns related to Syria” were to have the USA myob

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Dear Mr. Reinke,

 

Thank you for taking the time to contact me with your concerns related to Syria.

 

Since the April 2011 start of the Syrian conflict, more than 100,000 people have died, at least two million Syrians have become refugees according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and approximately five million Syrians are internally displaced. Based on the evidence that I have seen as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the evidence presented in the UN Chemical Weapons Report on Syria, I believe that there were chemical attacks in Syria, and that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons against its own people. The evidence clearly points to the Syrian government being responsible for the attacks, which is part of a pattern of chemical weapons use by the regime. The use of chemical weapons clearly violates international norms and rejects international agreements banning the use of chemical weapons.

 

This grave attack, which United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has called “a crime against humanity,” requires a strong international response. We need to send a clear message that this kind of atrocity cannot be repeated, and those who perpetrated these crimes must be held accountable. I support efforts undertaken by the United States and other countries to reinforce the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons.

 

On September 14, 2013, the United States and Russia agreed to a “Framework for Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons,” which creates a series of conditions for Syria to meet its stated obligation to give up its chemical weapons. It takes into account the Syrian government’s decision to apply to join the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which bans the development, production, stockpiling and use of these weapons. Syria is one of only five countries that has neither signed nor acceded to the CWC, and a specific condition of the U.S.-Russia framework is that Syria will accede to the CWC and commit to provisionally apply the Convention prior to its entry into force. Under the framework, international inspectors must be on the ground no later than November with an initial on-site inspection complete by the end of November. The Framework targets the complete elimination of chemical weapons material and equipment for the first half of 2014, and provides that if Assad fails to comply, this issue is referred to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

 

The adoption on September 27, 2013, by the full UNSC of a resolution that will ensure the Syrian regime’s compliance with its pledge to give up and destroy its chemical weapons is the most significant action by the Security Council since the start of the conflict in Syria, and I support this positive step. We should give this diplomatic route a chance to succeed as long as it is backed up with a credible use of force for non-compliance. Despite this positive trajectory, key issues remain. Implementation will be a challenge, and the Syrian government must meet tight deadlines. The international community, and the U.S. in particular, will need to verify Syria’s commitments, and inspectors must have unfettered and safe access to all chemical weapons sites. As past experience in Iraq has shown, this is not guaranteed, and we should continue to support longer term international efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria by political means.

 

As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I have closely watched the crisis in Syria unfold over several years. I will continue to work to support international resolution of the Syria conflict that respects U.S. interests and the challenges we face at home and abroad today.

 

Again, thank you for contacting me. For further information or to sign up for my newsletter please visit my website at http://warner.senate.gov.

 

Sincerely,
MARK R. WARNER
United States Senator

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A fat lot of good it did?

# – # – # – # – #  2013-Oct-17 @ 19:54  


INSPIRATIONAL: The second arrow

Thursday, October 17, 2013

http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheAtlantic

Earlier that day, our meditation teacher had suggested we avoid what she called the “Second Arrow.” In a classic sutra, the Buddha had said that if someone shoots you in the foot, don’t pick up the bow and shoot yourself in the foot again. Don’t make your suffering worse, in other words, by arguing with what’s so. That’s a Second Arrow. Accept pain. Don’t criticize yourself, or others, for feeling pain: that is a Second Arrow. Don’t regret what cannot be changed, or try to predict what cannot be known. By throwing their complex machinery into the path of death, my father’s doctors had shot my parents with a Second Arrow. And by trying too hard to shield my parents from suffering, I might be shooting myself—and them—with a Second Arrow as well.

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FUN: 10 Questions

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

What was your favorite food when you were a child?

Pizza!

 

What’s the #1 most played song on your iPod?

Taylor Swift’s Mary’s Song

 

What is one of your favorite quotes?

“There is no such thing as luck. There is only adequate or inadequate preparation to cope with a statistical universe.” – Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

 

What’s your favorite indoor/outdoor activity?

Chicks ‘n’ Wings on Monday nights

 

What chore do you absolutely hate doing?

White wash

 

What is your favorite form of exercise?

Walking when I have to

 

 

What is your favorite time of day/day of the week/month of the year?

Monday morning and getting back to work. It’s my version of “golf”.

 

What’s your least favorite mode of transportation?

Flying. (its the TSA and the confined space)

 

What is your favorite body part?

On me? Brain! It makes all things possible. On women? Breasts.

 

What sound do you love?

The bell of mindfulness. Close second is rain.

 

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FUN:I live comedies!

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2660806/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

MOM 

has Allison Janney and an uncredited appearance of Dahrma’s mom, Mimi Kennedy @mimikennedyfans.

… …

have to see but with these tow funny women, I put it on my DVR.

Maybe I’m confused!

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INSPIRATIONAL: God is My Co-pilot

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/10/09/2050247/passenger-lands-plane-after-pilot-collapses-and-dies-at-the-controls?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes
“NBC reports that flying instructors at Humberside Airport, near the city of Hull in northeast England, told a passenger who had never flown before how to land a four-seater Cessna 172 after the pilot collapsed and died at the controls. Passenger John Wildey explained to air traffic controllers that he had no flying experience and that the pilot could not control the plane. ‘It came down with a bump, a bump, a bump, hit the front end down, I heard some crashing and it’s come to a halt,’ said Stuart Sykes. ‘There were a few sparks and three or four crashes, that must have been the propeller hitting the floor. Then it uprighted again and it came to a stop.’ Roads around the airport were closed while two incoming flights to the airport, from Scotland and the Netherlands, were delayed as a result of the incident. The passenger took four passes of the runway, and there were cheers from the control tower when it finally came to a halt on the ground. ‘For somebody who is not a pilot but has been around airfields and been a passenger on several occasions to take control is nothing short of phenomenal,” said Richard Tomlinson. “He made quite a good landing, actually,’ added flight instructor Murray. ‘He didn’t know the layout of the airplane. He didn’t have lights on so he was absolutely flying blind as well.'”

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This is inspiring to me. And reminds me of “God is My Co-pilot”!

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INTERESTING: ‘Captain Phillips’ is a big lie

Monday, October 14, 2013

http://nypost.com/2013/10/13/crew-members-deny-captain-phillips-heroism/

Crew members: ‘Captain Phillips’ is one big lie

By Maureen Callahan

October 13, 2013 | 3:34am

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Guess I won’t waste my attention, time, and money on this one!

Argh!

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TINFOILHAT: We’re the “sane” ones? We don’t buy the lies at face value

Monday, October 14, 2013

http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/are-conspiracy-theorists-really-the-sane-ones/

WND EXCLUSIVE
ARE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS REALLY THE SANE ONES?
University study shows they are more well-grounded than others
Published: 20 hours ago
author-image GINA LOUDON

*** begin quote ***

Invented term

DeHaven-Smith said that the term “conspiracy theorist” was invented and made popular intentionally by the CIA in an effort to discredit those who asked questions surrounding the assassination of JFK.

Since the CIA is banned from domestic activities, if true, it is illegal, contends Kevin Barrett of Press TV.

He said “people who use the terms ‘conspiracy theory’ and ‘conspiracy theorist’ as an insult are doing so as the result of a well-documented, undisputed, historically real conspiracy by the CIA to cover up the JFK assassination.”

“That campaign, by the way, was completely illegal,” he continued, “and the CIA officers involved were criminals; the CIA is barred from all domestic activities, yet routinely breaks the law to conduct domestic operations ranging from propaganda to assassinations.”

Research seems to be trending in support of some of these claims. An abstract of a recent study published by researchers at the University of Kent in the U.K. looked at trends in social media.

The study collected comments and organized them into “conspiracist” and “conventionalist” categories. They assert that “conspiracy theorists” might be more well-grounded, even more sane, than those who accept conventional wisdom on contested events.

*** end quote ***

My first “tin foil hat” was my Uncle Louie.

He was firmly convinced that Pearl Harbor was instigated by FDR.

I remember my father and other uncles and aunts tell him he was “crazy”.

He didn’t have “evidence”, but even at that time all the decision makers were “out of touch” for the duration of the crisis. (Remind you of BHO and Hillary’s red phone commercial. And, Benghazi-gate?)

I heard grumblings in Grammar and High School history. Many of the Christian Brothers were old vets. No one had “evidence”, but all had different “suspicions.

The thing common to most of the discussion was “why were the carriers at sea when the fleet was in port?” 

A fact.

Not evidence.

I read a lot about WW2. Then WW1. 

I saw all the movies. 

I was a war monger.

Then came Viet Nam.

And stuff came out by dribs and drabs.

Then, many moons later, in 1999, I read: “Day of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor” by by Robert Stinnett 

And, I was “tin foil hat”!

Stinnett’s evidence, much of it circumstantial, convinced me that everyone lied!

From that it was short trip to the Lusitania carried munitions, Gulf of Tolkin never happened, JFK was killed by the CIA and LBJ, … and on and on.

So, if the Gooferment, their willing propagandists in the “media”, most politicians and bureaucrats say something, I demand “evidence”!

They could say “the Sun will rise tomorrow” and I want proof.

Argh!

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RANT: “Death Panel” thinking

Sunday, October 13, 2013

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/10/kimberly-paxton/high-school-death-panel%E2%80%A8/

LewRockwell.comanti-state•anti-war•pro-market

Forget Glee Club and Football – This High School Has a Death Panel!
By Kimberly Paxton
The Daily Sheeple
October 12, 2013

*** begin quote ***

Critics of the public school system will be pleased to know that St. Joseph-Ogden High School in Illinois is preparing kids for the future by teaching them practical skills.

That’s right – 15 and 16 year olds just had an assignment on how to distribute limited medical resources amongst a small sampling of the population. They got to pick who deserves to live and who deserves to die.

The lesson involves 10 people who are in desperate need of kidney dialysis.

*** and ***

“The assignment you are referring to is not a “Death Panel” assignment.  The assignment is one in the sociology unit of our Introduction To Social Studies class.  The purpose of the assignment is to educate students about social values and how people in our society unfortunately create biases based off of professions, race, gender, etc.  The teacher’s goal is to educate students in the fact that these social value biases exist, and that hopefully students will see things from a different perspective after the activity is completed.  The teacher’s purpose in the element of the assignment you are referring to is to get students emotionally involved to participate in the classroom discussion, and to open their minds to the fact that they themselves have their own social biases.  The assignment has nothing to do with a “Death Panel.”

*** end quote ***

Sure, surem sure.

Doesn’t look that way to me.

Implicit in the exercise is that the “student” has a moral imperative to make such decisions.

Or that, in fact, such decisions are made in our society.

Having known an older person undergoing dialysis, the free market, that wonder engine of chaotic order, has no such 6/10 shortage. 

It’s a limitation that doesn’t exist in the real world.

A while ago, more than a decade, I saw a brand new HUGE dialysis center by the airport. Far larger than would be needed by the small number of relatively healthy natives. I was curious so I called them talked to the Director. (Astonishingly he answer his own phone that was publicly listed.) He told me that it was built by the community with support from the hotels FOR TOURISTS who needed dialysis while they were on vacation. They accepted Medicare, all insurances, and cash. The “cash rate” was about a third of what my relative paid in NYC. And the fellow was very apologetic that the “cash price” was so high but all the critical supplies had to be airlifted in due to expiration dates.

I was floored.

So, let’s put “WalMart” in charge of everything. (WalMart is my metaphor for a truly free market.)

Argh!

So hospital with only capacity for 6 could put on a second shift for capacity of 12. Now we just have to figure out how to pay for it. How about a “Bake Sale”? Wanna bet if our society can sell naming rights of stadiums, our second shift’s name can be sold. 

I think “Reinke’s Ranters” has a nice ring to it.

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GOLD: Cash is not a “store of value”

Sunday, October 13, 2013

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-impact-families-hoard-cash-5-yrs-crisis-042042926.html

AP IMPACT: Families hoard cash 5 yrs after crisis

Associated Press BERNARD CONDON 3 hours ago

*** begin quote ***

NEW YORK (AP) — Five years after U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, triggering a global financial crisis and shattering confidence worldwide, families in major countries around the world are still hunkered down, too spooked and distrustful to take chances with their money.

An Associated Press analysis of households in the 10 biggest economies shows that families continue to spend cautiously and have pulled hundreds of billions of dollars out of stocks, cut borrowing for the first time in decades and poured money into savings and bonds that offer puny interest payments, often too low to keep up with inflation.

“It doesn’t take very much to destroy confidence, but it takes an awful lot to build it back,” says Ian Bright, senior economist at ING, a global bank based in Amsterdam. “The attitude toward risk is permanently reset.”

A flight to safety on such a global scale is unprecedented since the end of World War II.

The implications are huge: Shunning debt and spending less can be good for one family’s finances. When hundreds of millions do it together, it can starve the global economy.

Weak growth around the world means wages in the United States, which aren’t keeping up with inflation, will continue to rise slowly. Record unemployment in parts of Europe, higher than 35 percent among youth in several countries, won’t fall quickly. Another wave of Chinese, Brazilians and Indians rising into the middle class, as hundreds of millions did during the boom years last decade, is unlikely.

*** end quote ***

“Money is a matter of functions four, a medium, a measure, a standard, a store.” He repeated that four times like poetry. “Six Characters in Money: Portable – Durable – Divisible – Uniformity – Limited Supply – Acceptability.” — CHURCH 10●19●62 (Vol 1) 978-0-557-08387-9 page 110

Sorry, but “cash” isn’t money these days. While it is a “medium of exchange” and “measure”, it fails as a “standard” or “store”.

And maybe if it fails “standard”, it may be failing “measure”.

OK, it does serve as a “medium of exchange”. 

But that’s it.

Note that in disasters and civil unrest, there is no exchange.

And, the TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) preppers point out you can eat money. But you can make an expensive fire and poor quality toilet paper out of it.

Let’s tackle “standard” next. What is a “dollar”? It’s got no measure. It’s purchasing power decreases year over year due to inflation. An ounce, a gallon, a meter — they don’t change.

Back to “measure”, a 100 is still a 100. But it’s like baseball and football records. How do we measure if every year they change the definition of distance?

And cash is certainly not a “store”. The “rats” are eating the “seed corn” of value.

Argh!

I suggest the preppers’ mantra — beans, bullets, bandaids, and then bullion!

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POLITICAL: The minimum wage restricts progress up the economic adder

Saturday, October 12, 2013

http://cafehayek.com/2013/10/bonus-quotation-of-the-day-18.html

Bonus Quotation of the Day…
by DON BOUDREAUX on OCTOBER 6, 2013
in SEEN AND UNSEEN, WORK
… is from page 26 of the 2009 Revised Edition of Thomas Sowell’s Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One:

*** begin quote ***

Young people who begin by working at McDonald’s seldom spend their careers at McDonald’s. Just in the course of one year, McDonald’s has more than a 100 percent turnover rate. What those who leave take with them is not only such basic experience as showing up for work regularly and on time, cooperating with others, and knowing how to conduct themselves in a business environment, but also a track record that enables them to move on to other and very different occupations at progressively higher levels in the years ahead. The experience and the track record from McDonald’s are likely to be more valuable in the long run than the modest paychecks they earned serving hamburgers.

*** end quote ***

Sorry, but this is an absolute hot button with me.

50% black teen unemployment is a national disgrace!

The correct minimum wage is ZERO!

And aren’t unpaid interns a violation of the minimum wage laws?

Oh yeah, that’s for smart white kids with connections.

Politicians and bureaucrats are either as dumb as a bag of rocks or the cruelest idiots ever known!

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INSPIRATIONAL: “Be Present” is like “Be in the moment” or “Mindfulness”

Friday, October 11, 2013

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-10-habits-of-highly-successful-hunter-gatherers/#axzz2glGmraDk

The 10 Habits of Highly Successful Hunter-Gatherers

*** begin quote ***

Habit #4: Be Present

We can all do a self-inventory now of the attention we give our phones or other technological devices. We can confess to ourselves how much we let residual work infiltrate our personal lives. Don’t forget what I think is one of our biggest trip-ups in modern living: the penchant for mental chatter. Truth be told, how much time do we spend caught up in replaying a conversation from the previous evening, imagining multiple stressful scenarios that might take place when we confront a certain person about x, y, and z, worrying about what other people think of our outfit or hair today? Let’s face it, our modern disconnect is rampant distraction.

Can you imagine if Grok walked across the savanna perpetually lost in thought about his latest wardrobe experiment? (As if he ever saw his reflection anyway…) He wouldn’t last long enough for it to matter. For our ancestors, life was an exercise in continual hyper-vigilance. Not every second, but close. It wasn’t just the risk of becoming another creature’s dinner either. Attentiveness also meant watching for weather, catching migratory patterns, and deciphering water sources – just to name a few examples.

The Primal Connection is to be found in giving the moment your full attention. It’s about minding the difference between thoughtful deliberation or reflection and so-called monkey brain. It’s about throwing off the strangling self-absorption we trap ourselves in every day standing in line with our phones or with our mental chatter. See the people, places, and possibilities in front of you. Feed this “highly successful” habit by observing your loved ones – all the changes and uniqueness that’s right there to be appreciated. Go on a walk with the goal of finding at least a dozen things you’ve never noticed. Use mindfulness check-ins to remember to come down from the mental busyness and come back to center throughout the day.

*** end quote ***

It’s hard not to “multi-task”.

It’s not like we are computers.

And even when they “multitask”, there is a certain about of inefficiency in doing it.

I remember coding BALR 14,15, Using 15, with all sorts of saving and restoring. That’s all “wasted effort”. We used to carefully consider if the “overhead” was worth the “gain”.

Sitting just doing one thing. Fully engaged. With no distraction. Is the closest thing we get here on the dirt.

If you’ve ever been in “the zone”, it’s as if time stands still. (And, I’ve had some Theology lecture that proved the principle that Hell is real and unending!)

If you’ve NEVER been in “the zone”, how sad!!!

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POLITICAL: the Rosa Parks of alternative money

Thursday, October 10, 2013

http://dailyreckoning.com/the-domestic-terrorist-you-can-call-a-hero/

Daily Reckoning
The “Domestic Terrorist” You Can Call a Hero
Jeffrey Tucker
Posted Sep 10, 2013.

*** begin quote ***

I dreamed I saw Bernard von NotHaus, alive as you or me.

Said I, “But Bernard, you’ve been jailed two years.”

“I never was,” said he.

Bernard has been the called the Rosa Parks of the alternative money movement. More than 10 years ago, he had this idea that he would make his own money — not the fake stuff we are used to, but the real stuff made of actual silver. He called his currency the Liberty Dollar (and why not, since there is no trademark on the word dollar?).

The feds raided him in in 2006. In 2007, the government outright stole 2 tons of coins from him, many of them featuring an image of Ron Paul, plus 500 silver coins and 50 gold coins. They threw him in jail and dragged his name through the mud many times.

He was later convicted of making counterfeit coins — an ironic conviction given that he was making silver coins to compete with official coins made out of scrap metal. That conviction was in March 2011, fully 2½ years ago. The government labeled him a “domestic terrorist.” Yet — and this is what amazed me — he still hasn’t been sentenced. He walks around as free as you or me.

*** end quote ***

It’s all about keeping the Sheeple sleeping.

I bought Liberty Dollars.

As a hedge.

The two silver discs are a little tarnished, but retain their value.

I forget what I paid for them but they have “held” their value.

The only mistake Bernard made was to put the word “dollar” on them. 

(Even though it’s not a restricted term.)

He should have just stuck to the weight.

But they are no more “counterfeit” than they are “worthless”.

Argh!

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