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- February 10, 2017
- US border agents and social media passwords
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In that truism that non citizens have no rights and shouldn't even pretend to ask for them, persons visiting the United States might be required to give up their social media credentials to border agents as a facet of tightened security. Failure to cooperate may result in not getting into the country.
Now then, I'm as pro security as anyone. I certainly envision border security as one of those aspects which enhances our safety ...
BUT As I said earlier when HR departments were doing the same thing that it's a positively Nazi position to require anyone to give up any password on any account they own — and blood likely would be drawn depending on how quickly I could grab the offending person by the throat and stop their breathing.
As I have repeatedly stated the problem with the Nazi party in general was that nobody would tell them "No".
Luckily, I have no social media accounts to which one might gain access. I wonder how that is going to work out for those attempting to cross the border. Sometimes we tend to turn jingoistic in our fervor of protectionism. There are places where a government may not tread and any password or credential I have is in that pathway.
If a foreign country were to try to coerce me into relinquishing any social media credential for absolutely any reason I'd likely be put in jail. Most likely death row if they have one. Nay nay a thousand times nay ... and anyone who asks that of me is a scoundrel of the lowest order. Far below used car salesman or even mill supply house owner.
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- February 9, 2017
- Adventures in ID10T errors...
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The I. D. Ten T. error hit me today. For some reason it ocurred to me to check my web contact forms on my three sites. This entailed a test run just to see how things went.
WHell ... it turns out that 2 out of 3 had fatal run time errors, both associated with cut and pasted code segments where I neglected to accommodate the separate pages ... which were formerly one.
So, after frantically patching things up in the database and scripting which took every bit of 5 minutes or so I was up and running on all three without errors at all.
This is a classic example of what can go horribly wrong when multitasking fails completion.
I wish I could say that this will never happen again ... but only time will tell.
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- February 8, 2017
- Spoiled by the 24 inch dual monitors ...
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So one of those things which draw me to work each morning is the dual monitor configuration of my workstation.
Not that I'm crazy about Dell equipment mind you, but those 24 inch monitors give me so much work area that when I'm working at home I sit there and pine for them and all that room upon which I may work.
It's a sad state of affairs when a "thing of the internet" becomes so integral to your existence that you miss it's presence when it's not there. It seems that my neural pathways have grown accustomed to having dual 24 inch monitors and I suppose I'm just going to have to take that plunge on my workstation at home or never truly feel technologically fulfilled ...
Of all the anal retentive neuroses to acquire at this late stage of the game.
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- February 7, 2017
- Josef Mengele
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Josef Mengele was just one of many Bavarian Nazi monsters who "got over" on both justice and the Nuremburg Tribunal. A physician in the SS (Schutzstaffel) the so-called "protective sheild" formed in the Nazi party as a personal bodyguard for Hitler and others in the Nazi leadership; Mengle was just one of many evil henchmen serving under Heinrich Himmler.
Josef Mengle
The Nazi Angel of Death
This man conducted so-called "medical experimentation", "anthropological study", and "heredity research" on concentration camp inmates with the help of various medical professionals among the prisoner population by subjecting them to extremes of temperature, chemical injections, unnecessary surgery, procedures of dubious medical ethics, and outright murder and maiming without regard to that pain and suffering they were forced to endure.
He was particularly interested in twins; and to be under his "protection" was in and of itself an abomination in the name of proving "nature over nurture". He was known for bringing candy and such to the children, and speaking sweetly to them all the while sending great numbers of them to the crematorium as corpses a short while later.
Of course there was the Nazi eugenics program providing the adequate fodder in the form of victims placed at his disposal. This was all done under the auspices of National Socialist racial theory to which he subscribed. He would meet the trains from which the prisoners would disembark and direct them to his area where they may have felt safe ... for a short while.
The root of that sociopsychopathy of it all lay in that perversion of the Nazi ideology touting superiority to all others in conjunction with Mengle's total lack of remorse for his wartime activities claiming he had never harmed anybody.
The world was relieved of this charlatan scourge of humanity on February 7, 1979 when he suffered a (second) stroke while swimming at Bertioga, São Paulo, Brazil and drowned.
I had just returned from a Med cruise and was discharged from the Navy a scant four months later. All of this history regarding Mengle was known to me except his death for years afterward.
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- February 6, 2017
- Pulp Fiction, Tarantino, and Scripture
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I watched Pulp Fiction yet again last night. It is an entertaining flick with all the violence, twists, and stark surprises I've come to expect from a Tarantino movie. My favorite part continues to be when Jules goes off on a quasi biblical rant which is supposed to be "Ezekiel 25:17" and indeed it is a stunning speech for those who are unattuned to the scriptural reference.
Personally, I have read Ezekiel so much that it rapidly approaches memorization. Though the reference isn't accurate I can certainly suspend belief long enough to thoroughly enjoy it in the movie.
"Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."
Jules Winnfield
Pulp Fiction
Portrayed by Samuel L Jackson
Misquotation by Quentin Tarantino
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- February 5, 2017
- Johnny Pruett Internment Anniversary
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One year ago today Johnny Henderson Pruett was interred at Fort Jackson National Cemetery a scant 4 miles from his home. It is a sad day for me as I have missed him terribly each day since he passed on January 27, 2016.
Rest in peace.
PRUETT, JOHNNY HENDERSON
MSGT US AIR FORCE
KOREA, VIETNAM
DATE OF BIRTH: 05/30/1933
DATE OF DEATH: 01/27/2016
BURIED AT: SECTION 3 SITE 891
FT. JACKSON NATIONAL CEMETERY
4170 PERCIVAL RD COLUMBIA, SC 29229
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- February 4, 2017
- World Cancer Day
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I once heard a lecture on DNA and RNA whereby the physician speaking made the generalization that everyone will eventually get cancer — if they live long enough.
His point being the accumulated damage which occurs secondary to free radicals, toxins, injury, and so forth will eventually cause those mechanisms of genetic and somatic repair to fail resulting in those tumors of faulty replication.
Now then, being the rank student amateur I was at that tender young stage of my career, I immediately hit medline on what was the fledgling internet of the late 70s and read up finding SOD complex, superoxide dismutase to be that enzymatic solution to longer healthy cellular division.
Toward that end, I located a vendor supplying sublingual SOD complex and started taking it continuing for several years until I returned to South Carolina and resumed my Kentucky Fried Chicken addiction.
Nowadays I take glisodin complex which is a form of SOD bound to a carrier which can survive the digestive system.
Today is World Cancer Day.
Cancer is a disease which results from uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in some body part.
These neoplasms are actually newly formed areas of abnormal tissue growth and are highly characteristic of the disease.
World Cancer Day is important because it brings to the fore that importance which is attempt at both it's control and eradication. Some of the saddest anecdotes I ever heard were pediatric onocologists relating the course of some patient's disease ... and worse; reading various death summaries during my career.
Cancer is a horrible way to die and although life has taught me that other diseases can be just as bad or even worse — the diminished "lifestyle" nature of many cancers brings it to my mind as a tragedy with which we should help it's victims to cope and better yet ... go into remission permanently.
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- February 3, 2017
- Four Chaplains Day
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al·tru·ism
/ˈaltro͞oˌizəm/
noun
Belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.
War brings out the worst in people. It also brings out the best in some.
George Lansing Fox
Alexander David Goode
Clark Vandersall Poling
John Patrick Washington
The troop ship SS Dorchester sank on February 3, 1943, during World War II as the result of being torpedoed by a German U-Boat in the North Atlantic.
As the vessel was going down four US Army Chaplains aboard placed the others aboard before themselves by helping them board lifeboats and giving them their lifejackets when there were no more to be had.
They then joined arms, prayed, and sang hymns as the SS Dorchester sank, going down with the ship.
These four men of God have been celebrated and honored for their actions which saved other civilian and military personnel with a selfless call to duty with valor uncommon in dire circumstances.
In 1988, February 3 became "Four Chaplains Day" by unanimous act of Congress.
This day is reserved as a feast day in their honor by the Episcopal Church in the United States.
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- February 2, 2017
- Groundhog Day
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(Marmot Day in Alaska) A celebration of weather prognostication based on the observance of a specific groundhog indigenous to the area.
It seems that on February second if the groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and the weather is cloudy then Spring will arrive early — most likely prior to the vernal equinox.
However, if the weather is sunny it is purported that the rodent will see it's shadow and go back into it's den with a six week continuation of winter.
Personally I don't place much store into this arrangement and I certainly would like for winter to be cold and spring to be cool as it should be ...
HOWEVER, we've been seeing weather a bit on the warm side and though it has been met with approval by a few of the ladies at work I view it all as a bit unnatural.
Regardless, Happy Marmot or Groundhog Day (whatever you choose to call him) to you !
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- February 1, 2017
- National Bird Feeding Month
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In my day I was quite the bird feeding fanatic, with various feeders set out and kept filled over the course of years.
My enthusiasm diminished with the squirrel populations which innundated the area and took every opportunity to relieve the feeders of their content.
I retaliated with quite a few "squirrel resistant" and "squirrel proof" models but alas; the problem seemed insurmountable and contributed to the cessation of my activities.
There was once a large cement bird bath in my yard which I kept filled with water until I noticed the cats drinking from it whereupon I removed the basin from the pedestal and placed it on the gound upside down never to be filled again. I'd like to point out that these actions were the results of years of frustration and not a knee jerk reaction.
During February we celebrate National Bird Feeding Month. It's purpose is to educate the public regarding the feeding and watching of wild birds.
I enjoy the birds in the area. I'd like to feed and water them. However, the neighbors do not take kindly to me trapping their cats and taking them to the shelter for euthanasia and the squirrels are a never ending struggle with which I enact various eradication programs only to have more come up from the nearby river.
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- January 31, 2017
- Adventures in Information
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I read over a nice piece on seeker.com regarding the notion that we who are curious about science are more open minded regarding political issues. It went on to state that such people could advance ideas if recruited for larger group discussions.
Sometimes I think my political views are rather polarized. This is the results of feeling betrayed by the second Obama administration with his intential side stepping of the law to gain various political ends.
However, just because your opinion may differ from mine I surely do not hold any intrinsic fault with it — for indeed, the dissenting view is necessary for any modicum of well rounded data amassing operations and as the French note, vive la difference ... my personal view being that if we were all alike the bulk of us would be unnecessary.
So reasoning proficiency which is also apolitical is a boon attribute because being able to set aside bias in the pursuit of new ideas HAS to result in disagreeing more agreeably.
My interest has always been in the novel approach to any set of problems and I will never be the one to cast aside a valid idea just because I may disagree. Controversy doesn't always follow me as it once did and I attribute this to an ability to set aside my preconceived notions and evaluate what another says with an open mind without automatically flying off the handle prior to getting the facts or understanding the point being made.
I engage others while attempting empathetic understanding of the person's position relative to the stance being taken. I try to be cognizant of any personal weaknesses regarding the topical data under discussion. Finally, I try to keep my emotions in check and maintain an open mind for the duration.
This results in significant questions — not those arising from some errant defensive posture that can be counterproductive and places me an a position to entertain subjects with which I may be less comfortable yet still function optimally and engage provocative interactions and subjects without personal provocation. I shoot for a reasonable level of tact and poise ... in other words, my advancing age has taught me to at least TRY to be a good listener. I lacked this early on and it plagued me a long time.
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- January 30, 2017
- 'hemorrhage' of Catholic priests and nuns
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One of those things which has been around from antiquity has been the Catholic church. Indeed, that control exerted upon the people by the church has included torture and execution ... all in the name of God, of course and the evolution of pedophile priests who were protected by the organization for far too long.
So now, there appears to be a decline in the numbers of Catholic clergy and novite nuns which has been noticed by the current papal office.
The AP had a small piece regarding Pope Francis who has concerns involving his perception of a "hemorrhage" of priests and nuns from the Catholic church. Intimating that a loss of clergy is resulting in a weaker church as evidenced by the decline in numbers of priests and nuns in developed countries.
His words came on Saturday at a Vatican religious life gathering where he construed part of the problem is life in a society that discourages lifelong commitments.
It is my unqualified observation that "what goes around comes around" and when you have a number of individuals who really weren't all that religious anyway entering the priesthood hellbent on various forms of carnal sin ...
That allure of torture and murder no longer being part and parcel of the power the church used to wield via the likes of Torquemada nor the likelihood of many continuing to be shuffled around rather than being jailed for child abuse it's more a problem with securing people who are "really" religious and not just playing religion.
The likes of the Borgias, the murder of John Paul I, the intrigue and the mismanaged and misdirected coffers of those funds of the faithful just can't compare to that simple friars life they want to project.
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- January 29, 2017
- Reflections
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As I sit here collecting my thoughts I note that today is my late daddy's birthday. Though he has been gone since December 4, 2001 I have missed him every day.
It is a difficult matter to cope with the many losses which accumulate over a lifetime and coming to terms with this is a priority — albeit a sad duty indeed.
My personal difficulties revolve around that suffering he endured during his decline and the futile attempts to save him which simply caused much more of it.
This has tempered my life in the notion that heroics are sometimes not the best avenue and regardless of how we feel consideration of what others must go through to accommodate us is much more important in the circle of life.
In retrospect I would have done things much differently to be younger and know what I know now.
Imparting this to my nephew who continues his existence as an emotional infant rapidly approaching age 40 in the presence of all those problems he creates for his parents are equally distressing. I suppose that I can't be wishing to impart experience in the activities of daily living where they are unwanted so I remain silent.
Rest in peace, daddy. I have missed you all these years.
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- January 28, 2017
- Dealing from the Burger King Drive Through
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Garrett Norris
From the "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" file we have yet another tragic story of hilarious escapades and wasted youth ...
Meagan Dearborn
Epping NH police have arrested a couple of drug dealers who were dealing marijuana from a Burger King drive through window.
20 year old Garrett Norris and Meagan Dearborn who is 19 were caught in a sting conducted by the Epping PD in conjunction with the Rockingham County Sheriff's Department and the attorney for Rockingham County.
It seems that a tip called into police that the Burger King restaurant drive through was being used to deal drugs resulted in their arrest in short order.
Buyers allegedly would arrive at the BK, ask for "Nasty Boy" and request "extra crispy" fries after determining that he was working. Payment was made at the drive through window.
The drugs were kept separate from food items sold and it was determined that the franchise owners were not involved.
Mr Morris and Ms Dearborn were released on personal recognizance pending a February 28 arraignment.
Now then, inasmuch as I'm pretty particular about persons from whom food is purchased; I would never be one to buy "extra crispy" anything from a person in a restaurant who went by the moniker "Nasty Boy".
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