So our Fort Leavenworth resident Bradley "call me Chelsea" Manning is in the news for hospitalization secondary to what appears to be attempted suicide.

It would appear that the reality of who he is either isn't sinking in or he has come to that epiphany that his life is indeed as screwed up as I think it is ...

Regardless his incarceration has only begun and barring any unforseen political shenanagans such as we've come to expect from the obama administration he will likely remain incarcerated until his mid to late sixties.

Quite a way to spend your prime years too I might add. I would think that this business of viewing yourself as the wrong gender might have some limitations on the psychosocial front in the presence of all the criminal justice coddling in the form of hormones and such.

I believe I would attempt to rationalize my situation more from a standpoint of "what is" instead of "who I THINK I am" given the fact that the reality remains bradley is a male with an adams apple and all that associated equipment which goes with MALENESS.

As I've stated earlier, I think we should definitely pursue happiness in this limited time we have on the planet. However, I have also stated that "transitioning" while incarcerated on the taxpayer's dime is about as low as humanity goes and I hope that such antics will be abolished by competent authority at the earliest possible moment.

Bradley Manning, presently incarcerated in the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas is a male traitor who should stay where he is for the rest of his life. I realize this is pretty harsh but were he payiing for his own lifestyle and footing the bill for his pursuit of phenotypical manipulation I would not have any issues with him other than the fact that he is a traitor to his country.

Real world issues revolve around the exploitation of people by individuals who would spitefully impose their will upon them, enact revenge, or for tactical advantage and control in the name of domination.

Those resources which relatively recently have come to the fore as particularly susceptible to outside exploits via those network segments they occupy, the power grids which supply electricity to the populace are becoming known for control structures which are deemed subject to the control of malevolent individuals remotely.
 

The advent of networked control mechanisms for power grids has introduced this possibility for hack vulnerability which may result in uncontrollable blackouts for the masses via rogue remote intrusion into the infrastructure.

Sensors and controllers which operate independent of networked hardware would provide a mechanism which is impenetrable by hacker attack and though more people intensive, likely a safer alternative to regional nodes controlling massive parts of the power grid.

Given the recent spate of hack attacks on power grids in Europe I personally view the consideration of analog control systems on them to be a viable preventative for the safety of our power utility functionality. IMHO not everything needs to be state of the art digital with network access to be superior technological implementation.

It would seem that the claims of being both apolitical and above influence is no longer the case for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin, a digital currency utilizing encryption techniques to regulate the generation of currency and verify the transfer of funds allegedly operating independently of a central bank has been hijacked by China.

It seems the entirety of bitcoin operations have been sucked up by the Chinese who have taken control via massive server farms across the country.

US executives interested in the new age currency now have to travel to China to engage the top tier hierarchy of the Bitcoin industrial complex as in excess of 70 percent of the transactions on the Bitcoin network are routed through four Chinese Bitcoin mining pool companies.

So much for independence and decentralization, eh Bitcoin.

A new currency which was supposed to be above those petty entanglements that heavy handed governments who love their crackdowns on anything and everything is now just another exploit lynchpin for the exclusive use of China.

Leave it to the Chinese to ruin things for everyone. Bitcoin is nothing with which I care to be involved any longer. BOO !

Well, the web server is now online after protracted testing and figety never ending stream of configurations ...

This morning I awoke at about 5:30 in the am then cleared out the server room, vaccuumed, dusted, recabled, and placed the boxes in their respective stands where they sit presently.

I have to say that the machines are operating quite well and gave me no grief during any part of the retrofit.

So today I'm going to take a respite and go to Mom's for a nice visit.

It's been a good last few couple of days.

Have a happy fourth.

I am putting the finishing touches on the new web server.

The new mail server has been online for about a month now.

It will operate on a small subset of the software operating presently.

I wanted to port the existing configuration over but apparently the OS distro is too bleeding edge for the blog package and alas; I can only pursue logistics for so long a time before it becomes counter productive.

Anyway, the new configuration supports everything from a good high def monitor through mobile devices so I'm really looking forward to it's continued evolution after launch.

This is only the beginning and it's all very exciting for me.

Politico is reporting on a contemporary Virginia twit, one Kyler Schmitz who found himself arrested Friday for threatening to shoot Republican lawmakers on twitter.

Said to be satirical response to Democrat and Republican gun control stalemate ... nonetheless he went to jail over these threatening messages.

In light of the recent (and continuous) firearms tragedies the fellow might have thought better to remain silent and merely be thought a fool.
 

Kyler Schmitz, satirist

Instead, he chose to open his mouth and remove all doubt.

It was stated that he does not own a weapon but "may" have been trying to obtain one.

As for me, I pretty much lay low anymore and keep my satire regarding offing those I think may need it however much in jest it may be to myself BECAUSE public venues are rife with multitudes out to make something out of anything said regardless of the frivolous "nothing" it is perceived to be by the person speaking ...

This stems primarily from our modern day political correctness gone amok and the dummies populating the planet who have been indoctrinated by an educational system out to revise history into some fabricated image of their liberal agendas.

So kiddo, you're likely going to take some lumps over this. As for me, I'll simply think what I wish and make sure I maintain a non threatening stance.

Besides, I'm not out to hurt anyone in my "live and let live" preferred mode of operation anyway. This is not to say that I don't talk plenty of trash as a personal diversion.

Threats in a public venue are simply asking for it nowadays regardless of how "satirical" or "in jest" the intent may have been. There is always somebody out there to be offended and act like it's nobody's right to offend them. There's always somebody out there to try to twist and spin your words into something entirely different from your meaning. We've become a society of clods. There, get offended now.

A person should be able to view current events with a little more in the way of insight. This guy obviously needed a lesson in pertinent commentary in public venues. Far be it from me to knock another's poorly placed attempt at satire given my own innumerable feeble attempts right here.

I'm just saying that I understand the concept of satire and however relevant it is there are those practicalities of context and current events to consider in the mix. The emotional pain of the masses is nothing with which to toy. A wise man once said expect to be misunderstood.

There are a smattering of venues where this expectation can be nothing but trouble ... like twitter and perhaps facebook. Discretion is far better than incarceration.

Ah, I do love to read about the adventures of Google in Europe.

I find it rather interesting that business between them is headed for another spate of antitrust litigation with their proprietary adverts being the prime source of friction this time.

Seeing how the bulk of Google's coffers rely on that advertising business it is a critical issue I'm sure.
 

European officials are moving toward smacking Google with yet another set of antitrust charges, with their offense arising from their advertising business this time.

As the EU appears to be rapidly approaching readiness with their statement of objections I suppose the cauldron is getting hot enough to feel all the way across the pond ... So the trials and tribulations of Alphabet, adwords, and Google et al will be coming to a head right soon now.

It would seem that the favoritism played toward Google's own shopping service in it's adwords mechanics and the aforementioned heavy handed android phone tactics aren't just pissing me off. And I thought I was all alone in my anger towards them ...

If the proceedings go the EU's way the fines will be stupendous ... almost a tithe for doing business in the EU and all it's glory.

Abuse of market dominance via code isn't going over so well it seems.

So the adventure in self promotion continues. I wonder how much you have to pay them monthly to get them to answer the phone in Europe.

Yesterday I spent a few hours with Mom at her place.

We sat and putzed around with her phone and took a couple of selfies. It was obvious that we could use a little more practice. Aside from being quite humorous the technical quality was mediocre at best and the photography was even worse. The two I snapped were good for a few laughs ...

She showed me her new facebook photo. It was a nice picture snapped by my sister when they went out to lunch recently. I took it and adjusted the levels and contrast then made a little vignette.
 

John's Headstone Ft Jackson Natl Cemetery

If you mouse over it you can see the original picture...

We went to Ft Jackson National Cemetery and put flowers on John's grave. It's still a pretty grief filled time for us without him. We sat and spoke of all the things we're missing since he passed in January.

But we want to honor him and we try to put fresh flowers at his headstone every week and snap a photo or two of them as well ... This time we brought a bunch of canna lilies and hollyhocks with his last gardenia from the bushes in his yard. We miss him terribly.

So after a magnificent dinner I scooted back home and kicked back for the rest of the day..

Now that the new server is finally achieving gainful forward motion and the obamacare mess at work is over at long last I am getting in a little relaxation...

We were having a discussion Friday regarding topical items for which my personal interest has dimininished over the years. Whereas in my younger days I was this fuss budget with an opinion and stance on just about everything ... anymore I could really give a rip and little impacts me in the big scheme of things anymore.

I would take up all the various personal interests du jour of others in my midst. If they met with my agreement I became their 'instant champion' as it were.

No longer. My exposure to that stupidity which is the world in general has jaded me for their causes. From the dolts like Bernie Sanders preaching this unattainable utopia he will never see through the similarly losing cause of recycling things other than metals and that utter lack of justice so often evident in the courts by and large have made me simply not give a rip.

I grew weary of pursuing these pipe dreams just because I thought they were good ideas. So while you might get out there and harp on various causes stuck in your craw in the name of making a difference — I'm content to remain out of the picture and though my opinion might certainly exist I have no interest in sharing it or worse; FORCING it on anyone.

So all of you who are young enough to still think we have effective government .... or that things aren't the poor representations made by those with advanced degrees who remain stupid ... how any lives really matter ... how we can truly impact global warming ... how the muslims are going to breed us out of existence ... how the government is no longer a constitutional democracy, or even a republic but an oligarchy dominated by a rich and powerful elite ...

just try to control your naive pie in the sky self if you can.
 

Castle Walls

Once in a dream
Far beyond these castle walls
Down by the bay where the
Moonlit water falls
I stood alone while the minstrel sang his song
So afraid I'd lost my soul

There in the fog his song kept calling me
Leading me on with its haunting melody
Deep in my heart a voice kept echoing
I knew I'd soon be wandering

Far beyond these castle walls
Where the distant harbour meets the sky
There the battle raged like hell
And every dove had lost its will to fly

Far beyond these castle walls
Where I thought I heard Tiresias say
Life is never what it seems
And every man must meet his destiny

Styx
 

All of the adventures of late have me happy to be winding down.

I've configured tomcat and every other subsystem so many times it's becoming old hat.

The other engines and various pieces have fallen into place.

My environment is shaping up nicely to the point that I have two candidates up and running on the new web box.

The end approaches. I am ready. It's been a long rough haul.

All that remains is a few command decisions that I'm pondering presently.

It remains not just the destination ... but the journey.

There are issues surrounding the use of hand sanitizer and soap in our never ending pursuit of killing germs appropriately.

There is a recommendation to wash with soap for the duration of two rounds of "Happy Birthday". Previously, it was thought that hand santitizer was "take a squirt and rub". It should also be noted that it's the friction of rubbing in conjunction with the chemical which makes hand sanitizer so effective.

Now they're claiming a duration of 15 to 30 seconds is more efficacious with 45 seconds and beyond suffering from the laws of diminishing returns.

I come from a family big on hand santitizer. I don't typically partake because the alcohol is a bit rough on my tender alabaster white paws.

However, given the relative speed at which it works perhaps a bit of toughening up for my hands is in order.

Studies in Switzerland where E. coli was applied to hands which were then subjected to hand santitizer for 10 seconds to a full minute revealed that the bacteria count dropped drastically in the 10 to 15 second range then, true to form began suffering from the laws of diminishing returns with slight increases after 30 seconds and none after 45 seconds.
 

I've always heard that a very good treatment for urinary tract infections is cranberry juice.

The mechanism stated to me was a potent bacteriostatic action at multiple levels with the vitamin c in conjunction with various other constituents of the pulp and skin of the berries themselves.

The ramifications of this are astounding given it's propensity to heal great masses of suffering individuals.

Indeed, it has been stated by one of my most respected physician friends that the reduction was significant to the point of elimination of many courses of antibiotics.

A recent study by Ocean Spray Cranberries (of course) has supported this advice given to me in the early 1970s to a fair-thee-well.

The incidence for infection in two groups of people, one of which drank the juice daily were significant with a much lower number of cases and severity for the group drinking a daily cranberry juice compared to a placebo control.

The moral of the story is two fold: cranberry juice is decidedly advantageous to those who are predisposed to urinary tract infections and not all old wives tales are unsubstantiated drivel.