Security

The thing about security is that the very things that protect you can be turned against you by someone who knows what he's doing. It's tough to compromise a well thought-out security system, but making someone think you can compromise it, well, that's much easier. Take surveillance cameras, for example: you can disable one by shooting a laser at it and overloading the light sensitive chip. Cheap, easy, and exactly the sort of thing a sophisticated criminal gang with lots of resources would do. Leave around some tell-tale signs of surveillance like cigarette butts, a forgotten camera lens cap and the more security there is, the more likely they are to think they've got a very serious problem. Even the security team itself can be an opportunity. The more employees you have, the more you have to worry about them. Deliver some vague threats and a few hundred bucks to a security guard. If he's honest he'll tell his boss, who then wonders who wasn't so honest. For the cost of a nice dinner you can get a whole security team canned.

Pretty cool video.

What a depressing day.

$10,520 of new debt per household, the interest on this debt $347 billion (wait till I tell my kids!) Change we can believe in!!

I am actually proud the Republicans did not throw in on the non-job pork in this record setting expenditure! Think of all the long lasting jobs that $21 million on Washington National Mall grass, $600 million on cars for bureaucrats, and $650 million for digital television converters, will bring!

And the results experts are touting?

No Jobs: House Tax Committee staff can not estimate that ONE job will be created.  Yet Pelosi/Obama promise between 3 & 4 million jobs.

Ineffective: Congressional Budget Office estimates that only 52% of the spending in the ‘stimulus bill’ can even be spent by the end of FY’10.  President Obama has a 75% benchmark (big miss) .

So folks if your "waiting for government" you are in for a long, long wait!

Going by history: “We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work.” – FDR’s Treasury Sec. Henry Morgenthau Jr., architect of the New Deal.

As dissapointing as this stimulus bill is, I am still hoping that some items come to fruition.  Spending: President Obama campaigned on a platform of fiscal discipline, promising to go through the federal budget, line by line to eliminate waste.  lowering spending by eliminating waste, pork, corporate welfare, and farm subsidies, and reforming entitlements.

 

Energy: President Obama’s defended an increased oil production and nuclear power during his campaign. That is hope that his Administration will permit offshore drilling for domestic oil and natural gas. Lets see reform on the arduous permitting process for new nuclear power plants (lots of power no Carbon!).

Finally, what happened to: "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." -- Howard Zinn??

Over the last eight years that was a mantra I kept hearing, again and again from the left. July 2003 Indy Week,  Irregular Times, The Nation.  Now if you show dissent against President Obama you are villified.  Even Brian Wolff Executive Director, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (official campaign arm of the Democrats in the House). Decided to get a petition together to silence a citizen.

The Denver post is wondering as well.  

Warcraft .vs. Employees.

A little while ago I stumbled across this artical about filtering out wow players from the employment pool.  Among the reasons, bad sleeping habits, and an inability to give 100% due to a wandering mind.   My gut reaction tells me this was rather short sighted and biggotted.  You cold apply the same reasons to someone with a newborn or anyone at any given time.

Now if they are looking for those addictive personalities that will not be at work, even when "at work" why single out WOW?  I happen to play with a static group, all of us hold jobs of various levels of responsibility without a game being an issue.  

So before this becomes a rant (too late?)  I open my browser to this little ditty from Business Week, which has a suprising analysis of how the game can teach motivation.

"Training programs are effective only at transferring what we already know to others. How do we create powerful platforms jointly to innovate and develop new knowledge that no one had before? For an answer to this question, executives would be well advised to look at World of Warcraft"

Now, I have no illusions that a game is a game.  Far from being addicted to World of Warcrack,  I find myself playing an hour here or there with a chunk at times.  It is more a replacement for television then anything.  Still, I can see that the fine folks at Blizzard do have motivation down to an art.  If you have had to layoff some employees due to the economy, motivation of those left behind might have importents.

Rush Limbaugh, sticking it to "the man"

I am a fan of Mr. Limbaugh.  As a political commentator and entertainer he is cutting, topical and self deprecating.  Today his show will probably have a bump in listeners.  This is due to a quote from a monologue that he made.  I hope Obama fails.  His point being he hopes the socialism agenda fails and the US stays the greatest country in the history of the world.

Now he is being called unpatriotic, and denounced by hypocrites in the media.  He was even called out by the President himself.

First amendment be damned?  Harry Reid attempted to have this same US citizen censored by a corporation, in a monumental misuse of power, which failed.  Rush actually used the official letter as a fund raiser for collage funds for the children of Marines killed in the line of duty.

And what of this quote from the same?  "Support the President, But Not His Policies"

Yes, Rush gets under the skins of some.  He is very good at it, arguably the best.  You can easily tell when those opposed attack the messenger and not the message.  Because his points tend to skewer with the sharpness of truth, and that can be hard to take.

To quote a blogger I highly respect:  I find that once you get past the flamboyant rhetoric and hystrionics, Limbaugh is often spot on correct.  -Wizard

Why the Bush years weren't so bad

This article is from the Atlantic Journal (of all places).

"After adjusting for inflation, the average American earns about $2500 a year more today than on the day of W's second inaugural. That same average American now spends a little less time at the office or on the assembly line, and a little more time on vacation or on the couch. He or she shops online for products that were unimaginable just four years ago."

Someing from a newspaper with Bush's name that is not affixing all blame for all things... priceless.

LOL

3% for infrastructure

It did not take long for me to sour on the Congress's new checkbook.  The $800 billion dollar economic boost, which is being sold as a rebuilding of roads and bridges is spin.

For every dollar that is spent for small business tax relief, $4 are being spent for the maintenance and new grass in Washington, D.C.
$360 million for sexually transmitted disease education
$50 million for the National Endowment of Arts
$726 million for an after school snack program
Office furniture for the public health service
More money for Amtrak

Only 3% is going to be used on Roadways.  Change we can believe in?  I'm waiting for President Obama to weigh in on this.

Entrepenurers in Entertainment

As the entertainment industry tries to figure out what's going wrong.  There are many things going right.  

Take this example: The Guild 

Here are some gamers who made a series of webisodes for other gamers hooking into the shared experience's that MMO gamers have.  They got some good responses and put up a pay pal to get moola for expenses.  They got more and more attention, because of quality of writing, acting and you can tell there is a real passion and sense of fun.

MSN saw something they liked and picked up sponsorship for the second season.  So you can watch the newest episodes on X-Box Live network.  So they are building up a business, from nothing.

Say one thing do another

President Obama is a Liberal Democrat.  His Inauguration was attended by lots of people the bulk of which are similarly to the Left.

Liberal Democrats say they are very concerned about the Environment.  Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Democrats blame global warming on human activity, compared to 21% percent of Republicans.  Rasmussen

Am I to conclude that  pollution is not a problem when caused by folks supporting your agenda?

Is this what inauguration attendees thought Obama meant when he said we needed a new era of responsibility?

Welcome Doctor RoY Spencer PH. D.

The Book Climate Confusion was a revelation to me.  So much so I bucked what the MSM was feeding me about Global Warming.

Recently I had sent a couple of e-mails to the good doctor asking him to clarify some of the information people are spewing.  He was gracious enough to answer and provide peer reviewed studies as confrimation.

He is Awesome.  So I linked his Blog as Climatologist.

Outragousnessism.

I know that some people have faith that there is nothing greater then themselves.  It appears these same people have no tolerance for religious beliefs.  

Intellectually, I cannot fathom how said people could have any moral authority.  Further, I have witnessed that lack of moral authority many times.  With someone of faith they have no excuses to fall back upon, no justification.  Such as getting nearly caught having an affair and finding something logical to divert your spouse from the truth.  Seeing as it all worked out, its justified (truth be damned).

If someone narrowly escapes bodily harm there are a number of adequate responses to the telling of the tale.  "Wow that was lucky",  "I am sure glad you were not hurt", "Someone up there must like you", "Give me your guardian angels business card", "Thank the Lord",  "Allah be praised!" etc.

I suppose you could be offended at some of these, kinda stupid thing to waste that energy on and totally misses the point.  The fact someone could have been badly injured and wasn't, is a cause for celebration anyway you see fit.  If it is a bike .vs. truck accident or a jetliner making an emergency landing in the water.

If you do not understand a belief, engaging in a conversation can bridge that gap.  If you want to pontificate ad nausem about how your superior and anyone in disagreement can play in a plastic bag.  Okay, your choice.  Best to leave your examples as just that, and not to obliquely attack of someones family, once, twice, three-times...

If you do like to pontificate ad nausem, you may want to stifle anyone who can challenge you directly, I'm sure a line will form.  I guess you could always go the cowardly route and blog about it without allowing comments...

He who overcomes others is strong, but he who overcomes himself is mighty. - Lao-Tze

Dreams of Martin Luthur King Jr.

In 1963 a baptist minister gave a speech about his dream for America and the promise of Freedom and Equality.

• I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"
  
• "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
  
• "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."

While we have made such long strides since that day, I still feel sad that we are so far from being a color-blind society.  My mom and pop raised me to look past the accent, skin color and clothing.  My best friends dad taught me that a wheelchair or other handicap aiding device was no measure of a man.

The MSM has been touting President Obama's ethnic background, instead of touting the content of his character, who he is, what he has done to win the hearts and minds of the American public and ascend to the position of the most powerful mortal on the planet.

Entertainment

Inactive entertainment is: Watching television, sitting on the beach, sports (watching), movie.

Active entertainment: Board games, MMO's, Karaoke, sports (playing), reading, wii.

Oblique entertainment: Radio while driving, working, doing face book.

Each has a degree of passive to active that can be associated.  Likewise a certain degree of guild can be associated as well.  

How much entertainment do we need and of what type?  Even under the harshest living environment there is entertainment.  Spiritual hymns come to mind.  It is part of human nature to entertain and be entertained.   I have been witness to kids sitting around in a room full of high tech entertainment distractions and be bored with no inkling of how to change the situation.  I have also seen the same kids be amused for hours with a stick and flowing water.

Recently we re-assessed our passive entertainment options (dish network) and found a better deal.  It is still on the lower end, option wise.  I mean there are many many channels you can get, but only a handful that you care to watch.  Less if you pick something to watch.

Being a multi-generational kinda guy, my parents recall the first time they saw TV.  Further back they have spoken fondly of many radio shows of years gone by.  Prior to that, my Grandfather played a pretty mean fiddle and my aunts could out sing the Andrew Sisters on any Saturday night.

Entertainment is changing, and it is interesting watching the change as we become more connected and less connected at the same time.

Socialized Medicine

There are quite a few problems with Health care costs.  I do not see how Government intervention will make health care "Better" in any way shape or form.

I feel the main problems are the insurance companies, Tort Law and no consumer market controls.

Public wary of health reform trade-offs

This AP story makes me wonder what people think a socialized system is going to be like.

 Depending on how they go about this government takeover, it could introduce a whole new industry based on cash and carry healthcare.

Someone will open up an MRI shop you can come in and get scanned.  Cash only doctors as well. 

We could loose the ability to go to court against hospitals and doctors as well.

Doctor Who Companion chibi's

My daughter had this on her facebook page.  It is a semi-list of Doctor Who's companions.  I was able to recall a good bunch of them from memory.  Going L to R. The last three B&W ones and the first color one I had to look up.   Tegan and Nyssa are in the wrong order.  Personal favorites?  Ramona, Leela, Perpugilliam and Rose.

• Susan Forman
  
• Vicki
  
• DiDi Chaplet
  
• Polly
  
• Victoria Waterfield
  
• Zoe Heriot
  
• Liz Shaw
  
• Jo Grant
  
• Sarah Jane Smith
  
• Leela
  
• Ramona
  
• Ramona II
  
• Nyssa 
  
• Tegan Jovanka
  
• Perpugilliam Brown
  
• Melanie Bush
  
• Ace
  
• DR. Grace Holloway
  
• Rose Tyler
  
• K-9 (Mark somthing)
  

Just so ya know.

The Federal government cannot do anything directly to help the economy.

Stephen Job's health is more important then President Obama's in the market.

Media covering for Democrats

Check out this item from AP

It is about Mayor Gary Becker of Racine, Wisconsin.  Guess the political party?  No, you wont find it in the story.

Yes, he is a Democrat.

Equally bias is the coverage of Timothy Geithner's "Honest Mistake's" of not paying taxes, hiring illegals and getting re-imbursements for payroll taxes he never paid.  I keep trying to find the same links, but some versions have been 'scrubbed'

Briebart still had the payroll AP story.  Before and After Scrubbing.  

You recall seeing this info about Carol M. Browner? 

What is the goal of your business?

If you were asked what the Main Goal your business has, what would be your answer?

Eleven Days and counting!

I hope we can just hold on for eleven more days.  Then everything will be fixed!

The economy will rebound, unemployment will be a thing of the past, Healthcare for everyone, the sun will shine brighter!

Life will be perfect...

They keep dragging me back in!

I really did intend to move on from Global warming.  I am really, really trying.  But, when I see an artical that has such affermation of my stance:

"Mr. Gore has stated, regarding climate change, that "the science is in." Well, he is absolutely right about that, except for one tiny thing. It is the biggest whopper ever sold to the public in the history of humankind."

Add to that this comes from the HUFFINGTON POST!  I know someone up there likes me :)

Thank you,

Harold Ambler

Respect

There was a meeting at the White House of the Presidents.  That is to say, all of the people living who have been, are or will be the President of the US.  A very exclusive club to say the least.

President Obama, who requested the meeting from President Bush.  Certainly did something of note, talking too the only people on the planet who understand the job.  

President Bush was very gracious and kind with his words.   I could detect nothing but mutual respect from these five gentlemen.  

Respect.  There is a word that is given little practice, and much lip service.

Yesterday

My Oldest is perfectly okay.  No physical harm.   His bicyle is trashed by a taco bend in it where the truck ran it over.

Tuesday, I got a call at work by the paramedics saying my son had been in a collision.  They could not answer 'which son?' becuase they did not have a name.  My mind went to Connor, until the paramedic said he was born in 1980.  Not exactly sure why they did not ask his name...  

anyways...

Trevor had an appointment and was riding his bike from our house.  We have a long gradual hill, Winchester street, that is rather busy.  This street runs North South.

On this street there is a convience market, that is a little too close to the street.  The expansion of the road over time has taking more and more away from the sides.  The truck in question was using the entrance as an exit and intended on turning right and heading south down Winchester.

The Exit was blocked by the Pepsi bottleing company.  My son had crossed to the same side of the street the store was on (to avoid crossing at the higher traffic) and was heading at a "walking speed" North up the hill.

The truck driver, concerned about merging into the southbound traffic, never looked to his right.  and pulled forward.  This impacted Trevor, who clawed his way from under the vehicle up the grill and up on the hood as the truck continued over his bike.

Next door to the store is a complex of business suites.  A couple of the workers there were getting the daily mail and had unobstructed view of the incident.  They also called emergency services.  

According to the police officer at the sceen all four gave identical statements which coincided with my sons version of the events. The Driver was sited for failure to yeild right of way.  My son was not sited for riding on the sidewalk. 

I walked to the location (it is about 1/4 mile from where I work).  Trevor was a bit shaken up and upset at the loss of his bike.  He was also convinced I would be mad at him for not being careful enough.  He said he was fine and had no scrapes, bumps or bruises.  He still wanted to make the appointment and inquired of the policeman if he was free to go.

The officer indicated he was, Trevor left.  I waited to get the accident information.  It was during this time I started hearing the Driver of the vehicle arguing that he was not at fault.  The police officer, going off the combined statements made a very clear case that he would have hit anyone on the sidewalk, walker or biker rider.  Further, my mind started considering what could have happened by a matter of inches.  I started to get angry at this guys carelessness and more at his attempting to wriggle out of responsibility.

Finally the officer handed me the insurance information.  The driver then wanted to 'talk' with me.  Seeing as how I did not want to be arrested for assault and battery, I told him that is not a good idea.

The Guild

Not sure how many of you are familiar with this, rather interesting, entertainment item.  

The Guild

This is a web sitcom about a group of online gamers.  When you play a multi-player online game, you can opt to join a group for help and adventuring.  These groups can be fraught with Drama, Humor and Fun (not in that order).

It is in its second season and had such success that Microsoft took interest and it is now available on the X-box 360 online.  The episodes are four minutes and the setting is various web camera shot bits with very little face to face interactions.  You may recognize the female lead from Joss Wheadons Dr. Horrible.

So Ponder for a moment.  You have an idea for a show, you make it and upload.  It gets some pretty positive press, so you make some more.  Somehow that works up to 12 episodes and your own website sponsored by a cell phone company.  Your group starts getting invitations to conventions and panels etc.  At some point this could generate some  revenue.   This axes Television and Movie studio's.

Of course you could just end up with something creative you can point to in your facebook page.

those little things

My wife is a big fan of CSI.  It is wearing thin on me, although, I do enjoy David Caruso's poses and delivery.  As a family we enjoy The Big Bang Theory and Heroes.  These are on CBS and we see them through Dish Network.  Or rather we did watch them.

Dish Network and Fisher Broadcasting are having a dispute.  Dish wants to pay them for programming and Fisher wants to be paid higher then any other broadcaster.  Fisher also has an issue with a station they now own that was being played on Dish, that was not paid at the proper levels of the contract.  I see them as two different issues.

Dish network has credited the viewers the $1.00 monthly fee associated with the CBS Affiliate and put the Hallmark movie channel into its rotation as way of appeasement.  Hallmark, so far, sux.

In my mind Fisher has the most to loose.  I did find it interesting that Federal Law will not permit Dish to broadcast another CBS affiliate in our area (KVAL is in Eugene which is not really local to us).  

All in all this is a very small matter.  Just another in a long list of annoying things that happen. 

Most Television shows are available online, in High Def at the ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX web sites, (The Big Bang theory is not).  Which makes me wonder If a computer would not be a better option then a HDTV.   The Entertainment industry is going through some major changing.

What ever did I do?

So I am reading a recommended article from a progressive blogger. Needless to say it was 'fantastic' (first definition).

In throwing out an example of what the US would do if Canada or Mexico started firing Hammas style missles at us, he concluded:

"Our appropriate response wouldn’t be to bomb the hell out of the nearest Canadian or Mexican city, but to collectively look into mirrors and earnestly ask ourselves, “What have we done wrong to incur their wrath?”

WTF??!! My mind just screen dumped. Seriously? How stupid is this?

Lets see you get mugged at gun point. Do you wonder “What have I done wrong to incur this wrath?”

You read about a rape in a local park. You ponder “What did that person do wrong to incur this wrath?”

A friend is hospitalized after an altercation with an abusive spouse. "What did they do to deserve such a beating?"

Your kid is continually bullied and beaten up at school. "What are they doing wrong?"

Blame the victim? I did hear some of this inane chatter after 9/11. Does anyone sane actually believe those 2974 people did something to deserve what happened?

I seriously hope this is not a progressive stance.

The 11th Doctor Who!

26-year-old actor Matt Smith has been cast as the Eleventh Doctor, as revealed in today's special broadcast of Doctor Who Confidentialon BBC One. Smith will succeed David Tennant in the role for the fifth series, which begins filming this summer and will air in 2010.

Smith has appeared in various television productions, including alongside Billie Piper in the BBC's adaptations of the Philip Pullman novels The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North. He co-starred in the drama series Party Animals, and on stage was in Alan Bennett's acclaimed play The History Boys.

Smith was born and bred in Northampton, England, and later attended the University of East Anglia in Norwich. He is the youngest actor ever to have been cast as the Doctor in the TV series.

BBC News quotes Smith as saying: "I've got this wonderful journey in front of me where I've got this six months to build this Time Lord - and that's such an exciting prospect." Executive producer Piers Wengerhas said that: "It was abundantly clear that he had that 'Doctor-ness' about him. You are either the Doctor or you are not."

I'm not into myth's

We have some really bad news concerning Man Made Global Warming.  Well, it is bad news for those buying into the doomsday Algore moneymaking version.  30 years of all this horrible planetwide oncomming trainwreck and there is ZERO change to the Sea Ice levels...

Usually when your a scientist and your Hypothesis falls apart during testing, you go back and start over.  Unless your an environmental scientist.  Then you either massage the numbers to 'prove' your right, or shout louder and longer at how wrong those who disagree with you are.  It's similer to the "But, mom.. I really want that toy" technique that works so well with the glassy eyed.

No matter though.  Scientist after scientist is jumping off the MMGW bandwagon and asking to actually look at the documentation.  Now that a few brave souls are bucking the lemming consensus.

New Years resolution.  Let's let people know that the government throwing billions of our money into something to make frauds rich is not the way to be stewards of the planet.

Rather, good practical reasons that are based in truth.