Saturday, April 25, 2009

Spring Planting - or, why I cut my nails off

I went on my annual spring planting frenzy. I scooped up dirt (hence, the need to get rid of excess nails), re-potted, and watered in a whirlwind of activity. I'd had some disappointing personal news, and I decided to move into action, to banish the blues.

I planted:

herbs - oregano, dill, and thyme







bird gourds - we have so many birds, I thought I would try making feeding places for next winter (or maybe the year after - I really don't know how long they have to dry out before being useful)



tomatos, so my granddaughter would have something to eat when she visits




and, just for something beautiful, marigolds.


Equality on Earth and in Heaven

I found a post that quotes St. Maximillian Kolbe on equality:
"Let us imagine that one day all the inhabitants of the world would assemble to put into effect this sharing of all goods; and that in fact each person, granted that the world is very big, received an exactly equal portion of the wealth existing on earth.

"Then what? That very evening one man might say, 'Today I worked hard: now I am going to take rest.' Another might state, 'I understand this sharing of goods well; so let’s drink and celebrate such an extraordinary happening.' On the other hand, another might say, 'Now I am going to set to work with a will so as to reap the greatest benefit I can from what I have received.' And so, starting on the next day, the first man would have only the amount given him; the second would have less, and the third would have increased his.

"Then what do we do? Start redistributing the wealth all over again?
The site I grabbed this from has more - at Dawn Eden, where you will find the delightful blog of the woman who wrote The Thrill of the Chaste, a book about turning one's back on an over-sexualized society, and turning to spiritual fulfillment in Christ.

I haven't been writing recently about my Catholic faith. My practice of it hasn't changed, but I have focused more lately on the worldly issues. Rest assured, I am still a practicing Catholic, whose practice include rosaries, church attendance, and reading that includes meditative and spiritual topics.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Free Speech, Right of Assembly, and Other Fundamental Rights of American Citizens

I've been thinking about this topic for some time. One by one, our rights under the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution are being eroded, if not outright trashed.

Free Speech:


Right of Assembly

As the Tancredo incident showed, the right of assembly is too often in jeopardy. Those who lose this right are often conservatives. And, they lose their right in the ugliest of ways, by mob action.

Why is this so important? If you disagree, try imagining a conservative mob disrupting an early Obama speech. Would you still think that the mob was right to close the student organization's paid-for event down?

The Tea Parties (rather well attended, for a middle of a work day) were ridiculed by network reporters and commentators as "tea bagging". What's the big deal?

Follow the link. Ask yourself, when is the last time that a serious protest of government policies was trashed in extremely vulgar, deliberately sexually-oriented terms, on a national network station?

Even when the protesters in anti-war rallies made crude jokes about "bush", the networks did NOT repeat the joke over and over and over again.

It was uncalled-for. It was undignified. It was biased.

In an effort to blunt the impact of the Tea Parties, liberal groups urged their members to show up with video cameras. Think of the effect if the early civil rights coordinators had been tracked with cameras by the opposition - would recruitment have suffered? In the early days of the Montgomery bus boycott, the NAACP went to court to keep the names of their members out of the hands of the opposition.

Those who joined the protest were labeled as "racists", by some in the media. What other reason could they have had to oppose the "stimulus"?

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Tell Me Again, How That "Hope & Change" Thingy Is Supposed to Go?

Russia doesn't seem to fall in line with the "every thing is beautiful" (cue song) stuff.

In fact, one MIGHT say that reducing our weapons is a REALLY, REALLY STUPID thing to do, right now.

Maybe we can try it after the O-dust has a chance to work on the Russian leaders.

I've lived through Jimmy Carter, I suppose that I can live through this.

At least, I HOPE I can.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

The Internet is NOT An Inherently Free Tool

Take the example of China - the country's rulers successfully pressured Google to impose a country-wide censorship.

The Internet has been prophesied as the next great tool of democracy, that will invariably lead repressive regimes to a new era of freedom.
In 1989 Ronald Reagan proclaimed that “The Goliath of totalitarianism will be brought down by the David of the microchip”; later, Bill Clinton compared Internet censorship to “trying to nail Jell–O to the wall”; and in 1999 George W. Bush (not John Lennon) asked us to “imagine if the Internet took hold in China. Imagine how freedom would spread.”

Such starry–eyed cyber–optimism suggested a new form of technological determinism according to which the Internet would be the hammer to nail all global problems, from economic development in Africa to threats of transnational terrorism in the Middle East. Even so shrewd an operator as Rupert Murdoch yielded to the digital temptation: “Advances in the technology of telecommunications have proved an unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes everywhere,” he claimed. Soon after, Murdoch bowed down to the Chinese authorities, who threatened his regional satellite TV business in response to this headline–grabbing statement.
It's true, of course, that a country that lets in the unabridged Internet COULD find itself experiencing that "Springtime in Prague" freedom.

But, it's likelier that the dictatorship would simply block the more egalitarian aspects of the Net - the social networking, the videos, etc. - and monitor all other activity. Control of the means used to connect (routers, modems, DSL lines, etc.) are well within the dictator's grasp.

In fact, it's even easier to censor the Net today, than when it began. I used the early Internet, through BBS and Fidonet. Because it wasn't as centralized, it was easier to evade the law (there's a reason there's a Talk Like a Pirate Day, ya' know). If one node (BBS) was caught, another could simply pick up the traffic.

Today, all you'd have to do to shut it down is to hit the major players, and the Net is effectively toast in that country.

Read the rest of the post - Evgeny Morozov is also a skeptic of the concept that everything is groovy with Internet - he thinks it's more likely to spread entertainment, than freedom.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Border Control is like Killing Cockroaches...

Not that the people coming in are to be compared to the pests - but, just as we finally start to relax our vigilance, another problem comes sneaking around the corner.

This time, it's the PASS ID act - currently circulating in the Senate - that SOUNDS as though it would improve and upgrade The REAL ID Act.

It doesn't; it actually would allow downgrade of current protections in place.

Read it all here.

A Case of an "Uninsured" American

I may have been in the statistics as an "uninsured" American. At no time did I lack coverage - I had switched coverage, due to a job change. During that time between jobs, I picked up the COBRA coverage.

However, at both ends, when I first switched to COBRA, and again, when I left COBRA for the new insurance, there was confusion at the providers. Paperwork moved slowly, and, for several weeks, I had difficulty getting prescriptions or doctor's appointments. When I tried, the pharmacy or doctor's office would get "bounced", and told I no longer had coverage. It took multiple phone calls to straighten out the providers.

Part of the problem is that money I sent in for coverage was wrongly applied - they put a double payment on my husband's account, and none on mine. As a result, it looked as though I was uninsured.

How does this affect my reaction to the multiple stories that make the case for one-payer health care?

I'm VERY skeptical - I suspect that many of the sad stories are a little different from the ones that are being reported, just as mine was.

Thanks to Sister Toldjah, where I first read about this avalanche of Dem-mindset.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Legislative "Hide & Seek"

My legislator's site is easy to find, and transparent, as well. I might question the necessity of some of the funding, but I can't complain that it isn't open to oversight.

In contrast, many legislators are putting roadblocks in the way of finding out what earmarks they support. Find out what tricks they are using, then go to the House of Representatives site to see what your Congressperson is up to.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Voting Rights for the Military

I'm linking to a post about a common problem in the US military - the difficulty of voting when deployed. Given the lengthy overseas assignments many reservists have, it becomes even more important to ensure that every military man/woman who wants to, can vote.

If you can, send the link to every person, and ask them to contact their Senators and Congresspersons, and move legislation forward - before the next election. If you don't know who your representatives are, the links are at the bottom of the blogroll.

Remember, the sooner, the better.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

More on Cybersecurity Proposal

I downloaded the proposal, (link here), and it's even worse than I thought. One provision establishes Regional Centers:
CREATION AND SUPPORT OF CYBERSECURITY CENTERS.

The Secretary of Commerce shall provide assistance for the creation and support of Regional Cybersecurity Centers for the promotion and implementation of cybersecurity standards. Each Center shall be affiliated with a United States-based nonprofit institution or organization, or consortium thereof, that applies for and is awarded financial assistance under this section.

(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Centers is to enhance the cybersecurity of small and medium sized businesses in United States through

(1) the transfer of cybersecurity standards, processes, technology, and techniques developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to Centers and, through them, to small- and medium-sized companies throughout the United States;

(2) the participation of individuals from industry, universities, State governments, other Federal agencies, and, when appropriate, the Institute in cooperative technology transfer activities;

(3) efforts to make new cybersecurity technology, standards, and processes usable by United States-based small- and medium-sized companies;
So, according to this document, Obama would extend his reach to small to medium-sized companies. What business is it of government? And how does that help cybersecurity? What it DOES is make almost every business in the US have to give the government potential access to their information, through standardization of software. And, to what purpose? These businesses aren't "critical" to the US economy.

This next section affects my son-in-law:
MANDATORY LICENSING.—Beginning 3 years 1 after the date of enactment of this Act, it shall be unlawful for any individual to engage in business in the United States, or to be employed in the United States, as a provider of cybersecurity services to any Federal agency or an information system or network designated by the President, or the President’s designee, as a critical infrastructure information system or network, who is not licensed and certified under the program.
Licensing costs. The cost is often borne by individuals. So, if someone is a network administrator, and is responsible for installing and maintaining Norton Anti-Virus, he needs to be licensed and certified.Ya' wanna improve Federal cybersecurity? Stop letting people take government laptops home - too many of those are coming up "missing". Search anyone entering a Federal building, and confiscate any flash drives. Search the employees going home, and take away any flash drives (first time for employees, warning. Second time, dismissal).

I'm tired of people who don't understand a technical field blithely initiating legislation that screws with that field. Major suggestion for legislators - if you don't understand it, keep your hands off it.

The Dumbest Proposal I've Even Seen

For the non-techies, you DON'T want the configuration of a threatened network to be standard. The differences serve as protection (kind of like how come MACs don't succumb to PC viruses, worms, and the like - different OS, different vulnerabilities). When the network's backbone is all standardized as to software, you've opened a gigantic hole in the cyber-fencing - and all the bad guys can jump through that hole. Once breached, the entire network is MORE vulnerable, not less.

This is a situation that calls for differentiation, a redundant set-up (switchable to in an emergency), and NOT following the same software protocols as the affected network. The experts in security should be talking to Obama's people, and explaining why this isn't a good idea.

Two major reasons come to mind:

  1. You don't want critical functions of government to come to a halt - and that includes collection of taxes and issuance of checks to retirees. Not to mention air traffic control, missile defense, border security, etc.
  2. Think of the effect on the population - with newspapers folding daily, and television news dependent on government permissions, independent reporting of information is left to the Internet. Without a reliable source of information, people start spreading rumors and panic. IF this administration wants a stable government, that's the last thing they'd want.

The real issue is whether this is an attempt to control an independent Internet. The more suspicious (paranoid?) are suggesting this is a Fascist grab for control of information (or disinformation). I'm more inclined to believe it's inadvertent. That falls in line with my favorite quote:
Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity. by Robert Heinlein
Found on Ace of Spades.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

More Double Standard

Just read, on TaxProf Blog, about the CA & NY congressmen who claim primary residence in MD. To make that clear, EITHER they are not valid residents of the state they represent in the Congress, OR they are tax cheats - not "oops, I made a mistake" tax cheats, but deliberate, lying in their teeth tax cheats

BTW, did I mention their political party?

Guess that kills any chance of their being hounded out of office by the Democrats.

Friday, April 03, 2009

The Political Double Standard

I've long been peeved about this - when a politician is accused of wrong-doing, only the Republicans lose their jobs. The Democrats get a pass.
None of this even takes into consideration the non-criminal, but just as politically destructive, double standard of driving Republican Senator Packwood from office for making unwanted sexual advances (i.e. kissing) several females, while giving Bill Clinton a pass for, shall we say, considerably more effort in this same regard. Or that child predator and notorious Homo Republican Mark Foley, who sent suggestive text messages to an over-18-year-old Congressional page. He too was driven from office for the public good, unlike Democrat Congressman Gary Studds, who actually had sex with an underage Congressional page. Rather than be portrayed as a dangerous homosexual predator, Studds was hailed as a role model for Gay Rights, with his and the young boy's "affair" nothing more than a meaningful expression of love between two consenting almost adults.

Notice the trend here? Not yet? Well, let me lay it out a bit more clearly. The same Federal Prosecutor who went after Karl Rove and had to settle after two years for Scooter Libby while ignoring the real perpetrator of the original "crime" of outing Valerie Plame, prematurely ended an investigation against a sitting Democrat governor when the Obama White House stumbled into the conversation. Better to go public now with overwhelming evidence against Governor Blago, than risk having Rahm Emanuel get caught on tape saying something criminal — even if it means going back to court a few days after going public with your overwhelming evidence to ask for more time to prepare your case.

Still don't see it? Well, consider the political affiliation of those recently in the news who forgot to pay their taxes, even though they currently head a powerful economic Congressional committee, were the leading Senator on Capitol Hill for a number of years and wanted to become an Obama Cabinet official, and were in charge of the most powerful Federal Reserve in the country and slated to become the next Secretary of Treasury. Because you won't find an "R" after any of their names, Charles Rangel still faces no consequences for his actions, Tom Daschle was forced to pay his back taxes — but only the magnitude of his oversight made him withdraw his name from consideration with no further condemnation nor consequences — and Turbo Tax Timothy Geitner is now the head of the U.S. Treasury in charge of collecting the taxes he originally decided not to pay. And this doesn't even take into consideration the ability of a Democrat Congressmen to keep his seat in Congress after the Feds found $90,000 in illegal campaign contributions hidden in his New Orleans house. Rather than being drummed out of office, he continued to stay in Congress until defeated in an actual election.
Expect that mud-slinging against potential Republican contenders in 2012 will be horrific - Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, Mark Sanders, et al.

What a Wuss!



I can't believe this woman weaseling about going after illegal aliens who are employed. She won't give a direct answer, and she evades the truth.

Unbelievable!

Thanks to Debbie Schlussel, who alerted me to the videos on her blog - go check her out.

And, if you're from KY, give a shout-out to Hal Rogers, who is doing a stellar job of exposing the traitors-from-within at ICE.

Hey, Wear a Little More Lip Gloss When You Kiss The One's A$$!



Ya' wanna talk "bang for the buck", Nancy, BABIES are a known economic stimulus - they really get EVERYBODY spending - parents, grandparents, friends, and, in a few years, schools, etc. Eventually, they start earning, and - wow! - they generate money!

It's all really amazing.

I know, I had 3 of the little darlings myself.

Even a Nerd Like Me Knows That This is Inappropriate!



DUDE, you are the President - Presidents DON'T Salaam!

Thursday, April 02, 2009

A Modest Proposal (with apologies to J. Swift)

I was sent the content below by a friend, Coleen, in an email. If there is a copyright, please let me know, and I'll correct this post.

"The  Proposal"
 
 
When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers.  The remaining workers need to find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well.  Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a big bonus.

Our government should not be immune from similar risks. 

Therefore: Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members and Senate members from 100 to 50 (one per State). Also reduce remaining staff by 25%.
 
Accomplish this over the next 8 years. (two steps / two elections) and of course this would require some redistricting.

Some Yearly Monetary Gains Include:

$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay / member / yr.)

$97,175,000 for elimination of the above people's staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each member of the Senate every year)

$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion / yr)

The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and would need to improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country?

We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well. It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.

Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established.  (telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)

Note:
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems.  Also, we have 3 senators that have not been doing their jobs for the past 18+ months (on the campaign trail) and still they all have been accepting full pay.  These facts alone support a reduction in senators & congress.

Summary of opportunity:

$44,108,400 reduction of congress members.

$282,100, 000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.

$150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.

$59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.

$37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of congress members.

$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that's 8-BILLION just to start!)

Big business does these types of cuts all the time..

If Congresspersons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits there is no telling how much we would save.

Lies of the Left

This COULD be a lengthy post. But, I'll try to winnow it down to a reasonable length. The CA Parent Bribery 'Scandal' - the 1...