Desi's Two Cents

Hughes Net Satellite Internet Service

2008-06-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

1. I give them 70.00 a month for a corporate account because it's their fastest option.

2. Despite the high price, their internet service is SLOW. Really slow. Just barely faster than dial-up but I have no other option locally.

3. I spent 58 minutes on hold. I have never spent less than 45 minutes on hold waiting to be handled when I call them. It is AWFUL.

4. Their customer service rep was obviously overseas because the connection was bad and the accent was barely understandable. Sounded Indian. Fine. OK. Usually not a big deal if it makes customer service better, faster. Totally not the case here.

5. I told Krish (my rep) that I want a quote to move the service next door. I was told they cannot give me a quote for moving. I have to place the order and THEN find out what it will cost me... 5 to 7 business days later when I get called back about setting up an appointment (presumably another 5-7 business days after THAT)!

I asked for an estimate, SORRY. Not even an estimate. Nothing.

I was so angry I hung up.

Now I'll have to spend another hour on hold before I can place the move order when it is time to move.

I just want to move to the other house on the ranch, the one next door.

6. Krish himself seemed nice. Totally not his fault. Everything to do with the HORRIBLE wait time and the HORRIBLE policies of HughesNet. If I had ANY other option, I would do it.

I have seriously thought about just sticking to DIALUP, the HughesNet policies and help and followup are that bad. I mean, DIALUP. Puh-leez.

7. Not only that, but they need to hear me reiterate (twice usually) a really long string of numbers from back when I originally set the service up before they can talk to me, even though the account lists my name and address, and I always call from the phone number attached to the account, and they know it.

Abysmal service. Especially for twice what it costs for the MUCH FASTER DSL.

It's enough to make me want to move to a city all by itself. I cannot STAND the customer service. It is totally irresponsible to allow their service to be this bad. I don't know who is in charge of making sure the customers are happy, but they should really be fired.

Driving to Costa Rica

2008-05-23T15:25:00.001-07:00

We're currently scheduled to start our trip on the 7th of July. It sounds wonderful. Getting lots of disagreement from people terrified of traveling. I didn't know I knew so many people afraid of Central America.

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I am very interested in your feedback - any advice, any notes on these countries, any websites you think I should look at?

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We're following the route laid out below. I look forward SO MUCH to getting there and seeing what Mexico has to offer.

I will be able to work as much as possible while I'm gone, but not enough to get paid - just enough to keep projects from falling apart.

Here is our trip detila so far - please let me know what you think - I depend on your feedback and advice to do a good job planning.

About the trip - outside advice

Basics about the trip:

We do intend to avoid all the large cities.

We have a big rig and will be sticking to the main highways and tourist areas.

The route will be California to Brownsville in Texas. That's about 2400 within the US.

Then Brownsville to Veracruz to Cancun where we will see Chichen Itza and probably spend a day or two.

We then are backing back to Highway 185 and crossing to the Pacific Coast. This is the fastest, largest road. It is the main truck route as it does not cross a moutain range.

Then down the coast on the Highway 1 (the Pan American Highway) the major route.

We cross Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and into Costa Rica.

It will take about a week in Mexico. One day in Guatemala. One day in El Salvador, 3 hours in Honduras, and we will probably get to Costa Rica without having to stop in Nicaragua.

There is about a hour needed to get through each border.

We will not be driving at night and will be in a secured facility each night, a hotel with fencing, guards etc.

We will not take cash. You can use your ATM everywhere for both US dollars and local currency.

There will be four adults on the trip, Shelley's parents are great drivers since they are truck drivers.

The entire trip LA to Costa Rica is 4400 miles.

I am traveling with Shelley who has done trips like this before and has lots of friends who've done trips like this before, plus she knows Central America pretty well.

More info here: www.tripadvisor.com

Shelley also says that:

"Nicaragua is currently one of the safest places in Latin America. They are trying very hard to have a tourism industry and in order to do that they have to be a safe place to visit. They have invested a ton of money into policing, as well as special tourist police. I personally have been to Nicaragua about 9 times with the kids and it is a very safe clean country. With some really nice tourist establishments. However since we'll pass through it in about a day this may not matter too much."

Shelley

Delicate Creatures

2008-05-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hummingbirds keep flying into my kitchen through my open picture windows (the paned windows that slide into the wall).

When they come into my kitchen, they don't seem to be able to find the many ways out. There they stay, beating their wings against glass they cannot see, terrified and watchful of the waiting dogs and cats, staying in a soft, whirring hover, pressed up against the window above the sink. I love rescuing them, slowly pulling my hands down the glass, carefully closing my hands enough so that their wings touch my skin. They stop beating their wings then, falling into my lower hand. The feel of holding their tiny flittery-glittery bodies in my palm, and walking slowly outside with a distrustful, beautiful little creature in my hands - neither docile nor tame. Then I raise my hands up, release the bird and watch it fly away.

I've done this four times in the last 24 hours, and I must say it is remarkable how much fun it is to release birds from your grasp. Very exhilerating. I never get sick of it.

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The does have their fawns now - beautiful, bright tawny red baby deer litter my path as I drive to town. I count four babies.

The little scrawny babies are stick-like, soft and pointy, every action like a ballerina trying to catch up with her steps. They have no idea how to evade cars, they start hopping higgledy piggledy all over the road when I drive up, even if they weren't in my path -- they'll get there. So I stop my car and wait as their mother runs away - temporarily abandoning her young - It always offends me, but then she calls them to the safety that she has found, and I forgive her.

I love to watch the babies as they learn to evade "predators" like my car.

Wisdom of the Ancients

2008-05-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

I used to drink a tea called "Wisdom of the Ancients" - it was a purple lapacho I think. But that's not what I'm posting about. I just really loved that tea. I think the company might be gone now, but I sure loved it while it lasted.

I noticed that very few people I know realized that the moon can be in the sky in the daytime.

Except at the halfway points of the cycle (full moon and no moon) you can see the moon in the daytime sky. For instance, today there was a beautiful moon in the sky at 2:30 when I took a break. I watched it while sipping coffee.

The Greeks knew it.

They had a lovely myth about the jealousy between the sun and the moon because the moon can slip around and be there day or night, while the sun cannot wander from its set course and times.

I wonder whether Shakespeare knew it - with his famous discourse about the sun and the moon in Romeo and Juliet as Romeo is being made to leave - I suspect he did.

What kind of people are we becoming when we know everything happening on the mythical Wisteria Place but nothing about whether the sun is flaring or the moon is rising?

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This leads me to wondering whether we're eventually headed into keeping all our useful knowledge in our computers only. Also whether that plethora, that virtual cornocopia of information that the internet is - whether it will prove to affect humanity's timeless THIRST for knowledge as previously a plenty of anything else has been known to.

Do we sit back on our information-gathering laurels now and feast without caring what information we take and and what we don't?

I feel like there is less urgency to know and to seek personal knowledge now than there was before the internet came. Does this change in value have a lasting effect?

Does our society become lazy about seeking to know as much as possible on a personal level?

If so, does this have an affect on wisdom? On centers of learning?

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Those are the questions I had today.

Chicken Dillemna - Author Unknown

2008-05-11T22:16:00.000-07:00

If you know who wrote the below - please let me know. My momma sent me this. I nearly peed my pants!

CHICKEN DILLEMNA

Why did the chicken cross the road?

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE!
The chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure -- right from Day One! -- That every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.......

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems before adding 'NEW' problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road...

ANDERSON COOPER - CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level.
No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain. Alone-

JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth?' That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media white washes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its life long dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released e-Chicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken. This new platform is much more stable and will never cra...#@&&^(C % ........ reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun!!!?

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some more black chickens.

Sending Kids Out

2008-04-30T15:36:00.003-07:00

Hi -

The girls have been homeschooling. One of the great side effects of that is that when it's a sparklingly beautiful, fantastic sunny, breezy beauty of a day like today, I can send them outside to play in it.

Call it PE. But when they are staring at the window, sighing about the pretty birds and sparklingly white clouds, I tell them to go play in it.
Then, when they come back in refreshed, they study better for it.

I think there is almost nothing as vital as enjoying beauty and immersing yourself in something beautiful once in a while. It certainly can't hurt their studies.

Here's what it looks like here right now...

My dad (Aka "grandpadre") took this picture.

Standard Doodles

2008-04-25T13:30:00.001-07:00

Here are some doodles I've been doing while on the phone with wordy people.

I wonder what those free association testing people would think of my standard doodles.

Old dogs, New dogs, Young dogs, Blue dogs

2008-04-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

My new puppy Charlie is definitely showing his Blue Heeler side. He's fiesty and loves to playfight with Tucker. He's totally unafraid, and that means when he's older - if I don't get him fixed - that will be a big problem.

Tucker and Charlie weren't getting along so well, so I started solving this by taking them on car rides together. Charlie is definitely not good at cars yet, whereas Tucker is an old hand at it.

Lately, Tucker pulls his head out of the window to the withers. He whines at the car every time I go through bumps and potholes, or around corners. I thought it was because he's a water dog, wanting to bite the splashign water from the puddles.

But he's still been doing it now even through the road has been basically dried up for several days. I realized yesterday while riding with both dogs what was actually the reason for Tucker's howling and whining. My shocks are going, and the squeak makes Tucker think of the sound the mice make in the walls. He thinks there are mice in the wheel well.

So, Tucker is hanging his head out the window, Charlie is curled up next to him praying for me to stop moving the car, and they are getting along fine for once.

As long as I keep the windows too closed for Tucker to jump out, we're all good.

Update on all things me

2008-04-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

The new puppy and Tucker aren't getting along very well. I think that may resolve once I get Charlie fixed.

I randomly catch the puppy trying to eat all of Tucker's food, and Tucker eating all of Charlie's food. Tucker definitely wins, but it's OK because they both get plenty of food in the process.

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Today is Harlan's birthday. He turns ten. Good for him!

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The twins have been reading lots of books lately, as usual. they chew their way through a few books a month, and have already read most of the worthwhile children's books in recent years.

There is one though. A series of books about "May Bird" that I find disturbing. It's about dead people and a regular kid who gets swept through a portal into the land of the dead. The bad guy is a meany devilish thing. Creepy. Very modern children's lit -- kind of a modern take on the whole 7 levels of hell thing.

Not sure what to think of it. Anyone make it through that series and can tell me if I should nip this in the bud? They're not too fussed about it, but I don't know whether to worry that it gets psycho-babbly later (as do most books that broach death as a topic).

I hated the movie "Bridge to Terabithia" -- which I though would be a great kid's fantasy but turns out it is all about the death of the best friend of the main character. The girls and I cried. I hate movies where kids die. Just a taboo I don't think should be broken for fluff pieces. I hate it more than sexual cruft in movies.

The purpose of a movie is to lift you out of your own life, give you an hour of fantasy -- in the case of a kid's movie. I want things my kids watch to be thoughtful and uplifting, not depressing and grief-strickening.

I simply don't like movies that don't make up the damage well enough for putting you through something negative. Whatever it is, that movie better darn well make it right afterward.

For instance, I hated the movie Titanic. Her love is killed off, and they never make it right enough again after.

Yes, it was a real tragedy and in reality, it didn't get made right. But I still hated that movie, partially for making me sit through 3 hours of a mismatched, no-chemistry couple. Kate Winslet is a gem, a rare beauty with a gift for acting. Leo DiCaprio I personally don't like. Not that he wasn't playing a great character, but he didn't imbue that character with enough wonderful to equal Kate's wonderful. It was just a generally flawed movie, and I have no sympathy for throwing a perfectly good blue diamond into the ocean.

For the love of Pete, at least give it to an orphanage somewhere or something. It could fund a million copies of "Bridge to Terabithia" for the kids. Or mayeb some food. Whatever.

The point here is that life needs to be broken apart and given a little LIGHT by children's movies, and I'm sorely disappointed.

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Also, we rented BEE MOVIE. What a load of conflicting crud that was. Is iut better to live like a communist or buck the system? The movie promotes BOTH! Plus it ends off on the upnote that he finally starts "thinking bee" -- which means thinking like a hive mind creature and becoming a small cog in a big wheel. Very communistic.

Yes, it's Jerry Sienfeld's brainchild, and as such, the jokes are supposed to run that engine. But the jokes were crappy, and my kid's didn't laugh at them.

Not only that, but the romance-ish aspect is between a bee and a human -- just plain WEIRD. And when her boyfriend points that out (whom she dumps) he's suddenly out of the picture.

The girls didn't like it, and I think it was a waste of good animation rendering hours.

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OK -- That's everything I've been piling up to say lately.

Until a few hours from now when I've got a new pile. :)

Best Puppy ever

2008-04-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

My new puppy. He's so cute it makes my face scrunch up!

His name is Charlie.

Charlton Heston Speech

2008-04-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

'Winning the Cultural War'

Charlton Heston's Speech to the Harvard Law School Forum, Feb 16, 1999

I remember my son when he was five, explaining to his kindergarten class what his father did for a living. "My Daddy," he said, "pretends to be people."

There have been quite a few of them. Prophets from the Old and New Testaments, a couple of Christian saints, generals of various nationalities and different centuries, several kings, three American presidents, a French cardinal and two geniuses, including Michelangelo. If you want the ceiling repainted I'll do my best. There always seem to be a lot of different fellows up here. I'm never sure which one of them gets to talk. Right now, I guess I'm the guy.

As I pondered our visit tonight it struck me: If my Creator gave me the gift to connect you with the hearts and minds of those great men, then I want to use that same gift now to reconnect you with your own sense of liberty of your own freedom of thought ... your own compass for what is right.

Dedicating the memorial at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said of America, "We are now engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure." Those words are true again. I believe that we are again engaged in a great civil war, a cultural war that's about to hijack your birthright to think and say what resides in your heart. I fear you no longer trust the pulsing lifeblood of liberty inside you ... the stuff that made this country rise from wilderness into the miracle that it is.

Let me back up. About a year ago I became president of the National Rifle Association, which protects the right to keep and bear arms. I ran for office, I was elected, and now I serve ... I serve as a moving target for the media who've called me everything from "ridiculous" and "duped" to a "brain-injured, senile, crazy old man." I know ... I'm pretty old ... but I'm sure, Lord, I ain't senile. As I have stood in the cross hairs of those who target Second Amendment freedoms, I've realized that firearms are not the only issue. No, it's much, much bigger than that.
I've come to understand that a cultural war is raging across our land, in which, with Orwellian fervor, certain acceptable thoughts and speech are mandated. For example, I marched for civil rights with Dr. King in 1963 - long before Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I told an audience last year that white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or anyone else's pride, they called me a racist.
I've worked with brilliantly talented homosexuals all my life. But when I told an audience that gay rights should extend no further than your rights or my rights, I was called a homophobe. I served in World War II against the Axis powers. But during a speech, when I drew an analogy between singling out innocent Jews and singling out innocent gun owners, I was called an anti-Semite. Everyone I know knows I would never raise a closed fist against my country. But when I asked an audience to oppose this cultural persecution, I was compared to Timothy McVeigh.

From Time magazine to friends and colleagues, they're essentially saying, "Chuck, how dare you speak your mind. You are using language not authorized for public consumption!" But I am not afraid. If Americans believed in political correctness, we'd still be King George's boys -- subjects bound to the British crown. In his book, "The End of Sanity," Martin Gross writes that "blatantly irrational behavior is rapidly being established as the norm in almost every area of human endeavor. There seem to be new customs, new rules, new anti-intellectual theories regularly foisted on us from every direction.

Underneath, the nation is roiling. Americans know something without a name is undermining the nation, turning the mind mushy when it comes to separating truth from falsehood and right from wrong. And they don't like it."

Let me read a few examples.

At Antioch college in Ohio, young men seeking intimacy with a coed must get verbal permission at each step of the process from kissing to petting to final copulation ... all clearly spelled out in a printed college directive.

In New Jersey, despite the death of several patients nationwide who had been infected by dentists who had concealed their AIDs --- the state commissioner announced that health providers who are HIV-positive need not... need not... tell their patients that they are infected.

At William and Mary, students tried to change the name of the school team "The Tribe" because it was supposedly insulting to local Indians, only to learn that authentic Virginia chiefs truly like the name.

In San Francisco, city fathers passed an ordinance protecting the rights of transvestites to cross-dress on the job, and for transsexuals to have separate toilet facilities while undergoing sex change surgery.

In New York City, kids who don't speak a word of Spanish have been placed in bilingual classes to learn their three R's in Spanish solely because their last names sound Hispanic.

At the University of Pennsylvania, in a state where thousands died at Gettysburg opposing slavery, the president of that college officially set up segregated dormitory space for black students. Yeah, I know ... that's out of bounds now. Dr. King said "Negroes." Jimmy Baldwin and most of us on the March said "black." But it's a no-no now. For me, hyphenated identities are awkward ... particularly "Native-American." I'm a Native American, for God's sake. I also happen to be a blood-initiated brother of the Miniconjou Sioux.

On my wife's side, my grandson is a thirteenth generation native American ... with a capital letter on "American."

Finally, just last month ... David Howard, head of the Washington D.C., Office of Public Advocate, used the word "niggardly" while talking to colleagues about budgetary matters. Of course, "niggardly" means stingy or scanty. But within days Howard was forced to publicly apologize and resign.

As columnist Tony Snow wrote: "David Howard got fired because some people in public employ were morons who (a) didn't know the meaning of niggardly, (b) didn't know how to use a dictionary to discover the meaning, and (c) actually demanded that he apologize for their ignorance."

What does all of this mean? It means that telling us what to think has evolved into telling us what to say, so telling us what to do can't be far behind. Before you claim to be a champion of free thought, tell me: Why did political correctness originate on America's campuses? And why do you continue to tolerate it? Why do you, who're supposed to debate ideas, surrender to their suppression?

Let's be honest. Who here thinks your professors can say what they really believe? It scares me to death, and should scare you too, that the superstition of political correctness rules the halls of reason. You are the best and the brightest. You, here in the fertile cradle of American academia, here in the castle of learning on the Charles River, you are the cream. But I submit that you, and your counterparts across the land, are the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you validate that ... and abide it ... you are - by your grandfathers' standards -- cowards.

Here's another example. Right now at more than one major university, Second Amendment scholars and researchers are being told to shut up about their findings or they'll lose their jobs. Why? Because their research findings would undermine big-city mayor's pending lawsuits that seek to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from firearm manufacturers.

I don't care what you think about guns. But if you are not shocked at that, I am shocked at you. Who will guard the raw material of unfettered ideas, if not you? Who will defend the core value of academia, if you supposed soldiers of free thought and expression lay down your arms and plead, "Don't shoot me."

If you talk about race, it does not make you a racist. If you see distinctions between the genders, it does not make you a sexist. If you think critically about a denomination, it does not make you anti-religion.

If you accept but don't celebrate homosexuality, it does not make you homophobe.
Don't let America's universities continue to serve as incubators for this rampant epidemic of new McCarthyism.

But what can you do? How can anyone prevail against such pervasive social subjugation? The answer's been here all along. I learned it 36 years ago, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, standing with Dr. Martin Luther King and two hundred thousand people.

You simply ... disobey. Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely.

But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don't. We disobey social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom. I learned the awesome power of disobedience from Dr. King ... who learned it from Gandhi, and Thoreau, and Jesus, and every other great man who led those in the right against those with the might.

Disobedience is in our DNA. We feel innate kinship with that disobedient spirit that tossed tea into Boston Harbor that sent Thoreau to jail, that refused to sit in the back of the bus that protested a war in Viet Nam. In that same spirit, I am asking you to disavow cultural correctness with massive disobedience of rogue authority, social directives and onerous laws that weaken personal freedom.

But be careful ... it hurts. Disobedience demands that you put yourself at risk. Dr. King stood on lots of balconies. You must be willing to be humiliated ... to endure the modern-day equivalent of the police dogs at Montgomery and the water cannons at Selma. You must be willing to experience discomfort. I'm not complaining, but my own decades of social activism have taken their toll on me. Let me tell you a story.

A few years back I heard about a rapper named Ice-T who was selling a CD called "Cop Killer" celebrating ambushing and murdering police officers. It was being marketed by none other than Time/Warner, the biggest entertainment conglomerate in the world.
Police across the country were outraged. Rightfully so-at least one had been murdered. But Time/Warner was stonewalling because the CD was a cash cow for them, and the media were tiptoeing around it because the rapper was black. I heard Time/Warner had a stockholders meeting scheduled in Beverly Hills. I owned some shares at the time, so I decided to attend.

What I did there was against the advice of my family and colleagues. I asked for the floor. To a hushed room of a thousand average American stockholders, I simply read the full lyrics of "Cop Killer"- every vicious, vulgar, instructional word.

"I GOT MY 12 GAUGE SAWED OFF. I GOT MY HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF. I'M ABOUT TO BUST SOME SHOTS OFF. I'M ABOUT TO DUST SOME COPS OFF..."

It got worse, a lot worse. I won't read the rest of it to you. But trust me, the room was a sea of shocked, frozen, blanched faces. The Time/Warner executives squirmed in their chairs and stared at their shoes. They hated me for that. Then I delivered another volley of sick lyric brimming with racist filth, where Ice-T fantasizes about sodomizing two 12-year old nieces of Al and Tipper Gore.

"SHE PUSHED HER BUTT AGAINST MY....”

Well, I won't do to you here what I did to them. Let's just say I left the room in echoing silence. When I read the lyrics to the waiting press corps, one of them said, "We can't print that."

"I know," I replied, "but Time/Warner's selling it." Two months later, Time/Warner terminated Ice-T's contract. I'll never be offered another film by Warner's, or get a good review from Time magazine. But disobedience means you must be willing to act, not just talk.

When a mugger sues his elderly victim for defending herself ... jam the switchboard of the district attorney's office.

When your university is pressured to lower standards until 80% of the students graduate with honors ... choke the halls of the board of regents.

When an 8-year-old boy pecks a girl's cheek on the playground and gets hauled into court for sexual harassment ... march on that school and block its doorways.
When someone you elected is seduced by political power and betrays you...petition them, oust them, banish them.

When Time magazine's cover portrays millennium nuts as deranged, crazy Christians holding a cross as it did last month ... boycott their magazine and the products it advertises.

So that this nation may long endure, I urge you to follow in the hallowed footsteps of the great disobedience's of history that freed exiles, founded religions, defeated tyrants, and yes, in the hands of an aroused rabble in arms and a few great men, by God's grace, built this country.

If Dr. King were here, I think he would agree.

Thank you.

Firefox Crashes a lot

2008-04-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else have a major problem with Firefox crashing when it tries to load certain pages?

I do. Firefox has been crashing on me several times a day lately. It's getting old. But I like all my FF plugins! I tried turning them all off and that didn't change it.

So, what? Do I now actually have to start using Internet Explorer again!

Ugh.

Opera it is. Or maybe Safari...

Pharmaceutical Sales Rep Tells All

2008-04-05T13:59:00.001-07:00

Very interesting, the chart of what tactic to take with what attitude in a doctor. It's obvious from this kind of thought process that we're not talking about "what medecine will help this patient most?" but more like "Which medecine comes with the most perks?" -- and if the sales rep is getting away with thinking like this, how badly is the hippocratic oath being abused by the doctors he's talking to?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/04/05/former-drug-sales-rep-tells-all.aspx

Sign up for Mercola's stuff if you have trouble reading it. I highly recommend it.

The Art of Jim Warren

2008-04-03T11:53:00.001-07:00

Melting and Inspiration

2008-03-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

Our snow-man is melting now. Finally - it's so cold for March.

His head melted oddly, widening and flattening, then his body tipped over... until we eventually had a snow-hammerhead shark.

-----------

The girls are looking for books about the inspirational things that people do to help one another. Something to counteract the news they have heard lately about people harming one another... I'd like to show them that we live in a world full of wonderful and hopeful things as well, so long as we take the time and effort to help each other out.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I was explaining today about why I'm reading Banker to the Poor -- very inspirational book about Nobel Peace Prize winners in India (you should read it) -- when it struck me that they need that gap filled.

Last week, they studied about the International Human Rights Decree -- and they were both stunned. I found out why. They were shocked -- they realized that somewhere in the world are people who are violating other people's human rights as standard practice. Not accident, but purposeful hateful suppression.

I explained that, YES, that did happen. And making sure enough people in the world knew about the International Human Rights Decree was a great way to counteract that - information is the best way to defeat ignorance.

Etc...

Then we ended off on it for the time being.

I didn't realize that it had affected them so profoundly until Aurora started to tear up while I was talking about Mohammed Yunus and what he's doing in India. I asked her what was happening and she said that she was just so glad that he was helping people and making great changes happen.

I realized she still has attention on the rights and capabilities of people around the world. It was a shock to the system to imagine a world with hatred as part of the government syste.

I want to counter-balance that recognition of the evil in the world with something equally meaningful and good.

So, I need a book full of such inspirational people -- does anyone have a good book about humanitarianism around the world -- something that is age appropriate?

I don't necessarily care about celebs or sports people. Just do-gooders, charitable persons, those who have made the world a better place. Really any kind of non-fiction where the world is improved would be fine with me.

I'm sure there are plenty, but before I go shopping, I want your input -- Any ideas?

Moon Landing

2008-03-30T00:37:00.000-07:00

Recently, I heard my first about the moon landing being fraud. So far, what I saw of this conspiracy theory hasn't convinced me, but I wanted to see what you said.

So here's the poll results.

It amazes me that two of you were positive it's a fraud, 4 more weren't sure.

That's a pretty high percentage.

----------

Are we just so jaded now about our government that we no longer really wonder whether the wool is over our eyes -- only whether it's lambs wool or steel wool?

Are we now assuming there is truth in every theory that arises about any incident?

----------

OK. So, the moon landing. If it was a hoax, it was harmless. What isn't harmless is poking holes in the few remaining points in our history that we can unabashedly be proud of. The moon landing was one of them - now it's controversial?!

I have to agree with my folks - HOW could such a huge and nasty secret could be kept covered up for 40-some-odd years with no leaks? Not flipping likely.

I have my doubts - not about the moon landing but about the hoax thing.

You conspiracy theorists need to stop woe-telling and leave my remaining precious historical moments and figures alone. I value the pride amd morale that we, as Americans, derive from those moments. The space race was a problem of some other generation... My generation faces a massive lack of pride in American history (or even knowledge of it, outside of hearing about controversy). So, rather than push down more of that pride, why don't you do somethign to improve the country you think is conspiring against you so much?

So, quit it. Leave well enough alone.

Snowy Weather

2008-03-29T10:56:00.001-07:00

It's snowing here - HERE - at my house. In March (almost April!).

There is a light dusting of snow on everything, and more of it on my car.

Still, rather than play in our humble show of snow, we wrapped up in our thickest winter coats and tumbled over to Grandpa & Grandma. They live another 600 feet higher in elevation. I grabbed up Harlan on my way the same time. By the time Am wakes up, it'll be long past high sun, and the snow will be gone.

When we got up to the Upper house, we realized we'd forgotten the mittens, but they decided to play anyway. Freezing hands and all, they laughed and cavorted and ducked and sneaked.

So, we spent an hour there, until they'd muddied all the good snow that wasn't on the roof. The girls just got back here - from making snowmen, throwing snowballs at eachother and playing hard enough to not care about cold.

Now all three of them are huddled around the woodstove warming up and looking all rosy-cheeked and happy.

Well, I just wanted you to know. But I have to toddle off now. It's time to make hot chocolate and Cream of Wheat to warm these kiddos up from the inside.

Heavy Bareback

2008-03-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

The horse, Heavy (Short for Heavenly something or other really long), is a good bareback horse.

Julie, Katherine, Rory and Mandy all rode her bareback while SHelley and her girls were visiting from LA.

Julie is an old hand at this. Fearless. Skillful and caught on to riding without a saddle rather quickly.

Katherine was just giddy at getting to be on a horse -- bareback or not. Loved it. She'd only checked up on whether she would be allowed to ride a horse while she was here about twenty times. She had even started asking me before I left LA. It was primary on her list of things to do while on the ranch. And second, and third, etc.

Rory and Mandy have ridden bareback before. They got turns too, which was really sweet of Heavy because she was tired.

Rory rode, came back and Heavy got put away.

Mellow got really jealous. Heavy had had her picture taken, gotten to ride out with kids on her, and stuff.

Girls Night Out

2008-03-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

Well, the girls are sleeping over at Am's. Their friend Harlan is her son - he's 10 - full of mud and snails and tree forts. They've been friends since they were all babies. Tonight they:

* Tried to play Duck Duck Goose - Rory got smacked in the eye with an elbow. I'm not even sure how that happens. But she's fine.

* Threw paper airplanes off the loft stairs.

* Ran around the livingroom giggling

* Played chess

* Read a book together full of funny kids stories

* Crashed into deep and restful slumber

Do you remember being that way as a kid? I do. The total abandon with which you throw yourself into EVERY single activity. Even sleep. Lovely fun.

My little girls are so grown up and yet so YOUNG still. They are starting to LOOK like little women, but they're not there mentally yet. Time ticks on, and they're getting closer and closer to womanhood. I'm starting to see the "adult faces" they will have, under those beautiful little girl looks. They've gotten TALLER lately. Shot up!

Plus, yesterday I was talking to Mandy and she was holding her own, discussing history and word roots with me - nothing unusual, but her attitude towards me had changed. She was treating me like an equal. She used to take everything I said as hard fact. Now she challenges me. Now she checks her facts, thinks things through, asks follow up questions that are getting smarter and smarter. They both do that, but Mandy was the one talking to me just then.

I am so looking forward to experiencing motherhood from the perspective of equal.

They're getting more and more beautiful every day - like the beginning of Snow White.

They're going to be fighting off the boys someday soon enough - or flirting. Ugh. But tonight, they are eleven, and discussing the best way to make paper airplanes, which fart joke is funnier, and sneaking reading as late as possible by whatever light they can.

New pictures coming up next.

Life and stuff

2008-03-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

Bass-ackwards

There is a joke about Country songs that goes...

"Knwo what happens if you play a Country song backwards?"
"No. What?"
"He gets his girl back, his house back, his truck back, his dog back, and his job back."

Well, for a little bit there, things were turned upside down a little more than I was expecting.

But, as of today...

I've got my house back.
I got my phone back.
I got my mailbox back.
Kids are back.
Got my couch back.
Got my furniture back.
I've got my cat back.
All my stuff's unpacked.
Everything's arranged and looking good.
And Tucker is as happy as a young pup.

Looks like the song is finally finished playing backwards.

--------------

Cat's Out from Under the Porch

My cat, Cole, was born right here. In fact, in this room, where I am currently drinking a cup of cofee and writing this blog. Almost directly under where I current have the foot of my bed. When he was little, he was the runt. One of only two survivors of his mom's first litter. He was a sweet cat, enjoying people-company and liking to nap on my lap.

I loved this kitty from birth. Totally loved him. He was my daughters' favorite.

You couldn't put him in the car though, because he'd FLIP OUT. He was a total homebody - never went outside for anything. Not even for night hunting.

He eventually became the only survivor, probably because of his shy nature. Laszlo disappeared in that mysterious way that cats sometimes do when they're Toms. And then his momma, Star, must have gotten eaten by something while out hunting one night, because she never came back home. And there is NO WAY she'd have left us.

So, eventually, he was the only one left.

When it was time to go off with Michael on our whirlwind trips, it was obvious Cole was not going to be up to the jet setting, so I left him with Am.

Well, as soon as he could, he sneaked outside, and stayed there. He tucked himself under her porch and refused to come out except for food when no one was around. She left the food out there every day and hoped he ate it before the vermin got to it. Couldn't get him to get near anyone though.

Didn't matter what she fed him, how much she called, or what she did. He wasn't having it.

Yesterday, she lured him out with wet food, grabbed him up, popped him into her house, and he spent a few hours curled up behind a big stand-up freezer, refusing to come out.

Am said he had gone feral, and Adam said he was not going to come out until we poked him out. Adam fetched a big stick, and proceeded to start poking behind the freezer. I told him not to. I saw a fire iron back there from some previous attempt to poke him out. Poor cat - teenage boys have their own ideas.

Not quite the same as mine.

I laid down on the floor right next to the freezer, looked right at him, and made the same noise I had been making for him when he was little that meant, "Come here, I want to pet you". It's kind of a "psst-psst-psst-psst-psst-psst" noise.

It took him a minute, but he climbed out and into my hands. Then he started purring and burrowing into my shirt.

I took him all the way home, petting and holding him -- driving with one hand, petting with the other. No flipping out at all. First time a car didn't make him freak out.

He spent his first two hours here glued to me, wanting to be petted, frolicking, licking, rubbing on me. So sweet. And he's obviously not fussed about Tucker being here.

No interest in going outside.

Not a feral cat after all - just didn't want to be owned by anyone but me.

I didn't realize that some cats act with the kind of devotion that dogs do. I didn't realize that he'd bonded with me so thoroughly. I have NEVER had a cat like me before - except when it was convenient for them.

I cried a little and petted him some more.

Well, I guess I finally have a cat that loves me, even when it's not convenience that makes it do so. Most of them won't give me the time of day. This one won't get off my lap.

Maybe I can be a dog person AND a cat person.

--------------

Dogs and Cats

Still raining to beat the band here. Lots of rain. It hailed yesterday, hailed this morning and froze over last night. Right now it's COLD. Way too cold for March. The end of March no less.

It's snowy up the hill. SNOW. For PETE'S SAKE!

I'm almost totally out of wood, so I've got to drum up more wood for this late freeze.

The good news is it's fab-tastically gorgeous out. The sky at night has been spectacular. Wooh!

--------------

The girls have started home schooling on that new curriculum I got in LA. My Aunt's BFF is actually the creator of the curriculum I've been eyeing for years. What a co-inky-dink! I got first hand advice on how best to apply the curriculum, supplementary materials, etc -- straight from the origin point of the curriculum. Very nice.

They're pretty good at it so far. Right now they're doing Pilates for PE. They finished their first course in the series this morning.

Rory wrote up a great school schedule, and Mandy supervised. They brought it to me once they both agreed on it. They're sticking to it nicely, too. It's quite complex, yet it manages to spread all their subjects out in a doable way across the week, and in a good balance. I'm impressed and proud. We hung it up on the fridge and I've been told by Mandy that it's my job to make them stick to it.

Today's study guide is on how to analyze data to determine validity. It is a bit of a precursor to the idea of scientific reasoning, which comes next. Their study guide says for them to look for practical examples of facts, falsehoods and opinion in daily life and on TV. We have no TV. So, I'm going to be hyperscrutinized by my kids for a while.

Should be fun. Perhaps I'll sneak in a few obvious lies to see what they do.

No Phishing

2008-03-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

Phishing emails are emails that appear to be from your banking institution, and appear to have a valid link, but are actually links to a website dressed up to look like your banking institution (AKA: B of A, Paypal, BB&T, WaMu, etc).

For instance, the link might appear to be to:

secure.realbank.com/log-in-page.html

but when you hover over it, it actually goes to:

secure.realbank.com.faker.liar.com/log-in-page.html
OR
secure.realbank.com.faker.liar.com/whatever.html

The way that works is:

The owner of liar.com sets up a subdomain of "faker", with a subdomain of "com", with a subdomain of "realbank" with a folder in it called "secure" and BLAMO, puts a page up that mimics some authentic website.

Phishing is fraud, and is RAMPANT online. It is one of the most prevalant forms of identity theft out there.

The second someone inputs their username and password, the page sends their precious log in information over to a dedicated thief somewhere, one who then takes that secret log-in information, logs in to the banking institution, transfers all the money away, and leaves the victim with nothing.

Not good.

In any email you get, hover over EVERY link to see if it really goes where it says it does. Read the WHOLE LINK URL. The best way to go to your bank is to just follow your pre-existing bookmarks to the website yourself. Or type the URL of your bank into the address bar yourself. OR, if you don't know the real website address, search for the banking institution through your favorite search engine. They're good about sending you to the right website. And check the URL EVERY time you insert your log-in details for ANY site.

Good. You've saved yourself, but that's like running out of a burning building and leaving your grandma behind.

What is to be done about the other less educated web users out there?

Well, most of us simply say "not me, suckers" and delete the email, harumphing in satisfaction at having ducked fraud yet again. And, some of us think we're fixing it when we mark those emails as SPAM and report it to the SPAM filtering programs that way. Not good enough. Most people DO NOT HAVE a spam filter.

Phishing is only really blasted away when you or I report it to the people who can handle it.

How do you do this?

When you get one - DO NOT DELETE IT.

Forward it, instead, to spoof@ (insert real banking institution website here) .com
or abuse@
or phishing@

(I always use all three -- one of those will be the company standard for where to send phishing emails.)

For instance, if you get one pretending to be from Wamu.com, send the email to:

spoof@wamu.com, abuse@wamu.com, phishing@wamu.com

Also, forward the email to:

phishing-report@us-cert.gov

(The US Government has an office for this, too.)

In Internet Explorer, make sure your "phishing filter" is active. It's under Tools | Phising Filter | Phishing Filter Settings.

What I always do next is:
Using Internet Explorer, I go to the phishing page - the fake one. DO NOT CLICK ON ANYTHING. Nothing Nada Zip.

Instead, using your file menu, go to :

Tools | Phishing Filter | Report This Website.

You will be taken to an Internet Explorer Phishing Report page. First, report the site, then fill out the next page.

Within a few days - hopefully before too many people have lost their life savings, the fake website will be taken down, OR, will atleast make a big phishing alert pop up for the rest of the users of Internet Explorer out there. Which is the majority of people online.

I know it's a pain in the neck to do this, but if we ALL did it, it would take away the scammers livelihood. Following the above steps saves someone else from catastrophe, as much as doing it in person. You're preventing a crime.

I think it is worth the time and effort to do.

Don't you?

Boomerangs in Space

2008-03-23T22:11:00.001-07:00

Wow! Boomerangs still work in outer space.

Cool.

Quackery is spreading

2008-03-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a great example of a totally bogus psychiatric activity.

A random quote from the article in MSNBC...

The report that accompanies those results instructs doctors that a positive test means patients are two to three times more likely to have bipolar disorder. But the studies from which those figures come also show the gene variations themselves are rare even among those with bipolar.

BAsically what they're saying is:

Here's a test that shows you're probably bipolar, even though we are not quite sure what it is. But not even everyone we've already labeled as bipolar would come up positive for this genetic trait. In fact, not even the majority of them.

What genetic trait testing is saying is:

Here's a piece of the string that determines your physical body.

How did the psychs even manage to make a link between mental and spiritual stuff and the unlocking of the genome?

I don't see the connect, and before they start making money on yet another harebrained unhelpful piece of mumbo jumbo quackery, I need them to PROVE the connection.

Not because it disagrees with my personal beliefs (which it does) but because they are practicing ROTTEN science. Rotten. Real science requires a lack of assumptions. Basically, you are required to connect the dots.

There are so many missing dots in any psych science that there simply cannot be any credence granted to it.

People!

When are you going to realize that the psychs - every last flipping one of them - are duping you! TRILLIONS of dollars! Trillions!

And they've cured how many people (ever) of this elusive and undiagnosable bipolar disorder?

Uhm. None.

That's right. NONE.

!!!

Sheesh.

Maybe the people who are falling for this one are doing so because they're all hopped up on drinking water.

The Scalpel and the Soul

2008-03-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

Can doctors come to terms with the fact that we are not just our bodies?

This doctor is speaking out about the importance of the soul, in his new book.

I'm planning to buy it.

Hear him explain his book and tell his stories.

Choosing Religion - Scientology

2008-03-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

Choosing religions is such a personal choice.

In America, thankfully, we're blessed with a constitution that guarantees a separation of church and state -- there cannot be a sanctioned religion here. At least by the government.

But that doesn't mean that there aren't people trying to create a religious intolerance online. Those darned anonymous hackers continue to push against the wall that is religious freedom -- and in ways that they simply would not be allowed to do so in the real world.

Hopefully, there will be better legislation passed to protect people from hate crimes online, and protecting the freedom of religion online as well.

However, I digress.

The point here is that one of the comments I received back when I allowed anonymous comments was a pretended compassion for me, saying that when my kids grew up, if they chose not to become Scientologists then I'd never hear from them again.

Basically, this comment tried to tell me that I'd be forced to sever myself from my own children. A doom and gloom warning. (Pretended help.)

Huh. That's funny. Because...

I have this cousin, you see.

She is my favorite cousin, the same age as me. We were the closest cousins I know. We basically spent our early years constantly in one another's company.

When we hit our teenage years, we'd both gotten just about as much immersion in Scientology as the other. She a little less than I, I think. I had more counseling than her, probably.

At some point, I chose to train up and really learn my religion; she didn't ever do that. In present day, she is now a happy, well-educated, successful business woman, running her own company with her lifelong boyfriend, in a major city. We're proud of her competence and drive, and proud of how long she and her boyfriend have stuck together.

At some point, she chose not to be a Scientologist.

She isn't rude or mean about it, but she simply doesn't choose it for herself. And because she was around it constantly as a child, the lingo is second nature, the basic tools are second nature to her. She finds it very useful to apply to things. We never run into any trouble over this issue. I never would have even thought to blog about it if it wasn't so obviously needed -- to point out the lies being told online right now.

She made that break for herself only. None of us ever pushed her away OR tried to pull her back in. Religious choices are ones we make for ourselves. Each and every one of us. It was my cousin's choice to make, and she made it. I can't say I agree with it, but I respect her right to choose religions, just as I hope others will respect my right to do so as well.

As far as my relationship with the church, the fact that my cousin is a non-Scientologist now has simply never come up as a bad thing, and no one ever even brought up whether or not I should stop speaking with her or break away from her in any way.

I speak to her as regularly as our separate lives allows.

As far as I know, there is no religious doctrine I'm violating.

I spent the weekend with my cousin recently baking and cooking and hanging out. We caught up on a few years of missed time (I've been busy with kids lately), and we had a wonderful traditional Jewish meal (matzoh ball soup - yummy!) with my aunt and uncle. My Aunt is Jewish/Scientologist. It was so nice to see them, and to have a traditional family meal. On that side of the family, most everyone is Jewish. My aunt chose to remain a Jew when she became a Scientologist. She is both equally, and has been both for 30 years.

Now back to that comment.

Honestly. If the comment had been true, wouldn't somebody in the last 20 years have come to me saying I needed to break off from the side of my family that isn't completely devoted to Scientology only?

My family is completely cohesive, we all talk to each other unless we get too busy -- as with any family it happens now and again.

There is certainly no one I am made to break away from.

What a load of hogwash that comment was.

Probably, this boils down to those few people who -- being terribly upset with the religious choices of their family member -- completely mishandled a break in their family over religion.

I assume that it does happen. Human beings make mistakes. Each of us makes our choices our own way. Families sometimes take a while to adjust to the religious choices of other members. We tend to assume that everyone else in our group thinks the way we do -- and when that doesn't turn out to be the case it can be devastatingly difficult to find common reality - agreement.

It is that way for sexual orientation choices, and for religious choices, and sometimes for even the most mundane of choices. For instance, The mother of a friend didn't speak to her for a year over the placement of wedding guests. A religious choice is so much deeper than that. We can get offended because each of us believes we've found the RIGHT path away from evil. Each of us believes this intensely and deeply - that is the very nature of religion.

And so we can rush to make sure everyone we know is also on that right path -- sometimes being deeply hurt and worried for those who don't agree upon what path is the right one.

But as they say in Japan about religious tolerance:

"There are many paths up the mountain, but the view of the moon from the top remains the same" ~ Unknown Origin

I love my cousin very much, and respect her religious choices. She respects mine. I know her full history, and she knows mine -- as most cousins do. And there is no subject which is taboo in conversation with her.

Religious choices are very personal. There is a tenet from The Way to Happiness, which (in typical Hubbard form) goes straight and direct to the heart of the matter - "Respect the Religious Beliefs of Others".

"Faith" and "belief" do not necessarily surrender to logic: they cannot even be declared illogical. They can be things quite apart... The Way to happiness can become contentious when one fails to respect the religious beliefs of others. ~ L. Ron Hubbard

I will gladly respect your religious choices.

Respect mine.