I was left with knowing there was “nothing new” outside of health issues uncovered a decade ago and those health issues were not going away – ever. I was looking at a rather bleak picture of declining health, mobility, activity and freedom to do what I want, when I want.
When you have to plan an expedition to go to the market, you lose the fun of spontaneous outings.
I could barely face another day knowing that there was nothing outside of a lot of Advil, that was going to mitigate even a bit of the pain, so I decided to try something, anything, to minimize the discomfort.
I didn't know I was about to embark on an amazing journey.
Being assured by my doctors that, even though I had a lot of pain, I wasn't going to injure anything, I went to the pool at the local gym. I've been going to the gym off and on for years and like most people I would go for awhile and then stop. When I was younger, I could do a big workout but as my weight increased and health declined the workouts were less and less.
My local gym is extremely well equipped and has a lap and walking pool. I'd gone to their water aerobics classes in the past, so I decided to try to walk the pool again. I hobbled in with my cane and headed to the pool. I took my cane right up to the edge with me and began slowly going down the steps. I didn't know if I would be able to get up the steps when I was finished. I knew the gym had a disability chair lift available and that they would eventually be able to haul me out of the pool.
I did my walking routine and then headed for the steps. From the bottom, it looked like the top of Everest and the 3 steps were as difficult to me as the summit would be to a mountain climber. I put my foot on the first step and hauled on the hand rail. As I moved up out of the water I heard a loud POP! I froze in place. I wasn't sure what happened.
I took stock of my situation. It wasn't a backfire or gunshot. Everything seemed fine. There weren't any new pains. My toes and fingers wiggled OK. I stood on the step for a moment longer and realized: the pain in my back was GONE.
Getting out of the water with 210 pounds of traction, had realigned something.
I went home with no pain in my back and a realization that I COULD do something about this after all. I could make sure that this “kink” in my back did not return.
We went to Costco and I bought one of those memory foam mattress toppers. Friends had already purchased similar items for their back problems, so I knew that they had some benefit. We lugged the box home and got it placed on the bed.
The first morning was amazing. Not only did my back not hurt but the pains in other parts of my body had also decreased. Over the next few days, each morning the overall pain index was less. So much of the existing pain was inter-related that when those muscles were finally able to relax into a more normal state, the effect was instantly recognizable.
I wasn't pain-free, but I had a lot less-pain.
On a follow up trip to Costco I spotted some pillows with the same memory foam material and I threw those in my shopping cart too. I had no expectations about what such a pillow would do, as we normally use very good “health grade” style pillows.
More than 30 years ago, I'd gotten a whiplash from a car accident. The pain never really went away and over the years I'd sorted out a way to sleep to support my neck and head. On occasion, if I didn't get the pillows “just right”, I'd be in for a whole day of neck pain too.
I was taking a chance on trying these new pillows – it might not work out.
The pillows were hard as rocks and Allen tossed his right away. I didn't find mine uncomfortable and figured I'd try it for the night.
The next morning was amazing. After 30 years of neck pain – there wasn't any. The difference was astonishing. That rock hard pillow allowed some muscles in my neck to relax and after 30 years of “cramp” it was hard to believe that I could have that much pain free movement.
The amount of overall pain declined over a few weeks but didn't go away completely. I still had pain, a lot less than before, but I could deal with what I had. I made a decision that would change my views on a lot of things.
Having experienced what was coming in the future, I resolved to delay what was inevitable and heading my way, as long as possible.
More TIME is not an option in life; I had to do something NOW.
[Editor's note: This story was written by KimB and is part 2 of a 6 part series.]
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Monday, December 29, 2014
Saturday, December 27, 2014
An Odyssey ... of a sort - Part 1 of 6 by KimB
Every year I go through the somewhat obligatory review of achievements and failures of the previous year. Most often the win/loss columns are equal but in some years the columns are more lopsided and I make assertions to “do better” in the coming year.
Last year was no different... except is was.
The Greek epic poem about the end of the Trojan War, the Odyssey, reminds me of my journey this year. The story is full of adventure, romance, awe, sorrow, happiness, obstacles and surprising victories over everyday impediments. It's one that everyone experiences in different ways and continues until the last breath and the last heart beat. Mortality and the Ferryman capture us all, but before the Ferryman comes, demanding his payment, the Odyssey continues.
During the Trojan War, the Greeks and Trojans fought epic battles and the gods were divided about which side should win. The Greeks were promised ultimate victory but not an easy one. The war consumed both sides and at the end, Troy was burned, the city razed, their people slaughtered or enslaved and their heroes dead on the battlefield.
The triumphant Greeks headed home after a decade of war, secure in their victory with the spoils and riches of Troy as proof. They didn't live long to enjoy it.
Nearly every great Greek hero dies before or shortly after arriving home. Their doom is pronounced often but they ignore the warnings. One of the few that return home successfully is the hero Odysseus but not without trials and delays.
Odysseus' journey lasts another decade and there are many obstacles to his return. He is shipwrecked, attacked, delayed, held hostage. The gods fight over his fate as he persists in what seems to be a futile effort to return home. His homecoming is not without danger and he must overcome the effects of 20 years of absence to prove his identity and re-claim his lands and family.
Over the last decade my health has declined – a lot. The effects of illness and the required drugs with their numerous complications and side effects, led to a very large weight increase. Add in aging, with its increasing physical limitations, all made a recipe for “the worse”.
Oprah has nothing on me; I could beat her bag-for-bag in any cookie eating competition.
At the end of 2013, the state of affairs was on the “awful” side of the ledger. I could barely move without a cane, I was starting to seriously look at walkers and thinking of motorized wheelchairs. The pains in my joints and back made even simple tasks an Everest style challenge. I had been through more and more tests and spent hours in the MRI hoping that the doctors would find “something” and especially hoping that the “something” had a reasonable chance of being alleviated/fixed.
It didn't happen. They found nothing new.
That turned out to be “the good news”.
[Editor's note: This story was written by KimB and is part 1 of a 6 part series.]
Last year was no different... except is was.
The Greek epic poem about the end of the Trojan War, the Odyssey, reminds me of my journey this year. The story is full of adventure, romance, awe, sorrow, happiness, obstacles and surprising victories over everyday impediments. It's one that everyone experiences in different ways and continues until the last breath and the last heart beat. Mortality and the Ferryman capture us all, but before the Ferryman comes, demanding his payment, the Odyssey continues.
During the Trojan War, the Greeks and Trojans fought epic battles and the gods were divided about which side should win. The Greeks were promised ultimate victory but not an easy one. The war consumed both sides and at the end, Troy was burned, the city razed, their people slaughtered or enslaved and their heroes dead on the battlefield.
The triumphant Greeks headed home after a decade of war, secure in their victory with the spoils and riches of Troy as proof. They didn't live long to enjoy it.
Nearly every great Greek hero dies before or shortly after arriving home. Their doom is pronounced often but they ignore the warnings. One of the few that return home successfully is the hero Odysseus but not without trials and delays.
Odysseus' journey lasts another decade and there are many obstacles to his return. He is shipwrecked, attacked, delayed, held hostage. The gods fight over his fate as he persists in what seems to be a futile effort to return home. His homecoming is not without danger and he must overcome the effects of 20 years of absence to prove his identity and re-claim his lands and family.
Over the last decade my health has declined – a lot. The effects of illness and the required drugs with their numerous complications and side effects, led to a very large weight increase. Add in aging, with its increasing physical limitations, all made a recipe for “the worse”.
Oprah has nothing on me; I could beat her bag-for-bag in any cookie eating competition.
At the end of 2013, the state of affairs was on the “awful” side of the ledger. I could barely move without a cane, I was starting to seriously look at walkers and thinking of motorized wheelchairs. The pains in my joints and back made even simple tasks an Everest style challenge. I had been through more and more tests and spent hours in the MRI hoping that the doctors would find “something” and especially hoping that the “something” had a reasonable chance of being alleviated/fixed.
It didn't happen. They found nothing new.
That turned out to be “the good news”.
[Editor's note: This story was written by KimB and is part 1 of a 6 part series.]
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Christmas Customs
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| End Homelessness by Marion 2014 |
A pagan tradition of using boughs of trees to decorate homes marking the winter solstice continued when Romans celebrated Saturnalia in honor of the deity, Saturn, on December 17th. Early Christians opposed the practice as pagan and Christian churches continued the opposition to the celebration of evergreens until mid-19th century.
Oliver Cromwell preached against “heathen' traditions and Puritans condemned the customs associated with Christmas- yule logs, holly, mistletoe, and carols. The Pilgrim Governor, William Bradford, a Calvinist, tried to stamp out “pagan mockery” at Christmas, and trees were not decorated during Colonial times.
Protestant Germans were the first to popularize the decoration of Christmas trees. During the 1840s and 50s, Prince Albert decorated trees for Queen Victoria. Out of love for the queen, the English began celebrating Christmas with tree decorations. In 1851, Pastor Henry Schwan of Cleveland, Ohio, was the first person to decorate a Christmas tree in a church.
The concept of trimming a tree at Christmas is world wide, but there is still opposition by fundamental religious groups as pagan observances. As late as Christmas 2000, the city manager of Eugene, Oregon, ordered no Christmas trees on city property since they are considered Christian symbols.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Hell in a Hand Basket
This is an expression often heard when people grouch about affairs of state. 'Going to hell in a hand basket' implies that the decisions made by those in charge of running and protecting the country are not up to snuff and their decisions are leading the country toward disaster. So called 'progress', paired with disapproval of policies opposite to one's own preference, also contributes to the universal complaint that the country is 'going down hill' or 'going to hell in a hand basket'.
Barbaric atrocities in the quest for religious dominance and struggles against tyrannical governments are aired on TV 24/7. These events have a cause and effect on a global scale, and forming policies that will combat such perverse behavior is frustrating. and never ending. Relationships between nations are always changing; becoming more complex as they vie for economic and political dominance.
There are no easy answers, but one can't help but ask if some policies will solve problems or create more.
Barbaric atrocities in the quest for religious dominance and struggles against tyrannical governments are aired on TV 24/7. These events have a cause and effect on a global scale, and forming policies that will combat such perverse behavior is frustrating. and never ending. Relationships between nations are always changing; becoming more complex as they vie for economic and political dominance.
There are no easy answers, but one can't help but ask if some policies will solve problems or create more.
- Will we ever get back to a peace time economy?
- Will all the country's adult males be veterans?
- Will all the country's young women soon be veterans too?
- Will NSA ever stop collecting data on American citizens?
- Will the internet ever be totally safe for banking or shopping?
- Will the country ever have protected borders?
- Is the country going to hell in a hand basket?
[Those people] who would rather ride to hell in a hand-cart than walk to heaven supported by the staff of industry.
Elbridge Gerry Paige (1813-1859)
Short Patent Sermons, 1841
Friday, December 12, 2014
Big Talk, Big Stick
Since the public airing of the Senate torture study, comprising details of the horrific methods used to cause human suffering, participants and those who approved the actions are defending the practice. Their hue and cry of innocence and accusations of misleading and false information in the report makes it seem as if torture is not only permissible, but standard behavior of captured enemies.
I'm astounded at the widely voiced approval of torture. To have willingly participated in actions of atrocity considered war crimes, or even having known and permitted the actions, belies what Americans refer to as our VALUES.
I'm astounded at the widely voiced approval of torture. To have willingly participated in actions of atrocity considered war crimes, or even having known and permitted the actions, belies what Americans refer to as our VALUES.
Saturday, December 06, 2014
Writing Secret Language
I recently finished reading a novel based on the factual lives of women in China during 1820 to 1850, the years of Emperor Daoguang. The book, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See, describes in detail the lives of women, their relationships to each other, their superstitions, religious practices and forced acceptance of worthlessness.
The novel centers around Yao women, descendants of the Yao ethnic tribe who settled in Yongming county region during the Tang dynasty after fleeing Mongol armies in the north. The two main characters, Snow Flower and Lily, record their friendship and lives in Nu shu from ages of five, young adult hood, marriages and death.
Nu shu is a written language, used by Chinese women for over a thousand years, and kept hidden from men. It had been invented by women who were forbidden to learn to read the writing and classics taught to men. Nu shu does not represent a specific word. Characters are phonetic, representing sound. Each character may represent more than one word if they sound the same. Context usually makes the meaning clear, but much care must be taken not to misinterpret the meaning.
During the last half of the 20th century, Nu shu nearly became extinct since the reason for using it no longer existed. Few Nu shu documents, whether letters, stories, weaving or embroideries have survived since most were burned at grave sites for metaphysical reasons. In the 1930s Japanese soldiers destroyed many that had been kept as heirlooms. During the cultural revolution in China, Red Guards burned more texts.
Lisa See, author, of the book, relates an incident in her research notes about the hidden writing. One day in the 1960s, an old lady fainted in a rural Chinese train station. Police, searching her belongings in an effort to identify her, came across papers with writing they thought might be a secret code. She was arrested on suspicion of being a spy. Scholars, who deciphered the writing, quickly realized it was the written language used by women and hidden from men for over a 1000 years. The scholars were sent to labor camps.
Currently the Peoples Republic is making an effort to keep the language alive by opening a Nu shu school in Puwei, a village of Tongkou. The last remaining woman who used and spoke the language died a few years ago, but several of her students and various international scholars who are members of societies that study and preserve ancient languages are also trying to preserve and collect samples of Nu shu.
In the rules governing Nu shu: it can be used to write letters, stories, autobiographies, songs, lessons on womanly duties, prayers to goddesses and popular stories. It is written with a brush on paper or a fan. It can be embroidered on handkerchiefs, or woven into cloth. It can and should be sung before an audience of women and girls. It can also be something read and treasured alone. Two most important rules are: Men must never know it exists, and men may not touch it in any form.
The movie, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, made by a Hong Kong film maker, starring the famous actress, Li BingBing, was released in the United States in 2011.
The novel centers around Yao women, descendants of the Yao ethnic tribe who settled in Yongming county region during the Tang dynasty after fleeing Mongol armies in the north. The two main characters, Snow Flower and Lily, record their friendship and lives in Nu shu from ages of five, young adult hood, marriages and death.
Nu shu is a written language, used by Chinese women for over a thousand years, and kept hidden from men. It had been invented by women who were forbidden to learn to read the writing and classics taught to men. Nu shu does not represent a specific word. Characters are phonetic, representing sound. Each character may represent more than one word if they sound the same. Context usually makes the meaning clear, but much care must be taken not to misinterpret the meaning.
During the last half of the 20th century, Nu shu nearly became extinct since the reason for using it no longer existed. Few Nu shu documents, whether letters, stories, weaving or embroideries have survived since most were burned at grave sites for metaphysical reasons. In the 1930s Japanese soldiers destroyed many that had been kept as heirlooms. During the cultural revolution in China, Red Guards burned more texts.
Lisa See, author, of the book, relates an incident in her research notes about the hidden writing. One day in the 1960s, an old lady fainted in a rural Chinese train station. Police, searching her belongings in an effort to identify her, came across papers with writing they thought might be a secret code. She was arrested on suspicion of being a spy. Scholars, who deciphered the writing, quickly realized it was the written language used by women and hidden from men for over a 1000 years. The scholars were sent to labor camps.
Currently the Peoples Republic is making an effort to keep the language alive by opening a Nu shu school in Puwei, a village of Tongkou. The last remaining woman who used and spoke the language died a few years ago, but several of her students and various international scholars who are members of societies that study and preserve ancient languages are also trying to preserve and collect samples of Nu shu.
In the rules governing Nu shu: it can be used to write letters, stories, autobiographies, songs, lessons on womanly duties, prayers to goddesses and popular stories. It is written with a brush on paper or a fan. It can be embroidered on handkerchiefs, or woven into cloth. It can and should be sung before an audience of women and girls. It can also be something read and treasured alone. Two most important rules are: Men must never know it exists, and men may not touch it in any form.
The movie, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, made by a Hong Kong film maker, starring the famous actress, Li BingBing, was released in the United States in 2011.
..png "\"Nüshu\" written in Nüshu (right to left).") |
| "Nüshu" written in Nüshu (right to left). |
Saturday, November 22, 2014
O Columbia, Gem of the Ocean
O Columbia, Gem of the Ocean.....
Those words are all I remember of a song a teacher tried to teach us when I started school. We stood in a circle around her and repeated the lines as she sang them, but I'm not certain we ever got beyond these first few words. A song about 'Columbia' had little meaning for me in those early years, and we never sang it in the higher grades.
Many years later when I saw the Columbia River for the first time, the refrain, 'O Columbia, Gem of the Ocean', popped in to my mind. I was so taken by the river's majestic awesomeness I was spellbound. Those words, 'Gem of the Ocean', seemed apt.
Whenever watching a movie made by Columbia Pictures, their logo, a colorful depiction of a universal woman in flowing robes, standing on a pedestal, holding a torch above her head and surrounded by beautiful clouds, appears before end titles. As the graphic takes shape on the screen, I remember, 'O Columbia, Gem of the Ocean'.
When I decided to surf the net for the lyrics, I came across some interesting facts. The origin of the name, Columbia, first appeared in a 1738 weekly publication of the British Parliament. Printing the Parliament debates was forbidden, but they were camouflaged as “Reports of the Debates of the Senate of Lilliput.”. Fictional names were given to other countries; Columbia was chosen to represent America.
In 1843, an actor, David Shaw wanting a new patriotic song to sing at a benefit performance. Thomas á Becket, Sr. wrote the lyrics and melody to 'O Columbia'. The song became a popular patriotic song competing with 'Hail Columbia' and 'The Star Spangled Banner' until 1931 when 'The Star Spangled Banner' was declared the National Anthem.
In 1924, Columbia Pictures advertised for a woman to represent Miss Columbia in their film logo, making the word, Columbia, the female personification of America. Since then, various women have posed for Miss Columbia which always remains an heroic figure in flowing robes, holding a torch high, surrounded by beautiful clouds.
The song or music of 'O Columbia, Gem of the Ocean' has been featured in films such as Amistad, The Music Man, Twilight Zone, Donnie Brasco and West Wing.
Those words are all I remember of a song a teacher tried to teach us when I started school. We stood in a circle around her and repeated the lines as she sang them, but I'm not certain we ever got beyond these first few words. A song about 'Columbia' had little meaning for me in those early years, and we never sang it in the higher grades.
Many years later when I saw the Columbia River for the first time, the refrain, 'O Columbia, Gem of the Ocean', popped in to my mind. I was so taken by the river's majestic awesomeness I was spellbound. Those words, 'Gem of the Ocean', seemed apt.
Whenever watching a movie made by Columbia Pictures, their logo, a colorful depiction of a universal woman in flowing robes, standing on a pedestal, holding a torch above her head and surrounded by beautiful clouds, appears before end titles. As the graphic takes shape on the screen, I remember, 'O Columbia, Gem of the Ocean'.
When I decided to surf the net for the lyrics, I came across some interesting facts. The origin of the name, Columbia, first appeared in a 1738 weekly publication of the British Parliament. Printing the Parliament debates was forbidden, but they were camouflaged as “Reports of the Debates of the Senate of Lilliput.”. Fictional names were given to other countries; Columbia was chosen to represent America.
In 1843, an actor, David Shaw wanting a new patriotic song to sing at a benefit performance. Thomas á Becket, Sr. wrote the lyrics and melody to 'O Columbia'. The song became a popular patriotic song competing with 'Hail Columbia' and 'The Star Spangled Banner' until 1931 when 'The Star Spangled Banner' was declared the National Anthem.
In 1924, Columbia Pictures advertised for a woman to represent Miss Columbia in their film logo, making the word, Columbia, the female personification of America. Since then, various women have posed for Miss Columbia which always remains an heroic figure in flowing robes, holding a torch high, surrounded by beautiful clouds.
The song or music of 'O Columbia, Gem of the Ocean' has been featured in films such as Amistad, The Music Man, Twilight Zone, Donnie Brasco and West Wing.
.jpg "Columbia Pictures logo") |
| Columbia Pictures logo |
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Michael Hayden's Dictionary by KimB
One of the more interesting aspects of the NSA and all the hooha surrounding what the surveillance agencies do, is their ability to redefine words in any language, primarily English, because it's so easy to do. If you don't like a rule that prohibits X just rename X to Y and now since Y is not prohibited by law, the spy business moves along as usual.
Some of these re-names are in the notorious category like the word games for “torture”.
“Torture” became “Enhanced Interrogation” but after a great deal of complaints, “Enhanced Interrogation” was returned to its previous definition of “Torture”. If left at “Torture”, the surveillance agencies sadists would have nothing to do, so they renamed it again and it now parades under the definition of “Coerced Interrogation”. Doesn't change what it is, it's still “torture” but since it's not prohibited by law under this name, the NSA/CIA and their American Psychological Association licensed sadistic members and un-licensed CIA sadists get to enjoy the full gamut of torture and get to write books describing how virtuous this activity is, providing you are the torturer and not the torturée. These licensed APA members get to write the operations manuals for Neophyte CIA Sadists, who haven't yet discovered how to do these sorts of things on their own. If per chance a legal complaint ensues about this new name, another suitable name will be applied to the same activities and the CIA Sadists and their Junior Sadist Helpers, will remain in business as usual.
Sadists are everywhere.
General Hayden knows a lot about these activities as he ran not only the NSA but also the CIA. He is well rounded and extremely adept as the Redefinition Game.
That's why I was somewhat surprised to see an old YouTube video of General Hayden from 2006, making what seemed to be an enormous gaff during a televised interview. It was completely out of character for him and well... the news agencies made some pointed comments about what General Hayden said.
During the interview General Hayden engages the reporter in a short discussion about the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution. During the exchange General Hayden said that "probable cause" is not in the Fourth Amendment. But of course “probable cause” IS part of the Fourth Amendment.
So, how could General Hayden make such a statement? During the exchange, he tells the reporter that the NSA is extremely well-versed in the US Constitution and that Probable Cause is not part of the Fourth Amendment. It looks to be an embarrassing moment and the newsrooms and media certainly played it that way.
But when you listen to the exchange carefully, really carefully you can hear the NSA/CIA re-definition happen. This was an important moment that all the newsrooms and media analysts missed. In 2006, General Hayden told us exactly what was going to happen and what did happen, as he foretold during that interview.
So where does the redefinition happen? It happens during the exchange over “unreasonable” and followed up by “probable cause”.
What he tells us, is the fundamental reasoning behind how the NSA deemed everything, everywhere was open to NSA collection. Everything electronic, on the internet, your phone records and every piece of information that anyone could possibly collect on you, was going to be collected and that the NSA was going to collect it all, keep it all and use it at-will without hindrances.
Here is the re-definition in nutshells:
He states that there is No Probable Cause in the Fourth Amendment because the Fourth Amendment does not apply to the NSA/CIA – ever. There is no violation of the Fourth Amendment so Probable Cause is never an issue.
Not Then. Not Now. Not in the Future.
To keep the Fourth Amendment at bay, everything the NSA/CIA does now and forever more, will be redefined as “reasonable”. They work hard to get the lofty judges of the US Federal Courts to agree with this view and work with all the power brokers in the US Government, Congress and Senate to ensure that though the name may change, the activities will remain the same and the CIA Sadists and their Junior Sadist Helpers, will never be subject to prosecution for violations of the Fourth Amendment.
We can see this at work now, today with the fading hope of publication of the US Senate Intelligence Committee's Torture Report. The presumed disclosures would place a large number of CIA Sadists directly onto the low-end of the waterboarding table, shackled, saran wrapped with the water can at the ready along with exposing the re-re-re-redefiniton game.
The CIA Sadists have to protect their own. They certainly won't be protecting you.
They never really did, did they?
Some of these re-names are in the notorious category like the word games for “torture”.
“Torture” became “Enhanced Interrogation” but after a great deal of complaints, “Enhanced Interrogation” was returned to its previous definition of “Torture”. If left at “Torture”, the surveillance agencies sadists would have nothing to do, so they renamed it again and it now parades under the definition of “Coerced Interrogation”. Doesn't change what it is, it's still “torture” but since it's not prohibited by law under this name, the NSA/CIA and their American Psychological Association licensed sadistic members and un-licensed CIA sadists get to enjoy the full gamut of torture and get to write books describing how virtuous this activity is, providing you are the torturer and not the torturée. These licensed APA members get to write the operations manuals for Neophyte CIA Sadists, who haven't yet discovered how to do these sorts of things on their own. If per chance a legal complaint ensues about this new name, another suitable name will be applied to the same activities and the CIA Sadists and their Junior Sadist Helpers, will remain in business as usual.
Sadists are everywhere.
General Hayden knows a lot about these activities as he ran not only the NSA but also the CIA. He is well rounded and extremely adept as the Redefinition Game.
That's why I was somewhat surprised to see an old YouTube video of General Hayden from 2006, making what seemed to be an enormous gaff during a televised interview. It was completely out of character for him and well... the news agencies made some pointed comments about what General Hayden said.
During the interview General Hayden engages the reporter in a short discussion about the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution. During the exchange General Hayden said that "probable cause" is not in the Fourth Amendment. But of course “probable cause” IS part of the Fourth Amendment.
Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) to the United States Constitution
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
So, how could General Hayden make such a statement? During the exchange, he tells the reporter that the NSA is extremely well-versed in the US Constitution and that Probable Cause is not part of the Fourth Amendment. It looks to be an embarrassing moment and the newsrooms and media certainly played it that way.
But when you listen to the exchange carefully, really carefully you can hear the NSA/CIA re-definition happen. This was an important moment that all the newsrooms and media analysts missed. In 2006, General Hayden told us exactly what was going to happen and what did happen, as he foretold during that interview.
So where does the redefinition happen? It happens during the exchange over “unreasonable” and followed up by “probable cause”.
What he tells us, is the fundamental reasoning behind how the NSA deemed everything, everywhere was open to NSA collection. Everything electronic, on the internet, your phone records and every piece of information that anyone could possibly collect on you, was going to be collected and that the NSA was going to collect it all, keep it all and use it at-will without hindrances.
Here is the re-definition in nutshells:
- “PROBABLE CAUSE” is only required for “UNREASONABLE” searches.
- “UNREASONABLE” searches require a WARRANT.
- If the search is “REASONABLE”, there is no WARRANT needed because by definition, warrants are only needed for “UNREASONABLE” searches.
- If the activities are defined as “REASONABLE” they do not require a warrant. No Warrant. Period.
- If no warrant is required then the search, seizure and acquisition of all information is 100% within the law and is permitted without constraints or restrictions of any kind.
He states that there is No Probable Cause in the Fourth Amendment because the Fourth Amendment does not apply to the NSA/CIA – ever. There is no violation of the Fourth Amendment so Probable Cause is never an issue.
Not Then. Not Now. Not in the Future.
To keep the Fourth Amendment at bay, everything the NSA/CIA does now and forever more, will be redefined as “reasonable”. They work hard to get the lofty judges of the US Federal Courts to agree with this view and work with all the power brokers in the US Government, Congress and Senate to ensure that though the name may change, the activities will remain the same and the CIA Sadists and their Junior Sadist Helpers, will never be subject to prosecution for violations of the Fourth Amendment.
We can see this at work now, today with the fading hope of publication of the US Senate Intelligence Committee's Torture Report. The presumed disclosures would place a large number of CIA Sadists directly onto the low-end of the waterboarding table, shackled, saran wrapped with the water can at the ready along with exposing the re-re-re-redefiniton game.
The CIA Sadists have to protect their own. They certainly won't be protecting you.
They never really did, did they?
Saturday, November 08, 2014
Veterans Day November 11, 2014
In Flanders Field
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That marks our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
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| Poppies |
Saturday, November 01, 2014
My Window View
Outside one of my windows, a bush shields the glass with leaves. There are sprinkles of daylight or night light showing between the leaves during the hot months but in the cold months, the bush is a scrambled web of bare branches.
On summer days, when the temperature is 100 degrees or higher, the shaded green adds a psychological coolness to that of the air conditioning and brings a touch of nature into view.
On summer days, when the temperature is 100 degrees or higher, the shaded green adds a psychological coolness to that of the air conditioning and brings a touch of nature into view.
Bouncing leaves amid the
Still, shade darkened green,
A momentary perch in a
Bird's game, hide and seek.
How deft the player
To remain unseen,
And a dancing twig
Showing where its been.
Still, shade darkened green,
A momentary perch in a
Bird's game, hide and seek.
How deft the player
To remain unseen,
And a dancing twig
Showing where its been.
 |
| Green Leaves |
Saturday, October 11, 2014
one potato, two potato....
There are so many diverse electronic gaming gadgets that children have today, I wonder if they ever play interactive games requiring them to choose who will be 'it', or who will be 'out'?
When I was a child and a group of us played games with an 'it', or an 'out', we stood in a circle, making a fist with both hands. One of us would chant the potato rhyme and start the count and tap each fist in the circle until the word 'it' or the word 'out' made the final selection.
When a fist was counted out, it was held in back of the player and no longer counted as the chanting and tapping of fists continued around the circle . This method of counting was simple, fair, and approved. Sometimes the first person 'out', was 'it'.
When I was a child and a group of us played games with an 'it', or an 'out', we stood in a circle, making a fist with both hands. One of us would chant the potato rhyme and start the count and tap each fist in the circle until the word 'it' or the word 'out' made the final selection.
When a fist was counted out, it was held in back of the player and no longer counted as the chanting and tapping of fists continued around the circle . This method of counting was simple, fair, and approved. Sometimes the first person 'out', was 'it'.
1 potato, 2 potato, 3 potato, 4
5 potato, 6 potato, 7 potato more
8 potato, 9 potato, and O..U..T spells out.....
 |
| one potato, two potato, three potato, four |
Saturday, October 04, 2014
The Pickle Project by A. Nonymus
Recently I was asked to check out a great home made Bread and Butter Pickle recipe video found right here at the Chef John blog. After watching, it looked so easy and fun, I decided to do some pickling..
To get a better feel for the whole business of pickling, I further researched online and discovered loads of other recipes, and it became apparent that you can pickle just about any food including fruits, not just vegetables, and well, it seems almost anything can be pickled!
I got enthused and decided to take the plunge and make several batches of pickled stuffs
1st: The classic refrigerator Bread & Butter pickles (per the video),
2nd: Corn 'Wheels' ; I found some fresh Olathe corn on sale at the local grocery, and decided to see how it might do as a pickling item, 3rd: of course a classic fave: Carrots, Peppers, Garlic & Onions (a la your favorite Mexican restaurant). Next: Apples with Pears and Grapes – the next project
I went to the store and found most of the ingredients right away, although some took several stores to find. Pickling spices and the various other spices were readily available, although the 'star anise' has been a bit tricky, but it's for the apples and fruit, so not yet needed.
I'm still planning to make the pickled apples and pears with grapes. One recipe suggested using maple syrup instead of sugar. I think maple syrup along with some classic apple pie spices ought to be quite delicious and create a tasty flavor profile; nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, star anise, all along with pickling spices. I think this'n is going to be a winner!
But now for the gory details so far – batch by batch ...
I'll describe the first attempt at the Bread and Butter pickles.
Following instructions, I sliced 2 lbs of small pickling cucumbers, and then dusted them with kosher salt. I let them sit for several hours stirring every so often. This 'salting' removes excess water and makes the pickles 'crunchy'. The recipe said to rinse well after the salting. I thought I did! I rinsed the slices quite well under running water for about 3-4 minutes per the instructions. I will give you a hint here ... taste 'em before you go any further. I didn't. I proceeded to make the hot brine and stir in the slices and soak as instructed. The smell was sensational, so much so that I couldn't wait the suggested 48 hours to try them. I selected a delectable slice to test... and I'm sure glad I did.
OMG!! The pickles were inedible... gah .. salt, salt, salt!!! egad I thought, what to do now?? I asked some professional cooks and chef friends if they had any idea how to remove the excess saltiness? Nothing concrete was offered.
Eventually I found one person – who had actually taught Betty Crocker how to cook – who suggested soaking and rinsing heavily and thoroughly over and over, and see if that would help – it certainly couldn't hurt!? HOORAY for Betty Crocker's teacher !!!
Quite to my surprise after 24 hours of soaking and rinsing MANY more times, and then putting them into a new salt free brine and refrigerating for another 24 hours, THEY WERE PERFECT!! What a journey those cukes took. Now they only have one short trip left to take – directly to the dining table !! yum yum!
Now that the first batch was 'saved', it was safe to proceed with batch #2. I followed all the steps exactly the same, except These were rinsed, rinsed, rinsed ,and rinsed some more. Then rinsed again just to be sure! This batch came out PERFECT! No doctoring needed. Dee-lish !!!
Buoyed by initial success', I turned to the corn. There was a sale on the seasons first Olathe corn at the local grocery (6 ears for $1), so I grabbed 6 really nice ears for this project.
First though, I had to prepare them and was delighted to use a wonderful trick I found on Chef Johns food blog. This is a really easy way to remove the husk and all the silk in one swoop!
Here's the trick - Put the whole un-shucked ear in the microwave for 3 minutes, then carefully take it out and cut off the butt end - through the husk and all. Then by grasping the tip end with a towel the husk and silk just slide right off the cooked corn and voila ... perfect hot corn on the cob!! - I did 3 ears at a time and it worked great !!! I ate one to 'test' it just as it came out of the microwave, and it was perfect. I don't think I'll ever boil corn again.
For the corn, I made a lighter brine – combining several recipes I liked online, and as it brewed the smell was wonderful! However, I quickly realized it would be hard to put 6 whole ears into the 2 qt. brine pot, and also getting them into a jar was problematic too. What to do? Well I cut the corn - still on the cob - into slices I call 'wheels'! Necessity is the mother of invention. This was a brilliant Inspiration!!
The corn 'wheels' now went into the brine, (These little wheels make great little finger holds to nibble the nibblets!!) I added some celery (cut into 2" pieces) to give some variety, color and a different flavor. The celery has been a pleasant surprise, and very tasty too! The corn brine was a bit different from the B&B pickle recipe, milder and less strident, less 'pickle-y', and it perfectly enhanced the lovely corn flavor. I am totally delighted at how tasty the corn and celery are!
Next batch: Carrots and Peppers, which were quite easy to make. I gave these more of a full flavored brine with about10 bay leaves added. The big job was peeling and slicing the carrots. The brine was just coming to a boil as I was done slicing. In they went, fire went off. After soaking in the brine for several hours – I popped 'em into the fridge! Wow! They turned out as good (better?) than the restaurant kind. Now I have a big jar of those which I've been enjoying with all my meals and especially good with Mexican dishes.
Pickling – what a great, fun way to do veggies and fruits. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it all was. I just suggest making one kind at a time for less confusion though. It was a bit of craziness whilst doing 3 different kinds at once.
Now I'm enjoying B&B pickles with everything. The corn wheels are great adds to salads or crudité, and the carrots work anyplace ... I've enjoyed those with my eggs in the morning or rice at dinner, and they make a nice crunchy substitute for chips whilst watching TV. A pickle for all seasons!
Well, they're not just your grandma's pickles anymore .. although maybe the flavors will awaken some old memories of 'back in the day' – try making some yourself. I only suggest you RINSE RINSE RINSE if you do the salting!!
Manga Manga – Abondanza!!
To get a better feel for the whole business of pickling, I further researched online and discovered loads of other recipes, and it became apparent that you can pickle just about any food including fruits, not just vegetables, and well, it seems almost anything can be pickled!
I got enthused and decided to take the plunge and make several batches of pickled stuffs
 |
| Pickles |
I went to the store and found most of the ingredients right away, although some took several stores to find. Pickling spices and the various other spices were readily available, although the 'star anise' has been a bit tricky, but it's for the apples and fruit, so not yet needed.
I'm still planning to make the pickled apples and pears with grapes. One recipe suggested using maple syrup instead of sugar. I think maple syrup along with some classic apple pie spices ought to be quite delicious and create a tasty flavor profile; nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, star anise, all along with pickling spices. I think this'n is going to be a winner!
But now for the gory details so far – batch by batch ...
I'll describe the first attempt at the Bread and Butter pickles.
Following instructions, I sliced 2 lbs of small pickling cucumbers, and then dusted them with kosher salt. I let them sit for several hours stirring every so often. This 'salting' removes excess water and makes the pickles 'crunchy'. The recipe said to rinse well after the salting. I thought I did! I rinsed the slices quite well under running water for about 3-4 minutes per the instructions. I will give you a hint here ... taste 'em before you go any further. I didn't. I proceeded to make the hot brine and stir in the slices and soak as instructed. The smell was sensational, so much so that I couldn't wait the suggested 48 hours to try them. I selected a delectable slice to test... and I'm sure glad I did.
OMG!! The pickles were inedible... gah .. salt, salt, salt!!! egad I thought, what to do now?? I asked some professional cooks and chef friends if they had any idea how to remove the excess saltiness? Nothing concrete was offered.
Eventually I found one person – who had actually taught Betty Crocker how to cook – who suggested soaking and rinsing heavily and thoroughly over and over, and see if that would help – it certainly couldn't hurt!? HOORAY for Betty Crocker's teacher !!!
Quite to my surprise after 24 hours of soaking and rinsing MANY more times, and then putting them into a new salt free brine and refrigerating for another 24 hours, THEY WERE PERFECT!! What a journey those cukes took. Now they only have one short trip left to take – directly to the dining table !! yum yum!
Now that the first batch was 'saved', it was safe to proceed with batch #2. I followed all the steps exactly the same, except These were rinsed, rinsed, rinsed ,and rinsed some more. Then rinsed again just to be sure! This batch came out PERFECT! No doctoring needed. Dee-lish !!!
Buoyed by initial success', I turned to the corn. There was a sale on the seasons first Olathe corn at the local grocery (6 ears for $1), so I grabbed 6 really nice ears for this project.
First though, I had to prepare them and was delighted to use a wonderful trick I found on Chef Johns food blog. This is a really easy way to remove the husk and all the silk in one swoop!
Here's the trick - Put the whole un-shucked ear in the microwave for 3 minutes, then carefully take it out and cut off the butt end - through the husk and all. Then by grasping the tip end with a towel the husk and silk just slide right off the cooked corn and voila ... perfect hot corn on the cob!! - I did 3 ears at a time and it worked great !!! I ate one to 'test' it just as it came out of the microwave, and it was perfect. I don't think I'll ever boil corn again.
For the corn, I made a lighter brine – combining several recipes I liked online, and as it brewed the smell was wonderful! However, I quickly realized it would be hard to put 6 whole ears into the 2 qt. brine pot, and also getting them into a jar was problematic too. What to do? Well I cut the corn - still on the cob - into slices I call 'wheels'! Necessity is the mother of invention. This was a brilliant Inspiration!!
The corn 'wheels' now went into the brine, (These little wheels make great little finger holds to nibble the nibblets!!) I added some celery (cut into 2" pieces) to give some variety, color and a different flavor. The celery has been a pleasant surprise, and very tasty too! The corn brine was a bit different from the B&B pickle recipe, milder and less strident, less 'pickle-y', and it perfectly enhanced the lovely corn flavor. I am totally delighted at how tasty the corn and celery are!
Next batch: Carrots and Peppers, which were quite easy to make. I gave these more of a full flavored brine with about10 bay leaves added. The big job was peeling and slicing the carrots. The brine was just coming to a boil as I was done slicing. In they went, fire went off. After soaking in the brine for several hours – I popped 'em into the fridge! Wow! They turned out as good (better?) than the restaurant kind. Now I have a big jar of those which I've been enjoying with all my meals and especially good with Mexican dishes.
Pickling – what a great, fun way to do veggies and fruits. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it all was. I just suggest making one kind at a time for less confusion though. It was a bit of craziness whilst doing 3 different kinds at once.
Now I'm enjoying B&B pickles with everything. The corn wheels are great adds to salads or crudité, and the carrots work anyplace ... I've enjoyed those with my eggs in the morning or rice at dinner, and they make a nice crunchy substitute for chips whilst watching TV. A pickle for all seasons!
Well, they're not just your grandma's pickles anymore .. although maybe the flavors will awaken some old memories of 'back in the day' – try making some yourself. I only suggest you RINSE RINSE RINSE if you do the salting!!
Manga Manga – Abondanza!!
 |
| Pickles and Corn Wheels |
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Teaching knitting
From time to time, during my many years of knitting, I've taught others how to knit and it doesn't take long for a beginner to get the hang of it.
Knitting and crocheting is nothing more than making loops inside loops. There are only two stitches to learn in knitting, Knit and Perl stitch. Its the combination of those two that create the endless designs in knitted items such as sweaters, afghans, blankets and baby clothes.
Several times over the last six months, I had the occasion to help someone with their knitting project and more recently I've taught 4 different acquaintances how to knit. Three of those people enjoyed learning the skill, but one decided that it was not an activity she wanted to pursue.
Beginners struggle to use their thumbs and fingers to manipulate yarn and needles to make the simple loops that comprise knitting. While learning, it can be frustrating to keep the yarn from tangling while they move stitches from one needle to another, (which are really nothing more than sticks with pointed ends).
I remember my frustration when learning and promise beginners that once they know how the loops are made, knitting can be a fun and lasting skill. It's like learning to ride a bicycle, once you learn, you never forget.
As I help others with their knitting, I tell them the story my grandmother told me when I was growing up.
When she was in her 80's, she had a job teaching knitting in a department store. In those days, the yarns were basically wool, angora and silks, (modern acrylics not having been invented) and were sold in amounts for a particular project. Any left over yarn could be returned to the store for reimbursement. Knitters would bring their knitting to grandmother and she would fix any mistakes, dropped stitches or help with them with pattern instructions.
I was awed with grandmother's knowledge of knitting and crocheting and intrigued with her working in a department store when she was in her 80's. I was impressed then and I'm still impressed all these years later.
I wonder what she would think of the 'how to' teaching demonstrations on YouTube these days.
Knitting and crocheting is nothing more than making loops inside loops. There are only two stitches to learn in knitting, Knit and Perl stitch. Its the combination of those two that create the endless designs in knitted items such as sweaters, afghans, blankets and baby clothes.
Several times over the last six months, I had the occasion to help someone with their knitting project and more recently I've taught 4 different acquaintances how to knit. Three of those people enjoyed learning the skill, but one decided that it was not an activity she wanted to pursue.
Beginners struggle to use their thumbs and fingers to manipulate yarn and needles to make the simple loops that comprise knitting. While learning, it can be frustrating to keep the yarn from tangling while they move stitches from one needle to another, (which are really nothing more than sticks with pointed ends).
I remember my frustration when learning and promise beginners that once they know how the loops are made, knitting can be a fun and lasting skill. It's like learning to ride a bicycle, once you learn, you never forget.
As I help others with their knitting, I tell them the story my grandmother told me when I was growing up.
When she was in her 80's, she had a job teaching knitting in a department store. In those days, the yarns were basically wool, angora and silks, (modern acrylics not having been invented) and were sold in amounts for a particular project. Any left over yarn could be returned to the store for reimbursement. Knitters would bring their knitting to grandmother and she would fix any mistakes, dropped stitches or help with them with pattern instructions.
I was awed with grandmother's knowledge of knitting and crocheting and intrigued with her working in a department store when she was in her 80's. I was impressed then and I'm still impressed all these years later.
I wonder what she would think of the 'how to' teaching demonstrations on YouTube these days.
 |
| Knitting Needles |
Saturday, September 20, 2014
What are you worth? by KimB
Worth used to refer to personal wealth, as in: “How much money do you have?”
It consisted of items like, money in the bank or under the mattress, cars or trucks, land and homes, stocks and bonds, livestock and crops, valuables (like Picasso paintings) and other physical items called “tangible assets”.
Today, there is a newer meaning of worth, as in: “How much money can internet corporations make off of your data?”
This wealth is often cited to be divided into compartments that have an ascending scale rising in value based on how detailed the information is. Your phone number may not be that valuable as it's available to anyone using one of the internet phone directories while knowing that you are interested in buying a car, especially an expensive one, has more direct value.
Internet companies like Google and other search engines, internet stores like Amazon and on line shops for brick and mortar stores like Lowe's or Sears, use the history of your searches to derive “intent to purchase”. If you look up Porsche cars with red color that has a different value than looking up the different laundry uses for baking soda.
Looking up specific items like stainless steel BBQs and spending time checking out the $1,000+ models has different value than if you are looking up the lower end of the price range. Time spent looking and repeatedly looking at the same items, show a greater intent and therefore are more valuable.
This data and the intention to buy, has “value” to those that collect it, sort it and separate the details and then resell these bundles of data it to other company's marketing and sales departments. Data that is collected “anonymously” is then “de-anonymized” with vigor, to identify you in real life and your physical location. This is all much easier to do than it sounds, because over time they can build very detailed profiles of your life style, your habits and your preferences and once they get one piece of the puzzle, the other pieces fall into place quickly. The old proverb: “The apple doesn't fall far from the tree” describes how easy it is to unravel even the most intimate secrets of your life.
This is what drives “targeted advertising” and it's worth a lot of money to the internet companies and the buyers of the data. They know before you do what you are going to buy, when and where. They know your price preferences and your social status as well as your banking status. They know your favorite color and they know what types of things you like because they know what you choose to look at. They know what you do not like by reversing the logic. We even make it easier for them to know for certain by clicking the LIKE button where ever it appears.
Even some news media now use “targeted” news to sell you the news you want to hear. If you like FOX style news, you will get more of it. If you prefer PBS style interaction you will get that. If you have children's shows on, you won't get any news at all but there's sure to be a children's toy ad coming to your in-box very shortly.
To you, the cost is the loss of your privacy, for which you are given a 'non tangible token' in exchange called a "cookie", that will continue to track your activities for the benefit of these companies.
However, in all of this we are told the basic data has little direct value and that it's the smallest of details which generates the worth.
But there is another way to determine what your privacy is worth, and that is by looking at what the internet companies make from your information. No matter what “service” they offer, their real business is “selling your data”. The offers of “free e-mail” is not the service they are providing to you, it's the means by which they capture your contacts list and the content of your email messages. “Free social media” connections with friends and friends of friends is not the service they are providing, it's method by which they can capture more details about you, who you know and what you know about them and more important, any information you know about them via “social media blabbing and gossiping” that they would not reveal themselves.
The value derived isn't just from a one time sale of the information, it's resold over and over and over. It's augmented and re-identified and re-parsed and reused. It grows in value over time as more in known to them about you. Your value to them grows and fuels their corporations and pays the employees who do the dirty work of ferreting out who you are and figuring out if they can entice you enough to buy just one more service that reveals one more detail about you, your family and your friends.
In the old days we had actual mailing lists and got loads of physical junk mail and you could track which magazine sold your name and address by inserting small typos or other changes when you subscribed. So, the idea of reselling your information is an old one but today value is far greater than we've been led to believe, because the value augments over time and the decay rate of the information is nearly nil. With the vast amounts of computing resources and cross-referencing done, the information never decays, your data is always up to date and ready to go to the highest bidder.
So what are you worth?
It's an easy calculation: Total Revenue divided by Total Customers. This number yields what you are worth to each company; today and tomorrow and the next year and the years far into the future, even beyond death.
You don't even have to mess with any numbers below the Revenue line because those other numbers represent how much they are willing to spend to get your data.
You can do this calculation for nearly every company on the planet today as each company will pay handsomely for the information. The Big Internet companies hold the lion share of the value and you can start adding it up from there. Toss in some of the smaller specialty companies that you may deal with and get a rough idea about what you are worth.
Next start adding in all those companies you do not deal with or buy from. Those companies that you do not do business with, will pay more for your data because they want you to “join the club”. They will send those ad-enticements to your cell phone every time you go near their product aisles in the grocery, hoping to snag you into trying their latest marketing efforts with bright colors and bold designs and the “new and improved” slogan on the box. They know if you stopped to look (WIN), if you picked it up (WINx2), if you put it in your basket (WINx3) and if you made it to the checkout stand (WINx4). If you changed your mind at (WINx3), they know they have a VERY GOOD chance at getting you to (WINx4) on your next visit. Perhaps a slightly better coupon (2 for 1) or discount (25% off if you by 3) or even (Buy 2 Get 1 free).
It's all designed to part you from your “worth”.
1 Revenues as listed on Wikipedia. Data harvested, cross referenced and de-anonymized from individual corporate SEC EDGAR filings.
It consisted of items like, money in the bank or under the mattress, cars or trucks, land and homes, stocks and bonds, livestock and crops, valuables (like Picasso paintings) and other physical items called “tangible assets”.
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions.
Tangible property in law is, literally, anything which can be touched, and includes both real property and personal property (or moveable property).
Today, there is a newer meaning of worth, as in: “How much money can internet corporations make off of your data?”
This wealth is often cited to be divided into compartments that have an ascending scale rising in value based on how detailed the information is. Your phone number may not be that valuable as it's available to anyone using one of the internet phone directories while knowing that you are interested in buying a car, especially an expensive one, has more direct value.
Internet companies like Google and other search engines, internet stores like Amazon and on line shops for brick and mortar stores like Lowe's or Sears, use the history of your searches to derive “intent to purchase”. If you look up Porsche cars with red color that has a different value than looking up the different laundry uses for baking soda.
Intention is an agent's specific purpose in performing an action or series of actions, the end or goal that is aimed at.
Looking up specific items like stainless steel BBQs and spending time checking out the $1,000+ models has different value than if you are looking up the lower end of the price range. Time spent looking and repeatedly looking at the same items, show a greater intent and therefore are more valuable.
This data and the intention to buy, has “value” to those that collect it, sort it and separate the details and then resell these bundles of data it to other company's marketing and sales departments. Data that is collected “anonymously” is then “de-anonymized” with vigor, to identify you in real life and your physical location. This is all much easier to do than it sounds, because over time they can build very detailed profiles of your life style, your habits and your preferences and once they get one piece of the puzzle, the other pieces fall into place quickly. The old proverb: “The apple doesn't fall far from the tree” describes how easy it is to unravel even the most intimate secrets of your life.
De-anonymization is a strategy in data mining in which anonymous data is cross-referenced with other sources of data to re-identify the anonymous data source.
This is what drives “targeted advertising” and it's worth a lot of money to the internet companies and the buyers of the data. They know before you do what you are going to buy, when and where. They know your price preferences and your social status as well as your banking status. They know your favorite color and they know what types of things you like because they know what you choose to look at. They know what you do not like by reversing the logic. We even make it easier for them to know for certain by clicking the LIKE button where ever it appears.
Even some news media now use “targeted” news to sell you the news you want to hear. If you like FOX style news, you will get more of it. If you prefer PBS style interaction you will get that. If you have children's shows on, you won't get any news at all but there's sure to be a children's toy ad coming to your in-box very shortly.
To you, the cost is the loss of your privacy, for which you are given a 'non tangible token' in exchange called a "cookie", that will continue to track your activities for the benefit of these companies.
However, in all of this we are told the basic data has little direct value and that it's the smallest of details which generates the worth.
Your privacy has a value. … The basic facts? Very little. More detailed information – for example, you own a smartphone, are trying to lose weight or planning a baby – are worth much more. Big life changes – marriage, moving home, divorce – bring with them fundamental changes in our buying patterns as we seek, through the brands with which we associate ourselves, to recast the narratives of our lives.
The death of privacy
Alex Preston The Observer, Sunday 3 August 2014 guardian.com
But there is another way to determine what your privacy is worth, and that is by looking at what the internet companies make from your information. No matter what “service” they offer, their real business is “selling your data”. The offers of “free e-mail” is not the service they are providing to you, it's the means by which they capture your contacts list and the content of your email messages. “Free social media” connections with friends and friends of friends is not the service they are providing, it's method by which they can capture more details about you, who you know and what you know about them and more important, any information you know about them via “social media blabbing and gossiping” that they would not reveal themselves.
The value derived isn't just from a one time sale of the information, it's resold over and over and over. It's augmented and re-identified and re-parsed and reused. It grows in value over time as more in known to them about you. Your value to them grows and fuels their corporations and pays the employees who do the dirty work of ferreting out who you are and figuring out if they can entice you enough to buy just one more service that reveals one more detail about you, your family and your friends.
In the old days we had actual mailing lists and got loads of physical junk mail and you could track which magazine sold your name and address by inserting small typos or other changes when you subscribed. So, the idea of reselling your information is an old one but today value is far greater than we've been led to believe, because the value augments over time and the decay rate of the information is nearly nil. With the vast amounts of computing resources and cross-referencing done, the information never decays, your data is always up to date and ready to go to the highest bidder.
So what are you worth?
Your worth is the value of the corporations that trade on your information.
It's an easy calculation: Total Revenue divided by Total Customers. This number yields what you are worth to each company; today and tomorrow and the next year and the years far into the future, even beyond death.
Total Revenue ÷ Number of Customers = Your Value
You don't even have to mess with any numbers below the Revenue line because those other numbers represent how much they are willing to spend to get your data.
You can do this calculation for nearly every company on the planet today as each company will pay handsomely for the information. The Big Internet companies hold the lion share of the value and you can start adding it up from there. Toss in some of the smaller specialty companies that you may deal with and get a rough idea about what you are worth.
Next start adding in all those companies you do not deal with or buy from. Those companies that you do not do business with, will pay more for your data because they want you to “join the club”. They will send those ad-enticements to your cell phone every time you go near their product aisles in the grocery, hoping to snag you into trying their latest marketing efforts with bright colors and bold designs and the “new and improved” slogan on the box. They know if you stopped to look (WIN), if you picked it up (WINx2), if you put it in your basket (WINx3) and if you made it to the checkout stand (WINx4). If you changed your mind at (WINx3), they know they have a VERY GOOD chance at getting you to (WINx4) on your next visit. Perhaps a slightly better coupon (2 for 1) or discount (25% off if you by 3) or even (Buy 2 Get 1 free).
It's all designed to part you from your “worth”.
| Total Revenues for 2013 1 | |
|---|---|
| Apple | 171 Billion |
| AT&T | 129 Billion |
| Verizon | 121 Billion |
| Microsoft | 78 Billion |
| 60 Billion | |
| 8 Billion | |
| Yahoo | 4.7 Billion |
| Netflix | 4 Billion |
1 Revenues as listed on Wikipedia. Data harvested, cross referenced and de-anonymized from individual corporate SEC EDGAR filings.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
The 574 Dollar Flags
I don't often think of the Stars and Stripes, but the sighting of it is so common, it's as familiar as trees. I have a small one hanging on my kitchen wall near the hurricane map and a slightly larger one outside the front door near the night light. There are rules about the treatment and displaying of the flag, and its a familiar sight as it flies atop public buildings.
We learn the history of the flag when we attend school, and our family is amused over a story involving my daughter when she was in the first or second grade at school. She was taught that Betsy Ross had sewn the flag. During Christmas holidays, when Aunt Bessie was with us, my daughter asked her about sewing the flag. My daughter thought the teacher had been talking about our aunt, whose name was Bessie Ross.
Family genealogy whets my interest in American history and I recently watched an episode about the War of 1812 on television's History channel.
The War of 1812, was our second war of Independence. The visual representation of British forces, 5000 soldiers and a fleet of 19 ships attacking Baltimore on September 12, 1814 showed how desperate and dire the situation was for those defending the fort. The British had already burned the White House and readied to take Baltimore.
The commander of Fort McHenry was Major Armistead who prepared for battle by saying he wanted a Garrison flag ”large enough the British would not have difficulty seeing it from a distance” and a smaller Storm Flag. A flag maker in Baltimore, Mary Young Pickersgill, was commissioned.
She made 2 flags; a large flag 30 by 42 feet and a smaller flag 17 by 25 feet. She was paid $405.90 for the large flag and $168.54 for the smaller one, totaling $574.44 on October 27, 1813.
The flag, a combination of cotton and wool bunting in red and white with 15 stars and 15 stripes. Each stripe was 2 feet wide and each star measured 2 feet in diameter. The stars oriented in alternating columns horizontally which was the practice at the time rather than vertically like today. The staggered row pattern was common for Naval flags until Congress standardized the design in 1818.
Bombardment of Fort McHenry began on September 13, 1814 and raged continuously for 27 hours. The shelling was constant, even throughout a heavy rain storm. Some eight miles distant, an American lawyer was held prisoner by the British on board a truce ship in the Patapsco River. As he watched the battle from afar, aware that loss of the fort would mean swearing allegiance to England, he anxiously observed the flashes of bursting bombs all during the night.
When dawn came the morning of the 14th, he saw the Garrison flag still flying, and was so moved he wrote the first few lines of a poem. He put them in his pocket to finish some time later. The Lawyer was Francis Scott Key and the poem, which became our National Anthem, was about our first Star Spangled Banner.
We learn the history of the flag when we attend school, and our family is amused over a story involving my daughter when she was in the first or second grade at school. She was taught that Betsy Ross had sewn the flag. During Christmas holidays, when Aunt Bessie was with us, my daughter asked her about sewing the flag. My daughter thought the teacher had been talking about our aunt, whose name was Bessie Ross.
Family genealogy whets my interest in American history and I recently watched an episode about the War of 1812 on television's History channel.
The War of 1812, was our second war of Independence. The visual representation of British forces, 5000 soldiers and a fleet of 19 ships attacking Baltimore on September 12, 1814 showed how desperate and dire the situation was for those defending the fort. The British had already burned the White House and readied to take Baltimore.
The commander of Fort McHenry was Major Armistead who prepared for battle by saying he wanted a Garrison flag ”large enough the British would not have difficulty seeing it from a distance” and a smaller Storm Flag. A flag maker in Baltimore, Mary Young Pickersgill, was commissioned.
In early summer 1813, she began the job with the assistance of her daughter, Caroline, her two nieces, Eliza Young and Margaret Young, a free African American apprentice, Grace Wisher, and likely her elderly mother, Rebecca Young.An additional unnamed African American who boarded in the house is also listed as helping in some sources, as were additional local seamstresses who were hired during the summer.
She made 2 flags; a large flag 30 by 42 feet and a smaller flag 17 by 25 feet. She was paid $405.90 for the large flag and $168.54 for the smaller one, totaling $574.44 on October 27, 1813.
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| Receipt for the Flag |
The flag, a combination of cotton and wool bunting in red and white with 15 stars and 15 stripes. Each stripe was 2 feet wide and each star measured 2 feet in diameter. The stars oriented in alternating columns horizontally which was the practice at the time rather than vertically like today. The staggered row pattern was common for Naval flags until Congress standardized the design in 1818.
Bombardment of Fort McHenry began on September 13, 1814 and raged continuously for 27 hours. The shelling was constant, even throughout a heavy rain storm. Some eight miles distant, an American lawyer was held prisoner by the British on board a truce ship in the Patapsco River. As he watched the battle from afar, aware that loss of the fort would mean swearing allegiance to England, he anxiously observed the flashes of bursting bombs all during the night.
When dawn came the morning of the 14th, he saw the Garrison flag still flying, and was so moved he wrote the first few lines of a poem. He put them in his pocket to finish some time later. The Lawyer was Francis Scott Key and the poem, which became our National Anthem, was about our first Star Spangled Banner.
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| Fort McHenry Flag |
Saturday, August 30, 2014
The Answer Is.... by KimB
When people look at The One Question as posed by Michael Hayden, they are often not quite sure how to answer it. It's seems to most, that there is some inherent flaw in the question and that the answer should be No, You Cannot Do That. They sense that there is something odd about the question and the way it is structured but they cannot always put their finger on exactly what is wrong and even when they know the answer is No, You Cannot Do That, they hesitate.
Some very prominent people have hesitated over this question, so it's not surprising that even if you have a “gut feeling” (the now preferred method of evidence as advocated by some members of the US Supreme Court), that there is something wrong, it's hard to identify exactly what it is.
There are quite a few issues with the question and it needs some unraveling to pinpoint the flaws. It's a very old technique to get people to answer only one way called a Loaded Question.
The structure of the question is set up so that it appears that both parties understand the references made but this is not necessarily true and both parties do not necessarily have the same understanding. In this case, The One Question by Michael Hayden, tricks the answerer into accepting the premise proposed but which are actually based only on the answerer's imagination.
It uses rhetoric, the art of discourse, as a key for persuasion and even the ancient Greeks recognized its use as a tool to convince others to follow a particular line of reasoning.
It is a form of “trick question” designed with multiple presuppositions and once one of the presuppositions is accepted as valid, the answerer allows all the others. If you accept one, you accept them all. The fallacy isn't in the question but in the perception of the question.
It also encompasses multiple issues for which there are multiple answers but the structure of the question is such that only one answer is allowed.
It's in the same category of “when did you stop beating your wife/dog/kids?” No matter how you answer it you will have a problem.
Autopsy of The One Question
The first clue is: There is only one answer.
It's the same answer many people have been giving since the time Michael Hayden came up with it. The only answer is (backwards):
Next clues: Follow the Money
Now you can follow the money or logic backwards and begin to see how the question was formatted to get this answer. Filling in the blanks with each technique used in the structure.
This line falls right into the classic Loaded Question. If you say No, then you admit you are still beating your dog and if you say Yes, then you admit you did beat your dog at one time.
If you say "Yes" to The One Question, you admit that you at one time agreed to with the program and if you say "No" then you agree to continue the program. Either way you admit to agreeing to the program.
It's not hard to see these statements as over reach but they are based on presuppositions: facts/events that are unproven but implied and that the background events are taken for granted. The trick inclusion and accusation included with the word “all” forces the answer into one format. A topic of complexity having many answers is reduced to one. If you allow one point, you allow all of them.
If you answer "No", then you absolve yourself of direct involvement but you are still responsible and if you say "Yes", you are still responsible.
The format of the question allows the answerer to believe they have no more involvement based on a belief that there is a mutual understanding but this mutual understanding is only in the imagination of the answerer. Nothing is committed to or acknowledged by the questioner.
The questioner gives up nothing at all in return for the desired answer and makes no commitments at all, leaving this all to the imagination of the answerer.
This part carries backward implications based on false assumption from a conditional statement. Assumptions that the answerer is allowed to believe is true but that have no basis in reality.
The key words here are "keep" and "stop". The format implies that something would happen to The Program, that it would stop, but there is no indication that anything would happen at all. The Program continues regardless of the conditional option because stopping the program is not at all the answer wanted. The option of stopping the program is dangled like a carrot but quickly pulled away and replaced with desired outcome.
The disaster in various formats presumes the ability to stop all disasters. It misleads the answerer into thinking that there is an absolute way to stop “another disaster”.
The question is based not on the fallacy that a disaster will happen, but that the answerer can stop such a disaster by agreeing. The fallacy is the assumption on the part of the answerer, that all disasters will be avoided forever and ever and ever if they agree. The questioner tricks the answerer into accepting The One View that will lead to The One Answer.
Here the questioner dangles the prospect or offer of change: A for B
It cleverly allows the answerer to insert his own interpretations of A and B and permits the answerer to accept a relationship between A and B that does not necessarily exist.
Does A actually involve B? Is A part of B?
It depends on how you think of the linkage: (A AND B) versus (A OR B)
There are 2 simple truth tables for each of these.
In this version (A OR B) there are 3 options all leading to the same outcome of TRUE.
In this version (A AND B) there are three options all leading to the same outcome of FALSE.
Of course this question is structured so you will always give The One Answer desired. So the inferences are set up so that you will always agree. The setup focuses on one set of outcomes and equates The Programs (A) as having an direct impact on Disaster (B).
But here's the clever part, they get the answerer to alter the truth table outcome for them. So they focus on only one outcome from the table (line 3). Not only do they want to focus on line 3 which is ((Programs==No) and (Disaster==Yes)), they get the answerer to alter the table options in line 3 for them.
So the Table now reads this way:
So, once you see how it's all setup, you can easily dissect the argument.
But you don't need to know all the fancy details because right off the bat, you can tell there is something wrong. It's like knowing when you feel ill, you may not know it was the chicken that was undercooked or that the restaurant used ingredients that you are allergic to, you just know.
There have been many many people taken in by The One Question from Michael Hayden and he gloats often when he asks it because he knows, like other loaded questions, if you answer any other way he will claim that you are “unpatriotic”. People like FISC judges, government officials, lawyers and presidents "got taken for a ride" too.
Here's the latest example:
As part of a book deal/tour former CIA lawyer John Rizzo discussed his involvement in the decision that "torture" was OK in an interview with Spiegel OnLine. Mr. Rizzo had the Thumbs Up/Down on waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogations" which he decided were OK. He agonized briefly over the decision but then agreed with the CIA position.
As he's written a book about his experience and decision and is quite proud of how he came to agree to allow these techniques, we can see how he was manipulated into making the decision he did. He really had no choice at all.
Sadly, it's a classic example of how the Deceived don't recognize when they've been “taken for a ride” or in the view of the Questioner "taken for a fool".
Here are the 3 areas to notice in the interview:
I've highlighted the first 2 points. See if you can help Mr. Rizzo figure out where he went wrong on the last one.
[excerpts from the John Rizzo interview with Spiegel Online.]
Some very prominent people have hesitated over this question, so it's not surprising that even if you have a “gut feeling” (the now preferred method of evidence as advocated by some members of the US Supreme Court), that there is something wrong, it's hard to identify exactly what it is.
There are quite a few issues with the question and it needs some unraveling to pinpoint the flaws. It's a very old technique to get people to answer only one way called a Loaded Question.
Loaded QuestionIt uses several assumptions that are based on claims that have no proof.
A loaded question or complex question fallacy is a question which contains a controversial or unjustified assumption.
AssumptionIt uses presuppositions, items taken at face value, as a means of reducing options and uses implications of undefined events as a background to the question.
2.The act of taking for granted, or supposing a thing without proof; a supposition; an unwarrantable claim.
The structure of the question is set up so that it appears that both parties understand the references made but this is not necessarily true and both parties do not necessarily have the same understanding. In this case, The One Question by Michael Hayden, tricks the answerer into accepting the premise proposed but which are actually based only on the answerer's imagination.
Presupposition
A presupposition is an implicit assumption about the world or background belief relating to an utterance whose truth is taken for granted in discourse. Examples of presuppositions include:
- Jane no longer writes fiction. Presupposition: Jane once wrote fiction.
- Have you stopped eating meat? Presupposition: you had once eaten meat.
It uses rhetoric, the art of discourse, as a key for persuasion and even the ancient Greeks recognized its use as a tool to convince others to follow a particular line of reasoning.
Plato defines rhetoric as the persuasion of ignorant masses within the courts and assemblies. Rhetoric, in Plato's opinion, is merely a form of flattery and functions similarly to cookery, which masks the undesirability of unhealthy food by making it taste good.
It is a form of “trick question” designed with multiple presuppositions and once one of the presuppositions is accepted as valid, the answerer allows all the others. If you accept one, you accept them all. The fallacy isn't in the question but in the perception of the question.
It also encompasses multiple issues for which there are multiple answers but the structure of the question is such that only one answer is allowed.
Trick Question
A complex question, trick question, multiple question or plurium interrogationum (Latin, "of many questions") is a question that has a presupposition that is complex. The presupposition is a proposition that is presumed to be acceptable to the respondent when the question is asked. The respondent becomes committed to this proposition when he gives any direct answer.
It's in the same category of “when did you stop beating your wife/dog/kids?” No matter how you answer it you will have a problem.
Autopsy of The One Question
If we halt what we are doing and there is another disaster like 9/11 (or even bigger than 9/11) and that disaster could have been stopped had we kept those programs, are you willing take responsibility for all the deaths and all the destruction.
Are you willing to put your name on the order that said “stop”?
The first clue is: There is only one answer.
It's the same answer many people have been giving since the time Michael Hayden came up with it. The only answer is (backwards):
The NSA can do anything they like, even if it's counter to the Constitution, Human Rights, and hosts of other legal protections in the USA and they can do anything they like to anyone on the planet regardless of where they live.
Next clues: Follow the Money
Now you can follow the money or logic backwards and begin to see how the question was formatted to get this answer. Filling in the blanks with each technique used in the structure.
- Are you willing to put your name on the order that said “stop”?
- Are you willing to stop beating your dog?
This line falls right into the classic Loaded Question. If you say No, then you admit you are still beating your dog and if you say Yes, then you admit you did beat your dog at one time.
If you say "Yes" to The One Question, you admit that you at one time agreed to with the program and if you say "No" then you agree to continue the program. Either way you admit to agreeing to the program.
- Are you willing take responsibility for all the deaths and all the destruction.
- Are you willing to take responsibility for all the drunk drivers and all the deaths and destruction caused by drunk driving?
It's not hard to see these statements as over reach but they are based on presuppositions: facts/events that are unproven but implied and that the background events are taken for granted. The trick inclusion and accusation included with the word “all” forces the answer into one format. A topic of complexity having many answers is reduced to one. If you allow one point, you allow all of them.
- Are you personally responsible for all drunk drivers?
- Are you personally responsible for all the destruction they cause?
- Are you personally going to be responsible for the drunk drivers everywhere?
If you answer "No", then you absolve yourself of direct involvement but you are still responsible and if you say "Yes", you are still responsible.
The format of the question allows the answerer to believe they have no more involvement based on a belief that there is a mutual understanding but this mutual understanding is only in the imagination of the answerer. Nothing is committed to or acknowledged by the questioner.
- Is the Questioner personally responsible for all drivers?
- Is the Questioner personally responsible for all the destruction they cause?
- Is the Questioner personally going to be responsible for drivers everywhere?
The questioner gives up nothing at all in return for the desired answer and makes no commitments at all, leaving this all to the imagination of the answerer.
- Had we kept those programs
- If X then Y else Z
This part carries backward implications based on false assumption from a conditional statement. Assumptions that the answerer is allowed to believe is true but that have no basis in reality.
- If we keep the program then Y will happen
- If we stop the program then Z will happen
The key words here are "keep" and "stop". The format implies that something would happen to The Program, that it would stop, but there is no indication that anything would happen at all. The Program continues regardless of the conditional option because stopping the program is not at all the answer wanted. The option of stopping the program is dangled like a carrot but quickly pulled away and replaced with desired outcome.
- [If] there is another disaster
- If there is another earthquake
- If there is another plane crash
- If there is another war
The disaster in various formats presumes the ability to stop all disasters. It misleads the answerer into thinking that there is an absolute way to stop “another disaster”.
The question is based not on the fallacy that a disaster will happen, but that the answerer can stop such a disaster by agreeing. The fallacy is the assumption on the part of the answerer, that all disasters will be avoided forever and ever and ever if they agree. The questioner tricks the answerer into accepting The One View that will lead to The One Answer.
- If we halt what we are doing
- If X then A and B
Here the questioner dangles the prospect or offer of change: A for B
- I will pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today
- I will take your freedom as payment for protection
- Your money or your life
It cleverly allows the answerer to insert his own interpretations of A and B and permits the answerer to accept a relationship between A and B that does not necessarily exist.
Does A actually involve B? Is A part of B?
- Does giving Wimpy a hamburger actually determine that he will pay you on Tuesday?
- Does giving your freedom up actually provide protection?
- Does giving a robber your wallet protect you from being shot?
It depends on how you think of the linkage: (A AND B) versus (A OR B)
There are 2 simple truth tables for each of these.
In this version (A OR B) there are 3 options all leading to the same outcome of TRUE.
 |
| A OR B |
In this version (A AND B) there are three options all leading to the same outcome of FALSE.
 |
| A AND B |
Of course this question is structured so you will always give The One Answer desired. So the inferences are set up so that you will always agree. The setup focuses on one set of outcomes and equates The Programs (A) as having an direct impact on Disaster (B).
But here's the clever part, they get the answerer to alter the truth table outcome for them. So they focus on only one outcome from the table (line 3). Not only do they want to focus on line 3 which is ((Programs==No) and (Disaster==Yes)), they get the answerer to alter the table options in line 3 for them.
 |
| Line 3 |
So the Table now reads this way:
 |
| Line 3 Altered |
So, once you see how it's all setup, you can easily dissect the argument.
But you don't need to know all the fancy details because right off the bat, you can tell there is something wrong. It's like knowing when you feel ill, you may not know it was the chicken that was undercooked or that the restaurant used ingredients that you are allergic to, you just know.
There have been many many people taken in by The One Question from Michael Hayden and he gloats often when he asks it because he knows, like other loaded questions, if you answer any other way he will claim that you are “unpatriotic”. People like FISC judges, government officials, lawyers and presidents "got taken for a ride" too.
Here's the latest example:
As part of a book deal/tour former CIA lawyer John Rizzo discussed his involvement in the decision that "torture" was OK in an interview with Spiegel OnLine. Mr. Rizzo had the Thumbs Up/Down on waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogations" which he decided were OK. He agonized briefly over the decision but then agreed with the CIA position.
As he's written a book about his experience and decision and is quite proud of how he came to agree to allow these techniques, we can see how he was manipulated into making the decision he did. He really had no choice at all.
Sadly, it's a classic example of how the Deceived don't recognize when they've been “taken for a ride” or in the view of the Questioner "taken for a fool".
Here are the 3 areas to notice in the interview:
- The initial “gut feeling” that something is wrong.
- The worry that he will be labeled “unpatriotic” or “lose his reputation” if he disagrees.
- The format of the question as he relates it without realizing how his consent was manufactured.
I've highlighted the first 2 points. See if you can help Mr. Rizzo figure out where he went wrong on the last one.
[excerpts from the John Rizzo interview with Spiegel Online.]
Rizzo: Our people from the Counter Terrorism Center. One day they came to my office and listed all the enhanced interrogation techniques for me. I had never heard of waterboarding. Some techniques, such as waterboarding and sleep deprivation …
Rizzo: … seemed harsh, even brutal to me. On the original list of proposed techniques was one which was even more chilling than waterboarding. It was never used.
Rizzo: It wasn't easy. I was the chief lawyer at the CIA. I had built up my reputation and a certain amount of credibility there.
Rizzo: I left my office that day and walked around the CIA headquarters building, smoking a cigar by myself and basically pondered what to do next. I distinctly remember sort of playing out the scenario in my head that I would stop these proposals because they were too brutal. And let's just say there had been a second terrorist attack in the ensuing days and, in the aftermath, Abu Zubaydah were to gleefully tell our interrogators, "Yes, I knew all about them, and you didn't get me to talk." There would be hundreds, perhaps thousands of Americans dead on the streets again. And in the post mortem investigations, it would all come out that the CIA considered these techniques but was too risk averse to carry them out and that I was the guy who stopped them. I couldn't live with the possibility of that someday happening. So that's when I decided to seek definitive legal advice from the US Department of Justice about whether the planned interrogation techniques violated the anti-torture statute. If the Justice Department had come back with the conclusion that these did constitute torture, then we would not have carried them out.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
The Usual
In many films that have a camera scene in a bar, often times a leading male character will saunter over to a crowded bar, push his way to a stool and as he sits, says to the bar tender, “the usual”. The busy bar tender invariably places a drink on the counter in front of the actor and proceeds to attend to other patrons.
Every time I see this scene in a movie, I think of Dad.
Mom and Dad loved to take road trips to see new places and visit members of our scattered family in far off states. They often took older grandchildren with them on jaunts to the Arizona desert or to snow country like Big Bear in California. Part of the excitement of traveling with Granddad and Grandma was the frequent stops at road side cafes for pie and coffee.
After everyone would get settled into a booth or seated at a table, a waitress would appear, pad and pencil in hand ready to write down the orders. Dad, being the first one to speak, would say, “the usual”. Nine times out of ten, the waitress would be taken aback for a moment and stutter, ”what?”. Dad's eyes would sparkle and the grandchildren would giggle and Mom pretended she wasn't part of the crowd.
Dad's favorite place to pull 'the usual' was at a diner or truck stop at breakfast time when waitresses were very rushed. The grandchildren always wondered how come the waitresses knew what Dad wanted when he gave his order. When he said, “the usual”, the waitresses would bring him a short stack, his favorite pancake breakfast.
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| Short Stack |
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Well, now we know... by KimB
Well, now we know.
If we didn't know before, or pretended we didn't know, there's no way to avoid knowing now.
The tragedy in Ferguson, Missouri shows where the police plan to point that .50 caliber machine gun which they got for free from the Department of Defense (all any police force has to do is ask for the stuff).
Except "plan" is no longer the operating word here, it's not a "plan" anymore. A plan is something yet to happen; a strategy yet to be implemented. The implementation is now active and live. "Follow through" is all that's required. And there are certainly enough eager members of "the force" ready to do the implementation. They just can't wait to play with the toys.
It should not be any surprise though, the NSA labeled all US Citizens, anyone living inside the USA, along with the rest of the world's population, as "adversaries". Adversaries are those "not to be trusted" or "enemies". There is no Constitution here and there's no distinction other than "we are not them".
The only thing left to wonder about is: Did the Ferguson Police jump the starter's bell? Did they show that they aren't any better than the other repressive forces in other countries just a bit too early in the game? Did they delay the rest of the "plan" or affect the "implementation" any?
The same forces that drive "good people" to do "bad things", are still here. They didn't go away. Their actions are easy enough to predict. The experiments are still valid. The lab tests are on us and on the implementers. They think they are "part of the club". In the prophetic words of George Carlin: YOU'RE NOT IN THE CLUB.
They won't know they are not "in the club" though, until the implementation enters the part of the "plan" they didn't know about. Like Diane Feinstein's constant lament:
They will believe even when belief is no longer possible and all they are left with are the "lies".
[1: All images taken from the following article:
If we didn't know before, or pretended we didn't know, there's no way to avoid knowing now.
The tragedy in Ferguson, Missouri shows where the police plan to point that .50 caliber machine gun which they got for free from the Department of Defense (all any police force has to do is ask for the stuff).
Except "plan" is no longer the operating word here, it's not a "plan" anymore. A plan is something yet to happen; a strategy yet to be implemented. The implementation is now active and live. "Follow through" is all that's required. And there are certainly enough eager members of "the force" ready to do the implementation. They just can't wait to play with the toys.
It should not be any surprise though, the NSA labeled all US Citizens, anyone living inside the USA, along with the rest of the world's population, as "adversaries". Adversaries are those "not to be trusted" or "enemies". There is no Constitution here and there's no distinction other than "we are not them".
The only thing left to wonder about is: Did the Ferguson Police jump the starter's bell? Did they show that they aren't any better than the other repressive forces in other countries just a bit too early in the game? Did they delay the rest of the "plan" or affect the "implementation" any?
The same forces that drive "good people" to do "bad things", are still here. They didn't go away. Their actions are easy enough to predict. The experiments are still valid. The lab tests are on us and on the implementers. They think they are "part of the club". In the prophetic words of George Carlin: YOU'RE NOT IN THE CLUB.
They won't know they are not "in the club" though, until the implementation enters the part of the "plan" they didn't know about. Like Diane Feinstein's constant lament:
I believed what they told me! They lied to me!
They will believe even when belief is no longer possible and all they are left with are the "lies".
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| Armored Vehicle w Gun Ferguson Mo 08 13 2014 1 |
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| Line up of Armored Vehicles 1 Ferguson Mo 08 13 2014 |
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| Riot police officer aims his weapon 1 Ferguson Mo 08 2014 |
[1: All images taken from the following article:
Images coming from Ferguson, Mo., reveal unfiltered, uncomfortable truths
By Philip Kennicott August 14 at 6:31 PM WashingtonPost.com ]
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?
KimB
Sweet Potatoes
By now, most will know of my determination to grow potatoes and I've added a new obsession to my potato list: sweet potatoes.
I have always liked the folk lullaby about sweet potatoes and remember recordings of the song and in particular, a lovely version done by Odetta. Perhaps that is what gave me a head start on liking them so much.
Once, I took my friend from Belarus to a salad bar that had sweet potatoes as part of the buffet. She had never seen had one before, so I explained what it was. She said in astonishment, “How can a potato be SWEET???!!!” and refused to try it. Later on though, she got up the courage to try it; now it's one of her favorite dishes and she eats them regularly.
Of course one of the problems in the US, is we have the names of yams and sweet potatoes backwards. Yams are sweet potatoes and sweet potatoes are yams. It doesn't matter that much when you eat them, as they have similar tastes, but it's confusing all the same.
I had purchased a number of organic sweet potatoes and put them in the fridge and when foraging for them to cook I missed one. When I re-discovered it again, I found it was sprouting so …
I looked up descriptions on the Internet on how to plant them and found they are quite commonly planted and also make a nice kitchen house plant.
Similar to other larger plants like avocado seeds, the sweet potatoes needed to be suspended in water. Being short of materials needed for recommended “how to”, I devised my own method using rubber bands, some plastic knives and 4 inch plastic kitchen storage containers.
I cut the sprouted potato into two pieces. I wrapped a rubber band around the wide base of each piece. I wrapped a rubber band around the lip of the storage container. Then I slip looped 3 rubber bands under the band on the sweet potato anchoring them. Next I ran the open end under the band on the storage container. I used a plastic knife slipped into the open band to hold it in place. By adjusting the location of the 3 bands I was able to get the potato centered and in just the right amount of water.
I do think it was rather clever method of suspending the potatoes.
One of the interesting aspects about growing them is that the mother potato produces shoots called “slips”. You let these slips grow to 4 or 5 inches and then cut them off and place them in water to grow their own roots. I was surprised at how fast they root, the next day I had visible roots and within 3 days they really needed to be “in the dirt”.
The slips have very interesting leaves and an unusual coloring. I have planted a bunch of slips and had more to giveaway to a friend for their garden. With some luck, I will soon have sweet potatoes and regular potatoes to "eat 'em right straight up"!
The Potato Report – over and out for now.
Sweet Potatoes
By now, most will know of my determination to grow potatoes and I've added a new obsession to my potato list: sweet potatoes.
I have always liked the folk lullaby about sweet potatoes and remember recordings of the song and in particular, a lovely version done by Odetta. Perhaps that is what gave me a head start on liking them so much.
Soon as we all cook sweet potato, sweet potato, sweet potato
Soon as we all cook sweet potato, eat 'em right straight up
Soon’s we touch our head to the pillow, to the pillow, to the pillow
Soon’s we touch our head to the pillow, go to sleep right smart
Soon as we all cook sweet potato, eat 'em right straight up
Soon’s we touch our head to the pillow, to the pillow, to the pillow
Soon’s we touch our head to the pillow, go to sleep right smart
Once, I took my friend from Belarus to a salad bar that had sweet potatoes as part of the buffet. She had never seen had one before, so I explained what it was. She said in astonishment, “How can a potato be SWEET???!!!” and refused to try it. Later on though, she got up the courage to try it; now it's one of her favorite dishes and she eats them regularly.
Of course one of the problems in the US, is we have the names of yams and sweet potatoes backwards. Yams are sweet potatoes and sweet potatoes are yams. It doesn't matter that much when you eat them, as they have similar tastes, but it's confusing all the same.
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| Sweet Potato vs Yam |
I had purchased a number of organic sweet potatoes and put them in the fridge and when foraging for them to cook I missed one. When I re-discovered it again, I found it was sprouting so …
What to do Percy? What to do?So I did.
Well... plant it of course!
I looked up descriptions on the Internet on how to plant them and found they are quite commonly planted and also make a nice kitchen house plant.
Similar to other larger plants like avocado seeds, the sweet potatoes needed to be suspended in water. Being short of materials needed for recommended “how to”, I devised my own method using rubber bands, some plastic knives and 4 inch plastic kitchen storage containers.
I cut the sprouted potato into two pieces. I wrapped a rubber band around the wide base of each piece. I wrapped a rubber band around the lip of the storage container. Then I slip looped 3 rubber bands under the band on the sweet potato anchoring them. Next I ran the open end under the band on the storage container. I used a plastic knife slipped into the open band to hold it in place. By adjusting the location of the 3 bands I was able to get the potato centered and in just the right amount of water.
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| Sweet Potato held by Rubber Bands |
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| Sweet Potato held by Rubber Bands |
I do think it was rather clever method of suspending the potatoes.
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| Sweet Potato Slips |
The slips have very interesting leaves and an unusual coloring. I have planted a bunch of slips and had more to giveaway to a friend for their garden. With some luck, I will soon have sweet potatoes and regular potatoes to "eat 'em right straight up"!
The Potato Report – over and out for now.
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| Planted Sweet Potatoes |
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