Obama needs to hear this..

JFK inroduces his plan for the American economy in 1962...

Hamas exploiting troubles in Egypt?

The Egyptian police are no longer patrolling the Rafah border crossing into Gaza. Hamas armed men are entering into Egypt and are closely collaborating with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). The MB has fully engaged itself in the demonstrations, and they are unsatisfied with the dismissal of the Cabinet. They are insisting on a new Cabinet that does not include members of the ruling National Democratic Party.

Security forces in plainclothes are engaged in destroying public property in order to give the impression that many protesters represent a public menace. The MB is meanwhile forming people’s committees to protect public property and also to coordinate demonstrators’ activities, including supplying them with food, beverages and first aid.

Read more: Red Alert: Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood | STRATFOR

 

What would it mean for Egypt to go the way of Iran, and become a theocratic state?

Maybe Suez Canal closed to western ships- like tankers heading to Europe and the US?

Was Obama born in Hawaii??? Issue continues

Mike Evans -- a Hollywood reporter well known to radio listeners in Hawaii and beyond --launched another round of birther frenzy ...:

“Neil (Abercrombie) promised me that when he became governor he was going to cut through all the red tape,” Evans said. “He was going to get Obama's birth certificate once and for all and end this stupid controversy…Yesterday talking to Neil's office, Neil said that he searched everywhere using his power as governor… There is no Barack Obama birth certificate in Hawaii, absolutely no proof at all that he was born in Hawaii. Now he went out, he loves Obama, he purposely did this to get rid of that question -- now got some egg in the face, now he admits publicly that there is no birth certificate. There has to be one at the hospital signed by the doctor verifying a birth but there isn't that.”

The radio host asks: “Mike how hard would it be to go back and find out what doctors were on then?”

Evans answers: “Well apparently he can't find any of that."

Losing Online Friendships....and other frustrations..

In life (you know, your physical world relationships based upon actual contact) my friendships once started last indefinitely. I have friends I have known for decades, while others have wandered out of contact over the years. Many of these have resurfaced on social sites like Facebook, MySpace or here on Multiply….and have renewed our friendships.

Meanwhile, in the cyber world, I acquire friends and lose them based on something I said, often not even related to the person who is later offended and dumps me.

Recently I lost a couple of such relationships, one I don’t miss, and the other I miss greatly. I posted something that the person found to be more than they could tolerate, and then when asked about it, insinuated I wrote it based on something they did…which I disagree was the origin of my commentary.

Here’s the point- If I say something in the public forum that pisses you off, don’t just hit the delete button. In life you would ask them what the F is going on (I would) and hopefully work it out. But then again, we have become a nation addicted to impersonal instant gratification, so I guess that what’s getting to me. It pisses me off that instead of doing that, people jump to the delete button and then is gone, with no explanation. I feel used, and abused.  (Sort of like when a guy sleeps with you and then disappears before morning…)

 

Next point…politics

How can people be critical of that they don’t understand or have so seriously misconstrued..?

 

I have over the last 40 years gone from what my dad called a “GD hippie” to a more libertarian point of view, tending towards fiscal conservative, social moderate.

While I don’t agree with everything I have heard at a Tea Party rally, I do believe that the nation’s fiscal policy is unrealistic and needs to be changed quickly. I strongly disagree with the current President on most everything…but that doesn’t mean if another JFK came along and ran as a Democrat I wouldn’t vote for ‘em…

Yet I am very puzzled why some clueless people insist on calling the Tea Party all sorts of derogatory names…or why Republicans, especially conservatives, seems to become synonymous with evil, hated for every utterance, generally by the aforementioned totally clueless crowd.

 

 

This brings us to Canice Rule 43:

Politicians that serve only their own self interest are worthy of scorn,reproach and ridicule; those that represent the people, regardless of party, are not.

Colorado May Make Organ Donation Automatic

DENVER -- Some Colorado lawmakers say their state should be the first one where people become organ donors by default, even though other states' efforts have been halted by worries about making such a personal decision automatic.

Colorado's proposal, introduced in the Legislature last week, would change the process for renewing driver's licenses and ID cards so applicants are assumed to be organ and tissue donors unless they initial a statement that says they want to opt out.

In the U.S., however, similar approaches have been defeated by lawmakers in at least three states -- Delaware, Illinois and New York -- because of concerns that donation programs seem coercive if they require residents to say no.

Yet, Donor Alliance, an organ and tissue recovery agency isn't backing the bill.

"I don't think it should pass right now," said Sue Dunn, CEO of Donor Alliance. "And that is an awkward for me to say running an organ and tissue recovery agency." Dunn said Donor Alliance supports the concept, just not this particular bill, the way it is written.

Applicants would see a statement that says, "You are automatically deemed to have consented to being an organ and tissue donor and this designation will appear on your driver's license or identification card."

My day was so so, how was yours?

I feel awful….not sick awful, but guilty really. I made someone at work cry. Let me tell you how..

Several months ago we had a re-organization at work, after several key executives and senior staff  left…most took the early retirement, some went elsewhere to work. The people who ascended to fill their positions were all the brightest bulbs in the pack.

 

My manager, who used to manage only the web application and customization unit, was made manager over my unit as well; nice, since prior to the re-org, it was suggested I was going to go from de facto manager (I had been filling that role for 2 years) to manager.

He is very unfamiliar (and uncomfortable) with running our unit as well, and so a couple of weeks ago came to me and asked if I would take over managing the procurement side of our new unit. Part of that effort is trying to train a staff member who is new to procurement, and oddly enough was designated the IT procurement person. So all these projects we are running are delayed because of incomplete IT purchases, so I and the other two staffer located with me (we are in a different building from the rest of our unit, who are all in headquarters) are trying to help this new woman, who is a third location, where the procurement and accounting staff are since she is…a procurement person.

 

Only she isn’t- she was a software licensing person, who used to manage a system that tracked the software we use corporate wide, and ensure the license for using everything are current.

 

So she comes to my office today, and shows me the whole complete spreadsheet she has made and starts telling me why all the procurements are going to have to wait until she figures out how to organize the forms, which recently she decided need to be kept in paper and on SharePoint.

 

I sort of lost it…I told her I understand her stress, and the need to be organized, but there is a broader background to see than just her little part of this. I emphasized how  the key procurements  I pointed out to her over a week ago are still no where near being completed, and with out those the projects stay stuck in nothing happening, and our clients get mad, and then in two weeks I am going to meet with the CIO and the IT Steering Committee, and I NEED to be able to define what progress we have made in moving these friggin things along…

 

She stood there a minute, and then started to cry. I told her to take a minute, sit down, get collected. We are in this together, and as a team can move forward, and I was sorry I made you cry…She stopped crying and said “you get to leave this place [referring to the fact that it has become widely known I accepted a position with another company], I never wanted to be the procurement analyst, and now you are leaving, and I am stuck here, and no one at accounting will help me”

 

I instantly felt bad.

Not only because I made her cry, but because I have not lived up to my reputation of being really supportive of my staff….I should have gone over my manager to his boss and complained about her not getting the support she needs. Oh wait, I did do that… and got nothing from it.

 

 

No wonder I decided to leave.

 

JFK Inaugural, 50 years ago today

As a third grader, I sat in awe as I listened to this speech, which was featured in the nightly news.

On a frigid winter's day, January 20, 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy took the oath of office as the 35th President of the United States. At age 43, he was the youngest man and the first Roman Catholic ever elected. He was a decorated veteran of World War II.

This is the speech he delivered announcing the dawn of a new era as young Americans born in the 20th century first assumed leadership of the Nation.

He was one of the few politicians my grandfather and father ever spoke well of.

While some of the language seems archaic, I mean "Ask not!" seems silly, but that's what was called oratory in the period 1940 to 1960. Actually compared to now, GREAT Oratory. Spoken with conviction, as though it were the most important words you would ever hear... leaders of today would do well I think to try to measure up to the men of this generation, who spoke with conviction about freedom and the rights of man.

Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens, we observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom -- symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning -- signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge and more.

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom -- and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required, not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge -- to convert our good words into good deeds in a new alliance for progress -- to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support -- to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective -- to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request -- that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course -- both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah -- to "undo the heavy burdens...and let the oppressed go free."

And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.

All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again -- not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need -- not as a call to battle, though embattled we are -- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation" -- a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

President John F. Kennedy - January 20, 1961

 

 

Changes for Canice

Work blues, and moving on

 

At some point we all make decisions about making changes in our lives, some rather routine like where to go eat.

 

Other changes are more serious, like where to live, or work.

 

I have been looking for a new job for (seriously) two years. Its not that it’s a bad job... Or that the people are bad.

 

 No, it’s the clear trend that downsizing has become more than a trend; it’s become what many in the organization fear is the eventual demise of our firm. Many of my colleagues have left, whispering to me “Get out while you can” …

By constantly “shedding “people, it has become a lean mean place to work, where everybody has their and someone else’s job and more to do. Some don’t bear down on the work to be done, and then things back up. Deadlines get missed.

 

Customers get really, really dissatisfied.

 

So in the end, people like me catch more of the fury, and blame. Doesn’t matter that Susie shiftless in accounting shuffles papers and manages to misplace payments for things for projects…and since ours is a you pay when we are done type operation, well, our suppliers get upset when they ship with payment due in 30 or 45 days and wait up to 180 days for a check…they simply stop shipping, until we pay in advance. Our reputation has gone from stellar to crappy…

 

So my division gets hamstrung by administrative people…well I can’t keep doing this.

When I used to call Dell or HP vendors, I would send them specs, sign off on a PO, and they would ship, basically just over a series of emails. We never missed deadlines. We did projects under schedule and budget, making everyone happy, and earning a completion bonus on some of the bigger jobs. Sadly those days ended when the first round of the layoffs took out senior managers and accounting people…early retirement, buyouts, and layoffs…

 

I have been in negotiations with two prominent firms and some smaller ones, and it basically came down to two. Last week I got an offer I accepted. Tomorrow I go over there to begin the paperwork. I have already given my required two week notice, although there is something cheesy about emailing your notice in while your manager is out of town…but he and I had spoken last week, and I told him I was pretty sure I was leaving, since they had made a tentative offer then…it was a matter of getting all the approvals on their side.

 

I won’t be making a lot of money, but I set my hours, and will basically be a consultant to organizations I have worked with in the past.

 

I am not ecstatic like I usually am about a new job, but I believe this is a move I have to make.

Political Speech and the Constitution

In reading various online blogs, news stories, editorials and so forth, invariably I find someone reviving the call to ban all guns, ban handguns or ban high capacity magazines, because of what happened in Arizona a week ago.

Usually the comments section includes more calls for banning these things which are “designed only to kill people”, and put into the hands of crazy people by lax laws, insufficient background checks, and more. These are usually rebutted by equally passionate calls to retain our Second Amendment rights, and then the debate usually devolves into name calling. Being a member of the Tea Party movement becomes used as a pejorative, as does being a Democrat, Republican, Liberal or Conservative.

It was while reading several of these this morning that the concurrent theme is the political discussion, how words do matter, and calls for all to calm down the rhetoric.

And then it came to me.

The current national anguish over guns and political hatred speech is all wrong in pushing for curtailing of the Second Amendment; we should be having a national dialogue about abolishing the First Amendment, or parts of it.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

We as a people don’t seem to convinced that we can get along with each other, and regularly have resolved that those that disagree are stupid, evil, tropes, trolls, etc..

So what if instead the First Amendment read:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Think of it- Fox and MSNBC would have to end all commentary; making speeches against the government would be banned; citizens would be free to vent only in their own homes, and not online, or in public.

But wait it gets better- no more hatchet job movies, books, or articles. Michael Moore goes to prison for unconstitutional speech, as does Rush and Glenn Beck.

What a wonderful world!

In case you didn’t catch on, the proposal to eliminate freedom of speech is sarcasm…because banning any of our Constitutional freedoms undercuts them all.

“The Bill of Rights is a series of limitations on the power of the United States federal government, protecting the natural rights of liberty and property including freedom of speech, a free press, free assembly, and free association, as well as the right to keep and bear arms. In criminal cases, it requires indictment by a grand jury for any capital or "infamous crime", guarantees a speedy, public trial with an impartial jury composed of members of the state or judicial district in which the crime occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy.

In addition, the Bill of Rights reserves for the people any rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution and reserves all powers not specifically granted to the federal government to the people or the States”

Celebrity Follies-tracking the idiocracy

magna cum laude graduate of the Michael Moore School for Progressive Studies, Spike Lee provides the deep insight into why the shooting happened in Arizona last week

Don't let the facts get in the way of your finely tuned bias filter system there Spike...you know, the one that has that little voice in your head that keeps trying to warn you off as your mouth becomes engaged. "What the???NO, Don't say that, you'll look like a complete asshole....oops, too late..."

Always looking for an opportunity to alienate an ally, Obama does

“We don’t have a stronger friend and stronger ally than Nicolas Sarkozy, and the French people.”

Quite what the French have done to merit this kind of high praise from the US president is difficult to fathom, and if the White House means what it says this represents an extraordinary sea change in US foreign policy. Nicolas Sarkozy is a distinctly more pro-American president than any of his predecessors, and has been an important ally over issues such as Iran and the War on Terror. But to suggest that Paris and not London is Washington’s strongest partner is simply ludicrous. And rather hypocritical after it was recently revealed that the US Ambassador to France had described Sarkozy as “thin-skinned and authoritarian”.

As the British press has noted, "These kinds of presidential statements matter. No US president in modern times has described France as America’s closest ally, and such a remark is not only factually wrong but also insulting to Britain..."

I hope our British friends don't think that Obama speaks for all of the American people.

Tucson. the day after liberal media smears started...

By now we all know of the horrible events that transpired in Tucson yesterday.  A lone gunman, operating on his own bizarre beliefs, decided Congresswoman Giffords should be killed, and did his best to do that. By the grace of God, she survived, and is in critical condition. Others were not so fortunate, including Federal Judge John Koll.

Among the other victims was Christina Taylor Green only 9, but the third-grader already was an aspiring politician.  Gabe Zimmerman,30, the director of community outreach for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, handled thousands of issues raised by constituents out of the congresswoman's offices in Tucson and Sierra Vista. Co-workers say Zimmerman, who had a master's degree in social work, cared passionately about helping people. Phyllis Schneck, 79, widowed mother of two, who retired to Tucson from NJ. Her family says she didn’t shop here regularly, and wasn’t political.

This was the act of a deeply disturbed mind, look at the information about his favorite books, and his video posts. Sick. Really in need of mental help.

But almost more sickening is the effort of some liberal media outlets to play this as inspired by GOP, in particular Sarah Palin.

These are actual headlines I snagged from online:

Sarah Palin Inspired Jared Loughner To Shoot Gabrielle Giffords

Such ludicrous headlines are rightfully being denounced, and many agree with Senator Lamar of TN who said “…it is irresponsible for the media to be bringing up her [Palin’s] much-discussed image of political targets from the 2010 election in the aftermath of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and others in Arizona.” Amen to that.

Let us all take a moment to ask the media, right and left, to provide news, not idle and wild speculation.

First Entry for 2011-

Net Neutrality - a true open internet. Is this important to you? Or should corporations like Verizon, Comcast and ATT be allowed to restrict access to competitors?

True Open Internet- even if it costs more

 

 2

I'm for open internet as long as its cheap

 

 0

I dont care about open internet, let ISPs dictate

 

 0

Free internet to only government sponsored sites

 

 0

WTF? I dont want it to be like China, and have the internet police...

 

 0

Ban the internet

 

 0

Net neutrality – the precursor to net neutrality was the Pacific Telegraph Act of 1860, which simply stated:

…messages received from any individual, company, or corporation, or from any telegraph lines connecting with this line at either of its termini, shall be impartially transmitted in the order of their reception, excepting that the dispatches of the government shall have priority...

—An act to facilitate communication between the Atlantic and Pacific states by electric telegraph, June 16, 1860

The idea that internet communication and access to services should be devoid of any constraints is generally thought to be beneficial. Except if you are Verizon, Comcast or ATT , you might wish to limit access to things that interfere with your business, like Netflix, or Vonage.

My ISP offers me a variety of connections speeds with a price structure that escalates as the bandwidth and speed increases. There are no (generally speaking) restrictions on how I use the web.

Now image they offer me the choice of same bandwidth and speed, at a lower price, with optional pricing if I want to use Facebook, Multiply or Google. Not something I would favor.

As consumers, we should all seek to support true open internet.