The ramblings of an inquisitive idiot

Archive for December, 2007

?You may remember that a little over a week ago I was posting on the new energy bill up before congress and its merits. Well it passed through the House of Representatives but has met a snag in the Senate. It seems that republican senators are fighting it because of the fact it is dropping the huge tax cuts that the last energy bill donated to the oil companies. They have already gutted the provision that would require that all power companies generate 15% of their power from a renewable source. The mandate had been vigorously opposed by senators from the Southeast and parts of the Midwest where there is less availability of solar and wind resources. They argued it would raise electricity prices in the regions. More than half the states already have some renewable energy mandate for utilities.

Right now there is not enough votes (60) to override a promised filibuster in the senate over these provisions. The tax package would rescind the tax breaks to the five major oil companies. They have enjoyed?$13.5 billion in tax breaks since they were enacted in 2004 and 2005. The oil industry has lobbied hard to protect the $13.5 billion in tax breaks, even as they are setting records for profits. And with ?an oil friendly president even if it does pass there may be a veto coming. This might be a good time to contact your senator, and if passed the office of the president.

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Too many of us judge others whom we think are lazy as there is no outward sign if sickness. You can gain some insight on the problems we face at ButYouDontLookSick. My fibromyalgia was really bothering me Sunday. It is a very hard disease to live with. It causes me to feel so worn out and tired. Even after a full nights sleep I wake up feeling like I was in a train wreck. It is easier to tell you whats parts of me don’t hurt than what does. Today my rheumatologist started me on Lyrica. It is supposed to help ease the pains of fibro. I really hope so. I am so thankful for insurance though as the high price of it would be a budget breaker. That is not my only health problem but it sure is a hard one to deal with. It is very hard to live with an invisible illness. People look at you and say “you don’t look sick”. It makes me feel very self conscious. With it and my spinal problems I can not lift or carry anything heavy at all any more. Maybe when I was young and did is the cause of it today. Either way it makes me feel so bad when I have to ask for help or let someone else carry things for me. We went to the jockey lot last Wednesday and we ended up with several sacks of treasures plus a pet taxi or carrier. We placed everything we had bought up to that point inside the carrier and secured the door on it. It was fairly heavy. Too heavy for me to carry and I felt like hanging my head down in shame that my wife and daughter took turns carrying it until we got to the car.

Having any disability is hard but an invisible one has extra issues that must be dealt with. I feel for anyone that has health issues. Especially hidden ones as they can be difficult to deal with the way people try to shame you into doing things that will hurt you even more.

I have a friend who writes about her hidden disabilities on her blog “My Chronic Life“. Check her out some time. Another good source for information on living with a hidden disability is “The Spoon Story” (adobe required). It is no picnic to have this type of health issue. And it is compounded by the attitude of relatives and friends who think because they can’t see anything physically wrong with you that you are faking or exaggerating your problem.

So please try not to judge others when they say they are sick with no outward appearances. It is hard enough to deal with the disease without the guilt layed on us by others.

Thank You

In an article by PC World they report that hackers have gained access to computers at two of the most important science laboratory in the US. The two labs involved are the famous labs of Los Alamos and the Oak Ridge facility. The Oak Ridge facility had a data base of visitors, including social security numbers accessed. The data base went back to 1990 – 2004. With annual visitors running around 3,000 scientists this is potentially a huge mistake.

I told you that to tell you this. The attacks were via phishing type emails with attachments. I want to remind each and everyone of you to never ever under any circumstances open an attachment from someone you do not know. And even if it is from your best friend in the world do not open the attachment if you were not expecting it. They could have accidentally picked up a virus and be spreading it unknowingly. I do not even open unsolicited emails from people I do not know. Some emails can have trackers coded into them that lets the sender know that the address is indeed a active account and therefor marketable. Getting you even more spam. Never ever answer any spam. I tried chasing down the routes email was sent to me and requesting I be removed from their lists with no real success. Mostly I only verified my email account was active and being used so they could send me even more spam. If you do open any of these emails don’t click the links. Especially if you are using Internet Explorer. It still has vulnerabilities and can be attacked by malicious code. Now that doesn’t mean that it is perfectly safe to visit these sites with Firefox as there may be an unaddressed vulnerabilities in it that no one but the hackers know of yet. Nothing is fool proof for a sufficiently talented fool.

If you ebay I would also advise you to have separate accounts for your ebay and paypal emails to come into. Accounts that you do not give out the address. Use an address specifically for them and a separate account to receive your regular mail in. If you have a separate account for your ebay and paypal address, then anything that comes into your main account claiming to be from ebay or paypal you know is a phishing scheme. Even if the email comes to your ebay or paypal email account be dubious of any mails that arrive there claiming to be from them. Never ever click on any links in emails like that. Type the URL into the address bar or use a link from your bookmarks (favorites if you use IE) And If you feel you absolutely must fill out the so called contests or other marketing plows that are asking for your email address then you should have a third account for that that you can throw away once the volume of mail becomes unwieldy.

December seventh. Pearl Harbor day. It hits home to me more than others my age as I lived in Hawaii in military housing on Pearl Peninsula. We could see Ford Island where they had an airfield at that time. Now it is too small for today’s aircraft but some of the buildings from that time were still standing complete with bullet holes in them. Its been 30 years since I was there so I imaging they are gone by now. And for the two battleships on their sides alongside the island I don’t know. I didn’t know when we would go fishing there that there was a Medal of Honor winner entombed in one of them. Instead of abandoning ship as was ordered he stood his post and manned the pumps that pump water to balance out the ship And keep the boilers from overturning and creating a huge inferno. Him doing this bought valuable time to allow his shipmates to reach freedom and not be caught up in flames as the doomed ship fought to stay afloat. I knew about the nearly one thousand men entombed on the Arizona. With it’s memorial sitting above her as she lays on the bottom. I didn’t know about the USS Utah.

One more recent memory that comes to mind is a visit to a Burger King some several years ago and talking to an elderly lady who was working there cleaning tables and refilling drinks. When she offered to refill my drink for me I declined but instead asked her a question. I asked her “what were you doing on Pearl Harbor day”? It was then I saw a sparkle in her eyes as she relived that day for me. She told me of going to church that morning and upon returning home her brothers were outside playing. Her mother was in the kitchen frying chicken for dinner that day.

We are fast loosing our living history. If you ever have the chance talk to these older Americans they still have a lot to share with us. I was thrilled to listen to her remembering even the smallest details about a day so long ago. And I like to think she was excited that someone was interested enough to ask.

I don’t know if you have heard of it or not but there is an organization formed to bring technology to all the children in the world. It is called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). They had a target price of 100 dollars per laptop but this was not feasible. They have managed to put them out for $200 though. Still well below the typical $500 or more for a conventional laptop. They are currently running a special through their website. Give one get one. What this does is to get you a laptop and give one to a child in a third world country. This offer is only good in the US and Canada. And runs until December 31. You get a laptop and a tax deduction of 200 dollars. And at the same time help out a needy child. These are rugged, waterproof laptops designed for children, and run a version of Linux that is easy to navigate. Children pick up on it very fast.

Mayor Larry Langford of Birmingham Alabama, announced Monday, that city schools will be the first in the nation to get these laptops for all students between grades one and eight. “We live in a digital age, so it is important that all our children have equal access to technology and are able to integrate it into all aspects of their lives,” Langford said. “We are proud that Birmingham is on its way to eliminating the so-called `digital divide’ and to ensuring that our children have state-of-the-art tools for education. The city is buying 15,000 of these XO laptops. “Our students will have access to global thinking now,” said Birmingham schools Superintendent Stan Mims. “It becomes a tipping point in the digital divide.”

I am falling behind, nothing to get me up on my soap box today or I just am too bushed to make the climb onto it. The wife was off work today so we made a pilgrimage to the Pickens jockey lot (aka flea market). Our daughter didn’t have anything special going on in class so she came with us. It was a chilly Carolina morn when we ventured out. As it was cool and I wanted to be in the Christmas spirit I wore my Santa hat. It is a pretty nice one and rather warm if you pull it down to cover your ears it is as nice as a stocking cap. We found some nice bargains and bought a few and passed on most of the others. I did see some very nice pieces of depression and carnival glass. Not that we have room for more glass. But I still enjoy looking.

There were several smaller children that saw me and thought I was Santa with the cap on and my mostly all gray beard. I really got a kick out of that. We hit a few stores on our way home and there was the most darling little girl who kept hollering out to me ” hey Santa”. She did it at least three times. I love small children, they are so innocent and precious. No one has yet taught them to hate, tell lies or be prejudiced. It’s not the first time I have been mistaken for Santa Claus.

I can remember years ago when I still had a mostly red beard instead of gray when a young black toddler and his mother were standing in line at a fast food restaurant. When he saw me he yelled out “Santa Claus” in the cute voice of a child still learning to talk. And as he yelled out he dove out of his mothers arms toward me. I believe if I had not caught him he would have hit the floor thats how quick and sudden he was. Totally surprising his mother who had him resting on one hip as mothers do. She was embarrassed and was apologizing as if she thought I would be mad, all the while, I was holding him in my arms listening to him jabber away. I told him to be good and Santa would bring him lots of toys and laughed to his momma that “I have you in trouble now”.? I held him for several minutes before giving him back to his momma who still seemed embarrassed. I told her that I felt like anyone who could be mad at a child or be mean to him because he was a different color was as sorry as they get. I could never hurt a child and have no pity on anyone who does.

The only color that has ever mattered to me was green. I feel it is wrong to judge anyone without getting to know them some. Be it they are different races or dress differently than you. Wouldn’t it be nice to see the world through the eyes of a child again, with no hate, prejudice, and greed. The world would be a better place if we could do that.

The latest news on tasers comes from the UN’s Committee Against Torture (CAT). “Taser electronic stun guns are a form of torture that can kill”, the UN committee said on November 23, 2007 after several recent deaths in North America. “The use of these weapons causes acute pain, constituting a form of torture,” the UN’s Committee Against Torture said.

This isn’t a shock to me after seeing just a few of the countless taser videos that are on the web. I can understand that in some cases it may be the best option short of deadly force. But From what I gleaned from watching most of the videos is that the cops are going to this first instead of using standard methods of subduing suspects. They have more to say too: “In certain cases, [tasers] can cause death, as has been shown by reliable studies and real-life events,” The ten member CAT panel said. Three men all in their early 20′s were reported to have died in the United States within a few weeks of the tragic killing of a Polish immigrate in Toronto, back in October. Many of you may have already viewed the video on the news. The RCMP wasted an entire 24 seconds investigating what the disturbance was before using a taser on the helpless victim who died as they piled on top of him.

You might say that this is a isolated event but far from it. Increasingly across the US, Canada and the world, police forces are using it first. Not as a method of last resort as it should be. I’ve seen multiple videos where the police seem almost eager to use what amounts to potential deadly force. I do not think that police should use them except as a last resort and the training should be held to a higher standard than it is now. Every use of a taser should be reviewed the same way that is done when an officer uses their sidearm. Police seem entirely too cavalier about something that hurts so much and carries the possibility of killing the suspect every time it is used. We are leaning closer and closer to a police state where there is no recourse when police or another government agency brings forth harm to either suspects who are treated as if they are guilty of the most heinous crimes or innocent citizens who at the least are inconvenienced and/or badgered by threats and bullying by officers “just doing their job”.

So now even the United Nations regards tasers as torturous weapons that can kill. When will our police stop using Tasers? I am glad that I am not doing a job that causes such potential harm. If I were, I would not be so cavalier about it.

Last week the supreme court agreed to decide the case; District of Columbia v. Heller, 07-290. Dick Anthony Heller, 65, an armed security guard, sued the District after it rejected his application to keep a handgun
at his home – about a mile from the court – for protection. The laws in question in the case do not “merely regulate the possession of firearms,” Heller said. Instead, they “amount to a complete prohibition of the possession of all functional firearms within the home.” Washington, D.C. has had a ban on handgun ownership since 1976, 31 years and counting. The main issue is whether as I believe, and gun proponents believe, is that the second Amendment protects the individual right to to own guns. Or as gun control advocates try to claim it is only so we can have state militias. I believe that everyone should have the right to own a gun for personal protection. Once we make guns illegal the only ones to have them other than the government will be the criminals. I do believe in regulations that disallow certain persons from owning dangerous weapons. We have plenty of laws on the books that are supposed to protect us from these people but are usually only enforced after a crime.

This is going to be a very important decision for the District of Columbia and possibly many others. Though forty four states have gun right provisions in their state constitutions. This will be perhaps the most important and in-depth examination of our constitutional right to bear arms in nearly seventy years.

I grew up around guns. There was always at least one in the house and we, even as children knew we were not to touch them. Many times I can remember visiting homes and the shot gun would be by the door or close at hand standing up behind a chair for easy retrieval. By time I was a teenager I owned my very first gun. A single shot 12 gauge shotgun. With it I would go hunting squirrels, rabbits, fowl and deer. Oft times alone and other times with members of my family. Plus the turkey shoots that used to be around everywhere. I can’t ever remember actually winning a turkey but us boys carried home many a ham and side of bacon we had won. My children both grew up with a gun in the house at all times but they knew never to touch or play with one. A gun is merely a tool, albeit a very dangerous one that must be respected at all times. And treated as if it were loaded at all times. As an unloaded gun is a dangerous thing to assume. That is how most accidents occur. Someone gets shot and they say “I thought it was unloaded”. Never ever assume something like that. Always go on the assumption that it is loaded until you know otherwise and even then guns are not play toys. If we had ever been caught playing with a gun we would have a hard time sitting for a few days or as my pop would tell me “your ass is grass, and I am the lawn mower”. So we grew up with a healthy respect for guns as well as a love of outdoors. Even though I have not hunted in years since I suffered a severe shoulder injury that still makes it tender to shoot any long gun that has kick to it, I still love the outdoors and believe that hunting helps and not destroys. As long as you limit the taking of animals to leave “seed” stock. After all the lord placed us here to “husband” the animals, fish and fowl. Not to wipe them all out.

THE BEAUTY OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT IS THAT IT WILL NOT BE NEEDED UNTIL THEY TRY TO TAKE IT.” –Thomas Jefferson

An agreement among congressional Democrats – including those from auto industry states – to support a 40 percent increase in vehicle fuel efficiency is likely to be the tonic needed to push energy legislation through Congress before Christmas. Finally a step in the right direction. You would think we would have been working for that years ago. The oil embargo of the 70′s taught us nothing it seems. Many of you know nothing about the long lines for gas, if they even had any to sell. The odd and even day. Your tag number indicated which days you could even buy gasoline, once again if there was any to be bought.

The compromise quickly received the endorsement of senators who have long opposed increased fuel economy legislation. Hopefully this will pass both houses and be signed into law soon. It is not enough but it is surely a step in the right direction. Something that is sorely needed.

With the upcoming holidays there comes the desire to decorate our homes for Christmas. Every year it is a family tradition for most of us. Setting up the tree, or going to pick out a tree, and decorating it is always special. Special decorations saved through the years remind us of Christmas’s?past and our loved ones. I can remember when our children were small and we had to put the tree into the play pen in an almost futile attempt to save it from their inquisitive fingers. Oh but to turn back time to when they were small. Our youngest is?nearly grown and our oldest grown and moved away. The years go so fast. Cherish the time you have while they are small. It won’t seem like long until they have grown up and you are left wondering where the years all went to.

Every year about 200 homes have fires in them due to dried out Christmas trees.? According the the Consumer Product Safety Commission every November and December there are about 10,000 people treated in emergency rooms with injuries received while decorating for Christmas. This list includes falls, shocks, burns and cuts. The Consumer Product Safety Commission also estimates that there are over 14,000 fires and about 170 deaths each year due to candles. This list is not limited to the holiday season but many of us are more likely to burn candles during the Christmas holiday season.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission offers theses holiday tips.

• Look for a label that says “fire resistant” before buying an artificial tree.
• Before buying a live tree, check for green needles that are difficult to pull from the branches, don’t break when bent and don’t fall off when the tree is tapped on the ground. The tree’s bottom should be sticky with resin.
• Place trees away from fireplaces, radiators and heavy traffic areas in homes.
• For fresh trees, keep the stands filled with water.
  
• Decorate trees with noncombustible or flame-resistant materials.
• Don’t use artificial icicles made with lead, which is hazardous if ingested by young children.
  
• Wear gloves when decorating spun glass made to resemble angel hair.
• Follow directions when using artificial snow sprays, which can irritate lungs if used improperly.
• Households with young children should avoid ornaments with small removable parts that could pose a choking hazard.
• Keep candles away from decorations and furniture that can easily catch fire, as well as children and pets. And keep burning candles in sight.
• Use nonflammable candle holders.
• Use newer lights with thick wiring that have been tested by a nationally recognized testing laboratory. Throw out lights with broken or cracked sockets, loose connections, and frayed or bare wires.
• Make sure outdoor lights have been certified for outdoor use.
  
• Don’t use extension cords unless they are rated for the intended lighting use.
• Never use lights on a metallic tree. This could pose an electrocution hazard if branches become charged with electricity.
• Place a screen around fireplaces, and do not use them to burn wrapping paper or plastic materials.
  
• Keep fire salts, which produce colored flames, away from children and use caution always. They contain heavy metals that can cause gastrointestinal irritation and vomiting if eaten.

Christmas Ornament Recall