What is so wrong with the headline above besides being both beyond unbelievable and stupid at the same time? And if you must ask, no, I did not get everything I so desired over the weekend however neither did I approach near the fiscal cliff. I haven't forgotten about tomorrow. Cyber Monday. Every day it's a cyber monday for the US policy makers it seems. For starters, how long will the 10,000 troops be stationed in Afghanistan after 2014 as a matter of policy? Until 2016. Then 20xx. The US invented mission creep and now apparently the policy is to take it to even another level. There is nothing permanently worthwhile that the US has accomplished in the past decade in Afghanistan.
As it is, the entire US military force is fighting a contingent of 200 al-Qaeda soldiers throughout the entire Afghanistan and those include the imaginary head count. It's been said of Osama bin Laden that he couldn't lead 7 ducks across the highway. The US is fighting his ducks. Oh, it's about the Taliban. See, becuz the Taliban are harboring al Queada in their poppy fields. Thus to exterminate the last remnants of al-Qaeda, every Taliban member must be rounded up and imprisioned indefinitely. Or shot. I agree. However, in Afghanistan, every other person and his gecko is Taliban.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
LED Bulbs vs. CFL bulbs
Might sound a lame on a super shopping weekend, but I went shopping for a light bulb tonight. Since the compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) last forever I couldn't remember whether it was 'bright white' or 'day light' that I bought the last time. Now you may ask, "why don't you take the old bulb out and read the fine print?" Well, of course I did just that after I returned home. It would have saved me hours deciding in the store aisle. Oh, I ending up buying 'day light.' And yes, it's real important.
If you weren't aware, CFL bulbs are old style. The bulbs modern day people are using are LED's. CFL's replaced incandescents, and now LED's are replacing CFL's. Well, almost. LEDs are still too expensive, and I don't really know if they last so much longer that they're money effective. Another thing that I realized after I returned home was for some reason it never occured to me to order light bulbs off the Internet. Anyways, the way I understand it, is that the hour ratings for an LED's are based on the LED's fading to 80-percent of their original brightness. The CFL bulb that I replaced was still working but the light was getting so dim. Thusly, so even if the label on a CFL bulb states it'll last 50,000-hours, it doesn't mean it'll provide useful light for that many hours. That's where LED's are better. Well enough talk about how better LED's light up our lives because I still ended up buying a CFL bulb. Actually, with LED's threatening to make CFL bulbs fade away into extinction, CFL's are getting cheaper.
If you weren't aware, CFL bulbs are old style. The bulbs modern day people are using are LED's. CFL's replaced incandescents, and now LED's are replacing CFL's. Well, almost. LEDs are still too expensive, and I don't really know if they last so much longer that they're money effective. Another thing that I realized after I returned home was for some reason it never occured to me to order light bulbs off the Internet. Anyways, the way I understand it, is that the hour ratings for an LED's are based on the LED's fading to 80-percent of their original brightness. The CFL bulb that I replaced was still working but the light was getting so dim. Thusly, so even if the label on a CFL bulb states it'll last 50,000-hours, it doesn't mean it'll provide useful light for that many hours. That's where LED's are better. Well enough talk about how better LED's light up our lives because I still ended up buying a CFL bulb. Actually, with LED's threatening to make CFL bulbs fade away into extinction, CFL's are getting cheaper.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Word Verification
I've recently disabled word verification becuz who needs the hassle. Then some of the comments were getting flagged as spam. So, I disabled comment moderation. Unfortunately, I've been receiving a lot of spam. So, of course, I'll have to re-enable comment moderation.
I stumbled upon a new type of word verification scheme on the registration form above. The simple instruction is in the green box. It sure beats the Blogger word verification rigamarole. The word verification alphabets on Blogger et al. are so well disguised or alterred that it's almost impossible to recognize them for what they really are. Then you have to resubmit them over and over again.
I stumbled upon a new type of word verification scheme on the registration form above. The simple instruction is in the green box. It sure beats the Blogger word verification rigamarole. The word verification alphabets on Blogger et al. are so well disguised or alterred that it's almost impossible to recognize them for what they really are. Then you have to resubmit them over and over again.
Pakalolo Prohibition
Below, excerpts from a letter that members of Congress in favor of legalizing marijuana sent to the federal government.
I haven't the vaguest idea who it was that grouped pakalolo together with meth, cocaine and heroin in the War on Drugs, but it must have been someone high on morality. No one has died from an overdose of pakalolo. Ever. If they were tossed in the same bin of cadavers, than it was with a mixture of other drugs in their system. Ditto with traffic statistics in that context. Thus, it's high time that the laws against reacreational use of pakalolo was updated to, well, no laws against it.
It costs too much to prosecute and incarcerate pakalolo offenders with money that could have been spent elsewhere. And, of course, the tax revenues that the legalized product would have brought in and will never be recouped. If this wasn't bad enough, pakalolo prohibition has proven a windfall to it's beneficiaries, both the prison-industrial complex and the drug dealers. The last thing that either of them would like to see is recreational pakalolo use be decriminalized. Meanwhile, pakalolo prohibition has made the image of pakalolo as a gateway drug a self-fulfilling prophesy simply because pakalolo people have to intermingle and rub shoulders with the hard drug crowd, just as in the Prohibition era, alcohol parlors had backrooms that served the heroin clients and prostitution johns.
To clarify, decrimalizing pakalolo does not legalize wholesale pakalolo growing. In the 18 states that allow medical pakalolo, only hardships cases are allowed to grow their own and limited to one or two house plants. The argument against legalized pakalolo that goes something like, "but legalization would create a huge underground market to resell to minors," is true to some extent, but the fact is that there already is a black market for minors who like blow the weed.
If you haven't been out in your neighborhood lately, I'll kindly inform you that there's an ongoing meth epidemic. I don't smoke pakalolo myself nor inhale so forth, but I personally blame pakalolo prohibition for the meth plague. Meth is readily available to anybody and meth doesn't take months to grow. Then there's the meth related crimes especially home burglaries. There is nothing good in meth. Every part of the pakalolo plant can be used for something useful. For example, The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper. There are parts of the pakalolo plant that possess the medicinal effects without the high.
The costs to produce heroin is a whopping 2% of its street price. Ridiculously low for pakalolo as well. Oregon had legalizing pakalolo, Measure 80, on the ballot, along with Washington and Colorado. Oregon voters gave it a thumbs down. The difference in the Oregon version was that licensed growers would sell their harvests to the state, and the state would dispense it exclusively through licsensed outlets. However, Measure 80 was excessively progressive. It would allow adults to grow and possess limitless amounts of marijuana for personal use. The limitless growing amount is not so far out as it seems. The grower would be wiser selling surplus stock to the state instead of risk being caught for selling without a licsence to strangers who might rob the seller or rat on the seller.
The people of Colorado and Washington have decided that marijuana ought to be regulated like alcohol.
The voters chose to eliminate the illegal marijuana market controlled by cartels and criminals ....
These states have chosen to move from a drug policy that spends millions of dollars turning ordinary Americans into criminals toward one that will tightly regulate the use of marijuana while raising tax revenue to support cash-strapped state and local governments.
.... we ask that your departments [the feds] take no action against anyone who acts in compliance with the laws of Colorado, Washington and any other states that choose to regulate marijuana for medicinal or personal use.
The tide of public opinion is changing both at the ballot box and in state legislatures across the country. We believe that the collective judgment of voters and state lawmakers must be respected.
The voters chose to eliminate the illegal marijuana market controlled by cartels and criminals ....
These states have chosen to move from a drug policy that spends millions of dollars turning ordinary Americans into criminals toward one that will tightly regulate the use of marijuana while raising tax revenue to support cash-strapped state and local governments.
.... we ask that your departments [the feds] take no action against anyone who acts in compliance with the laws of Colorado, Washington and any other states that choose to regulate marijuana for medicinal or personal use.
The tide of public opinion is changing both at the ballot box and in state legislatures across the country. We believe that the collective judgment of voters and state lawmakers must be respected.
I haven't the vaguest idea who it was that grouped pakalolo together with meth, cocaine and heroin in the War on Drugs, but it must have been someone high on morality. No one has died from an overdose of pakalolo. Ever. If they were tossed in the same bin of cadavers, than it was with a mixture of other drugs in their system. Ditto with traffic statistics in that context. Thus, it's high time that the laws against reacreational use of pakalolo was updated to, well, no laws against it.
It costs too much to prosecute and incarcerate pakalolo offenders with money that could have been spent elsewhere. And, of course, the tax revenues that the legalized product would have brought in and will never be recouped. If this wasn't bad enough, pakalolo prohibition has proven a windfall to it's beneficiaries, both the prison-industrial complex and the drug dealers. The last thing that either of them would like to see is recreational pakalolo use be decriminalized. Meanwhile, pakalolo prohibition has made the image of pakalolo as a gateway drug a self-fulfilling prophesy simply because pakalolo people have to intermingle and rub shoulders with the hard drug crowd, just as in the Prohibition era, alcohol parlors had backrooms that served the heroin clients and prostitution johns.
To clarify, decrimalizing pakalolo does not legalize wholesale pakalolo growing. In the 18 states that allow medical pakalolo, only hardships cases are allowed to grow their own and limited to one or two house plants. The argument against legalized pakalolo that goes something like, "but legalization would create a huge underground market to resell to minors," is true to some extent, but the fact is that there already is a black market for minors who like blow the weed.
If you haven't been out in your neighborhood lately, I'll kindly inform you that there's an ongoing meth epidemic. I don't smoke pakalolo myself nor inhale so forth, but I personally blame pakalolo prohibition for the meth plague. Meth is readily available to anybody and meth doesn't take months to grow. Then there's the meth related crimes especially home burglaries. There is nothing good in meth. Every part of the pakalolo plant can be used for something useful. For example, The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper. There are parts of the pakalolo plant that possess the medicinal effects without the high.
The costs to produce heroin is a whopping 2% of its street price. Ridiculously low for pakalolo as well. Oregon had legalizing pakalolo, Measure 80, on the ballot, along with Washington and Colorado. Oregon voters gave it a thumbs down. The difference in the Oregon version was that licensed growers would sell their harvests to the state, and the state would dispense it exclusively through licsensed outlets. However, Measure 80 was excessively progressive. It would allow adults to grow and possess limitless amounts of marijuana for personal use. The limitless growing amount is not so far out as it seems. The grower would be wiser selling surplus stock to the state instead of risk being caught for selling without a licsence to strangers who might rob the seller or rat on the seller.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Sex, Lies, Emails and the Media
If you haven't heard 'Petraeus' repeated over a trillion times on the tv by now, your electricity was off becuz you failed or forgot to pay your utility bill, or if you have heard Patraeus ad nauseam, than warning this will be the trillionth and one time. The reason that I'm more negatively effected by the non-stop media frenzy over the Petraeus affair than the average human is that I almost always watch 24/7 news channels on tv. And that's all the news channels have been spouting about this past week.
Petraeus
Petraeus Petraeus Petraeus. At this point I only wish the democrat administration had traded keeping the Petraeus affair silent to the repubs in exchange for extending the Bush tax cuts another decade, well almost. Okay, it's a deal. Oh, you have to forfeit the Obama re-election too, of course.
Mind you, the annoyance is not entirely what you may think it is. I am starting to get a bit captivated by the developing events. Originally it had all the trappings of media malfeasance of hyping a non-story into a news bonanza. It still would remain a mundane story at the most of tabloid value had it not been for the new characters that have emerged outta the woodwork. Essentially like guest stars on the Hawaii Five-O series. Seriously, though, these bimbo's whom instigated the chain of events .... don't they realize that we still have a war going on. On top of that, they're not your average variety of bimbo's swept up in a media storm and cowering away in secret safehouses. Instead they're savvy in how to flex their muscles. Both buttocks and shoulders and why wouldn't they, shovel ready, if you may, for example, the harrassing Emailer can only benefit from the windfall publicity for the sales of her new book devoted to the Gen. Petraeus and her service as a his laptop. Meanwhile, the victim of the harrassing Emailer enjoys life as a socialite with nothing better to do than bask in the spot light of the elevated celebrity.
Mind you, the annoyance is not entirely what you may think it is. I am starting to get a bit captivated by the developing events. Originally it had all the trappings of media malfeasance of hyping a non-story into a news bonanza. It still would remain a mundane story at the most of tabloid value had it not been for the new characters that have emerged outta the woodwork. Essentially like guest stars on the Hawaii Five-O series. Seriously, though, these bimbo's whom instigated the chain of events .... don't they realize that we still have a war going on. On top of that, they're not your average variety of bimbo's swept up in a media storm and cowering away in secret safehouses. Instead they're savvy in how to flex their muscles. Both buttocks and shoulders and why wouldn't they, shovel ready, if you may, for example, the harrassing Emailer can only benefit from the windfall publicity for the sales of her new book devoted to the Gen. Petraeus and her service as a his laptop. Meanwhile, the victim of the harrassing Emailer enjoys life as a socialite with nothing better to do than bask in the spot light of the elevated celebrity.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Votes R (not) Us
The excerpt below is from an article about increasing the percentage of voters by law. The last presidential election was something like a 60 percent turnout.
The Case for Compulsory Voting [The National Interest]
Jonathan Levine | November 2, 2012
Nevada offers an interesting solution: in 1975 .... Nevada became the only state in America to include a “none of these candidates” option alongside the major parties. And while it was a step in the right direction, the initiative was nonbinding and toothless. In the 1976 Republican Congressional primary, “none of these candidates” trounced its competitors, and yet, despite the abjectly clear will of the voters, the nomination went to the nearest runner-up ....
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
It's Friday
Frequently during this season of the year, we've greeted with a nice view of the mountains looking out from my lanai (balcony). The air or something. Of course, this is before the annual wet weather arrives. Then there're be days that you might not be able to see across the street or even want to walk across the street.
I was about to leave a rousing compliment for a YouTube video blogger that I regularly visit. Before I could do this, up pops the page above. Is YouTube even serious. How important is it to the V-blogger to know who I am? What purpose would it even serve. Then once you have your info on record, every V-blog that has their videos hosted by YouTube, and then you comment there, will display your name, rank, serial number, photo if included, to whom out there.
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