Is it Just ME????

I ran across several articles recently talking about the DOJ telling us that saying bad things about muslims was a violation of civil rights.

Granted some of the first articles were from very conservative sources. I managed to track back to what appears to be the original source article.This piece is far less sensational.

This article was the first one I found, Then I ran across this one. Here’s another piece from Breitbart

The first two are designed to inflame passions and put their own spin on the material. The Breitbart piece is less spin and more Wait a minute, yep this is happening.

Even so the original piece is still worrisome.  

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You can just imagine my confusion at seeing a story that an US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee is warning people that speaking ill of muslims could violate the Muslims civil rights.

I found my self asking, “What happened to the First Amendment?”

You know that little Amendment that guarantees all Americans the right to free speech?

Technically, I’m protected in what I say on this blog by that amendment right now.

I can put a crucifix in a bottle of urine and it’s protected under the 1st amendment.

I could call the Pope a pedophile and condemn all practitioners of Catholicism as pedophiles too. And that would be protected speech. (I actually like the current Pope and Don’t think he’s a pedophile. Apologies your Eminence but I’m making a point here, Please bear with me.)

I can say that all Baptists are snake handling Red State Morons and that’s protected under the First Amendment.

It’s perfectly OK for me to climb to the tallest building with a bullhorn and call the United States of America and evil imperialist regime headed by a group of lying corporate stooges, who are selling this country out from under us faster than Judas sold Christ out to the Romans. And that too is protected speech.

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But along comes the US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee and suddenly Muslims a specially protected class of people!

What The Fuck

I know that most Muslims are decent hard working people. I would never in a million years seek to restrict their ability to build places of worship or prevent them from practicing their religion. In fact It’s far more likely that I’d be trying to quiet then disperse an angry mob outside a Mosque.

Gods, house no matter the name of the religion is Gods house.

One of the oldest rules among civilizations world wide is that All Houses of worship are sanctuaries.

In times of war, the young, the old, and the women could reasonably expect to be safe within the walls of their Church / Temple / Mosque… They were clearly non-combatants if they’re inside praying. Only absolute Barbarian Animals would violate the sanctity of a house of worship.

(I’ve always found it fascinating that Muslims will cry foul if American bullets strike the walls of a Mosque accidentally, but Sunni will blow up a Shiite Mosque and not say a damn word.)

You just don’t mess around with the spiritual center of a people.

Not only is it bad JuJu…

When you create martyrs you’ve given your enemies something to rally around. That often ends badly for the aggressor.

I’m a believer in the constitutional concept of freedom of religion so much so that I’ll protect a religion even if the religion isn’t something I agree with.

I’m also a believer in constitutionally protected freedom of speech.

Which leads me back to WTF?

If I choose to point out that Islam is responsible for the Cultural & Scientific retardation of what was a jewel of civilization, that’s in violation of Muslims civil rights?

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I can equally and defensibly say that the Catholic Church was in part responsible for the destruction of cultures worldwide. Inca, Easter Island, Several Native American Tribes, and the remnants of the Aztecs just to name a few. Saying that isn’t a violation of Catholic civil rights?

We can arguably say that it’s far more likely for a follower of Islam to blow themselves up in a crowded marketplace, or to set off bombs at the end of Marathons, or to lob shoulder fired missiles or rocket propelled grenades randomly into Israeli neighborhoods.

This is not a violation of civil rights, this is not so called hate speech!

These are observations of fact. These events are irrefutable and we’ve got the video to prove at least one case of each. Yet the US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee is going to look at these statements as a civil rights violation?

Where the fuck are my civil rights?

I’m not calling for violence against Muslims.

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However all it would take for Muslims to put a price on my head would be for me to insult Muhammed or draw an image, flattering or not of Muhammed.

The US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee better step the hell back, and carefully consider what he’s saying. My badmouthing Muslims, Catholics, Baptists, Buddhists, Wiccans, Agnostics, or Atheists had damn well be treated exactly the same.

Either we’re all free and equal or none of us is. 

You’d think that a US Attorney from any district in the country would know that.

A really nice morning in the mountains.

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Despite the fires burning, more or less in the area… it’s a nice comfortable day.

I’m sitting outside on the deck writing having my morning coffee.

According to the ‘net the Powerhouse fire has greatly increased in size over night and more evacuations have been ordered. I really feel for those people.

It’s no fun having to leave your house not knowing if you’re ever going to see it again. There’s no way to take all your possessions which leaves you trying to choose those items, & mementos that are most important.

I know, I’ve been there…

For me, it’s about grabbing the computer and backups first. Most of my pictures are digital anymore and to loose them would be as devastating as having lost all my negatives in 2008. Most of my books are digital and I can download them again. music is likewise mostly electronic. 

After the house burned, I consciously or subconsciously started making choices that led me to easy replacement of things like that. 

Sitting here typing my yard has been invaded by a covey of quail. Two parents and 4 to 6 chicks. A bunny has also come to the fence line eating tender shoots.  I do enjoy the mountain. 

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Friday night the winds were kicking up enough that we could smell the smoke from the Powerhouse Fire. Last night and this morning we couldn’t. Looking out towards Victorville it’s really hazy.

I had to relocate. The sun was finally clear of the trees and not yet high enough for the umbrella to be effective. I was starting to feel it on my arms & legs. Before I burned I figured I’d best get to some cover.

Yeah, I’m a little random today. Sundays are for randomness and quiet. 

I couldn’t get a camera to take pictures of the critters in the yard. It was funny, as long as I didn’t look at them I could hear that they were going about their business. Rustling in the bushes, cheeps and other sounds. But the moment I turned my head to look at them they all froze.

When I got up to come inside every critter scattered. 

I guess I’ll have to be better prepared tomorrow.

Obviously, I’m purposely ignoring the scandals in Washington, and the Stupidity in Sacramento today. I really don’t want to get worked up.

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I’m planning to handle a SMOG check on my truck this week and then I get to spend a ton of money on registrations for vehicles. OH JOY!

That’s business for tomorrow. My only business today is enjoying the birds in the trees.

I hope your Sunday is as restful and relaxing as mine is.

Welcome Komrade to Kalifornia

I’m really disturbed by the California legislators.

Recently, they’ve approved several measures regarding guns and ammunition. Individually these measures are innocuous but when you pull back and look at these measures as a tapestry, Then the picture is chilling.

First I think many of us would agree that the California legislators absolutely want to deprive Californians of their 2nd amendment rights.

However, they know that an outright assault on the 2nd amendment of the United States Constitution would fail.

Regardless of how stupid you might think the legislators are, they’re not stupid at all. (Always respect your enemy. Never underestimate their ability, doing so will cause you to make mistakes.)

They’re very cleverly creating a situation where you can own a gun. But you can’t afford to shoot it.

With the microstamping law, you can’t even buy a gun in California unless manufacturers decide to incorporate the microstamping technology.

Then there’s this lovely set of laws they’re OKing;

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Ladies & Gentlemen, this is how it ends. Our rights stripped from us in the legal wrangling of politicians.

These politicians are using State Law to circumvent the constitutional protection that the 2nd amendment confers upon US Citizens.

If these Bills and others like them are signed into law, California will become a gun free zone just like Chicago and Washington DC. Which means we can reasonably expect to see increasing crime until it reaches the same levels as Chicago and DC.

Is this what you want?

There have been at least two research firms that confirmed Crime Rates drop as Gun Ownership rises.  National Institute of Justice statistics show that over at least the past decade gun crimes are generally dropping not increasing.

One very interesting statistic is that 40% of the inmates who’d committed a crime with a gun stated they’d gotten their gun from an illegal source.

Why then is the Federal government and California State government continuing to pursue laws aimed at restricting the 2nd Amendment?

That’s the question to ask.

Read the statistics for yourself. I realize if you’re a reader of this blog I’m probably preaching to the choir. But if you can direct  other people to this blog then maybe we can educate them before bills like those above become laws.

Remember, other states look at what California does before writing their own laws.

Just Sayin.

And Once again Verizon demonstrates…

Why so very many people hate them!

Internet goes down. 

Modem says problem Bad & at their end.

Call Verizon.

35 minutes of screwing around with their stinking voice obfuscation system which is all the while telling me that I can resolve my problems by visiting them on the web at www.verizon.com. 

To which I say If I could visit you at www.verizon.com I’d sign up FOR THE CARRIER providing me with the ability TO visit www.verizon.com.

Then I finally get to some female in god knows where but based on the static and her accent I’d bet she was in India somewhere. I ask her a simple question. “Is there a service problem in my area?” All I needed was a simple “Yes / No / I don’t know let me check”.

Instead we went down the rabbit hole which is all too common these days.

What is your operating system?” – I’ve gotten in the habit of simply telling them UNIX. It’s true and then we don’t have to deal with the bullshit Windows questions.

What is the Model of the modem you’re using?” – It’s a Netgear ADSL2+ DM111PSPv2

Do you have a Verizon Modem?” – Nope, the one you sent me died and I didn’t feel like waiting 2 weeks for you to get ’round to sending me a new one so I bought this one a year & a half ago and it’s been working just fine since I installed it.

Can you connect your computer directly to the modem?” – Uh NOPE, I’m not going to tear all my wiring out just so you can say I did.

Is the modem connected directly to the wall?” – UH YEAH… the Modem reported to me that at 12:53 PST it lost contact with your DNS Servers and was no longer able to obtain a DSL address.

What are the lights on your modem indicating?” – FUCK!!!!! Power Green, Ethernet Green, DSL Signal Green, WWW/WAN RED

Do you have a wireless router?” – Yes

What is the make of the wireless Router” – It’s an Apple not that it’s of any importance to this situation

Is the modem connected to the Router” – GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! Everything was working and has been working just fine. Can you please just run a damn line test?

Can you directly connect you computer to the modem?” – Look lady, I’ve got 10 computers of various types, and operating systems all running and communicating to a bunch of hard drives just fine via the router that you’re obviously trying to blame for your companies failure to provide internet service.

SO NO I’m not going to rewire my shit unless you can give me a seriously fucking compelling reason to do so.

What is the result of the line test?

Oh the line test has indicated a problem, can you turn you modem off and back on?” – Yes… climbs back up on the ladder to push the button.

Ok modem restarted…

Static ~ Static ~ Static ~ Long Long Long wait…

I’m so sorry that you have been inconvenienced you will be receiving a phone call within 24 to 48 hours explaining when you can expect your internet service to resume.

So the line test failed… “Yes, the line test failed, We have received reports that DSL service has been disrupted in your area.

So had you received those reports Before or After we began this little conversation?

We knew there was a service outage in your area

Great! Thanks for wasting my time.

I Hang up.

Why the hell is it so damn hard for people to just answer the question? Better yet why the hell didn’t Verizon route me to a recorded message based on my phone number that simply said

DSL Service is Temporarily Down in your area. We are working to resolve the problem.

That would have saved me the annoyance, and the “Technical Support Monkey” in India a lot of frustration.

This blog will not have any pictures…. I may add some when the internet comes back up.

How did I post this you ask????

I’m using the hotspot in my cell phone. It’s only a 2G connection but it’s working.

Sigh…


Saturday Update:

They’re at it again.  This morning Verizon was giving my modem an ip address… every 20 seconds. However the data rate was 2000 BITs per second.

Rough math says that’s about 250 Characters per second which means that if you were just reading text based information you’d be able to easily keep up as the text scrolled across the screen. That is assuming that you can actually read… I guess if you’re here reading this blog you do know how to read… Good for you!

However with todays content rich websites… the reality is that you’ll see nothing but a blank page.

After restarting every single system in my network (Modem, Routers, Computers, WiFI extenders), I realized with horror that I’d need to report the problem to Verizon. 

After Irishing my coffee… I was once again on the phone working my way through the insanity that is Verizons menu system.

It’s all voice activated and apparently tuned for non English speaking people because even when I’m speaking to it calmly (Before it pisses me off) it doesn’t understand me. 

As an aside… I really hate voice recognition/prompts that have Genuine People Personalities I find them annoying and condescending. 

This time I tried to work with the damn machine.

I was able to get it to run a line test. It determined that something was wrong and told me that it was going to transfer me to a human being. 

“Cool” I thought. 

Then for my protection, it wanted me to enter the last 8 or 10 digits of my account number. As If I had that handy!!!! Failing that… They wanted me to enter the amount I’d last paid them. UHHH Yeah! RIGHT! If I don’t have the account number handy, I’m sure as hell not going to have the last amount I paid handy.

I mean I could look it up ON THE INTERNET except that I can’t get to the Verizon web pages.

You know… The web pages where we’re all asked to “Go Green” and Save paper by signing up for automatic payments? Yeah… THAT page.

Which takes me into the loop where the Genuine People Personality tries to get me to pull this information out of my ass.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”

At this point I’m heating up for a full on explosion.

Then I remember being told once swearing foully at these systems can get you to a human being. So I channel the spirits of some of my favorite Marines!

It did break me out of the loop… and I felt better too!

Then I’m in a hold queue where a very nice voice complete with Indian accent is telling me they’ll get to me in less than 15 minutes and that she’s sorry for the inconvenience.

I’m calmer. I go back to my desk. I’m watching the modem performance statistics.  

The indian accent lady is telling me they’ll get to me in less than 15 minutes and that she’s sorry for the inconvenience. AGAIN

When all the sudden the stats jump way up Bits… Kilobits… Megabits… per second. the throughput stabilizes at 2.96Mbps (normal)  for my DSL service.

Still, the indian accent lady is telling me they’ll get to me in less than 15 minutes and that she’s sorry for the inconvenience.

I hang up. 

Whatever the hell the problem was… they must have gotten thousands of calls about it.

I’m guessing that was enough to light a fire under them. 

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Good! 

Remember these Utilities WORK for YOU!

They need to be reminded of that on a regular basis. 

Yeah… I’m all Nebari today. So what?

I’d decided that I was going to refer to whoever I spoke with at Verizon in the Nebari way.

ServicerI will give commands, you will execute commands

I probably wouldn’t have made and friends… but I sure as hell would have felt better!

On this Memorial Day…

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I know that it’s not Veterans Day but I think that we should say thank you to our warriors today nonetheless.

I want to thank my brother for his service. I love you bro, you’re a good man and I know Dad was prouder than shit of you.

To everyone else active duty or not,

Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Thank you for believing in We The People.


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Thank you to my friends & family who are no longer with us for their service. I humbly pray that they rest in peace and are not forgotten. 

John, I miss you, love ya man. Keep the beer cold and the party hot I’ll see you again.

Dad, I miss you and I love you more than I said in life. I think of you often, and god knows I’m trying to be a good example of our family. A little nudge in the right direction from time to time would be appreciated.

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Grandpa E. You were like the Tanks that you drove in WWII big and rumbling. I didn’t understand you very well, But you loved me and that was all that mattered. 

For all those who have given all that I didn’t personally know.

Thank you for my freedom, my rights, and the thousand little things that I take for granted every single day. I may not know your names but you’re my heros anyway.

Have a very loving Memorial Day.

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Give a vet a long strong hug. They’re remembering lost friends and need to know they’re loved, respected, appreciated, and that we’re grateful to them.