Category: Rants

Posted on

CISPA Ahhh a rose by any other name, Is still a stinking pile…

First it was SOPA, and PIPA.

Now it’s CISPA.

People, this is classic government Bull Shit! One of the thnigs that you must remember about our governement is that the idiots running it are… well idiots! 

Having worked however briefly with the government, I can tell you one true thing. Projects, AKA Bad Ideas never die. They’re just recycled.

Politicians are inherently lazy. They’re not going to create anything new or original they’re going to pick up the tattered remains of some discarded bill. They’ll read about 10 lines of the summary, then they’ll put a new name on it, dress it up with some fancy new benefit and have it on the Senate floor again in a year.

“One Bill” Gill Cedillo is a great example of this. Except in his case he kept presenting the same bill over and over again in the House. He thought it was a good idea for illegal immigrants to have drivers licenses. Every year for 4 or 6 years he’d dust off this stupid bill and present it to the House.

One year is was about Safety, then Next years he said the illegals would get insurance, the next year he made the case that California would see increased registration fees, and so on. In every case his bill was voted DOWN because the people raised hell and in a loud voice told Sacramento HELL NO! 

The people saw that giving Drivers Licenses to illegal immigrants would make being here illegally seem more legitimate. 

The problem with politicians is that they keep presenting the same shit in a different Sunday Hat over and over again. After a while, we’ve all heard about some astoundingly bad idea and voted it down enough times that we think it’s a dead issue. When we turn our attention elsewhere… that’s when one of these moronic ideas gets through the House and Senate and becomes Law.

So it is with this new stupidity.

CISPA Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act

First of all there are only a few organizations within our Government that have the technology and / or brain power to begin to worry about cybernetic data. They ALREADY share information and have since shortly after 911.

The real concern with this Act is much the same the same as it was with SOPA and PIPA OUR privacy. Unless you’re ready for an Orwellian future we all need to pay close attention to the erosion of our privacy.

The primary opposition for this incarnation of a Gee we’re the government you can trust us to spy on you act is that the controls for who is spyed on, where, when, and why are so weak. By WEAK I mean without warrant, or even probable cause.

Even President Obama who in my opinion has serious socialist leanings is against this particular act. He’s already stated publicly that he will not sign this into law. (Hey, even a broken clock is right 2 minutes a day.)

So for those who missed it the first time…

365 Orwell1984

CISPA Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act

Allows for the routine monitoring of any corporation, or individual who the government may find of interest. This monitoring will be done with no warrants, and no judicial oversight.

Couple this with the concept that all it takes for you to BE a terrorist is for the President to SAY you are a terrorist.

The implication is obvious. If someone in the government were to decide that you were a bit too much of an activist or you were exposing criminal wrongdoing via a blog, email, YouTube, or other electronic means. (Think about the secret service scandal. )

The electronic evidence could and would be turned over to government representatives simply because they asked Google, AT&T or whoever. BOOM, suddenly you’re arrested for being a terrorist insurgent trying to undermine the United States. Oh and by the way,  the government would have all the evidence they needed to try, and convict you in a military court. Hope you like GITMO during hurricane season.

This act if passed would also circumvent the Wiretap act and Electronic Privacy act. Both of these acts were passed specifically to prevent this kind of abuse.

So get on the phone, get on email, post your opposition to your blogs, LIGHT UP THE CONGRESSIONAL SWITCHBOARD Demand to be heard.

Demand that your representative answer why suddenly they’re willing to undermine our freedoms? Why haven’t they repealed the Wiretap act and Electronic Privacy act if they now think that CISPA is the proper way to go?

Take control, make your representatives REPRESENT YOU!

Posted on

Lady Gaga offends with innocent comment.

You have to be fucking kidding me!

The Huffington Post carried a story about offended fans of Gaga

Cheeseburger

Lady Gaga said in a tweet she’d just done two spin classes back to back and was eating a salad but dreaming of a cheeseburger.

She hashtagged the tweet with #popsingersdonteat and it looks to me like she was being funny.

Anyone who’s spent any time in a gym knows damn well that we eat the salad because it’s good for us.

But in our heart of hearts after burning a ton of calories our bodies are telling us;

“MEAT!  After all that work I want fucking mammoth meat and I want it NOW!“

Apparently organizations which deal with eating disorders and many fans took offense that Gaga might have said something TRUE about her personal state of mind.

Gaga demonstrated once again that she is a human being with a brain, wants, desires,  a sense of humor,  an understanding of irony, and apparently the ability to integrate it all.

The National Eating Disorder Association seems to have gone way out of the way to make a statement that I personally find moronic. They say in their twitter account;

“Huh? This is the same person who recently implored girls to stop dieting?”

What? Lady Gaga wasn’t making a blanket comment about people with eating disorders or anything else. Since when does not needlessly dieting equate to not getting off your ass and exercising?

Abraham Lincoln once said “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.“

I’m using a modernized variant “You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot please all of the people all of the time.“

Frankly, I’m done with even trying to please anyone anymore. Accept me as I am, because as Gaga says… I WAS BORN THIS WAY!

Posted on

I’d really like to thank my prescription insurance provider …

I wrote this a few days ago. I’ve been waiting to post it for a couple of reasons.

I wanted to make sure that I still felt as strongly about it as I did when I wrote this peice.

I wanted to end this on a good note

Pills

My insurance provider has decided that they know better than my Physician.

In order to save .02 per pill, for an overall savings of 1.80 per prescription, my insurance provider ExpressScripts changed my prescription. You know… I’d have paid the 1.80 extra just so I didn’t have the hassle. Unfortunately, I wasn’t given that choice.

They assure me that the drug they’ve substituted is the SAME as the drug that I’ve been using successfully and with no problems for 3 years!

If it’s the same then why is the molecular structure different? Why is the chemical formula different?

I went on the new drug this morning. Less than 12 hours after the switch I’m feeling like shit.

My diastolic Blood pressure has climbed 10 points in the past 6 hours and I’m not doing anything.

I have a couple of questions to ask.

Why can my insurance provider execute “Step Therapy” without actually seeing me? STEP means we’re going to fuck you in the name of savings.

The FDA claims that if we purchase drugs from Canada, or Mexico we’re placing ourselves in danger.

At least buying from Canada and Mexico I’m actually GETTING THE DRUG that my Doctor prescribed!

Yet the FDA has no problem with prescription drugs being substituted without a Doctor exam, and in some cases without actually contacting the physician that wrote the prescription in the first place.

Why would you take a patient off a medication that was working just fine, with no side effects, and essentially experiment with them? I thought we outlawed that kind of experimentation after Joseph Mengele’s experimentation in the death camps came to light.

Sterile latex surgical gloves

Essentially, this phamaceutical insurance company has decided that it’s OK to have me start taking a drug which may … OR MAY NOT work.

They’ve done this in a situation where I am likely to be at work, or at home and the effect or lack of effect may be subtle enough that I won’t notice. By the time I figure out that I have a problem…   I could conceivably be on a gurney in the back of an ambulance.

Then it occurred to me, if I’m hospitalized it would not be their problem…

It’s MINE and can easily be covered up as a “Natural” event, NOT A DIRECT EFFECT OF ExpressScripts swapping my medication with ZERO SUPPORT.

As of today, almost 2 weeks after the switch I’m adapting. The initial 96 hours was very rough. I’ve been having good days and bad days however I’m returning to my normal self.  I spoke with the Doc yesterday, he wasn’t too concerned. He mentioned that new research had expanded the definition of “Normal” and that I was well within the range.

He also reminded me that I needed to come in to see him and that he had a rubber glove waiting with my name on it. DAMN!

You know… his fingers don’t look that big, should a prostate exam take 30 minutes and why does he dim the lights?

Posted on

Ms. Manners asks How Rude are you?

How rude are you when commenting on someone’s blog, or on an article you’ve read?

I remember some of the FLAME Wars that would erupt on the IRC channels. Those would get downright vicious and sometimes so brutal the IRC channel would be killed because people simply got tired of reading one venomous message after another.

I’ve seen Flame emails start and persist for DAYS at some companies where I’ve worked.

The best of these usually revolved around someone accidentally sending a message to “ALL” then all hell would break loose.

Often some “Kind” soul who knew much better than anyone else how the email system was to be used, volunteered to tutor the miscreant who dared to send to ALL.

I actually looked forward to these events because they were a great way to figure out who in the company to avoid at all costs. I mean if people are wrapped so tightly that they over-react to a simple mistake, it’s probably best that I not interact with them EVER.

The funniest part of these flame wars was that inevitably the “Kind Hearted” superior soul would chastise the miscreant and would do it BY REPLYING TO ALL.

This would lead to a furball where a bunch of other people would get really snippy and hostile. Particularly if they were part of the effete corporate Blackberry class. Apparently, the folks the company provided with Blackberries were simply TOO important to turn the machine off when they went to bed.

The strangest part of the intra-corporate flame war is that there is no anonymity.

A corporate directory will tell you exactly who someone is and who they work for. And yet all sense of decorum would fly right out the window.

At one company, the CEO sent a message to ALL that said simply, “This is the last email about this subject, the next one of you that hits REPLY ALL is fired!”

I’m sure some idiot hit REPLY ALL after the CEOs message.

If people in a corporate setting where there is no anonymity are willing to flame each other publicly I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at the verbal violence we see when people can comment anonymously.

I used to think that rude comments and flame wars were a function of the “newness” of the media being used. All of us have sent one of those ill consid

Angry old woman 1

ered emails at least once. Usually we learn

Lately, I’ve been reading lots of blogs, and newspapers online lately. People not only HAVEN’T changed, I think they’ve gotten worse.

A blogger that I read with some frequency posted a very eloquent article recently about this issue.

His blog describes events in his life. These events are in his past, EVEN if the event he writes about happened only two hours ago.

He’s apparently received highly caustic comments regarding his life choices, relationships, and sexual proclivities. People feel the need to sit in judgement of him while they’re reading HIS blog where he’s voluntarily sharing his life with the world. It’s not like these folks don’t know what they’re going to read about. They’re not being coerced in any way to read what he has to say.

This blows my mind!

I’ve occasionally opened my mouth metaphorically in newspaper or blog comment sections. I have also attempted to refute some of the most hateful statements others made.

Most recently, I opened my mouth on a newspaper in Miami. The article was about Marine kiss in Hawaii. I was astounded at the things people thought were appropriate to say. Then as I read further, I couldn’t help myself… I opened my mouth. Several people took offense at what I has to say and I responded politely to their concerns.

I’ve been wondering lately if this really is getting worse or if its my perception.

Posted on

GET A FUCKING CLUE AMERICA!

This society is increasingly becoming what can only be characterized as nothing less than a Theocracy.

Our politicians are pandering to this small group of venomous, treasonous, despicable people, at the exclusion of more mainstream centrist positions.

Venomous due to the vitriol spewing from their mouths in a never ending stream.

Treasonous because they seek to create exceptions in the constitution and bill of rights that exclude specific groups.

Despicable because they seek to hide the true nature of freedom from many today, and all of our children and grand children tomorrow.

And while many of you sit thinking “I’m not a Woman, Single, or Gay, this doesn’t matter to me”

SingleBoot2 hiRez

This Theocracy isn’t just about oppressing one group of people. This group is about oppressing everyone with differing beliefs.

Take a very good hard look at the recent spate of proposed reproductive controls. Women were in the NOT TOO distant past considered chattel. If just a few of these reproductive controls gain ground due to religious fervor, then we could easily be on the slippery slope to “the good ‘ol days again“

What happens when for religious reasons your company refuses to allow your insurance company to pay for birth control?Your wife ends up pregnant at least once every 18 months.

How about refusing to rent to you because you’re not a member of their church in good standing? “Oh, you’re going to have to rent from the Lutheran down the road a piece”

Removing anti-discrimination protection only works if every single member of a community is treated equally AND enjoys equal protection under existing law.

We know that isn’t the norm. Differing ethnicities, genders, cultures and sexual orientations fought to put anti-discrimination law on the books BECAUSE they didn’t enjoy equal protection.

A womans right to choose. A womans right to vote. African Americans right to marry. A single womans right to rent or own property. A gay persons right to live un-molested. All these rights came about because someone fought to codify them in law. Technically these rights existed already but abuse and narrowing definitions of the Class that enjoyed these freedoms forced legal precedents that resulted in law that specifically and unequivocally said for example; “A Woman may VOTE.”

Right now a brutal, cruel Theocracy is trying to undermine the freedoms that we all are entitled to.

Kansas and Arizona are two states where this Theocracy is winning

Few people ever think about how discriminatory laws might be used to affect them until they find themselves out of a job because their boss saw a picture of their 3rd boyfriend or girlfriend in a month on Facebook.

How about being fired because your girlfriend tweets “God, he was such a gentle lover, despite his large size, I sooo want to sleep with him again.“

Guess what? You’ve both sinned in the eyes of the High Minded religious wonders.

You’ve committed Adultery! The Taliban in Afghanistan will stone a woman for that. That’s after all, the Old Testament punishment right? “The wages of sin is death“

The point I’m belaboring is this:

When you allow “Moral” judgements from Religion to dictate the law of the land. You’ve destroyed everything that the founding fathers sought to create.

It wasn’t freedom of religion… It was freedom FROM Religion if that is your choice.

Thanks to Michael in Norfolk for the priceless image of the boot with Uncle Sam.