Okay, I have a better understanding of this Russian thing than I did before. What I would like to know now is what prompted the investigation in the first place. I'll see what I can find on Wiki this weekend. I would have done it tonight, but I clicked on Old Dog's link to that sad clown. I suppose he is good at what he does, but it's not my cup of tea. Tiny Tim was never my cup of tea either, I just was reminded of the song about the ice caps when I read that article in National Geographic.
I understand that when you delete an email it goes into the deleted file and, if you want to really get rid of it, you have to go to the deleted file and re-delete the message all over again. I am using my Gmail account directly now and not running it through the Windows program because I wasn't able to get that to work. With Gmail, anything in the deleted file or the spam file is supposed to go away after 30 days unless you delete it sooner. I have not checked to see if that actually happens, I'll have to do that one of these days. Uncle Ken, are you saying that, even after you delete the message from the deleted file, that it still exists in your Permanent Record? Not that it matters because I have nothing to hide, I just wondered.
The thing is, why would anybody want to make any kind of record of something wrong that they did? The first time I remember that happening was with Nixon and those Watergate tapes. The right wing nuts with whom I was associating at the time believed that Nixon either was unaware of the tapes or was powerless to stop them, but they were just paranoid. So what's the opinion of my esteemed colleagues? Why would Nixon, or anybody, deliberately produce material evidence that could be used against them? I seem to remember hearing on the news some years ago that some guys killed some people in a drive by shooting spree. They might have gotten away with it too, if they hadn't videotaped the whole thing and posted it on You Tube. Closer to home, decades ago, there were some guys from nearby Onaway who were driving down a woods road with parts of an illegally taken deer in their trunk, incorrect license plates on the car, a burned out tail light, no valid driver's license, and no proof of insurance. I don't remember if they had open intoxicants in the car, but that might have explained their actions. Anyway, the road was narrow, so they pulled over to let an approaching car get by them. When they saw that it was a DNR (conservation) officer, they decided to turn around, catch up with him, run him off the road, and moon him out the side window as they went by. They were subsequently apprehended......Duh!
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Send in the clowns
I don't know how it is today, but way back when you could go to the Board of Election Commissioners in City Hall and get any list of registered voters you wanted. They were listed by precinct and included the address (but not phone number, you had to look those up) of the voter. I think they were free but the memory is fuzzy. I know this because I was involved in a campaign with a pal of mine; he wanted to set up a business doing polling, research, and fund raising for a local guy running for state rep against the Democratic Machine. His guy lost, so that was the end of that.
-----
Uncle Ken mentioned putting a movie in his Netflix queue, and I asked him about this at one of the seminars. As a Netflix customer, can he not also view streamed movies? Netflix is starting to develop it's own original programming and I don't know if it is available on DVD. They have a TV show which should be right up his alley, a program called GLOW, which deals with the world of ladies' professional wrestling. Another Netflix original is the film Okja, a curious hybrid of a movie that has received much favorable critical response. It was directed by the same Korean guy who directed The Host and Snowpiercer and I thought the movie was much better than average. I like movies that go into directions that are unpredictable.
-----
The previous discussion about Tiny Tim got me thinking about another unique performance artist, but this one is current and has a growing fan base. I first saw him about a year ago on one of early morning WGN newscasts. Imagine a 6' 7" tall clown, of the sad, white clown, variety. He is totally mute except when he sings, which he does quite well. There are plenty of YouTube videos, including his America's Got Talent audition. Gentlemen, I present for your enjoyment, Puddles Pity Party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlgzsJjOVG4
-----
Uncle Ken mentioned putting a movie in his Netflix queue, and I asked him about this at one of the seminars. As a Netflix customer, can he not also view streamed movies? Netflix is starting to develop it's own original programming and I don't know if it is available on DVD. They have a TV show which should be right up his alley, a program called GLOW, which deals with the world of ladies' professional wrestling. Another Netflix original is the film Okja, a curious hybrid of a movie that has received much favorable critical response. It was directed by the same Korean guy who directed The Host and Snowpiercer and I thought the movie was much better than average. I like movies that go into directions that are unpredictable.
-----
The previous discussion about Tiny Tim got me thinking about another unique performance artist, but this one is current and has a growing fan base. I first saw him about a year ago on one of early morning WGN newscasts. Imagine a 6' 7" tall clown, of the sad, white clown, variety. He is totally mute except when he sings, which he does quite well. There are plenty of YouTube videos, including his America's Got Talent audition. Gentlemen, I present for your enjoyment, Puddles Pity Party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlgzsJjOVG4
The White Shadow revealed
The White Shadow is my nickname for Mike Pence (you know how I like nicknames) because of his appearance and the way he is kind of there and not there, and yet he could become president if Trump gets dumped. A long time ago there was a tv series about a white coach for a black basketball team and that's where I first heard the the phrase, but that show has nothing to do with my current incantation. Pence appears to be something of a dumbass and a boy scout and very loyal, which may be why Trump chose him, but who knows.
But he is a politician, and I don't think anybody gets to be governor without, well making a move or two, and he has such a perfect cover, who would expect him, and lately he has to begun to distance himself from Trump's pirate ship, though you would have to be a pretty close follower of the news to pick up on that.
I meant a more figurative definition to being taken to court, by which I meant the investigations. The investigations are theoretically into Russian influence in the elections, but from what the public can see Trump's short fingerprints are found all over the evidence, so the real story here is how actively did the Trumpist's collude with the Russkies. Did they coordinate with them? Did they agree to tread easy on the Russkies in exchange for their help? Did the Russkies have so much blackmail evidence against them that they are now doing their bidding?
I hear a lot of Trumpists complaining about there is no evidence of any wrongdoing by the Trumpists so they should shut them down, and when Beagles complained that he was tired of hearing about it I thought he was echoing that. The response to the demand to shut down the investigations is that there is plenty of evidence and you don't find the evidence until something is over. If Beagles is saying only that he is tired of hearing about it, well shit, I get tired of celebrity news (except for fake butt stories) but I don't expect it to ever cease.
And it's kind of a thing here. There is kind of a cycle going on here. Trump tweets something outrageous and generally false in the morning and the media chew on it all day, and Trump watches them chewing on it and gets increasingly pissed off so the next morning he tweets his displeasure and then the press chews on that, and so on, and so on, and doobie doobie doo on.
I suspect that probably since the seventies Beagles' polling place has had their records on computer and what he is seeing is the printouts from the computer. I'm a little puzzled by why all these computers are connected with each other and to the internet,but they are. And if Beagles thinks because he has hit the deleted button on the computer that his email has left this world, he is mistaken.
But he is a politician, and I don't think anybody gets to be governor without, well making a move or two, and he has such a perfect cover, who would expect him, and lately he has to begun to distance himself from Trump's pirate ship, though you would have to be a pretty close follower of the news to pick up on that.
I meant a more figurative definition to being taken to court, by which I meant the investigations. The investigations are theoretically into Russian influence in the elections, but from what the public can see Trump's short fingerprints are found all over the evidence, so the real story here is how actively did the Trumpist's collude with the Russkies. Did they coordinate with them? Did they agree to tread easy on the Russkies in exchange for their help? Did the Russkies have so much blackmail evidence against them that they are now doing their bidding?
I hear a lot of Trumpists complaining about there is no evidence of any wrongdoing by the Trumpists so they should shut them down, and when Beagles complained that he was tired of hearing about it I thought he was echoing that. The response to the demand to shut down the investigations is that there is plenty of evidence and you don't find the evidence until something is over. If Beagles is saying only that he is tired of hearing about it, well shit, I get tired of celebrity news (except for fake butt stories) but I don't expect it to ever cease.
And it's kind of a thing here. There is kind of a cycle going on here. Trump tweets something outrageous and generally false in the morning and the media chew on it all day, and Trump watches them chewing on it and gets increasingly pissed off so the next morning he tweets his displeasure and then the press chews on that, and so on, and so on, and doobie doobie doo on.
I suspect that probably since the seventies Beagles' polling place has had their records on computer and what he is seeing is the printouts from the computer. I'm a little puzzled by why all these computers are connected with each other and to the internet,but they are. And if Beagles thinks because he has hit the deleted button on the computer that his email has left this world, he is mistaken.
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
The White Shadow?
I looked it up on Wiki, and all I could find were references to fictional characters in a few old movies and a TV show. I assume that the current White Shadow was named after one of them, probably by Uncle Ken himself. It would be helpful if he would tell us this person's real name so we can look it up and find out who he is talking about. When I said that I was tired of hearing about this Russian thing, I meant in the news reports, which are mostly repetitive and redundant. I wouldn't mind discussing it on this forum, but first I have to be brought up to speed.
When you say that the matter has already been brought to court, does that mean that one or more people have been arrested and formally charged with a crime? It is my understanding that there is an investigation in progress, but I haven't heard about anybody being charged with anything yet. In a previous post I asked what those nasty Russians have allegedly done to tamper with our elections, and Uncle Ken said that they posted some fake news on the internet. If that's a crime, then they'd better start building more prisons because lots of people do that every day, and I doubt that many of them ask Trump's permission before they do it.
I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there is a concern that the Russians, the Islamic terrorists, or the Republicans might be able to hack into the voting records. What good would that do them? Those records show who voted, but the don't show how they voted. Until a few years ago, our local voting records were kept in a loose leaf binder at the county clerk's office, and I think that anybody could ask to see them if they wanted to. I have observed the election workers using that book, and there was no attempt to keep it a secret. There was a printed list of the names of all the registered voters and, when you voted, the lady crossed out your name with a yellow magic marker to prevent you from voting more than once. The last time I voted, I saw that all that stuff has now been put on a computer. Nothing wrong with that, but I hope they back it up with a hard copy, or at least a CD, because computers can be hacked. Well, I don't know, can a computer be hacked if it's not connected to the internet? Why would they need to connect this one to the internet anyway? The old loose leaf binder certainly wasn't connected to the internet, and it worked just fine.
And what's with all those email scandals? I delete all my emails when I'm done with them, and I assumed that everybody did, especially ones that might be incriminating, or even just embarrassing. It's like Nixon with those Watergate tapes. Why did he make them in the first place, and why didn't he destroy them as soon as the heat was turned on? Speaking of Nixon, I don't think he was ever formally charged with anything. He resigned before he could be impeached, and his successor Gerald Ford issued a blanket pardon for anything he might have done.
When you say that the matter has already been brought to court, does that mean that one or more people have been arrested and formally charged with a crime? It is my understanding that there is an investigation in progress, but I haven't heard about anybody being charged with anything yet. In a previous post I asked what those nasty Russians have allegedly done to tamper with our elections, and Uncle Ken said that they posted some fake news on the internet. If that's a crime, then they'd better start building more prisons because lots of people do that every day, and I doubt that many of them ask Trump's permission before they do it.
I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there is a concern that the Russians, the Islamic terrorists, or the Republicans might be able to hack into the voting records. What good would that do them? Those records show who voted, but the don't show how they voted. Until a few years ago, our local voting records were kept in a loose leaf binder at the county clerk's office, and I think that anybody could ask to see them if they wanted to. I have observed the election workers using that book, and there was no attempt to keep it a secret. There was a printed list of the names of all the registered voters and, when you voted, the lady crossed out your name with a yellow magic marker to prevent you from voting more than once. The last time I voted, I saw that all that stuff has now been put on a computer. Nothing wrong with that, but I hope they back it up with a hard copy, or at least a CD, because computers can be hacked. Well, I don't know, can a computer be hacked if it's not connected to the internet? Why would they need to connect this one to the internet anyway? The old loose leaf binder certainly wasn't connected to the internet, and it worked just fine.
And what's with all those email scandals? I delete all my emails when I'm done with them, and I assumed that everybody did, especially ones that might be incriminating, or even just embarrassing. It's like Nixon with those Watergate tapes. Why did he make them in the first place, and why didn't he destroy them as soon as the heat was turned on? Speaking of Nixon, I don't think he was ever formally charged with anything. He resigned before he could be impeached, and his successor Gerald Ford issued a blanket pardon for anything he might have done.
The White Shadow distances Himself
Damn I was looking forward to putting that Russians Are Coming movie into my queue, but Old Dog proclaims it flat and dull, and I am going to take him at his word. So many of those movies of that time were incurious and formulaic.
I am surprised that my colleagues are so bored by that Russian thing as they dismissively call it. To me it's like fireworks and to them it is like nothing going on. And now it appears that we have a smoking gun with Son O Trump's emails. Whenever there has been another damning piece of evidence I have switched over from the indignant and gleeful CNNers, to Foxworld where it is another sunny day in America which is getting greater in its greatness every day in every way, but this time even they were doubtful, with some of them even showing signs of irritation.
And it's not just that the Russians fucked with our election, it's that they did so with the cooperation of the guy running for president who is now rewarding them by trying to eliminate the sanctions against them and just generally being their international toady.
Stuxnet was sent to screw the centrifuges of Iran. Remember Iran, the great satan of the mideast? It looked like the reps were going to go full bore at them, but now that has sort of sputtered out.
I'm no engineer, but it seems likely that a sockslider, maybe with the addition of some adapter, could easily become an asswiper. Was that an old folk's channel that Colombo was on? Watching the Foxies in stunned amazement as they seemed to recognize the same world that I lived in, I caught some commercials for gold, but the one that surprised me a little was for some device that could freeze dry all the delicious meals that you cook, because who wouldn't want a year or two's worth of delicious freeze dried foods stocked amongst the board games in their bunker?
I think Beagles may be wrong about all this talk not leading to action, because I recall Nixon boarding that helicopter. He is right about the twenty second clip though, it is annoying the way they play it over and over. And when they have the talking heads in the foreground and the clip in the loop in the background it sets my teeth on edge.
But whither hence with the probes? Does anybody not think that it is going to lead eventually to the pistol in the short fingered hand? But what then? I think the regular reps would dearly love to be rid of this guy and most of the Trumpists are only on the train for their own advantage and would have no problem jumping off and dusting themselves off and pretending that they were never on the train. And remember the White Shadow? He is quietly edging himself away from the Donald, don't stand, don't stand, don't stand so close to me.
But what of the proud deplorables, the mad 35 percent? Do the reps want to be seen killing off their god? I just don't know, let me tune into CNN to see what they think.
I am surprised that my colleagues are so bored by that Russian thing as they dismissively call it. To me it's like fireworks and to them it is like nothing going on. And now it appears that we have a smoking gun with Son O Trump's emails. Whenever there has been another damning piece of evidence I have switched over from the indignant and gleeful CNNers, to Foxworld where it is another sunny day in America which is getting greater in its greatness every day in every way, but this time even they were doubtful, with some of them even showing signs of irritation.
And it's not just that the Russians fucked with our election, it's that they did so with the cooperation of the guy running for president who is now rewarding them by trying to eliminate the sanctions against them and just generally being their international toady.
Stuxnet was sent to screw the centrifuges of Iran. Remember Iran, the great satan of the mideast? It looked like the reps were going to go full bore at them, but now that has sort of sputtered out.
I'm no engineer, but it seems likely that a sockslider, maybe with the addition of some adapter, could easily become an asswiper. Was that an old folk's channel that Colombo was on? Watching the Foxies in stunned amazement as they seemed to recognize the same world that I lived in, I caught some commercials for gold, but the one that surprised me a little was for some device that could freeze dry all the delicious meals that you cook, because who wouldn't want a year or two's worth of delicious freeze dried foods stocked amongst the board games in their bunker?
I think Beagles may be wrong about all this talk not leading to action, because I recall Nixon boarding that helicopter. He is right about the twenty second clip though, it is annoying the way they play it over and over. And when they have the talking heads in the foreground and the clip in the loop in the background it sets my teeth on edge.
But whither hence with the probes? Does anybody not think that it is going to lead eventually to the pistol in the short fingered hand? But what then? I think the regular reps would dearly love to be rid of this guy and most of the Trumpists are only on the train for their own advantage and would have no problem jumping off and dusting themselves off and pretending that they were never on the train. And remember the White Shadow? He is quietly edging himself away from the Donald, don't stand, don't stand, don't stand so close to me.
But what of the proud deplorables, the mad 35 percent? Do the reps want to be seen killing off their god? I just don't know, let me tune into CNN to see what they think.
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
No News is Good News
You guys know that I don't follow the news like you do (How do you find the time?) so I don't know enough about this Russian thing to argue with you about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I don't believe it, and I'm not saying that I believe it either, I'm just saying that I'm getting tired of hearing about it. I was the same way about Watergate, and I followed the news even less in those days than I do now. I guess I just don't have the tolerance for repetition that some people have. Watching an old re-run that you haven't seen in years is not the same thing as hearing the same news over and over again day after day, and watching the same 20 second film clip play over and over again in the same broadcast.
Another thing is that all this talk seldom leads to any kind of action. I like to talk as much as the next guy but, at some point, I get tired of just talking and I want to do something. My friend and I talked about going to Alaska all through high school. We recruited a few accomplices in our senior year, and one of them got so excited about it that he couldn't wait till we graduated, he quit school and set out on his own hitchhiking. I ran into him years later when I was home on leave from the army. He told me that he only got as far as Kansas, ran out of money, had no job prospects, and joined the army just to get something to eat. I told him that he should have looked at a map before he started out, because Kansas is not on the way to Alaska. As graduation day approached, the other guys seemed less and less interested. I couldn't get any of them to make any concrete plans with me, so I went by myself. It was easy, I bought a one way ticket on a non stop flight from Chicago to Anchorage. I don't remember what it cost, but it was cheaper than going any other way because I didn't have to pay for food and lodging. When I got back, my original friend said, "I can't believe you really did it.", and I responded, "I can't believe that you didn't."
I'm pretty sure that no whales were harmed in the filming of "Moby Dick". I seem to remember seeing a thing on TV about how the movie was made. Some wild whales were filmed from a distance, but the close up action scenes were all done with fake whales. I think they won some kind of award for the way they made Moby and his pals look so real.
Another thing is that all this talk seldom leads to any kind of action. I like to talk as much as the next guy but, at some point, I get tired of just talking and I want to do something. My friend and I talked about going to Alaska all through high school. We recruited a few accomplices in our senior year, and one of them got so excited about it that he couldn't wait till we graduated, he quit school and set out on his own hitchhiking. I ran into him years later when I was home on leave from the army. He told me that he only got as far as Kansas, ran out of money, had no job prospects, and joined the army just to get something to eat. I told him that he should have looked at a map before he started out, because Kansas is not on the way to Alaska. As graduation day approached, the other guys seemed less and less interested. I couldn't get any of them to make any concrete plans with me, so I went by myself. It was easy, I bought a one way ticket on a non stop flight from Chicago to Anchorage. I don't remember what it cost, but it was cheaper than going any other way because I didn't have to pay for food and lodging. When I got back, my original friend said, "I can't believe you really did it.", and I responded, "I can't believe that you didn't."
I'm pretty sure that no whales were harmed in the filming of "Moby Dick". I seem to remember seeing a thing on TV about how the movie was made. Some wild whales were filmed from a distance, but the close up action scenes were all done with fake whales. I think they won some kind of award for the way they made Moby and his pals look so real.
Nyet? Da!
When Uncle Ken mentioned the movie The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming I thought, Hey! I saw that when it came out! So to determine how well it withstands the test of time I found it online and watched it again, hoping it would be as good as I remembered. Sadly, it's not too good, although it does have it's moments. I thought it was pretty flat, almost dull, and not very entertaining.
The "good" version of Moby Dick is a different story; I got half way through it before I screwed up and lost the connection but what I saw holds up very well. A little scenery chewing by some of the actors at times but it still an impressive film, even with the 1950's era special effects. I'm convinced that a few whales were killed during production. And you can never go wrong with a screenplay that was partially written by Ray Bradbury.
-----
The Big Bang Theory is one of those shows that I avoid at all costs but if Mr. Beagles and the hypothetical wife enjoy it, well, more power to them. I find the laugh track particularly annoying, which is why I like shows that forgo it like Veep, Silicon Valley, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I think one of the first comedies shown without a laugh track, as opposed to shows filmed before a live audience, was Malcolm in the Middle, but I could be wrong on that one.
-----
All the blather about the Russians is becoming tiresome. Folks are reacting as if the United States has never meddled in the affairs of other sovereign nations but the big difference is the Russians got caught in the act. Isn't imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Mr. Beagles inquired about the situation in the Ukraine and it looks like they are the lab rats for Russian cyber attacks; see this for more info: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-hacking-of-ukraines-power-grid-test-run-for-us-attack/
More imitation, the precedent possibly being the US and Israeli deployment of Stuxnet to screw up the centrifuges in one of those Mid-Eastern countries, I forgot which one.
So we're in a real Cyber War now, and if you follow the money, it leads to trade and the price of oil. Russia is getting nailed because of the low oil prices, and disruption of any kind to drive up the price may be their goal.
But some of the current flap can be traced to the perceived lack of respect given to the Russians. Americans tend to ignore the fact that the Russians had the biggest impact, and lost more people, in defeating Hitler. We talk about the US landing on the moon but forget to mention Sputnik or Yuri Gagarin. Considering their level of technology and manufacturing infrastructure their accomplishments were astounding. They are a proud people and will go to great, often extreme, lengths to achieve their goals. Didn't Stalin once say something like "one death is a tragedy, a thousand deaths is a statistic?" The US should tread lightly in dealing with those guys; they don't dick around.
-----
I still enjoy watching Columbo, even if I've seen the episode before, usually many times before. But the programmers know their audience, which is geezers like myself. The ads are mostly for old people stuff: retirement insurance, pills for this or that, and most troublig, catheters. But a new ad caught my eye and I wonder what the world is coming to. For about 20 bucks you can buy the Sockslider, a gadget that helps you put on your socks without bending over. Hell, if things are that bad you probably can't wipe your ass either, but there is surely a gadget coming to market that will solve that problem, too.
The "good" version of Moby Dick is a different story; I got half way through it before I screwed up and lost the connection but what I saw holds up very well. A little scenery chewing by some of the actors at times but it still an impressive film, even with the 1950's era special effects. I'm convinced that a few whales were killed during production. And you can never go wrong with a screenplay that was partially written by Ray Bradbury.
-----
The Big Bang Theory is one of those shows that I avoid at all costs but if Mr. Beagles and the hypothetical wife enjoy it, well, more power to them. I find the laugh track particularly annoying, which is why I like shows that forgo it like Veep, Silicon Valley, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I think one of the first comedies shown without a laugh track, as opposed to shows filmed before a live audience, was Malcolm in the Middle, but I could be wrong on that one.
-----
All the blather about the Russians is becoming tiresome. Folks are reacting as if the United States has never meddled in the affairs of other sovereign nations but the big difference is the Russians got caught in the act. Isn't imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Mr. Beagles inquired about the situation in the Ukraine and it looks like they are the lab rats for Russian cyber attacks; see this for more info: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-hacking-of-ukraines-power-grid-test-run-for-us-attack/
More imitation, the precedent possibly being the US and Israeli deployment of Stuxnet to screw up the centrifuges in one of those Mid-Eastern countries, I forgot which one.
So we're in a real Cyber War now, and if you follow the money, it leads to trade and the price of oil. Russia is getting nailed because of the low oil prices, and disruption of any kind to drive up the price may be their goal.
But some of the current flap can be traced to the perceived lack of respect given to the Russians. Americans tend to ignore the fact that the Russians had the biggest impact, and lost more people, in defeating Hitler. We talk about the US landing on the moon but forget to mention Sputnik or Yuri Gagarin. Considering their level of technology and manufacturing infrastructure their accomplishments were astounding. They are a proud people and will go to great, often extreme, lengths to achieve their goals. Didn't Stalin once say something like "one death is a tragedy, a thousand deaths is a statistic?" The US should tread lightly in dealing with those guys; they don't dick around.
-----
I still enjoy watching Columbo, even if I've seen the episode before, usually many times before. But the programmers know their audience, which is geezers like myself. The ads are mostly for old people stuff: retirement insurance, pills for this or that, and most troublig, catheters. But a new ad caught my eye and I wonder what the world is coming to. For about 20 bucks you can buy the Sockslider, a gadget that helps you put on your socks without bending over. Hell, if things are that bad you probably can't wipe your ass either, but there is surely a gadget coming to market that will solve that problem, too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)