Memory

I find her waiting at the doorstep when I get home. She has turned up un-announced again, as she is wont to do. No luggage is in sight, she hasn’t even taken her shoes off and she is at the door poised, as if making an exit.

“Were you leaving or were you about to come in?” I ask her considerately, hoping she reads between the lines and discloses the purpose of her tarriance.

“It’s been a long time”, she answers.

That is the thing with her, she believes in brevity. There is no reading between the lines; there is no reading at all if she were to have her way. She taught me long ago that you look for meanings only when you are unwilling to accept the ones you already have.

“Acceptance sets you free to chase newer rainbows. If you study the rain drops and their pattern, you are left not only soaking wet but with an icy mist around the heart”, she told me once.

It has been a long time. That is the other thing about her, she regularly states the obvious. I wonder if it is because I am unwilling to see it, since the obvious is always the last option. You come to it when every other avenue you have explored leaves you with tired feet and a weary heart and no real answers. At least not the answers you were looking for.

I contemplate questioning her about the length of her visit but decide against it. She arrives uninvited, makes herself at home and leaves without notice or trace. That is the pattern and though it gives me no solace that all the decisions lie with her, I am a mere player in this pantomime.

“What do you remember about my last visit?’ she asks.

We all have areas in our hearts that we cordon off for ourselves for there are the truths that must not be admitted even to one’s self. There are vistas that are never explored, thoughts that never see the light of the day and nostalgia that is never aired and hopes never spoken. There is a face behind the mask. I dare not peek behind because the only face I know is the one I see in the mirror. It is an image, this much I know, but this skewed sense of reality suits me better than a truth that leaves you with nowhere to hide.

So I don’t answer the question about her last visit, because every visit of her challenges me to rip off the mask and spread my truths in a jumbled heap over the floor. I remember that every visit of her starts with a burning desire to ask her to leave. She doesn’t of course, like I said before I am a player; I cannot call curtains on her role and she loves to play it with such plume. Along the way, I get used to her presence, she grows on me like a second skin and I stop wanting her to go away. She doesn’t like it then, she values her freedom and this dependency is unpleasant for both of us.  However, we were good together once.

“You cannot define your journey by your fellow travelers”, she says. “And you cannot define it by its milestones either…you arrive when you know that you could just stop where you are and know that you had a good journey so far”.

”Why do you single me out for a visit?” I ask her. “I get along quite well, when you are not around”. At this she laughs and it is as beautiful as I remembered.

“Why do I visit you? Surely you must know the answer to that”. I don’t really know and I tell her so. She lowers her voice and leans closer, “When you look into the mirror every day, you see what you want to see, you ignore the hurt, you ignore the sadness, and you don’t notice the gleam that has been hiding behind the faraway look in your eyes. You get used to a familiarity that does not allow you to truth".

I am standing before the mirror as she says this and I turn around sharply to see how she can possibly see what my eyes have been hiding from me, all along. There is no one behind me. The door rocks ever so slightly in the gentle wind outside. As I run a trembling hand over my face, I hear a voice in the wind.

“If I didn’t visit you every now and then, you wouldn’t know yourself, I exist to let you know that I will continue to define you as long as you let me. When you push me away and look for what is yours before I came along and defined it for you, you will not need a mirror, and you will not need anyone, anymore”.

I walk away from the mirror and see if she is outside somewhere, she is gone, like a breeze on a hot day. Somewhere far away the wind whispers to itself and a barrage of leaves arrives at my feet.

“Don’t fight me too hard”, her voice says strangely disembodied over the wind, “for while I may hurt you when around, you will be uncomfortable with yourself if I were not to cross your path every now and again. You call me a memory, but I can easily become longing, sorrow or despair whenever you will allow me to”.

"We were good together once", I remind myself...

For Bella

This was a very touching song written for Bella by a friend of mine, Kassie (yes, with a K).  Kassie, Jaz and Bella go way back.  Thank you again, Kassie. I don't know what to say. This means a lot.  Though I am still hoping it is not her time yet to leave me.

I'd Rather She'd Given Me an STD....

If it Can Happen to Me

So, it was a Sunday morning, April 14 .  I had just finished taking Bella for a walk.  I noticed my phone battery was already a good deal used and my phone was hot….to the touch that is.  Though it is a pretty cool phone too.  It was also pretty slow to respond, so I reset it (turned it off and back on.  It did not come on.  All I got was a black screen. I tried for a little while and finally it came back on, but quickly got hot again.  So I decided I would just leave it alone for a while. 

At this point I logged in my computer and was about to do my normal Sunday morning ritual, coffee and …..Disclose.TV! Yea!  UFOs, conspiracies, Bigfoot…all the good stuff.  It comes out once a week and I am addicted.  Good entertainment….or is it?  Anyway, immediately I noticed I could NOT log on to my Gmail.  This was troubling.  I did all the normal stuff like reboot my computer etc. and still…nope.  Let me point out to you at this point that I am in the IT industry for 20 + years now. And at one time a bit of a hacker. These days not so much.  At lot more difficult (though not impossible) for what it is worth….seriously.  You have no idea.  I have a life you know.

After trying several more times unsuccessfully it hit me, I’d been hacked!!! How in the world?!?  I mean, I am pretty darn careful and I am in IT damn it!  I quickly googled (pretty ironic huh?) the problem and looked up what to do.  I called googled and as long as you have the answers to your “secret questions”. They can send you a password reset link. At first the rep was going to email it so I gave him my Outlook.com address but that was hacked too- I’ll get to this later.  He ended up just giving me the link upon my answering my two very secret questions.  Good thing I remembered the answers. It had been 4 freaking years. 

I reset my password but by the time I had been done talking the google rep my phone gave out.  Was out of battery again already!  And I had not even used it.  Once again it was hot to the touch…real hot.

I was pissed.  I had already had a phone replacement from AT&T.  Instead of calling them I had to get online and use the online chat offering. (Hate those).  They were nice enough to send me another phone overnight.  Of course, this couldn’t actually be sent until Monday and I received it Tuesday.  The next day from work I began to get control of my outlook.com account.  I should also mention that my phone, the old one, would not even turn on anymore regardless of how long I attempted to charge it.  Again…very hot even though it would not boot any longer.

I spoke with Microsoft rep (in India?!?!) and guess what? They were able to tell me quite a bit.  Apparently their logs did not show any hacking but they did show a lot of activity from China, Romania and California? No hacking I said?  No was the reply.  They showed me changing my password late ….REAL late Saturday night.  The hell I did I told him.  Long story short they were able to look at their records and show all the activity that took place AFTER the password was change as well as the origin.  Yep, you guessed it, China and Romania? both bouncing off a server in LA. Without getting too technical and from what I had been keeping up on I began piecing this together.

What this hack job was doing was collecting addresses to spam.  Yep, no longer is searching for financial information the top priority.  Most people are too smart for that these days.  Apparently there is more money in the literally thousands of addresses they collect from your contacts. But wait!  That’s not all!  If you are like most people (and this guy) you have multiple email accounts. I have Gmail, and Outlook.com. In addition I have my work account at the college I work for. Now most users, that’s right, most have the same exact password for most if not all of their accounts! I know I did, for years with the exception of my work email.  So now, once a hacker gets in, and I can explain how later, they see correspondence of your other accounts.  How?  When you set up other accounts you have to give a “secondary recovery email address”. These hackers are well aware that most and I really mean most (this guy included again) use the SAME password and more importantly the SAME security questions and/or phone number….I mean who has two cell phones on them at all times? And who can remember the answers to four or five DIFFERENT security questions? (NOT this guy)

Needless to say they reset my Outlook.com account. My new phone came in. And then it all hit me.  My girlfriends Yahoo account was recently hacked. Yahoo has had over 450,000 accounts hacked this year alone, however they are not the only targets!  Take a look at the links below.  So how does that concern me?  Well, take a look at this:

 

The email above came from my girlfriends Yahoo account.  Some of the addresses are blocked out for their privacy. Notice the link?  This exact email was sent to all three of my accounts as well as the others listed.  I believe I first received it AND clicked on it from my Gmail account.  Nothing happened.  Nothing opened.  That was a bit odd but I did not think much of it at the time. And look at all the other addresses it was sent to.  By the time I received the third email at my work address my girlfriend had informed me that her Yahoo account had been hacked. I thought big surprise.  Just so you all know, Yahoo is the absolute worst.  User accounts on Yahoos services have been hacked more than all the other services all combined!  See the links below for the info on this.

 http://www.channel4.com/news/yahoos-email-system-hacked-by-criminal-spammers

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/03/06/despite-its-efforts-to-fix-vulnerabilities-yahoos-mail-users-continue-reporting-hacking-incidents/

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/700-hack-threatens-millions-yahoo-mail-users-1C7206760

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/01/31/yahoo-mail-users-still-seeing-accounts-hacked-via-xss-exploit-amid-reports-yahoo-failed-to-fix-old-flaw/

And then it gets even more interesting.  At work I receive this notice. Why?  Because apparently users at my work have also been victims. The good news about that is the hardware firewall we have at work keeps it at bay.  Unfortunately it cannot prevent it from its intended objective which is to harvest email address and contacts.  Normally, you will not even know you have been hacked.  They will continue to harvest your email addresses and those of your contacts and any other information they can get.  In some reported cases like my own, you will know it and you will not be able to get one or all of your accounts.  The lesson is this.  Don’t be like me.  DO NOT have the same simple password for all your accounts because once they are one account they see another account of yours that you have emailed between accounts with.  It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that you have used the same password.  So for them, more email addresses to spam.  Also many of us idiots, myself included have same password for their “other” accounts.  Bank accounts, utilities, eBay etc.  Now THERE is a jackpot of financial information as well. 

This brings me back to my phone.  The one that fried and I had to have replaced?  I will give you one hint as to why now.  Apparently whomever was “harvesting” my accounts for the information they contained also got to my cell phone account.  They had been literally burning up the location services on my phone using the built in location services like latitude and my windows phone find feature.  That feature on my phone was not working anyway but apparently it was still able to literally burn up my cell by making it so hot it shut off. This was a flaw in my phone.  This is not normal and in all likelihood happen to you. 

In closing.  What you should do if you feel you have been compromised. To begin with…..DO NOT click on ANY link you do not recognize even if it is from someone you know.  Look at the link above.  It is not from YouTube or any other easily recognizable service.  When in doubt contact the person that sent it and ask.  Opening the email does not get you into trouble at this point but clicking the link will.  You will not even know it.  Change ALL your accounts passwords.  Not just your email accounts, but for utilities and especially your banking. Do NOT use the same passwords (like this idiot did).
SCAN YOUR PC!  Use Malwarebytes or another AND a good virus scanner like Microsoft Security Essentials.  Do not just rely on one!

Now….to tell the girlfriend(ex?)  It's not as easy as you think. She could be and most likely is comprimised.  Worse yet, she could think it's me. I have found out long ago hacking isn’t sexy.  Not to mention that I don't have the skills to pull off what I used to 4 or 5 years ago.  However she is partial to Chinese people.

UPDATE:

This Sunday (today for me) I got a call from one of my credit cards with a few charges for services that they thought were suspicious.  They were correct. Five charges in all; $1.99, $1.95, $9.95 etc.  all under $10 a piece but none were of my doing. Final advice: CHANGE YOUR CREDIT CARDS & BANK CARDS!  What a pain in the ass..... This only seemed to affect one of my 3 credit card but it also affected my debit card.  You see, if you purchase anything while infected, then they have access to your payment information. Scan your computer!  If you purchased anything where you had to put your card information in, meaning it was not already stored on the sitess' service, then  consider changing your cards. I had to scrape for change to get my coffee this morning.

I am seriously giving thought to getting a guaranteed prepaid credit card I can just refill to use online and around town.

ANOTHER UPDATE:

Today I find that my paypal was overdrawn but almost $360!  And you know where this money is drawn from?  Yep, you guessed it, my bank account! So, now my bank account is overdrawn and this time by a credible source, Paypal. They are getting it sorted with Paypal but that means I am effectively out that money until they do, which could take up to 30 days!   .......#@&^&!#

On that note.....

Here are the so called new zodiac signs and dates. And yes, that means your main attributes have changed. You are no longer the person neither you, nor anyone else thought you were. Take a look at Scorpio. Boy, someone wants us out of the way..... LOL Oh, wait...I'm not a Scorpio anymore. What do I do? How do I act?!?!? If you said, "Don't worry, just keep acting like the ass you always are", then you truly do know me. And you didn't even need to know my sign. :)

Previous zodiac sign	New zodiac sign
Capricorn: Dec. 22-Jan. 19	Sagittarius: Dec. 18-Jan. 20
Your previous qualities: willingness to work hard and determination to succeed	Your new qualities: philosophical, wide-open and curious nature
Aquarius: Jan. 20-Feb. 18	Capricorn: Jan. 21-Feb. 16
Your previous qualities: vision, intellect and humanity	Your new qualities: willingness to work hard and determination to succeed
Pisces: Feb. 19-March 20	Aquarius: Feb. 17-March 11
Your previous qualities: compassionate and charitable nature	Your new qualities: vision, intellect and humanity
Aries: March 21-April 19	Pisces: March 12-April 18
Your previous qualities: initiative, courage and determination	Your new qualities: compassionate and charitable nature
Taurus: April 20-May 20	Aries: April 19-May 13
Your previous qualities: stability, loyalty and dogged determination	Your new qualities: initiative, courage and determination
Gemini: May 21-June 21	Taurus: May 14-June 21
Your previous qualities: the ability to communicate effectively and think clearly	Your new qualities: stability, loyalty and dogged determination
Cancer: June 22-July 22	Gemini: June 22-July 20
Your previous qualities: the tenacity with which they protect their loved ones.	Your new qualities: the ability to communicate effectively and think clearly
Leo: July 23-Aug. 22	Cancer: July 21-Aug. 10
Your previous qualities: creativity, idealism and leadership.	Your new qualities: the tenacity with which they protect their loved ones.
Virgo: Aug. 23-Sept. 22	Leo: Aug. 11-Sept. 16
Your previous qualities: practicality, sharp mind and attention to detail.	Your new qualities: creativity, idealism and leadership.
Libra: Sept. 23-Oct. 22	Virgo: Sept. 17-Oct. 30
Your previous qualities: desire for fairness, peace and harmony	Your new qualities: practicality, sharp mind and attention to detail.
Scorpio: Oct. 23-Nov. 21	Libra: Oct. 31-Nov. 23
Your previous qualities: determination, passion and motivation	Your new qualities: desire for fairness, peace and harmony
Sagittarius: Nov. 22-Dec. 21	Scorpio: Nov. 24-Nov. 29
Your previous qualities: philosophical, wide-open and curious nature	Your new qualities: determination, passion and motivation

And finally Ophiuchus:  Nov. 30-Dec. 17.

Your new.  We don't know HOW to feel about you.  You don't even know how to feel about yourself yet!

Astrology: You Just Had to Know I'd Get to it Eventually....

Is there any way other than saying outright, ASTROLOGERS ARE IDIOTS and ASTROLOGY IS BULLSHIT!

By now you’ve probably heard that thanks to Earth’s “wobble” over many millennia, your sign has been shifted backwards by about a month. Meaning I’ve gone from a Libra to a Virgo – bummer! But, if you happen to be born between November 29 – December 17 you’re likely not just bummed about losing your sign, you’re also thinking “WTF is Ophiuchus anyway?!”

It is followed as science rather than entertainment by many, many people. I recently caught an episode of some reality based dating show where one of the contestants was boasting about how intelligent he was and that he was an astrologer. Intelligence and astrology do not mix

"What's your sign?" This might be the most direct way to find out a person's astrological sign, but often the curiosity is disguised by less ugh-inducing words. "When's your birthday?" is what I often hear. "So you're a Pisces? Aries?" And then, inevitably, silence. Quietly judging….. silence.

The last time this happened to me, I fired back with, "What does that mean to you?" I never got an answer. Why ask the question if it's not going to segue into a new discussion?

Don't get me wrong — I read my horoscope almost every day, ok, maybe once or twice a month. It's not like I don't want to believe. It is just that it is unfortunate that I have a brain that won’t let me. And I wouldn't use astrology as a tactic to get to know someone or, worse, seek a rationale behind someone's actions. Do sign seekers, overt or covert, ever make you want to unleash some Scorpio-style wrath?

It’s time to straighten up people! You’ve got to learn to think rationally about all of that information that’s flying into your ears 24/7. Every time you hear someone make a claim about something, think to yourself, “Hmm, does that sound reasonable? How could that work? Is that BULLSHIT?” A little more thought like that and this world will be a much better place…
"It ain't rocket surgery!"

There are a lot of stupid people walking around out there but there are even more stupid ideas and beliefs. We go throughout our lives believing in whatever is told to us because that’s just human nature (ex. Y2K, 2012, red heads). A current craze in Japan has people believing their blood type dictates what their personality is like. Four of the ten top selling books in 2008 were A, B, AB, and O (guess what they’re about). That may sound absolutely ridiculous to you but before you start feeling all high and mighty over the Japanese, take a look …

Quick question. What’s your blood type? A lot of people don’t know this. Your blood is pumping through you like a mad man 24/7 yet you have no idea what kind you’re rockin. How about this. What’s your sign? I bet a lot more of you can answer this than what type of life liquid is in your veins….crazy.

Astrology is an ancient belief system that says that the position of celestial bodies in the sky can influence not only things like personality and daily human events but major events in history like wars, Dynasties, and the “end of the world.” There are many different types of Astrology that have evolved over time in different parts of the world but the one that industrialized countries like America follow is known as Western Astrology. The main tenant of Astrology is known as the Zodiac. The Zodiac is a path of constellations that the Sun, Moon, and planets travel through the sky. Ancient astrologers decided which twelve were most important and each was given a personality trait. Whatever constellation the celestial bodies pass over when you were born dictates your sign.
All of the predictions horoscopes give of what you and your day will be like are so vague they could apply to anyone. And the thing is, it’s not a problem if you want to look in a newspaper or magazine and get a giggle out of what your horoscope reads for that day. It’s a problem that some people actually believe this stuff so strongly they let it affect their daily lives.

I can understand people of the past believing in Astrology because they needed a way to explain the world around them. That’s all religion does. But now with science helping us to understand the Universe around us, how can anyone still believe in this magical bullshit? It’s crazy to me that people actually think that the position of the Moon can make such a complex thing as the human brain turn into only twelve different types of personalities. Do you really think that the world is split into just twelve kinds of people and personalities?

Your Horoscope: oooohh sorry....it's cancer.

Not only does Astrology tell you what kind of personality you have, it tells you what other kinds of Zodiacs you are compatible with. Can you imagine how many people have distanced themselves from others just because their signs didn’t match up? Also, people who believe in Astrology begin to take up the personality traits assigned to them so that they end up making a “self-fulfilling prophecy“. They literally let the teachings of the Zodiac influence their lives! Now that’s stupid.
MEASUREMEANT OF ACCURACY of this blog may be determined by the degree of offense taken and/or laughter evoked.

Please, if you are an astrologer, comment. Prove me wrong. Mostly, comment and prove me right. I suspect your ego will prevent silence. Please, astrologers, let's discuss this.

Any others, that share my thoughts, please, tell us how you agree that astrology is bullshit and astrologers are idiots.

Numerologists, chirologists, phrenologists are welcome to discuss and display their stupidity too. I would invite horologists too, but they are probably to busy watching their clocks contrary to what the younger generation presupposes what a horologist actually does. Hint: they do

Say what?

Un-effing believable…..

Netflix now has a larger subscriber base than Comcast. How does Comcast feel about that? Comcast declared open warfare on Internet-based streaming video by Comcast and other ISP/cable operations. They are not waging a fair fight with compelling, competing services. Instead, they are trying to extort money from Internet content providers like Netflix by sticking it to third-party communications partners like Level 3, which is merely a proxy service relaying Netflix streaming services.

Peering arrangements between major carriers have always been subject to payment from one side or the other, depending on the bandwidth balance. If one carrier is shoving a ton of traffic on the other without taking a similar level of bandwidth on their own network, there's usually an agreement in place to compensate the carrier bearing the brunt of the flow. However, these agreements are about bandwidth in bulk, not about specific applications.

Comcast is whining about Netflix traffic specifically, demanding a perpetual fee to "transmit Internet online movies and other content to Comcast's customers who request such content." The customers in question are already paying Comcast bunches of money every month for Internet access. In many places, these consumers have no alternative to Comcast for broadband access.

In effect, Comcast is trying to charge everyone involved in an Internet transaction simply to carry the data that they're already obligated to carry. The company is double-dipping, and if nothing is done to regulate this type of action, this is just the beginning of what will shortly become a sea change in how the Internet operates. If they are allowed to do this, we can expect the costs for everything we do on the Internet to raise drastically.

Comcast already tries to sell us enough overpriced bullshit. If you have ever been unfortunate enough to install their software provided with their internet service then these screenshot will give you an indication of what you're missing.

Meet Auric "Rory" Graham

My newest edition. "Auric" in old english translates to "golden". Get it? Golden Graham? lol

Theme Song of my Life

Dug this out of a dusty Hard Drive I've had forever. I used to play guitar in the bathroom ALOT. What do you want from me, I was married. ;)

Who's Bright Idea Was This?

They're unwanted in Cuba, Hugo Chavez is trying to kick them out of Venezuela, Australia and Canada are on timetables to get rid of them, the European Union says they soon simply won't be available and now the U.S. is considering new rules that effectively would ban the incandescent light bulb.

An energy bill passed by Congress yesterday bans the incandescent light bulb by 2014. Australia was the first country to announce an outright ban this year. It is part of the effort to counter the dire forecasts of global warming, but that’s not the only benefit.

What most people don’t realize is that only 10 percent of the power used by incandescent bulbs is turned into light, with 90 percent being released as heat. A typical 60 watt bulb lasts up to 1,000 hours, while many fluorescent bulbs can last up to 10 times longer. In addition, ordinary incandescent light bulbs generate only about 12-15 lumens per watt as opposed to the newly proposed CFL bulbs that generate near 60 lumens per watt.

So forget about the immense energy savings; the measureable lower cost on the environment or the simple fact that you get so much more for your money personally; it seems the only thing that people are worked up about (mostly Republicans it seems) is someone telling you what to do? What grade are we in again?

According to the Department of Energy, one energy efficient bulb can prevent the release of over 450 pounds of greenhouse gases! It is estimated that the actual energy demand reductions would save consumers (you and I) and business owners about $18 billion annually, and the annual energy demand for lighting would drop by the equivalent of the generation from 30 nuclear power plants or 60 coal burning power plants. Holy shit! And all I can see on the news is people (mostly Republicans) bitching about the government telling them what they can and cannot buy??!?!! Really? Is that all you got?

Well, I suppose in a way they are right. Hear that everyone? You SHOULD have the right to buy any freaking energy, draining, earth polluting, higher cost in the long run product that you feel like purchasing. You also have th right to shoot yourself in the face for being so stupid too, and though that is also frowned upon, you would not get any complaints from me.

They also complain about the brightness (which will improve in time) not being as bright as an incandescent bulb. Remember this people; when bulbs were first invented they were not so bright either. In fact, the first production incandescent bulbs couldn’t hold a candle to a ….uh…candle.

Get over yourselves. The next thing you know is everyone will be jumping all over Michelle Obama’s shit for suggesting that our schools encourage more exercise and adopt healthy eating programs for our overweight, lazy, Xbox generation children. Oh wait, they already did.

Who buys into this crap anyway?

Apparently Allstate pays attention to your Zodiac sign, but does it affect your insurance rating?

It makes you wonder especially after Allstate issued a press release Wednesday listing accident rates of drivers based on their "new" zodiac signs, according to CNN. Is anyone else shocked to think that the signs were actually being used to determine insurance rates.

Allstate's original astrological sign accident breakdown, from CNN Money:

•Virgo - 211,650
•Leo - 179,657
•Taurus - 177,503
•Pisces - 172,030
•Sagittarius - 154,477
•Gemini - 136,904
•Capricorn - 128,005
•Aries - 112,402
•Libra - 110,592
•Aquarius - 106,878
•Cancer - 101,539
•Ophiuchus - 83,234
•Scorpio - 26,833

After some backlash, Allstate quickly retracted the press release, and issued an apology for the confusion.

From the Allstate retraction press release:

"We recently issued a press release on Zodiac signs and accident rates, which led to some confusion around whether astrological signs are part of the underwriting process.

Astrological signs have absolutely no role in how we base coverage and set rates. Rating by astrology would not be actuarially sound. We realize that our hard working customers view their insurance expense very seriously. So do we.

We deeply apologize for any confusion this may have caused."

Well, at least we all now know for certain that Scorpios rule! Ha! Like I believe it that crap.

Silence

The best silence is that which is filled by the sound of our own thoughts.

When I think of the word ‘peace’, a sundry of words flash through my mind: quietness, health, freedom, United Nations, treaties…...I find myself confused in trying to define what peace means to me.

I don't believe that wisdom can always be communicated. The wisdom that a learned man tries to communicate to others often sounds like madness. Maybe this is what prevents us from finding peace: too many words.

But these pictures do so winsomely…..

Oh, this is recent snow fall in my hometown of Johnstown, NY.

Now I KNOW money talks, I just heard it say goodbye.

You would have to be an idiot to take the bait. Things like the Big Red Button with the dire warning signs; the dark alley in Vampire Town; the conspicuously untouched treasure chest or the unexpected email cheerfully boasting “You’ve Won”! And to say the very least, the promise of quality 3D at home.

That being said, I am now the owner of a brand new, top of the line Samsung 55inch LED 3D 240Hz Edge Lit 1080p Smart HD Internet TV. Whew…...

Now the question is: “How dorky do I look in those 3D glasses?”

More Aqua Puppies

Aqua Puppies too....

Aqua Puppies

Here we go....

I know shortly the dreaded election ads will start to appear again. This time, can we get a break from the endless annoyance of untrue and misleading political attacks? They get worse every election cycle.

But there's one type of ad in particular that drives me crazy. The one where the candidate him or herself appears in person to give you the sales pitch and closes by saying something like "I'm Joe Scumbaugh and I approved this message."

Is that really necessary to say? You're the one speaking the freaking words! Is there any chance that you don't approve of the message?

I'm just sayin....

Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat

There is no sympathy for the moving. Your enemies laugh, your neighbors disappear, and your friends get sick seemingly all at once. Your best friend says, “Sorry buddy, but I’ve got my prostate exam that weekend.” Or, “Oh, you're moving, great! How can I help? I'm available next Monday night. I've got the kids from the Shelter that I'm mentoring, but maybe they can help with the light stuff, like the china. Here, call me as soon as you have something definite. You know I'm always there for you.” Even I have to admit, that was a good one. Yup, moving sucks. At least all I had left to do was to empty the pantry and pack up my perishables. Save for that, the place was all but empty. I was going to miss this place. It was a nice second story apartment with great views of the neighboring golf course and huge patio porches, but it was a bit much for just one guy and his two small pugs.
The doorbell rings.
Jasmine and Bella scurried to the door to greet the visitors. Certainly, whoever it was must have come to see them. But who could it be? Everyone knows I’m moving. Upon opening the door, I was greeted with the shouts of half dozen costumed children.
"Trick or Treat!" Oh no. How could I forget this was Halloween? Probably because I was a middle-aged, divorced man with no children of his own in the middle of moving. That is not to say that I don’t like children. I just never had any. What was I going to do? What was I to tell these children that climbed two flights of stairs to get their treats?
I grabbed one of the already packed bags and from the counter along with a handful of soy sauce, duck sauce, and hot mustard packets from recent takeout. How would they know? It was dark right?
"Let's see, Easy Mac for you, Top Ramen for you, Beanie Weenies for you two, Beef Ravioli here, and a can of tuna fish for you, and some stewed tomatoes," it went on and on. I didn’t know that many kids could fit on my porch.
"You know you can give us money, Mister," the shortest one said, I could only assume was some sort of transformer character.
"I can? I don't have change," I answered.
"It's ok, we take bills," Dracula boasted.
"You do?"
"Can I have your dog? Not the broken one, but the fat one?" asked another from the back of the porch. Jasmine, the oldest pug had only one eye. This prompted many, albeit polite questions from first encounters. And I wouldn’t say Bella was fat, maybe a bit on the portly side. Kids can be cruel though.
“Where’s your wife?” one inquired.
“No, you cannot. And I don’t have a wife.” I offered.
“Can I use your bathroom,” another asked. I was getting confused as to who was who.
“Did she leave you?” asked another.
“Number one or number two?” I asked. He held up three fingers.
“I’m sorry I don’t have any toilet paper,” I answered. “And -”
“Why not?”
“Because, I’m moving.”
“Are you moving because your wife left you?” asked Tinkerbelle, or some sort of fairy.
“No. Well, yes but,” I couldn’t answer fast enough.
“So you’re single,” one of them said.
“Well, I guess-” I stumbled
“My Aunt is single.”
“Really? I mean, I don’t see what business that is-”
“Do you have a can opener?” interrupted another little girl in what I could only guess was a Britney Spears costume.
“Why do you need a can opener?” She took out a can of mixed fruit from her bag and held it up.
“Oh. Who are you supposed to be anyway?” I asked.
“She’s Hanna Montana,” answered Dracula.
“No, I’m not,” exclaimed the girl. “I’m Miley Cyrus.”
They’re all Britney Spears to me, I thought to myself.
“I really have to go to the bathroom mister,” said the squirming Transformer.
“Didn’t you come with your parents,” I asked “Or did you come by yourselves?”
“My mom told me not to say,” said a child with the odd hair and forks taped to his hands.
“Where is your mom?”
“Home,” he answered.
“So, she’s not here.” I said. “I’m sorry, but why is your hair like that? And what’s with the forks?”
“My mother wouldn’t let me use knives.”
“Knives? Knives for what?”
He proudly struck a pose and declared, “I’m Wolverine.”
“Uh-huh. And what about your glimmering friend in the back there,” I asked pointing at the luminous glow emanating from the back of the group.
I could almost feel her roll her eyes as she sighed and said, “O-M-G. I’m not glowing. I’m texting.”
“You have a cell phone?”
“Duh.”
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Ten. What are you writing a book?” she snidely replied.
“Uh-”
“Are you Jewish?” it was Tinkerbelle again.
“What? Why? What does that have to do with anything?” I asked. “Besides, isn’t it getting late? Don’t you have some more Trick or Treating to do?”
“I still have to go to the bathroom,” said the Transformer again.
“My Aunt is Jewish,” she finished.
“Well good for your Aunt,” I answered “And I still don’t have any toilet paper.”
The children moaned when I began shoeing them off the porch. I didn’t need to see behind their masks to know they were frowning and making faces at me. It took some persuasion but I had finally managed to reign in Jaz and Bella. The two pugs, as crafty as they were, had most likely made off with half of the children’s candy by now. Still, once I closed the door, I could hear the little costumed monsters dashing on to the next apartment with excitement.
I decided to put the perishables back into the refrigerator rather than drive the distance back to the new place. I would inflate the air mattress and stay another night. I was exhausted. Not so much from the move, but more from the encounter with the children. It was obvious I was out matched and out-witted.
The next morning came too soon. I woke up to the insistence of the two “loaf of bread on legs” also known as Jaz and Bella. They needed to go out so I squirmed my way off of the now half deflated air mattress and gathered up their leashes. When I opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch I couldn’t help but to smile.
“Well girls, looks like we have some toilet paper.”

Unwanted

I was very young at the time and he belonged to a neighbor boy, who inadequately kept him and a two inch angel fish in a one gallon bowl for what turned out to be over four years. That is when it began. That angel fish was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. My mind was made up.

I set about earning my way to getting my own larger aquarium. My first tank held twenty gallons and it was a beauty. I was determined to be a good fish caretaker. I filled the tank with a pair of angel fish, some tetras and some mollies. Everybody gets mollies, don’t they?

After I had learned a lot about tropical fish and fish care, it did not take me long to see that Mark, who was my childhood friend, did not care for his aquatic pets as I did mine. Eventually, I convinced him to give me the angel fish. And, as for the lion head goldfish? It was the ugliest fish I had ever laid eyes on. He was a transparent white and pink with a disproportionate body and no dorsal fin. He just looked so unhealthy with no head growth and fraying deformed fins. I had no interest, especially since that fish was a far cry for any I had seen in pet store or depicted in books or magazines.

A year later, Mark was done with taking care of the lion head and was going to flush him, so I took him. It was the coolest thing to see the two reunited. They recognized each other immediately and showed it. As I floated him in the tank, the angel fish, whom I named Star, went nuts. Once I let him out, they swam together and actually played and touched one another. They slept together in the same positions as they had done when they were stuck in that one gallon bowl. For the next six years they were inseparable. He would frolic about trying desperately to catch her, while she swam circles around him, sometimes even upside down. Star would not even let any other fish near him.

Star died first. One month later he did. I firmly believe he died of a broken heart. Nothing was wrong with the tank and the water was healthy. I think he couldn't stand being without her again. I would never have believed a story such as this had I not lived it. It put a new perspective on fish; goldfish in particular for me.

I never named him, but I will tell you I loved that little fish. He taught me so much. Through him I realized that fish can feel just like us; that they have personalities and emotions. I have no doubt they experience fear as well as love. I saved him from a life in a one gallon bowl he had been in for over four years. I will never forget him and even though he was nothing to look at, I realized he was the most beautiful fish I ever had.

Artificial Naturalists

I thought that we gave up leeching, bloodletting and purging long ago but alas no, homeopathy is marching on. In fact, homeopathy is one of the longest running pseudo sciences in the modern world. What makes it so? One reason is lack of understanding about what homeopathy really is, even among health care providers. You see, homeopathy was invented by Samuel Hahnemann in the late 1700s, a fact that most following the doctrine of better health through homeopathy don’t even know. Go ahead, ask a follower of homeopathy. I dare you. Homeopathy is based on the now outdated principle that “like cures like”. For instance, if coffee keeps you awake, then highly diluted coffee will put you to sleep. In this case, the more diluted the coffee, the better you will sleep. To figure out what remedy works for what symptoms, you look up your symptoms in a book (yes, you had to know there would be a book didn’t you?) listing all the different proving results and take the remedy that best matches what ails you. While there is more to it than this we won’t get into it. Trust me; it doesn’t get any more credible. Water memory? Seriously?

Homeopathy is about as silly as it gets people. Silly wouldn’t even matter if it indeed worked, but it doesn’t. There are over 4000 homeopathic remedies, none of which work. You may think it works because you get placebo effects and the homeopath keeps you entertained while you get better on your own. In homeopathy, any substance can be a remedy; even a non-substance. My personal favorite is “eclipsed moonlight.” I’m serious. Look it up. I’ve been trying to figure out how they collect it to prepare the remedy, but no one’s talking. Despite science and reason, it looks as though homeopathy isn’t about to go away anytime soon. But it has some really good things going for it. Typically when you visit a homeopath, he wants to know all about you. He gives you far more time and attention than your traditional MD will. He picks a special treatment designed JUST for you and if it’s not working? He has an explanation and something else to try next time; ever confident that he can help you get better. Aside from the fact that homeopathy is for the large part a bogus industry that offers little more than the separation of fools….I mean, patients from their money; it is harmless. Except in those cases where patients are persuaded or believe they should forego effective and proven medical treatment or harm themselves with the often overuse of non-regulated supplements and/or vitamins. (Don’t get me started on supplements) The fact is; not one single so-called homeopathic cure is scientifically proven to be valid. They would love to find scientific validation and not the kind where if you say something totally false often enough, someone may start to believe it, but the genuine variety. It becomes increasingly difficult to receive any kind of acknowledgement from the scientific community when they conveniently reject science whenever it doesn’t support them. Their repeated excuse is that the remedies are individualized so they don’t lend themselves to normal controlled trials and often cannot be duplicated with consistent or expected results. Nonsense. Arguments like these just serve to highlight the intellectual bankruptcy of the homeopathic belief system.

Now that we’ve mentioned supplements, despite all of the research and findings that contradict the benefits of taking supplements and vitamins as a disease prevention or cure, people are taking them more than ever. Often they are misusing or overdosing. “If they are good for us, then more must be better right?” Therein lays the hypocrisy of the naturalist or homeopath. On the one hand, vitamins themselves were discovered by medical and biological science, they play a vital role (by definition) in the healthy functioning of our bodies (when extracted from food), and deficiencies of vitamins can cause disease. So they seem perfectly legitimate. On the other hand the market is full of exaggerated and even magical claims about the cure-all power of vitamins. This has spurned a multi-billion dollar industry. However, the scientific studies that have been conducted showing the benefits of vitamins have all been studies that have shown the benefits from the foods we eat and NOT supplements used in place of food. Naturalists and Homeopaths by definition are against or opposed to what is “man-made”. Where in nature can you find a 1000 mg vitamin C in an orange? Do you know how many oranges you would have to eat to get that much vitamin C? Is that natural? And it isn’t even possible to eat enough foods naturally to get the most commonly sold supplement dosage of 100 mg of Niacin. Do you know what does occur naturally? Penicillin; commonly found in antibiotics. Pretty much everything that “man” makes is made from the ingredients that “nature” gives us. We cannot just “will” anything into existence. Fire also occurs in nature but does anyone really think our early ancestors just waited around for lightning to strike so they could cook a meal?

There is a lesson on human nature here. Our old friend and nemesis, cognitive dissonance, “don’t bother me with the facts.” Despite having the knowledge of ineffectiveness, people will still take supplements; billions of dollars worth annually. Perhaps they get something psychologically out of taking them. Again, there is that very real placebo effect. Or, more likely, the results reflect more the effects of successful advertising, propaganda and fear mongering than the actual benefits of the supplements themselves. The money they spend every month on this expensive urine would serve them better if they perhaps saw a therapist instead.

In 1994, Congress enacted the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). This act allows for the marketing and sales of “dietary supplements” with little or no regulation by the FDA. Basically this means, “sell whatever you want, just don’t let us catch you.” And while manufacturers are not allowed to make claims that are not truthful or are misleading, I dare you to Google ANY manufacturer’s product and you will find, more often than not, supplements being marketed as having “real” effects of curing or preventing diseases. While you are at it, look up “eclipsed moonlight”. What is more frightening than this inexcusable lack of oversight is that many of the products marketed aren’t just vitamins and such, but products that claim to do the same things as real medicines. How are they getting away with this? Simple. If you ask me, this is dangerous and costly to consumers. It merely provides protection for business entities whose apparent purpose is to promote quackery for profit. Shame! And profit they do. I personally know more than a handful of people that spend at least $300 to $400 or more EVERY month on supplements alone.

A favorite author of mine, Terry Goodkind wrote, "People are stupid; given proper motivation, and almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe its true, or because they’re afraid it might be true. Peoples’ heads are full of knowledge, facts and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool." (Terry Goodkind, Wizards First Rule) The irony is that this came from a fantasy writer in a book about wizards and magic but it still has more truth and credibility than any of homeopathy’s claims. Look around in this day and age, at the things people believe in. Look at these people who believe if they fly jet airliners into tall buildings, they'll get 72 virgins in another life. That's pretty stupid. And it's not just a couple of guys who believe this – it is millions of people who believe this! But this is for another blog entirely. There are vast numbers of people who can be talked into the most ludicrous things. The "rediscovery" of these Dark Ages remedies, we now call "natural medicine" or "natural healing" is for the most part, a bunch of quackery. In drug stores you see real medicines that scientific research has brought to better people's lives being supplanted or pushed aside by folk remedies that in many cases do more harm than good! Aren’t we yet again trading one extreme for another? Hippocrates said there was a law of similar. Hippocrates also said ALL illness was due to an imbalance of the four humors. Today, lots of people believe in homeopathy. Lots of people believe in ghosts and angels, but that doesn’t make them real. At one time, lots of people believed the earth was flat as well. It should come as no surprise that homeopathy’s most influential players and supporters are the ones that stand to gain the most by its wide acceptance. Come on, follow the money folks.

Snake oil salesmen perfected the art of separating fools from their money. They too, would hawk their wares with unscientific and outright fraudulent claims about the health benefits of their product(s) as well as the hidden dangers. Bogus or unsupported nutrition claims are now big business. From the immune boosting and weight loss powers of the acai berry, to the cancer protective effects of vitamins, nutrition supplement and homeopathy pseudo sciences are all the rage. While raw, unpasteurized milk will never have quite the celebrity status of a “super food”, it is promoted with the same lofty yet empty claims, and provides the added bonus of infectious diarrhea and disease. I will spare you the baloney about milk causing mucus and the subject of lactose intolerance....for now. :)

Fanaticism in ANY form is not healthy; be it religion, politics, economics or health. I am a believer in a healthy diet based in good nutrition and moderate exercise, but don’t you think we are taking things just a little too far? What has happened to common sense, moderation and reason? Have we learned nothing?

"You cannot reason people out of positions they didn’t reason themselves into."
Ben Goldacre, MD

Behind the scenes....

Top Ten (an ongoing series of purposeless lists)

Top Ten Things Men Know About Women

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. They have boobs

Rabble, rabble, rabble...

I was watching a science program that set out to scientifically explain some of the miraculous events depicted in the Bible. You know what? They did. Or did they? I guess that all depends on what you believe and not so much what happened. Can a society thrive without religion? The Bible DOES indeed hold some scientific assertions. Has religion done more harm than good? There has certainly been enough killing done in the name of whatever God. There may not be 70 virgins waiting for the average Christian for a glorious death but the Crusades certainly didn't teach us anything either. And when speaking of miracles and visions keep this in mind; schizophrenics hear voices and see visions too. Take for example all the sightings and reports of UFO's. You would think someone would have clear, concrete, irrefutable evidence of aliens or UFO's by now. You tube?

How can anyone say that their religion is better than another? Before you label me as a heretic, agnostic or even atheist or question my faith, you may want to take a closer look at your own. This isn't about anyone. It's about everyone. Have you noticed that pretty much everyone sets their own guidelines and practices within the rule set of their own faith? I try to keep an open mind and a tolerant heart. Faith is such a wonderful thing. Blind faith is such a dangerous thing. To close off your mind to other ideas or input is to live in darkness. We are equally benighted to deny someone else their history because it does not fit with our beliefs. And the main ingredient of enlightenment is you guessed it; light. Would God not want you to seek knowledge? It seems it should be expected to search our souls and spirituality for answers as well as to learn from history. You know, the funny thing about history is? You guessed it. You weren't there and neither was I. However, what I find amazing is…… the people were. Whether Jesus walked on water or Moses parted the red sea or not, the fact is: these people not only existed but their deeds were documented. These events may or may not have been embellished but they must have done something to be written about. Perhaps that's it. Maybe it was that simple. Their deeds may be more symbolic representations rather than actual occurrences. Think about how comforting that would be. In any case whatever they did it was worthy enough to be written about. Every time something is out of our hands doesn't necessarily mean it's in Gods. Keep an open mind. Who knows, in the end the universe may be indifferent to our beliefs.

Where do I stand? Our history will always be a part of us. Learning from our past can only help to serve our future. However, don't you think it's about time we worried less about the deeds of others, be that of historical or biblical figures and concentrated more on our own deeds?

That's just my opinion. But then again, I DID get kicked out of church school. In short? Whether I believe or not, I believe we should let others believe.....
or not.

I'd really like to hear your opinion.

Top Ten (an ongoing series of purposeless lists)

Top ten reasons to procrasinate....

1.

Convince me.

Values are areas of our lives we have established as a result of real or imagined experiences. People generally feel a very strong emotional commitment to their values and values usually come into play when judging behavior in others, ourselves or our society. There are times when our own personal values may clash with the values and morals of others or the social values of the society in which we live. One such would be religion but we have already discussed that. What I learned from that is that people seem pretty rigged about their values and beliefs.

Values and morals are usually learned from others such as a parent or teacher. How many of us can remember hearing our parents or other adults say it was not ok to engage in sex before marriage? Many times the lessons were silent and we learned by watching the behavior of others. However, we still at times deviate from these learned values. Why do we do this? Where did we learn this from? When do we decide to make up our own minds and pick our OWN favorite football team? That is another topic entirely. While we are free to learn for ourselves we also come pre-programmed as a result of our up-bringing with a lot of our beliefs; be that of religion, philosophical or our sense of right and wrong. It would stand to reason that emotions such as remorse or guilt are learned responses or are they taught?

How many of us have disagreed with our parents beliefs on something only to find our lives not so dissimilar after all? It's pretty obvious that you can ask any number of questions on any subject and you will get such wide and varied responses. The question is: is it any wonder? I was once condemned for saying, "The truth is only what you convince others to believe." If we are to disagree on whatever; the existence of God, or the creation of the universe, pepsi or coke, then of course there can only be one truth and that truth is mine…… or yours…. if you can convince me ;)

Someone has to be right.