:+: CyberWoLfman's 2005 Blog :+:
Table of contents
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Links to blog entries below are listed in descending order with newest entries to older.
To read the blog entries in chronological order from the oldest to the newest as I entered them, you can start with the January 4th, 2005 blog entry and read down from there.
December 30th, 2005: The trivia prize has been increased in my 3D world This Is It! Next month, we're planning on having even more prizes! :-)
December 18th, 2005: 140th anniversary of the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Slavery was supposed to be abolished on this day in history, but it wasn't. :-(
December 17th, 2005: The 102nd anniversary of powered flight!. "What a dream it was. What a nightmare it has become." - Orville Wright, 1917.
December 16th, 2005 (evening): The US government tries to make certain parts of the USA Patriot Act permanent. "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).
December 16th, 2005: Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party! If you go back in time to see it, do yourself a favor: Order coffee at the Green Dragon, not tea. Trust me on this...
December 5th, 2005: Anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment and 60th anniversary of the disappearance of Flight 19.
November 29th, 2005: I reviewed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie.
November 28th, 2005: Comcast Cable repair shows up about three weeks after they said they would.
November 18th, 2005: Comcast Cable hasn't shown up like they said they would, there's no word on their site about outages, and their phones are always busy.
November 7th, 2005: I survived hurricane Wilma!
September 29th, 2005: The Supreme Court sides with big business and censors Internet users!
September 27th, 2005: I went to an Alice Cooper concert!
September 5th, 2005: Human intolerance and bigotry.
August 31st, 2005: Hurricane Katrina aftermath.
August 29th, 2005 (just before dawn): Hurricane Katrina.
August 17th, 2005: Micro$haft is now censoring what you can view on your own computers!
August 12th, 2005: Comcast Cable's 'blazing fast' (0 kb connection).
July 30th, 2005: Using eminent domain against those who use it to take other people's homes.
July 27th, 2005: I'm back on the Internet and now living in beautiful Miami Florida!
July 13th, 2005: I'm moving to the Bermuda Triangle!
June 30th, 2005: The USA Patriot Act and the American sheeple.
June 26th, 2005: 108° in Bloomington-Normal.
May 26th, 2005: Took some pictures of what was left of the Paul F. Beich Co. candy plant.
May 25th, 2005: It's a hot Spring as city suffers another fire.
May 10th, 2005 (late evening): Real ID bill was passed, tonight.
May 10th, 2005: Real ID Act is being voted on today.
April 19th, 2005: There's a new pope, Benedict XVI.
April 18th, 2005: I read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling.
April 2nd, 2005: The pope, John Paul II, is dead.
March 30th, 2005: Had another precognitive kind of dream.
March 26th, 2005: Reviewed Mulligans, a Bloomington-Normal Illinois Bar.
February 8th, 2005 (11:00 p.m. my time): Kissed by a snow fairy. ;-)
February 8th, 2005: Had a chat about the singularity.
February 2nd, 2005 (very early morning): The first American president wasn't George Washington or John Hanson, but Peyton Randolph. I have proof!
January 27th, 2005: Created the Sleep Tips and REMville page.
January 24th, 2005: Some electric cars can go over 100 MPH and have a 200 mile range! Not a joke, they really exist. :-)
January 4th, 2005: Created the Green Lasers and Airplanes page.
More stuff to check out. I always like to encourage people to read more. ;-)
Some of my other blog pages. 2004 to 2002. Before that, I expressed myself through my IMHO page and Freedom page.
Some of the main pages for this site. Put some links to the main stuff on this page for those who can't use the Site Menu drop-down list above because they're using Web browsers that aren't up to date with Web standards. Ever feel like roasting Bill Gates over an open fire? Those who code really feel this urge sometimes! WEG
What is a blog?
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January 4th, 2005:
Created a page about green lasers and airplanes in the hopes that it'll give some clueless people a clue.
January 24th, 2005:
While flipping through channels recently, I came across a show that told about a car that got my attention. This wasn't some gas-guzzling pollution-spewing road-hog monstrosity, but an electric car. And not some slow-moving dinky electric car, either! Gee, you guys really have a lot of false assumptions in your heads, don't you? LOL
This electric car can acheive speeds over 100 MPH, can get from 0 to 62 MPH in 4.5 seconds, and has a range of about 200 miles before it needs to be recharged. Oh, and it only needs 3 1/2 hours to get a full charge.
The car's name is the 2005 Venturi Fetish. Unfortunately, it costs $600,000, so it's way the heck out of my price range (I'm so far below the poverty level right now, it's not funny), but maybe if enough car companies compete, their prices will be much lower, and more people will buy electric cars, and there will be less pollution. :-)
Possibly, one or more of them will use the solar cells / photovoltaic cells that can be put on like a spray paint and that'll increase an electric car's range and the amount of electricity it needs to re-charge...In the meantime, though, people who want to build their own electric cars can get the parts for them from some place like MetricMind or EV Parts. I heard about the latter while watching a show on the Discovery Channel called "Sucking Amps" where they had converted an old U.S. postal van to being an electric vehicle or E.V. It did 1/4 mile races in about 15 seconds. After they upgraded it, they were able to get from 0 to 44 MPH in 1.89 seconds. Pretty impressive for a two-ton vehicle, when the Lamborghini Gallardo takes a little over 2 seconds to get from 0 to 40 MPH and it weighs about a thousand pounds less than the two-ton postal van.
Most people probably think of golf carts when they think of electric vehicles. A U.S. postal van converted to electric power beating the speed of a Lamborghini Gallardo that weighs less than it blew that little visual imagery away! The potential is there, it's just not being used.
January 27th, 2005:
Today I created a new Web page called Sleep Tips and REMville, a page which I hope will help people who can't get to sleep.
February 2nd, 2005 (very early morning):
After a conversation with somebody in my 3D world, This Is It, about who the 1st (first) American President was, I did some research.
Realizing that I had better have some proof of a sort that has some authority, I limited my research to those sites.
Despite what everybody's been led to believe, George Washington wasn't the 1st American President.
Save your screaming until after you finish reading this, please...
Some of you may be thinking that the first American president was John Hanson. That belief is wrong, too.
Oh, great, the screaming's getting louder. I must have ticked off even more people. LOL Well, if you're in a mood to confront me, you know where to find me.
Now that we've got the headstrong types out of the way, the rest of this is for those who seek knowledge. And they were so easily led into my little trap, too. WEG
The 1st American president was... (drum roll, please!); Peyton Randolph.
Now before the rest of you start having hysterics, I'll present some proof that you can access.
Semi-reputable site about the original presidents here in America: click here
I'll cite a more reputable source here, in a minute...
George Washington is just the first president elected after the Constitution. But the other presidents performed the duties of that office before he did.
President John Hanson for instance established some of the 1st federal cabinet posts and gave military orders to federal troops. He was also the key foreign policy person in the government. In addition to this, he also approved the 'Great Seal of the United States' - the one that's still used today, even on the dollar bill that's got George Washington's face on it. In 1981, John Hanson's face appeared on a US postage stamp, celebrating the bicentennial of his taking office. How's that for legitimate? Even a US government agency recognizes him.
But, getting back to the 1st American President, Peyton Randolph...
*Sighs* Okay, you scream, and I'll howl, and maybe the guys with the white coats will throw us all in the same little padded cell after they chase us down with those big butterfly nets and put us in strait jackets so we can hug ourselves all day long. LOL If we're lucky, they may give us crayons so we can draw on the walls with our little toesies. ;-)
Er, where was I?
Oh, yeah. The 1st American President, Peyton Randolph! And, he was elected not once, but twice!
Wonderful! One of you is banging on the desk with their fists. I do believe we've got the beginings of a percussion section. Maybe we can all get together and record an album? LOL
Here's a picture of Peyton Randolph's signature as president on a document dated 1774: click me.
Now, you've got something to scream about. Your history teachers didn't tell you everything.
If you want to learn more things that you're not told about, by all means, check out some of my other pages. At least I'm not trying to sell you anything like other sites, or con you into anything or get your vote. LOL
"Vote for me, and I'll set you free!" ;-) Heck, I'd be happy if you'd just learn to think for yourselves!
Okay, time for me to finally get to bed, and see if I can catch the early morning train to REMville...
February 8th, 2005:
Today, I learned a little more about the Singularity from a visitor to my 3D world, This Is It. The Singularity is supposed to happen on April 28th, 2005 or 04-28-2005 and is described as an event where nanotechnology, molecular biology, and artificial general intelligence are supposed to grow at an exponential rate, bring about a golden age upon Earth of freedom an end to need, et cetera.
In regards to AI or Artificial Intelligence, some say that agencies like the NSA (National Security Agency here in the US), are using SAGI (Superhuman Artificial General Intelligence or sometimes simply called SAI which is super human level intelligence in a computer), which is why the FBI didn't use Carnivore that much, as there was something better. Whether or not the NSA's SAGI system is in operation, who can say? And, while I'm certainly tempted to find out myself, I can almost guarantee because of things I've done in the past that some agencies have their security people on alert for me. WEG
The Singularity is supposed to be the dawning of a new age. A great leap forward in things like life prolongation, and an end to disease and hunger. Soon, George W. Bush is supposed to make a speech saying that there will be freedom for all and peace. But, the peace and freedom will come at a price. This price is rumored to be totalitarianism.
In such a political system, the people must be totally subservient. Also, those with knowledge and imagination to use it are considered dangerous and a high security risk. Oops. Guess that would include me, too. LOL Is it too late for me to try to convince the world that I'm a clueless AYM? ;-)
What I want to know is; if we're really going to have all this nice stuff happen because of an explosive and exponential advancement in the fields of computer technology and molecular biotechnology, which will bring about the Singularity, why are some forms of technology being repressed like electronarcosis which can give you eight hours of sleep in one hour? See the Repressed Technology page for more information on that. Just seems a little odd to me...
February 8th, 2005 (11:00 p.m. my time):
Kissed by a snow fairy. ;-)
Tonight, when I walked outside for a few minutes, I noticed there was a trace amount of snow upon the ground, and that it was still snowing, but only a few flakes were visible in the air at any specific moment, falling lazily down through the night's nearly still air from above, before settling upon the ground admist the other flakes to become a very thin carpet of snow. Walking further out into the night, I felt a very delicate touch upon my cheek that was only slightly cold and moist.
The temperature outside was just below the freezing point of water, so the snow, upon contact with my face, melted almost instantly. It felt as though a little snow fairy was kissing me on the cheek and the frost from her lips melted upon my skin. ;-)
March 26th, 2005:
Finally got around to adding another review for the Bloomington-Normal Illinois Bars page. This one was for Mulligans.
I'll add more to that page later, when I visit there, again. Next time, though, I'm going to call the cab a lot earlier. It was nearly an hour before they deigned to show up, telling me that all the cabs they sent earlier were grabbed by other people. But, I amused myself by howling at the cops when they drove around. LOL
No, I wasn't very drunk, and I'm not dangerously crazy (okay, maybe a little crazy), but the bars were closed, I was getting impatient, it was near freezing and the wind was blowing, and I was trying to stay awake. On a nearly deserted street, the cops were the only thing that was even remotely interesting.
March 30th, 2005:
Because I've been having those screwy dreams again, I thought I'd share a little of it with the visitors of this site.
Many of you know about some of the dreams I've had, and how they've come true in the real world. Not sure why I get these dreams, but for what it's worth, here's part of one of the more recent ones:
Pope John Paul II dies. There is no miracle that saves him, despite all the people that pray for him. The dream was a little hard to keep up with, but, I think they mentioned the next pope's name. Unfortunately, there was a lot going on my dream, so I didn't hear it clearly. If I have it again, soon, and remember the name of his replacement when I wake up, I'll let you know.
There was also something about a fire, or at least a lot of smoke in a large building that had a big cafeteria in it with a high ceiling and there was a couple of briefcases standing upright on the counter. Some of the people in the building had green ID tags hanging from their necks. The building it happened in had a front with 8' tall metal poles holding up a metal slab-like over-hang in front of the building's entrance. Inside the glass doors was a brown colored wall on the right side as you come in with three switches The place doesn't sound familiar to me, but maybe it'll 'click' for somebody out there...
April 2nd, 2005 3:00 p.m. my time:
The pope is dead.
The pope, John Paul II born with the name Karol Jozef Wojtyla on May 18th, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland died today at 1:37 p.m. my time (Central time zone here in the US which is 9:37 p.m. Saturday night there, at the Vatican in Rome). I was woke up from a dream about it just about that time, took a shower and got in front of the computer and told somebody he was dead. Shortly after that, they heard it on the news.
There's no news yet though, on who's going to replace him.
April 18th, 2005:
Finished another book
Today, I finished reading the fifth book in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling that's called "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" that I started reading a few days ago.
If you haven't read one of the Harry Potter books, by all means, do so, but start with the first one "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." It's called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" elsewhere, but most people in the US don't know much about history. Heck, ask most adults what was signed at Runnymede in 1215, who Gilgamesh was, or to name more than two Meso-American tribes and you'll probably get either a blank stare or they'll tell you "who cares?" In many cases, you'll get those reactions from the same person. Ignorance and apathy. *Sighs* Makes me wonder how humans ever got out of the Bronze Age...
But, getting back to the Harry Potter books: Yes, they're addictive, and they're also fun. There's also a lot of things they don't put into the movies. IMHO, they're leaving out some of the best parts of the books. They also can't make a decent werewolf in the Harry Potter movies. The one they had in the movie "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" looked scrawny, under-fed, and like he'd blow away in a gust of wind.
Yeah, I know, some of you are probably thinking that I shouldn't be so picky, and that there's no way a movie can possibly create something as well as I can imagine it. But, still... That was a pretty pathetic looking werewolf.
To any Harry Potter fans reading this who don't know, already, the next book (the sixth book) in the series "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" comes out on July 16th, 2005, and the movie "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is supposed to be in theaters on November 18th, 2005. That's on a friday, and for some of my special friends who need to know, just after the full moon. ;-)
April 19th, 2005:
There's a new pope
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from Germany got elected as the 265th pope and changed his name to Benedict XVI.
Also just finished a new page. I'll post a link up to it after I do another like it and a certain person looks them over. ;-)
May 10th, 2005:
Real ID Act is being voted on today.
The Senate is supposed to vote on this, today. If they do it, it'll be the next step in tagging humans and make it possible for anybody with a reader to read everything about you. Stores will also probably want to know who you are, too, so they'll install readers to read the information stored on the cards which this act will force you to have on you, which also contains RFID chips or 'tags'. More than likely, they'll create databases about what you buy there, and happily sell that information to other businesses and any individuals who may be interested in you. Oh, didn't I tell you? Here in the US, there are very little privacy rules agaisnt that sort of thing. Your private information is a commodity which can be bought and sold like anything else. If you think you have any control over it, you're deluded. You can't even change your Social Security Number if it gets put on the Internet and thousands of people get credit cards in your name. LOL Go ahead and call up your Social Security office and ask them. You'll see.
In Europe, they have much better privacy rights for people, but then they had the knowledge of what happened after a government started keeping information on people and assigning them numbers. Later on, agents of that government could just pick out those people they wanted from the rest of the herd. Yes, I said herd. You're little more than that in the eyes of those in power. You have the exact same ability to protect your privacy, and change the numbers (like your Social Security Number) you were tagged with as a sheep does. That being none at all. Oh, for the clueless, the government I was talking about was the Nazis.
People here in the US used to laugh at those in other countries who had to 'show their papers' to goose-stepping Nazis and other authority figures of
Who's the
Want his Social Security Number and address? WEG
There's a lesson to be learned there. Every system has a weakness which can be exploited, and there is no such thing as a 100% safe database, especially if there's people out there who taught themselves most of what they needed to know and are in possesion of an imagination that far exceeds that of suit-wearing mindless locked-stepped robotic like zombies who think that 256 bit encryption is 'powerful encryption'. Guys, my e-mail encryption key alone is 4096 bit. Buy a clue!
Oh, and if the cops and judges are worried about getting killed by disgruntled people, now, they'll be a lot more worried after this passes. You see, it'll require you to give a permanent home address, not a P.O. box or anything like that, and they don't allow any exceptions. That means all undercover cops, regular cops, judges, lawyers, witnesses, rape victims, battered wives, and even those in the Witness Protection Program will have all their information publicly available. If this goes into effect, I predict there's going to be a heck of a lot more cop killers. Wonder if the cops know the danger they're in, yet?
You, the reader, are probably giving a self-satisfied smirk, and laughing because I sound like I expect people to do something to stop this from happening. You couldn't be more wrong, even though I gave the link to allow them to do it. For years, I've been telling everybody I've met on the Internet and written several letters to the FBI about modern day slavery and serial killers and pointed out where they were, how they operate, and everything, but nobody seems interested. The FBI couldn't even waste a few seconds of their oh-so-valuable time to print up and send me a form letter thanking me for my concern, and if they think that saving the lives of kidnapped, bond, and tortured people and children may be of interest to them someday in the future, they'll get back to me.
So, you'll understand that I don't expect people to do anything about this. People, especially Americans, are sheep. They'll go along with just about anything, especially if it's done to them by somebody in authority. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Watch and learn. That bill will get passed, and all the sheeple out there will get tagged, just like regular sheep and other livestock. Poor deluded sheep. They think they're free. LOL What need does the 'farmer' have for fences when he can track your every movement, and if he wants to target you for something, knows exactly where to go to find you?
That reminds me... While watching television, I watched and heard President George W. Bush go on and on about how he's trying to promote freedom and liberty to countries in the Russian Federation like Georgia. Yet, this is the very same guy who signed the USA Patriot Act into existence that allows 'black bag' searches of people's houses, where police and other governmental agencies search people's homes even when they're not home, and not give them a search warrant, or tell them they did it, or, if they steal anything, tell them what they took. The USA Patriot Act also lets them obtain records of what library patrons check out of the library, or do on-line on the computers, and make it illegal for anybody at the library to inform the person that they're being investigated.
Then there's the fact that he seems to want to place more limits on guns and make it more difficult for people to get them. Gee, I wonder what a government has in mind that wants to track people and disarm them? Hmm...
Stupid sheeple. It's the paranoids who see these things. You just remain blissfully ignorant of it all and wander through your lives in a fog, un-knowing and un-caring of anything that doesn't directly concern you, or isn't hype about the latest car, game, movie or song.
| Maybe you want this to happen to you? Especially right after the celebration of the victory in Europe by the Allied forces in WWII? You obviously forgot all about that, and why so many thousands of people fought and died. :-( |  |
I can guarantee you this: There's people still around with numbers tattooed on their arms who remember.
May 10th, 2005 (late evening):
Real ID bill was passed, tonight, along with the war-spending bill. :-(
The Senate voted on it, and approved it unanimously 100-0, not a single senator opposing it. The war-spending bill even included other things that are going to prove totally useless in the fight against terrorism, like a fence between Mexico and the US. This isn't going to stop terrorists. The 9-11 hijackers didn't use that border. Why would they do it, now, when it's so easy to just come in any other part, or even to sail in by sail boat, or fly a low-flying plane over the border to avoid radar? They don't even have to land to drop off people and equipment. Never heard of parchutes, or a touch and go landing? LOL
Until bills are handled separately, things like this are going to keep happening, over, and over, and over again. They attach something terrible to something that might do some good, or that they've hyped to people that will do some good, knowing that the sheeple in the US will believe almost everything they're told.
Well, I guess it's time to act like sheep, sheeple, because you're all getting tagged, just like any other kind of livestock.
Just goes to show you, I was right about all of you. You truly are sheep. I even told you what the dangers are, and what you could do to stop it, but you didn't seem interested. Well, it's too late, now, and you're all going to have a major problem with identity theft, personal privacy, and everybody can find out everything they want to about you, now, and your children. Makes the job of serial killers much easier, too. They can scan your information and use it to try to convince your children that they're somebody the kids can trust. If you think that there's too many kids getting killed now, wait a few years. You guys have just given them free passes to the kidnap, bind, torture, and kill buffet line.
Can't wait for some politicians or self-proclaimed 'experts' to come on TV now, and convince you that everything will be okay, and lie to you telling you that the system will be secure. And of course, you'll believe every word they tell you, won't you? Well, you'd be stupid to. Even the military doesn't use such things on their more important networks, because they know how easy it is to read the things and even change the information on them. All somdebody needs is a card reader and some software. You can buy a card reader or make one yourself over-night, and you can get software that people don't want you to have on-line from Web sites, or through file-sharing programs. Coders can even write better software than what's required.
If that isn't bad enough, how about public humiliation? Once the stores start scanning these cards, they're probably going to greet you with information about your shopping habits, and tell you about other things they think you may want to buy:
"Welcome back, Mrs. Smith! According to the records on our database, you like purchasing tampons, hemmoriod creme, adult diapers, and fat-burner pills."
"Oh, and is that young (system checks name of offspring from the records) Mercedes with you? We have a wonderful assortment of bed-wetting prevention products, if they're still peeing the bed every night, and help books, too, for children who are still bed-wetting at the age of 10."
The system can find out the names of your children from its own database, or that of other stores where you may have given that information, perhaps through a kind of drawing for a free prize, or even from a national database of shoppers which is augmented by information they bought from the govenment. The government sells such information to businesses. Like I said, you really don't have any control over your information or any rights to privacy here in the US, and stores have been keeping databases on what you buy for years. What do you think those customer discount cards were for? LOL Some stores even expect you to give them your Social Security Number. Most sheeple give that up without thinking about how it can be used to tie in with other information or even for identity theft.
Hmm... What about the woman or man who's been... less than monogamous in their relationship, and goes shopping with their spouse?
"Why, hello, Mr. / Mrs. Jones, and welcome back! Are you here to purchase more condoms like you did last night at the drug store on Center street? Will Mr. / Mrs / Miss Johnson be joining you as you shop? I'm certain they need more than just a large dog collar and leash for their pet."
You're screwed, now!
May 25th, 2005:
It's a hot Spring as city suffers another fire.
Today, the Paul F. Beich Co. candy plant here in Bloomington, Illinois that produced candy from 1890 to 1973 started burning about 4:30 p.m. and drew a huge crowd. People who passed through the area could smell the smoke, and it was said that the smoke could be seen as far away as Pontiac, Illinois, which is about 33 miles from Bloomington, and Peoria, Illinois, which is 40 miles north-west of Bloomington, Illinois. Many living nearby who didn't know what was going on thought that something near or in their house was burning, or perhaps a neighbor had a barbeque grill going and the smoke was blowing into their house through their open windows.
Before it was used to make candy in, the building was used to make carriages in the 1880s. The Beich family donated it to Mid Central Community Action in March of 2001.
Oddly enough, this is the 2nd historical building along the Constitution Trail which has been destroyed by fire, recently. Earlier this month, an apartment building located at 102 West Phoenix in Normal Illinois that used to be Dillon Stables caught fire. Hmm... a building that was used to make carriages and another that used to be a stable. Wonder if that's the only connection?
If you're un-familiar with the Constitution Trail here in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, it used to be a railroad track until they stopped using it, then it was converted into a bike trail / pedestrian trail. Strangely, most of the humans who use it try to stay on the right side of it as though it were a street. You can also see them doing the exact same thing on sidewalks and in hallways most of the time. It's like they're robots or something, and have to follow some kind of programming. LOL
The Paul F. Beich Co. candy plant was located on the railroad there near west Washington street, along with the McLean County Coal company. At least I think that was the name of the business, there. There were many businesses there on west Washington street near the railroad tracks, and there was also a railroad station near where part of the Constitution Trail goes through now. If you've rode your bicycle or walked over that little wooden and fenced-in bridge, the railroad station was right on the west end of it, and included the area where you have the tight turns that take you back down to the Washington street level. The railroad station had one of the biggest marble stairways I've ever seen. Think it was about four stories tall, going down one continuous stretch, and possibly 15 feet wide. Not something you want to miss a step on, or you'd fall down and go boom, boom, boom, boom... You get the idea. Anyway, it's gone too.
First the Dillon Stables in Normal, Illinois near the Normal Illinois police department, and now the Paul F. Beich Co. candy plant here in Bloomington, Illinois. Anybody want to put down bets on which historic building is going to burst into flames, next? At least they can't blame these on the Model Paris laundry fire that burned down most of downtown Bloomington in 1900.
Er... Do we have any historical buildings left on the Constitution Trail? Hmm... Maybe not.
May 26th, 2005:
Took some pictures of what was left of the Paul F. Beich Co. candy plant.
There were about 30 people out there staring at the smouldering remains of it after it had the big fire, mostly standing on the Constitution Trail. There's very little left of the main structure, but the little room that was the top of the elevator where the machinery was kept that ran it, and the exaust tower that was made entirely of brick. Got pictures of both of those. It's the wood that burns. If you make a building, make it of brick, not wood. ;-)
Looking at what was left of the place, it reminded me of pictures you see of World War II where a bomb has struck a building, blown up most of it but some of the exterior walls, and the rest of it has smoke coming from it, floating over the bricks.
There's probably a lesson here. You may not want to hear it, though... But, if you ever want to see historical buildings in your area, whether you live in Bloomington-Normal Illinois or somewhere else, you should get your butt out there and do it while you have a chance instead of thinking that you can always do it another time, believing that it'll be there for years to come. You never know... Tomorrow, those historical buildings might catch fire and burn down.
Oh, and a word of advice to all the sight-seers out there: There's probably some asbestos in that old building so you may not want to hang around too much, because it probably came loose during the fire, when the ceilings and walls collapsed. It's almost certain to stir it up even more when they start removing the debris.
In a week or two, I'll try to remember to make a new Web page and put the pictures I took on it.
June 3rd, 2005:
The United States of America is criticizing other countries of not doing enough about 'human trafficking' in involuntary servitude (slavery), when they themselves allow slavers to not only operate in the US, but also to advertise their illegal lifestyle on-line!
The US State Department listed several countries as "Tier 3" countries for not doing enough to stop slavery, or "whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards" set by American law and "are not making significant efforts to do so."
Odd thing is, the United States of America, itself, a country known for its great affection for slavery, especially in the early years of its growth, still allows slavery despite the fact that they made it illegal, and not only that, allows cults like the goreans to advertise their illegal lifestyle on-line (like in the ActiveWorlds program where children can click and be instantly taken to a one-on-one live chat with them) to find new slaves. The Internet is also the main buffet line for serial killers like the slavemaster, who killed several women and stuffed their bodies into metal drums. But, the US government doesn't seem to care, even when you write the FBI about it, as I myself, and several others have done.
Never wondered what kind of people are kidnapping children and young women here in the US, and why agencies like the FBI aren't doing anything about them? When the US government won't stop serial killers and slavers even when people tell them where to find them, it makes it look like the US goverment agencies like the FBI are either incompetent or perhaps they're allowing these people to do whatever they like with no interference until the media starts telling the story. Then, seemingly only to avoid public embarrassment, they deign to act to stop one individual, and leave the rest of them alone.
You know, I'd feel much better if the FBI actually did something about slavery, serial killers, and cults that participated in such things, and then maybe I could walk into stores and not see several pictures of missing children plastered on the walls.
June 26th, 2005:
I'm melting!
The weather's going to be hot here again, today, in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, much higher than the normal temperature, which is around 80° (fahrenheit).
According to one of the weather sites, the high temperature is going to be 93° but with a 'Real Feel' temperature of 108° (108 degrees). If you live here, and you remember yesterday, it's going to be just like that.
Supposed to be very similar tomorrow. :-P
And, there's no relief in sight in the long-range forecast until July 1st, when it's supposed to get down to about 80°. Right now, that would feel like heaven. LOL
Don't expect to see many changes to the site until after then. I don't have air conditioning, and just a little fan to keep the air moving around, which lately, has been hot air inside my place.
June 30th, 2005:
The USA Patriot Act and the American sheeple
Reading an article on the Web tonight, I just had to comment on it, not just because of the fact that I don't like what I'm seeing going on, but also because people like William Moschella who is said to work for the Department of Justice was either mis-quoted or confused about the law.
The article in question was this one and I'll let you read it, if you want to, but I'll post my comments about it below:
First off, what one of the people in the story said wasn't factual. The story said, and I quote:
"Moschella said there is recourse for people whose records are requested, noting that they can "consult a lawyer" or "file a motion to quash" the records request."
According to the section in question, Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, the FBI can get records or any other "tangible things" and the demand for these records come with a "gag order" that prohibits the recipient (like your local librarian) from telling anybody, ever, that they received a Section 215 order.
Quoting from the USA Patriot Act, itself:
"No person shall disclose to any other person (other than those persons necessary to produce the tangible things under this section) that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has sought or obtained tangible things under this section."
How somebody who isn't even told that their records have been 'requested' (even if they heard the librarian talking to the FBI agent around the corner) can get legal advice on such a thing when talking about it to a lawyer would be against the law (read the above paragraph again, because it's covered that, too!) or attempt to stop it when the records are given as demanded under threat of imprisonment is beyond my comprehension. It's not like you're fighting a parking ticket or something, guys.
If you go to your local library you might even find a little plaque on the wall like the one below near an entrance or by the computers that people can use to access the Internet telling patrons that what they do in a library has to be told to authorities "under pain of prosecution", and the punishment they'll receive for telling you that somebody's snooping on you includes imprisonment.
If you think I'm kidding about the imprisonment part, you should know that 18 USC 401 states that you can be fined or imprisoned for disobeying or resisting a process, order, rule, decree, or command.
But, seriously, I doubt if anybody's going to find detailed plans on making an atomic bomb or the nastier uses for freon gas (you didn't really think the US government insisted that freon be done away with in the US because they cared about the environment, did you? LOL) or things like that at the local library. Books with that kind of information in them have probably already been removed. Heck, some schools even remove things like "Little Red Riding Hood"... "Fahrenheit 451" is almost certainly banned, then. *Sighs*
Well, I already have this information and a heck of a lot more in my head and have quite enough imagination to think of ways it can be used by bad people (another little reason why I don't sleep too well at night), but I'm a nice guy, and can be trusted. Er, for the most part. WEG
Read more about the USA Patriot Act here.
If the founding fathers of the US were alive today, they'd probably be locked up by the US government, or executed. In the case of Thomas Jefferson, the author of both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, there are laws on the books now that would require his execution.
Want to read what some of them said, in bite-sized chunks? Read my Cool Quotes page.
Odd, too, isn't it, how lately everybody's calling it the "4th of July" and not "Independence Day"? Do yourselves a favor; read the Declaration of Independence and some of the history of that time, and see for yourself why the colonists of the time were revolting, and then compare that to what's going on now in addition to things like fluoride being added to the drinking water which the Nazis in the 2nd so-called "war to end all wars", World War 2, or WW II, used to make people in their prison camps more submissive and docile, not unlike cows, and the "Real ID" which isn't going to deter terrorists or any technologically skilled US citizen (think card reader and editing software) either, for that matter, but can be used to keep better track of the civilian population.
Why do I bother? Most of the thousands of people who read this and other pages on my site every month are sheeple, anyway, and don't care.
July 13th, 2005:
I'm moving to the Bermuda Triangle! :-)
Miami, Florida is in the Bermuda Triangle's South-West corner, and that's where I'm moving to. More details to follow, but I'll be off-line for about a week, I think, so there will be no updates to the site until then, and my 3D world This Is It will be off-line until I return, which should be by the 22nd.
July 27th, 2005:
I'm back on the Internet! :-)
Got the computer set up, and my 3D world This Is It is back up and running, again. It took a little longer than I thought it would, but hey, I'm just glad to be back!
I am now living in beautiful Miami Florida here in the USA. It's taking a little time to adjust from living in Illinois, because most of the people here aren't anal-retentive jerks who walk around in suits like there are in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. So far, everything's going well, and wonder of wonders, this city even has bike lanes for bicyclists to use so cars won't run over them, unlike Bloomington-Normal! If this is an indication of the attitude of the people as well as the local government, I think I'm going to like it here. :-)
Hey, pop into This Is It and chat with me, or just play some trivia with Triviabot. Until I get my bicycle put back together, I'm going to be spending a lot of time here at the computer, so your chances of being able to chat with me are very good. LOL
July 30th, 2005:
Using eminent domain against those who use it to take other people's homes. WEG
Many of you by now have heard about the Supreme Court ruling that lets the government take land away from people who own it, so they can then give it to developers to do whatever they want to with it, even if the land has been in their family for generations and isn't blighted or something. I think this is wrong not only because the people that are supposed to own something should have the right to decide if they want to keep it or not, but also because the Supreme Court is changing the Fifth Amendment to mean that private property can be taken against the will of one private owner and given to another. Don't know about anybody else, but when I consider that somebody owns something, they have the sole right to decide what to do with it, as it belongs to them. If businesses and governments can take it away from you without your permission, that, to me, means that you don't really own it. You may have a deed to the property, but it seems to have all the value of toilet paper.
So, there is a growing number of people who want to do this very same thing to the Supreme Court justices (like David Souter and Stephen G. Breyer) who made this decision. IMHO, it's only fair, but I like their style. It's a kind of eminent domain revenge. Hee hee hee
One group behind this kind of thing is the Libertarian Party. While I don't agree totally with everything they propose doing when it comes to 'the issues' (you can read more information about them here, I most certainly approve of this, as it lets those who did it to others know how it feels to have it done to them!
There's a story on Yahoo about it, but I won't put up the link, because the ones on most commercial sites don't last long for some reason, and unlike me, they don't put links up to the new place to find something if they change something on their sites. If you want to see it in action on my site, you can just type in something you're sure I don't have after the / of the domain name and hit the Enter key.
Think this thing with the Supreme Court ruling that governments can take property away from private citizens and give it to others is just a prelude to what's coming in the future. Corporations will get more power to do what they want, and regular citizens are just going to end up getting more and more screwed over as time goes on. The serf system may be coming back, where we're all just serfs or vassals working for those with power and money.
You want to make a change? You've heard it before, but get your butts out there and vote, even if it's just for local elections! Spend a couple of hours studying who is running in the elections, learn how they stand on the issues and if you agree with them, vote for them. Also, don't vote for any
Update!
Right after I posted the above addition to this page, I found out that at least one other person noticed what the Supreme Court decision means and compared it to a rather dark time in history.
For more detail on this, and the similarity to the serf system of centuries ago, you can read this page.
Ah, and for those totally ignorant of history, the Magna Carta that was signed into law way back there on June 15th, 1215 in Runnymede was considered by many to be one of the first steps towards people eventually having rights, and the founding fathers of the US considered it one of the historical precedents for asserting their rightful liberties when writing up the Declaration of Independence.
But, the Supreme Court has decided to remove the rights that people have had for 790 years (2005 - 1215 = 790). That's one huge backwards step, considering that most of the rights we have today we only were allowed to have by the US government during the last 214 years.
A quick review of some of those:
The First Amendment, that among other things, gives people the right to freedom of speech was ratified (along with nine other amendments, which together, formed the Bill of Rights) to the US Constitution on December 15th, 1791.
The Second Amendment allows people the right to keep and bear arms. Trust me on this, it's a good idea to have one in your home if you get an armed home invader with intentions to kill you and every member of your family. If you think calling 911 is going to deter them, you can think again. They can empty a clip into you and still have plenty of time to go on to kill the rest of your family in the several minutes it'll likely take the cops to make it to your house, provided that you get the time needed to tell the dispatcher where you are and what's going on, which by itself will take several seconds, and that's if you're not put on hold and they answer on the first ring. But, yes, you should have trigger locks on your guns, but ones that'll read your fingerprint and can fire in less than a second. In a situation such as that, the time it takes to deploy a weapon to defend yourself should be as short as possible. In the space of a single second, your body can be perforated with several bullets. You can read more detail on how I feel about people having the right to protect themselves with guns on the Gun Prohibition page.
The Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable searches and seizures. But, of course, now, thanks to the USA Patriot Act, your house or business can be searched and things taken from it and they don't have to tell you what they took, or that they were even there.
The Eighth Amendment says you can't be charged excessive bail or fines, or have cruel and unusual punishments.
The Tenth Amendment guarantees that the federal government only has the power given to it by the US Constitution, but they can do other things, that seem rather shady. For example, not giving states money that the federal government received from people in those states through taxes for things like highway funding, unless those states passed laws the federal government wanted them to have.
The 13th Amendment out-laws slavery. Even though the federal agencies like the FBI look the other way when cults spring up like the goreans (as they like to call themselves) that have slavery, believe that people who are weak and less adaptive (which I take it to mean anybody who doesn't conform and isn't what their society dictates to be normal in their eyes) should be (and I quote) "diminished and controlled". The last I heard, the goreans were trying to get themselves declared a religion. Which, if they pull it off, will give them protection under the First Amendment to freely exercise their 'religion'. Odd, isn't it, that the federal government cracks down on people who choose to smoke pot, but can't seem to be bothered to go after the goreans even when people point out where they can be found...
=========> goreans
The 19th Amendment, that gave women the right to vote, was ratified in 1920 (yes, a mere 85 years ago, even though other countries allowed them to vote much earlier).
Get ready for more restrictions and invasions of privacy for you, and more power for corporations and governments, because that seems to be the way things are going.
While I'm certain there are people out there who doubt what I say, consider this: How many governments in history that had as much power as the US government has now didn't abuse that power to further restrict its citizens and invade their privacy?
August 12th, 2005:
I'm finally back on-line!
Comcast Cable has finally after eight days got around to fixing the outage here in Miami, Florida, so I am once again on-line and can do research on whatever I like through the Internet!
Oh, if any of you are living here in south florida and are thinking of getting Internet access, you may want to try somebody other than Comcast Cable. They advertise "blazing fast always on Internet connections" but during the last eight days, if I had a dial-up account and my old 14.4 modem, I would've had more bandwidth because during that time, my bandwidth with Comcast Cable was 0kb. *Growls*
August 17th, 2005:
Micro$haft is now censoring what you can view on your own computers! :-(
Another reason to hate Micro$haft. Er, Microsoft. Whichever you'd like to call them. Most of you know what I think of them, already... *Growls*
Today I learned that you can't watch certain video files in Micro$haft's Media Player. And, I'm not talking about video files that your media player needs certain codecs to play. I mean ones you've probably already watched with the Media Player but now, for some odd reason, the Media Player closes when you try to open those video files.
For those who may be experiencing similar problems, you'll be pleased to note that these same video files that can't be opened with Micro$haft's Media Player can be opened with other media players such as DivX, which are freely available at places like download.com although it and other programs sometimes place things like watermarks in video files even when opened by other programs, they'll at least let you watch the video files that Micro$haft doesn't want you to watch.
And now you have another reason to fear Microsoft / Micro$haft is in league with big brother, or perhaps is big brother, as many people started seeing them as thanks to movies like "Pirates of Silicon Valley". Worth watching, if you're into computers, and want to learn more of the history behind them.
People should listen to paranoids. We're better judges of what the future holds and the true nature of man and the lengths to which corporations will go more than some suit (who's usually totally clueless and writes down whatever it is they're told without checking the facts first) writing articles for a newspaper or magazine! Seems like each day brings another way to screw over people, but for some reason, people, or as I like to call them, sheeple, just don't seem to care...
August 29th, 2005 (just before dawn):
Hurricane Katrina.
Watching the news channels here, and I've seen that they're putting people into the SuperDome. Although they claim that its roof can stand 200 MPH winds, I don't put any faith in that after hearing the WTC could take a direct impact by a jet airliner and remain standing, then, on September 11th, 2001, both the towers got hit and collapsed. Of course the ignited jet fuel heated up the supporting steel beams inside and weakened them, but still... The fact that jet airliners had jet fuel in them should've been taken into account.
There's also another reason... I really love watching storms, and sometimes I feel I can talk to them in a way. Go ahead and laugh, if you want to. But there's a lot of things that happen that people don't have pat answers to and science can't easily explain, and history proves over and over again that the self-proclaimed 'experts' don't know as much as they claim to. ;-)
Anyway, while Katrina was barely a category 1 hurricane when she went over us here in Miami the other day, I was kind of trying to impart to her how I feel about jocks and things like stadiums while looking at one and drinking some beers. Well, suffice it to say, if she did 'get my drift' so to speak, and understood what I was trying to convey to her, the SuperDome is going to suffer some damage no matter how safe those experts say it is. WEG
So, if you're one of my friends who reads this and you live in New Orleans and are thinking of taking shelter in the New Orleans SuperDome, don't. And don't try checking into a multi-floor hotel, either. Or you're going to end up being high off the ground with only a pane of glass to protect you from a hurricane. Not any real protection... Find a building somewhere made of concrete or something that's only one story tall and doesn't have a very big roof, that you can keep the doors closed on, so the winds can't get in and help to tear the roof apart or some other place that's safe, preferably as far above sea level as possible, and stay off of I-10 and any other major hiways, or you're likely to get stuck in a traffic jam. Take side roads if possible. Doubt if too many of the humans think about them, so they should be more clear of traffic. ;-)
Another good reason not to be in a large place with a bunch of humans: They're not exactly kind, caring, and considerate. They have very little tolerance and patience. When things go bad, or they're inconvenienced in the slightest, their true nature starts to come out. Ever hear of 'road rage'? Humans get mad and tend to turn violent just because somebody cuts in front of their car on a road. But, the people in those places huddling in there for shelter are going to figure this out pretty fast. Just hope they take video footage of it. It should be made into video files and passed around so people can see exactly what humans are like when things go bad.
August 31st, 2005:
Hurricane Katrina (aftermath).
Hurricane Katrina left quite a mess from what I've been able to see. Even the Superdome got damaged, as I thought it would. Well, I did try to warn people. It's not my fault when people refuse to listen to me.
If what they say about the oil refineries is true, that they're damaged, and production is slowed, gas prices will go up, and in some places, there will likely be price gouging, even if the U.S. government tries to claim they'll keep an eye out for that sort of thing, it'll still happen. If you think that gas stations charging $3, $4, or more per gallon isn't going to happen, you're in for a nasty shock. If the people running those businesses can't control their greed, they'll go even higher. Then, there's going to be violence at the gas pumps and some people maybe wanting to take it out on the gas station employees, or maybe damaging the gas stations, themselves. Might not even take the prices climbing to $4 before things get violent, if what I think about humans is true... Since the United States is the biggest consumer of crude oil in the world, it's also the most vulnerable to such things. The people here in the United States as well as the politicians need to get serious about curbing our 'need' for oil, or things are going to only get worse because oil is a finite resource, and there's a limit to what's left in the world, and that amount is getting less every day.
What do I think you should do? Ride a bicycle as much as you can. If you're healthy enough to do it, and the places you need to go to aren't too far for you to ride, all the better. You can check the weather maps and forecasts on the Internet at places like accuweather.com before you head out.
If you're in bad health, and can afford it and it'll fit your needs, you should get an electric car. Preferably one with photovoltaic paint that acts like solar cells covering the body of a car. But, they're probably not going to have those available for most consumers for a while, and the oil companies will likely fight such a thing coming out, as it'll increase the range of electric cars as well as how much power they'll need to re-charge. The big electric utility companies that provide you with power will probably get upset as well as the regular solar cell/photovoltaic cell makers and the guys who make electric batteries. Maybe if somebody finds a way to get free energy and the device is able to be made at home, they should simply put in out on the Internet on Web pages, or pass it out to others in e-mails... Probably save them a lot of grief, and it would benefit everybody.
Distances are too far for any electric car to go? Get a gasoline-electric hybrid car. But, shop around, to save yourself some money, and, if possible, ask a mechanic friend you can trust to come along with you to check it out, especially if you're buying a used car. Heck, offer to pay them for their time. Even if you give them $100, if they keep you from buying a car that's going to need major repairs in the near future, they'd have saved you far more than that.
What am I going to do? Well, I don't really have to make any changes in my transportation plans. You see, I've been riding a bicycle for a very long time, and am probably one of a very few people who can say they haven't driven a car in several years (not including rich people who have chauffeurs). Most places I need to go to I can get to on my bicycle as they're within a few miles of me. A bank, a mail box, grocery store, even a liquor store are within that range. Only time I need to go further out is if I want to go to a store that has a lot more stuff in it, or a movie theater, but that's not something that I have to do.
If you're physically able, I encourage you to ride a bicycle. You want reasons? Okay... Reason #1: It'll save you a lot of money on gas in a short amount of time if you can use it for most of the places you go to. Reason #2: It's relatively cheap entertainment. You can ride to a park or some other place, or even around your neighborhood. Reason #3: It's an exercise that doesn't take a lot of work, and it should make you healthier. Well, I guess that depends on where you're bicycling at, too... Reason #4: It's fun! Especially when you go by gas stations and you watch people with one of those gas-guzzling SUVs (Humvee / Hummer / H2 / H3 / huge pick-up truck or whatever. Wonder what they're trying to over-compensate for? I ride a bicycle. Hee hee hee) pumping gas and grimacing at the amount of money it's costing them. WEG
Oh, yeah. In case you guys in one of the flooded areas haven't thought about it, yet, you might want to get some bug repellent to put on. There's probably going to be a lot more mosquitoes...
You also need to be careful about the food you eat. If it's been in contact with the water from the flood, don't eat it or drink it as it's probably contaminated. About the only food that's probably going to be okay after it's been in contact with flood waters is commerically canned goods, and that's only if the can's un-damaged. Even then, you should remove the label and disinfect the can. You can make some disinfectant using a couple of ounces of bleach in a gallon of water. Then, if you're not going to eat the canned food right away, write on the can the exipiration date and what's in the can with a permanent marker. The stuff you've got that needs refrigeration should get thrown out after a few hours if you lost power.
Also remember to wash your hands after touching anything that's been in flood water with clean water and soap, especially before eating, or you're probably going to get sick. The flood water has feces, urine, and waste from factories and farms in it, not to mention the occasional dead body.
After things get cleaned up and all the debris is gone, if your home was destroyed, you may want to consider moving to a safer location that's at least a dozen or so miles away from a coastline, and above sea level.
You can find more information about things to do and where to get help from people there, or on-line, or in the news if you have a working radio.
For those people who want to help the victims of this, I suggest donating a little money, if you can spare it, to organizations like the Salvation Army (www.salvationarmyusa.org) and the Red Cross (www.redcross.org). Be on the look-out for people trying to con you into giving them money for these organizations who aren't affiliated with them, or claiming that they're part of something else but are accepting donations to help out people. Knowing what humans are like, it's only a short amount of time before some of them try this kind of scam. Donate money to the Salvation Army and the Red Cross through their Web sites, or send them a money order in the mail if you don't have a credit card. Both of them have their mailing addresses on their Web sites.
September 5th, 2005:
Human intolerance and bigotry.
Humans try to claim that they're trying to be more tolerant of people's differences, yet they still have the same attitudes towards people that are different from them. So, humans are basically liars, and are only claiming they think one way for the news cameras and newspapers, while, out of the public eye, they show their true selves. Don't believe me? Ask any kid who's gone to school who didn't 'fit in'. Ask them how tolerant are those who live in the same area they do, and are even in their own age group. But then, most people with more than a few working brain cells (I know, there's few of them out there, anymore) realize that intolerance, bullying, and teasing are what leads to most school violence. They just can't be bothered to do anything about it. Why? Because they don't care. Only when the bullets fly or their own children are hurt do they seem to care, and then, they blame those shooting the guns, seemingly too stupid to realize that in most cases, it was the students who are getting shot at who were the ones responsible for what's going on.
But this two-faced behavior of humans exists even in the adult world. And, even when adults are in charge of schools. One of the more visible examples of this, that only seemed to rate a side note in the mass media news shows, is when schools punish male students who simply have too long of hair. Ah, but you're going to claim now that I'm contradicting myself. No, no, no. You see, the news people didn't care that those in charge were intolerant of people who were different solely because of the length of their hair, or because the schools punished them for it. They only seemed to care when the punishment was a paddling. Oh, yes, indeed! A story of a student getting two short wacks on the butt from a paddle is more horrific to them than the fact that people are so intolerant, even long hair on a guy is considered a punishable offense.
Here's another point they seemed to have either accidently missed, or were too stupid to notice: People scream all the time about the un-fairness of one sex being able to do something, but another isn't allowed, like job promotion in a company, and claim it's sexual discrimination. But, yet, when some male kid grows his hair a little longer than a military-cut length, they insist that it shouldn't be done.
Just another instance of human hypocrisy, and they'll probably be doing it for centuries to come. After all, they've had this attitude for decades, now, but in the scheme of things, it's just the latest fad. A mere century ago, almost all guys had beards and long hair. The razor wasn't invented until 1904. LOL You're all just slaves to fashion and whatever people think looks acceptable.
A question, then. Since most humans are intolerant jerks, and can't even tolerate somebody from their own town who's the same sex and quite likely has the same skin color who simply has longer hair than they do, why, then, are they attempting to find extra-terrestrials (extraterrestrials, E.T., aliens, or however you want to say it)? What are they going to do, invite him or her over for lunch, but neglect to mention that they're the main course? Possibly served with fava beans and a nice Chianti
? LOL
People wonder why the existence of extra-terrestrials is so difficult to prove, and they don't seem to want to meet humans, especially not in large groups. Only stories of them meeting people in isolated locations or if a space ship crashes. Why do you think that is, exactly? Put it this way, if you were a space traveler and had the ability to listen to radio transmissions and watch the television shows of a planet you were considering contacting and saw all the hypocrisy, intolerance for their own species and race even for slight differences or differences only in beliefs, amount of money they earn, or the way they dress, would you be stupid enough to think that they'd welcome somebody with open arms? Ha! The only possible reasons I can see for humans wanting to meet E.T. would be to either:
A: Have them over for dinner, or more specifically, as dinner;
B: Take what they have from them in the way of technology and/or knowledge, by promising peace and acceptance, or by force if lying didn't work like it did when the U.S. government did it to the Native Americans when they did treaties, and instead, the U.S. government tried genocide;
C: Capture them and put them in a zoo;
D: Capture them and dissect them.
Okay, now that I've 'vented', I'm sure none of you will remember my words, and the visitors who chanced upon this page will just wander aimlessly somewhere else and won't care who this CyberWoLfman guy is and you'll all go back to your regular existence of working, eating, defecating, and sleeping, with the standard mindset of most humans of apathy and ignorance unless it involves money or the latest over-hyped product, believing that that's the way things should be and to think otherwise is "just plain wrong". LOL
September 27th, 2005:
I went to my first Rock music concert and saw Alice Cooper!
It was tonight at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, that was run by the Seminole tribe of Native Americans here in Florida. I was in the cheap seats in the back section of the floor, so I couldn't see much detail, but it was still fun. Just wish there wasn't so many up-tight snobby people, there. When I tried to talk to some of them, they totally ignored me. Guess I've got to be one of those rich people who make more than $10,000 a year before I'm good enough to talk to. :-( Maybe they didn't like me because I was singing along with the music, and knew all the words? LOL The people in the front section of the first section of seats by the stage got all the goodies that Alice Cooper threw from the stage, except for one or two times he threw them to people on the side sections. Maybe next time, I can save my money for a few months, and get a seat closer to the stage, and maybe meet Alice Cooper and get a picture taken with him. :-)
Alice Cooper started the set with the song "Department of Youth". The set was a lot like the one seen in the "Brutal Planet" DVD, but he did songs from the album "Dirty Diamonds" and less from the "Brutal Planet" album, but there were still some in it.
Yeah, it was loud, but it was fun. Alice seemed a little confused about some of the song lyrics, though. When he did the song "Killer", for example, instead of saying "someone handed me this gun" he said knife instead of gun. Maybe he's bending to pressure from gun-control groups or something. Who knows.
They had beer at the concert, too. A little stand in the hallway, where they had plastic bottles of it for $6.00 a bottle. As you've probably already guessed, I only could afford a couple.
Oh, for those who were there, I was the one with the green laser, shining it onto the lights above the stage before Alice came out for his encore. ;-)
September 29th, 2005:
Censorship based on a person's financial situation and file-sharing programs.
WinMX has reportedly stopped working, and their Web site is no longer available. This is supposedly due to 'cease and desist' letters sent out by the RIAA to some file-sharing groups following the Supreme Court's unanimous decision back in June 2005.
Quoting Justice David Souter on this:
"We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement"
The Supreme Court judges either aren't that bright, or don't bother checking the facts before they make their decisions.
And yes, I'm probably going to get my butt in trouble for this, too...
Fact #1: WinMX didn't promote the WinMX file-sharing program to infringe on copyright. They didn't even include help files for the program telling people how to use it. That was why I created the WinMX Help page. Buy a clue, guys! Duh?
Fact #2: File-sharing programs can be used for "substantial noninfringing uses" as the "Sony Betamax ruling" (AKA the Supreme Court's decision in the Sony Corporation of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. case) stated back in 1984 that distributors couldn't be held liable for users' direct infringement if that were the case. For instance, people who want to share things they've created like programs, videos, songs, or really huge picture files with the rest of the world. Now, I'm sure the Supreme Court Justices will try to argue with me that people can put these files up on the Internet on Web sites, but, I'll bet those Supreme Court justices never tried to run a Web site with one of those free Web hosting services and found out they have both a file size limit and also won't let them upload certain types of files. Then there's also people living in places that have really repressive governments that might kidnap a person at gunpoint and torture and kill them for posting pictures and videos on the Internet of government troops doing bad things to people. So, programmers, photographers, musicians and people who are trying to get the word out about what's going on in their countries who want to share what they have with the world have to be able to afford to buy their own domain name and pay for professional hosting, or as some of us do, host their site on their own computers and know a lot more about computers and network security than most Internet users. (Okay, so that's not too big of a leap, as most Internet users are silly enough to use the Internet Explorer Web browser that came bundled with Windows. Information on why this isn't a good idea is available on my CSS and Web Browser History page. And yes, I'm sure I'm on Bill Gates' naughty list because of that and a few other things.)
To me, that seems like one of the worst kinds of censorship there is. It's like somebody being gagged not because what they're saying isn't government approved, but because they're not rich enough.
And, there's probably some really sadistic gun-toting soldiers and dictators out there who are breathing a collective sigh of relief and are very thankful of the US Supreme Court and the RIAA for their help. *GROWLS*
You know, somehow, I just can't help but think that some people would look better with one of those pneumatic drills used on roads stuck up their butts...
"As the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed, the Internet deserves the highest protection from governmental intrusion." - U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell wrote in an individual opinion submitted as part of a court ruling on June 12th, 1996.
November 7th, 2005:
I survived hurricane Wilma!
Hurricane Wilma went through a couple of weeks ago (think it hit us on October 24th), but we're just now getting things set up here, again. As many of you know, I'm living in south Florida, now, and hurricane Wilma was a very destructive hurricane. Here in Miami-Dade county, I think there's still about 100,000 people without power, and, in south Florida, itself, about 1 million. That's better than the millions that were without power right after Wilma came through. Some of the traffic lights are still not working, too. Okay, some of the intersections don't even have traffic lights, anymore. LOL
A word to radio DJs who tell drivers to treat intersections that have traffic lights that aren't working as 'four way stops': don't. Most drivers are humans, and they'll stupidly think that it has to be a crossroad of sorts with four access points before they have to stop, or yield the right-of-way. You should, instead, say that they should treat an intersection that has traffic lights that aren't working as being one with stop signs. Several drivers are just driving through them. Guess they either didn't bother to read the Florida Driver's Handbook, or don't think that it applies to them. A quote from the Florida Driver's Handbook: "Who has the right-of-way in Florida? The answer is no one! Every driver ... must do everything possible to avoid a crash." Then there's the people who don't like taking turns at the intersections, and instead, follow the vehicles in front of them. But then, consideration for others, taking turns, and sharing has never been something humans are known for...
A lot of homes were damaged here in south Florida, including the one I'm living in. The roof took a big hit from a tree and needs to be replaced, the shed blew away and the fence broke and came down. It's propped up at the moment, but should be replaced, too. Despite all of that, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. There's several people out there that had their homes totally destroyed. If you want to help them, please go to sites like redcross.org and make a donation. If you want to help me, you can by donating a dollar or whatever, but if you need the money more for yourself, please keep it. I'm alive, and life (such as it is) goes on. :-)
Since most of you are probably more concerned when I'll reply to your e-mails, get some work done for you, add new content, or get my 3D world This Is It running, again, I'll forego the telling of my own troubles, and get to that.
There's no cable Internet access right now for me because there's no cable attached to the house. Hurricane Wilma is responsible for that, too. Right now, I've got a limited kind of Internet access that won't let me do some things like run my world, and even the usually simple process of uploading files is now a pain, so I'm going to have to wait until the cable gets hooked up, again.
When we get cable hooked up, again, I'll do as much stuff as I can as fast as I can. In addition to the other stuff I need to do, I'm planning on making a Web page about hurricane Wilma, adding some pictures that I took myself and including a lot of information that I can share about it and the aftermath, a page on file-sharing programs now that the good one (WinMX) is no longer working, review some more 3D chat stuff that I was recently told about (thank you, Brian Thomasson), and a few other things.
Some of the strange things during the aftermath of hurricane Wilma was the fact that they wouldn't allow people to walk up to the gas pumps even if they waited in line with gas cans to fill them up at gas stations. Some were turned away by cops for that. Guess if your car ran out of gas, or you've got an electric generator at your house, you're screwed. Also, they wouldn't allow people to walk in and get water and ice when FEMA had the water and ice PODs (Point Of Distribution). So, you had to be rich enough to afford a car and not be out of gas. That means that all the people who got their vehicles destroyed by hurricane Wilma couldn't get water and ice. Probably had their homes damaged, too, and didn't have power, or else they wouldn't be trying to get ice. That sucks. Kind of destroyed the picture the government was trying to build up of a benign entity, too... Can you imagine, also, the poor people who had diabetes who needed ice to keep their insulin cold? If they didn't have a car, that means they couldn't get ice, so maybe there's several more dead people out there that won't be discovered until later. :-(
I was told that it would cost about $10,000,000,000 (10 billion dollars) to bury the power lines so they won't get knocked down by winds (or trees that fall onto power lines as the wind blows them down, which adds to the the stress on the poles), but then, it's going to cost them a lot of money to keep having to replace the lines and poles every time we get a big storm, and the hurricanes are getting stronger and there's more of them now than before. It would mean less disruptions in people's lives, traffic would not get tied up so much as we're still in stop-and-go traffic many places like near highway exits, and we'd only have to pay for this to be done once, and not have to pay an increased rate for electricity each and every time the poles get knocked down.
As for people getting Internet access, I've heard that some are using DSL, but it won't let you do much, and that for many people, it's only working during the day or at night, as the phone company disconnects the DSL services when they're working on them, instead of just hooking up individual houses after they get them fixed. Guess if you've got a business that relies on you having an always-on connection (as these Internet companies try to claim is the case), you're screwed, too.
Anyway, thanks for 'tuning in' so to speak, and I'll get things done as soon as I'm able, and give you far more detail about what's going on here.
November 18th, 2005:
Comcast Cable still hasn't fixed the cable, yet, there's nothing about outages on their site at all, and their phones are always busy.
You'd think that Comcast Cable would at the very least mention that they were working on restoring the damage caused by hurricane Wilma on their Web site (www.comcast.com), but there's nothing there at all. They had earlier set up an appointment with us saying that they'll have somebody fix the cable that got damaged, but they never showed up. Guess we're expected to wait around all day long for people that never arrive, and Comcast Cable won't tell us they can't keep the appointment.
Somebody told me that they had to repair a cut fiber line around Interstate 595 AKA I-595, but I haven't got any confirmation of that from anybody in an official capacity. For all I know, it could be a story they made up to excuse their slow work.
A lot of people here are getting DSL service from their phone company, or just regular dial-up accounts with them or other ISPs since they're fed up with Comcast Cable being down so much of the time. There's even people telling me that Comcast Cable is telling people that the employees who handle problems with the home Internet stuff can't report problems that customers are having to the employees who work on the lines. Just another excuse by an empolyee so they don't have to do any work, like type in fields to send a note to the other part of Comcast's work force? Could be. I certainly don't have any problems believing it.
The HSI that Comcast Cable is always saying that is 'always on' seems to be down a heck of a lot, even when we didn't have hurricanes. :-(
Some of the lucky few that do have cable and Internet access from Comcast Cable are saying that the bandwidth is only as high as 200 Kbps. Others have as little as 100 Kbps, and it frequently drops down to as low as 3 Kbps. Oh, and that's bits per second, not bytes. If you read ads about Internet access bandwidth, make sure you know the difference. There's eight bits in a byte, as many people who use computers know. Oh. But, that's one of the things that confuses tech support when you call them for some ISPs. ;-)
A few people are getting through to Comcast via phone (probably at 3:00 in the morning, or something like that), and being told that the problem they're having with the cable modem Send light flashing is due to the cable modem they're using. So, they make the long trip to the Comcast Cable office, exchange one cable modem for another, get back home and try it out, and get the exact same problem. Guys, do yourselves a favor: Don't rely on tech support for any real help.
Hey, you're at least better off than I am. This cable modem only shows the Power light steadily lit (almost said burning LOL) and the Receive light flashing. But, that's because the cable isn't hooked up to the house.
Some people who can actually get a human on the phone at Comcast report being 'accidently disconnected'.
Do I think they're working on getting us re-connected? Nope. Haven't seen a single Comcast Cable vehicle in the area since hurricane Wilma hit. For all I know, they're probably all sitting around someplace that people can't see them at to ask them when they'll get cable restored, and, if they are asked by somebody, like at a donut shop when they get more donuts for their never-ending work break, they try to claim that they're waiting for FPL. What's the matter, guys? Never heard of generators? Don't need much to power up a cable line, and I'm sure there's lots of people out there who are willing to sell you their generators if you can't find some at the local stores.
Although cable companies tell people that satellite television can have bad reception during high winds and storms, satellite dishes don't have the vulnerability of cable. While a lot of homes have had their cable knocked out by hurricane Wilma, the people with satellite dishes still have their satellite dishes on their houses, and as far as I know, they're working just fine, but those with cable (or rather, those who are supposed to have cable but don't) have been waiting weeks for it to be up and running, again.
It's almost tempting to make up a big cardboard sign and stand in front of Comcast's office building. What would I write on the sign? How about:
Internet-addicted lycanthrope (www.cyberwolfman.com) in desperate need of cable hook up.
Days without cable: 25
But, with my luck, I'd probably get shot by one of the Comcast bosses, or they'd call the cops and have me arrested. After all, they probably don't want the general public to know how lousy their service is.
Maybe I can just attach the sign to a pole? Anybody want to bet how many minutes it would stay there? LOL
For all those other people out there who are unfortunate enough to be a Comcast customer and are having the same problem, remember, if and when Comcast ever gets things going again for you, call them up and ask for credit for the time you were without service. Perhaps if word gets back to them that a lot of their customers are going to do that, and in fact, do ask for credit when their service is restored, Comcast may make more of an effort to restore service to their customers. After all, it'll effect their profits, which is what most businesses seem to care about, or at least that's been my experience with them.
*Sighs* Maybe Comcast will get their act together before 2007...
November 28th, 2005:
Comcast Cable finally came out to fix the cable!
Comcast Cable was about three weeks late for the repair service appointment we had set up to get their butts out here to fix the cable, but they finally deigned to show up. Guess everybody knows, now, how crappy Comcast Cable's repair service is.
Phone's been out for a little while, now. They had phone service restored sometime after hurricane Wilma ran through here, but then it stopped working, again. Suppose we can blame that on typical telephone company incompetence. So, basically, there was no cable Internet access, no DSL, dial-up, or anything. Looked at the site for the satellite dish TV company, and found out that they have Internet access, but it's through DSL, which we couldn't use here because of the lack of phone service.
*Sighs*
Anyway, I'm back on-line and my 3D world, This Is It is back up and running, again, so now I won't have the Internet withdrawal. Other Internet users think they get bad Internet withdrawal when they can't connect to the Internet. Imagine how bad it is for somebody who's used to living in a 3D world that he built himself. LOL Not only that, but it's also my main resource tool, and the primary way that I interact with people on this muddball, Sol III, AKA Earth.
Oh! Just thought about something. There's only a couple of days left in the month, so, if you can access my 3D world, This Is It, and come in to play trivia, there's a good chance you'll win the $20 prize for the month, as there won't be much competition. ;-)
The regular trivia players are going to be so ticked off at me. WEG
Oh, and did you hear about congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham who got into trouble for taking bribes? U.S. Attorney Carol Lam said:
"He did the worst thing an elected official can do -- he enriched himself through his position and violated the trust of those who put him there."
Should we really be surprised? Think about it: Politicians can vote themselves raises. Did you think that they were in the job for anything but the money, and the chance to screw people over, like with the Real ID Act? *snickers*
November 29th, 2005:
Created a page for my review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Okay, so I saw the movie four days ago, but I'm just now getting around to putting the page up on the Web site. If you want to see it, check out the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie review page.
To save you a click, if you're just wondering if it's worth going to see, I recommend it if you liked the book, but it doesn't stay true to the book. I miss the parts they cut out, but overall, it wasn't too bad.
At least now there's one less thing on my to-do list. I'll get to the rest as soon as I can.
December 5th, 2005:
Today in history
Two interesting things happened on this day in history.
The first thing, which I think is cool, and definitely appreciate, is the 72nd anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the United States Constituion, that repealed the 18th Amendment to the United States Constituion.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Well, readers, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibited alcohol, which all the temperance leagues (usually formed of wives who liked to run into bars and destroy property) wanted. Of course, that didn't really stop people from drinking alcohol, making it, or getting it into the U.S. Prohibition never really works. They found that out, though. About all it did was to cost the government billions of dollars (which taxpayers had to foot the bill for) and made street gangs filthy rich, and gave them lots and lots of money to buy things like Thompson (AKA 'Tommy') guns. They were the same ones seen used by some American soldiers in World War II. The main difference being that the gangs used big drums that held 50 rounds of .45 ammo each. The gangs of course, were very happy that the U.S. government made alcohol illegal. LOL
Even though the federal government made alcohol legal again, the states themselves kept state temerance laws on the books much later. The last 'dry state' in the U.S. was Mississippi, which finally allowed alcohol again in 1966.
Yes, even though I'm certain there are still a large number of people out there who think that alcohol should be prohibited, again, it's not going to work. I'm just glad the U.S. government didn't decide to go through with their idea to prohibit caffeine! LOL
The second interesting thing that happened on this day in history was that, 60 years ago today, Flight 19 (five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers) disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle after they left Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station here in Florida. They radioed in that their compasses had stopped working, and they had no idea where they were. After a transmission from them saying they were going to ditch their aircraft because they were almost out of fuel, RADAR showed where they were, and a search and rescue Mariner aircraft with 13 men on board was dispatched to find them. It, too, ended up lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Oh, did I forget to mention that I live in Miami, the South-West corner of the Bermuda Triangle? Hee hee hee
December 16th, 2005:
The anniversary of the Boston Tea Party!
Today marks the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party that was led by people like Paul Revere and Sam Adams and other members of the Sons of Liberty on December 16, 1773. Most of the planning of this happened in the Green Dragon, a tavern in Boston. One way of determining who was who was that a
It wasn't that good, anyway. The tea had been sitting in in warehouses in England and was rotting away. England retaliated by passing the "Coercive Acts" which the Americans called the "Intolerable Acts". The British sent ships to close Boston's port, and forced the city to provide homes and food for their troops. As you've probably figured out, this kind of ticked off the people of Boston. Political assemblies of people in the colonies supported Boston, some being rather vocal about it. This of course, didn't go too well with the British governors of said colonies. Some of the British governors decided they didn't want the assemblies to assemble anymore and dissolved them. A congress was called to meet in Philadelphia, and they declared that the laws the British Parliment passed violated natral rights (a new concept at the time) and were unconstitutional. Then they declared a boycott on everything coming in from Britain and the British West Indies. Within a year, they also boycotted any exports going to those locations from America.
One thing leads to another, and in time, America declares itself independent with, naturally enough, the Declaration of Independence. That was written up in July of 1776 and (after Timothy Matlack, from Pennsylvania, transcribed it and made it look a lot neater) was signed on August 2nd, 1776.
Even though the Declaration of Independence doesn't seem to mean anything to most Americans and they don't value liberty and freedom, back then, this was a big deal, as there was no other way to get rid of the oppressive government that they were forced to endure. The people freed themselves with a force of arms and lived free, for a short time.
If you want to get a feel for how people were thinking back then, read poems by people like Thomas Paine. Thomas Paine believed that people had four inalienable rights: Liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. He wanted a republic governed under a constitution with a bill of rights, elected leaders serving limited terms, and a judiciary accountable to the general public, as well as an end of social divisions by virtue of birth, rank, economics or religion. :-)
December 16th, 2005 (evening):
The US government and the USA Patriot Act
The US government is trying to make certain controversal parts of the USA Patriot Act permanent. Parts of it were set to expire at the end of this year. Those in power are claiming that there's not many abuses known about the USA Patriot Act, but that's easily explained, because people aren't allowed to talk about specific things that government agencies do with the powers they're granted by the USA Patriot Act.
Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act states that the FBI can get records or any other "tangible things" and the demand for these records come with a "gag order" that prohibits the recipient (like your local librarian) from telling anybody, ever, that they received a Section 215 order.
18 USC 401 states that you can be fined or imprisoned for disobeying or resisting a process, order, rule, decree, or command.
Rather handy law, that, which provides safety to those who abuse the laws to tyrannize people. So, those who are screwed over by agents of the US government cannot even complain about it. Seems to me rather similar to a rapist gagging his victim in order to keep them from screaming for help. :-(
What we need is an organization composed of trustworthy and knowledgeable people that is not a part of the US government or any of its agencies, that people are allowed by law to confer with about possible abuses of laws that carry protection for the abusers. This organization would then be allowed by law to ask the agencies in question about what they're doing and the law should make it illegal to lie to them or to withhold information for any reason. Then, after reviewing all the information, they can make a determination as to whether or not the law was abused and can either supply or find for the abused people a trustworthy lawyer which will be allowed to pursue a case against the offending party. Oh, and if the abuse was determined to have happened, the complaintant should have the right to complain not only in public, but to the press about the abuses.
We need something like this to check possible abuses of power, as I do not trust the entity that may be responsible for the abuses (in this case, the US government) to honestly tell people that it's doing something wrong. Put it this way: Have you noticed the behavior of people who are entrusted with something valuable who believe that they're not being watched and have a chance to get away with something? Now, you're getting the picture. ;-)
"Secrecy begets tyranny."
- Robert A. Heinlein from the book "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Secrecy about troop movements, battle plans, agents that are undercover who could be killed if word about who they really are got out, your personal communcations with others and things you've written as notes to yourself are things I can understand, but not secrecy about abusing the law.
Yes, I'm a dreamer. I, like president Abraham Lincoln, want a government of the people, by the people, for the people
. Don't think it'll ever happen, though. *Sighs*
Note for those people who think that the phrase "of the people, by the people, for the people" came from the US Constitution, it didn't. "Of the people" and "By the people" can be found in several places within it, but "for the people" isn't in there. You can check for yourself, if you like, but I try to be honest. I know, it's probably a character flaw... The quote "of the people, by the people, for the people" came from president Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address on November 20, 1863:
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
I really liked the last part. :-)
Without some kind of way to make certain that laws are not abused by agents of the US government, I believe that we will end up with the kind of government that does everything in secrecy and gives itself permission to do whatever it wants to, including spying on ordinary American people. Some would say that I'm too late, that this is already happening.
I hope not, I really, really hope not. After all, if the US government becomes the kind of entity that does whatever it likes, using secret police, stealing er, 'confiscating' things from you and not having to tell you about it, and spying on you and all you do in life and taking notice of even what you read, then what's going to be the difference between the US government and say, the Soviet Union under the rule of Joseph Stalin, or Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany? Attempted genocide of any race that gets in the way? Oops. Guess I forgot about what the US government did to the Native Americans (the indigenous people of America) didn't I?
Hmm... Why is it that whenever a US president is caught doing something he knows that people (the same people he's supposed to be serving) won't approve of, they say things that make them sound like they're nothing but humble servants of the American people?
For example:
US President George W. Bush in response to people saying that he secretly authorized the NSA to eavesdrop on American citizens without need of warrants:
"I will make this point. That whatever I do to protect the American people ? and I have an obligation to do so ? that we will uphold the law, and decisions made are made understanding we have an obligation to protect the civil liberties of the American people."
President Bill Clinton in regards to Monica Lewinsky:
"These allegations are false and I need to go back to work for the American people."
Along with that, in the speech he gave, President Bill Clinton said things like "Now, I have to go back to work on my State of the Union speech, and I worked on it 'til pretty late last night."
It's amazing, isn't it, that presidents of the US, who have great power and thousands of well-armed soldiers at their beck and call, can convince people that they're nothing more than humble servants of the American people? Ah, but then, they're talking to the sheeple who spend most of their free time watching televison. LOL
December 17th, 2005:
The 102nd anniversary of powered flight!
Today (December 17th, 2005), is the 102nd anniversary of powered flight thanks to the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright. You can check out a short description of this here, but it has a few inaccuracies. They got some of the facts wrong, but I'm one of those odd people who loves history and reads about it constantly. The person who wrote the little part about the Wright brothers probably didn't study them very much before producing something to put on the site.
For instance, Orville Wright didn't make the first attempt at powered flight with the Wright Flyer. It was Wilbur. They flipped a coin, and Wilbur won the coin toss, but didn't get it in the air, and the Wright Flyer was slightly damaged from his attempt. As things had to be fair between them (these guys were not only related, but were also business partners), it was then Orville's turn and he got it up in the air. They did do four flights that day (Orville, then Wilbur, then Orville again, and finally, Wilbur taking the last turn), but they don't mention that after the last flight, the brothers were talking about how they did and a big gust of wind blew the Wright Flyer over and it tumbled in the sand. It was seriously damaged and never flew again. The guy who pulled the rope that started the little four-cylinder aluminum engine that powered the Wright Flyer was shaking like a leaf. It was loud, noisy, and some said it was like a locomotive.
The Wright brothers also had a printing business and a corner bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. There's a Wright Cycle Company at 22 South Williams Street in Dayton, Ohio now, but it doesn't look like what I remember. The windows on the place I remember had round tops and didn't have shutters like the new place does and the door was on the right side by a gas street light, not on the left.
In 1917, Orville went to a military airshow in Paris, where, after learning that the main thing that aircraft were going to be used for was war, said: "What a dream it was. What a nightmare it has become."
Another quote from Orville Wright:
"I don't have any regrets about my part in the invention of the airplane, though no one could deplore more than I do the destruction it has caused. I feel about the airplane much as I do in regard to fire. That is, I regret all the terrible damage caused by fire. But I think it is good for the human race that someone discovered how to start fires and that it is possible to put fire to thousands of important uses."
Oh, and for those people who are silly enough to believe that the Wright brothers were from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina: Wrong! They were from Dayton, Ohio. If you haven't lived through much history, at least do us the favor of studying enough of it to not look like a total idiot, and turn off the TV! Don't make me come to your house and shove a copy of the Cambridge Factfinder and a world almanac down your throat. LOL
For the people surfing the Web looking for information: Check multiple sources, preferably reliable ones. Don't assume that people who can code a Web page have more knowledge than you do or anybody else. I've met several Web page designers and most of them have little knowledge outside of what they're doing as a profession and much less interest. Try engaging some of them in a conversation with a subject that doesn't involve HTML, their favorite source of caffeine, sports, pop culture or the latest overly-hyped products and you'll see what I mean. Like most humans that you try this with, you'll get responses such as "who cares" and "whatever". Although I could go on a nice long rant about ignorance and apathy, I'll just quote Robert A. Heinlein and say "specialization is for insects!"
December 18th, 2005:
Slavery was supposed to be abolished on this date in 1865 but it wasn't!
Today (December 18th, 2005), is the 140th anniversary of the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
This was supposed to have ended slavery, but it didn't. Like so many other laws, only some people have to obey them, while others don't. As many of you already know from reading my site, there are cults out there now that have the same philosophy as the Nazis of World War II, have slavery and many of them enjoy beating women and think they should be treated no better than women were treated by the Taliban. They even have rules on when and where slaves can be killed. There's also businesses that help these people advertise their 'lifestyle' on the Internet, so people (including children) can have a real-time conversation with these people.
Please see my page on the goreans AKA gors for more information.
Some are probably saying that this can't possibly be true and if it were, certainly the FBI would be doing something to stop them.
Wanna bet? They're there, they exist, the FBI doesn't seem interested in stopping them and letters written to the FBI are not replied to. The only thing I think the FBI does about the gors / goreans is wait until a number of people are killed by goreans like the slavemaster and only then will they deign to do something, removing all the dead bodies they stuck in 55 gallon barrels.
Some even fall for their lies about gor only being a kind of act or 'role-play'. Wrong! They'll even tell you to your face that goreans despise role-players. Unless you think that the people who were killed by goreans are only role-playing being dead? You can try convincing their families of that, but I seriously doubt if they'll believe it.
Don't really know why I bother trying to tell people about these things, since nobody seems interested in doing anything about things like this until somebody they love is killed or goes missing. Then, they get on TV and cry their eyes out wondering how this could have happened even though people like me have been trying to warn people about the goreans / gors for about seven years, now.
If there is somebody out there who wants to do something to stop goreans / gors, you're welcome to try, but in all honesty, I seriously doubt that any of the sheeple reading this can be bothered to spend a few seconds or minutes trying to help save lives. Even during the holiday season, the only thing most humans care about is themselves. :-(
The difference between me and them? I'll try to do something about it, even after they give me death threats.
December 30th, 2005:
I've increased the trivia prize in ThisIsIt's Trivia!
Near the beginning of this month, I told everybody that came to my 3D world This Is It that I was increasing the prize for the person who gets the highest score during December 2005 in the world's trivia game from $20 to $40, but there hasn't been too many more people play. But that may be because I only told them, and not all the people surfing my Web site. So, for those people who are reading this but haven't gone to This Is It, yet, I'm letting you know. You've got until tomorrow (December 31st, 2005) at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time here in the U.S. to play trivia and try to get the highest score. Next month, we're planning on having even more prizes! :-)
More of my blog pages:
2003 Blog (with some from 2002).
:+: Other pages on this site :+:
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Pictures pages:
CyberWoLfman's Pix #3. Pictures taken in the ActiveWorlds 3D chat program.
CyberWoLfman's Pix #4. Back to the real world. Includes Halloween pictures, party pictures, more pictures of Bloomington-Normal Illinois including events, people, theaters, et cetera.
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