I don’t have time to write a Thanksgiving post, and why should I, when there are better writers to copy from. Happy Thanksgiving to all. And peace to those who at this moment are in shock or digging out after at attack by a hurricane or an unguided missile. Or treating the wounded and burying the dead. Why do human beings inflict so much misery on each other? — John
Do we care if Gen. David Petraeus’ ego is so big he has to have a personal biographer follow him around a war zone? Do we care if a smart, beautiful, and physically fit Harvard doctoral student “works her magic” on a general? Not really.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Is it scandalous? Based on the definition of “scandal,” the answer is technically, “Yes.”
But realistically, matters of ego, ambition, and romance are simply “human.” It’s strictly a private matter.
Until it begins to corrode the quality of work being done by important institutions, such as the U.S. Military.
Petty corruption pervades modern society, from highest to lowest. Continue reading
“LIVES OF THE RICH, FAMOUS & STOOPID” — Tentative working title for my proposed reality TV show starring Gen. David Petraeus, biographer Paula Broadwell, and socialite Jill Kelley. Roles reserved for Gen. John Allen, Natalie Khawam, attorney Abbe Lowell, and crisis manager Judy Smith, if they can prove they qualify.
The David Petraeus scandal: Cast of characters is a slide show featuring 14 photos on the Washington Post Web site.
UPDATE, NOV. 16, 2012: Happy to report that I’ve received two emails from Amazon in response to my phone calls. Bottom line:
“In order to resolve this issue please de register and re register your Kindle Fire HD to the same Amazon.com account. In order to De register and Re register please follow the steps:
Swipe your finger down from the top of the Home screen and tap More . . .”
I followed the directions and re-registered my Kindle, which wasn’t hard. Presto, my material was again visible on the carousel. Using the information I’ve learned in the last two days, I made sure everything was downloaded from the “cloud” to the “device.”
I also browsed through the apps store and downloaded several interesting apps. Most of them were free, and I paid 99 cents for one. The Kindle can do a lot of stuff, and I’m slowly learning how. — John
END UPDATE
__________________________________________
WHAT COMES IN THE BOX?
I titled my first product review (of a digital camera) “Power In A Box.” The first and most important information I want to know when purchasing a new high-tech device is: WHAT COMES IN THE BOX?
Regarding the camera,the answer was: “Everything you need, and it’s a powerful product.”
Regarding the Kindle Fire, the answer is: “Not so much.”
In the photo above, you can see the fancy box for the Kindle Fire HD 7″ and EVERYTHING THAT COMES IN THE BOX. It’s exactly as stated in the small print on the back of the box:
“USB charging cable included. Ask for the Kindle PowerFast accelerated charging accessory for even faster charging times.”
This latest consumer technology is pretty much ready to go, right out of the box. Or so I thought.
I followed the directions on the black card you see in the photo above, which constitutes the entire written documentation and instructions included in the box.
Fox News is already comparing the Petraeus Affair to Watergate. White House paralysis is gleefully anticipated at Fox, just days after the election. What did the president know, and when did he know it?
To what can we compare the misadventures of Gen. David H. Petraeus, director of the CIA, no less, and Paula Broadwell, his esteemed biographer from Harvard (and herself a former Army officer)?
POST-ELECTION BLUES — It’s part of life. Comes with the territory. You go to college four or five years — You graduate?! Get a steady job — Laid off?! You get married — Maybe you get divorced?! Work like a maniac on the big project — Suddenly, finished. An election focuses your attention — Over, done, results are in. Letdown, big time! We might need a few days to catch our breath, figure out where the heck we are. And what to do next? — John
“Seasteading” is a long, amazing post that is very much worth reading. It’s “1984” all over again, but worse.
Are we really about to enter an age of extreme, anarchist wealth? I was aware that many of the ultra-rich are hoarding their money offshore. And many more have secured and stockpiled luxury survivalist redoubts in isolated areas.
Given the results of the 2012 presidential election — disappointing in the extreme to the super-rich — it’s not unreasonable to think that some of them might be of a mind to give up on democracy. Not that they ever liked the concept of popular rule.
Many among the wealthy seem to have a paranoid, survivalist bent. Are they crazy, or do they know something we don’t?
And why would they want to coop themselves up in some mountain hideaway or aboard a luxury oil rig or ocean liner, when they already have the Cayman Islands?
Obviously, there are many things I do not know or understand. — John
Related articles
- Blueseed: Floating Bilderberg Cities Where the Elite Control the Masses (federaljack.com)
- PayPal Founder Peter Thiel Offer $100,000 in Matching Donations to the Seasteading Institute, Makes Grant of $250,000 (prweb.com)
- Blueseed: Floating Bilderberg Cities Where the Elite Control the Masses (occupycorporatism.com)
- Ambassador Lasse Birk Olesen at TEDx Copenhagen: Seasteading + Technology > Politics (seasteading.org)
- Floating Cities? Bon Voyage, Rich Libertarians. (slate.com)
- Nanotech Pioneer Takes Plunge Toward Settling the Sea (prweb.com)
- Blueseed: Floating Bilderberg Cities Where the Elite Control the Masses (thedailysheeple.com)
- The Seasteading Institute November 2012 Newsletter (seasteading.org)
- Brave new sea worlds to redefine society (newscientist.com)
- Pioneers Wanted! Fresh New Cities On and Off Shore (blogs.asce.org)
For years now, slow-news days have brought us the breaking news that the world’s richest people — and hence the world’s best — fed up with taxation, government regulation, and having to co-exist with the unwashed masses without hunting them for sport, are about to go off to live on a modified oil rig, a “project” known as ”seasteading”. Alternatively, they may inhabit a giant cruise ship.
On the surface, it looks like a perfect futuristic Galt’s Gulch, a cluster of manicured, pastel-colored apartment buildings separated from the world of “parasites” by the forbidding ocean, but yet within a safe distance of some friendly country, one that does not mind having billionaire excrement, broken champagne bottles, and an occasional dead body washing up on its beaches. There are no taxes to pay, no building codes, no labor laws, no zoning regulations, no legal protections for non-residents (you know…
View original post 1,451 more words
What’s next?
Fiscal cliff? Nor’easter? Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s! It’s too much, too fast. Stop the news! I want to get off.
Doesn’t my apartment need serious cleaning? Wait. Don’t I have some bills to pay, like yesterday? Don’t I have a prescription to pick up? I could fold the laundry, unload the dishwasher, brush the cat.
I need an emergency nap.
For Ocean City, Maryland, mayor and council election results, click right here.
— John
ELECTION DAY — November cold and gray in Maryland. Must be bitter cold across the northern states. I’m working at the school from 2 p.m. to closing time. Done it many times before, from early morning opening to past closing time in the darkness. No more all-day shifts for me now. It’s mainly a matter of being present in warm clothes, standing silent witness for Obama and Democratic principals. Polls open until 8 p.m. in Maryland. Results from early voting will be announced shortly after 8. A long day and night. I can predict the results in MD (if you want to know, call my cell phone); who knows how it will end nationally. — John
Living Simply And Still On The Grid 