tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276463342024-03-04T21:53:05.400-08:00Derek CurrieA collection of brainstorms and rants I share with others. I write about computer technology, mankind's behavior, mental sanity, beauty, positive anarchy, the self-evidence of 'god', mankind's greatest frailty (truth perception) and other interests I run into during this current life cycle. ©2018 Derek Currie:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-32724249462975737392018-08-18T22:51:00.000-07:002018-08-18T23:13:23.085-07:00This Person Speaks My Mind<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> It's wonderful when someone says what I want to say and says it better than I can say it. Enjoy:</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/aug/19/in-these-dark-times-embracing-laughter-is-an-ethical-choice"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">In these dark times, embracing laughter is an ethical choice</span></b></a></div>
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<b>By Charlotte Wood @The Guardian</b></div>
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<a href="https://realrest.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/10411060_953645728025906_5869112378873240609_n-chaplin.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="919" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTWWG1MsEto97T4TXOUHBGpYvuDDXZewoxn8oIyWWcluKkjTjRTLoevHjdEYsoSMUGcC8PyOTRbojgUYUhQDhw0nRDDkagHUcjQCysdfocOnmdi-BryygFP_Q5fIPsg-Jv778cQ/s320/Conquering+Evil.jpg" width="306" /></a></div>
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:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-22901962579115249022018-07-27T19:30:00.004-07:002018-07-27T19:43:02.590-07:00I Hate My ISP: Good Riddance Charter / Spectrum / Time Warner Cable<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OJDlGlPeMbk/maxresdefault.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9EVYvBEkd-iMD3jqH9_VSu_KPziU0-XrjPlV86g5wSmH7e8Yz7i-Yj4DpNggy408vBwVE-6pplT8T2_AIIxplVoLhVvaP1KaKKZ6xmJlx8FZJJLy8IS4Qdh_jb88aHOO7m4pOSg/s400/These_Guys_Really_SUCK.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I've been ranting about the <b><i>crap</i></b> quality of <b>Time Warner Cable </b>for many years. I thought <b>Charter</b> buying them would improve the service. It has <i>not.</i> Instead, the <b><i>user-abuse</i></b> has intensified in the form of further outrageously inflated prices in return for poor service and bad attitude.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Therefore, despite the as-yet unknown repercussions, I am <b>DELIGHTED</b> that my state government is <i><b>booting</b></i> abusive Spectrum / Time Warner Cable / Charter <i><b>OUT of NEW YORK!</b></i> This is <b>We The People</b> <i>sticking it</i> to <b>asinine corporatocracy.</b> At this time, Charter has <b>60 days</b> to provide the state with a <i>plan</i> to hand over their business to another provider.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Below is a <b>chronological set of links</b> regarding the dirty doings of Time Warner Cable and subsequently Spectrum / Charter. Some of them route back to articles in this blog. Do not be alarmed. They provide further links to relevant timely articles:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">2010 - 2018:</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVP-_JjeHlW5W4MBSSjZlxNnTDMxzkchR1t6Lg06HX7imCciWK3WEQCYAxWifHrhnt2KUkrn-7HkuvxW1ilUT9zFooGzU7VTl6bGhvV2XMjVYLWLKz3NWp-LoC8ZmN8Zxp8pihg/s1600/time-warner-problems-spectrum.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="1500" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVP-_JjeHlW5W4MBSSjZlxNnTDMxzkchR1t6Lg06HX7imCciWK3WEQCYAxWifHrhnt2KUkrn-7HkuvxW1ilUT9zFooGzU7VTl6bGhvV2XMjVYLWLKz3NWp-LoC8ZmN8Zxp8pihg/s400/time-warner-problems-spectrum.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.timewarnercableproblems.com/">Time Warner Cable Problems (Spectrum)</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.timewarnercableproblems.com/">Report your Time Warner Cable & Spectrum PROBLEMS!</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuItX0gSMKOLMi1_fcv6E0s7cnQMk7pJgaONKeCKLxLMSXpAbZbxOOFBd-Ef5nkxS1PTQx75ouCeaY2KS81Xe0rQugWKdDfhDuy2nOcgJfyOOXCKXhDSusr5LXygl0lFKrNyErmw/s1600/Pray_To_Mammon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="186" data-original-width="200" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuItX0gSMKOLMi1_fcv6E0s7cnQMk7pJgaONKeCKLxLMSXpAbZbxOOFBd-Ef5nkxS1PTQx75ouCeaY2KS81Xe0rQugWKdDfhDuy2nOcgJfyOOXCKXhDSusr5LXygl0lFKrNyErmw/s200/Pray_To_Mammon.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">2012:</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://xunipus.blogspot.com/2012/12/time-warner-cable-customer-abuse-in-our.html">Time Warner Cable: </a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://xunipus.blogspot.com/2012/12/time-warner-cable-customer-abuse-in-our.html">Customer Abuse In </a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://xunipus.blogspot.com/2012/12/time-warner-cable-customer-abuse-in-our.html">Our World Of Biznizz Bozos</a></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWayGIJfA4ggiRSzIjnPPJRkcsaszaXy6vwSalA5XggmfoCMKIYt2WOLJcPD18CCPBFSzXmvK6N0QHCJgIXXC_HYcC5unnVtQflw1_8O2QjgrVQUNqgewTD-_H23y0C7as5IYHYQ/s1600/Just+Give+Me+Money%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="361" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWayGIJfA4ggiRSzIjnPPJRkcsaszaXy6vwSalA5XggmfoCMKIYt2WOLJcPD18CCPBFSzXmvK6N0QHCJgIXXC_HYcC5unnVtQflw1_8O2QjgrVQUNqgewTD-_H23y0C7as5IYHYQ/s200/Just+Give+Me+Money%2521.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">2013:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://xunipus.blogspot.com/2013/01/time-warner-cable-customer-abuse-part.html">Time Warner Cable Customer Abuse, </a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://xunipus.blogspot.com/2013/01/time-warner-cable-customer-abuse-part.html">Part II: Bait and Switch Billing Abuse</a></b> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4CMLvMNIcSYXguiLNA1p0K1KZhcLLiOTYUnMFuYdRyiXiKeCgCWXEizn-5v0MUY4FIxVLBmj0bibq3cmx2mRUdc1ULU1mhdzhSbp7QjLhGw2Lgv68BQnq_6zywVLi36k1hzGfyg/s1600/you_suck_twc.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="80" data-original-width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4CMLvMNIcSYXguiLNA1p0K1KZhcLLiOTYUnMFuYdRyiXiKeCgCWXEizn-5v0MUY4FIxVLBmj0bibq3cmx2mRUdc1ULU1mhdzhSbp7QjLhGw2Lgv68BQnq_6zywVLi36k1hzGfyg/s1600/you_suck_twc.png" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">2014: </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://xunipus.blogspot.com/2014/01/hope-for-lousy-time-warner-cable-please.html">Hope For Lousy Time Warner Cable?</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://xunipus.blogspot.com/2014/01/hope-for-lousy-time-warner-cable-please.html">Please buy them Charter Communications,</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://xunipus.blogspot.com/2014/01/hope-for-lousy-time-warner-cable-please.html">and fix their wagon good!</a></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgU0cQzIFon4n4TGBRhAXApNSLhib8V4OVXjMUhuccSulz3x9kNfff0Dzk6U9kFDwftqcB6JiarnUR-tjFzkMEnTfjwb5w9sZ9-aPaE5GboqtSQdCg5R_MfPG3Urdhy1hsZ5kgQ/s1600/time-warner-cable-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="650" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgU0cQzIFon4n4TGBRhAXApNSLhib8V4OVXjMUhuccSulz3x9kNfff0Dzk6U9kFDwftqcB6JiarnUR-tjFzkMEnTfjwb5w9sZ9-aPaE5GboqtSQdCg5R_MfPG3Urdhy1hsZ5kgQ/s200/time-warner-cable-logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://xunipus.blogspot.com/2014/03/time-warner-cable-more-of-same-old.html">Time Warner Cable: More Of </a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://xunipus.blogspot.com/2014/03/time-warner-cable-more-of-same-old.html">The Same Old Customer Abuse Strategy</a></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://s3media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/charter-time-warner.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="648" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6o8efd3-J5BIaAy76WKr4F1-XcBsFhmo6K6L4YKCcgszn5YVnJ18tUpEqD6aVvfUZK4Vj8EZRlz7303t4PUlfEd9IlmRks1U-JjVXn3Xzm53hDIxFMyWGWeRlmWTZWfz5Iuvmg/s320/charter-time-warner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> 2015:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/05/26/charter-buys-time-warner-cable-in-55b-deal/27940477/">Charter buys Time Warner Cable in $55B deal</a></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxld6_3FzHiGDjZ7ZklNgsVG3MSckIBj3HcD5WYOaxYZ6HorZR-CfPUZR7HTCgjtKtc7qi3IXj-GmXwsd2VroI2CMJ9mu3J-k6JFa_Xbkpg1BiEovEsAaaAQ49WoSE8CpL2qL6Zg/s1600/junk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="370" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxld6_3FzHiGDjZ7ZklNgsVG3MSckIBj3HcD5WYOaxYZ6HorZR-CfPUZR7HTCgjtKtc7qi3IXj-GmXwsd2VroI2CMJ9mu3J-k6JFa_Xbkpg1BiEovEsAaaAQ49WoSE8CpL2qL6Zg/s200/junk.jpg" width="120" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">2016:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://stopthecap.com/2016/11/15/charterspectrum-sells-100mbps-time-warner-cable-territories/">Charter/Spectrum Only Sells Up to 100Mbps in Time Warner Cable Territories </a></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/speedoboyblog/media/bWVkaWFJZDoxOTM3MDYzNQ==/?ref="><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGJyN2u7-cu-L498mG56UjksrhY-hik5PJsy-BCfP3Su-yR5D73kbles0JeUu4pwsHizViN2YZmLNFbiJAlwXXKwoi71ZKTMVfMhCjDr1TJq3temkb7IPf5OWQLUzcEI0l6kB-tQ/s1600/chartersucks.gif" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">2017:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-announces-lawsuit-against-spectrum-time-warner-cable-and-charter">A.G. Schneiderman Announces Lawsuit Against Spectrum-Time Warner Cable And Charter Communications For Allegedly Defrauding New Yorkers Over Internet Speeds And Performance</a></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm79hXK56hAPnZdXui7KtpOTiYfNNrFfHP3frczDi0wEKKm5oVj78sHHMv_wJcVSDH7FvNHf2QpXGQ_4wpBhbWwkirRaRQj_Ee-curgVzpDMSajgmGTZCWbk5Rd-reaaLt8UT1cg/s1600/%25C2%25A9Jamie+Germano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm79hXK56hAPnZdXui7KtpOTiYfNNrFfHP3frczDi0wEKKm5oVj78sHHMv_wJcVSDH7FvNHf2QpXGQ_4wpBhbWwkirRaRQj_Ee-curgVzpDMSajgmGTZCWbk5Rd-reaaLt8UT1cg/s320/%25C2%25A9Jamie+Germano.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">2018:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/politics/albany/2018/06/14/spectrum-cable-hit-big-fine-slow-internet-rollout-new-york/702439002/">Spectrum Cable hit with big fine [$2 million] for slow internet rollout in New York </a></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://realestategoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/kicked-out-the-door.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="383" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-MxQYoXBZW3EWKANixgo5AmH7BByKvlXtH65j4rk65ofhuZ_-lhai2kOrOyakWPHQRm5Jr4AFxHJqLVAz7ibURnOa1ogQRCUc3vhEdVByFfwmcZbmBSrt0R3lZAHamRO17wicg/s320/kicked-out-the-door.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/27/17622846/spectrum-charter-cable-internet-new-york-kicked-out">Spectrum internet is getting kicked out of New York</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/27/17622846/spectrum-charter-cable-internet-new-york-kicked-out"><i>See ya</i></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVEcaU5VSyuSr9jw5nTa-anmARJ2obC7dovIbkIC1FO6PRfQ5fHEEIAU19jP5tt8YH_LahuZO-JkrPbQTzb3bqojn5pVhq-6ikDJW39nnsdX6QGrBwDFHoPTwoJriBw-klUSt9eg/s1600/Trashed_Speculum.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVEcaU5VSyuSr9jw5nTa-anmARJ2obC7dovIbkIC1FO6PRfQ5fHEEIAU19jP5tt8YH_LahuZO-JkrPbQTzb3bqojn5pVhq-6ikDJW39nnsdX6QGrBwDFHoPTwoJriBw-klUSt9eg/s320/Trashed_Speculum.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.engadget.com/2018/07/27/new-york-ousts-spectrum-recurring-failures/">New York kicks Spectrum out of the state for 'recurring failures'</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.engadget.com/2018/07/27/new-york-ousts-spectrum-recurring-failures/">It (was) the biggest cable provider in the area.</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Ys8VRaUqIqmo7dmImjAVkgZdLp1ArwtUtjBQAFudZuOk0uoRHlKbxZe5fBSKY0JoCKfnDawktnEGFQE73yopd9rQ7U1ZdEBwcA6l53TyMEB0v6Pxsd6BpVn6hSn6wjJkdivjDQ/s1600/ny-psc.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="406" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Ys8VRaUqIqmo7dmImjAVkgZdLp1ArwtUtjBQAFudZuOk0uoRHlKbxZe5fBSKY0JoCKfnDawktnEGFQE73yopd9rQ7U1ZdEBwcA6l53TyMEB0v6Pxsd6BpVn6hSn6wjJkdivjDQ/s320/ny-psc.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.localsyr.com/news/state-news/public-service-commission-moves-to-get-charter-spectrum-out-of-new-york/1328357711">Public Service Commission moves to get Spectrum Cable out of New York</a></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.akronlegalnews.com/images/site/public_records.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="456" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzW6LLKtzFaPaF0TCtax_NksosR_fesFWTtWlElXGbNCeT5m9syZmfe6wOchyCdSwL6mDIXz3gIQLrlT-0yN9h-4bWETBZglDh1OqLcH3z0diZPvy78cawc6Pozl-hotkzeLufrA/s320/public_records.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2018/07/see_commission_order_that_could_kick_spectrum_cable_out_of_new_york.html">Read state order that could kick Spectrum cable out of New York</a></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.wakingtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/New-Dawn-from-Space.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="640" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2G9Q6xE38gDL-YFpK3lj69Xo92lbq64X-fpjmEKFQQB7HBCjL9d_w99O-Lbn3_tiw6DZ6kKC7h3qH3nUZAtiOS9nKpUXKBTrENYrT1M-0Gu9K53W7iqT3Hyp0M-0L1AnjcgizFw/s320/New-Dawn-from-Space.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/what-ny-booting-charter-spectrum-means-for-you/71-578073089">What NY booting Charter Spectrum means for you</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/what-ny-booting-charter-spectrum-means-for-you/71-578073089">New York regulators are trying to kick the state's largest cable provider out in a dispute over a broadband internet rollout.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As this last article points out, Speculum could attempt to appeal and turn this into a dragged out court battle, and of course lose. We shall see.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Meanwhile... </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR811ttigZPKlcumXhbLIkanGk1tXe43nuLl5jNbXuf9-UGWzQ3q7OutwWTjVDDSCPRM7EH40vPNXZFgZ7C6uu_Ei-uk-X6cALSoE-TfGwAXOXWHbXCJYfCmVeXeztrcqd-tl-Mw/s1600/fireworks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR811ttigZPKlcumXhbLIkanGk1tXe43nuLl5jNbXuf9-UGWzQ3q7OutwWTjVDDSCPRM7EH40vPNXZFgZ7C6uu_Ei-uk-X6cALSoE-TfGwAXOXWHbXCJYfCmVeXeztrcqd-tl-Mw/s400/fireworks.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-8377167805382907202018-07-25T16:37:00.001-07:002018-07-25T16:53:45.241-07:00Destroyers of Our Future: Part 1 - Protecting The Last Straw<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b><u><span style="font-size: x-large;">Destroyers of Our Future</span></u></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Introduction:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Q:</b> What is mankind's worst enemy?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>A:</b> Deceptive 'Truth'.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As a 13 year old, I dreamed the phrase was 'xunipus stargo', which I interpreted when I woke up as 'deceptive truth'. I'm an elaborate dreamer. What that's worth, I don't know. But within my personal life, I've had dreams that have been spot on regarding what I want to understand about myself and this world we live in on miracle planet Earth, our only home.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Part I: Protecting The Last Straw</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Knowing that we humans never know everything about anything, what is the point of having an opinion? I realized, immediately after understanding deceptive 'truth', that opinion is critical. We're going to be wrong in some way at all times. But thrashing through all the wrong and rubbish is how we clear our way to what is closer to the 'truths' we seek to find. If we don't dare our opinions, it means we don't care. No caring is the point of this first part of my series here on the subject of 'Destroyers of our Future'. <b>The last straw</b> in the process of our own contribution to destroying our future is: <b>Caring</b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'm starting at the end, in the first part of this essay series.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Q:</b> When will life on Earth end? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>A:</b> When we humans don't care any more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That's when we, as a mass of species Homo sapiens sapiens, give up our 'sapiens' or wisdom and let those we allow to be in power to <i>Push The Button,</i> as we commonly call it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To let loose one nuclear weapon on an enemy is to let loose all nuclear weapons on the entire earth. Escalation isn't a probability. Escalation to finality is ineluctable. (Word of the day!) It's what happens. It's human behavior. It's negative reinforcement enacted as the result of a mindless, unthinking state that is human <b>desperation</b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How would we humans allow the end to happen? Because we don't care. We lost our <b>morale</b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Because we are fundamentally a social species, we act in groups. When all the news is bad, when we have lost any reason to respect ourselves as individuals and as a species on Earth, we as a mass of Homo sapiens sapiens lose our wisdom by losing our morale as a group.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How do we protect our morale? How do we provide ourselves with morale? How do we separate ourselves from group thinking, tribalism, sheeple behavior, following the leader, doing the lemming leap?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We <b>think</b> as individuals. We <b>act</b> as individuals. We do positive reinforcement because we stay out of a state of desperation. We <i>support</i> ourselves as individuals and we turn our supportive behavior outward toward the others within our local scope, our closes social group. We share. We give without worrying about reward from others. We reward ourselves. We do good to and for ourselves and extend ourselves by doing good to and for others.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We designate for ourselves, individually, what are the factors that lead us to feel desperation and act out of desperation? We <b>negate desperation</b> with what we value within ourselves and others. We speak positive to all, we are honest about what we find to be positive. We offer to assist others in finding, obtaining and keeping what they individually find to be positive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The air raid sirens go off</i> and maybe that means the actual end is here. But we maintain our morale toward ourselves as individuals. We share our morale with others and help them keep their morale. We have been good, done good, shared good, enabled good, engendered good, expressed good. We are good as spirits, come what may.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It's a path. We smile in the face of adversity. We feel inevitable fear. We stand as our strongest, our best selves amidst all consuming fear. We are good to ourselves and others now and always. <b>We care</b>. Learning how is what we do.</span><br />
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:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-85648420685561695082014-03-13T13:44:00.002-07:002014-03-13T14:15:32.189-07:00Time Warner Cable: More Of The Same Old Customer Abuse Strategy<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a data-jsb_prepared="estqng64nb" href="http://www.sounddogs.com/previews/25/mp3/226529_SOUNDDOGS__vo.mp3" TARGET="_blank" rel="noreferrer"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvM1vEqPHwvw0RbIr3u_rnw9A4ulLIgOuChlKpfTNmu998uwbQAia3Xwoawrciu_zoduGG9zAVoNRGtFZXN74nGM5YeVyr_OP00dfczktRjbsEApeKA36UOZBwpotXE-_gg2UMg/s1600/time-warner-cable-logo.jpg" height="170" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Time Warner Cable is back at it again! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">'Screw thy customer' is their mantra.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And again the customers have told TWC to take their abuse and stuff it:</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a data-jsb_prepared="lfm8vd5umn" href="http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/03/5-discount-to-give-up-unlimited-data-time-warner-cable-customers-say-no/" rel="noreferrer">$5 discount to give up unlimited data? Time Warner Cable customers say “no”</a></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">30GB data meters not appealing, nearly all customers reject them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">by Jon Brodkin - Mar 13 2014, 2:05pm EDT, Ars Technica</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Time Warner Cable has been offering customers $5 monthly discounts in exchange for giving up unlimited data for the last couple of years, but almost no one has taken the company up on its offer.<br />
. . .<br />
"I guess about two years ago we rolled out a 5GB-a-month service. Since then, roughly six months ago, we rolled out a 30GB-a-month service across the entire footprint, and if you buy that service you can save about five bucks a month off the unlimited product," Marcus said.<br />
. . .<br />
The good news, Marcus said, is "we plan to offer unlimited for as far out as we can possibly see. I think that the concept of 'use more pay more, use less pay less,' is an important principle to establish. So notwithstanding the low uptake of usage-based tiers, I think it's a very important component of our overall pricing philosophy."</blockquote>
IOW: If at first you don't succeed, screw, screw again.<br />
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If the <b>Comcast</b> purchase of worthless Time Warner Cable succeeds, I see NO improvements on the horizon. Instead, everyone expects <b>THROTTLING</b> of bandwidth, without customer consent, to be the next big step in <b>CUSTOMER ABUSE</b>.<br />
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And <b>#MyStupidGovernment</b> won't do a thing to stop it. (In case you didn't know, Mr. Obama appointed at lobbyist for the media industry to head the FCC. It's all out war against We The People).<br />
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<a data-jsb_prepared="iqt3j2lipw" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AhEt8mgDq9A6v0CJ5YCFSg4AXQQbCrpgY2zvNCS6flqm8wksQMX0p_EVqa9tCYYmefryLQ9xYC3JXFchk6xg7Bf9b9Zom-NYWBEVR1kEUDgm23JgfJHcfQ8IEEKu80eqD0AotQ/s1600/theportsidestandard_timewarner_comcast.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="noreferrer" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AhEt8mgDq9A6v0CJ5YCFSg4AXQQbCrpgY2zvNCS6flqm8wksQMX0p_EVqa9tCYYmefryLQ9xYC3JXFchk6xg7Bf9b9Zom-NYWBEVR1kEUDgm23JgfJHcfQ8IEEKu80eqD0AotQ/s1600/theportsidestandard_timewarner_comcast.jpg" height="177" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a data-jsb_prepared="o3sew6qrd9" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fuck-Time-Warner-Cable/121229357962059" rel="noreferrer"><b>F**K Time Warner Cable</b> @ Facebook</a><br />
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<a data-jsb_prepared="a963tqmrh1" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-1zlrdI47rqHsgL5efwWcJnX9tEZUMmKhtTHqe2IOJD6QywjsP8tcpDEDyz0PX0cSBnWt_ZgjQEZpvRGf0UDXs1Q72fyX9L3fKdN2oOxpOmgCpm6ZflLHBYYGhTMUugLgRr1fg/s1600/d52f08793add058b9c5e8065e5ab7bfe.png" imageanchor="1" rel="noreferrer" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-1zlrdI47rqHsgL5efwWcJnX9tEZUMmKhtTHqe2IOJD6QywjsP8tcpDEDyz0PX0cSBnWt_ZgjQEZpvRGf0UDXs1Q72fyX9L3fKdN2oOxpOmgCpm6ZflLHBYYGhTMUugLgRr1fg/s1600/d52f08793add058b9c5e8065e5ab7bfe.png" height="245" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-80167419055749841732014-01-15T08:33:00.000-08:002014-01-15T08:36:29.413-08:00Hope For Lousy Time Warner Cable? Please buy them Charter Communications, and fix their wagon good!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a data-jsb_prepared="1sbdtg0url" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPF49DZ6C1eAuL5jK_bxJcHAJO3YFuSRBIGcOKhezQAY0_-Q5eq_H0Xh0f85TmPvG0eLrN8SV_DRMrM3xZsR4Xn19Rd-HqQWVOF4yIrdugL-rK1sEPPDOh-wlg6wmxAHq5wRCJA/s1600/you_suck_twc.png" imageanchor="1" rel="noreferrer" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPF49DZ6C1eAuL5jK_bxJcHAJO3YFuSRBIGcOKhezQAY0_-Q5eq_H0Xh0f85TmPvG0eLrN8SV_DRMrM3xZsR4Xn19Rd-HqQWVOF4yIrdugL-rK1sEPPDOh-wlg6wmxAHq5wRCJA/s1600/you_suck_twc.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As a long-time Time Warner Cable victim, I could not be more pleased to hear that <b>Charter Communications</b> wants to buy them and treat that lousy company as a 'turnaround project'. As the single worst company with whom I have ever had to deal, I can't imagine Charter Communications could do anything to make TWC worse. The result of their influence can only be for the better.</span><br />
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<a data-jsb_prepared="dyumzhu1qw" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkTeDRDujzQOmuoB701bzm5I8mu4OpU5RowjOWR9nTYjgf0Zq-fcp_JGMDYKo0v7zSSEfFOOidae9LTucAoxiutWMcNxsT8ijOdLBwGn5B-ZHBTnUqjoaiqVrIqf-Zym_d-olQA/s1600/charter-communications-logo.png" imageanchor="1" rel="noreferrer" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkTeDRDujzQOmuoB701bzm5I8mu4OpU5RowjOWR9nTYjgf0Zq-fcp_JGMDYKo0v7zSSEfFOOidae9LTucAoxiutWMcNxsT8ijOdLBwGn5B-ZHBTnUqjoaiqVrIqf-Zym_d-olQA/s320/charter-communications-logo.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's one of the relevant articles:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a data-jsb_prepared="p7eec1v4lb" href="http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140115/DABAU2RG3.html" rel="noreferrer">Charter calls TW Cable a 'turnaround project'</a></b></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">… Time Warner Cable Inc. (<a data-jsb_prepared="cv2bgw87ri" href="http://research.scottrade.com/public/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?id=1&symbol=TWC" rel="noreferrer"><span style="color: #0033cc;">TWC</span></a>) is rapidly losing customers for key services such as video, voice and even Internet. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"This negative momentum isn't simply the result of their operating plan over the last year. It is the failed plan over the past half-decade," said Charter's chief operating officer, John Bickham, in a conference call with analysts.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not <i>just</i> the past half-decade! I'd estimate the last <i>FULL</i> decade.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Charter Communications has plans to <i>actually</i> make TWC all digital, as opposed to the vaporware TWC promise to go all digital in 2013. CC also plans on providing wider Internet bandwidth. Hopefully, my friends in Denmark won't taunt me any more over their <i>incredibly</i> better bandwidth relative to the the crap TWC offers for exorbitant prices.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In this case I'd estimate that CHANGE is indeed GOOD, as in For The Better. It couldn't get much worse than the lousy service TWC foists on us now. What an awful, customer-abusing, self-destructive company.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">[Oh and PSSST, Charter Communications! A hint: Fire <i>ALL</i> of TWC's management. You'll be glad you did. I know I will!]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-8806547535793386862013-08-08T15:39:00.001-07:002013-08-20T07:51:45.616-07:00Ars Technica Falls On Its Arse: Attack Of The Vehemently Ignorant Trolls And Authors<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">[<b>Update</b> added at the end of the article!]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is a documentation of a troll-job by people insistent upon making certain that other people are as ignorant of science as they are. As such, I think it's rather boring. But I'm posting it specifically because this is nothing new on at Ars Technica or the Internet as a whole. Ignorance is the new status quo. Bad science is tolerated as acceptable science. People like myself who seek to help those interested in learning factual information are attacked by the outright stupid, then called 'trolls' for defending fact. IASSOTS. Therefore:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With three science degrees and decades of expertise in imaging, I've reached my wit's end with decaying <b>Ars Technica</b>. Here is the article and forum discussion that has me fed up with Ars Technica:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/08/x-ray-pulsars-boil-nuclear-pasta-to-keep-spinning/"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">X-Ray pulsars boil “nuclear pasta” to keep spinning</span></b></a><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now we know why neutron stars just won't slow down.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The author, <b>Chris Lee</b>, mistakenly used the term 'light' to refer to microwave electromagnetic radiation in paragraph 4 (emphasis mine):</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Most pulsars emit <b>light</b> in the microwave region, and they spin extremely fast, with periods ranging from a few seconds down to 100 ms.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One correct way to make this statement would be: "Most pulsars emit <b>EM radiation</b> in the microwave region...."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's a simple replacement of a wrong and poorly chosen word, 'light', with correct terminology, such as "EM radiation" which refers to electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, I posted the following in the comment forum:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Terminology Correction:<br /><br /><b>Chris Lee</b> said: "Most pulsars emit light in the microwave region."<br /><br />The term 'light' makes no sense here. The correct term is 'electromagnetic radiation'. 'Light' refers only to that portion of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Obviously, microwave radiation is invisible to our eye.<br /><br />Here is an article about the distinction between 'light' and the rest of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum:<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum</a></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Enough said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I certainly am human and therefore blunder on a regular basis. I am always grateful to those willing to teach me what I don't understand. I enjoy providing the same, which is the point of my three blogs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>But then <i>this</i> happened:</b> A barrage of vehemently insistent ignorance from both trolls AND the author himself in reply to my cited correction at the Ars Technica forum:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Bengie25</b> Ars Tribunus Militum<br /><br />“One word is much smaller and works when exact terms matter. He could have said photons, which most people make synonymous with "light".”<br /><br /><b>Chuckstar</b> Ars Praefectus et Subscriptor </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">LOL... just stop. Astronomers often refer to all wavelengths as light.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Maybe they just haven't read enough wikipedia entries? Google around if you don't believe me. I think you'll be surprised who is the one being ignorant and nonsensical.<br /><br /><b>Wheels Of Confusion</b> Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Except nobody's done that yet, dipshit. For future reference, if you don't want to be accused of trolling, don't engage in it. The part I highlighted indicates that you may not know this yet.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So it was pointless and ignorant of you to try and "compete" with the author about the usage of light? I suppose you'll likewise think it's useless to argue with the physicists and astronomers who routinely and professionally use the term "light" to mean EM radiation in general rather than the visible wavelengths. Good to know!<br /><br /><b>Chuckstar</b> Ars Praefectus et Subscriptor </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ha ha ha ha<br />The only one in this conversation that this describes is YOU.<br /><br /><b>srhode Wise</b>, Aged Ars Veteran et Subscriptor<br /><br />Zunipus,<br />The article you point to on Wikipedia refers to Infrared as Infrared light, even though it is not visible to the human eye. Even that article can't seem to agree on what is "light" and what is EM radiation. In fact, I don't see anything in that article that specifically says that the word "light" is only intended to be used in reference to visible light and shouldn't be used for any other wavelength of the EM spectrum.<br /><br />Shawn<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Chris Lee</span></b> [initially using the nick <b>laserboy]</b> Associate writer [AUTHOR of the source article being discussed]</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think its time we all get a grip. Wikipedia is not the fount of all knowledge, and strict definitions for loose terms like "light" are stupid.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In my professional life, I have worked with light with wavelengths ranging from 13 nm through to ~1 mm. It is, depending on the occasion (and not the wavelength): radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation, photons, light fields, light, X-Rays, soft X-Rays, infrared radiation, heat, and probably some more that don't spring to mind immediately.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The term is correct, and, in this case, it is even precise.<br /><br /><b>Peter Bright</b> Microsoft Editor [Ars Staff] </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If light is always visible, why does the term "visible light" exist?</span></blockquote>
<div style="min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I replied to the first couple troll attack posts with added information and opinion, but then decided to stay out of the attack fray. However, I reported all the troll comments to the Ars Technica's staff, including the insistently wrong post by the author, <b>Chris Lee</b>. I can't help but think either <b>Chris Lee</b> is not a 'physicist' at all, or that he is determined to make his readers ignorant of correct science terminology. I suggested to the Ars Staff that he correct the error he made in his article. </span></div>
<div style="min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also replied to <b>Chris Lee</b> directly:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've stated to Ars Technica that I was not going to reply to the troll attack. But I have to point out: Shame on you <b>Chris Lee</b>. I have pointed out correct terminology. You have, instead of correcting your error, vehemently insisted upon wrong terminology. Obviously that is a disservice to everyone reading your article. Please correct your error. That is the simple solution. A troll war is never any solution. It's only pointless contention, as I have already pointed out above.</span></blockquote>
<div style="min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I add here that I hope <b>Chris Lee</b> will be removed from the Ars Technica associate writing staff.</span></div>
<div style="min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">~~~~~~~</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Q:</b> Why did I report all the troll comments to Ars Technica? I never go running to net mommies for trolling retribution! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I always stick it out and let the trolls make fools of themselves, which is apparently the point of trolling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>A:</b> Because I can no longer accept being called a troll <i>myself</i> when all I am doing is attempting to help others at Ars Technica. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Simply by replying to someone who insists that x = y, proving them wrong with provided citations, I have been reported as a "troll" on at least three occasions. Huh?! Cognitive dissonance is the result, never a good time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've watched this happen MANY times to other commentators at Ars Technica. Recently, I got so fed up with the vehement misinformation that I gave up bothering with the site for a couple weeks. Then today I read an article with a wrong term, provided a cited correction, and got ATTACKED!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>This is Ars Technica in decay.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh yes it is! Do some self-evaluation Ars Technica. I'm not pointing out anything new or unique. Heal thyself Ars Technica. I don't pretend to know the depths of your decay or how to solve it. That's your job. I'm only pointing out that you <i>have</i> the problem.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg5PT6MDC5p2Zg2wJUjclYgv2zmZIAGrRpR2QCLG600wyrPqMbJNbJQZlDkQPHJt_GhvUCIzST4ucGALb0SuUIMya6zDL2q93GAumBSvCBkjIuLZi0eT6e0F51JX8gRLfOXu77BA/s1600/ars_in_decay.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg5PT6MDC5p2Zg2wJUjclYgv2zmZIAGrRpR2QCLG600wyrPqMbJNbJQZlDkQPHJt_GhvUCIzST4ucGALb0SuUIMya6zDL2q93GAumBSvCBkjIuLZi0eT6e0F51JX8gRLfOXu77BA/s200/ars_in_decay.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Obviously, if the members of the Ars Technica forum insist upon being ignorant, I'm not going to be bothering to lend them my hand to pull themselves out of their mire of self-imposed stupidity. Trolls deserve the consequences of their ignorance. Enjoy your karma.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What's a shame is that <i>MOST</i> people at Ars Technica forums are <i>NOT</i> trolling assholes. Most people there WANT to <i>learn</i>. But because of <b>the deliberate evil of the few</b>, the majority must suffer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is the classic outcome of a <b>sociopath infestation</b> within any human system.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And I have no interest in playing with sociopaths.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">BTW: If this reminds you of why my US government is a failure, good on you. Who in their sane mind would want to work with sociopathic politicians?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">UPDATE!</span></b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Check this out, received from Ars Technica via email August 8, 2013 6:07:48 PM EDT: </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You have been <b>banned</b> from this board until Thu Aug 15, 2013 5:34 pm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Please contact the Board Administrator for more information.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Reason given for ban: 3rd OW = 1-week temp ban</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A ban has been issued on your username.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Exactly as I stated: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Ars Technica In Decay</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Under the circumstances, being banned from Ars Technica's forums is a Badge Of Honor.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Ars Technica:</b> It's your reputation on the line. I've just established mine: A crusader for factual science and science terminology, no matter how much intimidation your bad writers and forum trolls can throw at me. I like that. (^_^)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And just to be extra boring and tedious, here is my direct reply to Ars Technica regarding their banning. I might as well make everything public! I like it that way:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ars Technica:</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Regarding </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?[blahblah banning announcement URL]</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My reply:</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ars Technica Falls On Its Arse: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Attack Of The Vehemently Ignorant Trolls </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And Authors</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- By Derek Currie, 2013-08-08</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><a href="http://zunipus.blogspot.com/2013/08/ars-technica-falls-on-its-arse-attack.html">http://zunipus.blogspot.com/2013/08/ars-technica-falls-on-its-arse-attack.html</a> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My terminology correction stands, as any 11th grade physics student can verify, but <b>Chris Lee</b> cannot.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I suggest you fire <b>Chris Lee</b> from your writing staff for vehemently defending his WRONG information. All he had to do was look it up and correct his error. Instead, all THIS had to happen.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This has is easily the most despicable tirade of nonsense I have ever experienced from a 'professional' website. But colleagues have pointed out to me today that none of this is new at your website. It's apparently been going on for 15 years. I will continue to monitor Ars Technica's forums because the trolls there ARE a detriment to your reader's learning and knowledge. I will also continue to monitor your article authors for authenticity and factual information. I will be encouraging other trained scientists to do the same.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Consider this my small cattle prod to encourage Ars Technica to wake up, teach and write about real science, while behaving with real professionalism. Are you up to it? I cynically doubt it. I now look on you as a gang of deceitful, lazy little children, incapable of comprehending actual science. Prove me wrong.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Disgusted.</span></blockquote>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I look forward to further prodding of Ars Technica into professionalism.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now get back to doing something fun and interesting. You must be hyped on coffee if you've managed to read through this dull horror of a story.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">:-Derek</span></div>
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<br />:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-62351389485501997132013-08-07T22:28:00.000-07:002013-08-07T22:49:22.869-07:00The Age of Trivia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjweYO1Wy-s8KOp6jGSgDtoFgRPjtNpST3WUVrOfHsOtPWrR5lN-8a9xS7ddQrQYNDoc92zNLwkdfo_VVdikdNxN7G2R1HfapF_3ukDyNxEgArRmR1myH7RG_IaU857t1sICXbsjg/s1600/distraction.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjweYO1Wy-s8KOp6jGSgDtoFgRPjtNpST3WUVrOfHsOtPWrR5lN-8a9xS7ddQrQYNDoc92zNLwkdfo_VVdikdNxN7G2R1HfapF_3ukDyNxEgArRmR1myH7RG_IaU857t1sICXbsjg/s320/distraction.png" width="258" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Much as I feel incapable of solving, let alone understanding my specie's self-destructive imperative, apparently I have some useful concepts as we watch the history of this phenomenon unfold.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">'<b>The Age of Trivia</b>' is a concept for our current transition into what I call 'The Last Dark Age'. My country, the USA, has already clearly demonstrated exactly why it will become entirely irrelevant in the world. We are now in desperation mode and that isn't going to stop, certainly from what little insight I have into the future. Desperation is actually being used as a tool by our increasingly sociopathic culture. Letting go of desperation as a weapon is outside of any sociopathic culture's comprehension.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With desperation a constant source of loud, screaming noise in the background, the world human culture has already begun to dig its head deep into the dirt to shut it out. To pass the time, to conjure some sort of sense of personal usefulness in the world, to entertain and distract ourselves, we are now specializing in trivial pursuits. It's a classic case of fiddling while our modern 'Rome' burns and shouts at us to make it stop. We have real problems to solve, real human survival, Earth survival at stake. But instead we're off in the ozone playing with trivial garbage. It's <i>classic</i> <b>desperation behavior</b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For me, this 'Age of Trivia' began with claims by both scientists and cult loonies to have cloned a human. There is no more dire trivial pursuit amidst my specie's determination to destroy itself and its only home planet, than humans bothering to clone themselves. This trivia began in 2001. Here is a detailed article about the subject from that year:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<b><a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,98940-1,00.html"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Baby, It's You! And You, And You...</span></a></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By Nancy Gibbs Sunday, Feb. 11, 2001, Time Magazine</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last month a well-known infertility specialist, Panayiotis Zavos of the University of Kentucky, announced that he and Italian researcher Severino Antinori, the man who almost seven years ago helped a 62-year-old woman give birth using donor eggs, were forming a consortium to produce the first human clone. Researchers in South Korea claim they have already created a cloned human embryo, though they destroyed it rather than implanting it in a surrogate mother to develop. . . .</span></blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj26gwVSTE9bhhDl1VBiYz0sJP8Zy7MrEy8uW-KwtdeNt-EGbsdRCz6GX_qzFWjCPKf6QE3cWBjOMt4Ak34BD8k4r8K7XAXisZRTqHn6j1wo60DT99aHxxd3AewSx60KsGM7dOCAA/s1600/Ku-Ku-Klan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj26gwVSTE9bhhDl1VBiYz0sJP8Zy7MrEy8uW-KwtdeNt-EGbsdRCz6GX_qzFWjCPKf6QE3cWBjOMt4Ak34BD8k4r8K7XAXisZRTqHn6j1wo60DT99aHxxd3AewSx60KsGM7dOCAA/s200/Ku-Ku-Klan.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And, as usual, once a dire subject is being discussed in public based upon verified factual information, the loonies come out of the cracks and spew their abstract craziness on the scene, muddying the water. In this case, in 2003 it was a space alien worshiping 'religious' cult called the <b>Raelians</b> who claimed they were the first to birth a human clone. </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">(o_0)</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was the entertainment topic of the week, even more diverting than news about the horror of the real thing. Here is one article from 2003 on the subject:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<b><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/raelians/raelians61.html"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cult 'clones' a baby! Read (and read) all about it</span></a></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Regarding Media </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Los Angeles Times/January 1, 2003 </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By Tim Rutten</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take, for example, the coverage given last Friday's assertion by the Raelian religious cult that a company founded by its adherents had cloned the first human baby. Consider, for one moment, the objective circumstances: a crackpot cult, whose French founder says he got his marching orders from a space alien, calls a press conference in Miami to announce that a cloned child has been born to an unidentified woman in an unspecified place the day after Christmas. . . .</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What inspired me to make this blog post was this new bit of what I consider to be classic Age of Trivia news. Mad scientists on the loose creating something more deadly than what nature can devise. Awesomeness. Total trivia in the face of <i>real</i> ongoing crises:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<b><a href="http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130807/DA819FP83.html"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Scientists plan controversial lab-made bird flu</span></a></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By LAURAN NEERGAARD</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aug 7, 2:54 PM (ET)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">WASHINGTON (Associated Press)</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Scientists who sparked an outcry by creating easier-to-spread versions of the bird flu for research purposes want to try such experiments again using a worrisome new strain. This time around, the U.S. government is promising extra scrutiny of such high-stakes research up front. . . .</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Right. My government, that has <i>destroyed</i> the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution via blanket surveillance of US citizens on US soil, wants me to believe it can sanely scrutinize anything. Instead I entirely expect this bit of trivial pursuit to only add to our ongoing crises. Brilliant stuff, this desperation behavior.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For years I've been attempting to get a handle on the subject of desperation behavior. I've found exactly nothing about it as a formal subject of study. Instead, I've found bits and pieces here and there, mainly within the thought realm of psychology. Some time I expect I'll dare to post a summary of what I have found so far. For now, the best source of learning is simply the daily news.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As ever, when I write about this depressing rubbish, I am lead to remind us that the best cure for all these trivial horrors is humor and offensive positive push against the subject. Living has never been about suffering. <b>Living is about growing.</b> So the simple cure for The Age of Trivia and all the other crap inflicted on us by our own species is to laugh and laugh at it while learning how to be our best selves. That's <b>anti-desperation behavior</b>. I like it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">:-Derek</span><br />
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:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-85622799739814569992013-07-25T09:41:00.001-07:002013-07-25T21:54:02.902-07:00SCAM Phone Call: Revenge Method #1<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">--</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHw-U7ylLimKF_G580v4nmneyNtebzZ46J3yN_Aw_CxfNFlGSAV-p8zNznFUrn99YGzb063_O8geuA7VAJ0YfMlb1Mji-tbce9ZmYvHt7ICsqmaUx-z9jkCSUtlGzTYcP_Y93OA/s1600/phone_scam_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHw-U7ylLimKF_G580v4nmneyNtebzZ46J3yN_Aw_CxfNFlGSAV-p8zNznFUrn99YGzb063_O8geuA7VAJ0YfMlb1Mji-tbce9ZmYvHt7ICsqmaUx-z9jkCSUtlGzTYcP_Y93OA/s320/phone_scam_1.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm on the "<a href="https://www.donotcall.gov/">Do Not Call</a>" list for phone calls. It works fairly well! But I still regularly get SCAM phone calls from Marketing Moron Rats who want to make money off sucker victims. -- I want revenge.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Where I live, the current popular SCAM is an attempt to sell <i>'emergency medical buttons',</i> aka <i>'I've fallen and I can't get up'</i> buttons. The latest rendition of this SCAM features a casual sounding guy who calls himself 'John'. He sounds like he's live on the phone, except he's not. It's only a recording, as demonstrated by the fact that when you attempt to talk to him, he can't hear you. The recording then concludes with the usual rubbish: <i>"Push # to speak to a representative"</i>. -- Oops, the SCAM became obvious. --What idiot comes up with these ludicrous con jobs?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">THE REVENGE</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've been using this simple revenge method for years. I find it to be <i>entirely</i> satisfying.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I push the <b>#</b> button the SCAMMER has requested.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then I ignore the call.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4jRjvRsXAbe8dYvxyBNarOFzxkdYXg8n4uPEUSiykRqDSbbB0J1mWJ-kE9OEuDmQfiEqc9ZpeZMoThMJezYXz_aEQut9asMRa30eJjmJHlBQ3UEfXM1pvoF4B2H2yk8MBnOi4g/s1600/dangling_phone_01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4jRjvRsXAbe8dYvxyBNarOFzxkdYXg8n4uPEUSiykRqDSbbB0J1mWJ-kE9OEuDmQfiEqc9ZpeZMoThMJezYXz_aEQut9asMRa30eJjmJHlBQ3UEfXM1pvoF4B2H2yk8MBnOi4g/s320/dangling_phone_01.jpeg" width="234" /></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sometimes I put down the phone and walk away, or I just set the phone aside while I continue work I'm doing. Even more fun is cranking up the TV and letting it blare at whoever picks up at the other end of the line. It's particularly fun to play them a law and order TV show. I like to think of Chuck Norris' voice scaring the willies out of them.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Q: Why is this revenge effective? </span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGsTSLYTsSCiY68Wp_N1gnVqto0h4XAp4rsZVKmgI3vXNLvZK_jbw5fgbUZyxBZJZi77xp3a7xg4R8cBrrIPnCA6MXM69M0wgFGcUP3-V5vrIEhV1CcZE4aBtLvaB1n3uXnr7jWg/s1600/hold_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGsTSLYTsSCiY68Wp_N1gnVqto0h4XAp4rsZVKmgI3vXNLvZK_jbw5fgbUZyxBZJZi77xp3a7xg4R8cBrrIPnCA6MXM69M0wgFGcUP3-V5vrIEhV1CcZE4aBtLvaB1n3uXnr7jWg/s200/hold_01.jpg" width="146" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Once the SCAMMER picks up the phone at <i>their</i> end, they're <i><b>paying the full phone rate for the call.</b></i> They get charged a full minute, even if they immediately hang up again. That way, they <i>lose money</i> for calling you. They suffer an actual financial consequence for attempting to SCAM you. I like that! A lot!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Considering the persistence of these SCAM calls, often once or twice a day, it gives me <i>great</i> satisfaction to know that the scammer is losing money specifically because they called ME. Heehee haha. Retribution has been deployed.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Q: Is there a bad consequence of this reverse SCAM? </span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b>
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKxuySk_EJZnuBrnmbckDY3lXIU1UmwOJgvy4R2xWzpE_I-cO7vg6cM91UBll9wFez-UBbi-4J1CHcQxN6cSL0iGyivFUpyOWi2DBJWh5z1xwbSg6151YP3SYIblw-Q8KpFPRVg/s1600/hold_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKxuySk_EJZnuBrnmbckDY3lXIU1UmwOJgvy4R2xWzpE_I-cO7vg6cM91UBll9wFez-UBbi-4J1CHcQxN6cSL0iGyivFUpyOWi2DBJWh5z1xwbSg6151YP3SYIblw-Q8KpFPRVg/s200/hold_02.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No.</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1) If you talk to a human at the other end and tell them to 'STOP CALLING ME!', it makes zero difference. They call you anyway. And the other SCAMMERS who are playing the same con job on suckers will <i>also</i> call you. I've had three <i>different</i> SCAMMERS call me on the same day with different SCAM methods. It's just like SPAM. There are several different SCAMMERS competing to victimize us.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1NnHf1LCcNEnp8tsLLfEkdGZUZE8ZLlzynPx5X30e9K-W9zrduhL6eigIrf9qa0iQ7xjj4TxU0Yeaun3aCWqJddPbi_g10GEMuBiXnTJZztlSKNROnz5SpsyYB7IOTAPv2q7sLw/s1600/retribution_hold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1NnHf1LCcNEnp8tsLLfEkdGZUZE8ZLlzynPx5X30e9K-W9zrduhL6eigIrf9qa0iQ7xjj4TxU0Yeaun3aCWqJddPbi_g10GEMuBiXnTJZztlSKNROnz5SpsyYB7IOTAPv2q7sLw/s200/retribution_hold.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But but but! Don't the scammers think you just put the phone down temporarily and they'll call back later? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It doesn't make any difference. They're going to call you back again NO MATTER WHAT.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But but but! Won't they get the idea that you're SCAMMING them back by ignoring them when they pick up? <b>Nope! </b>Hilarious, isn't it. They don't get the clue. Again: They just want your money. Figuring out that you are <i>costing</i> them money doesn't register in their tiny little parasitic brains.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPQjAp42PBafzOSPjRxVMXhoq-1fsviEnqNDVY4KmWDD-48FFM9L79KjDtxGPiqTFTeorxlJNcbxa5cOBo-3NDdN2EIfY0gJBVbbhyphenhyphenyi8nRlU-cdAR7mbutTV1Sdrc0XD1MFoCZg/s1600/gotcha_hold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPQjAp42PBafzOSPjRxVMXhoq-1fsviEnqNDVY4KmWDD-48FFM9L79KjDtxGPiqTFTeorxlJNcbxa5cOBo-3NDdN2EIfY0gJBVbbhyphenhyphenyi8nRlU-cdAR7mbutTV1Sdrc0XD1MFoCZg/s200/gotcha_hold.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2) That poor, <i>poor</i> person on the other end of the phone line who is simply trying to make money to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">survive, boohoo, they didn't create the SCAM, they're just a minimum wage earner in a call queue. TOUGH ON THEM. Don't feel sorry for the lowly person working for the SCAMMER. Note, however, that I see no reason to abuse them over the phone. Don't be mean to people. Just cost the scammer time and money, a lovely form of revenge.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">THIS IS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF EVERYBODY DID!</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I was a kid, "<a href="http://neglectedbooks.com/?p=230">If Everybody Did</a>" was our family's very favorite book. Look it up if you've never read it. It's lots of nasty fun. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Applied to SCAMMERS: If enough people pull reverse revenge tactics on SCAMMERS, eventually they'll notice and give up the scam. IOW: Once they've lost enough money on the SCAM to notice, they'll eventually figure out it's time to stop. THAT would be ideal! Let's hope EVERYBODY pulls simple, costly revenge tactics on SCAMMERS.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ADDENDUM</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b>
<b>Q: What if there is a LIVE PERSON at the other end when they call?</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A common example is the <i>'I'm from the police benevolence fund blahblahblah'</i> phone call. ALL such calls are SCAMS. Never, never, never are police benevolence funds, retirement funds, wounded in action funds, widow support funds, blahblahbarfbarf funds calling ANYONE for money. I've spoken with the police directly about this situation. ALL such calls are SCAMS. <i>Please</i> call the police yourself to verify I am correct. Then let me know of any such actual, real, benevolence fund! Please! I would love to be wrong. I would love to publish a list of REAL such funds. Meanwhile: ALL phone calls from such 'funds' are SCAMS.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But but but! - I've even asked the guy at the other end of the phone to mail me a simple brochure about their fund, just to verify they are real. They agree to do so! But NEVER, never, never have they sent me anything. Not ever! Scammity scam scam.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Q: So what do you do with the live person?</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Remember to NEVER insult anyone. Don't ever be mean to others! It hurts us to be mean to others, <i>never</i> recommended. But I do strongly suggest saying to the SCAMMER:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"I'm sorry. Could you hold for a moment while I see who's at the door?"</span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then walk away.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Return a bit later and hang up the phone.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Keep in mind that the SCAMMER is paying for the call and you are <i><b>costing them money</b></i> for every moment they sit on their end, live. It's a kind, gentle, simple and joyous form of revenge. Highly recommended. So say I.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">:-Derek</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="http://www.toonhole.com/comics/2012-02-24-ScamArtist.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_o0iHWg4lCXglSY0QxuLttFI9bAD-GeXS_yfggNTajKxO5H3c_qTxqnv-qugsNcRBLrs22OeEF9pE-9kx4yDQrKe5Tke2exNehdDkKwgqK33vUd0MZEjhIhR1Oq5rBpuSWfjAg/s320/2012-02-24-ScamArtist.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-80248990577752417942013-04-21T22:27:00.003-07:002013-04-21T22:27:25.351-07:00STOP CISPA TAKE ACTION<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-49864880095419075602013-04-14T14:12:00.000-07:002013-04-14T23:49:54.045-07:00Dangerous Deliberating--<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgww3pNSeD-1PwuJHArWgfYz7sz-pRKVsvk3eB0dR1H8zhjLmuPGH58SbH-y5hJau0OmDDtjjKXnp5aJAzXpdO5PaWyBkPCV4HaR3glTBrJm-izp67UYqehHo8Fj49yOtbAtdtV_g/s1600/9640pouring_tea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgww3pNSeD-1PwuJHArWgfYz7sz-pRKVsvk3eB0dR1H8zhjLmuPGH58SbH-y5hJau0OmDDtjjKXnp5aJAzXpdO5PaWyBkPCV4HaR3glTBrJm-izp67UYqehHo8Fj49yOtbAtdtV_g/s200/9640pouring_tea.jpg" width="200" /></a>Kurt Vonnegut's last brilliant book (IMHO) was <u>Breakfast of Champions</u>. It is a detailed portrayal of how a BAD IDEA can be transmitted to another person, like a virus (hello William S. Burroughs), and destroy their thinking mind.<br />
<br />
I am extremely restrained in what I make public versus what I think. Being the Homo sapiens sapiens that I am, I of course am arrogantly prone to thinking what I think is worth thinking, when in ALL cases I am actually thinking ignorantly. There are a few thoughts I find to be extremely reliable, and this is one of them:<br />
<br />
<b>We Never Know Everything About Anything.</b><br />
<br />
Count on it. If you're obsessed with finding absolutes and "TRUTH!", there you go. Count on it being a FACT that 'We Never Know Everything About Anything', then act according to that 'fact'.<br />
<br />
Therefore, I count on all my 'great thoughts' as being ignorant in one way or all ways specifically because every Homo sapiens sapiens is incomprehensibly limited in their:<br />
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Perceptions<br />
Comprehensions<br />
Interpretations<br />
Translations<br />
Communications<br />
<br />
Into our brains wrong, perceived wrong, interpreted wrong, translated wrong, communicated to others wrong. We are wrong every step of the way. Then we take that mess and kill each other with it, the very worst result of our consistent ignorance. We kill our miracle planet. The last bad idea is transmitted, blammo, we destroyed all the miracles that are our planet. It's gone.<br />
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We humans are, in a profound plethora of perpetrations, the single most stupid species every created by the process of life evolution. You don't get more stupid than being an ultimate destroyer of EVERYTHING that made us, sustains us and everything we in turn have made and sustained.<br />
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There's this <i>ultimate idiot</i> concept we humans make in our stupid moments that pulls together all our concepts of THE FOOL, the ultimate worst of ourselves as a life form. It has plentiful names, proliferating and personalizing every day. In my current culture, here are a few of this bad idea's names:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Satan</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D'evil</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Demon</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lucifer</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mephistopheles<br />
Republicans<br />
Democrats</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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We point out into space at some nothing out there that is trying to destroy we humans. But we point at nothing other than OURSELVES. There is nothing worse at which we can point. WE are that nasty nebulous nihilist that is out to get US. We do it through all of our fallible processes that create the BAD IDEA.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwD5S1GyaD9HeyL9zuexYIIZQ__C9fzhntTHLKP67YN9qmR8qZETFMdMO9mRsut0Ky0QSNAH6ewMEifhDSJYSWmPoNLMCEr8Nl1hdeHnTthBhyphenhyphenM-ltXqj6W7b1ZlkCCSU66GEag/s1600/overflowing-toilet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwD5S1GyaD9HeyL9zuexYIIZQ__C9fzhntTHLKP67YN9qmR8qZETFMdMO9mRsut0Ky0QSNAH6ewMEifhDSJYSWmPoNLMCEr8Nl1hdeHnTthBhyphenhyphenM-ltXqj6W7b1ZlkCCSU66GEag/s320/overflowing-toilet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And that BIG BAD IDEA that is out to get us goes round and round in circles, self-perpetuating itself, spawning and spewing an endless string of further BAD IDEAS, a continual mass infection of all our own minds with all the viral verbal views with which we bombard each other's bleary brains.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFPe9P9pH20H_PZhNL4tR3aNN3dsai3P1xzgbbUzE8KscSyLCLy472Ocre7F6ASSuKS-7rsjSEzSVxtQtVviEMbBBu8vtoiST0nM8eYdvagAL_K4fP6ZASTrH8l8Oh63aJ_HHWQ/s1600/15127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFPe9P9pH20H_PZhNL4tR3aNN3dsai3P1xzgbbUzE8KscSyLCLy472Ocre7F6ASSuKS-7rsjSEzSVxtQtVviEMbBBu8vtoiST0nM8eYdvagAL_K4fP6ZASTrH8l8Oh63aJ_HHWQ/s1600/15127.jpg" /></a>And what is CYNICISM but one more inexact, blundering bad idea that picks up and hurls incoherence.<br />
<br />
What else are we besides stupid and self-destructive? What else are we beside HATEFUL and HATED?<br />
<br />
We are nothing simple. We see more, we experience more, we think more, we create more, we cogitate more about ourselves and the miracle planet that made and sustains us than any other creature that has so far lived. That makes us far from worthless and pointless. What we 'are' will be just as beyond our comprehension as anything else that exists around us. Don't count on ever knowing exactly what we are.<br />
<br />
Don't bother trying to shove us into any box. No thought can contain us. Expect us to never know everything about anything about us. There is always more...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVhyphenhyphenCEARV6UFVl9w1P82ypB6CpWb11mN2pk6_SQyLWwmIEqedV0wkwDDMqX7lmsqyKCr7lSfNe73fSGnmf8PbdEEOzmzWFMSR72IIjc7GDkGgo3mtz1_24Yu3Vnv8XUxLUjbHbg/s1600/slavery-of-africans-usa1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVhyphenhyphenCEARV6UFVl9w1P82ypB6CpWb11mN2pk6_SQyLWwmIEqedV0wkwDDMqX7lmsqyKCr7lSfNe73fSGnmf8PbdEEOzmzWFMSR72IIjc7GDkGgo3mtz1_24Yu3Vnv8XUxLUjbHbg/s320/slavery-of-africans-usa1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
In other words: EVERY IDEA is a BAD IDEA, a limitation, a road block to run down, a point on an infinite map. Expect that there is <i>always</i> more. The only 'absolute' is that there is <i>always</i> more...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">Swim infinity.</span></i></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgte-59wi80OOqKTgVpjqDyqxWFna54ED3gr3i71Gk_yK06GEsQ6P5bH3Zhai91O8adarUUhZK4nHI1cbiy40FHbpy10sOSXb7wo7Qu5TjqI-yhLg_MmCGTcOvXPxAzSppG0mN2xA/s1600/Marina-Bay-Sands-Swimming-Pool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgte-59wi80OOqKTgVpjqDyqxWFna54ED3gr3i71Gk_yK06GEsQ6P5bH3Zhai91O8adarUUhZK4nHI1cbiy40FHbpy10sOSXb7wo7Qu5TjqI-yhLg_MmCGTcOvXPxAzSppG0mN2xA/s400/Marina-Bay-Sands-Swimming-Pool.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></i></b>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.numbersleuth.org/trends/potential-vs-actual-infinity/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkhFeqkHAN3keoAnoPvFgPWWuxlkQRGHuIl_tFUW_SiyaxTRmsebMeLKVYgjhyphenhyphenyeHKgNHKhIKh3wjwvZ3HhDXpflJG_M-GwJbk_67urHaWW9ISufi9MaK9VLcibObA4T4JM_BNYQ/s400/actual-infinity-600x410.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></i></b>:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-84477324089387684492013-01-18T03:26:00.000-08:002013-01-18T06:47:55.696-08:00Time Warner Cable Customer Abuse, Part II: Bait and Switch Billing Abuse--<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCqzf7PyeqHgl_ZprmvIHH2h1SnfNeOBW0zZ0JTSlv7nCUUXu5Yv9zifMqgMcIj_mgXDMsoS5OgilPIUWd447rSpk5wWnUdX5ZiStM3pnN304j6hYdmFlN0ZQaOWXffywQztJNAw/s1600/Just+Give+Me+Money!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCqzf7PyeqHgl_ZprmvIHH2h1SnfNeOBW0zZ0JTSlv7nCUUXu5Yv9zifMqgMcIj_mgXDMsoS5OgilPIUWd447rSpk5wWnUdX5ZiStM3pnN304j6hYdmFlN0ZQaOWXffywQztJNAw/s200/Just+Give+Me+Money!.jpg" width="200" /></a>If I were a masochist, I would be writhing in pleasure at this point thanks to the <i>consistent</i> customer abuse I am receiving from Time Warner Cable. It never stops.<br />
<br />
My previous adventure ended in TWC <i>never</i> calling me back after my complaint to their executive office regarding their worse-than-lousy installation service. Thanks to me, I have everything working fine at this point.<br />
<br />
Then TWC sent me the first bill for the new Basic Cable service and Turbo Internet services. The difference between the Order Summary I received and the billing statement I received is on the order of a nightmare. It's a bait and switch CUSTOMER GOUGE JOB. Let's compare:<br />
<br />
<b>A) My Bundle Price For 12 Months Order Summary</b><br />
<ol>
<li>Basic TV (cable): Included</li>
<li>Turbo Internet: Included</li>
<li>I own my own WiFi and Modem: Included</li>
<li>Outlet One-Time Charges: Included</li>
</ol>
------------------<br />
<b>Total Charges</b> (excluding taxes and fees), One-Time Charge Included: <b><u>$49.99</u></b><br />
<br />
Service Installation Fee: $19.95<br />
Service Installation Fee Waived: -$19.95<br />
∑ = No fee.<br />
------------------<br />
<br />
<b>B) My First Time Warner Cable Billing Statement</b><br />
<br />
<b>Monthly service charges</b><br />
<ol>
<li>Basic Service: $12.00</li>
<li>Standard Internet: $49.99</li>
<li>Turbo Internet: $9.99</li>
</ol>
------------------<br />
Total monthly service charges: <b><u>$71.98</u></b><br />
------------------<br />
<div>
Difference in monthly service charges, billed versus ordered:<b><u> <span style="font-size: large;">$21.99</span></u></b></div>
<br />
<b>GOUGE!</b><br />
<br />
Plus this exciting bit of gouging:<br />
<br />
<b>C) One-time charges</b><br />
<ol>
<li>Install, Internet Service: $39.99</li>
<li>Home Networking Install: $49.99</li>
</ol>
------------------<br />
<div>
Total one-time charges: <b><u><span style="font-size: large;">$89.98</span></u></b></div>
<br />
<b>SUPER GOUGE!</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-aYnDVxs_C-BDCDpbxRzeXN2k4iSQpkhQ2O3b8TpsmCcGj7ED3jjoM5do082CgCqAn8DoAIYRngHQLya2lENTvZnctNgeKlVLtKn54q7q4e3l8JhBwW1OqJjNJ5xurO6oEEaFEA/s1600/Time+Warner+FRUSTRATION!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-aYnDVxs_C-BDCDpbxRzeXN2k4iSQpkhQ2O3b8TpsmCcGj7ED3jjoM5do082CgCqAn8DoAIYRngHQLya2lENTvZnctNgeKlVLtKn54q7q4e3l8JhBwW1OqJjNJ5xurO6oEEaFEA/s1600/Time+Warner+FRUSTRATION!.jpg" /></a></div>
Needless to say, I am going to the TWC offices (as opposed to wasting my life on their phone lines), with both my Order Summary and gouge infested Billing Statement in hand. Thankfully, their office is about 1/4 mile from my home. I will be armed with a promise to move all my services over to Verizon FIOS if TWC don't come clean.<br />
<br />
If further TWC biznizz bozosity behavior manifests, I'll be providing Part III with the details. If you don't hear from me, they either decided to make good on my Order Summary, or they had me assassinated for muck raking their customer abuse in public. (Just kidding! I hope!)<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, here are a some other TWC customer complaint links for your enjoyment. There are plenty more where these came from:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://gothamist.com/2012/10/03/time_warner_finds_another_way_to_fl.php">Time Warner Cable Finds New Way To Gouge Customers With "Modem Rental Fee"</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://infowomen.wordpress.com/tag/price-gouging/">TWC Modem leasing fees, and the Class Action Suit</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/business/time-warner-faces-lawsuit-over-new-monthly-modem-fee/55554/">Time Warner faces lawsuit over new monthly modem fee</a><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px;">
<a href="http://mamanyc.net/2012/01/i-hate-time-warner-cable-nyc-horrible-customer-service-billing/" target="_blank">Time Warner Cable: Everything a Company Should NOT Be. {Ranting!}</a></div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Time-Warner-Cable-SUCKS/215714508814" target="_blank">Time Warner Cable Sucks!</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XSG5PU5gOs" target="_blank">Why Time Warner Cable Sucks - YouTube</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://amplicate.com/hate/time-warner" target="_blank">Why Do People Hate Time Warner? 86% People Do</a> [I'm opinion #20,274]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://current.com/community/93623232_consumer-complaints-time-warner-cable-increase-monopoly-control-time-warner-cables-la-price-gouging.htm">Consumer Complaints "Time Warner Cable" Increase - monopoly control...</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://idonesaidit.com/2012/07/27/time-warner-cable-sucks/" target="_blank">Time Warner Cable Sucks...</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://modular4kc.com/2011/04/05/the-time-warner-cable-saga-will-never-end/" target="_blank">The Time Warner Cable Saga Will Never End</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://angryblacklady.com/2010/06/13/angry-black-lady-chronicles-time-warner-cable-i-will-cut-you/" target="_blank">Angry Black Lady Chronicles: Time Warner Cable, I Will Cut You</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://mattsingley.com/blog/2009/07/week-of-technology-from-hell/" target="_blank">The Week of Technology from Hell</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://wordsofwhizdumb.com/2012/12/time-warner-cable-sucks.html" target="_blank">Words of Whizdumb: Time Warner Cable Sucks</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/FuckTimeWarner" target="_blank">Time Warner Sucks (F***TimeWarner)</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2010/09/08/spot-kicks-a-time-warner-cable-rant/" target="_blank">Spot Kicks: A Time Warner Cable Rant</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.allkyhoops.com/2011/06/time-warner-cables-sucks-it-up-again.html" target="_blank">Time Warner Cables Sucks It Up Again</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/topic/brooklyn-nyc-time-warner-cable-complaints-nyc-time-warner-cable-sucks-anybody-but-nyc-time-warner-cable" target="_blank">NYC Time Warner cable Complaints | NYC Time Warner Cable Sucks | Anybody but NYC Time Warner Cable, Yelp</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://time-warner-cable.pissedconsumer.com/time-warner-cable-sucks-20121130363596.html">Time-Warner-Cable.PissedCustomer.com</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://readthisshit.com/time-warner-cable/">Time Warner Cable Hikes the Price Even if You Hava a 12 Month "Guarantee!"</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Considering-Yet-Another-Obnoxious-Fee-122025">Time Warner Cable Considering Yet Another Obnoxious Fee, $7 'We'll Keep Your Equipment Upgraded' Fee</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Until next time, one hell-of-a dissatisfied TWC customer,<br />
<br />
:-Derek<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Nzdp4QG3riMh5YrhNwvpzrJ-DzqQQRuMIF1Iearh9QYfyC-PxM0cekOmAy3aWA1or1mi0aHovo-JaT5dM-AwPiQkmzSNT12akNy61YWjlmMAWkt5XluB01K2CEwGZXJnGzN9xQ/s1600/time-warner-sucks-300x158-1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Nzdp4QG3riMh5YrhNwvpzrJ-DzqQQRuMIF1Iearh9QYfyC-PxM0cekOmAy3aWA1or1mi0aHovo-JaT5dM-AwPiQkmzSNT12akNy61YWjlmMAWkt5XluB01K2CEwGZXJnGzN9xQ/s1600/time-warner-sucks-300x158-1.PNG" /></a></div>
--<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-55406153793588270672012-12-22T03:34:00.003-08:002013-07-01T22:14:47.828-07:00Time Warner Cable: Customer Abuse In Our World Of Biznizz Bozos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS-KScIl5cXCI-rZAlDfyMYEGr73XPAJhqM7-99xfc1nlriEF4lKSGoFx8375JhkjUfWM50Ei63sLOqUb7NDT6xax2RWS9p69UIyNrqs4ur9Ii72biAaB2B5uWanJKCU0JCbXtBQ/s1600/Pray_To_Mammon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS-KScIl5cXCI-rZAlDfyMYEGr73XPAJhqM7-99xfc1nlriEF4lKSGoFx8375JhkjUfWM50Ei63sLOqUb7NDT6xax2RWS9p69UIyNrqs4ur9Ii72biAaB2B5uWanJKCU0JCbXtBQ/s200/Pray_To_Mammon.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
--<br />
The one thing that defines the USA at this point in time is the rule of what I call <b>The Bad Biznizz Bozos</b>. Time Warner Cable is an excellent example. Bad Biznizz Bozos are <i>fake</i> 'capitalists' who have no concept of how real business is conducted. They are the prime reason that capitalism is increasingly <i>ridiculed</i> around the world. They abuse the game of finance and business services by turning it into an opportunity to <i>gouge</i> and <i>damage</i> others for the sake of the <i>quick and easy buck.</i> It's the same old story of: <b>Short-term Thinking; Long-term Disaster.</b> When companies, such as Time Warner, pull this juvenile, ignorant bullshit, they get what they deserve. In this case, Time Warner Cable deserves this article.<br />
<br />
Enough of my analysis and opinion. Let's laugh at and enjoy the facts of my recent adventures with these FAILures of the bad biznizz world: <b>Time Warner Cable.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<h3>
<b>I) The Case of the Degraded Signal</b></h3>
Early November 2012. The signal on my TV is severely degraded on every channel to the point of unwatchable. The signal on my Internet connection is equally degraded. I call Time Warner Cable to the rescue. They sent out a guy who checks out my TV, the wiring to it, the cabling to the house. But he says he can't check out the cabling inside the house and has no idea if it could be responsible. He also 'says' he has no knowledge or ability to check the Internet signal. I am told to call TWC back again and ask for an Internet tech to come out and check the lines, again.<br />
<br />
I call TWC, again, and am told that the technician WAS entirely qualified to check out the wiring in the house AND the Internet signal problems. They asked me why he had not done so! They set up a time for another technician to come out to the house and check out the problem.<br />
<br />
The second technician never showed.<br />
<br />
By this point I was off to spend a week with the parents celebrating Thanksgiving and helping with chore requests.<br />
<br />
When I returned, everything was now working. I received no feedback of any kind from TWC. I dropped the issue.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAD3nPlgTdCCgxsrvZZwhtQC7T2AC4d-BRmjW1NWMEFbkI9aW9vH-nMXTxYSaz23K8sLER7UbKQEwUbk2MoCzoWnYYLDqToozeKeEuR4ptlnsJ7nJjRYZShTML7kn7bHeAFMY5Rw/s1600/static-tv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAD3nPlgTdCCgxsrvZZwhtQC7T2AC4d-BRmjW1NWMEFbkI9aW9vH-nMXTxYSaz23K8sLER7UbKQEwUbk2MoCzoWnYYLDqToozeKeEuR4ptlnsJ7nJjRYZShTML7kn7bHeAFMY5Rw/s320/static-tv.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<h3>
<b>II) The Case of the Intermittent Signal Dropout</b></h3>
Early December, 2012. Over the course of an hour, the cable signal to my TV was dropping out to a blank screen, on every channel, intermittently. This was occurring often several times a minute. The Internet connection was equally chaotic.<br />
<br />
I call TWC. Their technical line is sending a busy signal. This continued for half-an-hour. I call the TWC executive office to complain and ask for someone to please help. They connected me to a man to whom I explained the situation. I pointed out that I had a somewhat similar situation a few weeks previous to this incident and told him that the second technician had never showed up and that I had received no feedback at all about the solution of that problem.<br />
<br />
The guy on the phone told me that he had no record of TWC having any appointment to return to my house to repair the signal problem. I pointed out that he was incorrect. He then proceeded to ignore the current problem and instead obsessed over his information regarding the previous issue, making me out to be a liar. I asked him if the point of his obsessing over this second appointment was to pick a fight, as I was getting nowhere with him attempting to get help for the current issue. He said he was going to escalate the issue to a higher technician, to which I replied 'Yes you will'.<br />
<br />
Instead of being sent to an actual technician, the rude guy had dumped me at the front line of TWC's call queue in India. He had been told nothing about the situation and I had to start from scratch explaining the problem. This is a sign of very poor customer service, one which I expect we have all experienced. The front line Indian said he would connect me with a technician, but after waiting several minutes for him to connect me, he managed to hang up on me. Again, déja vu much folks?<br />
<br />
I then tried for the next hour to get anyone on the line at Time Warner through any number at any office and failed. The tech phone line still sent out a busy signal. The executive office phone line, at 1:20 pm in the afternoon, was foisting a recording that their offices were closed. There was literally no ability to contact Time Warner Cable at all.<br />
<br />
Inconceivable? Not with Bad Biznizz Bozos! This is status quo for bad biznizz. But I digress...<br />
<br />
I returned to my TV to find the intermittent signal drop out had stopped. I dropped the issue.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>III) The Case of the Cheapass Landlord and the New Internet Account Connection</b></h3>
Mid-December 2012. My new cheap-ass landlord had decided to cut off our included-in-the-rent Internet service at the end of the month. I jumped on the situation and made an appointment to have TWC set up my new connection.<br />
<br />
TWC, in their endless pursuit of parasitizing money out of their victim customers, had decided to start charging rent for their cruddy old, inefficient Motorola SurfBoard modems. I'd been considering replacing my own old Apple Base Station Extreme and decided to get an all-in-one cable modem and router, top of the line, from Motorola. I verified with TWC, both on the Internet and by phone (the line not sending a busy signal that day) that this was exactly the modem the advised I buy to work with their service. I saved $25 by <i>not</i> getting it from the local Best Buy. Amazon got it to me with its usual expediency. As usual, I RTFM to be understand how it worked and how to set it up. I'm techy that way.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lettereyemedia.com/time-warner-cable-theres-a-special-place-in-hell-for-you/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTu_XFCyPcPTnlsqd_gkaPTVKIhbD95nY3unfcfYZK7VWzv9i2mKVlvkiY3_jGCx2ehfrfhNF9GZDp9ziyl_Faw9dwToZ-e2ybKGOtImtC9Ic4eIgbVugEdbmieyXfmA0RT_OCQ/s320/Time-Warner-Cable-Sucks-Something-Terrible-Featured-630x340.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The day of the account installation, I received a call about two hours earlier than the TWC technician's appointment. They were on the road and had time to set up my account at that time, if that was acceptable to me. I said sure! They arrived twenty minutes later. They were an affable couple of guys and I enjoyed their banter while I watched them set up my new cable modem.<br />
<br />
However, I found that no one involved with the installation, neither the technicians at my house nor the technicians over at the server side of TWC, knew how to set up the cable modem they had TOLD me to buy. They were ALL entirely unable to perform the job. I listened while the techs at my house attempted to get the techs at TWC to figure it out. This took a full twenty minutes. Throughout this waiting period, the techs at my house kept repeating 'The modem isn't in <b>Y mode</b>' over and over. Apparently that was the mode, detectable from the lights on the front of the modem, that showed the modem was actually connected to the TWC servers and working properly.<br />
<br />
Eventually, the floundering ended and I could see from the lights on the modem that there was a signal. The techs at my house then asked if I had a computer to use to test the connection. I grabbed my MacBook and the tech took it from me, attempting to find the modem over Wi-Fi. He had no idea what the default name of the modem would be and guessed his way through the process, FAILing.<br />
<br />
At that point he gave up and the other technician asked me to sign the paperwork. They wanted to leave. They wanted to leave me with NO service. Their explanation was that they had never worked with that modem before. They didn't know what to do.<br />
<br />
I pointed out to the techs that this was the modem I was TOLD to buy. I pointed out that if they didn't know how to install this modem, then this was when they contacted their boss at TWC and requested training. I pointed out that their tech service to me was not complete until they had me connected to the Internet service at TWC.<br />
<br />
At this point the techs became aggressive and loud, lying to me that they did not have to connect my computer to their Internet service as part of their jobs. This was despite the fact that this was precisely what they had been attempting to do before they gave up.<br />
<br />
I pointed out that they were being aggressive and loud and that it made no difference to me. I pointed out that they were not leaving and that I was not signing anything until they had completed their job.<br />
<br />
Having RTFM, I took my MacBook from the floundering tech and decided to crank up Motorola's 'Wizard' for connecting Macs to their modem. It's a very flaky program, but it cooperated. It found the modem signal. It asked for the ID number of the modem. One of the techs found it on the installation leaflet I handily had with me. He read me the characters. It asked me for the default WPA2 password. The tech read it to me from the leaflet. In the course of two minutes, I had sorted out how to perform the installation they refused to do.<br />
<br />
At this point the techs became irate and stormed out of the house. I signed nothing. They managed to leave behind the old modem from my cheapass landlord's TWC account. They were gone.<br />
<br />
Support at TWC told me they were also supposed to have handed me a receipt for the modem they had brought with them and took away with them. The follow-up questionnaire robo-call I received also told me they were supposed to have handed me a sheet explaining the service. And they were supposed to have explained the service to me and asked if I had any questions. Needless to say, I gave them a FAILing grade on all the robo-call questions. I then left a recorded comment pointing out that it is 'ridiculous' to have to convince technicians to do their job.<br />
<br />
I also called up the executive office at TWC and was handed to a very nice and concerned woman who took down notes about the situation and promised to call the chief technician for cable installations and have him call me back within two business days. She kindly gave me her extension number to call in case there were further concerns. She was terrific.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, two and a half days later, no one from TWC has called me.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion: </b><br />
Time Warner Cable, as a company,<i> doesn't give a rat's ass</i> about their customers. They just want to do <b>minimal work for the maximum buck.</b><br />
<br />
I'll be calling the executive office again next business day. I'll be asking for a free month's service as compensation for all of the above <b>customer abuse.</b> I'll be escalating my call as high as I can go in their management hierarchy with the full expectation that they'll find a way to hang up on me, again. <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXN8Veud4Bxki6HIDgyf4on-ZKn9LPbqE5EtKh8ONPhUiRovDaTlJOVvphJg0r3xNQ8yz-XrroWkrXU06bk_XnbdW3xXCauojXkyAo_-gATx1n8-QQhMi_0Vi4ioXiaYXHwM7USw/s1600/sucker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXN8Veud4Bxki6HIDgyf4on-ZKn9LPbqE5EtKh8ONPhUiRovDaTlJOVvphJg0r3xNQ8yz-XrroWkrXU06bk_XnbdW3xXCauojXkyAo_-gATx1n8-QQhMi_0Vi4ioXiaYXHwM7USw/s200/sucker.jpg" width="168" /></a></div>
<br />
<h3>
IV) The Return of TWC Metered Internet Price Gouging</h3>
A few years back, in 2009, TWC pulled some nasty tricks down in Texas in a community where TWC was the only option for Internet, apart from the usual meagre dial-in services. They perpetrated a system in that community whereby the Internet was metered on everyone's account. Once a customer hit their meter limit, they were charged an additional $1.00 per GB for data download. For someone watching a 4 GB movie over the Internet, this resulting in PRICE DOUBLING as a penalty for watching that movie. For example, they'd pay the Apple iTunes store $3.99 to stream a movie while TWC charged them $4.00 for the bandwidth required to watch that movie.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hbblUzI3j6guRrVKiFptX_jQ5ZF65Bbjaii_VhlXkHsYNU9qAuo4Aue5UZ3QrhW7X1aJuMceK2FdJ9tUP2YGfIP_KOVQB-N5yPQMUId9N9_veC97GBntwXlvEph1IAmii40OrQ/s1600/bandwidth_meter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hbblUzI3j6guRrVKiFptX_jQ5ZF65Bbjaii_VhlXkHsYNU9qAuo4Aue5UZ3QrhW7X1aJuMceK2FdJ9tUP2YGfIP_KOVQB-N5yPQMUId9N9_veC97GBntwXlvEph1IAmii40OrQ/s320/bandwidth_meter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Meanwhile, it was calculated that each <b>1 GB</b> for bandwidth actually costs TWC a total of <b>10¢</b>. Therefore, <b>TWC is perpetrating a bandwidth markup of 10x.</b> IOW: <b>A 1000% markup</b>. That's severe price gouging. That's blatant customer abuse. It's what monopolies pull because their customers have no recourse.<br />
<br />
Here's a <b>2008</b> article from BusinessInsider.com predicting the FAIL of TWC's scam plan:<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px;">
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/6/why-time-warner-cables-pay-per-use-internet-experiment-will-fail" target="_blank">Why Time Warner Cable's Pay-Per-Use Internet Experiment Will Fail</a></div>
<br />
Thousands of us on the Internet protested to TWC about this practice. It was stopped in order to end the severely bad press TWC was receiving. But it didn't stop TWC from trying again. Early in 2010 they attempted EXACTLY the same thing in Rochester, New York. Again, we of the Internet cognoscenti protested and embarrassed TWC into relenting.<br />
<br />
<b>Now its back</b>, yet again. This time TWC are pulling new sucker trickery by calling this price gouging a service to those customers who only wish to access the Internet for minimal amounts of time, requiring minimal bandwidth. Sucker customers are offered a discount on their monthly bill if they accept an alternative service plan whereby their Internet usage is metered. And, as with the previous two attempts at customer price gouging, once the victim customer goes over their metered limit, they pay $1.00 per used GB of downloaded data. It's the same <b>1000% mark up.</b> Are you interested in such a plan? It depends upon the bandwidth boundaries set by TWC. So let's see what they are!<br />
<br />
Here's an article from <b>BroadbandReports.com</b> covering the new TWC price gouging trickery:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Expands-Metered-Billing-Efforts-120201" target="_blank">Time Warner Cable Expands Metered Billing Efforts</a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Dubious Value Option Expands in Texas</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
After Time Warner Cable took a public relations beating for pushing low caps and high per byte overages on consumers <span style="color: #0351b2; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Metered-Billing-Will-Return-101962" target="_blank">back in 2009</a></span>, the company has been stepping very carefully in what is quite obviously their relentless desire to charge consumers broadband overages. Early this year their metered billing option returned to a few tiny markets as a <span style="color: #0351b2; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Returns-to-Optional-For-Now-Metered-Billing-118574" target="_blank">voluntary option</a></span> named "<span style="color: #0351b2; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://twcconversations.com/2012/02/essentials-internet-plans/" target="_blank">Internet Essentials</a></span>".<br />
<br />
The company promises users a $5 discount off their bill if they sign up for the plan, which features a <b>5 GB cap</b> and <b>$1 per gigabyte overages</b>. Granted if you actually use your connection for anything more than checking the weather a few times a week, that "discount" evaporates immediately. Seeing the value yet? Yeah, us neither.<br />
<br />
. . .<br />
<br />
It's Time Warner Cable that wants the shift. Flat rate pricing doesn't fit Time Warner Cable's agenda because the company simply wants to charge more for data. As we've long noted, the goal isn't value or flexibility for consumers, it's to constrict the bandwidth pipe and impose new tolls to offset the inevitable impact Internet video will have on TV revenues. They tried to force it, now they're trying to soft sell it.<br />
<br />
Customers remain fortunate that the option is voluntary -- for now.</blockquote>
"For now" this TWC sucker trickery is being pulled in <span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px;">Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Waco, Temple, Killeen, Kerrville and the Golden Triangle, Texas. </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Time Warner Cable's <b>Gordon Harp</b>, Regional Vice President of Operations in Texas in a press statement, adding that the new tier is designed <b>"to meet the needs of consumers who want more price flexibility."</b></blockquote>
Right. Because TWC cares so much about its customers and their needs. They certainly proved that to me! /sarcasm<br />
<br />
<b>Time Warner Cable</b> is a poster child for what I call <b>BAD BIZNIZZ</b>.<br />
<br />
:-P<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-DtGjWE0-wc33Lew85K8aIWHbTJPIGcjlzyVIIsRsEhebriHmSjnwdw_xPPL7bbgZhV8GdYNu8HO0uco4AAtIn2KbV312W1UcfA78fPfZ03lN4AT3SLO-DdYEhoyvYK-JcaswQ/s1600/twc_FIGHT_BACK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-DtGjWE0-wc33Lew85K8aIWHbTJPIGcjlzyVIIsRsEhebriHmSjnwdw_xPPL7bbgZhV8GdYNu8HO0uco4AAtIn2KbV312W1UcfA78fPfZ03lN4AT3SLO-DdYEhoyvYK-JcaswQ/s320/twc_FIGHT_BACK.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b>ADDENDUM</b><br />
<br />
Apparently TWC has pulled their page about the <b>Essentials Internet Plans</b>, referenced in the article by BroadbandReports.com. I hope it wasn't something I said. ;-)<br />
<br />
Here is the text of TWC's original Essentials Internet Plans page, formerly located at:<br />
<span style="font-family: LucidaGrande;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://twcconversations.com/2012/02/essentials-internet-plans/" target="_blank">http://twcconversations.com/2012/02/essentials-internet-plans/</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="column">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: rgb(0.000000%, 39.607840%, 67.450980%); font-family: 'HelveticaNeue'; font-size: 14.000000pt;">Essentials Internet Plans<br />
</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;">posted by </span><span style="color: rgb(21.568630%, 21.568630%, 21.568630%); font-family: 'HelveticaNeue'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Time Warner Cable </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;">on </span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic;">February 27, 2012<br />
</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;">Time Warner Cable is always looking for ways to meet the changing needs of consumers. It’s clear that
one-size-fits-all pricing is not working for many consumers, particularly in a challenging economy. As
we’ve done on the video product with our scaled-down TV Essentials service, we will now be offering a
scaled-down Internet service – Essentials – to meet the needs of consumers who want more price
flexibility on critical household services, while preserving unlimited plans for customers who want them.<br />
</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;">We believe this strategy will make our Internet service more useful and desirable for consumers and will
be a key to fueling growth in the competitive ISP marketplace.</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;">Right now, many of our customers actually use very little broadband capacity. Our tiered Internet service
plan, called Value Edition, will allow users who don’t need our unlimited plan to opt-in to a plan that more
closely meets their needs.<br />
</span><span style="color: rgb(21.568630%, 21.568630%, 21.568630%); font-family: 'HelveticaNeue'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(21.568630%, 21.568630%, 21.568630%); font-family: 'HelveticaNeue'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Previous Experience with Usage-based Pricing<br />
</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;">Time Warner Cable began testing usage-based pricing in 2009. Although many customers were
interested in the plan, many others were not and we decided to not proceed with implementation of the
plan. Over the past few years, we consulted with our customers and other interested parties to ensure
that community needs are being met and in late 2011 we began testing meters which will calculate
Internet usage.<br />
</span><span style="color: rgb(21.568630%, 21.568630%, 21.568630%); font-family: 'HelveticaNeue'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(21.568630%, 21.568630%, 21.568630%); font-family: 'HelveticaNeue'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Usage Meter and Customer Dashboard<br />
</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;">The new Internet usage meter is a way for customers to monitor their online activity.</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;">
Customers should log in to their account through Time Warner Cable’s website to view their personal
dashboard and Internet usage meter<br />
</span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #373737; font-family: HelveticaNeue; font-size: 10pt;">All Internet customers will have access to the dashboard tools. These tools will summarize a customers
Internet connection, Mobile Internet usage and overall monthly Internet usage. </span></blockquote>
</div>
<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
<br />:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-42786271900322107432012-09-05T19:52:00.001-07:002012-09-05T19:54:03.907-07:00IASSOTS, The Acronym--<br />
Here's a short and sweet post. It is to unveil to the world an acronym for a long phrase I find myself using constantly with regard to the US Corporate Oligarchy as well as their PoliTard puppets and sucker sheeple.<br />
<br />
<b>IASSOTS</b> is the acronym for:<br />
<br />
<b>I Am So Sick Of This Shit.</b><br />
<br />
Sorry to break my rule of being kid-friendly. But I am finding myself posting this acronym more often lately and this apparently is the first time a translation has been posted on the net. Imagine that. What an honor. :-Q*****<br />
<br />
I hope the US Corporate Oligarchy is proud of inspiring yet another obscene spawn of their disrespect, dirty doings and bozoid behavior. I dedicate this acronym to you RIAA, MPAA, US Chamber of Commerce, ad nauseam. GFY. --No, I won't translate that one! ;-)<br />
<br />
:-Derek<br />
--:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-4888181669645334752012-08-24T15:45:00.001-07:002012-08-24T15:47:36.334-07:00When the Corporate Oligarchy ATTACKS!--<br />
This is our Corporate Oligarchy at work.<br />
<br />
This is their corruption of our government, laws and courts.<br />
<br />
This is corporations abusing their customers.<br />
<br />
<b>This is insane:</b><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/1168277/judge_refuses_to_set_aside_675k_fine_in_music_piracy_case.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Judge refuses to set aside $675K fine in music piracy case</span></a></b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px;">by Jaikumar Vijayan, Computerworld Aug 24, 2012 3:20 pm</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In the latest twist in a saga that has dragged on for seven years, a federal judge refused to set aside a $675,000 fine that a jury imposed on a former Boston University student for illegally downloading 30 songs. . . .</blockquote>
<br />
Thank the members of the RIAA. Here's a list:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RIAA_member_labels">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RIAA_member_labels</a><br />
<br />
It's time for a renewed American revolution.<br />
Corporations ≠ people.<br />
Corporations ≠ our overlords.<br />
Neo-Feudalism ≠ acceptable, ever.<br />
<br />
I have no sympathy for the ramifications of these corporate acts of self-destruction.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, let's get back to the <b>ART</b> of music. <b>Support your local musicians.</b> I do!<br />
--:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-74148152893741266832012-06-22T09:11:00.002-07:002012-06-22T09:11:19.780-07:00Massive Momentum Motion Of Ending--<br />
My perceived 'seeing' of the end of mankind at 13 (See my 'Hall of Time' post) has been a perceived remarkable gift. It also freaked my head for years, making it seem a curse, making my becoming depressive from knowing while living an inevitability. I lived through a period I was inexplicably dreaming about in the abstract. Then the dreamed sequence ended and I hit the unknown era of my life when I was thrown into the forge of change. Heated events, 'interesting times', is for me the state of flux and transition into new form. It is my time of becoming that me I'd been striving for before I hit the teens. It has also, inexplicably, been the era when I learned to understand exactly how that ending of mankind that I was given would become. I was surprised and disconcerted that I was going to live through that change in mankind itself that leads to its demise. It has been an experience of having tiny events driving that engine of final change thrust at me in each day's events.<br />
<br />
Today I read something so definitive in that process of ending that I saw that solving it is no easy task. It is an ambition that is beyond human comprehension. I saw the massive momentum of motion in mankind's behavior that drives our specie's self-destruction. Stopping it now seems beyond my imagination. Here is the story I read today:<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 6px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 6px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120620/D9VGPCJ80.html" target="_blank">Killings of environmentalists appear to be on rise</a></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 6px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 6px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120620/D9VGPCJ80.html</b></span><br />
<br />
No doubt it will disappear from the Internet. Here are some quotations:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Around the world, sticking up for the environment can be deadly, and it appears to be getting deadlier. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
People who track killings of environmental activists say the numbers have risen dramatically in the last three years. Improved reporting may be one reason, they caution, but they also believe the rising death toll is a consequence of intensifying battles over dwindling supplies of natural resources, particularly in Latin America and Asia.<br />Killings have occurred in at least 34 countries, from Brazil to Egypt, and in both developing and developed nations, according to an Associated Press review of data and interviews. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A report released Tuesday by the London-based Global Witness said more than 700 people - more than one a week - died in the decade ending 2011 "defending their human rights or the rights of others related to the environment, specifically land and forests." They were killed, the environmental investigation group says, during protests or investigations into mining, logging, intensive agriculture, hydropower dams, urban development and wildlife poaching </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The death toll reached 96 in 2010 and 106 last year, said the report, which was released as world leaders gathered in Rio de Janeiro for a conference on sustainable development. The report's annual totals for the six prior years range from 37 in 2004 to 64 in 2008.<br />More than three-quarters of the killings Global Witness tallied were in three South American countries: Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Another 50 deaths occurred in the Philippines. All have bloody land-rights struggles between indigenous groups and powerful industries. . . .</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
What strikes me, reading this article, is the <i><b>inevitability</b></i>. I despise watching this happen. I despise knowing where it's going. I don't want this happening. I don't want to get to watch the details of a species unstoppably bent on self-destruction. Like anyone else, I don't want to read what I'm writing here. I want to go hide. I don't want to know. I don't want to suffer it.<br />
<br />
Why do I have to be me and CARE? Yet I love being me. I have to face that blessing amidst all the grinding wheels of catastrophe roaring in my ears and blasting in my eyes every day never ending until that final fatal foolish motion by the hand of man. At least I have me and this something beyond faith that lets me experience and learn and grown and be joyful despite all the Other People horrors. THAT is a kindness, a consolation. I can take this ride through rising fires and know I am fine and well if only as a spirit. Thank you that which I call god.<br />
<br />
Still in transition, ever in transition, I see only dimly compared to the full light of events. I can only report this one small thing I perceive, give only my limited insight. I am so much just another foolish human. Sometimes I think I have only the thoughts of some other source to share here. It is strange to think that my worse struggle with faith is that I believe in my own abilities to sense these things. Then I return to the correct balance and again realize that I am, we are, all collaborations. There is my contribution. There is "god's" contribution to make ME. I am a WE of these two, just as my mind is a WE of rational and emotional brain functions/services. I am, we are, a collective that contribute to a whole of US. (I a sooo glad I'm not schizophrenic! This collaborative, cooperative nature of the human being is complicated enough without that lunacy).<br />
<br />
There are so many people who GIVE of themselves to help our species. THESE are the best of us. Altruism is the character of the most worthwhile of us all, the most grounded and insightful. It has been another of my blessings to have found such people around me during my crash course of learning lifetime. I am so grateful for them, for us, being here as that part of human diversity that PROTECTS and strives to save our species. We ARE HERE. Reading this, don't doubt that the wonder of mankind is here on our miracle planet. That great accomplishment of life does live. There are those of mankind who ARE GREAT for real. We are the quietest, when we are at our best. We are the humblest, when we are at our best. We are so easily overlooked by those lost in game playing. The most LOST of mankind consider the caretakers the weakest of our species. And yet we are the backbone that strives for us to survive, to surmount and overcome the horror of the massive momentum motion of our self-destruction as a form of life. We are those who suffer most because we SEE the LOST and mourn. We are also those most blessed because we know what is worthwhile in being alive, in being a life form made as part of our miracle planet. Insight hurts and insight ennobles. It is the hardest of paths with the kindest of heart, the most tangible of joys. That is how I perceive that situation for me at this moment.<br />
<br />
There is more encouragement of others ahead in my life as I learn even more about how to be the elder brother, the caretaker who engenders the personal growing of others as part of my personality, my fate and karma as a protector. I mourn that role and yet I want nothing less and am so grateful to be me. I accept the meagerness of being one person and the minor efforts I can lend. It is simply so joyful to strive in that role. I love those who give of themselves to others and to be with them in whatever small assistance I can also give.<br />
<br />
Back in the physical world: Today I have my very first toothache and have to find a dentist. We are wrapped in the physical world, being alive. I'm not looking forward to what I expect will be a root canal, thanks to a persistent gap between my molars. Another exorcise in putting aside my impatience, being alive.<br />
<br />
:-Derek<br />
--<br />
<br />
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<br />:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-64295256490855801962012-02-24T22:20:00.001-08:002012-02-24T22:21:46.384-08:00Democratizing China? Or China-izing the World?--<br />
Tonight I wrote up this little essay up at MacDailyNews, of all places. It was in response to what has to be the single most bizarro event of 2012 so far:<br />
<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><a href="http://macdailynews.com/2012/02/24/apple-iphone-branded-gas-stove-pulled-from-chinese-store-shelves/" target="_blank">Apple iPhone-branded gas stove pulled from Chinese store shelves</a></b></div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">My initial response to this event was this bit of satire:</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">I nominate this article for <b>The Surreal World Award of 2012</b>.<br />
Can it get more weird in 2012? Well, there is that ‘end of the world’ thing on December 21st. That’s going to be a contender! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">For those interested, the award for 2011 went to Reverend Campling for his two failed predictions of ‘the end of the world,’ in both May and October. No Rapture for you Reverend. </blockquote><br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Then I typed:</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><blockquote>Thinking about this further, it struck me that maybe something is happening in the world that we had not expected. Let’s review some history: </blockquote><blockquote>1) Nixon visits China in 1972, shakes hands with Mao. The Slave Wage Labor Movement becomes a glint in they eye of The Corporate Oligarchy. </blockquote><blockquote>2) In 1998 China was given ‘Most Favored Nation’ status by the Clinton Administration. The ball was rolling. The Corporate Oligarchy began to abandon the USA and move their manufacturing to China. The public spin statements explained this situation as an opportunity to transform China into a democracy via capitalism. </blockquote><blockquote>3) Later in 1998, China’s government began the consolidation and employment of what became the Red Hacker Alliance for the purpose of hacking all world government computers, especially those of the USA. China’s motto became “The Rest Of The World Are Suckers.” </blockquote><blockquote>4) In 2007 the effects of The Corporate Oligarchy treating everyone as suckers resulted in The Subprime Mortgage Crisis, erupting worldwide into ‘The Great Recession’ of 2008. Capitalism effectively died, transformed by the Corporate Oligarchy into socialist Corporate Welfare. </blockquote><blockquote>So, here we are today with the attitude of China, not the USA, having transformed the world. China has not moved any closer to democracy. It remains the hub of crime, abuse of human rights and totalitarian dictatorship it has consistently been since ‘The Great Cultural Revolution’ occurred. Meanwhile, the rest of the world has been transformed into China where everyone is abused by their government, the world has increasingly become a totalitarian police state, human rights have been consistently curtailed and removed, and everyone is treated as a sucker begging to be sucked dry by the parasitic party leaders. </blockquote><blockquote>IOW: The tables were turned. Oops. No democracy for China, just mutant bastard communization for the rest of the world. The Chinese win. </blockquote><blockquote>Just a thought! :-D</blockquote><br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">After I posted this little diatribe, I read through it and wondered if I was just having a bipolar moment. It certainly has my usual sarcastic persona embedded in its expression. But I think I've actually hit on a valid point, albeit a bit clunky in presentation at this point. Because of the USA getting all pals with China, the world really has changed. But it has clearly been in the opposite direction than was stated or expected. The Spirit of the Age is abuse of customers and citizens by 'the powers that be.' Define them as you like. Call them the 1%, The Corporate Oligarchy, RIAA, MPAA, Chamber of Commerce, EvangeLoons, ConservaTards, Neo-Con-Jobs, TardParty, DemoCraps, LibTards, whatever. The abuse against anyone in a perceived weaker position in the world has been consistently ratcheting up year after year. </div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I have to wonder if this is the early phase of what I expect to be an era of desperation as we head into what I call 'The Late Dark Age', or 'Last Dark Age'. I see this as an era where all the people who play the finance / money / mammon game are scouring out every last source of opportunistic cash they can find while they watch their end game approaching them. They scoured out the real estate market after everything else had disappeared. Their scour job left real estate in ruins with the recession of property values continuing on into 2012. Now they're cleaning up the crumbs as they can find them, squeezing the 'sucker's ever harder for what real value is left in the world.</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Then there's the question of what will be of 'real value' once the financial game has died the death and all the playtime papers, the money bills, the bank and promissory notes are worthless. Check out what has happened to the price of rare metals and gems over the past 20+ years of sucker exploitation. What is of lasting value when there is no longer a working financial game system and we have to fall back on good old human system of <b>SHARING</b>? </div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What of value to you have to share with someone else? What will they share back with you? There's what's left of value when the games have all ended and the fake stuff has been stripped away.</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Then the real bottom line question: Knowing that sharing is required for human survival, (it really is!), is what we have to share <i>enough</i> for us, as a social group, culture or species, to <b>survive?</b></div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What do we all require to survive?</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">That question is beyond the scope of my little blog. There are books on the subject to check out.</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Meanwhile, I suggest learning about desperation behavior. Learn about fear and its resulting effects upon our physiology and thinking. Learn how to be, what I call 'Offensively Positive' despite the inflicted garbage. I've been working on this concept and behavior for a few years now and will hopefully be writing a bit about it with time. But I can tell you that when I use it, it's transcendental to both me and those upon whom I use it. I love it as a concept and a practice. It lets me SEE the worthless FUD in the world (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) that people use to manipulate one another and that they throw out in to the world as an expression of panic as well as of course desperation. It lets me LAUGH at all the human foolishness that consistently abounds within human behavior. It lets me APPRECIATE those kind and caring people who are always there, quietly behind the scenes, doing that wonderful do gooder stuff that keeps the world going around in spite of the negative anarchists, the berzerkers, the psychopathic and the lost. They are the heart and soul of the brilliant aspects of mankind. They are the sharers of what is 'god' in all of us. I love them and they love me. (Well usually. I can be a mean and snarky old snot head when I get lost). No wonder I love the Friends (aka Quakers)!</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Enough of that manic expressive rant. </div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>May you live with an offensively positive spirit during interesting times!</b></div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">;-Derek</div><div style="font: 14.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">--</div>:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-29048050885830973262012-02-24T21:33:00.000-08:002012-02-24T21:33:04.358-08:00The Son of The Cold from Hell, Part II<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">--</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Following up on Part I:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">My regiment of aspirin, Triaminic (yeah, the 'child' antihistamine) and Robitussin DM (or whatever they call it now) got me through. If you can get your hands on the yellow Triaminic with expectorant, that's the <i>best!</i> I continually took 1 aspirin about every 4 hours to keep my blood chemistry acidic. That is the principle. This kills off the opportunistic bacteria. Undoubtedly, there are other methods to obtain the same result. This may well include drinking lots of citrus or citric acid, etc. (I love limeade!) But aspirin works for me. The danger here is that aspirin can have other effects on people that may not be good for them. Aspirin thins the blood in that it causes blood clotting to occur more slowly. This can be good or it can be bad. Always consult with your doctor about all medications before you take them. That's the safe thing to say and do.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">One variation from the above proved to be very useful. Usually I have Hall's cough drops handy for sore throat and coughing. But this time I used the much harsher and numbing Chloroseptic throat lozenges and was grateful for them. they were particularly effective during the five days of ultimate hell cold attack. I will get them again should I ever again have to deal with the CFH. However, for regular old colds, I still like my cherry Halls cough drops. Yummy num.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">As with previous recent versions of The Cold from Hell, this one took <i>longer</i> than the usual five weeks. I no longer sensed any symptoms by the end of six weeks. What was very unusual about this version was, as stated previously, its general lack of mobility up and down the nose, throat, chest pathway. Instead it consistently attacked all three all the time, like old colds used to do. Another unusual aspect was that there was never a prickling feeling at any time in my throat or nasal passages. All previous CFH I have had were prickly. Despite the fact that this version knocked me out for five full days, it was kind of a relief to have the worst of it over within that time. What followed was, as usual, annoying. But because it was not doing the up and down traveling routine, it was in effect more subdued and actually less of an overall annoyance.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">There were the usual periods when I was fooled that it had abated, then it swept right back. However, my many years of training had me ever at the ready for these events and I always had aspirin with me to bomb the cold back into submission. I love aspirin. I also love willow trees. That they are essentially one in the same is no surprise to me. Thank you willow trees!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Anyway, the stupid cold ended and I was happy.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Just recently I caught a good old fashioned cold, by the books, that took all of five days and died. My regiment worked well usual, keeping the little bastard from giving me any bacterial infection of major distress.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I wrote this two part diatribe in hopes it will help others. Note the medications I used and note that using them requires a strict regiment. If you mess up, the cold will notice and get you good. Therefore, the key word for survival is <b>vigilance</b>. Hopefully, with time, we will learn how to actually control the cold viruses themselves. But for now, we at least have the means to curtail the opportunistic accompanying bacterial infections, a great leap forward from when I was a little kid, thank goodness. And surprise, you don't have to take anything weird or expensive or dependent upon some parasitic drug company.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Willow,</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Oh willow,</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">You sooth my mind and ailments,</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Ever my friend and companion,</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">In good times and ill.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">;-Derek</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">--</div>:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-75803295263990408612011-12-17T07:09:00.000-08:002011-12-17T07:09:24.256-08:00The Son of The Cold from Hell, Part I--<br />
<b>Prologue About The Blog</b>:<br />
I haven't used this blog in over a year at this point. My thinking has been directed more toward a story series I started at about the same time I skipped out from here. Therefore, I've dropped my personal manifesto to be deep and meaningful here and am simply going to use it as a public journal. I'm not going to be meticulously editing these entries and it will show. The blog will also be more obviously maniacal because I won't be filtering it much for professional quality and I'm maniacal. It's a journal.<br />
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<b>The Cold from Hell:</b><br />
After naming this worst rendition of the common cold at least twenty years ago, I've probably had every new variant for each of those years. However, I haven't had any version of it at this point for nearly three years.<br />
<br />
What is a cold? It is an infection of the head/throat/chest/eyes/ears by a virus and only a virus. It is just about always followed by a secondary infection by opportunistic bacteria. Typically the bacteria are already present before the viral infection. They happen to notice the ravaged cells left behind by the virus and have a picnic. Bacteria never start colds. They don't travel around with cold viruses. There is in fact no association with the cold virus except that 'cold' bacteria like to eat what's left over after the virus has ravaged you. Think of them as the ever present clean up crew, ever ready to eat to excess when the opportunity arrives. I'll obsess about our actually quite remarkable symbiosis with bacteria some other time. In the meantime, read the book 'Lives of a Cell' by my hero Lewis Thomas.<br />
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It is not an influenza virus. I've had influenza a few times and know. Instead, it is a branch off the Rhinovirus family that has gradually been obtaining the destructive abilities of actual influenza, and then some. I personally have no doubt that with time it will become a new epidemic that will inspire its own yearly inoculation shots. For want of further knowledge about it, I call it a 'pseudo-influenza' virus.<br />
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Very much like influenza, the CFH knocks you off your feet with its initial attack. For many years this 'flat out' state lasted for two full days. A few years back, one strain stretched that out by an extra day. The worst aspect of this initial onslaught is the fever. Sleeping each night resulting in me being absolutely soaked in sweat. This is of course accompanied by fairly extreme dizziness and weakness. I also find my appetite drops as well. You know the fever aspect of this cold has ended when the sweats have ended.<br />
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What makes it the cold virus 'from Hell' is that it has an extreme and determined backlash after each cycle of infection. In other words, it reinfects healed tissue in repeated onslaughts. Typically the CFH (Cold from Hell) starts in the throat then heads either up or down, to head or chest. The ears and eyes can get walloped any time in-between. There are then brief periods of the victim's recovery, almost as if cured. At that point the virus reverses course, back through the throat to the other end with a full on new onslaught. This back and forth nastiness goes on for several WEEKS. There is no counting the days with the CFH. It goes on for weeks. For years I could tick off five weeks and know it was about to finally die off. In more recent years it had broken the five year barrier to six weeks or beyond.<br />
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Again note. This is not influenza. None of the above paragraph fits influenza. Despite the far more vicious and dead attacks of influenza, there are times I almost wish I had influenza instead specifically because the CFH is so damned persistent. And nothing you do stops its persistence. You are forced to wait it out and become beyond exhausted in the process, an prolonged exhaustion that makes influenza seem almost merciful. That's why I call it 'Hell'.<br />
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<b>The Son of The Cold from Hell</b><br />
I first caught what I call 'The Son of' the CFH, on December 5, 2011 while at home in the evening. It occurred when I opened and ate dried mango out of a package from The Philippines. (No, it wasn't Listeria infected mango. Please look elsewhere on the Internet for that subject). I imagine that whoever had handled the bags and/or mango somewhere along the picking, drying and packaging process was profoundly infected with SCFH, The Son of the Cold from Hell. More likely, the initial person infected and infected everyone there en masse, resulting in the dried fruit being heavily dosed with the virus.<br />
<br />
Please note that this is a very rugged virus that withstands a lot of outside extremes in temperature and humidity. It takes standard sterilizing techniques to kill it. It doesn't need to ride along with water droplets or land on neutral pH substrates to survive. It lives anywhere people live and breathe, and apparently eat. I didn't breathe this virus. I ate it.<br />
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Having discovered my throat as I ate this very nice dried mango, it bit in and started depositing DNA/RNA into my throat cells, turning them into SCFH factories, killing the cells in the process. The cold had begun. I first noticed this the next morning as an achy throat. I did my usual throat clean out routine and the ache dissipated. I subsequently ate more dried mango. The throat ache roared back as worse. I treated it and it receded. I ate more mango. On December 10th, the throat ache was back alongside an entirely new phenomenon in the world of the CFH, a <i>full on attack</i> of everywhere at once. That meant my head, my eyes, my throat and my lungs. All areas were hit together, at the same time, in equal force. Only my ears escaped the effect, thanks mainly to my method of fending off secondary bacterial infection, which is the subject of another article.<br />
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It is now December 17th, a week after the onslaught and I am <i>just</i> able to stay on my feet and happily walk around, alert and unencumbered with a cold attack. THAT'S A FULL WEEK of initial onslaught. That's a record for the CFH. It was easily the worst attack ever, the most painful, the most exhausting, the most demoralizing.<br />
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IMHO this throws the CFH right out of the rhinovirus family off into a family of its very own. I'm now calling it The Hell Virus. I thought maybe The Hello Virus, sort of sounding like 'Rhino' virus. But that reminded me of cute little Hello Kittie stuff. No way. Remember that sweet little aphorism that goes 'Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!" That one goes on the funeral pyre alongside all the other aphorisms celebrating simple-minded thinking. The SCFH doesn't kill you, but you wish it had because it makes you so incredibly weak. And then it comes back. Just kill me, please.<br />
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Yes, like its predecessor, The SCFH has the lash back effect. It nailed me early this morning with a relentless bout of coughing. There was nothing there to cough up by this point. Therefore, I have to assume the coughing was from the fact that The SCFH was again attacking my lung cells. Therefore, as per The CFH, I jumped back on my cough medicine as well as head medicine to stop the worst of it.<br />
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<b>Part II</b> of this posting will cover The Rest Of The SCFH as well as my medicine regime, for which I am extremely grateful.<br />
<br />
<b>BTW List:</b><br />
- I always cover my mouth & nose when I cough or sneeze. I you don't, there's something wrong with you called 'SELFISHNESS'. Change your ways selfish person. I saw you not care! Why are you alive? Seriously! What is your life for if you allow yourself to be just a disease vector? Reevaluate and respect yourself. Respecting others will result.<br />
- I take baths when I get colds, not showers. I enjoy soaking in fairly hot water. It's good for killing off the secondary bacteria and the humidity is blissful.<br />
- I wash my hands and face all day long when I have a cold. This helps prevent myself spreading the virus all over the house. I like that. But I don't like chapped hands or nose or lips. Therefore, I also moisturize! It's a necessity. Get over the cute and feminine factor guys.<br />
--> If you have a cold out in public and you don't wash your hands and face all day long, there's something wrong with you called 'SELFISHNESS'. See above. Get some self-respect.<br />
--> And yes, this fits you lunatics who don't wash your hands after using the bathroom to relieve yourself. I see you just walking out after taking a dump! Selfish selfish selfish! I pity your lost world. So sad for you, so sad...<br />
<br />
Stay healthy kids!<br />
:-Derek<br />
--:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-70867856383413175202010-09-07T20:57:00.000-07:002010-09-08T01:04:28.807-07:00Conceptual Dimensionality, Desperation Mode & The Marvel Of Sharing--<br />My head is an oven. Concepts are recipes I put together, then they cook in my mind until they're done. If I like how they taste then I write them down and put them somewhere, such as here. The more one learns about cooking, continuing my metaphor, the more one realizes that cooking is not about reproducing recipes, but about playing around with the ingredients to come up with a variation on an established theme. As one gets very skilled with a group of ingredients one can create new combinations almost certainly knowing what the outcome will be because of past experience with those ingredients, resulting in a new recipe. The art of food is always evolving. The art of conceptualizing is the same.<br /><br />But events, such as time limitations and a lack of certain ingredients, get in the way. A lot of what we cook up gets botched or is incomplete or is missing something or other that doesn't let it taste quite right. Shite happens. That's part of being the dirt that got up and looked around. It's a messy thing being alive. I certainly believe a lot of things happen for a reason. But sorry, not everything happens for a reason. There is just sheer chaos out in the world at times, if only due to other people's bad decisions or a slight breeze in the air stirred up by a solar flare that happens to knock a balancing rock off a cliff causing it to land on your house below. Some things happen for a reason, and that is why cooking works! You can count on so many wonderful things to happen in our world. But you can also count on the unexpected and the unexpectable (I just had to teach that word to my spell checker) to happen as well. It's the old 'expect the unexpected', which is a very handy conceptual tool in and of itself.<br /><br />How wonderful that we humans are so thoughtful. I enjoy making the most of this marvelous gift. But oddly, most people don't use their gift, or don't understand how to use it, or don't know they have it.... Something is wrong with their ability to cook. Even boiling water can seem daunting, despite it being a fundamental human skill, the one that comes right after knowing how to start a fire. What would any of us do without fire, that dangerous essential of civilization?<br /><br />Where I live, the USA, we've been suffering an anti-renaissance for quite some time. Some call it the inevitable decline and fall of western civilization. We used to chatter about that concept when I was in junior high school back in the late 1960s, back when there was a very good book just out about the decline and fall of the Roman civilization and lots of books trying to comprehend how Germany declined and fell into fascism/naziism, and Italy and Spain and Japan and so on. We were trying to make sense of what had become blatantly obvious at my school via our very good teachers: That there were too many people on the planet and the damage was clearly showing. I'm talking about circa 1968 when books like '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Population_Bomb">The Population Bomb</a>' were around, written by the brilliant, if imperfect, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_R._Ehrlich">Paul R. Ehlich</a>.<br /><br />What's new in the current '<span style="font-weight: bold;">Trivia Era</span>', as I call it, is the emphatic and demanding demolition of intelligent conceptualization within the USA. I'll probably dare dissect the situation in some future essay. For now I'll simply say that it is a complicated and acrid soup of a mindless mutation derived from conservatism mixed with heaping spoonfuls of hypocrisy, greed, short term thinking, long term disaster, hate, abuse, propaganda, FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), herding mentality and a last dire dangerous ingredient I call '<span style="font-weight: bold;">Desperation Mode</span>', or 'a la mode' if you prefer.<br /><br />I've been personally studying 'Desperation Mode', deliberately or not, since I was 13. Obviously it was a direct result of that previously posted dream I had back then explaining to me what was mankind's worst enemy: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Deceptive 'Truth'</span>, aka my baby talk phrase 'zunipus stargo', aka unreliable imaginings or conceptualizations, aka thought cooking. It is when we humans become desperate that we have the weakest grasp on what is real versus what is imaginary. It is when we reliably go out of our freaking minds. It is mass insanity. Its ultimate form is war.<br /><br />Desperation Mode is something we humans also do our best to avoid. No one wants to think about depressing things or events, unless they're a bit mental. Been there, done that, didn't like it. But there it is as a form of disorganized human thought that leads to our ultimate failings, such as what was behind the last door of my 'Hall of Time' dream concept.<br /><br />There are a variety of ways to detect when desperation is occurring. But I fell over an extremely easy marker recently while I was thinking about mind dimensionality, as an analog for spacial dimensionality. It's a very easy thing to detect in human behavior. One phrase for it is '<span style="font-weight: bold;">Reductive Thinking</span>.' I'm going to toss out this little formula for your consideration:<br /><blockquote>The more reduced the thinking dimensionality of a group of people, the deeper they are into Desperation Mode.</blockquote>I've been talking to people about Reductive Thinking for years, warning friends and foes about it being both a critical human skill and a critical human failing. While I was studying science I learned, as you may have, about the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle">KISS Principle</a>". Thanks to Carl Sagan, many of us know about "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocham%27s_razor">Ocham's Razor</a>", another Reductive Thinking concept. Both of these concepts can be used as tools for clearing the mind or for damaging the mind. The damage occurs when one uses these concepts as 'truth' or as 'reliable' when they are not. They are nothing more than tools of thought, much like a chisel, capable of cutting away the unimportant to reveal the essential, or they can be used to crack open someone's skull and bludgeon their brain to mush. As you might guess, in Desperation Mode, such simplification chisels become increasingly used as weapons of destruction rather than tools of revelation. Thus their danger.<br /><br />I consistently return to my basic concept that:<br /><blockquote>We never know everything about anything.<br /></blockquote>An abuse of a simplification tool leads to our assuming that simplification is 'ALWAYS' a good thing when in fact we may be using it as a dire weapon of destruction. Thus the derisive terms 'ignorant' and 'stupid' and 'idiot' and 'retard', etc., where people with simple minds and simple mental systems of conceptualization are looked down upon as anything from humorous to dangerous.<br /><br />Today in the USA I am surrounded by people who don't see such abuse of simplification tools as anything within the spectrum of humorous to dangerous. They wield simplification as a deadly weapon and call it 'GOOD'. That's desperate. That's insane. That's mankind at its worst. That's self-destruction.<br /><br />So here is the so-simple concept I fell over that helps me detect desperation in anyone's conceptualization processes:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What are the number of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimension">dimensions</a> in which someone is thinking?</span><br /><br />In the olden days, like 40 years ago, one of those big burning questions was how many dimensions are there to the physical world. Is it three? Is it four? Is it five? It was in part a matter of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantics">semantics</a>. What symbol system are we using? Are we confusing the symbol for the thing itself? (There's a huge concept for discussion some other time! For the moment I'll point you to both <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_Buddhism">Zen Buddhism</a> and what is called '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_semantics">General Semantics</a>'). The standard version, or thought system for physical dimensions back then was:<br /><br />0) First you have to have existence. For convenience I call this the '<span style="font-weight: bold;">Zero Dimension</span>'. We-The-Geeks like using zeros as the first in a list of numbers. The Zero Dimension was considered to be 'a point in space' and nothing more.<br /><br />I never liked this concept. Nice as it is to be geekish and say zero is always the first number, to strictly apply mathematics to dimensionality, the 'Zero Dimension' should be plain old Zero, or nothing, as in NO EXISTENCE AT ALL. That's how it works within my thought system. Nothing is nothing is zero. Thankfully in modern times, this somewhat dim concept of the Zero Dimension has been thrown out the window along with the rest of the dimensions. But for the sake of this essay I'm going to continue to call the 'Zero Dimension' the simple state of existence, the point in space. Bear with me. Being flexible in one's thought conception system is very useful even if it can also be annoying.<br /><br />BTW: I am <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> going to give you a link to Wikipedia's 'Zero-dimensional space' page because it will thoroughly freak you out as <span style="font-style: italic;">yet another</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">different</span> dimensional concept.<br /><br />1) <span style="font-weight: bold;">The First Dimension</span> is: The straight line in space. It may have a beginning and ending or it may just start and end at infinity. There is only the X measurement of dimension.<br /><br />2) <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Second Dimension</span> is: The square, or plain, or the circle, or any other flat shape. It consists of lines, but they don't have to be straight, and there can be as many as you like going in any direction as you like as long as it is somewhere with an X & Y dimensional coordinate system.<br /><br />3) <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Third Dimension</span> is: The cube, the sphere, or any other beyond-flat shape. It consists of lines going in any direction we can, as humans, imagine. It is what we see with our two eyes and hear with our two ears within our perceived 'reality'. There are three dimensional coordinate measurements: X & Y & Z.<br /><br />Being human, I stop there. I'm done. I personally can't sense any further dimensions.<br /><br />But someone just had to throw in what I consider to NOT be a dimension at all: TIME. Thus we get this monstrosity:<br /><br />4) <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Fourth Dimension</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">maybe</span> is: Time. Except we can't measure it like X & Y & Z because it is entirely relative to itself AND it only goes in one direction. You can't go backwards. It does not help define anything at all in space. It is a '<span style="font-weight: bold;">Change Factor</span>', as I call it. For now I am going to leave it at that except to toss in this mean little quip:<br /><blockquote>You can tell a sci-fi writer is desperate when they start writing stories about going back in time.</blockquote>Why am I so mean? I <span style="font-style: italic;">love</span> watching Doctor Who! It's because let's face it: Going back in time is a physical impossibility. Such stories are not scientifically based in any way. Thus, they are fantasy. Thus the sci-fi writer has broken the rules of his trade and become a fantasy writer. Fantasy can be incredible stuff! I'm a Clive Barker <span style="font-style: italic;">addict!</span> He is the modern genius of fantasy. Never would he call himself a sci-fi writer. I am so mean and cruel about this subject that I would tell anyone, including H. G. Wells himself to his face, that stories about traveling back in time are <span style="font-style: italic;">fantasy</span>! Deal with it! But I digress. I tend to do that.<br /><br />The only direction Time travels is forward.<br /><br />Let me end this dimensional concept list by pointing out that thankfully modern science has found evidence for an incredible number of dimensions, all beyond human comprehension, that exist around and as part of us. A lot of this has been theorized thanks to the study of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics">Quantum Mechanics</a> within the field of physics. (When you have a lot of time to blow your brain open, go read an up-to-date book on Quantum Theory. I find it to be incredibly inspiring, so much so that I have two series of stories based upon its concepts: My stories about 'Collocation' and my Steampunk related character 'Colonel L. Afonte', aka Colonel Elephant. I may post a link to some of these stories in 2011).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How I put the Three Dimensions to work for me with regard to Desperation Mode:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Three dimensional thinking</span> is encompasing thinking. It takes in all the information available. With time, science has become very good at applying thought concepts within an X, Y, Z sort of realm where ideas are mapped relative to one another within three chosen coordinates. What's even more super kewl is creating BIGGER coordinate systems with even more dimension measurements. We do this in computer programming all the time! It solves so many problems! But I'll restrain myself and continue.<br /><br />My favorite three dimensional systems encompass human personalities. It is mind blowing how diverse we humans are with regard to personality. <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung">Carl Jung</a> had one great system, well integrated into the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator">Myers-Briggs</a> personality system. I learned a very useful alternative system from <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.alessandra.com/">Dr. Tony Alessandra</a> while I was working at Kodak. At the time, he called it his 'Beyond Gold' personality system as applied to business organizational behavior. Later he expanded his system and now calls it 'The Platinum Rule'. His personality system is shockingly relevant to how today's businesses either thrive or fail due to human personality interactions and personality cultures within a business. He'll kill me for saying this, but he inspired my concepts of 'Marketing Maven' versus 'Marketing Moron', creative versus destructive marketing. And there are at least five other personality systems I can name, all of which have relevance within particular situations. Put it all together and you have a universe of personalities that can only be mapped within a three or more dimensional symbolic system.<br /><blockquote>Like it or not, we humans are <span style="font-style: italic;">extremely</span> multi-dimensional thinkers.</blockquote>That's not <span style="font-style: italic;">just</span> a 'good thing'. That is part of our amazing diversity as a species that makes us so incomprehensibly creative as well as effective as an overall culture of social sharers. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sharing</span> is our behavior where we pull it all together and put it to work for our benefit as a whole. I'm a sharing fanatic. Screw our stupid monetary symbol systems. Our strength as a species comes down to <span style="font-style: italic;">sharing</span>.<br /><br />Therefore, as you'd expect, I get very annoyed when people ignore their own human nature and go all Reductive Thinking about anything. That's an instant FAIL from my POV. For me, it's 3-D or FAIL.<br /><br />But shockingly, even 2-D thinking is beyond the scope of a massive number of people. What I find outrageous is 1-D and even 0-D thinking.<br /><br />What is <span style="font-weight: bold;">One Dimensional Thinking</span>? It's United States politics. Gag me. It's LEFT versus RIGHT. It's Democrat versus Republican. It's Liberal versus Conservative. It is one boring, entirely ineffective and non-representational straight line upon which we are all supposed to fit. It is stupid, idiotic, retarded, ignorant, etc. It is Reductive Thinking blown to destructive proportions. It is <span style="font-style: italic;">incredibly</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">unrelated</span> to actual human thought. It is IMHO <span style="font-weight: bold;">worthless garbage</span>, it is so far from representative of anything of importance, usefullness or goodness to mankind. It is what politicians blether on and on about every freaking day of their lives. It is one massive clue that politics really is the lowest of professions, below prostitution. If you ever meet a politician that deliberately thinks 'Off The Line', shower them with praise! They are a rarity.<br /><br />One Dimensional Thinking is easy to detect within a simple conversation with another human being. When you hear it, beware. It is <span style="font-weight: bold;">Destructive Reductive Thinking</span>. What is a shame is that once you get off the topic of politics you often discover these people are as multi-dimensional in their thoughts as any other humans! I <span style="font-style: italic;">love</span> a lot of these people! I work with them regularly, and we all pitch in to do such things as feed the poor and homeless. (I work at a food pantry one day every week). Many of these people are called 'The Salt of The Earth' because they follow some of the most wonderful of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judeo-Christian">Judeo-Christian</a> concepts. That is why I stick with them despite the all-too-frequent and vehement <span style="font-weight: bold;">PoliTardiness</span> (as I call it).<br /><br />One Dimensional Thinking is Desperation Mode thinking. It is used as a Reductive Thinking bludgeon in attempt to deal with mass human behavior. It is a hammer with which to remove the inconvenient for the sake of ignorant simplicity.<br /><br />But it gets worse. The final descent into <span style="font-style: italic;">insane despair</span> is <span style="font-weight: bold;">Zero Dimensional Thinking</span>. Here is a key phrase to trigger your concern:<br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;">"You're either with us! Or against us!"</blockquote>This is your cue to leave the room. Just leave. You're in the midst of the worst of despair. There is no reason to expect anything resembling sanity from someone who is so desperate that they reduce the world to <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Zero Dimension</span>. You either exist to these people, because you fit their '<span style="font-weight: bold;">Absolute Truth</span>' point in space, or you don't exist to them at all. You're off the map. You're not on the coordinate system. You're not of their kind. You're gonna get killed. <span style="font-weight: bold;">This is war.</span> Get as far away from these freaking loonies as you can. Defend yourself and your loved ones as best you can. If need be, isolate these nut jobs so they can't do anyone any harm.<br /><br />Want to understand just how badly things are going in the USA, here in our Trivia Era? Read the news and count all the examples of Zero Dimensional Thinking. The deeper the despair, the more you'll find Zero Dimensional Thinking going viral within the population.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Survival Strategy:</span><br /><br />Please don't catch the disease. Stay human. Keep your head. Find the positive and push the positive at others if only to let them know that, when the chips are down, when you ain't got a penny, there is more to the world than Destructive Reductive Thinking. There is always <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">sharing</span>, that greatest of human behaviors. Put diversity back to work and make your sharing with others stronger. Help the 1-D people rediscover their 3-D natures. Skip the 0-D people entirely and focus on encompassing the best of mankind during the worst of times. There is <span style="font-style: italic;">magic</span> in sharing.<br /><br />Let me say it another way: At this point in time, as I continue to cogitate on our future as a species, the best key I've come up with to returning to personal, cultural and species sanity is simply <span style="font-weight: bold;">sharing</span> with others. It's the giving and the taking. It's the benefiting others and their benefiting you. It is strength in diversity. It is strength in numbers. It is strength in perspective. It is restored faith in mankind. It is the anchor line of culture. It is what we humans do best to be the best we can be.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">♨♨♨♨♨♨♨♨♨♨♨♨</span><br /><br />Class dismissed!<br />Thanks for attending.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Homework</span>: Think of something unique to you that you can do for, or contribute to, Earth our miracle planet. What can you <span style="font-style: italic;">share?</span> Think about <span style="font-style: italic;">how</span> to share it. Discover <span style="font-style: italic;">where</span> you can share it. Then take that marvelous last step and . . .<br /><br />;-Derek<br />--:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-91239237490523142612010-07-21T19:51:00.000-07:002010-07-21T20:06:12.939-07:00My PUR Water Filter Reviews at Amazon--<br />Tonight I posted a couple poignant reviews, along with my usual helpful hacks, of the PUR Water Filter systems and PUR Flavor options over at Amazon.com. I'm posting them here for your amusement and (hopeful) benefit. Enjoy!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >PART I, PUR Faucet Mounts:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How to work around mean old P&G and enjoy your great filter</span><br /><br />Once, long ago, <span style="font-weight: bold;">PUR</span> was a great company with great water filtering technology. I still love their filters! Unfortunately, a big bad company named <span style="font-weight: bold;">Proctor and Gamble</span> bought them and messed them over in favor of <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">customer abuse.</span> This was accomplished using two methods. The <span style="font-weight: bold;">first</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">method</span> is called <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">'planned obsolescence'</span> whereby their faucet mount apparatus leak and die briefly after the end of the warranty period. (It didn't used to be that way in the good old days). The<span style="font-weight: bold;"> second method</span> is called <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">'timed death'</span> whereby their apparatus lock up their enclosed filters at a preset volume of filtered water, whether the filter is actually used up or not.<br /><br />Planned obsolescence can be overcome by calling up Proctor and Gamble BEFORE your warranty runs out, and letting them know that your PUR apparatus is squirting water all over your kitchen. Ask them to send you a replacement or a replacement certificate. If need be, call repeatedly asking to speak to the President of P&G, <span style="font-style: italic;">never taking 'no' for an answer.</span> Then take your certificate and get another PUR apparatus. This will provide you with a lifetime for the apparatus more representative of the lifetime of original PUR apparatus. You've cheated no one. P&G's cheat on you has been overcome.<br /><br />The timed death lockout of your filter is extremely easy to overcome. Pull out the filter from the apparatus. This <span style="font-style: italic;">resets</span> the nasty timing device <span style="font-style: italic;">to zero</span> again. Put your filter back in. TADA! You're done. Your filter will work as before. Note, however, that PUR filters do eventually get clogged with stuff. You'll know when to change it.<br /><br />I hope that helps everyone <span style="font-style: italic;">restore </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">goodness</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> to the universe.</span> I still love PUR filters better than any other brand and wouldn't be without them. It's <span style="font-weight: bold;">P&G's</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">customer abuse</span> that's not worth liking. <span style="font-style: italic;">Shame on you P&G.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >PART II, PUR Flavor Options:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">You don't want to drink propylene glycol</span><br /><br />This concoction contains <span style="font-style: italic;">14% propylene glycol.</span> You don't want to drink it. You don't want your kids drinking it. It's also used in your car's radiator as <span style="font-weight: bold;">anti-freeze.</span> Corporate industry has deliberately and consistently <span style="font-style: italic;">prevented</span> any adequate study of how propylene glycol affects the health of humans. Wonder why?<br /><br />Buy natural flavorings and add them to your PUR filtered water instead.<br /><br />Read about propylene glycol at Wikipedia:<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol</a><br />--:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-90338655889404859442010-07-17T08:01:00.000-07:002010-07-17T08:43:40.307-07:00The Narcissist End Game--<br /><span>Let's play </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Narcissist End Game.</span><br /><br />I've personally watched this occur on two occasions in organizations within which I've worked. The two people who perpetrated it were <span style="font-style: italic;">best friends,</span> which of course is fascinating. I've decided to write about this psychopathic behavior because I'm watching the exact same thing happen at Microsoft with this week's full and final departure of Bill Gates. He has left behind Steve Ballmer to run the show. The result is that <span style="font-style: italic;">Microsoft</span> has begun its <span style="font-style: italic;">death throws.</span> I've been documenting these death throws over at MacDailyNews over the past couple months. Apparently, Windows Phone 7 is yet another one, just in time for Bill's final <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">fare-thee-FAIL.</span><br /><br />Here's how <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Narcissist End Game</span> works:<br /><br />The leader of an organization is so <span style="font-style: italic;">insipidly narcissistic</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">insecure</span> that he (or she) can't bear the thought of leaving behind a system that will soon forge ahead into the future and forget him. Therefore, the narcissist sets up the organization's <span style="font-style: italic;">demise</span> by putting an <span style="font-style: italic;">incompetent</span> in line as his <span style="font-style: italic;">successor</span>. The narcissist then departs and lets the carefully placed gears turn and grind. The end result is the <span style="font-style: italic;">catastrophic failure</span> of his once wonderful organization.<br /><br />Everyone left behind then sings in unison:<br /><blockquote>Oh, how we pine for the days when [<span style="font-style: italic;">insert narcissist here</span>] was running the place! Oh how we miss <span style="font-style: italic;">him</span>! When <span style="font-style: italic;">he</span> left, everything fell apart. Only <span style="font-style: italic;">he</span> could hold it together. If only <span style="font-style: italic;">he</span> could return and save the day! Oh Oh Oh!</blockquote>Get it? Sick stuff. And it is very real. I watched this happen at the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine's Photography department</span> AND at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Eastman Kodak's Scientific Imaging department</span>. In both instances the <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">secretary</span> was put in charge as the successor, with predictable consequences. I expect those two <span style="font-style: italic;">best friends</span> sit around toasting themselves and their final achievement.<br /><br />Now sit back and watch it happen at Microsoft. I almost feel sorry for them, but not quite. 'Oh for the days of Mr. Bill.'<br /><br />:-Q*****<br /><br />--:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-1340428360694752892010-06-30T08:53:00.000-07:002010-07-21T20:10:35.809-07:00FEED or FAIL--<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Intro:</span> This essay is going to unfortunately be jumped upon by conspiracy theorists from La La Land. My apologies. By this I mean that mankind is so fundamentally floundering and bumbling that what is more likely than an intricate diabolical plot among people is a mess of intention, mistakes, luck and lots of after-the-fact obfuscation. For example, the US <a href="http://www.nsa.gov/">NSA</a> (National 'Security' Agency) may have effectively destroyed the US Constitution's rights to privacy, thank you Bush League. But you can count on them being incapable of effectively dealing with all the private data they've stolen from us. IOW: Count on The Stooopid Factor. This is both a cynical concept and a realist concept.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is FEED or FAIL?</span><br /><br />It is a limited, 0 dimensional, binary thought concept to deal with both naiveté and psychopathy within our social systems. It also is both cynical and realist. As a 0 dimensional concept you can count on it being as bare bones and incomplete as possible. It takes into account so little about the system it is applied to as to be merely a first blind step in comprehending the system. It is guaranteed to be remarkably wrong in a remarkable number of aspects. Nonetheless, first cuts can be useful. This one is useful if only to make clear the difference between deliberate deceit and detrimental innocence. I find it to be equally frightening on either sides of this metaphorical coin.<br /><br />A <span style="font-weight: bold;">FEED</span>er is a deliberate liar who plans and perpetrates disinformation to other people. Typically the purpose is manipulation. In any kind of marketing moron system, manipulation is a prime lever, a mental machine for obtaining something surreptitiously from another fellow human being. As the victim, you are FED garbage that is meant to cause you to respond in a predicted way that benefits the FEEDer.<br /><br />In advertising there are plentiful examples. An ongoing example as of this post is the Toyota FEED that it wasn't their faulty auto acceleration systems that killed over a hundred people. It was the floor mat. As a victim, you are FED that you don't have to have your car's pedal system replaced. You only need to replace your mat. Happy happy, joy joy. Toyota benefits from your ignorant belief in their FEED.<br /><br />A <span style="font-weight: bold;">FAIL</span>er is someone who inadvertently tells wrong information to others. The FAILer believes the information to be true. The information is NOT true. They have FAILed to comprehend and communicate facts. The most dangerous of FAILers are those in positions of authority. We're counting on them telling us factual information. They don't. They FAIL. I find the most sad and frightening of FAILers to be those who share <span style="font-style: italic;">new</span> information to others, where the other person has no ability or resource for comparing this wrong information to any correct related information. This literally is the blind leading the blind. Good luck with that system. This is one reason I get upset at people in the technology field who don't do their homework and end up telling ignorant people a set of ignorant information.<br /><br />A very popular example is when Steve Jobs of Apple put a metaphorical gun to the head of Bill Gates of Microsoft and made him invest $125 Million dollars in non-voting Apple stock. (The 'gun' in this case was a lawsuit that would have cost Microsoft well over $125 Million. It was in regards to Microsoft being caught red-handed stealing Apple QuickTime code. Meanwhile, Apple had $4 Billion in the bank and hardly needed the investment). How was this fact blundered in public? Ignorant FAILers told others that Microsoft had saved Apple from bankruptcy. Of course the ignorant then fed the ignorant, and you got an insane form of the game 'Telephone' or 'Gossip' where not even the original information was valid. Anyone who bothered to do their homework on the subject could discover the facts of the matter on the Internet within one minute. Hyper-FAIL.<br /><br />I realized the FEED or FAIL concept while I was watching a TV program called "<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/spyfactory/">The Spy Factory</a>." It is about, among other things, the demolition of US Constitution guaranteed rights to privacy during the Bush League era. I found myself listening to authoritative people telling me that having these rights stolen from me provided some sort of security from bad guys. The FEED was that it was OK that the NSA were able to intercept and analyze all unencrypted phone calls and Internet data transference WITHIN the USA by US citizens. It was OK because it made the US more secure, which is bullshite. Therefore, I found myself asking whether the speaker was a FEEDer, who wanted me to believe a LIE that benefited others but not me, or was the speaker a FAILer who ignorantly believed the pathological lies he had been fed by some FEEDer? I knew the information I was being told was blatantly wrong. But what sort of person was telling it to me? Naive or evil? Innocent or psychopath?<br /><br />Another way to look at the FEED or FAIL concept is from the other side of the communication, the side of the receiver. From this perspective, the FEED is of your mind. Think of the FEEDers as sociopathic zombies who want to eat your brain. You believe their lie, they have fed on you. You have lost a part of yourself to their control. Similarly, if a FAILer has messed you over with misinformation, you now also FAIL to comprehend the facts of the matter. It's a FAIL contagion.<br /><br />Here is a list of some spectacularly 'wrong' people. What are they? FEEDers or FAILers? What if they're BOTH? What if they're NEITHER?!<br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"> _______________________FEED__________FAIL</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">George W. Bush ________[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Paris Hilton</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> __________[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Phyllis Schafly </span><span style="font-family:courier new;">_______[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Johnnie Cochran </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> _______[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Dr. Timothy Leary </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> _____[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Adolf Hitler </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> __________[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Filippo Marinetti </span><span style="font-family:courier new;">_____[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Karl Marx </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> _____________[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Pat Robertson </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> _________[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">William Kristol </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> _______[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">L. Ron Hubbard </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> ________[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Sun Myung Moon </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> ________[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Kim Jong-il </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> ___________[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Rush Limbaugh </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> _________[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Clarence Thomas </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> _______[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Fidel Castro </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> __________[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Bill Gates </span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> ____________[ ]___________[ ]</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span><br />Please note that I am not interested in comments about my selections for this list. That's not the point. Thoughtful comments about the concepts are welcome.<br />--:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-82307072830413785302010-06-19T11:55:00.000-07:002010-06-19T13:10:19.847-07:00Thank You To Loving People--<br />Today I have some thank you posts. These are people without whom I would not be me and would not be here. I know this is boring stuff to general people. It's the part of awards programs that drives us insane. But to those I love...<br /><br />Thank you 'god' for the synchronicity classroom. It's more remarkable than I could imagine.<br /><br />Thank you Gordon and Jan for putting up with me and always loving and supporting me.<br /><br />Thank you Graeme, Iain and Colin for being a remarkably kewl diversity of brothers. I'm grateful we have each other.<br /><br />Thank you Peter Perlso and Jesper Ørsted for the greatest friendship possible from afar. [Folks, these two guys got me my Mac laptop amidst my personal poverty and have directly allowed me to keep up with tech and write about it on the net. I've never even <span style="font-style: italic;">met</span> Jesper! What an incredible friend he is]. We are three brothers from different mothers.<br /><br />Thank you to my other brothers: Michael Mehnert, my spirit brother, how could I be more grateful to know you. Jim Richards, another spirit brother, your patience with me has been boundless, your generosity infinite. Mark Grube, may we ever support one another. Blake Sampson, you're a brother from afar I wish I could know better; you have been such loving support. Thank you Mark Sager for being the kind and giving spirit who kept me sane during my early years; you gave me optimistic amidst cynicism.<br /><br />Thank you to sister Lorraine Downes Sinclaire. I could not have grown up and out without you there as my companion and guide. Sister Jeanne Bottomley, we went through probably too much together; thank you so much for years of joy and wonders.<br /><br />Thank you to Michael Peres and Margaret Holtman, the greatest professors I've ever had, transcending into kind friendship.<br /><br />Thank you Jeannette Angeloro for kind patience and shared wisdom, my catalyst of wise mindfulness. Thank you Naraya Reddy for fulfilling your loving self and going beyond the barriers to care for my well being, helping me find my medical survival.<br /><br />Thank you Kay Silver and Leonard Silver for such remarkably loving friendship, given to a bedraggled stranger at your doorstep. I will ever love your spirits and keep your lessons of kindness in my heart.<br /><br />Thank you cousins Brock and Louise, two secreted miracles of my family who have been so inspirational in my recent life.<br /><br />Thank you to all my Hawley-Green neighbors who are the greatest collection of remarkable spirits within four city blocks I could ever imagine. I love you all and thank you for your patience with me and faith in me during tough times. Mitch, Michael, Nick, Phyllis, Nancy, Peter, Frank, Brian, John, Joan, Jeffery, Karen, Chris, Meagan, Mike, Debby, Scott, John, Glenn, Mary, Mary Ellen, Ben.... What a wonderful place for me to land, recover and thrive all these years.<br /><br />Joan Allen, thank you for sharing your spirit of giving and being such a great companion in sharing that spirit with others.<br /><br />The entire Friends Meeting of Syracuse, what a wonderful company of spirits with whom to share and grow.<br /><br />Robert Newman and Katherine Hughes, fellow brave hearts, thank you for such loving support and wisdom.<br /><br />Dick Newman and Kristen Carpenter, what a strange journey we have all had, and what great people with whom to share it. Thank you so much for your faith in me and your sharing spirits.<br /><br />There are so many more kind people along the way, like Paul, Jan and the entire Central New York PC User's Group, the entire Apple CIDER group of Rochester, my mentors at RIT and Kodak, Frank and Arturo, my teachers in Pittsford, USF, UF, Allegheny, UR, YMCA, the Mac Advocacy newsgroup...<br />**MUSIC BLASTING**<br />**HOOK DRAGGING ME OFF STAGE**<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">THANK YOU EVERYONE!</span><br />. . .:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-4451309873189518542010-04-17T14:51:00.000-07:002010-04-17T15:16:56.532-07:00Ad Slamming Culprits:Bayer& Reckitt Benckiser--<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bayer</span> has perpetrated F*CK SLAM ads for their One A Day Multivitamins. I've sat through a number of them on <a href="http://www.cwtv.com/">The CW Television Network</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reckitt Benckiser</span> has perpetrated HEAVY HAMMER SLAM ads for their Mucinex. I came across a video recording made back in December that showed them perpetrating 4 different ads intermixed within one ad session on numerous occasions. That's a world record AFAIK; Clearly an apex in customer disrespect.<br /><br />Hell hath the fury like... a customer slammed. You know what to do. ;-)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZp7Leng0ZFa_QuE8CfZUnDvmYP6JgZM6nfG35vbdpYLW2m2ArXOVDT0Cu6U-9hALGkThiWfnGHndf_AW0-DwF9uVitpufUQbQ5eBCqQMNsyH8q7vX5rqR4oGY66PReNCpe36wA/s1600/stop_rape_280_362433a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 172px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZp7Leng0ZFa_QuE8CfZUnDvmYP6JgZM6nfG35vbdpYLW2m2ArXOVDT0Cu6U-9hALGkThiWfnGHndf_AW0-DwF9uVitpufUQbQ5eBCqQMNsyH8q7vX5rqR4oGY66PReNCpe36wA/s200/stop_rape_280_362433a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461233016059821314" border="0" /></a>:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27646334.post-25287532223372171212010-04-01T19:50:00.000-07:002010-04-01T23:06:58.281-07:00One Future Of MankindArticle 01:The Story Of The Hall Of Time--<br />[Please note that this is essentially a first draft, with further drafts in the future]<br />--<br />When I was 13 years old, circa 1970 - 1971, I had experienced many thoughtful books and much of the wonderful television programming of WNET and PBS, the USA Public Broadcasting System. As I kid I gathered a remarkable amount of my culture from these sources. I'd had Jacob Bronowski, Joseph Campbell and Kenneth Clark teach me about humanity. I was also a fanatic of science fiction and social fiction, therefore much enamoured with the work of Jules Verne, Arthur C. Clarke and the early work of Kurt Vonnegut. I wanted to comprehend humanity as well as write about it creatively. This was the year of the birth of my mature creativity. The Hebrew faith has the bar mitzvah ceremony celebrating the arrival of manhood. My rite of passage was a dream.<br /><br />Asleep, I was flying about amongst the stars. Ahead of me I saw floating a long rectangular hallway heading off into the distance. I wanted to go there. I arrived with the opening of elevator doors and stepped out onto the red carpet of its entrance way. I was standing in a wide area that telescoped ahead to the width of the long hallway. Before me were a few steps a pair of handrails dividing them into thirds. Beyond the steps, on each side of the hallway were doors and doors, leading onward down the hall as if to infinity. In contrast to the red carpeting, the walls were all papered in a deep indigo blue.<br /><br />Wondering what this place was, I set out to explore. I chose a door a few yards down the hall, opened it and looked inside. I wasn't sure what I was seeing inside. Running or flying a distance down the hallway I checked a few more doors until I began to understand that I was looking at a sequence of developing life on what I assumed was Earth. Running back down to the very start of the corridor I opened what I believed was the first door and at last understood that I was looking at the very formation of the first form of life. I was fascinated! Traveling back up the corridor I checked a few more doors and decided to see what would happen if I stepped through into one of them. I didn't see anything in particular before me but a sort of dark haze. I stepped forward through the door and was immediately pulled backward again into the hallway. What was that about, I wondered? Presumably the doors could be used to actually go somewhere. Perhaps this was the response of the doors when one didn't know exactly where one wanted to go! Therefore, there was no point in my trying to enter any further doors. But I did continue my exploring.<br /><br />On and on the corridor lead, to the point of monotony. I decided that I wanted to travel on down as far as the corridor would go to see if I found an end. And with that thought I was there. What I saw shocked and saddened me.<br /><br />There was one last door in sequence to my left. Beyond that point it appeared as if a great hand had reached out and torn off the rest of the corridor. The end of the walls and floor were jagged with broken beams sticking out at the sides and corners, ragged pieces left behind sprawled at angles indicating a violent end. What was I seeing? What had caused this shattering finality?<br /><br />Being my usual explorative self, I stepped to the edge of the chaotic precipice and looked down. Out of the murk I saw a strange sort of room hanging in limbo. There was a stairway down to it on the far left of the broken edge. Looking straight ahead I could see some yards ahead something that looked like elevator doors that opened to what could be an continuation of the hallway. But they were closed. In the expanse between these two places was the sunken floating room.<br /><br />I took the stairway down to the floor of this in between place and looked around at what was there. All I found was a flat surfaced lectern, the sort of place a teacher would stand with table space before him for demonstrations. Is anyone here, I thought to myself?<br /><br />Arriving from a lighted area on the left side of the room was a man in a classic sort of silken robe, the same indigo blue as the walls of the corridor but with reflecting star patterns all across its surface. He seemed like a young man, perhaps what we would perceive as 30 years old. He was entirely kind, friendly and helpful in demeanor. He was there to answer my questions! So ask I did.<br /><br />He verified what I had surmised about the hall. He told me that it was a representation of the sequence of years of life on Earth, with each door representing one revolution around the Earth's sun. These door allowed one to travel to any one of those years.<br /><br />What happened to the end, I asked? Why the twisted wreckage? He explained to me that life on Earth had entirely ended during that final year represented by the final door of the corridor. I didn't understand, so I asked if I could look through the last door and watch what had caused the end of life.<br /><br />Looking back on my dream today, I recognize this request, asking for this choice, was an inevitable outcome of my innate caring about life on my planet. But more than that, it represented my deep need to inquire and understand life even to its deepest and darkest moment. When I opened that last door and looked inside, my childhood, my child spirit was itself at an end. Having to know, and not regretting knowing the worst of all horrors, was the profound step into my serious, maturing and growing spirit that would be with me forever thereafter. I had no idea of the significance of this moment at the time. It was just another curiosity for me to satisfy. And yet no further choice in my life would have such impact or importance.<br /><br />Without fear, but with trepidation I opened that last door. I watched what transpired.<br /><br />It appeared as a very simple scene. It was, I realized, the same room, the floating room, I had found beyond the edge of the corridor. There was the flat surfaced lectern and not much else. I vaguely sensed there was something like a television on the opposite wall were events were being visualized. On the lectern was a simple box with simple control switches, knobs and buttons. Two men stood in the room with robes on that were very much like that on the person I had met in the floating room, except with design patterns I interpreted to be Persian. The man to one side of the lectern had dark hair, eyes and beard. He had some sort of unusual hat on that I didn't recognize. Overall I had the sense that he was of Arabic culture. The other man stood directly behind the lectern with the switch box within reach. He dressed very much the same, except he was clearly a Westerner. Apart from the robe he looked exactly as if he had stepped out of an American business boardroom. Then he spoke to the other man and seemed to verify my assumption.<br /><br />I could not understand anything they said. But they were commenting about what they were watching on the screen on the opposite wall. There I saw ensuing battle carnage. I could only interpret it as a battle between distinctly Asian soldiers and men from this apparently Arabic culture. The circumstances of what I was watcher were never clear, left entirely to interpretation. But it was clear from how the two men in the room were speaking that the Westerner was the leader of the two. The darker man was there as a collaborator, a lieutenant to his general.<br /><br />This is how it all ended: The leader, a desperately maniacal look on his face, came to a decision and instructed the second man to push a button on the control box. The leader stood there, in front of the controls and watched while the second man reached across and did as he was asked. Then there was nothing more to see or hear but wind rushing across scorched earth. I could only interpret this to be the nuclear termination of the final world war. The Master and given the order. The Servant had carried it out. Between the two of them they had destroyed everything of value on my planet. They had wiped out all life for whatever cause they had considered worthy of the deed.<br /><br />Whether what I saw was real, realistic, symbolic or just a dream, it's important to keep in mind that my generation was the one that grew up with the thread of nuclear annihilation in our minds every day of our childhood. We were the pathetic kids of the "Duck And Cover" culture. My parents had stocked our basement with supplies for surviving through the fallout of a nuclear attack. I was taught to run down there should anything happen. I was shown where everything was for when we were forced to stay down there. Everywhere I traveled as a kid there were stocked and ready fallout shelters, all over town. Every few months during elementary school we would not only have fire drills, but duck and cover drills when when we were taught how to properly hide beneath our desks, or we would all be marched into the gymnasium where we would all duck down along the edge of the room with our hands covering out heads. It was all taught to us as calmly as possible by our teachers. There was never a panic. But neither was it ever explained to us exactly what this utter nonsense was for. Everyone was oblivious in those days to the realities of what just one nuclear explosion would mean. It wasn't until many years later that films were presented in public depicting the actual aftermath of a nuclear holocaust.<br /><br />We were also the generation that was taught actual, factual modern science regarding how mankind was affecting both his own survival and the survival of the planet. By 13 I already understood that overpopulation was mankind's driving force toward extinction. I knew the first so-called 'Green Revolution' of agriculture was an unmitigated environmental disaster. I was aware of the free flow of pollutants onto our land, into our air and our water. My generation was the very first in history to be exposed to the facts of mankind's ongoing destruction of the Earth. We were also the first generation to experience just how desperately certain people are to deeply bury their heads in the sand all for the sake of short term gain and long term extinction. The ramifications of each nuance of what we were taught about the future came true before our eyes. My generation in school was known as the first sad and serious generation. It showed in our faces and in our behavior. Then toss on top of that the total insanity of the Vietnam War and I have to wonder how any of us escaped chronic depression. Maybe having reality shoved in our face explains the endless reels of anti-depressant ads in the media. We were the Future Shock generation.<br /><br />Therefore, considering my dream, keep in mind how I am the product of my times.<br /><br />Everything beyond the doorway now being dark, I closed the door and climbed down the stairs again to the floating room. You'd think I'd have awoken shaking and sweating in my bedsheets. But instead I continued the dream by asking my guide the most crucial of questions:<br /><br />What is the worst enemy of mankind?<br /><br />What is it that would drive mankind to be so insane that it would deliberately destroy itself and living thing with it?<br /><br />I was given two words and an image. The two words were 'zunipus stargo'. Conjured as an image above the lectern I saw a face to go with the words. It was the face of a man with dark hair, eyes and beard.<br /><br />Having been brought up a Christian, I had of course had plenty of exposure to the accompanying pagan mythology contamination known as 'The Fallen Angels", or Satan, or Demons. Looking at the dark image of that face above the lectern I immediately associated it with some evil spirit that was out to get us, that cultural paranoia regarding unseen and unseeable spirits that undermine our aspirations.<br /><br />But just as quickly I saw that I was wrong. It was only the face of that flunky who had pushed the final button.<br /><br />What about those two words? What did they mean? I didn't yet understand.<br /><br />At that point I was ready to ask my guide: What is this Hall Of Time was for?<br /><br />This is where the dream goes strangely abstract, possibly into the irrelevant. But here goes. My guide told me that the hall was there as a gift given to mankind after 'the end of the world.' It was a way to repair the path of mankind and thereby repair the end of all life. He explained the system to me very carefully. There were people whom, after death, had joined with those hoping to repair time, and volunteered to go back and live another life with the purpose of altering the timeline. There was no way to simply step into time and make a change here or there. The only way to make a change was to live an entire new life.<br /><br />This concept threw my mind out of gear. Imagine the time it would take, one full lifetime at a time, to elicit change! Meanwhile, still being a romantic teeny kid, I immediately thought how cool it would be to step through one of those doors of time and affect someone I really liked back there in time. Just recently my mom had taken me to see a musical show about the life of Coco Chanel, staring Katherine Hepburn. It had been enchanting, beautifully done, lovely music, lovely acting, a wonderful illusion about the art of human appearance. I had a romantic thing going about Chanel. And like a little dweeb I asked if I could join up with this time repair crew, in another 50 years from then, and come back as Coco Chanel's male lover. (I know. Taunt me. I had just as much sexual incoherence as any other 13 year old kid). Instead of slapping me out of my dream, my guide very kindly agreed and thanked me for my offer. It was why I was there. It was what they had hoped I would ask. The deal was set.<br /><br />So if I die at age 63, wouldn't that be amusing.<br /><br />Then I awoke.<br /><br />What I dream, I thought to myself. What to make of it! I had never, ever, had such a vivid, intelligent, directed dream. That's creativity at work, I realized! I can dream THAT?!<br /><br />But the dream wasn't really over until I figured out those two strange baby talk sort of words I'd been given: Zunipus stargo. I considered them in reverse. Stargo was obvious. Think about the imagery in the dream. Stargo was the dream itself. Star go. (Yeah, kind of like 'Go Dog Go!' I said it was baby talk!) So, having figured that one out I thought about the context of the word zunipus applied to stargo, the events applied to my dream. Snap, I understood. Zunipus meant deceptive. Put them together and the phrase explained exactly what I had asked to know.<br /><br />What is mankind's worst enemy: Deceptive Truth.<br /><br />Mankind is his own worst enemy. The process is the assumption of knowing absolute 'TRUTH'. What is the fundamental cause of each and every 'evil' thing mankind has ever done and will ever do? His own deception. Mankind sets up TRUTH then acts in its cause. The examples are as long as the history of mankind, in every nook and cranny of destruction. Holy wars, unresolvable arguments, victimizing systems of one man versus others. Power. Greed. Vanity. Ignorance. Go down every deadly sin. Examine every divine commandment. What is that mankind consistently trips over and falls: Deceptive 'Truth', or what we all foolishly consider to be 'Truth'. What I can only these days call 'beliefs'.<br /><br />Reconsidering the accompanying image that went with those words, the face of the man who pushed the final button; He was someone whom I would describe as 'The Sucker'. Both victim and violator. Believer and betrayer. The Lost Man.<br /><br />Having had that dream, having understood what I asked to learn in that dream, I was immediately put in the position of being displaced from everyone I knew and from all my surroundings. I hadn't simply done the 13 year old adolescent rebellion thing. I'd separated myself in a fundamental way from all the rest of mankind as I perceived it. Now what? What do I do with this? What am I, that I am one of these deception driven animals myself? How am I supposed to live my life knowing that I am consistently wrong in some way or another? How does one live with the fact that, as I say, We Never Know Everything About Anything?<br /><br />I actually didn't deal with it well at all. Being an adolescent is freaky enough as it is, having your sexual cortex, as I call it, turned on in a wallop. Not to mention the over-responsibility syndrome I was stuck with, being the eldest kid in a family of 4 sons. Not to mention my figuring out my bisexuality with not a soul to talk to about it. Not to mention my greatest skill set was for technology and philosophy that hadn't been invented at that point. Not to mention the shockingly prescient dreams and daydreams I was having after that point. I was one f*cked over kid!<br /><br />The curse of Cassandra.<br /><br />Is anyone reading this familiar with Clive Barker's story 'The Hellbound Heart' or the first two of his 'Hellraiser' films? Is it any surprise that my subconscious went into shock after seeing the first of those films? Open the box and get a surprise you weren't expecting? One that carves you up into something you no longer recognize? In a very real way that was the result of my Hall Of Time dream.<br /><br />Some foolish people say 'Everything Happens For A Reason!' As a student of creativity, choice, entropy, patterns and systems I can only laugh. Nonetheless, I've accepted that there are events that happen for a reason, if and only if we can pay attention and put those events to work as tools in our lives. Chaos or creativity, I put my dream to work.<br /><br />This thing was foundational to everything I've considered important hereafter in my life. It was my turning point, mile stone, touch stone, nexus, beginning, blossoming, starting gun.... It never stops informing me every step of the way in my further wishes, wants and choices in my quest for growing.<br />--<br />© 2010, Derek Currie<br />--:-Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192230834913012760noreply@blogger.com0