Ever since Snowden spilled his crushed beans, certain sectors of the populace have been, in varying degrees, reacting to the "invasion" of their privacy. There are many creative (but not so original I must admit) ways of thwarting the snooping computers located (per Snowden) in Utah. Personally, I think all those computers are hidden in some remote place in the Ozarks, proving the NSA is smarter than Snowden!
First in my list of safeguards to my privacy is to have my own private island. It will have the following basic features: no electricity in any form (solar, battery, etc.) so that means it's going to be a dead zone even for CB radios; that means no refs and freezers, too; no doctors, medicine (not even Tylenol) nurses or suntan lotion; no money, credit cards, banks or access to any financial institution; no typewriters (ribbons can be stolen and read); no newspapers and no mail service; no houses (that means I can avoid buying stuff from Walmart, Men's Wearhouse and Home Depot); and no clothes, shoes, hats!
In short, I'll be the new Neanderthal! If I get sick, that'll be the end. Even a rotten tooth can mean Boot Hill. If the ticker starts doing a square dance or a slow ballet, there won't be a cell phone to connect to anyone... not even 911. I won't even have a Progresso phone to the kitchen.
Alas, since Mother Earth does not have 8 billion islands, that route is closed. I can, however, start deleting paper trails leading to my location by working for cash only, paying for my purchases in cash or service. To go to work, I'll walk and that means no car, no traffic tickets, no need for a radar detector and no bills for oil change, inspection, gas and repairs. Oh, my - I'll be rich. Since I won't hide my money in the bank (to evade electronic trails) I'll be an easy target for muggers. And since I can't buy a gun in New York for self protection (I don't want to fill up a ton of papers just to get a gun) I'll arm myself with a baseball bat or a commando knife. Better yet so I won't stick out like a sore thumb I'll go to Karate school.
Since all I earn and spend is real money, nothing is recorded and the IRS can't touch me. True, they have my Social Security number but the IRS can't connect any money earned or spent to my number! If enough people do it my way, the IRS will simply cease to have any reason to exist! Oh, yes - remember I have this phobia of spreading information about me - I won't be a registered voter! Won't even use social meida! The politicians can suck it up 'cause I don't exist! Since I won't use the post office I won't any mail leading to my whereabouts which, by the way will be in the woods or under a seldom used bridge (until a crowd of like-minded denizens start filling up my turf).
And since I don't have a passport, all the tourist spots abroad will rot. The Eiffel Tower will rust away and the Leaning Tower of Pisa will finally fall down!
For those of you utterly ill with nomophobia (fear of being disconnected) and can't wean yourself from your Iphones, computers and Facebook, fear not for I have a solution that will absolutely fill up all those empty spaces in the NSA computers in Utah, Ozarks and Groom Lake: learn to write in several foreign languages and dialects. For example, puede mo bang ma-understand que yo quiero to say kung ako'y akig sa imo pero hindi ko ni-say ang Ingglis 4-letter word at ang ginamit ko apat-na-letrang salita na equivalent nito sa Cebu: yawa! Uki-ni-nana dagiti Talibani! Mabulok kamo con sus virgenes na fangit. Mangia merde! See what I mean?
The final nail in the NSA's coffin? We all use sign language! Can you imagine the billions of cameras the government has to buy to keep an eye on us? One camera every 10 feet!
So, what to do? Let it go! If the Feds buy billions of cameras to track our movements and gazzillions of storage drives, the US will go bankrupt!
Ugh, Kemo Sabe!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Bene Pendentes!: Fighting the Groundhog WarsPeople have many reas...
Bene Pendentes!: Fighting the Groundhog Wars
People have many reas...: Fighting the Groundhog Wars People have many reasons for planting vegetables. Mine? I just love to see plants growing and then bearing fru...
People have many reas...: Fighting the Groundhog Wars People have many reasons for planting vegetables. Mine? I just love to see plants growing and then bearing fru...
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Heatwaves Are Survivable
A 57-year old man in New York City just succumbed to the heat wave. It feels 105 degrees Fahrenheit out there. I watered the plants early this morning and by the time I was putting the hose away I glanced at my handiwork and noticed the ground was almost dry. No, I'm not going to waste more water. If the plants survive, well and good. If not, I'll shopping for my veggies. I took advantage of the morning's low temp and harvested the squash flowers which the Wifey turned into a mouth-watering platter of squash flower cum potatoes omelet.
Every major city in the US has this heatwave problem every summer. Warnings and tips fill up the air. Sometimes the fire departments send out a patrol car in the neighborhood to check on elderly citizens who have no access to air conditioning. And there's always a place near City Hall where the sick and elderly can cool off. Well and good until the city budgets get hit by the "Sequester" stick!
The basic tricks to surviving the heat wave are: whatever you need to do, do it early in the day and after sundown; forego your outdoor exercise routine or, go to the nearest cooling facility such as a shopping mall or a movie house. Or, just go to Home Depot and browse everything. On a lucky day, you'll even get free pop corn!
In the Philippines, very few die from the extreme dehydration following encounters with Old Man Sol. The natives have perfected the art of doing nothing while the sun is up. Out in the provinces, farmers do their plowing just as the sun dips behind the horizon and it's going to be a happy event if the moon is out, too. The guitars come out and ... Oops! that was long ago. Now the Ipods and smartphones come out! The farmer, as he plows, can be hit by a falling airplane landing gear without hearing the roar of the falling object because his ears are plugged with ear buds!
But not every one is a farmer so for those with no soil to break, the seashore (we've got a coastline longer than that of the US) is the first choice. Need hydration? Fresh coconut water is nearby! In the city, the shopping malls and movie houses are the second choices. For the penniless who happens to be far from the sea, the fire hydrant or any pubic fountain, will do (such as that found at the Cultural Center!).
In many extreme cases, the shadow under the tree or bridge will do. Then there's the Pinoy's (that's what the natives are called) final resort: go half-naked and just relax under a tree, under a bridge, or under a parked bus. Just be sure to wake up when the bus starts to move!
Then a diet of cool "halu-halo" (a native concoction of sweets, milk and shaved ice) can't be beat!
Every major city in the US has this heatwave problem every summer. Warnings and tips fill up the air. Sometimes the fire departments send out a patrol car in the neighborhood to check on elderly citizens who have no access to air conditioning. And there's always a place near City Hall where the sick and elderly can cool off. Well and good until the city budgets get hit by the "Sequester" stick!
The basic tricks to surviving the heat wave are: whatever you need to do, do it early in the day and after sundown; forego your outdoor exercise routine or, go to the nearest cooling facility such as a shopping mall or a movie house. Or, just go to Home Depot and browse everything. On a lucky day, you'll even get free pop corn!
In the Philippines, very few die from the extreme dehydration following encounters with Old Man Sol. The natives have perfected the art of doing nothing while the sun is up. Out in the provinces, farmers do their plowing just as the sun dips behind the horizon and it's going to be a happy event if the moon is out, too. The guitars come out and ... Oops! that was long ago. Now the Ipods and smartphones come out! The farmer, as he plows, can be hit by a falling airplane landing gear without hearing the roar of the falling object because his ears are plugged with ear buds!
But not every one is a farmer so for those with no soil to break, the seashore (we've got a coastline longer than that of the US) is the first choice. Need hydration? Fresh coconut water is nearby! In the city, the shopping malls and movie houses are the second choices. For the penniless who happens to be far from the sea, the fire hydrant or any pubic fountain, will do (such as that found at the Cultural Center!).
In many extreme cases, the shadow under the tree or bridge will do. Then there's the Pinoy's (that's what the natives are called) final resort: go half-naked and just relax under a tree, under a bridge, or under a parked bus. Just be sure to wake up when the bus starts to move!
Then a diet of cool "halu-halo" (a native concoction of sweets, milk and shaved ice) can't be beat!
Monday, July 15, 2013
Fighting the Groundhog Wars
People have many reasons for planting vegetables. Mine? I just love to see plants growing and then bearing fruits and or bulking up with thick leaves like the cabbages and lettuces. Plus, I get some workout and sweat off my extra blubber in the process. Do I do it for organic reasons? Of course but that's only in the beginning. When I see how scrawny the plants are I run to Home Depot for a package of Miracle Grow!
Gardening involves not only a lot of work (e.g. breaking the ground; removing pebbles, rocks and weeds; building plots; sowing seeds; transplanting seedlings, watering and lots of weeding while waiting for your first harvest. Then there's the myriad decisions to make: what to plant and what to do about garden pests and more. In my yard, the only pests are squirrels, groundhogs, deer and wild turkeys. The only enemy I have to prepare for is the groundhog. That pesky animal has the habit of eating the young leaves of my plants just as the first flowers start coming out! Oh, I forgot to mention - I fenced off a small portion of the yard and that keeps out the deer. Then I put netting around the fenced off area to keep out the squirrels, turkeys and groundhogs. The latter is not deterred by all these countermeasures though. It just digs under the fence and netting. Okay, I put big rocks on the perimeter. Still doesn't work. The critter just pushes away the big rocks so I installed a sonic device that emits ultrasonic sound waves that's supposed to give them painful eardrums.
The groundhog avoids the pain by quickly dashing in, chomping a big mouthful of my beautiful string beans and chayotes and then dashes out through the hole it dug under the heavy rocks. My next step: lay out humane traps. Doesn't work. The groundhog thinks I'm a sucker for being too humane!
Since the groundhog is not on the endangered species list you're allowed to inflict bodily harm on it! He-he-he... I laugh... I'm going to catch you with my fishing rod and then I'll take you to the railroad tracks and.... naaahhh... my grandsons will disown me for that sadistic act! I don't tell them what I do to the groundhogs but they always have a way of finding out. Psychic, maybe? The groundhogs reach out to my grandsons from the compost pile?
My last cue I get from Elmer Fudd! Armed with my .22 pop gun I lay out a trail of food scraps on the grass leading to the compost pile. Then patiently wait in ambush as I watch "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." Just as the prize money goes over $200,000 the terror of my garden peeps from under the tool shed!. I flip the safety off my Elmer Fudd AK and carefully aim. Estimating the distance and the parallax mentally, I raise the cross hairs about an inch and fire.
The critter twitches. One leg straightens out, pushing against a rock. I reload and fire the coup d'grace!
The ground hog turns, falls on its back and twitches some more.
Finally, it goes up to gopher paradise.
The curtain goes down and 2 months later I'm harvesting zucchinis, gourd squash, bitter melons and string beans. Damn, I planted too much. Now I have to give them away.
If only that pesky ground hog had waited for harvest time!
People have many reasons for planting vegetables. Mine? I just love to see plants growing and then bearing fruits and or bulking up with thick leaves like the cabbages and lettuces. Plus, I get some workout and sweat off my extra blubber in the process. Do I do it for organic reasons? Of course but that's only in the beginning. When I see how scrawny the plants are I run to Home Depot for a package of Miracle Grow!
Gardening involves not only a lot of work (e.g. breaking the ground; removing pebbles, rocks and weeds; building plots; sowing seeds; transplanting seedlings, watering and lots of weeding while waiting for your first harvest. Then there's the myriad decisions to make: what to plant and what to do about garden pests and more. In my yard, the only pests are squirrels, groundhogs, deer and wild turkeys. The only enemy I have to prepare for is the groundhog. That pesky animal has the habit of eating the young leaves of my plants just as the first flowers start coming out! Oh, I forgot to mention - I fenced off a small portion of the yard and that keeps out the deer. Then I put netting around the fenced off area to keep out the squirrels, turkeys and groundhogs. The latter is not deterred by all these countermeasures though. It just digs under the fence and netting. Okay, I put big rocks on the perimeter. Still doesn't work. The critter just pushes away the big rocks so I installed a sonic device that emits ultrasonic sound waves that's supposed to give them painful eardrums.
The groundhog avoids the pain by quickly dashing in, chomping a big mouthful of my beautiful string beans and chayotes and then dashes out through the hole it dug under the heavy rocks. My next step: lay out humane traps. Doesn't work. The groundhog thinks I'm a sucker for being too humane!
Since the groundhog is not on the endangered species list you're allowed to inflict bodily harm on it! He-he-he... I laugh... I'm going to catch you with my fishing rod and then I'll take you to the railroad tracks and.... naaahhh... my grandsons will disown me for that sadistic act! I don't tell them what I do to the groundhogs but they always have a way of finding out. Psychic, maybe? The groundhogs reach out to my grandsons from the compost pile?
My last cue I get from Elmer Fudd! Armed with my .22 pop gun I lay out a trail of food scraps on the grass leading to the compost pile. Then patiently wait in ambush as I watch "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." Just as the prize money goes over $200,000 the terror of my garden peeps from under the tool shed!. I flip the safety off my Elmer Fudd AK and carefully aim. Estimating the distance and the parallax mentally, I raise the cross hairs about an inch and fire.
The critter twitches. One leg straightens out, pushing against a rock. I reload and fire the coup d'grace!
The ground hog turns, falls on its back and twitches some more.
Finally, it goes up to gopher paradise.
The curtain goes down and 2 months later I'm harvesting zucchinis, gourd squash, bitter melons and string beans. Damn, I planted too much. Now I have to give them away.
If only that pesky ground hog had waited for harvest time!
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Continuing the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman "Tragedy"... Or, Part 2!
I'm tempted to redefine the "tragic" nature of this issue: what caused the existence of two - almost equally - strong camps one for Martin and one for Zimmerman? Is it perception? Prejudice? Ignorance - as in lack of knowledge of American law? I tend to believe it's a combination of all three and more.
In the South, Blacks are perceived differently compared to how we look at them here in the Northeast, particularly in New York. I'm not saying New Yorkers have a better handle on the situation but, rather, generally speaking, New Yorkers tend to be more tolerant, understanding and ever ready to revise or change their preconceived views. Not so in the South where mental images of pre-Civil War grandeur still persist. If we look at historical events, we'll see plenty of anecdotes detailing how New Yorkers were able to cast away slavery to embrace a new view of American life as defined by Lincoln. Not so in the South where, to this day, they still fly the Confederate flag for no reason at all other than they like to do it. In short, the Civil War continues. Physical segregation may have ended but the devil's horns still exist, they're just retracted like feline talons. In Texas, particularly, Blacks are still shot just for being black. Sometimes their lifeless bodies are dragged behind a pick up truck. In the Northeast, Blacks are also shot just for being black. Remember Amadou Diallo (I must spell check his name)? All his five assailants were white policemen and the legal system absolved them of any wrong doing. Does it mean New Yorkers have changed for the worse? Definitely not. Southerners have migrated to all parts of the Union, including New York, to spread some of their inborn hatred of anything that doesn't look white.
Even the bureaucratic system betrays this "white standard." Just glance on any government form that requires you to fill in your race. There's one for "Hispanic." Aren't people from Spain or those with Spanish blood "white"? They can't be Black. Neither are they Asian or Pacific Islander. One is forced to wonder why there is none for "Slavic" or even "Eskimo." In sum, our society loves to put certain groups of people in easily defined boxes. Thus, anyone with African features (e.g. very dark brown skin, kinky/curly hair, big lips and broad noses) are Black. The Australian Bushmen almost fall into the mold but they have the option to check "Other."
Going back to the main road... in the South, anyone who is not of Western European lineage is automatically not "White" and therefore inferior. Woe to the Americans who are descendants of slaves! They fall into another box that's not in the form. It's just a single letter invisible label: "B". Thus we have labels like "DWB" for Driving While Black; "WWB" for Walking While Black; "ALB" for Acting Like Black, etc. It doesn't matter that they're not really black but actually a dark shade of brown. And compound the above with labels such as "Black as sin" and Black as hell, etc. and we have a recipe for trouble.
Thus in a neighborhood peopled mostly by whites, the presence of a single black person (or Hispanic, Asian, etc.) rings alarm bells. On the other end of the pendulum, are people with white skin and western European features (as well as names) "good"? That's inviting a long debate! Suffice it to say that in any homogeneous and socially settled society the sudden or unexpected appearance of an entity that looks different, acts different, talks different and thinks different is instantly perceived as a threat to the stability of the many. This is Sociology 101! Solution: if you can't drive them out of town without creating a bigger problem, you sort of force them to stay in neighborhoods far, far from you. This is done by denying them housing in your neighborhood by raising the prices to rent or buy a house. Out of sight means lesser danger to the neighborhood.
Every race or ethnic group has gone through this phenomenon. In the old days one would see by the door of commercial establishments signs such as: "Dogs and Italians Not Allowed;" "Dogs and Germans Not Allowed;" etc. And in the South we still remember "Whites Only" and "For Coloreds" signs. And like the vermin they were perceived, Blacks sat at the rear of the bus and were even obligated to give up their seat to any "white" person. Of course, the ex-slaves (first mentally) always referred to the Whites as "white trash" and some other obnoxious epithet.
As recently as 20 years ago, residents of a village near Bedford Village in Westchester, New York blocked the sale of the abandoned buildings of King's College to an Irish club because they perceived the Irish as a bunch of noisy drunkards!
I have no desire to create the impression that one particular geographical area is more despicable than another. In truth, all areas are peopled with inhabitants whose attitudes run the gamut from the sublime to the criminal. It just so happens that certain groups are more prone to be uncivil. No matter how much water flows under the bridge, conflict will always be the spice of life. The danger is to let prejudice reign supreme over intelligence. Someday I hope to discuss these topics with Bert Tajonera, a good friend from my JWT days in Manila.
(To be continued)
I'm tempted to redefine the "tragic" nature of this issue: what caused the existence of two - almost equally - strong camps one for Martin and one for Zimmerman? Is it perception? Prejudice? Ignorance - as in lack of knowledge of American law? I tend to believe it's a combination of all three and more.
In the South, Blacks are perceived differently compared to how we look at them here in the Northeast, particularly in New York. I'm not saying New Yorkers have a better handle on the situation but, rather, generally speaking, New Yorkers tend to be more tolerant, understanding and ever ready to revise or change their preconceived views. Not so in the South where mental images of pre-Civil War grandeur still persist. If we look at historical events, we'll see plenty of anecdotes detailing how New Yorkers were able to cast away slavery to embrace a new view of American life as defined by Lincoln. Not so in the South where, to this day, they still fly the Confederate flag for no reason at all other than they like to do it. In short, the Civil War continues. Physical segregation may have ended but the devil's horns still exist, they're just retracted like feline talons. In Texas, particularly, Blacks are still shot just for being black. Sometimes their lifeless bodies are dragged behind a pick up truck. In the Northeast, Blacks are also shot just for being black. Remember Amadou Diallo (I must spell check his name)? All his five assailants were white policemen and the legal system absolved them of any wrong doing. Does it mean New Yorkers have changed for the worse? Definitely not. Southerners have migrated to all parts of the Union, including New York, to spread some of their inborn hatred of anything that doesn't look white.
Even the bureaucratic system betrays this "white standard." Just glance on any government form that requires you to fill in your race. There's one for "Hispanic." Aren't people from Spain or those with Spanish blood "white"? They can't be Black. Neither are they Asian or Pacific Islander. One is forced to wonder why there is none for "Slavic" or even "Eskimo." In sum, our society loves to put certain groups of people in easily defined boxes. Thus, anyone with African features (e.g. very dark brown skin, kinky/curly hair, big lips and broad noses) are Black. The Australian Bushmen almost fall into the mold but they have the option to check "Other."
Going back to the main road... in the South, anyone who is not of Western European lineage is automatically not "White" and therefore inferior. Woe to the Americans who are descendants of slaves! They fall into another box that's not in the form. It's just a single letter invisible label: "B". Thus we have labels like "DWB" for Driving While Black; "WWB" for Walking While Black; "ALB" for Acting Like Black, etc. It doesn't matter that they're not really black but actually a dark shade of brown. And compound the above with labels such as "Black as sin" and Black as hell, etc. and we have a recipe for trouble.
Thus in a neighborhood peopled mostly by whites, the presence of a single black person (or Hispanic, Asian, etc.) rings alarm bells. On the other end of the pendulum, are people with white skin and western European features (as well as names) "good"? That's inviting a long debate! Suffice it to say that in any homogeneous and socially settled society the sudden or unexpected appearance of an entity that looks different, acts different, talks different and thinks different is instantly perceived as a threat to the stability of the many. This is Sociology 101! Solution: if you can't drive them out of town without creating a bigger problem, you sort of force them to stay in neighborhoods far, far from you. This is done by denying them housing in your neighborhood by raising the prices to rent or buy a house. Out of sight means lesser danger to the neighborhood.
Every race or ethnic group has gone through this phenomenon. In the old days one would see by the door of commercial establishments signs such as: "Dogs and Italians Not Allowed;" "Dogs and Germans Not Allowed;" etc. And in the South we still remember "Whites Only" and "For Coloreds" signs. And like the vermin they were perceived, Blacks sat at the rear of the bus and were even obligated to give up their seat to any "white" person. Of course, the ex-slaves (first mentally) always referred to the Whites as "white trash" and some other obnoxious epithet.
As recently as 20 years ago, residents of a village near Bedford Village in Westchester, New York blocked the sale of the abandoned buildings of King's College to an Irish club because they perceived the Irish as a bunch of noisy drunkards!
I have no desire to create the impression that one particular geographical area is more despicable than another. In truth, all areas are peopled with inhabitants whose attitudes run the gamut from the sublime to the criminal. It just so happens that certain groups are more prone to be uncivil. No matter how much water flows under the bridge, conflict will always be the spice of life. The danger is to let prejudice reign supreme over intelligence. Someday I hope to discuss these topics with Bert Tajonera, a good friend from my JWT days in Manila.
(To be continued)
I thought I lost this blogging site already!
Anyway, now that I have found my lost trails it seems appropriate that the "unification" happened just when George Zimmerman walked out a free man (can one call this individual a "man"? - I will rant on that later). One can bet he left through a secret backdoor to avoid the disappointed crowd outside. That's how it works in America for the pseudo-celebrity.
We (that means people of all shades all over the world) had our own views about this sordid affair: "the boy was killed while walking black" is one. That reminds me of a not-so-comical episode in "Prince of Bel Aire." Will Smith was driving his uncle's Mercedes and he gets pulled over by a cop. That was a case of driving while black. Now, it seems there are many things one can do but mustn't if one's skin tone went darker than golden olive! Buying Skittles and walking in the dark is another one. If you had some sordid past, too, don't ever dream of becoming president of America - Herman Caine learned that to his dismay. His "999" mantra assumed an asinine shade when his dalliance with his female staff became pubic domain!
The dust hasn't settled yet on Zimmerman. It's still there waiting to drop on him in solid form once the coming civil case against him takes shape. Assuming he loses (which is a strong possibility since the individual who will pass judgment on his case presumably studied and learned law from some respectable institution) all his future income will be forfeited. That's worse than rotting inside a Florida jail. In conrast, the jurors who ruled against Martin probably had most of their law education watching television shows such as "Monk"!
I won't argue against Zimmerman's adorers. They're in a different world.
(to be continued)
Anyway, now that I have found my lost trails it seems appropriate that the "unification" happened just when George Zimmerman walked out a free man (can one call this individual a "man"? - I will rant on that later). One can bet he left through a secret backdoor to avoid the disappointed crowd outside. That's how it works in America for the pseudo-celebrity.
We (that means people of all shades all over the world) had our own views about this sordid affair: "the boy was killed while walking black" is one. That reminds me of a not-so-comical episode in "Prince of Bel Aire." Will Smith was driving his uncle's Mercedes and he gets pulled over by a cop. That was a case of driving while black. Now, it seems there are many things one can do but mustn't if one's skin tone went darker than golden olive! Buying Skittles and walking in the dark is another one. If you had some sordid past, too, don't ever dream of becoming president of America - Herman Caine learned that to his dismay. His "999" mantra assumed an asinine shade when his dalliance with his female staff became pubic domain!
The dust hasn't settled yet on Zimmerman. It's still there waiting to drop on him in solid form once the coming civil case against him takes shape. Assuming he loses (which is a strong possibility since the individual who will pass judgment on his case presumably studied and learned law from some respectable institution) all his future income will be forfeited. That's worse than rotting inside a Florida jail. In conrast, the jurors who ruled against Martin probably had most of their law education watching television shows such as "Monk"!
I won't argue against Zimmerman's adorers. They're in a different world.
(to be continued)
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