The Middle East's 4000 years of conflict and counting...

The events of the last few years comes as no surprise to those of us who are familiar with the history of eternal conflict, usually in the name of a deity, in that region of the world non-Catholics recognize as the cradle of homo sapiens' evolution - yes I said the E word.

In fact, history shows that for some reason only they understand, the Middle East cultures seem to not want to get along, determined that they are that they are the righteous and the rest of us are the infidels. Okay, I give you that the rest of us are stupid - really, you're not going to argue with me that we are stupid, arrogant and ignorant, are you? But as an infidel, let me be the first to point out that as much as my culture enjoys its version of unrelenting warfare, often in the name of peace keeping, we at least hold to the premise of freedom and opportunity, as simplistically naive as it may be, as opposed to the simple minded, one fact, righteousness we see bleeding all through the region.

Take Iran? Need I say more? Granted, we planted the Shah back when... but now we have someone with a loose grip on his own marbles, and flaunting nuclear weaponry as well. Iraq? Well years of success. What can I say about that which has not been said to death before me? And now Libya, finally figuring out that Muammar al-Gaddafi does not have "the Jordache look" for those of you remembering the eighties ad parody of him on Saturday Night Live.

The explosion of Libya is a realization of the people that enough is enough, and frankly, it is about time. The man is a joke of a leader. But the joke is on us for we have created these clowns by empowering them with funding in our quest for oil at small pricing, something that we now realize has an even shorter shelf life. Last I looked, gas in San Francisco was four and a half which for the golden state is like getting an HIV diagnosis - simply unbelievable. Of course, the rest of the world, used to paying very high gas prices (even though they drive fewer miles) and consider us spoiled whiners given our love of the auto. But these little despots that like to kill their citizens on their way to being deposed, forget Mussolini's end and instead expect that Allah will for them forge a special heaven, not unlike that idea of thousands of dancing virgins sold to the suicide bombers of 9/11.

And so freedom erupts where dictators linger and now, as in the seventies, the big USA and the UN are ready to impose......sanctions. Huh? It did not work then and it doesn't work now, but...at least we are not launching a major Gaddafi offensive, although I say that quietly because as every good politician knows and GWB announced, there is nothing like a war to unite our country. Or is there? Can anyone say $20 Trillion Debt?

I was listening to an old church hymn, "Onward Christian Soldiers" which is heard at most Christian church services at some point. And I realized that it could well have been not a hymn of peace but a battle cry for the Crusaders to plunder the Middle East in the name of the ever peaceful and loving God. Although I can already hear the Christian/Catholic protests that I am being cynical and cruel. Okay, I read the historical references to the Christian being a soldier for Christ- II Timothy 2:3 (KJV): "Thou shalt endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." But let's face it; there have been many a war in the name of Christ, not too different from the Jihad we hear of often in the media.

"Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!"

I remember as a younger man the big deal of the Middle East peace talks, and then Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State delighted with what appeared to be some stability as a result. But then look at the history of the region, from before the Egyptians, through the modern time, and still Egypt is in the news although brushed aside today by the Libyan conflict. Who is next? It was Bahrain a few weeks back, Iran, Iraq... Pick a Middle Eastern nation, any nation, don't tell me which nation you picked.... Sooner or later they will be in the news.

What I do not understand is that it is all in the name of God, someone who wants justice and righteousness, and contradictory to the tenets of faith of all nations; that of a benevolent creator looking out for His own.

What I fail to get is why and how it makes any difference if they want to keep blowing themselves up for the next 4000 years, for whatever reason or purpose they figure is justified. Oh yeah, forgot, they all want the destruction of Israel - how could I forget that fact. But then Israel is quite empowered, not just by the support of the USA but in their own non-wish-washy retaliations. The Jews do not waste their time with all the PC white bread stuff we do here. Strike and you get a strike back. An eye for an eye. Or is it a nation for a nation. And besides...as God's chosen people it is all God's will anyway! Or Allah's will! Or Buddha's will! Or Krishna's will and so on....

I watched a science show last night that covered the evolution of the galaxy and its ultimate fate, and I found myself thinking that knowing that there is a finite time frame, what an incredible waste of time, life and energy to sustain a ridiculous multi-thousand year conflict over the right to some sand, oil and the illusion of power, especially given that in the end it is all burned up by our sun turned red giant. So much for the glory and so much for righteousness and truth. Besides which there are faster ways to get to Heaven.

When I get asked why aliens have not come down from the heavens I answer that it is proof of their intelligence. Anyone traveling across the cosmos would see us as the refuse of the universe, a species bent on self-destruction despite great potential, and one that pees in its water and one that pollutes its land and food and air and kills that which it cannot sell, have sex with or steal from. We are such a lovely species. We have the capacity for intelligence but we are not smart.

And when I get asked how we will have peace on Earth and goodwill to and from all men I answer that it will be the day the bad-ass aliens come down and conquer us because only then do we rethink our definition of the brotherhood of man, and will, only then, surpass our religious, cultural and ethnic differences in favor of a battle against a common enemy. I just can't imagine why an alien race would even want to conquer us. It would be like eating food grown in a bath of toxins.

So settle back, adjust your television sets and your history books, and stay tuned for the next few thousand years of conflict..."like sands through the hour glass....."


- Posted by MisterWriter

IT'S NOT YOU: IT'S JUST MY PROBLEM

PC: That is so interesting.
TRUTH: What a waste of a moment of my life listening to that drivel you are passing off as something worthwhile.

PC: It's not you: it's just my problem
TRUTH: Are you kidding me? It is one hundred percent you. For the love of God you can't see that? What are you thinking?

PC: When in doubt do nothing? It is better to be safe than sorry.
TRUTH: Confucius said "He who does little makes few mistakes" because he is doing...little! When in doubt do something because doing nothing makes you look like a loser. Sure, you may screw it up, but at least no one will accuse you of doing nothing. They did nothing when Hitler was culling the Jewish population because no one wanted to do something. It is easier to do nothing. (As an aside, in America lawyers love it when you do something because that usually means a potential lawsuit.)

PC: Teachers write: "Johnny is such an interesting boy"
TRUTH: Johnny is a brat.

We have such a problem saying things as they are, not even direct truth but at least something more truthful than the flaccid lies that we pass off as honest communication.

Worse, we do not teach direct communication skills to our children who instead are left to decipher communication through the social interactions with their peers, generally in abbreviated form online. This leaves no learning experience of expression and feedback that involves "reading" body language or nuances. Nuances? What's that, they would say, followed by...who cares.

Now blunt honesty is something many people cannot fathom and there is no shortage of weak souls who would be pushed to the brink of nervous collapse if told the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Here is a test for you. Someone you know has food stuck in their teeth. What is your level of comfort pointing that out? Do you have to talk yourself into it, worrying that your comment will embarrass the person? Do you decide that if you say nothing someone else will alleviate your guilt-filled responsibility? Do you enjoy the fact that the person has a visual impediment?

Politicians have taught us that truth and fiction are kissing cousins. Political communication is the art of saying something without saying a damn thing at all. "And if elected, I promise to ensure that there is a radical enactment of the very foundations of the issues that have plagued us and to constructively develop a lasting solution to that in whatever form that may take. And you can take that to the bank!" WTF?

So how are we supposed to act and react? I would rather hear the truth and have the option of deciding how much of it I wish to accept rather than not having that option. I would rather know that I am disliked and why, rather than someone smilingly tolerating me. I would rather give someone a genuine compliment so that it actually meant something because they knew that I would not BS them. And I refuse to say something nice just for the sake of it. The old adage "If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing" bodes well at times in avoidance of a scene; however it is ill serving where friendship and communication is concerned.

And when I write to the President of the United States, whomever that person may be, and receive back a letter with the stamp signature, I would far rather get back a letter with the signature of the aide, assistant or some real person who actually took the time to read it.

Even within families - the worst offenders of the PC disease - we have the annual rituals of family tolerance. Weddings, baptisms, Thanksgiving and Christmas, events that have family members invited we would otherwise prefer to not see. "How lovely to see you Aunt Bertha.". Not. Couples getting married wind up inviting off the lower limbs of the family trees, not wishing to offend this one or that one, not wishing for bad blood, yet forgetting that the day belongs to their choice and their wishes. Don't invite the alcoholic sister who, after a cocktail insults everyone at will. Leave off Uncle Henry who likes to hit on all the women, the younger the better, and whom you would never leave your young daughter with. And did you check first to see whether he is in the Megan's Law database? You just never know.

So unlike my title, it really isn't me; it is you that is the problem and life is too short to have to put up with the PC tap-dancing we do just to keep the peace one second longer.


- Posted by MisterWriter

RoboCop Fans Raise $50,000 To Erect Detroit Statue, Officials Fear Dystopia

Another example of the collective delusion blurring the line between fiction and reality. Now we are erecting statues to fictional television and movie characters­. When does the Batman statue go up? Criminals will quake. And money well spent. If a rabid group of fans can raise money for that, how about applying it to something useful? Now I think I will go raise money for an "I Dream of Jeannie" statue for Houston...
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

DO JOURNALIST BLOGGERS FAIL BY THE PRESSURE OF NEEDING NEW POSTS

These days journalists and television personalities in the news business all have blogs and all post frequently. In the blogging world quantity over quality seems to generate a loyal following, and cementing that with Facebook and Twitter postings keeps your name in the forefront through RSS feeds and mobile updates. Is that a good thing?

Like most of what happens online, quality suffers by the need to always have fresh content, regardless whether it is justified. News is only news if it is current and better yet, controversial. And with no shortage of opinions, and no shortage of people willing to comment positively or negatively, oftentimes the same anonymous person further fueling the discussion, the integrity of what was once decent reporting gets lost in the "race" to post.

When you have a battle between Claycord.com and the Contra Costa Times, as an example, you have a news forum based on submission and a strong contact base versus a traditional outlet that needs to generate new revenue through sometimes controversial Blog postings from it's reporters. After all, the print paper takes time to be printed and delivered, while by the time the finished product hits the doorstep (or bush depending on the delivery person) the news is stale and offering nothing that has not already been covered by television, news blogs and general Tweeting. That is a difficult battle to win. As a result, and since revenue generation both online and offline is at stake, the pressure is on.

Everyone online faces this dilemma whether a revenue outlet or just a freelance blogger. What has happened as a result of the instant news format is that expectations of accuracy and quality have dropped, often with spelling and grammar deficiencies included.

I confess to this sin as well. Having a blog is about having something interesting to write about and having a fair following of people. I write because I am a writer. I do not have to worry about the blog providing revenue and so I choose what I wish to write about with less panic than I know others feel. A slow news day is death to a news blogger.

For professional news bloggers, however, I believe credibility suffers. Between the frantic pace of having to cover stories, to then also having to add commentary, it appears to me to have diluted the credibility by allowing what was a serious forum to now become casual and populated by anonymous commentary often designed to incite a situation further creating added postings. There is an assumed sense of power from an established media outlet in what it allows it's reporters to write and difficult to repudiate that assumed authority, no matter how stupid they may get at times. But then we like to watch the slaves in the arena getting mauled by the lions, even if it is done digitally.

And this is why, in my opinion, journalists and television media types should not blog or tweet unless it is about breaking news and done in the same attempted impartiality as news was intended to be. But what are the odds of that happening?

Of course, we should just consider ourselves lucky that people still know how to read in this digital age even if they choose not to ever read anything with factual data, leaving others to digest the information for them, helping them to think, believe, and express themselves. I guess it is cheaper than therapy.



- Posted by MisterWriter

ORIGINAL IDEAS LOST TO THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

I hate it when that happens. Yes, I had an original idea, even though everyone will tell you that original ideas do not exist. Everything has been done before. Whatever!

I had an original idea for a story about the world as the economy tanks and the country is bought up by China, an onward development that creates megastructures in which the people live. These buildings reach up to the heavens and where you are depends upon your position of importance in society. The higher up you are the more important you are. And the usual greed and corruptions affect the result.

And so today I find there is a new sci-fi book out, "Sons of Heaven" which has that same storyline. I hate it when that happens. If you do not rush and do something immediately, your ideas will somehow filter out into the collective consciousness out there for someone else to snap up, and benefit from. Your loss. Their gain. Such is life.

But that happens all the time. You find yourself discussing an idea with friends and the next morning that idea is a reality somewhere. It is irritating. You see lots of Hollywood lawsuits filed over Copyright infringement, and most places won't accept unrepresented submissions for fear of getting sued. After all, all they have to do is open the envelope and if they ever make something similar they can get sued. So writers sending unsolicited scripts and other written works usually find their envelopes returned unopened.

Likewise songs that enjoy success are often followed by lawsuits from other songwriters who claim a phrase, a verse, a pattern that makes their song the original.

And yet copying, whether intentional or otherwise is the basis of innovation, improvements and commerce as one business, or country tries to advance against another. American cars, Japanese cars, European cars. Which came first? Who copied whom? And yet which is better, a Ford or a Mercedes? It is not called copying when innovation breeds a new series of product. For without it I would not be typing on the iPad, and you would not be able to buy an APad on eBay that boasts the clarity of Apple with the flexibility of Android.

I once said that all business is legalized theft. Yes...an original thought. So far no one has stolen it from me.




- Posted by MisterWriter

THE APPLE STORE AND IN N OUT BURGER - A PARABLE

I have been frequenting the Apple Store as I debate the virtues of writing on an iPad versus some PC or Android mobile device, and in the process have used the opportunity to observe the process of delight and salesmanship that takes place there.

The first thought that struck me was how similar the store is to an In N Out Burger place, both brightly lit, super clean, offering a load of smiling faces in some brightly colored uniform, and both serving simple fare, straight forward, free of all the distracting options that could otherwise pollute their primary product; a good burger or a good iPad, iPhone, Mac computer.

Both also remind me of George Lucas' early film THX 1138 where a simplified life devoid of unneeded pleasures was saturated by bright lights and clean white imagery.

The premise is that you need simplicity with a hinting of technology that does not need to be dissected. Operating systems, drivers, apps, connective plug and play (or pray in the case of the PC).

And there "is an app for that" which permeates everything.

Now don't get me wrong, this is not a bad product and I did purchase one for the simple reason that it fulfills all my writing needs with a battery life that walks circles around the other choices. I am amazed at the process, however; hoards of helper apps, I mean employees, buzzing around the second you appear, all happy and smiling with their Apple buzz going, and each item, fingerprint clean, bright and beautifully calling your sticky fingers to touch. They put car salespeople to shame. It is a well oiled machine and the process is very compelling. It's an Apple product, stupid, and that is all you really need to know.

Perfect? No. I am a former PC, Android convert and were there an Android product that touted the perfect display and battery life and the apps that I needed I would have bought that tablet instead. And check it out I did.

The iPad has no way to expand, no outports except for charge and headphones, no camera, cannot play Flash videos and does a crappy job printing to some printers for which they have no drivers for the iPad. That aside, using DropBox, a cloud based storage system makes your storage virtually unlimited.

I did not want to pay for 3G connectivity so got the WiFi model which served my purposes. I connect at home, wherever their is free WiFi otherwise I use my mobile phone as a HotSpot and I am connected. I can run my business with this thing, and do. In fact there are only a few programs that need enough computing power that the iPad cannot handle. One is Photoshop, even though there is a light app for that as well.

So now, instead of the frustration that PC would give me in system crashes and driver inconstancies, with memory bogging apps that made the PC take a dinner break to boot up, I find that I get memory limitations, print inconsistencies and other things like a lack of multitasking, and realize that this burger ain't perfect either. It is just another toy that will work for a time until the next thing comes along.

Now if someone would just work on predictive text. Every time I write itch it adds a b in front... Go figure.

- Posted by MisterWriter

IS FACEBOOK JUST A SCAMMER'S PARADISE

Last week my morning started when a friend sent a Facebook chat im letting my know he was in the UK. How nice, I thought and asked how it was going. Not well, said he. He had been mugged the night before and had his cell phone, cash and wallet stolen. "Thank God they didn't get my passport," said he. Indeed, that would have been a delay. The problem was he had a hotel bill and needed to be fronted some cash, and hoped that I would be able to do so. Absolutely, said I as alarm bells rang in my head.

While keeping him chatting, I dialed my friend on my cell at his work and he answered. "How's England?" I asked him. He thought I was nuts. "I'm sorry you got mugged last night.". I then explained to him that I was chatting with him and he needed money. My friend was shocked. I told him to log into Facebook and follow the chat. He did.

By this point his shadow had asked me to wire a few thousand dollars and supplied an address where the money should go. I told my friend to change his password which should immediately cut off the SCAMMER'S access to his account. To be sure, before he initiated the change, I asked the scammer if that was enough money. And he was locked out.




There were many clues to the scam that tipped me off. The most obvious is the tendency on Facebook for everyone to spill their guts about where they are and what they are doing every minute of the day. Had my friend actually been on vacation, there would have been earlier postings about it. Photos even. And certainly a report of being mugged. But that is another clue. Mugged and without cash or credit, how is he actually on Facebook?

A third clue was the speech pattern in thhe writing. Only younger people use a plethora of abbreviations. My friend is still one to type in whole sentences.

A fourth clue is that even with a robbery there are still ways to verify your identity for your own bank to front you the cash.

But here is what makes the scam work. You get an IM from a friend on Facebook with his picture attached and you do not suspect that you are not talking to him. You ASSUME that you are, because you have accepted FaceBook and other social media as the norm. It is a bad assumption, just as posting your movements with your personal information, phone number, birthdate etc in your profile is a very bad idea.


Consider I wanted to steal your identity. You have given me a current photo, your birthday, names of family with which I could easily get your home address, social security number and more. I know when you are on that trip and whether the family is with you, and even whether you have someone watching the house because you told me all that in your postings and the comments. In fact, if I friend you and you accept, because like most people we believe the more friends the better, I can be innocent and make comments. For example, you say you are on a trip with the family. I might post a comment that says, "Don't you worry about leaving the house unattended for so long?". And you nicely and politely reply saying that you don't worry about it, that's what insurance is for, right? Thanks. If I were a crook, you just gave me an invitation. And don't forget what I will find when I break in. You will have left out bills, account numbers, checkbook, tax document, cancelled checks where some store wrote your driver license info, and your computer, usually with no password from where I can get lots of information including where you bank, passwords that are remembered so I can go in and change things like getting into your emails and Facebook accounts and try scamming all your friends. I would lock you out of Facebook so you cannot even post a warning to your friends.

It is viually unlimited the havoc I could create with your life, all because you gave away your right to privacy.

How many emails, or Facebook messages from friends claiming they found an app for seeing who stalks them on Facebook, which photos they looked at, who defended them and so on? All scams. I get at least a few a week. That means that either people are using poor passwords on Facebook or Facebook is just a scammer's paradise. Either way, it shows that people have lost all sensibility when it comes to protecting their personal information and that of their children.

Teens are the worst. Not only do they post all their contact information, but also freely discuss their family life and family's business. They are like sheep in a den of lions, except that sheep have a better sense of danger.

There are things you can do to protect yourself that I will cover in another post. In the meantime, I urge everyone reading to change passwords. Use a combination of letters and numbers and symbols to make it difficult for a high speed computer running password algorithms to break into yours. And ask yourself this. If they got into your Facebook account, can they get into your online bank account?

A QUESTION OF GREAT IMPORTANCE

When you go to get something from the fridge, do you leave the door open while you are doing your stuff or do you close the door immediately? Yes it is Earth shaking! I find that I leave the door or doors open as I make my sandwich. The cold air escapes, the temperature drops in the fridge and the appliance works harder to chill down the food. And I know this, but still leave the doors open as though closing it and opening it again somehow detracts from the whole chilling thing.

So let me ask you? Do you leave the door open? Do you put back a container with only a dribble left? Do you avoid checking or chucking any food that appears questionable?

Just wondering, dude!