Linux Fortune #991

Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.
-- Frank Zappa

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Read olechko

Blue Friday

Went with the Saint to take care of some banking in Whitesville. It isn't quite a trip to the big city. But it is the closest thing we have - out here in the County. So it was into the branch office of BB&T so the Saint could make her deposit. As a special treat she returned with some of those individually wrapped soft mint candies. You know the ones that seem to just dissolve when they touch your tongue. Yupper, simple pleasures are the best.

Across the street then to the IGA (#46). Its the usual stuff; milk, eggs, cereal, cheese, peanut butter. When the Saint asked the bag boy Mikey if he had eaten his fill of turkey yesterday he allowed that he had. Then it comes to light that he had also come into work. Grandma at the register was quick to assert that Mikey had volunteered. (Seems as though she might not have been as willing.)

Everyone knows Mikey over to the IGA. After all he has been there ever since anyone can remember. The younger kids make a point of saying "Hello" and "Good-bye" to Mikey. To them he an adult that they can call by his first name. Older folks just appreciate that Mikey is all about polite service. He'll take your groceries out the car and carefully put them in the trunk for you. Always a smile from Mikey.

Down the block on the other side of the main street, Highway 54, is the Dollar General. Half jokingly I suggested that we should stop there so we can pretend we are rich. Turns out the Saint had DG on her list, just neglected to mention it to me. So we stop in to enjoy the small town mercantile ambiance.

It began to close in on me. Too many people (12) milling around in isles so narrow that two of those tiny shopping carts can't pass without sideswiping. Sales women stocking shelves with Taiwan toys and knock-off electronics. Each of them wearing plastic head bands with spring bobble reindeer careening around their lacquered bouffants like the stars and exclamation marks from a cartoonists knock-out blow.

Then from a far corner comes a stern matronly voice, "What is that smell?"

Another, responding from the opposite corner of the store, "I don't know but it sure smells."

Then a third voice chimes in, "Smells like its coming from over there."

It was closing in on me fast. The isles felt narrower. The Christmas music seemed louder. Then the matron voice piped up again, "Murial, you want a cheeseburger or something?"

I started to make my way toward the door. Just before I made my escape the guy carrying a 50 pound bag of dog food crossed in front of me. Just caught a whiff - like to knock me down. Might have been his deer hunting outfit doused with 'Buck Lure' or it might have been too much time with his dogs.

Either way I was thankful it weren't me they was complaining about.

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Read PostSecret

Bit-head with propeller beanie

I was very pleased that Diigo would "Auto Blog Post" directly into Blogger. I thought now I can share my surfing highlights with the world.

FAIL!

Being a bit-head with a propeller beanie means that my auto-blog-posts read more like a Linux HOWTO page than an exciting journey through the web.

I really gotta get a life. :)

Anyway, that is why I deleted the geeky link posts.


FOLLOW UP NOTE: The latest Diigo "update" took the unauthorized liberty of SCREWING with a key Firefox setting (about:config keyword.url). THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!!! I have deleted my Diigo account.

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Read Urban Sketchers

But wait, there's more...now how much would you pay?

I posted the previous piece ...

Now you can own a piece of history

... as a joke ...er, commentary... on Icon Reduction. This is the practice of reducing important personages or monuments down to their least valuable state: Kitch.

I can hardly wait for my "Barry" Bobble-head doll.

...but wait...

Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.

Oh the anguish, oh the disappointment...

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Read Wirearchy

Now you can own a piece of history

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Read Obama

Fear of Freedom

In my internet travels I encountered these headlines...

Journalist group honors Cuban political prisoner

Castroism is bad for the stomach

Two stories about journalists living (and dying) in Cuban prisons.

Naively I question why any government feels the need to imprison journalists. I came up with one answer: Fear.

Cuba's Castro and his brother Raúl are the perfect example of fear. They know personally that if the people are incited to make a change in the government then a revolution is possible. Quite possibly a violent revolution. The oppressed rising up to overthrow the oppressors. The very means that allowed Fidel and Raúl to enter into Cuba's government is the foundation of their fear. Fidel and Raúl are now the oppressors and fear for their lives. No matter how benevolent a dictatorship is still a dictatorship.

Despots and dictators have a profound fear of freedom.

We effectively let the 'revolution' happen every four years. Our is a government based on representation. We have established rules for the orderly transfer of leadership. Part of the overall process which insures the representation of an individual's views and opinions is freedom of speech. This extends to journalism and the freedom to report on any aspect of our society.

In our Democracy there is a bell-curve of opinion on every topic of discussion and concern. Depending on the topic the curve can be skewed to the left or the right. By allowing individual opinions we franchise every member of our society. By employing the democratic process of choosing our leaders we allow our social orderety to moderate itself. This usually means that extreme ideologies and positions are shunned in favor of the more moderate choices.

Revolutionaries are allowed to express themselves - the will of the people determines the direction of our government.

When we as a nation empower every individual to be a fully qualified participant in self-rule then we operate from a position of strength. Founded on the strength of our democratic process we then have nothing to fear.

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Read WinExtra

Important headlines in our difficult world...

I guess you have to sell the "News" somehow...

Moss fights with beau over vial of blood

The CIA's coded humour is all in the name

... and last but certainly not least:

Why tupping the puppet is a recipe for ruined lives

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Read Time Goes By

What am I still carrying?

As I was reading yet another in the long line of "I can't believe America elected a [Black|African-American|Muslim parented|mixed race] President" the following story came to mind...

A senior and a junior monk were walking back from the market to their monastery, after a rainstorm.

They reached a river-crossing which was usually shallow, but now they found it hip deep. A pretty girl was on the riverbank crying because she would ruin her clothes to wade across the river.

The senior monk picked the girl up in his arms and carried her across the river, carefully placing her down on dry ground.

The 2 monks continued back to the monastery, but the younger one was appalled...monks were not allowed to touch women, even look at, or speak to them...how could the senior monk justify this breach of his vow?

Eventually he had to ask the senior monk...How could you?

The senior monk said,"When I reached the far riverbank, I put the girl down and left her there. It is you that has been carrying her back to the monastery and can't put her down."

I am disquieted by the thought that so many dwell on the most superficial aspects of the past election. If any conditional statement should be made it is ...

Barack Obama is the President [Elect]

As I went searching for the story (which I found here) I felt the chill of conscious realization in the question: What am I still carrying?

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Read Scripting News

The paint isn't dry...

...so please, be careful where you step.

I wrote myself into a corner...and you might well ask, "What color was your prose?"

Umber. In name it is noble with a foundation of humility.

I thought what better use can I make of this chill rainy Saturday morning alone in the house but to write. For the past couple of days a reoccurring thought had been pestering me. In this time of comfortable solitude I was intent on bringing this errant concept-thread to the page. I furrowed my brow, set my jaw and ... took myself way to seriously.

To start I would employ the convention of an illustrative quote ...

I DO NOT WANT WHAT I HAVEN'T GOT
- Sinead O'Connor*

The quote would adequately speak to my central theme but I was immediately concerned about the social and political overtones implied by citing this particular author. I was determined to move forward but only after adding the "*" and disclaimer.

This poetic turn of phrase might be interpreted in this manner: 'If I do not have it I do not want it.' Regardless of the version offered the allusion still remains. Meaning is not conveyed by the statement but by the framing of the 'negative' space.

That's right, I am going to write about talking about something that is by virtue of it's not being.

I recently encountered a situation in which extreme disappointment was expressed regarding unfulfilled expectations. Frequently such dissatisfaction is a result of high expectations - unrealistic goals and objectives and the resultant failure to achieve them. Often there are clearly defined metrics for evaluating such circumstances. Examples might include not scoring a winning touchdown against a better team. Or not receiving the 'expected' bid for a sale item being auctioned.

Unfulfilled expectations ... something that is by virtue of it's not being. Yes, I felt the concentric rings of circuitous ambiguity beginning to constrict. Yet I felt compelled to push on.

Other expectations are less quantifiable. John laments, "My life didn't turn out the way I had expected." The man, John, married his sweetheart, started a family, raised 3 good children, was well employed, lived a long life in a modest home and still his life didn't turn out the way he had expected. While this example is a bit forced it serves as a point of reference when exploring the 'negative' space of expectations.

Well, I have made my premise. Now I should be made to lay down in it. I have drawn you, gentle reader, down this rat rabbit hole with promises of lucidity and insight (I can hear the Red Queen in the background, "Off with his head!")

John's expectation references the negative space of his life while discounting or dismissing his life in situ. John did not endure 3 messy divorces, 2 blended families, being layed-off (twice) or declaring bankruptcy...

Wait, wait, this isn't at all what I expected! There was to be a clearly defined conclusion with a pertinent observation. At least that is what I expected ... when I started.

I was serious when I started. My brow was furrowed, my jaw was set... then I reread what I had written and began to giggle then laugh out loud. In the end the only thing to do was share the entire silly episode.

Gratuitous closing illustrative quote...

I was taken by a photograph of you

Fountain of Sorrow
- Jackson Browne

* I offer no criticism of Ms O'Connor's politics or beliefs. I chose this quote as a handy example of a linguistic illusion.

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Read the head lemur

Micro Review: Kubuntu 8.10

Kubuntu installed flawlessly on VMWare Server

DHCP by default, that is OK at home but I need to set a static IP address.

Network "Connection" config is still lacking. First it was hard to find. Then it didn't set the new network configuration correctly. Finally while I was investigating from the command line (Bonus Tip: sudo bash ) the correct IP addy and netmask mysteriously appeared. All in all not very comfortable for this ol' admin.

KDE 4 is beautiful (and cumbersome) - Eye candy to appease the MS desktop junkies. Desktop widgets are OK. Personally I don't care for the perpetual coming-n-going of tool bars. Either show them or don't but fading in and out is a bit much every time the cursor moves across one.

I did not find the menu choices I expected (e.g. Firefox) Nuff said.

Conclusion:

Kubuntu in a Microsoft world is a significant step in the right direction. It is ideally suited to Joe-the-Plummers who want a real OS and the stability that it brings to a home user's desktop.

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Advocating Slackware since 1997

Hidden Victims

ATHENS, Ga. -- On the eve of the election, long after the late fall sun had set, I went for a walk down Lexington Ave. on the East side of Athens, Ga. I heard from a man named Ed that there was a homeless encampment in the woods down there, something people referred to as Tent City.

When gas prices went up to $3.95 (we're fortunate here in Kentucky) my lunch money dried up. No more 2 and 3 times a week going out for lunch. My expendable income, my recreational 'egg' money ended up going right into my gas tank. I was really beginning to feeling the pinch.

Down the sidewalk after several hundred feet, we came across a fence made from slender logs and some wire. It framed one side of a slight clearing in the woods, opening up for a path. Up a gradual incline, two small wooden structures were visible in the light of a fire, stoked by a man in a baseball cap. We made our way up the path and after a few feet, the beam of our flashlight caught a man lying down directly in front of us, arms sprawled out, either dead, drunk, asleep or all three.

A woman stood up in the second shack, just behind the fire, stretching her arms above her head. Approaching the two, I waved. "Good evening. Somebody told me this was a good place to camp out for a couple nights." The man shook his head and poked the fire with a stick. "Nope. All fulled up."

I pointed to where the path continued behind them. "How about up there?" The woman then, too, shook her head. "You don't wanna go up there. They're crazy up there." She paused. "And they don't like newcomers."

Recently my wife, The Saint, and I sat down and reviewed the state of our family economy. Understanding the degree of sacrifice necessary we decided to acquire a 10' x 16' storage shed. Lacking a garage we are hoping that the additional space will significantly unburden our 1800 square foot 5 person family dwelling.

I went over and said hi to Bobby, poking my head inside his wood hut while he tidied. Above the door was a Georgia Bulldogs flag, a little tattered. Inside, Bobby sat on a small bed, straightening items on top of an old wooden, furniture-style television set. The room was small enough that he could sit on the bed in one spot and touch all four walls, but he keeps it tidy. He smiled bashfully when I asked him if the TV works. He told me, "Yeah, it work, but I don' watch it much." He quickly went back to his tidying, laying out a folded t-shirt on the bed.
. . .
Ed explained to me that the wood shacks were built a while back by members of a Chicago-based organization called The Mad Housers, who visit places like Tent City and assemble these simple, permanent structures for people. "They're a good group," he said. "They have an understanding of housing as a basic human right."

When the Saint said she wanted to home school I made the observation that we would be 'poor' - being a single income family in a two-income economy. The Saint taught home school for 12 years. Just this last fall our youngest transitioned into public highschool. Across those years my single income has bouyed us well. However it has been our austere life style that has made it affordable.

The Saint is in the process of becoming a Certified Home Child Care provider. This will compliment my income nicely. The space freed up by storing our stuff in the shed will be turned in to her 'day care' space. We will continue to enjoy the fruits of our labors and the simple rewards they afford.

Everybody went to bed early, so I watched Obama's acceptance speech alone on the couch. I knew it was an epic moment, one that would define my generation, but I couldn't grasp it. It felt like I was watching underwater or in a thick fog. I watched footage of thousands of crying and cheering people, dancing in the streets all across the country. Sitting alone on a couch in Georgia, a state that voted overwhelmingly for McCain, it all felt very far away.

I knew that there was no dancing in Tent City that night, no tears of joy. I wasn't sure how relevant the lives of those sad and struggling Americans in Tent City were to the lives of these other sad and struggling Americans, who now managed to find their redemption in Obama's victory.

I too stayed up to watch Obama's acceptance speech. In the comfort of my middle class home, surrounded by my family, I celebrated the victory of democracy.

Today I am reminded that my new Amish built 10' x 16' shed would make a very nice home for someone or some family not as fortunate as I or mine.

Excerpts taken from The Place that Hope Forgot to Visit on Election Day
New America Media, News Report, Russell Morse, Posted: Nov 09, 2008

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Read Akma

Simple Soup: Potato Corn Chowder

From the Urban Gourmand series...

Pantry raids, unlike their collegiate counterparts, are an exercise in econolapse survival. Before you go all organic free-range fresh-is-best on me this is about making the best of what we have, not what we want. In this foray we have located ...

• 1 can GV diced potatoes
  
• 1 can GV corn
• 1 can Swanson Low Sodium Chicken stock
• 2 cups Half&Half
  
• 4 oz. Bacon
• 3 Tbls Butter
• 2 Tbls Flour
• 2 Tbls minced onion
• some garlic powder
• some pepper

Fry the bacon in a largish skillet to done but not crumbly. Drain off the free flowing bacon drippings being careful to save all the tasty brown bits. (I am going to use the drippin's later today so I saved 'em.) Drain the potatoes and corn*. Reheat the skillet and deglaze (whoa, I finally got to use that word) with the potatoes and corn infusing them with the bacon brown bits goodness. Add 1 Tbls spoon of the minced onions and stir throughly.

Once the deglazing is done add the potatoes and corn to a small stock pot (Ha! The larger of the two sauce pans I have - the 2 quart size). Add the can of chicken stock and set on the back of the stove. No heat yet.

Rought chop the done bacon and add to the potato, corn and stock mixture. Stir it all together but no heat yet. Just let them get to know one another.

In the smaller sauce pan slowly melt the butter. (BTW we are making a roux here so go slow.) Add in 1 Tbls of the minced onions, 1/4 tsp of garlic powder and ground pepper to your taste. When the onions become tranlucent add the 2 Tbls of flour.

Keep a watchful eye on this new roux. Go slow. Keep the heat low. Stir often.

Personal preference note here: I say that my roux is ready when it is frothy with largerish bubbles and appears to have expanded in the bottom of the pan by 2 or 3 times. (It is imperative that all of the flour granuals are coated with the butter or you will end up with tiny dumplings instead of a smooth soup.)

CAREFULLY add the 2 cups of Half&Half to the very HOT roux. Leave the heat LOW. Stir and then leave it alone over low heat. (Notice the theme here?)

Editorial time-out: Cooking is a present process. I believe that it is important be fully present when cooking. Cooking is a primary activity, not something done while you are doing something else.

So even though it has taken some time the roux and Half&Half have joined to make the creamy base of our chowder. I say it is done when the mixture just barely begins to bubble around the edges of the sauce pan. You milage may vary.

Add the creamy sauce to the potatoes, corn and bacon. Put it over low heat and cover. Bring the entire mixture up to a simmer (very low boil). Remove the pan from the heat keeping it covered and let it rest. Excesive cooking will cause the potatoes to break down which isn't terribly bad but I like the little cubes.)

Bonus: That half a loaf of faux french bread on the second shelf of the fridge - you know the one - slice it thick on an angle. Brush each slice lightly with olive oil, sprinkle one side with a hint of garlic powder and the pan fry (toast) until both sides are slightly browned.

Simple Soup - does a human good!

* Oh yeah, almost forgot that asterisk. When I am making a strong savory soup I will sometimes add the potato and corn liquid right in pot. In the case of this chowder I feel that the corn flavor is just a bit too overwhelming.

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Read Mining Nuggets

Intellectual Discrimination: Protest groups forming now.

Intellectual Discrimination

Living in a conservative Bible-belt region when I uttered the above phrase I was quickly questioned about its political correctness. Can discrimination ever be a good thing? Isn't espousing intellectualism an elitist stance? Is combining the two some sort of insult?

My utterance of the phrase was in fact a statement of criticism.

"One of the problems with our current social situation is a lack of intellectual discrimination."

A great portion of our population appears to have stopped thinking critically. Who, in their right mind, would accept even a third of the rhetoric offered in the last political campaign. Yet there are those today who believe the half truths and innuendos put forth by radical propogandists.

In a recent conversation with an acquaintance I was impressed with the two-dimensional approach she was taking in putting forth her issues of concern. Citing the inequity of CEO and Chairperson salaries in light of government bail-out plans that involved her hard earned tax dollars. She touched momentarily on a number of hot-button topics but neglected to in any way connect the dots of real economic mechanics.

I believe this 2-D approach to opinion formation is a direct result of herd mentality coupled with a sound-bite perspective of issues. People, who's lives are already to complex, simply want to have answers that they can feel good about. Nothing legitimizes an opinion like a shared view by a group of your peers or congregation members or softball team mates. Distilled sound bites offered by authoritative mouthpieces replace personal discernment. In a 'do you want fries with that political perspective' it is much easier to take some "expert's" position than to develop one of our own.

It turns out that Intellectual Discrimination, as well as possibly being un-PC, is a great deal of hard work. Anyway, isn't that what we have leaders for? To tell us independent self-determinists exactly how we should think?

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Read Don't Eat Alone

Leader or Servant: Who's team will you be on?

America has developed a "Lead the world but serve me first" mentality.

I find it curious that people do not want leaders but rather they want Public Servants. They shun governance in favor of what they believe is self-determination. They want politicians to meet their perceived wants and needs but refuse to support them as leaders of our communities, states or even our country.

This must change.

If we, as a democracy, are to survive and grow then we must move away from the 'serve me first' position. Too long the sense of entitlement has lead us to maintain a false sense of warm-n-fuzzy status quo.

This must change.

We must allow and endorse the difficult decisions that our Leaders will make to move our country forward. We must see beyond our immediate comfort zones and recognize that as a nation we must all be moving forward. To force the football analogy we as a team, under the guidance of our accepted head coach, must work together to move the ball toward the goal line. This cannot be done when players stand in the backfield and second guess the plays being called.

This is not to suggest that we are mere automatons. Team work requires the participation of each member to the level of their ability. When it is our time to carry the ball then we, as individuals, can claim the right of self-determination.

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Read Listics

Openness to Experience

Wednesday rained down on folks around here even though it was a sunny day...
There was a pall, a shroud, a haze ... why are so many of my fellow Kentuckians so ill at ease?

Kentucky is a red state - the first to be reported as such on the evening of November 4th. Most assuredly at the end of the evening Kentuckians felt no great sense of elation at the outcome of the election.

Certainly the advent of a Harvard educated, intellectually curious, eloquent newly elected president should not cause such states of malaise. A president who's every breath will be critically reviewed, analyzed and then commented on. A president who will be more carefully monitored and managed than any of the 43 before him. A president who will be more accountable to the American public than any other elected official in this nation's history.

Slowly the lecture "The Real Difference Between Liberals and Conservatives" offered by Jonathan Haidt to the TED community began to resonate for me...

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Vacationing with TED

Who changed my signature?

I wonder who changed my signature? As you can see in the previous post it is intact. In the post before that I manually edited it to add the colors and the uppercase letters.

Curious, who changed my signature? Certainly I would not have left just one "<"

...very curious.

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<

Yes we can!!!

Obama is President!!!

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

1 Winner and 1 Loser

Which ever way the election turns out...

I VOTED FOR OBAMA

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I VOTED for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

The Last Day: A fitting end to "Open" posts

November 2nd, 2008 marked the 1 year anniversary of my "Open" post theme. It is only fitting that on this, the last day of the 2008 Presidential campaign, that I make a definitive change in my blogging. With the close of this most involved political journey comes many needed changes.

1. Instead of relying on the never ending litany of political gaffs, blunders and outright contemptuous media blasts I resolve to return to actual observation and commentary.
2. I am intent on returning to process of chronicling the world as I view it through the lenses of my technological window.
3. While still a staunch advocate for all things open my intent is to move beyond the 'stating the need' to observing and affirming the practice.

Tomorrow, hopefully, the world with have the answer to the question that has branded itself on the heart of peoples everywhere. Tomorrow, hopefully, will be the day of true new beginnings. Tomorrow I will celebrate with everyone, winners and losers, who no longer have to bear the burden of this most difficult quadriannual event.

Please go vote tomorrow!

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open disclosure???

Paulson's Swindle Revealed

Wednesday 29 October 2008

by: William Greider, The Nation

A protester in front of the New York Stock Exchange. The United Steelworkers conducted its own financial analysis of the $700 billion bailout and concluded, in a letter to Secretary Paulson, that the bailout constituted a $350 billion gift from the American taxpayers. (Photo: Getty Images)

The swindle of American taxpayers is proceeding more or less in broad daylight, as the unwitting voters are preoccupied with the national election. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson agreed to invest $125 billion in the nine largest banks, including $10 billion for Goldman Sachs, his old firm. But, if you look more closely at Paulson's transaction, the taxpayers were taken for a ride - a very expensive ride. They paid $125 billion for bank stock that a private investor could purchase for $62.5 billion. That means half of the public's money was a straight-out gift to Wall Street, for which taxpayers got nothing in return.

Emphasis mine! Who is looking out for us?!?!?!? Hey Hank, ya gonna pay my mortgage?

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.