h/t John Amato, Crooks & Liars
August 2014 archive
Aug 03 2014
Keith Olberman NFL’s Insufficient Punishment
Aug 03 2014
The Breakfast Club (Hello)
Hello again-
I don’t spend all my time serenely listening to long hair music outside in the sun or even the moonlight, vast vistas of land scenically stretched before my gaze as the wind whispers my flowing locks and I stride purposefully toward my destiny.
In fact mostly I’m locked up in a dusty dungeon of my own making, tangled by wires and the past, bound like Sisyphus by chronic deceitfulness and pride to keep the tides of entropy at bay. Oh sure, it’s fun for the first thousand years or so, but then it kinda gets… old.
Thank goodness for excitement, even of the bad kind. At least it’s a change.
My excitement was that on Friday I had a power surge. Inexplicable, random. Took out the common circuit I share with most of my office floor AND the separate one my air conditioning is on, didn’t touch the rest of the house (I can tell because of the clocks).
Lasted like 2 seconds and at the end everything re-booted except my main computer which gave me the totally redundant message, “Hey, you had a power surge” and then went into an electronic funk.
I must admit I was kind of sanguine about it, I have 3 surge protectors before the motherboard and I’ve survived Hurricanes and Transformer explosions (those are fun, there’s a big bang and then power goes down for a day as the guys in the Hazmat clean up the PCBs before they replace the unit), and the computer behaved as Windows computers typically do when you’ve corrupted the virtual memory swap file- it re-boots once or twice and then goes chug-chug-chug as it attempts to repair the damage.
So you wait and you wait but I’m very impatient and after a couple of hours I hit the reset button and try a few technician’s tricks to no avail.
Now let me brag on my departed and defunct system, Asus M4A88T-V Evo/USB3, 6 Core Athlon II 3.7 Ghz, 16 GB RAM, 3x 2 Tb Seagates- each with a bootable OS installed.
Normally to cure a corrupted Swap File you boot to a good OS, run a chkdsk to fix up the crosslinks (almost always the problem) and then you unconfuse things (chug-chug-chug). In this case NONE of my bootable partitions umm… booted.
Ok, time for strong Juju. So I turn everthing off except for a brand new, never been touched hard drive, memory, motherboard, and CPU (all of which test fine in the BIOS), and my genuine non-evaluation copy of Windows 7, and proceed to attempt a fresh install which has the additional benefit of being a strong hardware test.
Pfft.
Well, that’s about enough frustration for one day so I called up TMC and got her to cover. Thank you.
Today the goal has been to get functional again. I’m fortunate enough to have generous patrons and I’m in possesion of an HP 6475b laptop. The notable features of this particular platform are that it has a 2.5 Ghz AMD Dual Core, 16 Gb RAM, and (absolutely critical for a laptop as far as I’m concerned) a PCI card slot and a USB 3.0 port. It has a usable (if crappy) keyboard and 15″ display and an intolerable touchpad (hate ’em).
Of course I’ve pimped it out. Maxed the memory for starters. Had a dual USB 3.0 PCI card so now I have 4 ports base and 2 are hooked up to 4 port hubs for 10 total (for now). My USB 2.0 port is for my real wireless keyboard and mouse.
I struggled a bit with the display which is a miserable 1320×768 (only 1280×1024 is acceptable) but while my old Princeton VF723 is still clunking along, it’s pretty old and washed out. My Vizio TV is a mere 720p but my BenQ GW2250 main monitor is 1920×1080. The problem with both the latter solutions is that the HP only has a DisplayPort and VGA out and VGA is inferior to the DVI (BenQ) and HDMI (Vizio) channels. So I bought some cables.
Frankly, my intended purpose was to use the laptop for traveling emergency communications and as a video server for Netflix and it was in this primitive condition I had left it.
Whoa, emergency! And I am as stranded in my own office as I would be in any Starbucks.
The first step is to robust the software so my Bookmarks and Passwords and Cookies are all restored and the next to fish the wires so that all the parts connect up and as you can see there are many pieces that move.
The final step is to try an salvage the data on my impressive 6 Terabytes to a 500 Gb Drive.
Hmm… NSA capabilities without the ambition.
The truth is you can write a whole lot without filling up a floppy. I’m not parading this in front of you to incite envy, to me it’s the most normal business in the world because each repair starts with a backup of the system in the state that it’s in before you screw it up any more than it already is. I have a tool (2 actually) called a ‘Universal Drive Adapter’ that allows me to take just about any drive, plug it into any computer with a USB port and rip the contents onto another drive. The reason to have 2 is so you don’t overflow your host machine. You record directly to a target drive using your host as an intermediary.
Easy peasy.
And it’s not about money either. I seldom spend more than $200 for any particular part and most are in the $50 to $100 range. My base laptop (a fine machine and worth every penny) was about $500. Add $100 for the RAM. The keyboard and mouse $25. The monitor $120. I mention the keyboard and monitor first because, outside of the software, those are the most critical components to your computing experience. I paid a premium on the computer for the PCI card slot which are getting rare nowdays as are Optical Drives, the card itself was $50. The USB 3.0 Hubs were $40 a piece, the drive adapters the same. I have 368 Gb of 3.0 Flash Drives, all under $100. My 2 Tb Hard Drives? $100 per. I have 2x 1 Tbs that are $70 each. My departed Motherboard? The one I’m so proud of? $150 with CPU + $100 for RAM.
You can see why I mourn. I’m convinced it is toasted and it’s about the most expensive part of my setup.
But change is good, I’ve been putting off moving to 7 as long as I could keep XP-64 creeping along and a quick survey of motherboards (which have not evolved much in the last 3 years) seems to indicate I can re-use most of my parts (that work) and indeed ultimately build a system with twice the speed, twice the memory, and a whopping 32 Tb of drive. and in the mean time I can try and convince myself that my little blind slab with it’s rat’s nest of “enhancements” is good enough for now and has the additional virtue of being more “portable” than my 30″x20″x6″ box.
Next week I shall attempt to sing in tune and on tempo, but for now you get Obligatories, News, and Blogs, and late at that because while I pretend I have a magic wand that erases the limitations of space-time it’s actually a back scratcher and I do like my naps when I can get them.
Aug 03 2014
On This Day In History August 3
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.
Find the past “On This Day in History” here.
Click on images to enlarge
August 3 is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 150 days remaining until the end of the year.
On August 3, 1958, the U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus accomplishes the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole. The world’s first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus dived at Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles under the Arctic ice cap to reach the top of the world. It then steamed on to Iceland, pioneering a new and shorter route from the Pacific to the Atlantic and Europe.
The USS Nautilus was constructed under the direction of U.S. Navy Captain Hyman G. Rickover, a brilliant Russian-born engineer who joined the U.S. atomic program in 1946. In 1947, he was put in charge of the navy’s nuclear-propulsion program and began work on an atomic submarine. Regarded as a fanatic by his detractors, Rickover succeeded in developing and delivering the world’s first nuclear submarine years ahead of schedule. In 1952, the Nautilus’ keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman, and on January 21, 1954, first lady Mamie Eisenhower broke a bottle of champagne across its bow as it was launched into the Thames River at Groton, Connecticut. Commissioned on September 30, 1954, it first ran under nuclear power on the morning of January 17, 1955.
USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world’s first operational nuclear-powered submarine. She was also the first vessel to complete a submerged transit across the North Pole.
Named for the submarine in Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Nautilus was authorized in 1951 and launched in 1954. Because her nuclear propulsion allowed her to remain submerged for far longer than diesel-electric submarines, she broke many records in her first years of operation and was able to travel to locations previously beyond the limits of submarines. In operation, she revealed a number of limitations in her design and construction; this information was used to improve subsequent submarines.
The Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982. She has been preserved as a museum of submarine history in New London, Connecticut, where she receives some 250,000 visitors a year.
Aug 03 2014
Six In The Morning
Health crisis looms over Gaza’s death and destruction
August 3, 2014 – 4:22PM
Ruth Pollard
Middle East Correspondent
Gaza City: Mohamed Badran is just 10 years old but already he has lost more than most people will in a lifetime.He is the only surviving member of his immediate family of 10 following an Israeli air strike on his home in the crowded Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza on July 30.
And now he is blind, rendered sightless in the attack that stole his family from him, in one of dozens of “mass family deaths” at the hands of the Israel Defence Forces since this latest round of hostilities began on July 8.
Aug 02 2014
The Breakfast Club (Out on the Sea Alone)
Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
This Day in History
Breakfast Tunes
If there’s one thing
In my life that’s missing
It’s the time that I spend alone
Sailing on the cool
And bright clear waterLots of those friendly people
They’re showing me ways to go
And I never want to
Lose their inspirationTime for a cool change
I know that it’s time for a cool change
Now that my life is so prearranged
I know that it’s time for a cool changeWell, I was born in the sign of water
And it’s there that I feel my best
The albatross and the whales
They are my brothersIt’s kind of a special feeling
When you’re out on the sea alone
Staring at the full moon like a loverTime for a cool change
I know that it’s time for a cool change
Now that my life is so prearranged
I know that it’s time for a cool changeI’ve never been romantic
And sometimes, I don’t care
I know it may sound selfish
But let me breathe the airYeah, yeah
Let me breathe the airIf there’s one thing
In my life that’s missing
It’s the time that I spend alone
Sailing on the cool
And bright clear waterIt’s kind of a special feeling
Out on the sea alone
Staring at the full moon
Like a loverTime for a cool change
I know that it’s time for a cool change
Now that my life is so prearranged
I know that it’s time for a cool change(Time for a cool change)
It’s time, it’s time
It’s time, it’s time
For a cool, cool change
(Time for a cool change)
I know it’s time for a cool change
(Time for a cool change)
Now that my life is so prearranged
Well, I know, I know
I know, I know
(Time for a cool change)
It’s time for a cool change
Yes, it is, yes, it is yes, it is
You know it’s time for a cool change
Aug 02 2014
On This Day In History August 2
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
This is your morning Open Thread. Pour a cup of your favorite morning beverage and review the past and comment on the future.
August 2 is the 214th day of the year (215th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 151 days remaining until the end of the year.
Fifty-six congressional delegates in total signed the document, including some who were not present at the vote approving the declaration. The delegates signed by state from North to South, beginning with Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire and ending with George Walton of Georgia. John Dickinson of Pennsylvania and James Duane, Robert Livingston and John Jay of New York refused to sign. Carter Braxton of Virginia; Robert Morris of Pennsylvania; George Reed of Delaware; and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina opposed the document but signed in order to give the impression of a unanimous Congress. Five delegates were absent: Generals George Washington, John Sullivan, James Clinton and Christopher Gadsden and Virginia Governor Patrick Henry.
The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America-Independence Day-is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.
The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain natural rights, including a right of revolution. Having served its original purpose in announcing independence, the text of the Declaration was initially ignored after the American Revolution. Its stature grew over the years, particularly the second sentence, a sweeping statement of individual human rights:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
This sentence has been called “one of the best-known sentences in the English language” and “the most potent and consequential words in American history”.
After finalizing the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as a printed broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The most famous version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is usually regarded as the Declaration of Independence, is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Although the wording of the Declaration was approved on July 4, the date of its signing has been disputed. Most historians have concluded that it was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed. The sources and interpretation of the Declaration have been the subject of much scholarly inquiry.
The famous wording of the Declaration has often been invoked to protect the rights of individuals and marginalized groups, and has come to represent for many people a moral standard for which the United States should strive. This view was greatly influenced by Abraham Lincoln, who considered the Declaration to be the foundation of his political philosophy, and who promoted the idea that the Declaration is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted.
Aug 02 2014
Duck and Cover: Nuclear Grade Bull S&!T
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
Now here is something that should make the hair on the back of you neck stand up.
By Tom Boggioni, Raw Story
[..]Last Week Tonight on HBO, host John Oliver took up the very important, but much ignored, topic of America’s aging nuclear arsenal. Oliver noted our weapons facilities are plagued by crumbling infrastructure, suspect military oversight, politicians refusing to cut-off funding, and computers so old they run on floppy disks.
Pointing out that, despite cut backs in our nuclear arsenal, America still maintains 4,804 nuclear warheads, Oliver notes that is enough to “not only destroy Earth, but provide 4th of July fireworks for Martians.”
With nuclear ICBMs located in silos in Wyoming, Montana, and North Carolina, Oliver shared a wealth of clips describing poor maintenance and computers designed to launch the missiles using ancient software still contained on 5.25-inch floppy disks.
“Holy shit!,” Oliver exclaimed. “Those things barely look powerful enough to run Oregon Trail, much less earth-ending weaponry.”
Aug 02 2014
Random Japan
Digital-age robber epically owned by analog granny at convenience store in Fukuoka
Krista Rogers
What started off as a basic robbery attempt turned into a mortifying experience for one wannabe robber in Fukuoka Prefecture. Seriously, either the konbini gods were conspiring against him or he met his ultimate match in an old woman, but either way, his attempt at crime was completely foiled thanks to an unusual series of events.According to AOL New Japan and other reports, on July 29 at a little past 4pm, an approximately 170-cm-tall man (that’s 5’10” for those of you in the US) wearing a black knitted hat and white face mask walked into an undisclosed convenience store in Kawasaki, Fukuoka Prefecture. He went up to the register and held out his smartphone to the nearest staff member, on which was written, “I am a robber,” along with several other lines of small text.
Aug 02 2014
Health and Fitness News
Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.
Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.
You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.
Once summer tomatoes are flourishing in my garden and at farmers’ markets, capturing their bounty for the rest of the year becomes a weekly ritual. This mostly involves the making of marinara sauce; I try to have enough of it in the freezer to last me through a winter’s worth of impromptu pasta dinners. [..]
I reserve my paste tomatoes (the oblong varieties like romas and San Marzanos) for marinara sauce, and use the sweet, juicy ones for salsas and uncooked tomato sauces that I serve with everything from pasta to grains to fish to cooked vegetables to eggs (this week, I topped wilted chard with a tomato concassé, and poached eggs with a blended tomato mint sauce).
~Martha Rose Shulman~
Sweet, juicy heirloom tomatoes can be made into a concassé that works as well with vegetables as it does with pasta or grains.
Uncooked Tomato and Mint Sauce with Poached Eggs
This dish turns summer tomatoes into a salsa cruda that can also work well with most any kind of fish.
Whole Wheat Focaccia With Tomatoes and Fontina
Focaccia, a little crisp on the bottom but soft on the top and inside, can take on many toppings besides tomatoes.
This sauce is a tomato jam that tastes more like a richly spiced ketchup. A long simmer is important.
Risotto with Tomatoes and Corn: This colorful risotto serves as a luxurious showcase for summer’s bounty of tomatoes and corn.
Aug 01 2014
Nigeria, Big Oil, and Boko Haram
Boko Haram kidnaps wife of vice prime minister in Cameroon
Al Jazeera
July 27, 2014 11:29AM ET
Boko Haram fighters on Sunday kidnapped the wife of Cameroon’s vice prime minister in an attack that also killed three people, according to a government spokesman.
The Islamist fighters targeted the home of Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali in the town of Kolofata, in the Far North Region, according to Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary. A local religious leader, or lamido, also was kidnapped in a separate attack on his home.
“I can confirm that the home of Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali in Kolofata came under a savage attack from Boko Haram militants,” Issa Tchiroma told Reuters.
“They unfortunately took away his wife. They also attacked the lamido’s residence and he was also kidnapped,” he said, adding that at least three people were killed in the attack.
The Real News Network
Baba Aye, a trade union educator and Deputy National Secretary of the Labour Party, is the National Convener of United Action for Democracy, the largest rights-based CSOs coalition in Nigeria. He has been very active over the past three decades in the various trenches of struggle for democratic rights and is the author of the book Era of Crises and Revolts: Perspectives for Workers and Youth (2012).
According to Human Rights Watch, in Nigeria, Boko Haram, the groups most people regard as a terrorist group, have killed in the last six months more than 2,053 civilians. Some people suggest that number has also been reached by the government of Goodluck Jonathan, who some say has killed as many people over the same period, but Human Rights Watch mentions only a few abuses in the same report.
How does all this come to be? Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa now, more than–bigger than South Africa. It’s the sixth-largest oil exporting country in the world. Why such chaos?
Now joining us to talk about the historical roots of all of this is Baba Aye. He’s a trade union educator, deputy national secretary of the Labour Party. He’s the national convener of United Action for Democracy, the largest rights-based organization coalition in Nigeria.